WDEK Podcast Ep. 87: Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero & Ramsey Jones - 12/26/20

We end this grueling 2020 year with two awe-inspiring guests & Covid-19 survivors: Activist for the Homeless & Writer Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero and drummer extraordinaire & style guru Ramsey "Satellite" Jones with a special introduction by Jason "the Elf!"  He discusses his flex spending account issues.  Justin The Intern is here but is having wi-fi issues!

It's tit for tat at WDEK headquarters! Shonali & Christian discuss pandemic peer pressure, dogs in first class & Trump fatigue (note this is taped pre-insurrection!) 

We are so honored to have lifelong New Yorker, activist/writer Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero be our guest.  We discuss his path towards activism on behalf of the homeless while experiencing homelessness himself; his brush with death while suffering from the Coronavirus; the biggest misconceptions surrounding those who are experiencing homelessness; how as a  foster child he later found his identity through hip hop; and his vow to not waste another minute of his life.  Follow Shams on all social media platforms at @DaHomelessHero !

 Our second guest is another lifelong New Yorker, drummer extraordinaire, record collector and style guru Ramsey "Satellite" Jones!  Ramsey was raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn which you may already know is were Murder, Inc. started. Ramsey's love of music started as a kid when he discovered Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. We discuss what it's like to be considered "the weirdo" in the family (his younger brother is Russell Jones a.k.a. Ol' Dirty Bastard"/ODB, his cousins are RZA & GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.) Ramsey also suffered from Covid19 and was at home for 4 months straight.  We discuss his love of all music, being a performer during the pandemic, various obscure records and bands such as the Electric Prunes & Aphrodite's Child, Ramsey's always in 10 projects including his hard core band Rebelmatic.  Check out his Rebelmatic video Blood & Gold & their new album Ghost In The Shadows.   Follow Ramsey on all social media platforms @SatelliteJones65 !

Jason The Elf learns a lesson today from Da Homeless Hero!  And lastly we have the perfect ending to a our pandemic Christmas show, a great new catchy song/video by the Blockton Brothers (Jesse and Adam) - Covid Christmas! ENJOY!!!  Happy New Year! 

WDEK Podcast Ep. 87: Shams DaBaron a.k.a. Da Homeless Hero & Ramsey Jones - 12/26/20

WDEK Election Day Special Ep. 86 - Part 4: Katie Compa, Brad Lauretti, Nimesh Patel, Maggy Adeleye & John Early - 11/3/20

In our final edition, Part 4 of the WDEK Election Special Episode, comedian Katie Compa shares with us ways she copes with ongoing Election Day anxieties.  

Musician Brad Lauretti brings us the fire.  We talk the John Lewis graphic novel, existential threats & good people believing false propaganda. He gives us his Election Day predictions along with performing his song Dumb It Down. 

Find out how comedian & weed smoker Nimesh Patel's father voted on the NJ legalize marijuana referendum.  Have you ever heard of the Indian beverage bhang? Let Nimesh and Shonali explain.  Go now to check out Nimesh's new half hour comedy special  online at Patel2020.com.

Musician Maggy Adeleye shares her beautiful voice with us by performing her song Fullstorm.  Christian has fro jealousy.  We talk voter unenthusiasm & invisible voices. 

 Jason's twin brother Jiminy makes a special appearanceo on WDEK also the WDEK crew loves each other.

Our final guest is one of our first ever WDEK guests; comedian, actor, & activist John Early.  He comes with a beard! You have seen him on Search Party as Elliott Goss, but most recently you may have seen John work his ass off on behalf of the Marquita Bradshaw for Senate campaign in Tennessee.  We discuss politicization of bread & butter issues, his sweater & for the first time ever, he announces his candidacy to the world. His Twitter is @bejohnce! Make sure to watch this comedy classic Sardines Out of A Can.

WE DID IT EVERYONE! That's it for the 4 part Election Day special. We hope our marathon show provided some comfort, fun and silly nonsense to soothe your minds as it did ours! 

WDEK Election Day Special Ep. 86 - Part 4: Katie Compa, Brad Lauretti, Nimesh Patel, Maggy Adeleye & John Early - 11/3/20

WDEK Podcast Ep. 78: JD Samson, Matt Wayne, Chelsea White, Tash Neal & Grace Ludmila - 2/25/2020

At a time when the breaking news includes the coronavirus pandemic, Barney's shutting it doors, Harvey Weinstein sentenced to jail; We Don't Even Know Ep. 78, February 2020 starts out with even more important breaking news. Shonali & Christian completed the Whole 30 without cheating and Christian Felix has gotten lasik surgery! Most importantly they have another fantastic show with great guests along with real people sitting in a room communing together in real time. 

First guests include former guests who found love on We Don't Even Know: Chelsea White and Tash Neal.  Find out what chicken tenders and gas have to do with being in love! Super personal questions are asked and answered by this beautiful twosome who unexpectedly hit it off during the July 2019 live recording of WDEK.   We discuss cat enthusiasm bonding and having to be on the DL when it comes to being in love in NYC. 

Shonali gifts Christian with an "therworldly fragrances for earthbound souls” called the Tower by The Phoenix and The Fool. She's "full of love."

Comedian Matt Wayne comes to WDEK married but ringless. He's starting a ringless movement.  Shonali won't have it.  Until now, Christian and Shonali have never met a former line-cook and park ranger from Buffalo turned NYC comedian.  Matt shares his deep love for NYC and Christian talks elaborate fare evasion. See Matt Wayne and Doug Smith's new comedy show, Cancel Commission at the Stand starting March 21.

Mia Juhng joins Christian and Shonali for #GetItOffYourChest.  Topics include the need for lasik surgery support, food sharing parameters and gym membership recruitment tactics.

Our final conversation is with with musician, visual artist, teacher & activist JD Samson!  JD tells us about her time at Sarah Lawrence as a student, how she stumbled into music (Le Tigre) and her surprising struggle with being on stage and dealing with panic attacks.  Christian and Shonali are inspired by JD's activism which centers around sincerity.  Songs discussed are Tres Bien (Le Tigre) and Making Art (Men).  JD is now a teacher at Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music (NYU Tisch) and is excited to help propel her students into the industry.  JD's superstar student Grace Ludmila performs two songs live at Red Room, Special and The Director.

WDEK Podcast Ep. 78: JD Samson, Matt Wayne, Chelsea White, Tash Neal & Grace Ludmila - 2/25/2020

Ep. 40 - Kendra Cunningham, Patrick Waldo and Felice Rosser Feb.28, 2016 →

Christian is back from Brazil with a new goatee. Shonali talks for a little too long to an alkaline water saleslady at Whole Foods. Christian coins the name of a new segment for WDEK called Shit People Say. Our first guest, Kendra Cunningham is a comedian originally from Boston. She is an actress, filmmaker, bartender and former forensics psychologist. Her mom is stylie and loves garage sales. Kendra doesn't like dating per se and is in a relationship. Kendra handled being interrupted by a real live heckler very well. Shonali was actually more annoyed than she sounds especially when Christian brought up the subject of mansplaining. It's a real word, even though it comes up as a misspelling on spell check.

Drew, the heckler strikes again. If he were funny, you'd think he was a plant in the audience. The heckler has left the premises! Our second guest is Black Lives Matter activist Patrick Waldo. Patrick is a white guy. He brings the Black Lives Matter conversation into white spaces including spaces like the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Fox & Friends have used a quote from Patrick's Instagram.

Our featured musical guest is a power house vocalist and bass player from the band Faith, named Felice Rosser. Felice is originally from Detroit Rock City and is multi-talented as a writer and an actress too. She pursued college in NYC at Barnard but was enticed mostly to NYC by the burgeoning rock music scene. Felice used to play in a band with her friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat which although was fun wasn't glamourous. Felice sings two of her originals for our WDEK audience, Soul Seeker and Time To Fall In Love Again. Her voice will give you chills. See her band at BAM Cafe, March 5th at 9pm. It's free.