Homelessness and the Right to Housing with Kara Birrell, Comedian and Host of Housing First Podcast
Release Date: 05/31/2021
Working On My Fitness with Ashley Lentz, MS, MEd, ACSM, Founder and Executive Director of the Aunt Sister Project
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When it comes to personal fitness, it turns out that one size does not fit all. This week Amanda is joined by personal trainer, Founder and Executive Director of the Aunt Sister Project - Ashley Lentz. Ashley has over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry and discusses with Amanda the importance of community, doing what feels good to you, and the fundamentals of understanding your own body. Spoiler: turns out not everyone is built the same! Ashley explains the six things that you should do while exercising to make it effective, and just because something has made its way...
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Sustainability and Ethics in Fashion with Kevin Robert Fernandez, Kevin Robert Designs
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The fashion industry is one of the most wasteful industries in the world, making up roughly 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, it is the second largest consumer of water worldwide, and 85% of textiles end up in landfills every year. How can we change that and what is the difference between ethics and sustainability? This week Amanda is joined by Kevin Robert Fernandez of Kevin Robert Designs, artist, designer and stylist based in Brooklyn. After realizing he enjoyed getting dressed for his job in criminal psychology more than the job itself, it was time to reevaluate and pursue what he was...
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Do You Wanna? Consent Education with Aela Mansmann, SafeBAE
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Turns out consent doesn't only apply to sexual situations. At the root of it, consent is really about permission. This week Amanda is joined by Aela Mansmann, peer educator with SafeBAE - Safe Before Anyone Else. Aela breaks down common misconceptions about consent (annoying, mood ruining, and lame) versus what it actually means. What is coercion? Why is sex so tied up in our ego? Spoiler alert: we should be talking about it much sooner than we are. Unfortunately, it's not students taking issue with it, it's our administrations and school systems. Oh, and it turns out, porn isn't doing...
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Homelessness and the Right to Housing with Kara Birrell, Comedian and Host of Housing First Podcast
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Is finding a solution to homelessness as difficult as we think? Prepare yourself for some worm cans! Amanda is joined this week by Kara Birrell, comedian, podcaster, and housing advocate. Kara shares her experience with homelessness in New York City and how she found her turning point by continuing her education. Many of the homeless population are not homeless by choice but struggle with addiction and mental health and the only way to make their way into housing is addressing those issues first, but is that effective? The cost of keeping people homeless is more expensive than...
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The Foster Care to Prison Pipeline with Christina Sorenson, Esq., Juvenile Law Center
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Instead of assuming what people want, we should be asking them what they need. This week Amanda speaks with Juvenile Law Center lawyer, Christina Sorenson, about the foster care to prison pipeline and the history of foster care in the United States. It’s difficult to understand how foster care got where it is today without discussing the history of it’s origin in the commodification of children. Foster care isn’t always to the benefit of the child, either. The common (puritan) perception of what is needed isn’t what has been linked to healthy child development, but many...
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A Different Kind of School Year with Mia Gault, Middle School Student
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The children are the future--and they’re smarter than us. It’s been an exhausting, challenging, and eye-opening year, but what has it been like for the younger generation? This week Amanda sits down with middle school student, Mia Gault, to get the lowdown on what the past year has actually been like for students. Has virtual learning been awful? What has it been like witnessing the civil rights protests of the summer and other world events without being around a similar age group? Can new friends even be made during a pandemic? Not without the whole class knowing. ...
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Dear Britney, An Apology
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Amanda is on her own this week, and she has some baggage to unpack (this won't be the last time, either). Framing Britney Spears, presented by the New York Times, promises to take a deep dive into the #FreeBritney movement and her ongoing conservatorship battle with her father. As is her fashion, Amanda took away something else--the b-story-- and determined that she, Amanda Van Nostrand, a regular person, owes Britney Spears, a pop star sensation, an apology. How have women been taught to think of other women? Amanda explores her perception of Britney as a woman in the media...
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2021 NYC Mayoral Candidate, Dianne Morales
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Community based solutions, grassroots efforts, and a progressive agenda are just a few things that make NYC mayoral candidate, Dianne Morales, stand out. With a background in the nonprofit sector, Dianne served as former Executive Director of The Door where she developed an outreach program for homeless LGBTQ+ youth. She was a founding board member of Jumpstart, a national early literacy program, and her most recent role: CEO and Executive Director of Phipps Neighborhoods, which helps children, youth, and families in low-income communities in the South Bronx rise above poverty. ...
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2021 NYC Mayoral Candidate, Kathryn Garcia
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COVID-19 has changed so much for the world as far as how we operate. We are having to consider new ways of doing things and we are being given an opportunity to rebuild bigger and better, and doing so in New York is no exception. Enter mayoral candidate, Kathryn Garcia. As the former Commissioner of Sanitation and the former COO of NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Garcia believes she has what it takes to get New York back up and running and that starts with empowerment. As a woman who has spearheaded many projects and worn many hats (Food Czar, Lead Czar), Kathryn understands...
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Finance Series: Hope Is Expensive
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Is this what money therapy sounds like? Amanda is on her own this week as she puts together the pieces she's learned over the past few episodes when it comes to personal finances. She speaks on her upbringing (a big part of how we think about money) and how a good work ethic was instilled at an early age but not how to ask for more. Money comes from hard work, but is that actually true? Amanda talks about her thoughts on people that have money, and while she wants more, how does one go about that without losing touch with the world around them? When is too old to decide that being broke isn't...
info_outlineIs finding a solution to homelessness as difficult as we think? Prepare yourself for some worm cans!
Amanda is joined this week by Kara Birrell, comedian, podcaster, and housing advocate. Kara shares her experience with homelessness in New York City and how she found her turning point by continuing her education.
Many of the homeless population are not homeless by choice but struggle with addiction and mental health and the only way to make their way into housing is addressing those issues first, but is that effective? The cost of keeping people homeless is more expensive than finding permanent housing, but because the conversation isn’t making its way to the forefront, change isn’t happening.
Kara and Amanda discuss the layers and layers of stigma and racism around this topic and what we can do as a society to improve the lives of everyone.
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