Curiosity Invited

Two-time Emmy nominated composer Michael Abels returns to Curiosity Invited for another lively and incredibly interesting conversation about his work generally and in particular, the opera - OMAR - which he cowrote with Rhiannon Giddens. Michael and Rhiannon won the 2023 PULITZER PRIZE FOR MUSIC for that piece of work. Abels brings his unique combination of artistic mastery, business acumen, and e...

I was so pleased to be able to sit down for a great conversation with Marianne Williamson. In addition to being a prolific author, and known to many for her work in spiritual thought, Marianne has been a progressive activist for decades.  Contrary to the way she was portrayed by mainstream media when she ran for the same office in 2020, Marianne is a thoughtful, careful, and circumspect political...

Daryl Davis and Jeff Schoep are two of the most inspirational gentlemen I've ever met.  Both work at the forefront of a hands-on social movement aimed at building bridges of understanding and friendship ordinarily thought to be impossible.  Having had the opportunity to sit down with each of them individually (Davis Episode 24; Schoep Episode 29) they agreed to sit down with me at the same ti...

Los Angeles based Michael Farhat - a.k.a. ArtMobb - is a pioneer in hyper-realistic spray painting on plexiglass, accomplished through an exacting reverse painting and stripping technique. Farhat's witty take on sports, music, and celebrity has made him a superstar on social media, and a beloved figure of players, fans and collectors alike

Pamela Rosin, MFT helps clients move toward a sense of belonging, grounding, freedom, and comfort in their own skin. As a Certified Hakomi Therapist, Pamela utilizes experience based modalities and a synergy of Buddhist and Somatic psychologies to cultivate healing. As a therapist, Pamela integrates her professional acting background, a decade as a bodyworker, and many years of teaching Shakespear...

Chrysta Bilton is an American writer and memoirist. Her first book, the memoir Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings, was published in July 2022 by Little, Brown in the US and Octopus in the UK. The book was listed among Kirkus's Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 and named a 'best' or 'must-read' book of Summer 2022 by The Washington Post, The LA Times, V...

Davis has worked to improve race relations by seeking out, engaging in dialogue with, and befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1983, he was playing country western music in a "white" bar in Frederick, Maryland, when a patron came up to him and said it was the first time he had "heard a black man play as well as Jerry Lee Lewis". Davis explained to the man that "Jerr...

For over 60 years Michael Stearns has been discovering and exploring the world of and through sound. He is an ambient music composer and performer, film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for theatrical films, documentaries, large format films, commercials and themed attractions. His award winning scores to Ron Fricke’s non-verbal global film masterpieces “Chronos”, “Baraka” and “Sam...

Leila Steinberg speaks frankly about her work as a dedicated educator, artist, and business woman that has spanned over four decades.  Perhaps most widely known for being an early mentor and manager of rap legend Tupac Shakur and more recently Earl Sweatshirt (Thebe Kgositsile),. Leila Steinberg has is a business woman, educator, writer, poet, and founder of Aim 4 The Heart a 501(c)(3) non-profit...

Andrew Carter did not grow up dreaming of being a mushroom farmer ...although you might not guess that when you speak with the dynamic and creative Co-Founder and CEO of Smallhold.   “Smallhold wants people to eat more mushrooms. We are mainly just trying to get mushrooms on people's plates in any sort of way possible. We want them to be grown locally, so they're fresh and enjoyable.”  S...

Omar Imady & Noel Hagman - Author and Editor:  Creative Symbiosis Author. poet, intellectual, Omar Imady is an uncommon collection of many things – poet, historian, novelist, Syrian, American, exile, Sufi, ‘Alan Wattsian’, cat lover, avid coffee drinker, insatiable gastronome – all of which find expression in his growing repertoire of eclectic fiction. He is the author of multiple books, inclu...

Determined to help others in the community avoid the pain and loss he felt, Josiah Citrin speaks candidly about what the loss of his son Augie about the painful loss of his son, Augie as a result of fentanyl poisoning. Like so many who believe they are using a familiar substance, Augie died tragically when he was poisoned by the counterfeit narcotic.   Josiah Citin Background:   Josiah Citrin is a...

In this episode, the microphones turn as Katalin Hanappi asks questions to help us get to know our very own host, David Bryan, a bit more! From David Bryan: I first met Katalin Hanappi when she was in the 5th grade, when I went to dinner with her parents who were considering placing Katalin in the school I started in California. She was thrilled at the possibility of being at a school where she wo...

Katalin Hanappi is a Vienna based documentary filmmaker, but likes to refer to herself as an escape artist. She was born in Vienna, Austria into an artistic and rather nomadic family, that is changing its patchwork patterns until this day. Katalin grew up in Austria, Canada, England and the United States, learning soon to adapt to new surroundings and witnessing many forms of education and lifesty...

Stephen James Taylor - Musician & Explorer : Trans-tonal Music - Transcendent Thinking Stephen James Taylor has a unique musical identity. His style has often been called “Afro-futuristic) as it represents a blend of classical, rock, blues, gospel, world music, homemade instruments, and avante garde. His past projects include scoring Richard Tanne’s 2020 Amazon film Chemical Hearts, music for...

Kelly Rigg has been an environmental activist for over 40 years. As a senior advisor to, and later Executive Director (2009-2014) of the Global Call for Climate Action, she led a major international alliance campaigning for a fair, ambitious and binding global climate agreement. She also coordinated (2004 – 2009) the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, made up of more than 60 NGOs worldwide, campaign...

Artist, author, teacher, Jane Edberg speaks candidly and profoundly about the practices that carried her through deep sadness and grief over the loss of her son toward joy, wellbeing, and insight into metabolizing life's most profound challenges. Due to be published in 2022, The Fine Art of Grieving promises to be an intimate and insightful look into the relationship of vulnerability and stre...

David Bryan, Co-Founder and Founding Head of New Roads School speaks with Luthern Williams current Head of New Roads School about this unique independent school in Santa Monica, CA.  Unique among independent schools, New Roads is a K-12 school that has, since its inception in 1995, offered unprecedented amounts of need-based support to its students to ensure that students whose families might not...

Congresswoman Karen Bass is a leading candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, California (2022). Ms. Bass has represented the 37th Congressional District of CA in the United States Congress since 2010. Her complete bio is a testament to what a life dedicated to assisting others can do. Congresswoman Bass'  complete bio can be found here. https://bass.house.gov/about/biography Information on her c...

William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago (retired) has written extensively about social justice and democracy, education and the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially intellectual, ethical, and political enterprise. His books include A Kind and Just Parent; Teaching toward Freedom; Fugitive D...

Danny Goldberg, author, journalist, entertainment business professional, and political activist discusses his new book - "Bloody Crossroads 2020: Art, Entertainment and Resistance to Trump." Drawing on over 50 years of experience working in the arts and attending to American politics, Goldberg offers illuminating insights into the long history of the overlap of politics and the entertain...

Brent Green is a Los Angeles based horticulturalist and landscape architect, with a lifelong love or plants, trees, gardens and greenscape. In addition to his extraordinarily beautiful residential and commercial landscape projects, Brent has transformed his neighborhood and other communities by planting and caring for trees in what would otherwise be concrete and blacktop streets. Brent's wor...

Drawing on his nearly 50 years in medicine and research, world renowned physician and epidemiologist, Peter Schnall speaks broadly on the subject of workplace produced illness. Dr. Schnall recounts some of the early history of medicine's role in advancing progressive social changes during the years of the American civil rights and anti-war movements of the 60's and beyond. Still highly a...

President of Learning Stewards and Director of the Children of the Code Project, David Boulton is a learning-activist, technologist, public speaker, documentary producer, and author. Boulton's insights into how people learn come from his keen observation of both his own and his children's intersection with educational institutions. Boulton's work offers the theoretical insights, str...