On this episode, three kids — Charlie from Brooklyn, Knox from Denver, and Sienna from Houston — join LKBH host Todd Loyd to discuss the great outdoors — and how nature makes them feel. 

The kids and Todd then hike up an enormous imaginary mountain to travel to the Land of Qook-a-lackas … arriving JUST at the right moment to help a Qook-a-lacka friend, Qwiffin (played by the amazing Maulik Pancholy), grow a "memory garden." 

What is a memory garden?!

Qwiffin explains: "Well, it's a garden, but instead of being made out of dirt and seeds and the power of photosynthesis, it grows in a different way: It grows from our memories of being outdoors in nature." 

The kids and Todd help Qwiffin brainstorm amazing memories of nature in all four seasons: ❄️, 🌸,🌻,🍁!

Together, with the power of their memories, they help the garden glow and grow!

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Maulik Pancholy plays the role of  Qwiffin. Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor, author, and activist. His career has spanned hit television shows, animated series, the Broadway stage, and films. He recently completed filming on the Jesse Eisenberg-directed feature film No One Cares (with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti), the indie feature Nuked (with Anna Camp and Justin Bartha), and the indie feature ReEntry (with Emily Deschanel and Noma Dumenzwini). 

He famously played Alec Baldwin’s intrepid assistant Jonathan on the Emmy®, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning NBC comedy 30 Rock; Sanjay on the Showtime hit series Weeds; and Neal on the NBC comedy Whitney. His numerous recurring and guest starring roles include Only Murders in the Building, Leverage: Redemption, The Good Fight, Dynasty, Star Trek: Discovery, Elementary, Friends from College, The Good Wife, Web Therapy, The Comeback, The Sopranos, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. For his work on television, he has been nominated for and won the Screen Actors Guild Award on multiple occasions. Pancholy has entertained both children and adults as the voice of Baljeet on the Emmy® award-winning Disney animated series Phineas & Ferb, and as the title voice of Sanjay on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay & Craig. He is the voice of Ranjeet on Disney Junior’s Mira, Royal Detective and can be heard on the Netflix series Q-Force and the upcoming Netflix series Ghee Happy. He has appeared in blockbuster films such as 27 Dresses and Hitch, and his many theater credits include starring on Broadway opposite Matthew Broderick and Martin Short in Terrence McNally’s It’s Only A Play, playing opposite Ed Harris in David Rabe’s Good For Otto, starring in the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons, and starring in J.C. Lee’s To My Girls at 2nd Stage Theater.

 His debut novel, The Best at It, won a 2020 Stonewall Honor in Children’s and Young Adult Literature, and his sophomore novel, Nikhil Out Loud, won a 2023 Lambda Literary Award and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2022. He is a cofounder of the anti-bullying nonprofit ActToChange.org.

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Sound design and mixing is by Ryan Marth, and the ukulele music you hear is by actor and composer Bill English. 

Please learn more about the episode online at https://playsparkler.org/podcast

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