Friends & Neighbors

In this rebroadcast of "Better Humans" Author Janeane Bernstein's KUCI-FM radio show, "Get The Funk Out," we share our experiences with mental health, and discuss the imperative of supportive relationships and meaningful community, the path toward wellness – and what it all looks like in the real world.

When the high school I graduated from asked me to speak with students and parents, I decided to go for broke. I addressed the artificiality of contemporary Western culture. And I bookended the speech with a radical piece of audience participation. What happened next may surprise you.

As I fly to Des Moines to screen my new film this week, I revisit my interview with singer/songwriter, music therapist, trauma counselor, and "Friends & Neighbors" helper, Kelli Rae Powell, two years later.

In this live episode recorded after the premiere of "Friends & Neighbors," Opera Delaware's Kerriann Otaño moderates Q&A with director Benjamin Wagner, plus "helpers" Alonna Berry, Logan Herring, Sarah McBride, Lauren Scott, and Matthew Tousignant. Together, the panel digs deeper into the root causes of and potential solutions to our current mental health epidemic. Watch Friends & Neig...

She rehearsed with Pearl Jam, flew private with Korn, sparred with J Lo, and fled the out-of-control, nu-metal-fueled arson of Woodstock ‘99. We talk mic flags, mult boxes, and pd-150s; junkets, red carpets, and festivals; plus Chris, Kurt, and Tabitha. We dodge stereotypes in the studio with Raekwan, and rubber bullets at the RNC with Rage Against The Machine. Keep your hands on the wheel, and yo...

One-time VP & EP of MTV News, and The All-Time King of V.O., Jim Fraenkel, takes us from the driver’s seat of his Picasso Pizza delivery days and his stint at the legendary Geffen Record (where he was nearly cast in Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video), to his nearly two-decade run at MTV News. We’ll travel with Jim from interviewing 'NSYNC in Orlando, Florida, to covering Matthew Shepar...

Music and Fashion Writer and Editor turned Rupaul co-star, Merle Ginsberg, talks about sharing a scene with Laurie Anderson, Twyla Tharp, and Eric Bogosian, catching The Clash, Television, and Glenn Branca at Danceteria, Mudd Club, and The Ritz, and parlaying Downtown Avant-garde Art into Midtown Corporate Music Media Business at a then-nascent MTV.

Legendary MTV News Senior Writer, Rhonda Markowitz, takes us on a wild, star-studded, forgotten New York ride from Bayside, Queens (alongside her childhood friend, a certain Loser’s mom, Bibbe Hanson) to her first concert (yup, The Beatles at Shea Stadium) to her stints at A&M and Polygram Records, and, eventually, the MTV newsroom. We’ll hear about befriending INXS’ Michael Hutchence, Midnigh...

This week, onetime MTV News intern-turned-senior producer Darin Byrne takes us into the studio with Beyonce, on-tour with WuTang Clan, on-stage with Biohazard, backstage with Matchbox 20, and on-set at 1515 Broadway. He talks about sharing an office with Sway, the impact of digital video on the newsroom, and a certain 2002 quadruple-bill at CBGBs, Newsapalooza.

This week, an MTV News Legend behind iconic shows like The Week In Rock, The Big Picture and House of Style, prosocial coverage like Choose or Lose, and fundamentals like the news cube, on-air graphics, and one-sheet, former Senior Vice President of MTV News & Specials, Linda Corradina. From the Rock & Wrestling Connection with Cyndi Lauper and Captain Lou and shoots with Hall & Oates,...

Buckle up, Dear Listener, as Writer, Producer, Director, Showrunner, and one-time MTV News Senior Writer Corey Moss regales us with tales of interviewing rock icons Green Day, The Pixies, and Weezer. He takes us to Neverland Ranch sans Michael Jackson, onto the set of the Dukes of Hazzard with Jessica Simpson, and in the studio with the former Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline. And he tells us w...

Correspondent Kim Stolz takes us on her unexpected journey from studying foreign policy to becoming a contestant on America’s Top Model and, eventually, landing her gig at MTV News. She talks about spending a day on-camera with a very young Taylor Swift, making trouble with Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson at the height of their “Twilight” heyday, and sitting down with Rihanna, Obama, and her...

In the '90s and early aughts, Matt Anderson parlayed an MTV News internship into a role as Supervising Producer, and eventually, Executive Producer of Series & Development. This week, Matt talks about producing Week in Rock & House of Style, meeting Madonna and Whitney, shopping with Cindy and Sheryl, and what it was like on set when Tabitha Soren famously went toe-to-toe with Mariah’s pub...

As an MTV News Correspondent from 2001-2010, SuChin Pak interviewed everyone from Mariah Carey to Mary J. Blige, helmed daily news on TRL and ten to the hour, hosted Video Music and Movie Award Pre-Shows, and her docuseries, My Life (Translated). This week, SuChin shares her journey from a born-again Baptist household to anchoring the VMAs alongside Kurt and Sway, covering 9/11, and interviewing h...

Onetime Supervising Producer and West Coast Bureau Lead Shari Scorca remembers going on tour with 50 Cent; speeding through Yonkers with Jadakiss; and catching an impromptu, unplugged performance from Thom Yorke and David Crosby. She talks about covering the Michael Jackson trial with John Norris and floor producing the VMAs with Kurt Loder, plus backstage moments with Madonna, Bono, Dave Grohl, a...

MTV News Assignment Editor, Nina Justman, recalls her early days at a fledgling MTV News; meeting her teenage dream, David Cassidy; escorting NSYNC to the Rockefeller Center tree lighting; partying with Elton John; dinner with George Michael; championing an underappreciated Dave Matthews; that time ODB swiped her all-access pass; plus red carpet moments Madonna and Britney, Mick Jagger, and more.

Before he launched The Daily Show, Chappelle’s Show and South Park, and before her oversaw MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central simultaneously, Doug Herzog was MTV’s first News Director. This week, the Broadcasting & Cable Hall Of Famer shares stories about almost turning down the offer from MTV co-founders, John Sykes and Bob Pittman; branding ten-to-the-hour-every-hour news briefs; hiring Kurt Loder;...

Longtime MTV News Editorial Director Michael Shore shares stories about the days Kurt Cobain died and Courtney Love crashed Madonna’s VMA pre-show; Tabitha Soren’s Choose or Lose audition; office visits from Axl Rose and Jay-Zl; interviewing heroes Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, and Miles Davis; Live Aid, Woodstock; and much more.

These days, Elon Johnson leads development for Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. But in 1999, Elon was one of a handful of MTV News Writers tasked with writing and producing daily news briefs and packages. This week, Elon breaks down day-to-day operations in the MTV Newsroom and recalls bumping into Busta Rhymes, getting tight with Christina Aguilera, championing Alicia Keys, and fanning out on Cynd...

As Senior Hip-Hop Editor, Rob Markman led some of the cultures' most vital conversations, from MTV News' weekly RapFix Live show, to the most debated list in all of music, Hottest MCs. This week, Rob traces his journey from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to a Queens mailroom, all the way to MTV's Times Square Studios, and drops gems on Drake's beef, Kayne's TV,  Killer Mike's mad props, Pusha T's career advi...

For over a decade, Josh Horowitz has been foisting the MTV mic flag into movie stars' faces, asking questions sacred and profane, substantive and sometimes just plain silly. On this week's star-studded episode, Josh regales us with his MTV News origin story, plus hilarious tales about hanging out with Meryl Streep, dishing with Leonardo DiCaprio, vacationing with Jason Bateman, rubbing knees with...

For nearly a decade in the early aughts, On-Air Correspondent Christina Garibaldi lived her teenage dream, hosting numerous Video Music and Movie Awards Pre-Shows and interviewing everyone from Britney and Selena to Backstreet and ‘NSYNC, and more. This week, Christina takes us behind the scenes the day Michael Jackson died and the night Kanye nabbed Taylor's Moonman. She remembers Backstreet's bi...

Ryan Kroft recounts his remarkable rise from Intern to Senior Vice President of Specials & Events across MTV, VH1 & Logo in which he did it all, from Executive Producing dozens of Video Music and Movie Awards Pre-Shows, to live coverage of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston’s deaths, to shows like “A Conversation With President Obama,” “When I Was 17,” “Detox with Jim Cantiello” and “MTV...

For a hot minute there in the late 90s, Robert Mancini and I were the first two staffers into the MTV News offices every morning. Robert wrote years of daily news articles, on-air briefs, and VMA pre-shows and specials, and ultimately oversaw daily news across all media. Here, Mancini plays straight man to Diamond David Lee Roth, talks golf with Pantera's Vinnie Paul, gets a private show from Pink...

As a writer, reporter, and producer for "The Week in Rock" and a wide range of documentaries including "Gangsta Rap: An MTV News Special Report," Abbie Kearse sat down with some of rock and hip-hop’s biggest legends and tackled some of the most important social issues of the day. This week, Abbie recounts interviewing a sleepy Joe Perry, tracking down an errant Rakim, covering Snoop and Tupac’s re...