Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

Christopher Albert, host of The Junk and Jam Hour, every Monday, 2pm on Radio Free Brooklyn, fills in for me as I am on a boondoggle in Mexico City visiting art fairs such as Zona Maco and Material. In the meantime. Christopher takes on on his own journey exploring mental health. More about Christopher Albert: Armed with an acquired wit and intelligence that was born from the streets of NYC, Chris...

Eric Drysdale has climbed a mountain and is now seeking new vistas. It was so interesting to hear how he kinda wound up naturally as a late night television writer, contributing to over 1500 hours of late-night television as a staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2000-2005), The Colbert Report (2005-2015), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015-2016) and Full Frontal with Samantha B...

In this session, we find that Chris Gersbeck is a great guy. His brother is annoying though. Dr. Lisa grills Chris about his less than ideal relationship with his sibling and how Chris's good instincts have led him to follow healing path by forming healthy, working relationships with talented comedians such as Dave Hill, Frank Coniff and Kambri Crews/Christian Finnegan of Q.E.D., who support him....

I know Sharilyn pretty well, so when I ask her to explain why someone had referred to me as "intense," she was able to articulate pretty well why without upsetting me too much. We then turn the session to her where we discover that she needs to change to a more emotionally and culturally evolved primary care physician and she talks about her new interest in possibly dating on the internets. We com...

If I detail all the business and endeavors Indira Cesarine has going, it will exhaust you. Besides being an artist herself, she owns a gallery, a magazine, which she curates and contributes to, plus she has expanded her gallery, The Untitled Space into Untitled Media to include The Untitled Boutique, an online fashion retail site, Untitled Productions, a full service event production house and cre...

I first met Leslie Goshko in 2008 when we were both producing our own shows at Ochi’s Lounge, a great club run by the fabulous now-owner of Q.E.D., Kambri Crews in the basement of COMIX the biggest comedy club in NYC in those days. Leslie and I support each other’s work consistently and it REALLY HELPS. The last time Leslie visited the station was exactly 3 years ago this month so she returns to u...

I've known Godfrey for the last 20 years. Being South African has been a central part of Godfrey's identity, also the accident reminds you. Godfrey, a PHD in social work, now 70 years old, moved back from the US to South Africa about 5 years ago, In this session we get to understand Godfrey's lifelong connection to South Africa and why he's so joyous to be living there again. A first hand account...

I first saw John F. O'Donnell performing years ago in a basement in the bowels of Bushwick and his talent really spoke to me. I’ve followed his career and he’s just finished 5 years as a correspondent on Redacted Tonight. We got him back in the hood and most importantly back weekly live at Cobra Club! Live From Outer Space, every Friday night, 9pm, is a great, authentic, comedy show where you can...

It's so much fun to have a band on Dr. Lisa ! Gillian Visco and John Swanson of Shadow Monster spend time with me at the RFB studio., the day before their album from Dadstash Records launches and they honor RFB by releasing a song from Punching Bag, their new album: Kill Me Sweetie. Here's what Gillian writes about her new album.: "Punching Bag is an album about betrayal and isolation. It's about...

I've been curious about Ayahuasca a naturally grown, highly potent hallucinogenic plant since it's become recently popular in the culture. What's up with this shit? Can you really learn something or is it just another party drug? Jesse is an expert. She calls her healing practice Enhanced Living through Acupuncture, Herbs, and Alchemy. She's been practicing with Ayahuasca for over 25 years. Jesse...

I don’t usually bring out the word “kvell” in my sessions, but I brought it out about 3 times here. Shona’s work is profound to say the least. She dives into intimacy and the relationship with one’s body and so much more. She is a physically large (by our bullshit society standards) female who was brought up by a perfectly beautiful mother and charismatic father. There are two qualities that Shona...

Just to shorthand what this episode with Ken is mostly about—it's a deep dive with Ken about his drinking and recovery. I am grateful to Ken for being so open, candid and generous with discussing his life experiences. Ken Perlstein is a successful actor with a great career (recurring role on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, touring comedian, accomplished writer, etc. https://www.kenperlstein.com/ Ken has wr...

I came across this book The Performing Art of Therapy and immediately I had to met the man who wrote it. Mark has a M.S.W. with honors, Silberman School of Social Work AND an M.F.A. in Acting, Trinity Rep Conservatory (affiliated with Brown University). As a self-proclaimed psychotherapist, myself, I have no formal training in either therapy or performance. Mark’s created innovation in the area of...

Fresh off of a plane, in town from Seattle, Jude Miqueli came to the studio for a in-depth therapy session. Meeting Jude IRL for the first time, we chatted briefly about her day job as a kindergarten teacher—herding kids that age is sort of like "forming a community," she said. Once we were on the mic, it was off to the races. Jude's family had a tragedy about five years ago and she talks about it...

Penny Arcade is an icon. By that I mean she stands for something. Something important which involves being aware. She is also incredibly talented and entertaining. Penny travels a lot performing all over the world, but she is on the phone and not too far away, calling in from a residency at The Watermill Center  to talk to me in the studio. Her latest show Longing Lasts Longer, is a rock n’ roll b...

Fresh off  her first in person live performance at an exclusive club in Montauk on July 4th weekend, artist Leah Schrager unloads about her experience (positive = exciting) performing for an unsuspecting audience at the $2000/lounge chair pool. Photos of her performance. Angles On A Woman HERE. Leah was on #DrLisaGivesAShit in 2016, and at that time we tried to make clear how hard it is for her wo...

Bring you own tissues!!!    This interview took place on July 11, a short time before artist/activist/photographer, Savannah Spirit’s 44th birthday which is a year to the date of her mother’s unexpected death at age 73. In this session, Savannah generously and openly articulates the experience she went through and the subsequent personal growth she, as well as her father and brother, have develope...

In this episode I am away at an artist residency but I want to get in a session with my good friend, artist David Kramer, because his exhibition is opening at The Front Room gallery and I need to know what he is wearing there, (he didn't know). RFB host, Billy C of THE Attitude Adjustment Show and Cosmic Debris, runs the studio and chimes in while David is on the air. David is clearly excited abou...

Emily Frembgen is a talented singer/songwriter, so when I had to go out of town I had one of our music hosts, Gianluca Tramontana, with serious chops as a music journalist (among other things) sit in with her to great results. Great chemistry, personalities and best of all Emily's music - she brought her guitar. You can hear more of her work on Spotify as well. And you can listen to Gianluca's sho...

George Tannenbaum was hired the same time I was in 1990, to be my copywriter-partner at a well-known (at the time) ad agency, Ally & Gargano, 1990-1995. I was an art director. We were both just past a solid start in our careers as creatives in advertising. George wound up being super-successful in advertising—he’s an Executive Creative Director and Copy Chief at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and I w...

Rachel Music (her real last name) is a multi-hyphenate creative. Currently her main focus is Schadenfrau, an emergent interdisciplinary studio dedicated to playful defiance, which she is the founder of. At only 28, she's gone through some serious sexual, emotional and physical abuse. But let's not forget Rachel is super multi-talented and hard working too. She details her journey in a straightforw...

Abby Ehmann was one of those "cool chicks" that everyone knew or was aware of, but my nerd lifestyle kept us from crossing East Village paths until now. Abby was at the helm of so many important and radical events. I was just about to write them in here, but there are too many so scroll down. Anyway Abby is in my age group she's almost 60, I'm 63. I identify with Abby now, or I would like to! I th...

00.00-00.30: Art critic/writer and now curator, Jillian Steinhauer hit a collective nerve with a powerfully meaningful exhibition she’s curated at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts titled In the Presence of Absence. The show is described briefly here by Mary Louise Schumacher, "When it comes to grief, our culture values the stiff upper lip. But stoic composure comes with a price. It keeps the...

Gianluca Tramontana, host of RFB's Sitting With Gianluca, (every Wed., 6pm) /https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/sitting-with-gianluca/ hangs with Meghan Taylor (lead vocals and Damian Eckstein (bass) of the band GIFTSHOP, while Dr. Lisa takes a vacation. http://www.giftshoptheband.com They are a fabulous and wildly popular band out of Astoria Queens and the music played on this show is not to be m...

The first half of this session I spend time with 25 year old artist COLIN RADCLIFFE http://www.colinjradcliffe.com/ who is about to have a solo show at Equity Gallery in Manhattan. I am a huge fan of Colin’s so there is some fawning on my part which he handles well. Colin's work is particularly compelling because the emotional quality is so complex. Here are some adjectives: funny, quirky, weird,...