No, I Know Podcast

Marriage in a Crab Shell part two with your co-hosts, Ilyana and James. Our conversation in our teardrop camper Barbarella on Chincoteague Island continues.

We cover: Addiction and dry drunk behaviors, why flags and bumper stickers are not going to change mindsets, Arts and Culture as the Heart and Soul of a place and why communities need it to thrive, Gen X and Latchkey childhoods and mixing it up in marriage and love. All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin. Visit us here: www.noiknowpodcast.com

No, I Know's Make a Difference Series continues. Across America there are beach towns and resorts areas filled with restaurants and hotels that can create an incredible amount of waste and food waste. Ocean City, Maryland is no different. What can be done about this food waste? Lets find out.

Segment One: Josh Chamberlain is the visionary founder of Go Green OC, an environmental non-profit committed to transforming Ocean City, Maryland into the first zero waste resort town in the United States. Armed with a background in marketing, Josh has always harbored a deep passion for environmental preservation and a profound dedication to safeguarding the planet for future generations. In 2018, driven by an unwavering commitment, Josh transformed this passion into a compelling mission by establishing Go Green OC. Under Josh's leadership, the organization has achieved remarkable milestones in the quest for a cleaner, healthier planet. This includes spearheading a citywide compost program that has diverted over 650,000 pounds of food waste.

Segment Two: Prince Street Elementary's Rhythm & Roots was founded by Physical Education, Health and World Music Teacher, Dustin Thomas. Three students unexpectedly lost their father during the 2018-2019 school year. Mr. Thomas could see a change in their schoolwork and behavior, and he knew he had to find a way to connect with them. Knowing their father played drums, he created an after-school music program, Rhythm and Roots, to engage these struggling scholars and strengthen their connection to their father's legacy. The program began with a whistle, drumsticks, and paint buckets donated by a local paint store. Many Prince Street scholars asked to participate as they heard what was happening. Mr. Thomas began writing grant applications to obtain funding for additional equipment. Rhythm and Roots became a program with local, state, and national recognition in many outlets, including Inspire One Magazine, SHAPE Maryland, Hip Hop Public Health, and the NBC Today Show.

All Music and Lyrics by your hosts, James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin

Where can artists be seen as cultural workers and offer other humans much needed creative engagement? The intersection of Arts and Health. In 2017, we founded Stories Love Music (501c3) and integrated our deep relationship with music into a program (The Joy of Creative Engagement), for caregivers and those living with dementia. The United States does have some exciting organizations that are diving into this world of Neuro-Arts, the creative arts meeting the challenges in neurodegenerative diseases. And when we hear of artists doing this kind of awesome work in other countries, we have to talk to them!

Our latest guest is Liz Clark, an Ireland-based singer, songwriter, performer, and musician. Liz has recorded 5 full length studio albums of original songs. She has performed and collaborated throughout the US and Europe working solo engagements as well as alongside the likes of Sarah Maclachlan, Emmylou Harris, The Counting Crows and more.

Over the past ten years she has been working extensively in the Arts and Health context in which she developed a collaborative approach to the songwriting process in healthcare settings across West Cork. As part of the Arts For Health Partnership Programme, she developed The Starling Song Project which preserves stories and heritage from older participants with dementia, in the form of song and songwriting. From this work, she developed The Starling Band, involving other singers and instrumentalists to showcase this music in a wider context outside of the hospitals. Liz is also the leader of a community choir and choirs for the wellbeing of staff.

Music and Lyrics in this episode written and perfomed by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.

Interfaith Comedy in 2024, sounds like a slippery slope that could end in the flames of societal outrage right? The pendulum of what is deemed appropriate in comedy has swung from the outright cruel to the paralyzed in fear of offending. However, the founder of Interfaith Comedy reveals it is actually a unique approach to anti-bias work. Their mission-driven, feel-good, clean comedy show reduces prejudice through laughter. Starring comedians from different faiths, their nationally touring show is perfect for places of worship, community organizations, faith-based conferences, comedy clubs and universities.Their comedians have been seen at venues that include: The White House, Gotham Comedy Club, Caroline’s on Broadway, Stand Up NY, the DC Improv, The Moth and the Kennedy Center. All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.

A beloved folk singer presents an impassioned account of the fall and rise of the small American towns she cherishes. Dar Williams is a musician, educator, author and has had over a 25+-year career. She rose out of the vibrant mid-90’s Boston scene, inspired by the eclectic influences of alt-rockers, Berklee jazz musicians, slam poets, and folk artists, After a year of touring non-stop with her first album, The Honesty Room, in 1994, she was invited by Joan Baez to tour in Europe and The United States. To date she has written 14 albums and 6 books. And we wanted two speak with Dar about one of those books. “What I Found in a Thousand Towns” A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities—One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, and Open-Mike Night at a Time (published in 2017). A beloved folk singer presents an impassioned account of the fall and rise of the small American towns she cherishes. Dubbed by the New Yorker as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters," Dar Williams has made her career not in stadiums, but touring America's small towns. She has played their venues, composed in their coffee shops, and drunk in their bars. She has seen these communities struggle, but also seen them thrive in the face of postindustrial identity crises. Here, Williams muses on why some towns flourish while others fail, examining elements from the significance of history and nature to the uniting power of public spaces and food. Drawing on her own travels and the work of urban theorists, Williams offers real solutions to rebuild declining communities. What I Found in a Thousand Towns is more than a love letter to America's small towns, it's a deeply personal and hopeful message about the potential of America's lively and resilient communities. All Music and Lyrics by James Harrell and Ilyana Kadushin.