Alison Bonaguro
Alison Bonaguro
Backstaged author Alison Bonaguro discusses her journey from Motown to Music City, the power of the small gesture and the magic of the middle eight.
Jamie Leonhart
Jamie Leonhart
On stage and in-studio, Jamie Leonhart has been one of my most frequent collaborators for nearly two decades. As singer-songwriter, playwright (“Estuary”) and backup singer (Steely Dan, St. Vincent), she has always been game to wade into the gray areas of life, love and art, self, spouse and family. On the eve of the release of her new album, “The Illusion of Blue,” Jamie shares her journey from a New Jersey summer camp singer to New York City artist, performer and mother.
Sarah McBride
Sarah McBride
Sarah McBride, the United State’s first openly transgender state senator, author of the deeply moving memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different,” and my Wilmington, Delaware, neighbor, shares how our deepest insecurities can be our most potent inspiration.
Michael Tyler
Michael Tyler
Michael Tyler, author of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award-winning children’s book, “The Skin You Live In,” discusses about the difference between change and transformation, and the human imperative to create as a means of adaptation.
Ron Lieber
Ron Lieber
Brian Ives
Brian Ives
For more than 30 years, Brian Ives has kept the music scoops coming on SiriusXM, VH1 and MTV. Brian currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations, and hosts a podcast called, “How You Play Your Hand” about musicians and resilience. This week, Brian and I discuss doing what you love, building rapport with artists and colleagues, and being present.
Martine McDonald
Martine McDonald
As Education Director at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and Founder of Practice Wonder, Martine McDonald is “dedicated to co-creating and developing diverse children’s media with mindfulness and representation of LGBTQ+ and families of color on screen.” In this episode, Martine, an early “Mister Rogers & Me” booster, goes deep into her journey as an advocate for diversity and inclusion, and a human being on Earth.
An “Essential” Conversation, Part II
An “Essential” Conversation, Part II
In the second part of our two-part conversation, music journalist, Brian Ives, and I discuss my new collection of “greatest hits,” “Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021),” including stories behind set staples “Summer’s Gone,” “Crash Site,” and “Dear Elizabeth,” as well as their potential legacy.
An “Essential” Conversation, Part I
An “Essential” Conversation, Part I
When it came to helping me put context on two decades of music for my new release, “Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021),” my friend, Brian Ives, was the only choice. Brian is a rock journalism lifer with three decades at MTV, VH1, Loudwire, Sirius XM and Radio.com. He currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations, and hosts the podcast, “How You Play Your Hand.”
Karen Baum Gordon
Karen Baum Gordon
In her new book, “The Last Letter,” author Karen Baum Gordon explores the events that shaped the lives of her father and his parents — two Holocaust victims that he tried in vain to save in the early years of World War II. In this painstakingly researched, heartbreaking and inspiring page-turner, Karen reminds us that we often need to move towards our pain in order to understand it, and then let go of it in order to move on.
Dear Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth
How one Hell’s Kitchen public school custodian helped me understand the weight of sadness, and turn it into one of my most beloved songs.
Everything Is Unsettled
Everything Is Unsettled
This week, a nor’easter blows through the Brandywine Valley, downing limbs, shattering crockery, and prompting a reckoning.
