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The UN has declared 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, as thousands of them are facing extinction. Our guests are Wil Meya of The Language Conservancy and Alex Fire Thunder of the Lakota Language Consortium, to talk about their efforts with the Lakota Language, and the New Lakota Dictionary and app now available at the New York Public Library. For more, visit languageconservancy.org and lakhota.org.

Meg Zucker is a lawyer, a mother and founder of Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It, a nonprofit with the mission of advancing understanding and mutual respect for people’s differences. Her book is BORN EXTRAORDINARY: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities, which shows parents how to empower their children to confront others’ assumptions, grow in confidence, and encourage dialogue—rather than silence, fear, and shame—around difference. For more, visit donthideitflauntit.com

During The Public Health Emergency (PHE) caused by the recent Pandemic, many of the requirements keeping current Medicaid recipients protected by their coverage were set aside, including routine checks whether recipients were still eligible. But now with the end of the PHE in April, many Medicaid beneficiaries are wondering how they will be impacted. Our guest is Donny Dennison, an attorney in the Elder Law practice at Mandelbaum Barrett PC in Roseland, NJ for a conversation about what Medicaid recipients should know.

THE TEACHERS: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession is the result of investigative reporter Alexandra Robbins intensive shadowing of three individual teachers over the course of a year, and interviews with hundreds of teachers nationwide. Alexandra Robbins is the author of five New York Times bestselling books, a Goodreads Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, and an award-winning investigative reporter who also has been honored for “Distinguished Service to Public Education.”

Social workers are real life superheroes who can help people navigate mental health challenges and trauma. Our guest is Katie Rodriguez, Social Work Therapist with JCCA, one of New York’s oldest child and family services organizations, to talk the growing need for youth mental health support – especially for teen girls. For more, visit jccany.org

Life changes, job changes, changes in our health…they’re always happening. And even when they are supposedly changes for the good, they can turn our lives upside down. Clinical psychologist Dr. Carrie Ditzel joins us for a conversation about why change is so challenging, what keeps people from progress, and ways to become more resilient. Dr. Carrie Ditzel is a practicing psychologist and clinical manager at Baker Street Behavioral Health, based in New Jersey, and recently appeared in the Real Simple magazine article, How to Cope With a Fear of Change.

At the beginning of Ramadan, the most important month in the Islamic Calendar, a look at a New York based organisation with Middle Eastern roots: The Syrian Music Preservation Initiative promotes and celebrate the diverse ethnic and regional musical traditions of Syria through innovation, research, and education. Our guest is President of the Board, Marissa Arciola. For more, visit syrianmusic.org.

In DRAMA FREE: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships, licensed therapist and NY Times bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to break the cycle and move forward.

It's astounding to think that within the child welfare system, black youth make up nearly 57% of the foster care population in New York State, compared to 15% percent of children overall. Kerlyne Colin of The Children’s Village, a charitable organization that specializes in working with the most vulnerable children and families in the New York metropolitan area, talks about how the child welfare system has disproportionately affected Black and Brown families, and how the organization is responding to racial inequity within the system. For more, visit childrensvillage.org

In THE COURAGE TO RISE, Liz Arch shows how trauma changes your brain and inhabits your body, creating a vicious cycle of physical and psychological distress. As an an internationally acclaimed yoga teacher, Liz offers a prescriptive and transformative plan to use yoga to heal pain, anxiety, depression, and other manifestations of unresolved trauma.

Our guest is lawyer and financial expert Scarlett Cochran, the wealth-building expert behind One Big Happy Life, sharing a new, holistic way to understand money and find your own path to financial freedom. Her book is IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY: A Proven Path to Building Wealth and Living the Rich Life You Deserve.

The New York City election cycle in 2023 includes races for all 51 members of the City Council. The New Majority, the organization is looking to maintain gender parity, supporting female candidates in the 2023 City Council Elections and beyond. Our guests are Board Chair, Yvette Buckner and Vice Chair Teresa Gonzalez. For more, visit thenewmajoritynyc.org

AMERICAN THEATER GROUP presents the Tony Award-winning musical “Parade”, directed by Broadway Veteran Hunter Foster, at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge, NJ from March 2-5, and the Maurice Levin Theater at JCC MetroWest in West Orange, NJ from March 9-11. Our guest is American Theater Group’s Producing Artistic Director Jim Vagias. For more details about the show, visit americantheatergroup.org.

In recent years, the high-profile murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, have brought much-needed attention to the pervasiveness of police misconduct. Yet it remains nearly impossible to hold police accountable for abuses of power. UCLA professor of law Joanna Schwartz is author of the book SHIELDED: How the Police Became Untouchable.

Destination Tomorrow, a national LGBTQ+ organization with centers in the South Bronx and Atlanta, believes that no individual should have to leave their neighborhood to access specific LGBTQ+ services. Our guest is founder of Destination Tomorrow, Sean Ebony Coleman, the only African American of transgender experience to lead an LGBTQ+ center in New York State. For more, visit destinationtomorrow.org.

While The United States faces dangerous threats from abroad— terrorists, climate change, future pandemics—perhaps the greatest peril to our democracy comes from within. Our guest is Dr. Richard Haass, president of the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations, with his new book THE BILL OF OBLIGATIONS: Ten Habits of Good Citizens.

At a time when young people should be focused on their education and preparing for their professional lives, many NYC college students don’t have secure housing, and some report living with homelessness. Our guest is Ann Shalof, CEO of The Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, which recently began a pilot program to provide year-round housing to a cohort of CUNY Students. For more, visit NCSINC.org.

Queens Theatre, the premier performing arts venue in Queens, presents THE MONKEY KING: A Kung-Fu Musical, Saturday & Sunday, February 11-12. Our guests are the writers and star of THE MONKEY KING, Kimbirdlee and Jonathan Fadner, who talk about their reinvention of the 16th century Chinese novel as a musical and with a female king, in a discussion that also addresses representation for Asian women in the performing arts. For more, visit QueensTheatre.org.

Generation Z - those born between 1997 and 2012 - is poised to become the most influential and impactful generation in history…in fact, we already have Maxwell Frost as the 1st Gen Z member of Congress! What do you know about Gen Z? John Sclhlimm’s book is WHAT WOULD GEN-Z DO?: EVERYTHING YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT GEN-Z BUT SHOULD. John Schlimm is a Harvard-trained educator, artist, advocate, and international award-winning author of twenty-five books.

The 18th Annual Benefit honoring the life of Staff Sergeant (SSG) James McNaughton, a New York City Police Officer and Army Reservist and the first NYC Police officer killed in action in Iraq, is Saturday, February 4th at Mulcahy’s Concert Hall in Wantaugh, Long Island. Bill and Michelle McNaughton talk about the bond between their son and his comrades, speaking with veterans, and why they “never forget”. For more, visit jimmymcnaughton.com.