17 APR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 622 with Alyssa Crosby from NBC’s The Voice. Alyssa is a self-proclaimed cat lady. When Alyssa is not performing on stage, you can usually find her at home with her fiancé, five cats and puppy. Alyssa loves to write songs and sometimes serenade her animals with her music. Having grown up around singers, Alyssa's mother had a deep connection to music and started her own karaoke business when Alyssa was just a kid. Alyssa enjoyed karaoke throughout most of her life, and when she was in her early 20s decided to start a band. Putting out an ad on Craigslist for more band members was just the start of her current band, WildCard. All the other band members are men in their 50s, but she enjoys holding her own as the only woman on the stage  

10 APR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 621 with Steven Gaines the author of All You Need Is Love The Beatles In Their Own Words.  An oral history of The Beatles from never-before-seen interviews.   All You Need Is Love is a groundbreaking oral history of the one of the most enduring musical acts of all time. The material is comprised of intimate interviews with Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, their families, friends and business associates that were conducted by Beatles intimate Peter Brown and author Steven Gaines in 1980-1981 during the preparation of their international bestseller, The Love You Make, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list in 1983 and remains the biggest selling biography worldwide about the Beatles.   

4 APR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 620 with actor Brett Gelman, author of the new book The Terrifying Realm Of The Possible: Nearly True Stories. A daring and hilariously neurotic literary debut from the acclaimed actor and comedian Brett Gelman (Stanger Things, Fleabag, LOVE).   Enter the wonderfully weird, always uncomfortable, side-splittingly funny world of THE TERRIFYING REALM OF THE POSSIBLE, where your worst fears of who you are or might become are always just around the corner. In Gelman's masterful short stories, you'll meet five individuals, each navigating a uniquely strange stage of life:   ABRAHAM AMSTERDAM (the child) MENDEL FREUDENBERGER (the teenager) JACKIE COHEN (the adult) IRIS BELOW (the senior) Z (the dead)

28 MAR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 619 with TV Event Director Jeff Margolis author of the book We’re Live In Five. In this dazzling Hollywood memoir, Jeff Margolis takes us on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of television's most memorable variety series and specials spanning the past fifty years-from the most iconic variety shows of the 1970s to the Oscars.   Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of event television, Margolis is not only a technical ringmaster but also a confidante and sage to the stars who headline the shows.   Students of television will savor the "how-to" of event television while fans will love the intimate stories of beloved stars like Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Cher, Sammy Davis Jr., Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, and Oprah Winfrey. While not a sordid tell-all, We're Live in 5 is a tell-it-as-it-is with all the glamour you expect, along with a deeply revealing human portrait of working with larger-than-life personalities at television's most dizzying and demanding heights.

20 MAR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 618 with Reinaldo Marcus Green director of Bob Marley: One Love. Bob Marley: One Life celebrates the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. On the big screen for the first time, discover Bob's powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music. Produced in partnership with the Marley family and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the legendary musician and Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita, BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE is coming digital March 19th and Blu-ray May 14th, 2024. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus GreenWritten by Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach BaylinStarring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajw425Kuvtw

13 MAR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation.  This is Play It Forward.  Real people.  Real stories.  The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 617 with Pete Summit from the group Crashing Wayward.While Crashing Wayward’s sound can be categorized as alternative rock, they exhibit a diverse array of influences from Foo Fighters to Queen to Stone Temple Pilots and many more. The recording sessions were produced by Mike Gillies, who has also worked with Metallica, Motley Crue and The Cult among many others.   The members of Crashing Wayward characterize “Breathe” as “a modern alternative rock anthem rejecting intolerance.” Before signing with RFK Media, the band self-released a music video for the initial version of the song which can be viewed at http://breathevideo.com/.

6 MAR 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation. This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 616 with author Ridley Pearson. You’ve likely heard of Ridley Pearson as the Edgar-nominated author of over sixty novels including two New York Times #1 bestsellers. The Fulbright fellow who plays in a band with Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Scott Turow is also the author of KINGDOM KEEPERS INHERITANCE: VILLAINS' REALM, the second in a trilogy for middle grade readers which follows young heroes to Disney parks around the world. The first volume has sold over a million copies. With the help of Cinderella's very own Fairy Godmother-the notorious FGM as she's known in this world-they set out to stop Ursula-jumping from Epcot to Disneyland to Disneyland Paris, where the ultimate battle between good and evil plays out.

28 FEB 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation. This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 615 with actor Tim Blake Nelson and Director Henry Nelson from Asleep In My Palm. Asleep in My Palm explores the nature of parenthood and class in America as a father and daughter live off the grid in rural Ohio near a small liberal arts college. The two must face the challenges of her sexual awakening and need for independence as he escapes his violent and conflicted past. At once poignant and mordantly funny, the film delves into an America rarely seen, while juxtaposing it with the rarified privileges of an elite college in the social media age. Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRhT5-_YEHA

21 FEB 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation. This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 614 with Dr. Hannah Durkin author of Survivors Of The Clotilda. The Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on American soil, docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860 - more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of captive Africans, and 9 months before the beginning of the Civil War. The last of its survivors lived well into the 20th century. They were the last witnesses. In the book, Dr. Hannah Durkin tells the stories of the Clotilda’s 110 captives, drawing on her intensive archival, historical, and sociological research.

14 FEB 2024 · Thank you for being part of the conversation. This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 613 with Dr. Heather Brown author of Speaking With Your Heart Simply put: everyone wants to feel loved, wanted and appreciated in their relationships, yet we continually feel hurt or misunderstood instead. Poor communication can ultimately lead to the end of a relationship or divorce. A recent study shows researchers who have studied over 40,000 couples can predict divorce with 94% accuracy based on a communication error. In her new book Speaking with the Heart: Transforming Your Relationship and Communication with Compassion and Connection, psychotherapist Dr. Heather Browne gives readers the keys to unlocking important layers to deepen your intimacy, compassion, and closeness with your partner.