Life is for the Living

As is our tradition here at Life is for the Living, we end our season by asking our guests their advice for living. Whether it is advice for getting the highest salary as a woman, or for finding your true self, our guests come through with the wisdom they have gathered over the years.

If you listen to only one episode this season, make it this one! We have stories of self-discovery, tragedy, action, and comedy. Additionally, jazz legend Jon Coltrane, actor Dennis Hopper, and Malcolm X himself all make appearances in guest Denise's star-studded life stories.  Trigger warning: This episode includes a story of suicide and animal death. 

The worst parts of life and the best parts, births, deaths, sorrows and joys; our guests talk about them all in this episode. 

Calling all aspiring difference makers!! In this episode, our guests give us a masterclass on how to be an activist--how to set your expectations, how to get your self heard, and how not to burnout. 

Our guest have protested on the streets, run free breakfast programs, stood in front of bulldozers and much more. In this episode, they talk about what they found to be the most effective ways to make a difference, along with their biggest successes and worst failures. 

In this bonus episode, host Rebecca and producer Marco chat about the first six episodes and what they have learned so far from the guests as well as give some hints about what is to come on the rest of the season 

In our final single guest episode, we meet Susie Schaefer, social worker, multicultural community activist, reproductive rights advocate, environmentalist, peace activist,  disabilities advocate. Susie has seen the rough side of life both personally and professionally, and has never hesitated to dive in to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.  

Author and leadership coach Belinda Clemmensen did always think of herself as an activist. But then she scrap her leadership coaching company and began again, founding the the Women's Leadership Intensive. Now she focuses on changing the world by changing not only who gets to lead, but how they lead. Websites: https://www.womensleadershipintensive.ca | https://leadercoachintensive.com IG: @wo...

Jessica Xavier came out as a trans woman in the 1990's and has been fighting to make trans people safe and healthy since then. Her main tool: data. She has been instrumental in getting trans people counted in surveys, allowing them to gain access to key medical resources. She is also a musician and Wiccan High Priestess. You can check out other interviews with her in the LGBTQ Policy Journal...

Former member of the Young Lords and Black Panthers, AIDs research and activist, professor of anthropology and women's studies, Denise Oliver-Velez has been in the wars and lived to tell the tale. We talk about her grounding in her family history, her use of art in activism, how she got drafted into the Young Lords, and how she ended up getting a PhD despite all of her efforts not to. You can...

Jan's upbringing by activist parents and her membership in the Universal Unitarian church drives Jan as she tries to make the world a better, more equitable place. We discuss her childhood, her peace activism, and her work with immigrants, the prison system, and unions among other things.  Image provided by Jan Thompson

Hello, and welcome to the third season of Life is for the Living! This episode starts us off in the activist focused season by introducing the 5 guests:  Jan Thompson ,  peacenik, LGTBQ, immigration and prison reform activist and union organizer; Denise Oliver-Velez , Young Lord, Black Panther, AIDs activist and more; Jessica Xavier, Trans and LGTBQ rights activist; Belinda Clemmensen , author and...

Come join us for a behind the scenes look at how Season 2 came to be with Rebecca Richman (host) and Marco Burlo (producer). We chat about our most memorable moments, our biggest challenges and, as per tradition, we celebrate our host with a fun blooper reel. 

In the last episode of the season, I ask our guest for advice on how to live and how to survive hard times.  A millions thanks to our guests: Claudia, Debbie, Crisaida, Ghada, Makram and Hannah for sharing their time and stories with us. And thanks to you for coming on the journey! 

In this episode we hear five stories: One from Crisaida about finding the will to continue when she was a rock bottom,  two from Makram--one on life under Saddam Hussein, and one about calling out prejudice, a story of a health scare from Debbie, and story of illicit lasagna from Claudia.  

Are you afraid of death? What do you think happens after death? What is a good death? These are the questions I pose to our guests in this episode. 

**CONTENT WARNING** This episode contains discussion of suicide.  The things that make us happy and sad are explored in this episode, with our guests sharing happiest and saddest moments of their lives. 

What we teach our children and what they teach us are the focus of this episodes, and we learn of the struggle of parents trying to keep the values of the old country alive, while their children absorb the values of the new country. 

Ghada tells the story of her 17 year marriage to her ex-husband and details all the fault lines that led to their divorce. 

What makes us fall in love with someone? What do we still find attractive about each other after years of marriage? Our guests open up about what brought them together with their spouses and what keeps them together. 

As the only guests to immigrate as adults, Makram and Hannah had a life time of experiences  before their immigration, so in this episode they detail their lives prior to the Gulf War. 

Immigrants in America and Canada can face enormous hardships, so why to they stay? I ask our guest this question and find that despite their troubles, none of them regret coming here.  

In this episode we look at three ways people come into America and Canada: by boat and Ellis Island, by foot over the Rio Grande, and by convincing the American Embassy to give you a visa. 

Even when our guests made it too their new home country, they face the difficulty of fitting in. In this episode we explore the shock of immigration and the struggles of not being able to go back home. 

In our first episode of the second season, we introduce a brand new group of guests, all of whom left their homelands for a better life. Throughout the next 13 episodes, we will learn why they immigrated, why they fell in love and out of love, what they think happens to us when we die, and so much more.