Jen Hazen has deep honesty and an awesome laugh, and both come through in the way she lights up the stage as part of the many constellations of music she occupies: Jenny & the Lost Boys, Jenny & the Jets, Girl Band, Milk & Whiskey, and Weapons of Brass Destruction, among others. In Jen's blog, you can learn more about Jen and her Music Heals recovery work with music at Arbor Place (and get the CD too).
Lucy Duncan does work that touches on all of the important issues of the day, like Palestine, Racism, and Immigration, in her role as Friends Relations Director for the AFSC. Check out the AFSC's program, Sanctuary Everywhere, and Lucy's Friends Journal articles, Stumbling Forward Toward Racial Justice and The Courageous Many: Quakers and AFSC Work Together for Peace and Justice.
Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Quaker
Show host, Peterson Toscano traveled to the island of Manhattan and met with someone engaged in hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. Ofelia Mangen, an Educational Designer and Technologist at New York University, talks about climate change and Resilient Power Puerto Rico.
Weekdays, Jim Phillips is a mild-mannered Chemistry prof at UW-EC, but after hours to transforms into a singer/songwriter, well-favored bass guitarist who has found a reborn calling to music after dramatic changes in his life.
Geoffrey Gates, MD, in addition to a life of professional healing work, book-ended his career with some off-the-beaten path world service. Though registered as a CO during the Vietnam War, he served as a member of IVS (International Voluntary Services) in a Vietnam war zone, 1970-71, and after his retirement served with the Peace Corps, Tanzania.
Timmon B. Wallis has spent his life building the tools of peace & getting rid of the weapons of war. In Disarming the Nuclear Argument: The Truth about Nuclear Weapons, Tim dispells the myths, clears the fog, & inspires for a better, safer, world. Tim's Ph.D. is in Peace Studies, and he's worked with Peace Brigades Intl, Peaceworkers UK, Nonviolent Peaceforce, and, most recently, with Peace & Disarmament for Quaker Peace & Social Witness in the UK.
David LaMotte is author of Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness and White Flour, co-founder of PEG Partners, Abraham Jam, and Let's Be Neighbors, and recently led the Quaker Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Task Group. And he makes great music.
Laura Joy won the Songwriter Contest at the Great River Folk Fest 2017, and it's no mystery why. The young Phoenix-to-Chicago transplant has talent far beyond her actual miles. And what's more, "Laura Joy has been known to quell dark, angry bars full of ornery old Irishmen".
David LaMotte is rich in music, and bountiful in living out what he sings about. With 12 recordings, 3 books, founding credits for Abraham Jam and a Rotary World Peace Fellowship, there is so much to rhapsodize about. Situated in Black Mountain, North Carolina, David has voice, lyrics, & guitar to charm you deeper.
Stressful, challenging, daunting times call for special medicine. Al Gini, author of The Importance of Being Funny: Why We Need More Jokes in Our Lives, believes that humor is a vital ingredient in good emotional/mental health. Al is Professor of Business Ethics at the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University, and for decades was the "resident philosopher" on NPR's affiliate WBEZ in Chicago. He's written oodles of books, humor-tinted and very serious, including God Can Quote Me on That: Quotations on the Meaning of Life, The Seven Deadly Sins Sampler: An Anthology, among others.
Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Catholic