American Journey

Dr. Harvey & Sharon Rishe live in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. They are recently retired from the mental health profession. Together, they helped run a private practice in West Valley City, for over 20 years, where Harvey was a partner and Sharon was a clinical social worker. They met in California, and share a deep appreciation for an outdoor lifestyle, which is how a couple of Jews wound up in Utah. They are my parents, and their roots trace back to various parts of Europe. Their ancestors arrived in North America separated by hundreds of years, and from very different sub cultures, but as the forces of nature do turn, they found each other.

Tim's ancestors hail from Ireland. They entered the United States through Canada, several generations ago, to find warmer climes, eventually settling in the Dakotas. Tim is a long-time resident of New York City and has traveled extensively in Africa, South Asia and Europe. He pursues a lifelong goal of fluency in French and Italian, and studies classical singing. Tim’s professional global health training ground was the Population Council, a premier international non-profit, non-governmental institution that conducts biomedical, public health, and social science research, helping to build research capacities in developing countries. He joined the Council in 1991, and was promoted to play a leading role in external relations, public affairs, and fundraising. During his tenure, the Council’s unrestricted funding from foreign governments increased by 132%, and new funding schemes were established with the Governments of Japan, New Zealand, and the U.K. He also served as the primary point of contact with the inter

Hannah D. Scott moved to the US in 2009 on a student visa, and lives here now with a valid work visa. She is an actress and stunt performer, and is based in New York City. Originally from the UK, Hannah trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (3yr BA Acting). She is a proud member of British and American Actor's Equity, and SAG/AFTRA. https://vimeo.com/hannahdscott

Nedra McClyde is New York based actor born in Maryland. She is a descendant of American Slaves, and this episode focuses on that lineage.  She moved to New York to pursue the arts. Her professional credits include Mr. Burns at Playwrights Horizons, Headstrong at Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Macbeth at Classical Theatre of Harlem. Nedra is a recipient of New Dramatists' Charles Bowden Award, two-time AUDELCO Award nominee, NYIT Best Leading Actress nominee, Associate Artist with The Civilians, MFA graduate of The Actors Studio Drama School, Assistant Professor of Acting at the New School for Drama, and Adjunct at Pace School of Performing Arts. Favorite regional theater includes Good People at The Old Globe and Fairfield at Cleveland Play House. Nedra has made television appearances on new Netlfix/Marvel series "Jessica Jones," "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "30 Rock," "As the World Turns" and "One Life to Live." Please visit her website.

Gail Frydkowski is the child of holocaust survivors. She has been a high school special education teacher since 2005. As an educator, she has used humane materials to help students prepare for New York State English Regents exams and for college research work. She had students sponsor orphaned chimps with In Defense of Animals. She was previously a New York Humane Education Ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society and has held their ‘I Read to Animals’ programs in venues across the city. She has been a volunteer for Best Friends, Animal Haven and Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers, helping to carry out the Caring Kids program held weekly at Animal Haven. She has run a teen animal lovers club in her school and in 2015 she will be a certified humane education specialist through the Humane Society She is currently teaching the kids of the Animal Lovers YAP Club in Manhattan about Humane Education and animal welfare issues.  She is the UFT Co-Chair of the Humane Education Committee; which provided wor

I met Malcolm in 2002. He was a guest artist in a singing class I was taking at NYU with Deb Lapidus. I worked with him on the Scarecrow's song from The Wiz, and he said, "You're just great! Let's sing that again." I'll take that one with me all the way! Wikipedia tells us: Malcolm Gets is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Richard in the American television sitcom Caroline in the City. Gets is also a dancer, singer, composer, classically trained pianist, vocal director, and choreographer. He played Gould in the 2009 film Grey Gardens opposite Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore and his first solo album came out in 2009 from PS Classics. Gets was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 (Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical, Amour), and was awarded the Obie Award in 1995.[2] Gets was born in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of Lispbeth, an educator, and Terence Gets, a college textbook salesman.[3] Both parents grew up in London, England. He moved with his family to New Jersey. He lived there unti

Olga is a linguist who teaches Russian around the world, all from her home in Brooklyn NY, where she now lives with her husband and son. Her website states: "My main field of interest is language learning. I studied Linguistics at the University and during that time I was really impressed by language diversity in the world. Now I teach Russian, study foreign languages and constantly research and try teaching methods and self-study solutions (web services and applications). Distant learning is my second field of interest. I moved to Brooklyn, New York and I am now looking for a local job in E-learning." For lessons visit, www.panda-russian.net  

Desai was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but grew up in Binghamton, New York. Her parents are physicians; her father is Indian and her mother is Filipina. Desai is a professional actress. She has performed in many Off-Broadway productions, including The Winter’s Tale (2003), playing opposite David Strathairn, and The Tempest (2008), starring Mandy Patinkin. Her Broadway debut was playing Marta in the Tony Award winning 2006 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, in which her rendition of the show-stopping “Another Hundred People” met with critical praise. Other stage performances include David Schulner's An Infinite Ache in New Haven, Connecticut, and as part of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, a benefit production performing "Four Black Dragons" and "Next" from Pacific Overtures by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman. The 2001 comedy feature film Black Knight starring Martin Lawrence was Desai’s cinema debut. She has since had supporting roles in such films as Heights and The War Within. Desai's television cre

This episode travels back to the 1600's, and as our guest points out, to a time when all "the late troubles in America [the Revolutionary War] began." Lucius Albert Salisbury III, who goes by Luke, is a retired professor. He was born in New York, and now lives in Massachusetts. He has written a number of novels inspired by his families history, which dates back to the Great Migration of English nobleman to the "New World." He is very knowledgable in regard to his family's migration story, part of which encompasses the wars that England fought with the Native Americans.