Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani is an accomplished artist with 2 books, Contested City and a new book, The Cities We Need. Gabrielle makes work about how people connect to their neighborhoods in a communal emotional way by touring and photographing the neighborhood with individuals that live there. Dr. Lisa wants to know haw an artist as accomplished as Gabrielle is hasn’t put the regular amount of navel...

Artist Scooter LaForge is a delight. To be honest, I somehow felt like connecting with him on this show was healing for me-now who’s the shrink!? Scooter’s work is amazing and so instinctual- he cannot not do it. Even though he’s worked with big names like he is as humble as can be. So much to learn from his perspective—growing up as a gay man in a tiny town in Arizona. I have to say I was envious...

Joe Kelley has a very long, successful career in the music business, both on air and off. Currently he runs his own management company, Black Jeans Management which represents bands such as @houseofharm, @socialordermusic and @rosegardenfuneralparty Joe is also a fellow host with his own radio show on, Fascination Beat, live every Thursday, 4-5pm on @radiofreebk I note in the beginning of this ses...

Kambri Crews is an extraordinary woman. Not only in her notable achievements (NYT bestselling author, QED comedy club founder/owner, just to name a few), but also how her hard-to-imagine childhood as the only child of 2 deaf parents, growing up between a shack and a trailer in rural Texas, having a father in jail because of violence against his girlfriend that she witnessed.  As a performer, club...

I've known Jane Mogel since we were freshman in college—50 years!!! And her smart, funny, charming husband, Peter Pitts for almost as long. I went to their wedding in the mid 80's. Jane has a successful business as an interior designer and Peter has a global trotting business as the co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. His research, reporting and public appearances range f...

Miller is a comedian that exudes positivity. He has OCD and has struggled with depression which led him to ocd eating and at one point at 6'1", he was 400 lbs. In 2020, he suffered a series of strokes and took charge of his health—he's close to 1/2 the size he once was. Art is healing. Millers journey through comedy has made him a happy man. He has a close circle of comedy friends and is producing...

Roman is 18 years old lives w his mom in Stuyvesant town.  He’s studying sociology at Pace university and he also founded and fronts a band, Holiem. Roman is all about his music and his band. Dr. Lisa is a bit verklempt listening to a young person who has found his true love - and his excitement of starting out on his journey in music. He is also in love with his girlfriend-personally - I had a li...

Nick Viagas is very talented comedian. You can hear me say in the beginning of this session that he is handsome, which he is. He also stutters a bit. That combo of funny, attractive and vulnerability (a stutterer!) makes him appealing to the ladies. It seems he doesn't have to try too hard to get their attention and truthfully, they mostly take the initiative with Nick. Nick enjoys this of course!...

Yoshi Sakai is a super talented artist who is showing at my gallery, @Dog_House_Gallery for funny artists at The Brooklyn Comedy Collective. She was here all week and we sort of worked together since I have to manage working with the BCC inside of their busy space. So it was super cool to have gotten to know her and her work process before she came on the show. Yoshie is the first artist in her fa...

I had the great fortune of meeting Claire at an open mic in Bushwick. After they called my name she came up to me and asked me if I knew her parents. I did. Claire Pelllegrino has known of me since she was born because I am a leading character in her parent's, Jean Galton and Ron Pellegrino's origin story. I was really close to her mother bacaue we both worked for the same difficult boss at our fi...

Sarah and I met at an open mic and then bumped into each other again on the street in Buswick. Sarah is a objectively beautiful and sexy. Dr. Lisa is curious as to what it would be like to be so attractive, grounded and self-possessed, which is her idealize version of what she would have dreamed to be like at that age-20-30s. In turn Sarah sees Lisa as a role model—someone who makes being older ok...

Stephanie is an accomplished poet. She was not brought up to be a creative person, but that's who she was all along. I think she had some pretty cool experiences along the way! Check out her book #InternetBoyfriend @stephanie.athena Poet, novelist, aesthete. https://stephanievalente.com/  Stephanie Athena Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her published works include Hotel Ghost, waiting for the end o...

Peter and his girlfriend have been together for 6 years, living together for 1/2 that time. Peter's really happy in the relationship, but doenst need to have anything change. Peter's girlfriend wants to buy an apartment with him. IS co-home ownership a red herring for a ring? Props to Peter he was open minded and willing to talk which I don’t necessarily take for granted in males.  Peter is an exc...

I don't get the chance to meet people like Franklin Rossman often enough. Someone who had found a big part of his life of sharing his art to improve young people's lives who are too often overlooked by public education. Franklin shares a fascinating story of growing up and the role music played in his life which led him to the role of Regional Director, New York for Guitars Over Guns. Check out Fr...

Accomplished painter and portrait artist and now curator! recently completed a 365 portrait a day project so we get to find out what the experience was like for her since they were all done from live subjects. Brenda is also the mother of a lovely teenage girl, Oona and it affected her too. A lot of unexpected stuff here! http://brendazlamany.com/

Loren Munk is an amazing painter and art world chronicler. His art and videos are an amalgamation of art history. The well-known painter, Katherine Bradford said he deserves a MacArthur "Genius" Award and I wholeheartedly agree. As James Kalm, he’s had over 2 million views of his web series covering art, galleries, artists, openings and even some street musicians. There is so much to learn about t...

Max and Guillaume are two musicians from Massachusetts who work for Metro Art Collective, an organization hosting a variety of artistic events dedicated to showcasing underground local talent. As well as making their own music, they revel in the opportunity to meet and build relationships with the local artistic community. Gulliame is a fellow RFB host-hes only 24 and hes been doing his show since...

I met Elija Meshnick briefly at an open mic. We vibed instantly so I invited them on the show. They're a comedian, also pretty well-adjusted but still has some issues around popularity from being compared to her gregarious fraternal twin. They have ADHD issues—do they have it or not? Does a diagnosis matter? We were able to drill down and get a lot done while still having a blast! @elijah.mesh uny...

Justin Linville is a talented actor and improviser. He’s on a star improv team at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective where he works as the director of the BCC Dog House location. Justin seems to really enjoy growing up in his family and was encouraged to do what he chose to, so in fact, he’s actually pretty well adjusted. I think his being an “air force brat” and moving around a lot every few years ma...

Why doesn't Shawn Wickens like to talk on the phone? Is it a reaction to his mother's phone behavior, an avoidance issue, or is it that he just doesn't like talking on the phone? He knows he's not good at it and he feels that some folks wish he was better at staying in touch. We have a deep dive exploration and by the end of the show we have come up with some satisfying results. More about Shawn H...

I met Keenan Steiner after seeing him perform at a comedy show. I can enthusiastically attest to his talents—he is HILARIOUS. Keenan is a super high energy, driven, professional comedian who is charming, out-going, social and dating. He’s always busy, but maybe he needs to slow down and settle in when he is ready. Time marches on, he’s in his 30’s now, so, when does he really focus on this aspect...

I’ve admired Dave Zackin’s work on Instagram for years, so when I opened a very small gallery at the Bushwick Comedy Collective to bring funny art to comedians, I was THRILLED when Zackin said yes. His show opens at The Dog House Gallery at The Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Friday,137 Montrose Ave., Friday, Sept.13, 6-9pm. It will be up through Oct. 21, 2024. I was curious about Dave. His work is li...

This is my 7th episode with radio show host, Ben Louis—one every year, since 2018. For listeners who don’t know about Ben Louis, he started his career in radio right here at Radio Free Brooklyn in 2018 and found his calling. It was exciting for me, Dr. Lisa, to see someone like Ben with all the talent, hard work, drive and ambition to pursue his dream and he’s been taking me along for the ride. Th...

This is the sixth year in a row that Ben Louis has been my first guest of the year. I absolutely love starting the year this way. Ben is a beacon of positivity. Five years ago, when I first met Ben, he was an intern at Radio Free Brooklyn. We all knew he was on his way to big things. I think it's taken more patience and hard work than he could have originally imagined, but today I think Ben is pin...

I tried to get #GenevieveGagnard to admit that she is driven by her anger and resentment from being brought up in a mized race family, but I was way off base. It turns out that it just made her curious and inspired to find out more about different sides of her personity which is what inspires the wide range of characters she creates in her work. Also-her mother is great at finding and collecting c...