Uncommon Conversations With Maryam Zar And John Harlow

Writer/attorney Ms. Sean Quinn Walpole - on Italian refugee crisis. Nigel Scott, London - “Who is Boris Johnson, and why?” Maryam talks about Abe Shinzo, Japanese politics and Asian culture.

Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times of London, On the “Green Wave” and what the US can learn from recent Euro-elections. Amy Friedman, Executive Director, POPS - protecting children of incarcerated parents – amazon.com/Desperados-Wife-Memoir-Amy-Friedman Mimi Soltysik – He was the presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA in 2016 – “Now everyone left of Trump is a socialist, apparently, what is a socialist today?” wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Soltysik_2016_presidential_campaign

This week, Maryam and John talk to April Roeseler, Chief of the California Tobacco Control Program California Department of Public Health about the flavorshookkids.org campaign, aimed at raising awareness about the perils of vaping. See their video here: flavorshookkids.org, and listen to our June 27th show with Rochester Univ. Researcher, Dr. Rahman to learn more about the waviness of vaping. Next we talk to Michalel Boehm from the German American Business Associayion (GABA - gaba-network.org/socal) about electric vehicles and their future is sustainable cities, Green party gains in EU elections and the future of tech as well as clean energy and the partnership for sustainability between LA an Berlin. Finally, we touch on recent earthquakes in LA that have jarred a population to alert by talking to Crisanta Gonzalez from the Community Preparedness and Engagement Division of the LA Emergency Management Department (emergency.lacity.org).

Donald Trump, European elections, LGBT rights and roll backs and the consequence of fast fashion around the globe, and it's impact on apparel manufacturing workers around the world. Links: sepishyne.com/whoiam and hrw.org/about/people/nisha-varia

Uncommon Conversations today we talked to Nurit Katz, UCLA’s Chief Sustainability Officer about sustainable living and reducing our carbon footprint as Angelenos. Mayor Garcetti paves the path for a Green New Deal and UCLA leads the way in showing how we can think about and implement a sustainable future. sustain.ucla.edu Get in Board. We then talked to Jennifer Reitman, founder of DAME Media (damemedia.com) about the political landscape in the US, the candidates vying for the Dem nomination and the white policy wonk woman label that everyone is running from. Sign up to become a member: damemagazine.com Finally, we talked to award winning Politico writer, Nahal Toosi about the new Middle East peace plan that has no “two state solution”, but a focus on economic development and opportunity. politico.com/story/2019/05/21/trump-israel-palestinians-1336621 Will it work? Can it engage the Palestinians? Next week, Brexit and the toll of quick fashion on the factory workers you never see...

Todd Snyder - toddsnyderphoto.com/humanity An LA based financier turned humanitarian with a camera to tell the story of the world’s forgotten people, Todd inspired us to think about taking part in creating a better world. He reminded us that the world hosts 68 million refugees. After one trip, Todd gets off the airplane and goes to a colleague and says, I want to start a foundation to help refugees. In June, he’ll be launching “Lost Faces of Humanity”. Lily Lapenna - lilylapenna.com - Lily is an authentic public speaker, storyteller and commentator. She shares her stories and insights on entrepreneurship, social impact and innovation in business. She speaks for a range of organizations, from academic institutions to businesses, radio and TV. She talked to us about the cross section of technology and solutions for modern day issues – that beg modern solutions. Social enterprise is at the heart of creative thinking to both make money and have a positive impact on the world. Lily coaches in this space, an

Elizabeth Warren gets the cover of Time magazine – why is she getting no traction…. Is she too much of a policy wonk? Leila Milani – a global activist on women’s rights and issues, Leila Milani, Founder of futureswithoutviolence.org, talks about the UN Resolution last week, sponsored by Germany with language long agreed upon by Western nations, which was threatened to be vetoed by the US, unless the language of reproductive rights was watered down. The resolution focused on offering aid to women who have experienced gender based violence and trauma in conflict zones, including reproductive health care, as well as a robust oversight body to prosecute perpetrators. The US insisted that both sets of language referring to those two pillars of the resolutions be tempered. Does that reflect our national temperament? What are the global effects of this new conservative US disposition, refusing to uphold women’s rights and basic agency over their bodies? Faheba Monir – photographer and activist in Bangladesh docume

From space to the inner city – An interview with the CEO of Virgin Galactic – with George Whitesides (virgingalactic.com/who-we-are/our-team), celebrating International Space Day. Fascinating conversation with a rocket scientists. A conversation with a group of people: Sara Reyes (Cal Endow Managing Dir of Communications - calendow.org), Jennifer Ybarra (Dir of Youth Development Task Force) and Lou Calanche (Founder & Exec Dir of Legacy LA - legacyla.org) from the California Endowment and Legacy LA to talk about how unique plans are underway to transform communities long thought to be underserved, using the input and insight of residents and stakeholders who have a vision as to how these communities can grow and thrive. Also talked about the establishment of a new Youth Task Force empowered by La City Council so young people can have a say in how their inner city neighborhoods are improved. Young people, dare we say, are the future! Jennifer Reitman , Founder and Editor in Chief of DAME media – an all femal

A conversation with Linda Booker (strawsfilm.com/#home-section), producer of the documentary, STRAWS, about the peril of straws in our seas. Look for biodegradable products and demand them. The technology is out there, but the products are still prohibitively expensive for restaurants and businesses to give them away. Even cutlery can be biodegradable, but its not widely distributed. Demand real biodegradable disposable utensils/straws, and make room for those industries to grow. The demand will drive down the price. The price will dictate the market penetration. Mel Tillekeratne joins us to talk about homelessness, real help, housing and the #sheDoes campaign (youtube.com/watch?v=D4W4mMcC2Ic ) he launched – saying yes homeless women deserve housing, shelter, support and resources to transition out of homelessness. He also started the Showers of Hope – mobile showers that go to homeless encampments across the city and bring people showers and hygiene resources. youtube.com/watch?v=-pCSERUmGjo

Self publishing Arial and David – the Book Doctors – speaking at LA Festival of Books – how to finish that great book and also the mechanics of publishing books. Dr. Gigig Abdel-Hamed talks to us about the inspiration of a little Egyptian girl to become a doctor. She became a great ER Dr., succumbed to addiction, then left medicine and came back to “put the heart back in” to doctoring and encourage people to go into medicine for all the right reasons. Let’s not over prescribe to fix ills that can be addressed with just a human connection. Dr. Abdel Hamed is attempting a grass roots resurgence of back to basics paying real attention to patients, and helping bring human connection back to the practice of medicine.

Rex Weiner – modern day storytelling: rexweiner.com . Conversation about how writing and storytelling has changed in the modern day, with digital technology and writers workshops teaching people how to write. Moms Demand Action – Mia Porter (fox40.com/2019/03/17/activists-to-rally-behind-gun-violence-prevention-legislation-at-capitol ) from Moms Demand Action comes to talk to us about why America can’t move on common sense gun control and why we’ve become desensitized to gun violence, not just mass shootings but domestic violence, suicide, singular homicides. Mass shootings make up 20% of people who dies by gun violence per year. 80% of the 100 + people who die by gun violence in the States are not felled by mass shootings, but daily gun violence. Why can’t we legislate? Aura Vasquez – LADWP Commissioner to talk about the Green New Deal. We need to rethink the way we live as Angelenos if we are ever going to get to 100% renewable energy, and this Mayor is going to be talking about a host of clean energy opt

Congestion pricing in LA – commentary and a promise to bring guests and talk about LA traffic. Brexit – Nigel Scott, went to the million man march in London to protest Brexit. He is horrified by Brexit and we had a conversation, not just about the social movement that originated with the far right to take Britain out of Europe, but also the financial consequences of Brexit for Britons and the economic fallout that people are finally acknowledging and beginning to brace for. Swan Within – theswanwithin.org – Meredith Harper Houston is the Founder and Chair of The Swan Within. The Swan Within is a nonprofit that transforms the lives of underage girls who have survived of sexual exploitation as children, and continue to suffer through juvenile incarceration. Dancing through the discipline of ballet can bring back control over bodies, and empower the young mind to take back control and refocus on the future. Ballet allows kids to retake agency over their bodies, and work through the trauma, as well as find comp

Space – John Harlow spent time with rocket scientists at Virgin Orbits in Long Beach, building a rocket propulsion system for cost effective travel to space. Twenty years ago, this was unthinkable. Today, private sector involvement is making space accessible for humanity. Janice Roshhale Littlejohn – talking about Persian Culture and Now Rooz – Persian New Year, celebrated by 30 million people around the world, across many cultures. Dr. David Burns – Professor at Stanford and author of “Feeling Good, the new Mood Therapy” - a discussion on optimism. How can people program themselves to be cheerful, and alter a disposition that is depressed to optimism quickly, without drugs. Titi Lope - titilope.ca poet and activist who impacts the world she lives in through her poetry, performances, Nigerian Canadian woman who performed a poem at the inauguration of a Nigerian President. Empowers women by being uniquely female and uses technology (background in engineering) to empower women, and help them think outs

Lena Sun from Washington Post joins us to talk about vaccines. Anti Vaxers have had a resurgence in messaging while American families have pulled back on their willingness to get their children or themselves vaccinated, but now there are measles outbreaks in eleven states with more than 200 cases all over the nation, and now finally people are paying attention. This is not a benign action with no consequences. State legislators are finally paying attention. Tune in to see how things are progressing. Attorney, Steve Cron talks to us about the Michael Cohen Congressional testimony and its aftermath. Essential Access Health - a funder for Planned Parenthood talks about the new gag rule that limits Title X funding for family planning services – including health and outreach as well as essential health care services – that are being cut because the federal government is withholding funding from any provider that talks about or gives information on reproductive healthcare.

Ariel Gold, Code Pink National co-Director; Alison Carlman, Global Giving Dir of impact and Communications; Priyali Sur, The Azadi Project Founder

This week, John and Maryam talked to Zaydee Sanchez and Scott Barker about their experience south of the border in Tijuana. Zaydee and Scott were originally working on a documentary about LA homelessness when they decided to head south and earth the human story evolving south of the border. You can follow their work on Facebook: facebook.com/migrantcrossings Instagram @migrantcrossings Twitter @migrantcrossing They then pivoted to the Oscar’s and talked to Dr. Joel Waldfogel, author of the book, Digital Rennaisance, who told us the digitization of film has made it easier for film makers to create more flow of creative work, and that has improved the the quality of film, and even for self published books. Digital Rennaisance: books.google.com/books/about/Digital_Renaissance.html