Best The East Side Institute Podcasts (2024)

1
Ep.47 Dancing Toward Better Futures for the Planet 49:30

14d ago49:30

49:30

Dr. Jame McCray, grew up in Brooklyn, “hanging out with the ants and caterpillars on my block.” Today she is the Managing Director of the Alliance for Watershed Education at the National Wildlife Federation, a member of the Board of Directors of Black Marine Science, and the founder and leader of Ecotonic Movement, an organization that facilitates …

1
Ep.46 “Land for People, Not for Profit” How Unhoused People in Cape Town Turned an Abandoned Hospital into a Community 54:55

1M ago54:55

54:55

Cissie Gool House was an abandoned hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, empty and decaying for 40 years, when homeless activists snuck past security on the night of March 27, 2017, and began an occupation that, seven years later, has transformed it into a vibrant self-governing community of 1,000 formerly homeless, evicted, and displaced people. Tw…

1
Ep.45 Homeless World Cup 51:08

2M ago51:08

51:08

The Homeless World Cup, founded in 2003, today brings unhoused people together in 70 countries to connect through the universal language of football, each year culminating in a World Cup tournament in a different city. Founder and leader Mel Young, and formerly homeless player turned referee Sarah Frohwein talk with host Desire Wanden about why and…

1
Ep.44 Performing Peace in the Wake of War 1:00:55

3M ago1:00:55

1:00:55

In this episode, Peter Harris, one of Israel’s major innovators of community-based theatre, shares the experiences and insights of fifty years of creating performances with marginalized communities. With the war raging in Gaza, he also talks about his work over the last decade in the Theatre Studies Department at the Western Galilee Academic Colleg…

1
Ep.43 Revolutionizing Relationships: Murray Dabby & Carrie Sackett on Social Therapeutic Coaching 48:56

5M ago48:56

48:56

In this episode of All Power To The Developing, Host Desire Wandan sits down with Murray Dabby and Carrie Sackett, the authors of "Social Therapeutic Coaching: A Practical Guide to Group and Couples Work." Our conversation dives into the heart of their upcoming book, exploring the innovative approaches and transformative methods they use for group …

1
Ep.42 Building Play Ensembles to Change the World 1:08:03

6M ago1:08:03

1:08:03

In 2020 with the pandemic ravishing Brazil and the country’s president doing nothing to combat it, a group of progressive Brazilian educators, led by Dr. Fernanda Liberali, of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and an East Side Institute Associate, found a way to move forward through play. Inspired by the Global Play Brigade, which was…

1
Ep.41 Co-Creating Our World 59:40

6M ago59:40

59:40

On the 30th Anniversary of the Taos Institute, co-founder Kenneth Gergen shares the birth of social constructionism, its challenge to the assumptions of modernism, and the impact it has had both in and beyond the academy. During this wide-ranging conversation with host Desire Wandan, Gergen discusses the practices, such as appreciative inquiry and …

1
Ep.40 Performing Environmental Education 57:02

7M ago57:02

57:02

Francine Kilemann and Marcia Donadel are bringing their experience with site-specific, immersive theatre to elementary school education in Brazil. Through Plato Cultural they lead students and teachers in creating fictional worlds in which the children become “SOS Agents” from the future tasked with helping to save the environment. The months-long …

1
Ep.39 Rhymes, Beats and Development 1:20:34

8M ago1:20:34

1:20:34

Nuyorican M.C., poet, and hip-hop educator Intikana shares his development as an artist, activist, and educator. He traces his journey through the economic poverty and cultural richness of the Bronx, the challenges of commercial co-optation, and bringing his revolutionary hip-hop educational techniques to young people in kindergartens, foster homes…

1
Ep.38 Therapy for and by the People 58:22

9M ago58:22

58:22

The ASSIM (Like This) Institute in Florianopolis, Brazil is dedicated to bringing therapy free or at affordable rates to those who need it the most—the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. Not only does ASSIM bring therapy to the people, it also provides poor people with free therapeutic training that allows them to lead groups in their own co…

1
All Power To The Developing | JUNE 2023 UPDATE 1:54

10M ago1:54

1:54

In this time of political, ecological and emotional crisis, Developing Across Borders has emerged as a Zoom-enabled support network for activists and others around the world. This month "All Power to the Developing" would like to draw your attention to "Border Crossers Build Their Culture." This episode is even more relevant now than when it was fi…

1
Ep.37 American History, Black Heritage and Progressive Activism 56:58

11M ago56:58

56:58

Darryl Heller, lifelong progressive political activist, shares his journey from grassroots organizing in Boston and New York to becoming a labor historian, a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University, and director of the South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. “I don’t think we can realize our full humanity if we're not develop…

1
Ep.36 Theatre-Making in a Prison Community 50:55

1y ago50:55

50:55

Join host Desire Wandan in a conversation with Rivka Eckert—theatre maker, activist, and educator—about her creative work with homeless youth and police officers in Arizona and with prisoners, correctional officers, and community members in the prisons of upstate New York. Eckert, a professor in the Theatre and Dance Department at the State Univers…

1
Ep.35 Let’s Imagine Impossible Worlds Together 41:36

1y ago41:36

41:36

Steven Licardi spent most of his childhood and adolescence, in his words, “in-and-out of psych wards.” He emerged from our oppressive and brutal “mental health” system with his flame of creativity burning brightly. He now shares that creativity with his clients as a social worker, social therapist and innovative poet and artist. In this fascinating…

1
Ep.34 Playworlds of Imagination and Development 36:32

1y ago36:32

36:32

Playworlds are a performatory approach to early childhood education that brings children and teachers together to create an imaginary world where they can all develop emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Dr. Beth Ferholt of Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York is one of the world’s leading practitioners and…

1
Ep.33 What’s So Funny About Growth and Development? 49:35

1+ y ago49:35

49:35

This special episode, originally released by Laugh Box, the podcast of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, brings humorists Katy Bee and Jim Bob Williams together with East Side Institute director Dr. Lois Holzman to talk, joke, and giggle about the importance of humor, fun and happiness in human development. Guaranteed to raise some…

1
Ep.32 The Efficiency of Play: A powerful modality for inclusion 42:10

1+ y ago42:10

42:10

Based in Mexico City, Lorena Elizondo is a free-lance consultant and feminist activist who works with corporations, NGOs and community groups, using play, improvisation and performance to explore conflict and structural barriers. “Play is efficient — it may not be fast — but through play, far more voices can be heard,” she says about the power of p…

1
Ep.31 Hip Hop Impresario, King UpRock, Exports Brooklyn-Born Beats to Communities Worldwide 48:44

1+ y ago48:44

48:44

Ralph Casanova, aka King Up Rock—hip hop dance pioneer, international teacher, and a community organizer with deep roots in his neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn—shares his life, art, and love for his community with host Desire Wandan. His father was a noted conga player, his mother an expert salsa dancer and Casanova was playing drums and piano a…

1
Ep.30 Identity, Trauma and Development in Taiwan 48:31

1+ y ago48:31

48:31

In 2022 the conflicted and shifting relationships between Taiwan, China, and the United States have gained worldwide attention. Within that global frame, this intimate political conversation between East Side Institute co-founder and director Lois Holzman and Taiwanese social worker, activist, and political organizer Peiyu Kuo takes on a special si…

1
Ep.29 Performance of a Lifetime: Developing Leaders Through Play 42:10

1+ y ago42:10

42:10

Founded in 1996, Performance of a Lifetime (POAL) has pioneered bringing play and improvisation into corporations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Working with clients as diverse as the Bank of America and the United States Olympic Committee, Jet Blue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, POAL has invited organizational leaders to d…

1
Ep.28 Voice Arts, New Zealand: Giving a Performatory Voice to the Elderly & Unheard 46:59

1+ y ago46:59

46:59

Meet East Side Institute Associate, Nicola Pauling, whose Wellington, New Zealand-based Voice Arts builds community through play and performance. Most recently, bringing performance workshops into nursing and retirement homes for the elderly, Voice Arts takes theatre games and exercises used by actors to prepare for the stage and adapts them — “see…

1
Ep.27 Does Dementia Have a Future? Challenging the Tragedy Narrative with Play & Poetics 47:16

2y ago47:16

47:16

Dementia, for most of us, is associated with stigma, fear and dehumanization. What if, instead of approaching it as a dreaded medical disease that we had to fight, we collaborated with it and found ways to help those diagnosed—along with those around them—to continue to be creative and grow? That’s exactly what John Killick has been doing for thirt…

1
Ep.26 The Sound of Development: Ursel Schlicht Conducts a World-Music Sonic Exchange 39:46

2y ago39:46

39:46

Can music be developmental? Probably not. However, the creation of music—particularly when done in ensemble through improvisation—most certainly can. Ursel Schlicht, an innovative music maker based in Kassel, Germany, shares her approaches to creating music across political and cultural borders. Her “Sonic Exchange” program is an international cruc…

1
Ep.25 Let’s Talk About It – Part 2 “Evolving Into Who We Thought We Might Become” 30 Years Later 47:28

2y ago47:28

47:28

Continue the exploration of “Let’s Talk About It,” the daily social therapeutic drop-in group led by Barbara Silverman at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, NYC between 1994 and 2009. Join early participants in the program— Chris Allen, Marcus Barton, Patricia Bendidi, Fabiola Desmont, Kepriece Lindsay, and Desire Wandan, along with the program’…

1
Ep.24 How Do Social Therapeutics Impact Our Lives? “Let’s Talk About It” Alumni Report Back 1:15:05

2y ago1:15:05

1:15:05

What does social therapeutics look and feel like on-the-ground? How does it develop throughout a person’s life? Join a group of young adults— Darnelle Cadet, Chauncey Espada, David Pierre-Louis, and Desire Wandan—all of whom grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn and participated in “Let’s Talk About It,” a daily social therapeutic drop-in group at Erasmus …

1
Ep.23 Critical Revolutionary Hip-Hop Pedagogy Can You Dig It? 1:00:57

2y ago1:00:57

1:00:57

Meet Spiritchild—creative rapper, innovative educator, radical organizer—as he shares his work with young people on our streets and in our prisons from the U.S. to Europe, from Africa to Southeast Asia. Spirtchild describes himself as a “revolutionary freedom artist conducting the energy and frequency of the people.” He works to foster creative env…

1
Ep.22 ”Finding My People!” Neurodiverse young people steal the show at ActionPlay 46:33

2y ago46:33

46:33

Meet ActionPlay, a bold and brave performing arts program empowering young people on the autism spectrum. Carrie Lobman talks to founder Aaron Feinstein and his creative collaborators, Jackson Tucker-Meyer and Edison Weinstein, about the wondrous ActionPlay zone where neurodiverse ensembles (mentored and cheered on by their friends, family and prof…

1
Ep.21 “Performing a Future Where We Own What We Make….” 54:16

2+ y ago54:16

54:16

Meet Ben Fink and Tiffany Turner— virtuoso community organizers mining the rich heritage of communities from the coalfields of East Kentucky and the ash pits of Alabama, to the sidewalk stoops of Baltimore and Milwaukee — and helping working class Americans tell their stories of hard work, love and abandonment. Their Performing Our Future empowerme…

1
Ep.20 All Stars Project’s Operation Conversation: Playing with What Divides Us 48:52

2+ y ago48:52

48:52

All Stars Project CEO Gabrielle L. Kurlander and Dallas City Leader Antoine Joyce join Lois Holzman for a wide-ranging conversation about the All Stars’ latest bridge-building initiative, Operation Conversation—how it came into being; how it works to help adults from different backgrounds, cultures and belief systems perform conversation, discover …

1
Ep.19 Artists ”Lift-Up” the Stories of Americans on the Fringes 39:32

2+ y ago39:32

39:32

Mauricio T. Salgado (Artists Striving to End Poverty & New York University professor of Arts and Applied Theatre — has shaped a myriad of powerful social justice initiatives. In this intimate conversation with Castillo Theatre Artistic Director (Emeritus) Dan Friedman, Salgado, born in the US to proudly subversive Colombians and raised in the migra…

1
Ep.18 American Ninjas: How Ordinary Americans Are Combatting the Ugliness of US Politics 36:18

2+ y ago36:18

36:18

John Opdycke, democracy activist and president of Open Primaries, talks to ESI faculty Jan Wootten about how he sees the dawning of a new day in American politics: millions are on the move, demanding a meaningful role in shaping policy and institutions. "Yeah, it's also a mess. The professional political class won't lead; the American dream of prog…

1
Ep.17 Imagination & Resistance in South Africa: Young Activists Find Their Voice 40:05

2+ y ago40:05

40:05

What if young people ruled the world? What would that world look like? Applied Theatre educator and ESI Associate Alex Sutherland talks to Dan Friedman about a performatory, whole-body, arts-based approach she and colleagues have developed at the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Cape Town that helps young social activists find their soci…

1
Ep.16 Improv & Democracy: Can Improv Make It Harder to Hate? 53:29

2+ y ago53:29

53:29

Can improv make it harder to hate?...make it easier to be (and create) with others in all our diversity? Communications professor and improv aficionado Don Waisanen -- author of Improv for Democracy -- talks (and has some fun) with fellow performance activist Marian Rich, to show how improv can help us find our voice, unlock the politics of gridloc…

1
Ep.15 How a ‘positivity strategist‘ helps groups grow! 1:00:02

3y ago1:00:02

1:00:02

Robyn Stratton-Berkessel works with groups large and small — non-profit and corporate — to grow supportive, relationships and build with all that's working well. In this lively chat with Performance of a Lifetime’s Maureen Kelly, Robyn introduces an Appreciative Inquiry approach to helping groups "grow their positivity,” as producers of all that “w…

1
Ep.14 An Activist Biologist, Out to Change the World 40:45

3y ago40:45

40:45

Raquell Holmes is a Harvard-trained cell biologist, computational scientist and social activist. Founder of ImprovScience and Cultivating Ensembles in STEM Education, Raquell is recognized for her organizing prowess in bringing improvisation, performance and social therapeutics to fellow scientists and educators. In this intimate conversation with …

1
Ep.13 Developing Young Leaders on the Streets of Lagos and Abuja 42:35

3y ago42:35

42:35

There is a remarkable development project for young people happening in Africa’s most populous nation. Rita Ezenwa-Okoro the Founder and Chief Visionary of Street Project Foundation in Nigeria, shares her work of building environments where young people can use the creative arts to foster their own development—and that of their nation and world. As…

1
Ep.12 “Learning Is Natural, School Is Optional!” The North Star Experiment 42:15

3y ago42:15

42:15

What if young people weren’t required to go to school? What if we could invent other ways for them to learn and grow that worked just as well, or better? Meet Ken Danford, former middle school teacher, who in 1996, frustrated by the coerciveness of traditional classroom environments, founded the North Star in Sunderland, Massachusetts. There he inv…

1
Ep.11 Bringing Hope, Joy and Justice to People Living with Dementia 50:04

3y ago50:04

50:04

Dr. Jennifer Carson, Director, Dementia Engagement, School of Community Health, Univ. of Nevada, Reno; Eileen Moncoeur, Exec. Director, Sabal Foundation, and social therapist; and Claire Molyneux, senior lecturer in Music Therapy, Anglia Ruskin Univ., UK, are on the front lines of reimagining dementia. Rejecting the biomedical “tragedy narrative,” …

1
Ep.10 Let’s Be Weird Together & Change the World! 57:44

3y ago57:44

57:44

When the pandemic hit and tens of millions were forced into lock-down, improvisers, clowns and performance activists of all stripes stepped up to address the crisis. They organized the Global Play Brigade to bring (therapeutic) play, via Zoom and WhatsApp, into communities around the world. The Brigade now involves 160 performance activists from 50…

1
Ep.9 Lois Holzman reads ’The Performance Movement: Out of the Fly Bottle’ 25:35

3y ago25:35

25:35

Institute co-founder and director Lois Holzman reads her talk, 'The Performance Movement: The Obvious and Outrageous Way Out of the Epistemological Fly Bottle' — presented to the "Alive in the Anthropocene” virtual conference in January 2021. Curious about the fly bottle? Listen and find out what it means! ----more---- Welcome to All Power to the D…

1
Ep.8 Afterschool Development: A New Way of Engaging Poverty 51:32

3y ago51:32

51:32

Gloria Strickland, S.V.P. and Chief Youth and Community Development Officer of the All Stars Project, Inc., shares her decades of work helping young people from poor communities of color exercise their creative muscles in all kinds of life situations to generate their own development and exercise power—and how the All Stars kept it going during the…

1
Ep.7 Relating to All as Givers and Builders 40:08

3y ago40:08

40:08

Makiko “Mako” Kishi — educator, professor, international aid worker and performance activist -- has worked in Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Yemen, Cambodia, Vietnam, Australia, Central America and her native Japan with refugee communities and special-needs students to build stages for development. Mako shares her passion for creating learning environments …

1
Ep.6 Bringing Creative Play into the College Classroom 44:14

3y ago44:14

44:14

There’s a growing movement afoot in higher education, shaking the canons of traditional pedagogy. Meet play revolutionaries Carrie Lobman, associate professor, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers Univ., and ESI’s Leader of Education and Research, and Tony Perone, asst. training professor of educational psychology at the Univ. of Washington, Tacom…

1
Ep.5 Bringing Play and Performance to Communities of Color 51:49

3y ago51:49

51:49

Long-time community organizers and performance activists, Allen Cox, Thecla Farrell and Sheryl Williams, share how performing with New York City’s Castillo Theatre — on-stage and off — impacted their activism and development. Hosted by Jessie Fields, MD. ----more---- Welcome to All Power to the Developing, a podcast of the East Side Institute. The …

1
Ep.4 A Turning Point for India’s Mentally Ill 55:48

3y ago55:48

55:48

Ishita Sanyal, the founder of Turning Point, in Kolkata, India discusses her work with people shunned and outcast because of their mental illness, work which demonstrates that psychosis need not mean the end of development. Hosted by Dr. Lois Holzman. www.turningpoint.org.in https://www.facebook.com/isanyal ----more---- Welcome to All Power to the …

1
Ep.3 London All Stars Youth Find Their Power 54:21

3+ y ago54:21

54:21

Chantelle Burley and Brian Mullin, co-founders of the All Stars London, share their work with young people from London's poorest boroughs, encouraging them to perform their way to new possibilities they never imagined possible. Hosted by Dr. Carrie Lobman. http://www.allstarslondon.org/ ----more---- Welcome to All Power to the Developing, a podcast…

1
Ep.2 Border Crossers Build Their Culture 46:39

3+ y ago46:39

46:39

Five participants with Developing Across Borders—Lea Cikos, Mariamalia Cob, Juan David Garzon, Steven Hart, and Morgane Masterman—hailing from five different countries, share how their Zoom-enabled weekly social therapeutic conversations help sustain their activism and develop their social and emotional skills. Hosted by Dr. Lois Holzman. https://e…

1
Ep.1 ”I Invite You On A Therapeutic Journey...” 39:28

3+ y ago39:28

39:28

Murray Dabby, founder of the Atlanta Center for Social Therapy and co-founder of both The Couples College and Curtain Up, Anxiety Down, discusses his forty years of bringing play and improvisation to emotional growth and development. Hosted by Janet Wootten. http://www.atlantasocialtherapy.com www.curtainupanxietydown.com ----more---- Welcome to Al…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

The East Side Institute Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide