Friends & Neighbors

My friend, Ron Lieber, leads the league in reasoned, thoughtful conversations about hard things. This week, the New York Times Columnist and Best Seller shares who inspires him, why curiosity is so important and how he ran two marathons in 30 days.

For more than 30 years, Brian Ives has kept the music scoops coming on SiriusXM, VH1 and MTV. Brian currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations. This week, Brian and I discuss doing what you love, building rapport with artists and colleagues, and being present.

As Education Director at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and Founder of Practice Wonder, Martine McDonald is “dedicated to co-creating and developing diverse children's media with mindfulness and representation of LGBTQ+ and families of color on screen.” In this episode, Martine, an early “Mister Rogers & Me" booster, goes deep into her journey as an advocate for diversity and...

In the second part of our two-part conversation, music journalist, Brian Ives, and I discuss my new collection of "greatest hits," "Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021)," including stories behind set staples "Summer's Gone," "Crash Site," and "Dear Elizabeth," as well as their potential legacy.

When it came to helping me put context on two decades of music for my new release, "Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021)," my friend, Brian Ives, was the only choice. Brian is a rock journalism lifer with three decades at MTV, VH1, Loudwire, Sirius XM and Radio.com. He currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations, and hosts the podcast, “How You Play Your Hand."

In her new book, “The Last Letter,” author Karen Baum Gordon explores the events that shaped the lives of her father and his parents — two Holocaust victims that he tried in vain to save in the early years of World War II. In this painstakingly researched, heartbreaking and inspiring page-turner, Karen reminds us that we often need to dig deeper into our pain in order to manage it, and let go of i...

How one Hell's Kitchen public school custodian helped me understand the weight of sadness, and turn it into one of my most beloved songs.

This week, a nor'easter blows through the Brandywine Valley, downing limbs, shattering crockery, and prompting a reckoning.

This week, Trenchtown Rock via Waterloo, Iowa.

Economies are scaffolded around the institution of marriage to build the mystery and protect the fantasy. In the sermon of Abbigail and my wedding ceremony (fourteen years ago today), our officiant, Fred Rogers' ally, Bo Lozoff, tempered our idealized, golden-hour, white-chiffon fantasies with reasoned, practical, even difficult wisdom.

This week, a story about everyday heroes, Wissahickon Schist, and The Wisdom of Fred.

What do you do when your real life exceeds your wildest dreams? You don't keep it to yourself.

Through tsunamis, drought, insurgencies, pandemics, heartbreak, worry and regret, one deep, simple and essential truth provides sanctuary.

From Nashville to Memphis and Muscle Shoals, join "Friends & Neighbors" host Benjamin Wagner as he travels deep into the south to walk the floor at The Ryman Auditorium, meet Elvis' ghost, and record with The World Famous Swampers.

In which we descend into the verdant Tennessee Valley, meet The Swampers, and record at the world famous House That Aretha Built, Fame Studios.

In which we enter the gates of Graceland, meet the last living purveyor of The Nudie Suit, and drive off in The King's pink Cadillac.

In which we travel to Nashville, Tennessee, and meet extraordinarily normal Americans wrestling with extraordinarily normal and inspiring things.

Whether playing The Best Buy Guy, Cheez-It Scientist, or Generally Clueless Husband, actor Joe Smith always breaths humanity and humility into his characters.

For two decades, reporter Roger Clark has been NY1's everyman, rendering curiosity, empathy and humility for the world's most-watched local news channel. Today, he shares tales from his Queens upbringing to his trial-by-fire as a newly-minted reporter in the week after September 11th.

Farm Sanctuary CEO, Megan Watkins, shares her journey from Newton, Massachusetts, to Barnard College, Big Banking and beyond, including the moment she aligned with her values to lead a movement

The highly-decorated columnist and author of I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers and The Burning: The Tulsa Massacre of 1921 shares deep, hard-earned insights on how the stories we tell can transform one another's lives.

What's life like on the edge of your comfort zone? Kinzen Co-Founder and COO, Áine Kerr, shares her journey from quiet County Monaghan to the front lines of the battle against misinformation.

As a Rolling Stone contributor, Musician editor, and MTV executive, Bill Flanagan helped passionate music fans get closer their favorite artists. As an author of six books, he has helped readers get closer to their humanity. This week, Bill shares a few tales from some wild rides with everyone from Bruce Springsteen and Ray Davies to Jimmy Buffet and Robert Plant.

For nearly a decade, “Death, Sex & Money” host and “Let’s Talk About Hard Things" author, Anna Sale, has embodied one of Fred Rogers' guiding principles, that “What is mentionable is manageable."

The dots may connect when we look back at our lives, but how can we make sense of the moment when we're in it? And keep growing despite bad days, bad luck, negativity and naysayers? Hint CEO, Kara Goldin, shares insight from her book, "Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts & Doubters."