Past Forward

Today we connect with Harlis Sweetwater. This episode was recorded live on October 6 at the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA. Harlis Sweetwater  is a national touring artist. His music appeared on Itunes Top 200 Best Selling Blues Albums with songs charting in the Top 200 Blues charts in the U.S., Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand. In 2018 his band was voted “Best Rock Band” in OC Wee...

Today Chef Daniella Malfitano connects with Chef Shachi Mehra. This episode was recorded live on October 6 at the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA. Chef Shachi Mehra  blends Western and Indian cultures to create artful dishes that successfully marry tradition with modernity. An ardent supporter of local farmers and sustainable practices, she takes great care in sourcing her ingredie...

Today Jonelle Strickland connects with Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa and Patti Hirahara. This episode was recorded live on October 6 at the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA. Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa  is an Associate Professor of Sociology. Her research interests focus on issues of representation in film, mass media, art, performance, and cultural display. She is a founding member of the...

Today Trevor Allred connects with Grace Talusan in collaboration with UCI and the Illuminations initiative. Grace Talusan was born in the Philippines and raised in New England. A graduate of Tufts University and the MFA Program in Writing at UC Irvine, she is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship to the Philippines and an Artist Fellowship Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Talu...

A special live podcast featuring four of skateboarding’s brightest trailblazers: Jennifer Charlene, Briana King, Hilary Shanks and Victoria Taylor—four young women who are the essence of skateboarding’s DIY ethos, redefining what it means to be a skateboarder, and changing the landscape for future generations of women in skateboarding. Moderated by Robert Brink. This episode was recorded live on F...

Erin Murphy is a fresh face in the music industry with a natural and sweet tone that goes hand-in-hand with her alternative pop singer/songwriter background. Her songs can be recognized by their subtle yet signature bluesy style which perfectly compliments Erin’s pop foundation. Getting involved in the music industry at a young age has boosted her career, writing and releasing her own single at th...

Sam Mihara  is a second-generation Japanese American (Nisei) born and raised in San Francisco. When World War II broke out, the United States government forced Sam, age 9, and his family to move to the Heart Mountain, Wyoming camp. After the war ended, the family returned home to San Francisco. Sam attended UC Berkeley undergraduate and UCLA graduate schools, where he earned engineering degrees. H...

Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa  is an Associate Professor of Sociology. Her research interests focus on issues of representation in film, mass media, art, performance, and cultural display. She is a founding member of the curatorial collective  Ethnographic Terminalia . Her dissertation Visualizing Japanese-America: the Japanese American National Museum and the Construction of Identity examined the role...

Dr. Kristine Dennehy  is a history professor at California State University Fullerton, with a specialization in Japanese and Korean history. A Connecticut native, Dr. Dennehy majored in Japanese language at Georgetown University, completed her M.A. in Asian Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, and received her Ph. D. in history at UCLA (2002) with a dissertation entitled “Memories of Colonial Ko...

Mary Adams Urashima  is a historian, former journalist and freelance writer, with thirty years in media, governmental and public affairs, and author of Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach (History Press). She chairs the grassroots preservation effort to save the Furuta Gold Fish Farm and Wintersburg Japanese Mission property in Huntington Beach, known as Historic Wintersburg. Mary identified...

Luis Gómez moved to the United States at the age of 14 from Veracruz, Mexico and currently works at the LGBT Center OC as the Immigration Resources Specialist. He joined the Center’s team in 2015 after obtaining his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine. A beneficiary of the California Dream Act and DACA, Luis provides immigration resou...

A live recording of our educational podcast The Grammar of Science and Technology  with Jennifer Anaya and Mark Essayian. Jennifer Anaya serves as vice president of marketing for Ingram Micro, where she is responsible for the strategic direction of marketing for the Americas, as well as leadership of Agency Ingram Micro. This year she was also appointed to serve as the global Executive Champion fo...

Breaking down the walls of a cubicle, Jake Bernard shed his 9-5 to return to his positive, feel-good roots. Reflecting his inner-optimist, Jake's beach-pop sound meshes the more colorful sides of Jason Mraz and John Mayer, and he's appeared at the Hotel Cafe, The Peppermint Club, BMI's Acoustic Lounge (Genghis Cohen), The Levitt Pavilion (with American Idol's Nick Fradiani), and The Bitter End. Th...

A live recording of the 1888 Center Podcast  with Francesca Lia Block and guest host, Samantha Dunn. Francesca Lia Block is the Lifetime Achievement Award winning author of over thirty acclaimed and widely translated books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She has also written a screenplay for Fox Searchlight and contributed essays, interviews and reviews to many publications incl...

A live recording of our educational podcast  The Purpose of Past Tense  with Pico Iyer. This program is themed on The Art of Stillness. Pico Iyer is the author of two novels and ten works of non-fiction, on subjects ranging from the Cuban Revolution to Islamic mysticism, from stillness to travel, and from forgotten nations of the world to the 21st century global order. An essayist for Time since 1...

A live recording of our educational podcast  The Purpose of Past Tense  with Nachoem M. Wijnberg. Nachoem M. Wijnberg (Amsterdam, 1961) is a Dutch poet and novelist. His poetry has received many Dutch and Belgian awards, including the 2009 VSB Prize for the best book of poetry and the 2018 PC Hooft Prize, the most important literary career award in the Netherlands. His poetry has been translated i...

A live recording of our educational podcast  The Purpose of Past Tense  with Geoff Manaugh and guest moderator, Ryan Gattis. Geoff Manaugh is the author of the New York Times-bestselling book A Burglar’s Guide to the City (FSG Originals, 2016), as well as a freelance writer covering design, crime, infrastructure, and more for publications ranging from The New York Times Magazine to Businessweek. H...

A live recording of our educational podcast The Grammar of Science and Technology  with Rebecca Skloot. This special program, entitled  Dialogue on Bioethics: A Conversation with Rebecca Skloot , will be moderated by Dr. Andrew Lyon. Rebecca Skloot, a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Her award winnin...

A live recording of our educational podcast The Grammar of Science and Technology  with Dr. Michael Shermer. Dr. Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American , and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He is the author of The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain , Why People Believe Weird Things, Why Darwin Matters, The Mind of the Market, How...

A live recording of our educational podcast The Grammar of Science and Technology  with Adam Becker. Adam Becker is a physicist and science writer. He has written for the BBC and New Scientist, and has also recorded a video series with the BBC.  Adam earned a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Michigan and a BA in philosophy and physics from Cornell. He is currently a visiting scholar at U...

Héctor Tobar is the Los Angeles-born author of four books, including the novels  The Tattooed Soldier  and  The Barbarian Nurseries . His non-fiction  Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of Thirty-Three Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle that Set Them Fre e, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize: it was also a New York Times bestsel...

We took our  Why We Write project on the road with an Orange County Tour. Live events were produced throughout Orange County and featured author readings from curated essay submissions. This event was recorded live at 1888 Center in Orange, California. Produced in partnership with Brew Sessions ,  Anaheim Packing District  and The LAB .  1888 Center programs are recorded and archived as a free edu...

We took our  Why We Write project on the road with an Orange County Tour. Live events were produced throughout Orange County and featured author readings from curated essay submissions. This event was recorded live at Cooks Chapel, Packing House in Anaheim, California. Produced in partnership with Brew Sessions ,  Anaheim Packing District  and The LAB .  1888 Center programs are recorded and archi...

We took our  Why We Write project on the road with an Orange County Tour. Live events were produced throughout Orange County and featured author readings from curated essay submissions. This event was recorded live at The LAB Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa, California. Produced in partnership with Brew Sessions ,  Anaheim Packing District  and The LAB .  1888 Center programs are recorded and archived as...

A very special ALL Moon Tide Press edition of  Writers’ Block Live with Eric Morago, Daniel McGinn, Alexis Rhone Fancher, and Peggy Dobreer. Friend of YourPopFilter and two-time Writers’ Block guest Eric Morago is the publisher at Moon Tide Press, and in the spring of 2018 the press published three amazing books of poetry: Daniel McGinn’s  The Moon, My Lover, My Mother, & The Dog , Alexis Rhon...