CK Unmuted

I was walking the labyrinth the other day at my favorite church. I was deep in thought when the carillon started to play a familiar Celtic tune. I stopped. I breathed in the music, then started to hum. There could not have been anything more sweepingly beautiful at that moment than hearing that tune while I made my way to the center of the labyrinth. There are few moments in life that have this so...

I notice I’ve been interviewing a lot of women about healing recently - searching in our conversations for explanations about why I’m feeling a certain way, why people are acting in ways that are so antisocial, why I say “Fuck!” and “Asshole!” so much more than I used to. I think I’m grieving. Grief coach and death midwife Naila Francis would probably agree. In this episode of CK Unmuted, we talk...

When my daughter and I wrote and illustrated The Rise and Fall of Sandcastle Town , we had no idea the impact it would have on adults, especially adults caring for loved ones with dementia. In this episode of CK Unmuted , my friend Linda Murphy interviews me about the inspiration for the story and how it’s being received at reading events around Philadelphia. One of the most striking takeaways for...

I worked in the field of early childhood education for 25 years. The last 10 were spent promoting bilingual early literacy. In 2017, my daughter and I converted one of our bilingual children’s books to a VR (virtual reality) app to teach English and Spanish to preschoolers. The kids loved it. Got rather addicted, in fact. Then we did research and found that exposing little kids to virtual reality...

Understanding the origins of a conflict can be instrumental in resolving it. This is the case in human relations, as well as global ones. In this episode of CK Unmuted, Iran scholar Negar Razavi reviews the crucial history of the Iran conflict, major players and instigators and possibilities for resolution. Women, she contends, will be - should be - instrumental in negotiating an end to hostilitie...

I don’t know much about football, but the 4th quarter, apparently, is the time you pull out all the stops, execute your most daring plays, and leap over the top into that glorious End Zone. At 66, recently retired, I’m feeling a distinct urge to push past the defense and go for it, the big, ME things I’ve always wanted to do: podcast; write poetry; swim with manta rays off the coast of Mexico; go...

My husband and I bought our little 3-bedroom, 1-bath rancher, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, for $141,000. That was 1999. 25 years later, it’s worth about 400K. In ORELAND! Great for us, but sucks for people wanting to buy and settle in this nice, little, suburban town. In this episode of CK Unmuted, Montco County Planning Manager Anne Leavitt-Gruberger, talks about the housing shortage in Pennsy...

When I was in high school, back in the ‘70’s, my mother gave me an indenture paper she found in an old trunk in her bedroom. She suggested I take it to my American History teacher, who undoubtedly would have interest in local slave history. He was intrigued by the document and asked to keep it and do some research for a few days. He returned it, carefully sealed in an archival plastic sleeve. Grow...

Emily and her husband Ant have been working for years to have a child, or children, come live in their home in Norristown. They’ve been through the trainings, background checks and home inspections. They’ve been so close. Through it all, Emily says they’ve grown in grace and maturity, as individuals and as a couple. I am in awe of her tenacity and her desire to nurture; to share, as she says, the...

Dr. Geri Lynn Utter walks her talk. She grew up in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Her parents had mental health and drug abuse issues. She is now a licensed psychologist, working with children and adults with severe mental illness and drug addiction. In my interview with Geri Lynn, I got a sense of her pragmatism, her power and her wisdom. I hope the mayor of Philadelphia and City Council...

“Americans are touch-starved and emotion-phobic” says Transformative Touch Practitioner Noël Wight. I think she’s right. Having worked most of my professional life with immigrant communities who touch, kiss, hug and caress a lot, I’m often a little chilled by my fellow Americans’ reluctance to touch and express emotion. Listen to my interview with Noël when you have a quiet, unhurried moment. My o...

I was a quiet fan of astrology and tarot for years, accompanying my mother on covert forays when church wasn’t working. I had my birth chart read the other day by Philadelphia astrologer Nicole Goicuria. My 1-hour session was so inspirational, I plan to make these readings a regular part of my mental and spiritual health regimen. In addition to revealing the probable roots of my own recent agita,...

I’ve tried lots of therapy: massage therapy; retail therapy; somatic therapy; axe throwing therapy; psychotherapy. One of the most successful has been art therapy. Daune Marie launched Blooming Peace in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 2024 to help people use art to work through trauma and grief. She knows a lot about both. Blooming Peace has been a salvation to me this year, as I manage the changes...

When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscar’s, I totally sympathized. To me, Chris Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s lack of hair was a pathetic attempt at humor. What kind of person stands center stage, in front of thousands of people, and makes fun of a disease over which people have no control? I don’t care that Smith laughed at first, then saw his wife’s expression and decided to defe...

People like Rachel Lucks-Hecht amaze me with their encyclopedic knowledge of bathroom fixtures. I don't know what I would have done without her ability to steer me away from cast iron bathtubs to stone resin tubs (the latest, greatest tub material for heat retention, etc.). I am SO excited about our new bathrooms. Rachel has helped me and my husband design and select products for both the guest ba...

For Corinne Goodwin, being transgender isn’t a “lifestyle choice.” She knew she was transgender when she was three. She came out when she was 50. New studies strongly suggest that the brains of transgender people are wired differently in utero. There appear to be genetic markers and hormonal variations during pregnancy that predispose a person to being transgender. These prenatal conditions can ca...

Barbara Adolphe crackles with energy. She pulses with passion. She is a very live wire at 76, and she electrifies people wherever she goes. As president of Philadelphia’s Northwest Village Network, Barbara helps folks age in place and do it with grace and gusto. Helping older people find new sources of joy is also high on her list of priorities. Starting with herself. She recently got a puppy. Bar...

I’m sorry, but salamanders do not deserve to be associated with dirty politics. Granted, they’re slimy and they hang out in shady places, but they enhance shady places by controlling pests not electing them. One of my fondest childhood memories is turning over rocks with my best friend Gail to find red-backed salamanders. They’d stare up at us with their little, bulbous eyes and run off on their l...

It’s like rugby on skates. It’s rough and fast and people get hurt, but Roller Derby today is nothing like the bruising, hurl-’em-over-the-rails days of the Philly Warriors. More rules. More safety protocols. More mainstream. Philly Derby member Jennifer Sulikowski says being part of the team is kind of like being in a sorority, but not in the “cringy” way. You can be yourself, be athletic, get st...

My son convinced me to invest in crypto. Crypto and blockchain are related in the world of digital assets, and despite the naysayers and doomcasters, I’m diving in. I wanna know what bright people in the field are saying about the future of money. I wanna hear their recommendations on securing my personal data (i.e health care files, mobile apps, etc.) as it becomes more widely distributed. In thi...

It was no hardship for me to mow less and let the clover and wild strawberries overrun my lawn this spring. I’ve been schooled on lawns. I’ve embraced natives and No Mow May and all the other hippy dippy environmental trends that are becoming more and more common place. And for good reason. The fertilized, “pest-free” lawns of today have virtually zero nutrients and little food or shelter for bird...

My neighbor, Nancy Schaeffer, says it’s an honor to help the people in her community vote. I loved interviewing her and hearing her talk about her job as a poll worker. She wishes more of her neighbors and friends would volunteer, even a few hours, to ensure that those who wish to vote can cast their ballots safely and smoothly on election day. I’ve worked the polls. My husband has worked the poll...