America Speaks Podcast

When will we come together as a global community to eliminate nuclear weapons? ...To stand behind the treaties signed to never use a nuclear weapon and create ways and means to reduce conflict and engagement in war? This epic conversation embraces freedom, and respect for one another, identifies ways for us to apply new ways of thinking to combat climate disruption and be steadfast to protect our oceans – we must believe and understand that change is possible- We must learn to respect the interests of others...we are in the middle of a  moral fork in the road: what is most important today?  -The rights of human beings over the rights of property.?..as Jonathan says "Love people use things; never love things and use people!"  This episode is a vitamin for our soul. A true landmark episode! To listen to Jonathan Granoff's first episode on America Speaks click here : https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americaspeakspodcast/Preview_of_GranoffReppen 

Jess Burnquist is the Vice President of Education and Youth Empowerment at Creative Visions where the premier human rights programs Rock Your World and Rock Your Rights are under her purview. She is also the co-founder and author of Kindred Spirits, a human rights educational blog sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers.  Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Time, NPR, Sundress, Persona, Natural Bridge, Ms. Magazine and various online and print journals. She is a recipient of the Joan Frazier Memorial Award for the Arts at ASU and has been honored with a Sylvan Silver Apple Award. We are here at a pivotal moment in the United States ... our democracy and our rights to our privacy and long time freedoms are at stake with the coming election of 2022 We seem to be so lost in how to understand where we are going ..i think today Jess brought us back down to earth and really spoke about solutions. In my work in the last 25 years, I have had the opportunity to meet, protest, and to march with toda

Jess Burnquest is the Vice President of Education and Youth Empowerment at Creative Visions where the premier human rights programs Rock Your World and Rock Your Rights are under her purview. She is also the co-founder and author of Kindred Spirits, a human rights educational blog sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers.  Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Time, NPR, Sundress, Persona, Natural Bridge, Ms. Magazine and various online and print journals. She is a recipient of the Joan Frazier Memorial Award for the Arts at ASU and has been honored with a Sylvan Silver Apple Award. We are here at a pivotal moment in the United States ... our democracy and our rights to our privacy and long time freedoms are at stake with the coming election of 2022 We seem to be so lost in how to understand where we are going ..i think today Jess brought us back down to earth and really spoke about solutions. In my work in the last 25 years, I have had the opportunity to meet, protest, and to march with toda

Few documentary producers have received as many honors: National Emmy for "exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking"; ten Richter credited films honored by Motion Picture Academy; three DuPont Columbia Broadcast Journalism awards (TV's Pulitzer Prize); Distinguished Science Reporting Award from AAAS (American Academy for Advancement of Science); Peabody Awards; many US and international film festival awards; critical acclaim in the New York Times and other major papers. Robert Richter's documentaries have been telecast in prime time on HBO, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS, Discovery, BBC and many other major overseas television outlets. Robert Richter has received several Oscar nominations and has made or helped to make over 90 films. In his early years, he was at CBS covering U.S. national politics and producing Walter Cronkite's acclaimed nightly news. Robert has released his new book a few months ago  titled DOCUMENTARIES AND SERENDIPITY sold on Amazon.com Please also listen to Robert's previous interview on Am

Women are in their power. From all walks of life. It took a toxic decision that ended Roe V Wade to wake us all up! Women are angry...the right of a woman to choose has the support of the majority of voters in the United States. The fight to protect these rights has just begun. And in battlegrounds like Iran and Afghanistan the fight for their freedoms is demanding our support and solidarity. This episode brings you the heroes on the front-lines, fighting for women's rights: Kathy Kleinfeld and The Houston's Women"s Clinic, NY Times best selling author Caroline Leavitt, Dr Francesca Kress, Susan Dworke Teixiera, Alex Hernandez, Yana Bille Chung and Alexa Coblentz contribute powerful testimony and commentary to this part one of our series in celebration of women.

Ger Duany was born in Akobo, South Sudan, on November 9, 1978.[1] He had his first experience of war at the age of seven. His family and community were uprooted. At age 13, war separated him from his mother, and he resorted to becoming a child soldier[1] as a means of survival during South Sudan’s struggle for independence.[2] Duany later became a refugee in Ethiopia and then Kenya,[1] and was resettled to the United States from Dadaab camp at the age of 15. Ger Duany went on to earn a college degree in the U.S.. He built a career as an actor and fashion model.During the 2015 World Refugee Day, Duany was announced as the UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador for the East and Horn of Africa Region. In 2014 he appeared alongside other refugees in the award winning film,  The Good Lie, inspired by the story behind the Lost Boys of Sudan. Ger is the author of  the acclaimed memoir, Walk Towards The Rising Sun .

Caroline Leavitt is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Fiction, and a Goldenberg Fiction Prize. She was also a National Magazine Award, Nominee in Personal Essay, a finalist in the Nickelodeon Screenwriting Awards and a finalist in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. A book critic for The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle and People, she has also published in New York Magazine, Psychology Today, More, Redbook, Parenting, and more. Cruel Beautiful World was named one of the Best Books of the Year by BlogCritics and by The Pulpwood Queens. Pictures of You was named one of the Best Books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Providence Journal, Bookmarks, and one of the top five books by Kirkus Reviews. Is This Tomorrow was named one of the Best Books of the Year by January magazine, and was long-listed for the Maine Prize, as well as being a Jewish Book Council BookClub Pick.

Rob Harris’ publicity credits have played in every movie house around the world. With nearly a hundred film credits he has worked on many of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed and blockbuster films. For decades now Rob has become a respected part of today's film industry in his role as unit publicist. We are excited to bring you a meaningful conversation with Rob about his book The trouble With Love In the Movies, a wonderful and inspiring love story. This episode is a great opportunity to slip into the magical world of movie making and yet at the same discover a heartfelt and honest story of a family and the courage it took to make big life changes while trying to keep your family together.  This is a beautiful love story. The conversation is honest, authentic, and reveals the many layers of a mans life as he he finds himself at a crossroads ...From the book "You don’t walk in lock step with another person you allow one to sprint while the other lags but you don’t let the distance grow so wide that the ot

Rob Harris’ publicity credits have played in every movie house around the world. With nearly a hundred film credits he has worked on many of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed and blockbuster films. For decades now Rob has become a respected part of today's film industry in his role as unit publicist. We are excited to bring you a meaningful conversation with Rob about his book The trouble With Love In the Movies, a wonderful and inspiring love story. This episode is a great opportunity to slip into the magical world of movie making and yet at the same discover a heartfelt and honest story of a family and the courage it took to make big life changes while trying to keep your family together.  This is a beautiful love story. The conversation is honest, authentic, and reveals the many layers of a mans life as he he finds himself at a crossroads ...From the book "You don’t walk in lock step with another person you allow one to sprint while the other lags but you don’t let the distance grow so wide that the ot

Dennis Macdougal is the renown author of twelve books. As an investigative journalist and documentary producer Dennis has told the stories of American heroes such as Lew Waserman (The Last Mogul) , The Chandler Family (Privileged Son), Jack Nicholson (Five easy Decades), Bob Dylan,Dylan The Biography, Mother's day - just some of his titles. With his new book :Operation White Rabbit Dennis takes us on a wild journey into the life of Leonard Pickard. The academics, scientists and high rollers who were the origin story of LSD

Rick Tuber was born into a literary family. His father wrote for television in the 50s and 60s and both his brothers were writers. He spent 40 years as a film editor working primarily in television. He worked on many of Hollywood’s icon shows including ER, Crime Story, The Unit, Bones, and countless others. He won Emmy and American Cinema Editors awards for an episode of ER. Working on a show in China changed his life. The show was called Flatland and starred Dennis Hopper. A one-month stay turned into five months. That experience caused him to write his first book at the age of 60, Shanghai Cuts-A Hollywood Film Editor’s Misadventures In China. It documented his time in Shanghai while a family crisis was occurring at home.      Bitten by the writing bug, he wrote his first novel, Should Have Seen It Coming. The noirish comedic murder mystery was based on his own dysfunctional family. Two sequels followed in quick order. Just My F***ing Luck and Well, I’ll Be Damned. Rick 's writing takes you into a captivati

As we reach the end of the national disaster that was the Trump Administration we are proud to bring back Poet/ Musician Rick Cummings. His unique talent to put in perspective the times we have lived through from George Bush to Donald Trump is a creative triumph. His knack of spoken word poetry elevates our examination of these tumultuous administrations to fully remind us what we have endured. His craft navigates us through this historic era guiding us into the memory of events that stand out from four unfortunate and ugly years of Donald Trump. Each reading brings to life the outrage, the satire, the inhumanity of a failed president and his enablers.   link to Rick's first interview on America Speaks https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americaspeakspodcast/1A_RICK_CUMMINGS_07.03.2019_01.mp3 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americaspeakspodcast/_RICK_CUMMINGS_2_8.11.2019_01.mp3

As we reach the end of the national disaster that was the Trump Administration we are proud to bring back Poet/ Musician Rick Cummings. His unique talent to put in perspective the times we have lived through from George Bush to Donald Trump is a creative triumph. His knack of spoken word poetry elevates our examination of these tumultuous administrations to fully remind us what we have endured. His craft navigates us through this historic era guiding us into the memory of events that stand out from four unfortunate and ugly years of Donald Trump. Each reading brings to life the outrage, the satire, the inhumanity of a failed president and his enablers.   link to Rick's first interview on America Speaks https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americaspeakspodcast/1A_RICK_CUMMINGS_07.03.2019_01.mp3 https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/americaspeakspodcast/_RICK_CUMMINGS_2_8.11.2019_01.mp3

Rich Whitley's delightful tale of how he came to sign his first breast at the commemorative screening of Rock N Roll High School, at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A colorful story of how dreams can come true as Rich takes us behind the scenes on the making of Rock N Roll High School.

Rich Whitley is the writer’s writer –starting from a young boy he fell in love with going to the movies ...and as he grew up and went to film school his appetite for film and tv became voracious. Throughout his youth he became a scholar of all genres of film from every era and his passion for great story telling led him into a career writing feature films(Rock N Roll High School) and TV( long list) . He has added teaching screenwriting, one day a week at USC, to his robust weekly schedule. This lively episode will bring you into the world of select magazine articles Rich has written for the Writer’s Guild of America 'Written By' series. From “Afternoon At The York”, to “Staffing Season” to “Downward Facing Writer”, (great for coping with today’s high level of stress). And you don’t want to miss hearing about Rich’s first meeting with Billy Wilder.Rich Whitley is a class act, who will inspire every one of you to indulge in a classic film, a bag of popcorn in your lap and shut out the world.

Rich Whitley is the writer’s writer –starting from a young boy he fell in love with going to the movies ...and as he grew up and went to film school his appetite for film and tv became voracious. Throughout his youth he became a scholar of all genres of film from every era and his passion for great story telling led him into a career writing feature films(Rock N Roll High School) and TV( long list) . He has added teaching screenwriting, one day a week at USC, to his robust weekly schedule. This lively episode will bring you into the world of select magazine articles Rich has written for the Writer’s Guild of America 'Written By' series. From “Afternoon At The York”, to “Staffing Season” to “Downward Facing Writer”, (great for coping with today’s high level of stress). And you don’t want to miss hearing about Rich’s first meeting with Billy Wilder.Rich Whitley is a class act, who will inspire every one of you to indulge in a classic film, a bag of popcorn in your lap and shut out the world.

It has been said that talent is a rare gift. With an artist /author like Lou Beach HIS talent is a gift to all of us. He is our first author to present original work on our limited edition narrative storytelling series. Lou Beach is a renown illustrator and fine artist and has perfected the craft of telling a great story in a short and memorable fashion. Every detail is to be savored.

I have focused my lens on controversy since 1967. When I see a crowd amassing, placards waving, when I hear the sound of feet pounding the pavement, voices rising over each other, I feel an uncontrollable urge to be among them, to follow the momentum and capture the spirit that compels people to rise up. The adrenaline is addictive; it’s been in my blood since I first picked up a camera and marched for civil rights In 2001, Americans felt disenfranchised after the presidential election of G.W.Bush. I was drawn in by the volatile mood that resulted from the Supreme Court’s decision. Before long I realized I was a player on this human stage, active and no longer just an observer. Marching with my fellow citizens enables me to share the anger and capture the frustrations of their struggle. My journey across America presented me with history in the making, as I carved my own path of discovery. I set out looking for that spark that energized my generation in the sixties and seventies, to come together for peace an

This is a powerful discussion reinforcing the importance of The Culture of Peace : what is truly important in life, bringing out the best in human beings and our work as a society and our humanity to come together to face tomorrow’s challenges. But we need to do this together... we hear this over and over again but this discussion truly inspires great depth and understanding of how we can transform our intentions, find greater compassion and examine our excessive consumption of “things”. This pandemic has been an awakening. And has brought out the best in humanity, to discover what is asked of us; to learn together how to survive these difficult times. The Culture of Peace seeks to change our mind set to inculcate peace and caring into how we live our daily lives. We are global citizens. We must start to think as a connected world. This episode is a milestone conversation that will indeed nourish how you move forward to protect the essence of what is vital in life.

How do you go from wishing you could be a fireman to fulfilling your dream? Lawrence Kim 's journey to now being one of LA's top officials and inspectors for the LAFD.. and now he is a part of a vital effort to set up Covid 19 testing centers throughout Los Angeles. Sean Penn's NGO CORE, is working with the LAFD and the collaborative operation is now providing testing to every Los Angelean who wants to get tested. The first city in the U.S. to offer this to every citizen