Who We Know

Austin City Council member and immigration attorney Chito Vela talks with Patrick about growing up in Laredo, his journey expanding his horizons at UT Austin at the LBJ School and UT Law, his political races, and his current service as representing northeast Austin on the Council. Chito shares his thoughts on how to improve the wellbeing of all who live in Austin and the State of Texas. 

Rabbi Lev Baesh and Patrick talk about Judaism, growing up in the spotlight,  public speaking, the nature beautiful moments as unique to people and situations, and finding happiness in life. 

Patrick and Amber talk about education, law, and Amber's journey to finding the good things in life by learning from adversity. Season Four is an attempt to reach Patrick's US Representative Lloyd Doggett, starting with his colleague Kwita Carrington, who nominated Amber, who makes her nomination to get a little closer to Mr. Doggett in this episode. 

Ms Carrington and I talk about teaching, SXSW, her family's historic roots in Austin, and her early passing connection to Lloyd Doggett when she was a child. Kwita shares her thoughts on what it means to be happy and the importance of family.  This season on Who We Know , we're taking the "conversational game of tag" to a whole new level. Instead of letting our network of conne...

This is an "out of season" episode to explore connections between religions and ideas and how they may apply to life. I speak with former UT professor of English and Philosophy Dr. Ernest Kaulbach, who talks about his life growing up in 1950s New York, becoming a scholastic, teacher, and still figuring out life as he approaches 90 years old. He has never been moderate in his word choice,...

Andrea and I converse about all things fashion, costuming, production design and her work in the world of the arts in NYC. We talk about her fashion brand of stylish jumpsuits, Risen Division, her journey into the performing arts through her skills in textiles as well as her omnivorous curiosity, wherever it leads. 

Frank and I start up the new Season Three, spending a lot of time on the idea of "common ground" between us. He talks about his childhood in Africa, coming to the States, and his life as a real estate agent in San Diego. We go deep in exploring  religion and examining perspectives on Islam, Catholicism, and other traditions. We round things out with the survey on happiness and living wel...

Gale and I talk about her book, Money Come Dance with Me, as well as her podcasting, life coaching, and her thoughts on life and living well. 

Mark and I talk about his early days programming, becoming a manager, consulting, starting up businesses, and now his life as an artist and life coach. I enjoyed considering life's turns with him, and surveying him on happiness and the meaning of it all. 

Meryl and I talk about her drawing from the perch of her high chair as a very young developing artist, her becoming enamored with punk and metal music in college, her soul-searching at Woodstock for five years, and her transformation into a tattoo artist. We discuss the transformative power of getting a tattoo, the holiness in nature, and her appreciation of her brother Mark, whom she nominates as...

Debbie talks about her experiences growing up and getting the performing bug, becoming an actor, writer, and most recently, a fitness instructor. We talk about the relationship between work and creativity, writing, and the importance of staying strong as we get older. Debbie goes into deep waters in the last minutes, talking about love, fear, and what is most meaningful in life. 

Patrick gets to know the longtime cabaret singer and pianist Ricky Ritzel, a performer as well as an accompanist  who has worked with many storied singers over the last 40 years in Manhattan. This month , Ricky will be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets for his contributions to the form. 

Kathy is a beautiful person with a beautiful voice. Her current cabaret piece, Kiss me Once, Stories from the Homefront ,  shares her love for the generation that came before us who weathered the challenges of WWII. Kathy and Patrick explore Kathy's journey of coming to New York, transitioning from acting to singing, and her putting one foot in front of the other after loss and grief in her l...

This episode features Emmy award winning television director Shannon Flynn. It was like talking with an old friend by the time I finished talking with Shannon over two different days of recording. We cover a lot of territory around her personal journey becoming an award winning television director, the power of directing through the facilitation of everyone’s best ideas, some highlights of her cur...

Enjoy the sublime essence of my conversation with Martin P Robinson, down to under ten minutes. Listen to the rich, full episode to find out about Martin's childhood running naked in the streets, his moving story performing Telly Monster and connecting with an autistic child, and his incredible work making Sesame versions all over the world. 

Martin and I talk about his nearly 50 year career as a puppeteer, with 40+ years working on Sesame Street as Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, and lending his hand in the early days to Jim Henson's Kermit the Frog and Frank Oz' Cookie Monster, among so many others. We discuss his early days growing up, working with Bill Baird, his development of the puppets for Little Shop of Horrors, an...

Brad and I talk about his journey becoming a puppeteer on Sesame Street and working with Kermit, Elmo, Ji-Young, and the gang.  He is the performer for the muppets Wes and Tamir. We wander down various conversational trails, exploring how puppets affect people, how performers develop their characters, and Brad's observations on life and happiness. 

Season Two! We start off a new chain with my old friend from high school, Erika Borrego, who now is the chief operations officer of the San Antonio Food Bank. We talk about what it takes to run a food bank for a major city, her life growing up in South Texas, and values she learned growing up and that guide her today. 

Danielle and I talk about her start as a model on page 3 of the The Sun newspaper tabloid in 2004 and her subsequent work as a reality TV star, her cleaning hacks, and her work as a presenter. It was enjoyable to get her take on life, her thoughts on raising children, and her insights into living well. 

Carl talks about his unusually challenging childhood of abuse and neglect from the people around him, his turning to the gangs of Nottingham for meaning and support, his time in prison and eventual turnaround six years ago to now work to raise awareness about knife crime and to help kids turn away from the street by sharing his story and engaging in real-world conversations with those still in the...

Paul and I talk about his life growing up on the streets, collecting money from reluctant debtors, tattoo artistry, working with kids to turn their lives away from street crime, and his keys to living a happier life. 

Michael Emmett got caught smuggling the largest amount of drugs in British history when he was arrested in the mid 1980s. I speak with him about becoming a criminal, like his father, doing crime together and serving time together in jail. Michael finally finds hope through a conversion experience, and helps others today turn their lives around through his work in prisons. 

Mark and Patrick discuss Mark's growing up poor in Scotland, his halcyon days risking his life smuggling hash and other drugs all across Europe and Asia, his experience in recovery with Eric Clapton, and work now as a writer, speaker, and counselor. 

Chip and I discuss his challenging journey from a childhood rife with abuse to his turning to drugs and alcohol, the resultant misery that came from addiction, and finally an incredible turnaround during the second half of his life to become a renowned addiction therapist and public servant. Chip founded the acclaimed rehab center Focus12 in England and ran it for 20 years, and continues his life&...

We get to know Alex Norwood Hill, founder of Cordus non-alcoholic drinks. He tells his story of evolution into the Sober Sommelier and real estate entrepreneur from his early days exploring the good life. Many thanks to him coming on the program. Also many thanks to Lars Hinrichs, WWK guest #2, for our theme music this episode. -PAziz