All posts tagged: TueNight10

TueNight 10: Joanna Briley

By TueNight Crew

Age: 50 Quick bio: Joanna is a New York City-based actor, stand-up comedian and writer. She has appeared on Lifetime TV’s “Fempire” ad campaign, “Watch What Happens Live” with Andy Cohen, and several appearances on Wendy Williams “Street Talk” segment. Beyond the bio: “In 2018, I created the “Black Women in Comedy Festival,” which was an amazing call to action for black women comedians who are hilariously talented yet routinely overlooked by the industry. With over 20 years in the comedy business, I felt compelled to create this festival to highlight the wide range of comedy, storytelling, improv, and sketch from the perspectives of black women in a supportive and safe environment. I am proud to say that the festival empowered so many funny black women who just needed someone cheering for them and rooting for their success. We look forward to opening more doors in the coming years.” 1. On the nightstand: Lust for Life by Sylvester McNutt III, Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore with Eric C. Westman, MD, She’s So Funny by Judy Brown and Essence Magazine. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: …

TueNight 10: Marci Alboher

By TueNight Crew

Age: I’m more than willing to #saymyage, 53 Bio: Vice President of Strategic Communications for Encore.org, “I cook up ideas for Encore.org on how to frame longer lives as a force for good and intergenerational connection as a natural way of life. I’m really excited about our Encore Public Voices Fellowship, a partnership with the OpEd Project to identify and support 20 diverse thought leaders working on issues relating to aging, longevity, intergenerational connection and social justice.” Marci also serves on the board of Girls Write Now, a phenomenal organization empowering girls through writing and mentoring. (If you’re in New York City, you should check out one of their Spring events.) Beyond the bio: “In my free time, I walk excessively around Manhattan, and recently started taking piano lessons to keep the brain sharp. My long-term hobby is low-skates poker (Omaha) with a group of artist/writer types — and increasingly, my mom’s pals. The coolest thing about being middle-aged is that you are perfectly positioned for cross-generational friendships up and down the age chain!” 1. On the nightstand: Mary Pipher’s Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We …

TueNight 10: Anne Mourier

By TueNight Crew

Age: 55 years old. Quick Bio: A conceptual artist, a mother, and a feminist who loves men, Anne Mourier hails from France and New York (and a little bit from Venice, too). Her latest performance “Cycle,” in collaboration with artist 2Fik, will be presented during the open studio weekend at The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn in May.  Beyond the bio: “I love more and more human interactions. Material things have less importance for me as time goes by. This is why I am interested by performances…they allow me to have deeper interactions with strangers. They nourish me and help me progress in my journey. I feel more and more the synchronicities of life also and smile when people are “sent to me.”” 1. On the nightstand: One book from Carl Jung, one book about the spiritual life of water, two books about witches and one artwork from Claudia Paneca. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Not dying my grays and making love. 3. Jam of the minute: A new artwork I bought at the Armory show and have to hang in my apartment …

TueNight 10: Beth Arky

By TueNight Crew

Age: 59 Quick bio: After two decades as an entertainment magazine editor (Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide), Beth now writes personal essays and covers children and teens with developmental, mental health and learning challenges for the nonprofit Child Mind Institute. She is also a warrior mom, advocating for her 15-year-old son, who is on the autism spectrum. Beyond the bio: “At 59, I’ve discovered that I have a strong voice and that confidence can’t be tied to a number on the scale. I’ve also learned the hard way that I need to take care of myself—in other words, put the oxygen mask on first—before I can help anyone else. And since my marriage ended four years ago, I’ve found that dating younger men can be fun!” 1. On the nightstand: The Blue, a historical novel by my friend Nancy Bilyeau; a stack of New Yorkers I’m going to get to one of these days, damn it; my iPhone (I know, terrible for an insomniac like me but it’s a hard habit to break); Lubriderm; a Voluspa candle in French Cade & …

TueNight 10: Alexandra Rosas

By TueNight Crew

Age: 58 years old Quick Bio: Alexandra is a storyteller with The Moth and is a regular contributor to Grown and Flown. Beyond the bio: “Now that I’m older, I’ve learned the value of seeing what it is that you bring to anything. You don’t have “all the time in the world” anymore, so now is the time to earnestly love, respect, and take pride in your talent, your gift, your essence, presence and contribution on this Earth.” 1. On the nightstand: A book. Every day since I was five years old. Right now, it’s The Lonely Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya (what a treat). 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Lying to myself about the amount of chocolate I eat. 3. Jam of the minute: MILCK’s “Quiet” 4. Thing I miss: My little babies and the days when I could carry all three at once. 5. 80s crush:  Though he’s not a nice person at all in real life (I waited on him once), Adam Ant. 6. Current crush:  Everybody’s. In other words, Jeff Goldblum. 7. Will whine about:  No one else sees the garbage can overflowing in this …

TueNight 10: Tara Phillips

By TueNight Crew

Age: 47 Quick Bio: Tara is an educator turned aspiring writer who is currently seeking representation for her first book, WEAK, a memoir. She also writes a blog, “My Year on “Mom”bbatical,” a collection of her reflections and experiences while living in Paris and taking a year-long break from parenting her 14-year old son. Beyond the Bio: “Spending this year free of the daily demands of parenting, I realized that I had almost forgotten what life was like before my son came along. I am slowly remembering who I am and what truly sets my soul on fire. I have spent the past 25 years managing and leading in my career, but now, I want to create and connect with my artist self again. As I get older, I am enjoying watching my son get older. Engaging with him at a distance, I’m able to see him as a person. Our interactions feel like a choice we are making together and I find that I really like him as a human being. That feels really good …

TueNight 10: Dara Kass

By TueNight Crew

Quick Bio: Dara is a doctor, writer and gender equity advocate who just launched TIME’S UP Healthcare with several other amazing women in medicine. She is also the founder and CEO of FemInEM, an organization for women in emergency medicine. Beyond the Bio: “My life is so full, I feel like I just finished Thanksgiving dinner almost every night. I have been fortunate enough to see the effects of meaningful change in my field, in a flexible and financially viable way. That’s awesome, but sometimes overwhelming. At 41, I am exactly where I want to be in my career, have an awesome family and live in a great neighborhood. And because of what I have seen as an ER doctor and mom, I don’t take one day of this for granted.” 1. On the nightstand: Becoming by Michelle Obama, Indigo and Haze Body Lotionand my cell phone charger. In the drawers is a the collection of crap I try to ignore. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Believing that we are moving forward  Even when we are actively moving backwards. I believe that most people are inherently …

TueNight 10: Tonja Adair

By TueNight Crew

Age: 48 Quick Bio: An architect and urban designer, Tonja co-founded her architectural firmSplice Design with business partner Dawn Bennett almost 10 years ago. Now they have offices in both Atlanta and NYC. Architizer named her one of 20 inspiring minority architects, designers and advocates for a more diverse profession. Tonja says she believes “architecture has the ability to form meaning and provide relevance with attention to our viewpoints and context, the aesthetics of material and form, and the role sustainability can play in our futures.” Beyond the Bio: “I am fortunate to design and consult for clients who want to change how they live or create dynamic places for their clients and customers to enjoy.  We learn daily from our experiences, and with each lesson I remind myself to do what can be done, allow for imperfections, invite playfulness, breathe and be who I am.” 1. On the nightstand: Usually a stack of books ranging from fantasy sci-fi, to inspiration for work and life, and of course pure fiction (although now that I’ve discovered Amazon Prime, the list gets longer) …

TueNight 10: Kelly Notaras

By TueNight Crew

Age: 43 Basic bio: Author of The Book You Were Born to Write (Hay House, 2018). Founder of kn literary arts, a virtual editorial studio helping authors write, edit and publish their books. Beyond the Bio: “I did something kinda crazy last year—after spending my entire adult life in “blue bubbles” like NYC, Boulder and San Francisco, I bought a house in a tiny conservative town full of ranchers and coal miners. I did it for really good reasons: to help co-parent my late partner’s 10-year-old twin boys, and because I could afford to buy here. I renovated the house and painted everything white, including the wood floors. The day the house was finished, I started dating my contractor. The result has been a rich exploration of the very real divide our entire country sits on right now. Somehow we’re making it work but I have shed a lot of tears over how differently two loving and thoughtful people can see the world.”    1. On the nightstand: The best lip balm on the planet, Annemarie Borlind’s For Lips(you’re welcome). Nobody …

TueNight 10: Shira White

By TueNight Crew

Age: 58 chronologically, various in every other metric Quick Bio: Founder of BeautifulNow, a digital media (and soon social commerce) startup that focuses on the most beautiful things happening in the world right now, including the Arts/Design, Impact, Nature/Science/Tech, Food, Travel and Wellness. Beyond the bio: Right now, I am rebuilding major parts of my life: Rebuilding home after catastrophic flood. Rebuilding business with new monetization strategies and goals. Rebuilding community now that I am based in NYC vs mostly in London and constant global traveling. Rebuilding my love life after recently ending a 16-year life partnership. Rebuilding my body after some illness (and all of the above mentioned stresses took their toll). Rebuilding my philanthropic efforts, given all of the above changes. While all of this rebuilding is challenging, to say the least, it comes with so many opportunities for growth, expansion, and new possibility — already I am experiencing some rewards. 1. On the nightstand: My new bullet journal (it actually works!). Barbara Kingsolver’s latest, Unsheltered. Well-read over and over, Diane Ackerman’s I Praise My Destroyer and MFK …

TueNight 10: Candice Cook Simmons

By TueNight Crew

Age: 40 Quick Bio: Candice is the Managing Partner of The Cook Law Group PLLC. She provides legal, business and strategic counsel to clients in the business, technology, and entertainment industries.  Beyond the bio: We asked Candice how has life changed for her as she’s gotten older. “I have a defined perspective. I have lived in six states. I have worked as an attorney for almost sixteen years. I am a wife and a mother and a daughter to aging parents who live in a different state and all of those things create layers to life. I have enough experience and perspective to value every aspect of my blessings—even the annoying things like the temporary discomfort of a sick child or a few sleepless nights. I am incredibly grateful for the life that I have and I’ve learned to not allow the insecurities of others to infiltrate that joy.” 1. On my nightstand: a Bible (that I have read from cover to cover—it was a resolution a few years back and I am so glad that I …

TueNight 10: Jennifer Garam

By TueNight Crew

Quick Bio: Jennifer Garam is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Some of her favorite pieces  include a personal essay/reported article about how to grow out gray hair, a satire piece about if people had honest first date conversations, and a blog post about how to keep writing when no one gives a shit. Beyond the bio: “At the beginning of this past October, one month after my 43rd birthday, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. This came as a complete shock. I was in what I thought was perfect health, and had basically just had stomach pains and bloating for a week. Also, I thought that there was no cancer in my family and just didn’t think I was at risk for ever getting it. After I was diagnosed I dug a little deeper and discovered that there was a history of cancer in my family. Additionally, I got a genetic test and the results showed that I’m BRCA1 positive. This experience has obviously turned my life upside down and prompted me to reevaluate my priorities and …

TueNight 10: Marjorie Ingall

By TueNight Crew

Age: 52 Quick Bio: Columnist for Tablet Magazine; author of Mamaleh Knows Best (she will come speak to your synagogue or JCC!); frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review; and co-creator of SorryWatch, the web site devoted to all of your apology analysis needs. Beyond the Bio: “I have responded to going gray by adding MORE GRAY. More precisely, white — I added a fake white streak in the front of my hair. I was going for Susan Sontag, but have heard Rogue from X-Men and Alexandra the villain on Josie and the Pussycats, which are fine too. My aunt has a gorgeous cloud of white curls, and that is my #hairgoals, but my hair colorist says it is too soon.” 1. On the nightstand: Fenty Stunna lip paint in Uncuffed, a birthday present to myself. Sorry About That: The Language of Public Apology by Edwin L. Battistella. Current issue of The New Yorker. Spiral notebook made out of a vintage light pink, orange, and hot pink children’s book (anthology published in 1960 by Doubleday, just looked). Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life by William Roy & Sylvain Dorange. …

TueNight 10: Bridgett Davis

By TueNight Crew

Quick Bio: Bridgett M. Davis is the author of two novels, and a new memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life In The Detroit Numbers, which is about how her mother ran an illegal lottery business from their home, giving her family a middle-class life. She’s a professor at Baruch College, CUNY, where she teaches creative writing courses and directs a writer-in-residence program. In the late 90’s, she wrote & directed a feature film, Naked Acts. Beyond the Bio: “I’m in full pre-book tour mode right now — thinking a lot about packing! Excited to connect with readers on the road. Life in my 40s was certainly full and amazing — rearing young children will do that for you. But life now, in my 50s, feels like coming into my own. I’ve hit a sweet spot. I finally feel confident about myself as a writer, and that’s freed me to allow my creativity to flourish in other ways. In fact, most people don’t know this about me, but I create collage art. My writing is …

TueNight 10: Wendi Aarons

By TueNight Crew

Quick bio: Humor writer, mother, curmudgeon, Democrat in Texas. Also the social media director for The Conferences for Women, and working on few projects including a book about being old and mean. Beyond the Bio: “The last fun thing I did was drink a few glasses of wine and apply to clinical studies at my dermatologist’s office. Fingers crossed that I’m wrinkled enough to get in! Otherwise, I’m trying hard to keep my sense of humor in our current political climate. I find myself nostalgic for the days when my biggest worry was if I’d be able to get Wham!’s new cassette before they were sold out. But, I keep my sanity via a lot of reading, watching movies that don’t star Reese Witherspoon, and listening to gospel music, which is kind of weird for an agnostic, but what can I say, I enjoy music that inspires you to enthusiastically clap.” 1. On the nightstand: Right now, Circe. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Watching The Real Housewives. I CAN’T QUIT YOU, RAMONA SINGER. 3. Jam of the minute: “Can You Feel It” …

TueNight 10: Jill Abramovitz

By TueNight Crew

Quick Bio: Jill is both a performer and writer. On Broadway she’s appeared in Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella, 9 to 5, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and the upcoming Beetlejuice. She has also written four musicals, including Martha Speaks, which toured nationally, and had a song in Broadway’s It Shoulda Been You. You can also catch her in TV and commercials, including most recently as Stevie, the Catskills desk clerk, in season two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  Beyond the bio: “Somewhere along the line I acquired the view that it was cute to belittle myself. I was either doing it to endear myself to people or to make the people around me feel better by comparison. But in middle age (I use that term kicking and screaming. It reminds me of “geriatric pregnancy.”), I’m realizing that disrespecting myself doesn’t make me likable or cute. It sets a bad example for my kid. It feels like a coping strategy for the privileged and, in fact, like another form of narcissism — “Look, just look, at how shitty I am! See?!” So I’m changing it. …

TueNight 10: Penny Wrenn

By TueNight Crew

Age: 41 ½ and some change Basic Bio: I’m a semi-retired magazine staffer and freelancer, the daughter of Evelyn and Curtis Wrenn, Sr., a late bloomer (and occasional wilter), and a moderate income earner. Beyond the bio: “At 41, I often feel guilty about feeling more gypped than grateful about my life. I regularly make SMH-level mistakes that seem immature AF.  When I do, my inner you-should-know-better-than-that voice of wisdom is always like, “WTF, Penny?” And yet, I keep on keeping on. Because at 41, my “GTFOH, Penny!” self-talk game is tight, my comebacks and bounce-backs have stickier than ever landings (though I seldom plant my feet where I expected). What can I say? Middle age has endowed me with the ability to more easily get over myself.” 1. On the nightstand: Bullshit or Fertilizer, written by my friend and one-half of myall-time favorite married couple. This is the simplest, most essential “do the damn thing already” self-help advice ever written for us Generation Xers who are late-70s born and 90s-era hip-hop bred. The book is small and succinct enough to read in a …

TueNight 10: Dionne Ford

By TueNight Crew

Age: 49 Quick bio: Co-editor of the anthology Slavery’s Descendants: Shared Legacies of Race and Reconciliation (Rutgers University Press, May 2019) and author of the memoir Finding Josephine, forthcoming from Putnam. Her writing has won awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Newswomen’s Club of New York, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She’s also a regular TueNight contributor.  Beyond the bio: “I wanted to write my own invented stories since my parents gave me a drugstore journal with a lock and key when I was seven, but it seemed impractical and indulgent to study storytelling. My parents worked hard to move up the economic ladder to middle class-dom, so I studied slightly more practical journalism instead. It wasn’t until my late 30s that I started to find my personal writing voice. Time can kill a lot of things but not a deep desire. When my daughters started middle and high school in 2014, I went back to school too for my MFA in Creative Writing. I was 47 when I graduated in 2016. …

TueNight 10: Susan Linney

By TueNight Crew

Age: 43 Basic Bio: Former book and magazine editor turned freelance writer and online content producer. Beyond the bio: “Writing about my alcoholism for Bottles Down for TueNight was profoundly rewarding, but also much more personally taxing than I had ever anticipated. Recovery isn’t static; you don’t achieve it, stick a flag in the ground and then declare it as your own. It’s a living, breathing, moving muscle, something that changes and grows in ways you can’t anticipate. And suddenly, all I wanted to do was go back to being a stealth, behind-the-scenes writer and editor. At the same time, I realized that by being open about what was once so shameful to me, and literally incorporating it into my livelihood, I gave myself a wonderful new feeling of purpose. So these days, while I still juggle multiple writing/editing projects, my favorite gig by far is the work I do for Rehabs.com, which is a really helpful website that provides in-depth, unbiased info on addiction treatment centers across the country. It’s the best way I know how to help …

TueNight 10: Kristen Chase

By TueNight Crew

Age: 42 Basic bio: She’s been a music therapist, college professor, online web publisher (at Cool Mom Picks) and social media magic maker (at the newly-launched, killer-named One Tough Bitch). Beyond the bio: “I still remember when my post-college internship supervisor asked me what I thought “old” was and I said “40.” What followed as a stink eye that I’ll never forget. Now that I’m 42, I probably wouldn’t have been as nice to me as she was.  My mid life status has brought a whole lot more worry: about every ache and pain. About trying to raise four humans to be awesome, empathic, compassionate people. About leaving a legacy for them. But it’s also brought a whole lot of DGAF, which I so desperately wish had been bestowed on me sooner.  At a pretty inspiring weekend at Campowerment (seriously life changing), someone told me that nothing you do has to be forever. That the choices you make for today, don’t necessarily need to be what you do tomorrow, or the next week, month or …

TueNight 10: Michele Carlo

By TueNight Crew

Michele Carlo became a performer at 35.  “I was at a crossroads in my life and figured, eff it, let me go for it. I didn’t want to face my last moments knowing I’d wussed out from trying the one thing I knew I wanted to do. And now it’s over 20 years later and I’m still at it.” The native New Yorker, Nuyorican and “natural redhead,” has done everything from performance art to improv/comedy to emcee burlesque shows. She discovered storytelling at a MothSlam in 2003, and has performed at many of their Mainstage shows in NYC. Her first book,  Fish Out Of Agua: My Life on Neither Side of the (Subway) Tracks, is a NYC set memoir based on her early Moth stories. It was a real treat to have her perform at our recent TueNight Birthday Bash! In Michele’s “free” time she curates/produces/co-hosts two storytelling shows: “No Name Super Storytellers” at the Word Up bookstore in Washington Heights and “New York Story Exchange” at the Cornelia Street Café. She also hosts a radio show/podcast …

TueNight 10: Tamar Anitai

By TueNight Crew

Tamar Anitai making everyone laugh at the Birthday Bash (Photo: Simon Courchel) If you haven’t experienced a Tamar Anitai story, this might be the time to read one (if you’re like us, you could use a good laugh right about now.)  She wins the award, too, for the most far-reaching topics: Kale, No Kids, Sleep Gurus, Slang, Germs and Creepy Babies. She also stirred up some controversy in TueNighters with her epic tampon tossing thread. Tamar turned 40 recently and, after a long career as a digital editor and writer, she’s now director of audience engagement for a multinational healthcare consumer company. But that’s certainly not all she is. “I’m trying to learn to not define myself by my work/day job,” says Tamar, “Is that a thing women do? I do, and I’m curious about how that changes — or doesn’t change — as we get older. I’m working on it as I try to be a more mindful, meditating type of person.” As to her home life, Tamar has a lovely husband and two cats “one of whom has really unfortunate teeth that are literally rotting and …

TueNight 10: Soraya Chemaly

By TueNight Crew

Soraya at the Women’s Right to Rally. (Photo courtesy of Soraya Chemaly)  Why are we so filled with rage, like, all the damn time? We can think of a few reasons… Soraya Chemaly‘s new collection of essays, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger hits at the root causes of that anger, how it affects us in every aspect of our lives, and how we might, in fact, celebrate it.  Rage is something we’ve been trained to hide, suggests Soraya. In Rage she writes,”This desire not to be disliked or seen as crazy, irrational, or dangerous, masks the lack of control that we already live with as the result of the silencing, sublimating, denying, and social opprobrium.”Time to let your rage flag fly. An award-winning writer, activist, and director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, Soraya has been traveling all over the country to promote Rage. “Being on book tour is so very different from writing a book,” she says, “It’s been fun, but hard to adjust from being basically solitary to being intensely social…One of the most interesting parts has been how difficult …

TueNight 10: Issa Mas

By TueNight Crew

Issa Mas is a freelance writer whose work has been featured on local news sites PIX11 and CBS Local, in the humor anthology See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World’s Most Harried Moms, and on the now-defunct award-winning blog Single Mama NYC, which was recognized as a Voice of the Year by BlogHer in 2012. You can usually find Issa talking about race (loudly), mental health (passionately), and single parenting (exhaustedly) at @IssaMas. We are thrilled that she will be one of our readers at TueNIght Live: TRUST on 10/17!  1. On the nightstand: How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish, because solo parenting a 10-year-old boy requires reinforcements. Stephen King’s short story collection, Bazaar of Bad Dreams, is underneath it for when I want a quick, satisfying read by one of my favorite authors. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Speaking out against injustice; in any of its forms. 3. Jam of the minute: The Budos Band III album by The Budos Band. 5. 80’s crush: Prince. 6. Current crush: My husband (in my head), Idris Elba. 7. Will whine about: My …

TueNight 10: Jamia Wilson

By TueNight Crew

Jamia Wilson is quite fond of the Florynce Kennedy quote, “Don’t agonize! Organize!” — a sentiment which prompted her to co-create the kick-ass guide, Road Map for Revolutionaries: Advocacy for All, just out today (Happy Pub Day!). “In the post-Trump frenzy, I turned to books written by strong women disruptors as a roadmap for what to do, says Jamia who co-authored the book with Elisa Camahort Page and Carolyn Gerin. “I was compelled to collaborate on a direct, snappy guidebook that showcases tools you need to ignite the change you want to see in the world.” Jamia is also the director of Feminist Press, the author of Young, Gifted, and Black, and she wrote the oral history in Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World.  Carolina-born and Saudi Arabia raised, she currently lives in New York City, where she’s an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “I love teaching undergraduate classes about gender studies and revolutions,” she says. “We can learn so much from the past to help inform a better future.” 1. On the nightstand: Training School …

TueNight 10: Theo Kogan

By TueNight Crew

Theo Kogan is a makeup artist, musician, native Brooklynite, activist and mom. She is well known for being the singer of the Lunachicks, a band of best friends who happened to be girls. Theo and her pals started the band in high school just for fun; they ended up touring the world through the ’90s, becoming one of the Riot Grrrl bands of the era, and opening up for many of the legendary pop-punk bands of the day. She was a NY nightlife muse, and one of the first heavily tattooed fashion models/actors. We were thrilled when Theo made her live reading debut at TueNight Live: 90s Bitchin July. She has two essays in the forthcoming book Women Who Rock, which is being released next month. You can pre-order a copy now, so do it! She is currently painting faces in New York Fashion Week. Literally. Right now. 1. On the nightstand: There’s a stack of books (seriously) but what I am reading is The Power by Naomi Alderman… for the past 6 months. Clearly I don’t get much time to read. Also tissues, my Hurraw! …

TueNight 10: Adaora Udoji

By TueNight Crew

“I am utterly obsessed with all things emerging tech; that means a lot of artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual reality, and augmented reality, among others.” Adaora Udoji proves that it’s never too late for career reinvention. She started in the law, transitioned to broadcast news, corporate strategy to digital startups, to venture capital and “well, now I’m looking forward to working from a bigger platform in the near future, stay tuned.”   She is loving her recent appointment as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at WeWorks Lab in NYC.  “I consider myself truly fortunate to be working and consulting with extraordinary entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, and corporations who are at the cutting edge or trying to be.” What is her greatest lesson so far? “I can’t be different from who I am and that’s all good. I’m perfectly imperfect just like the next person. I do myself a favor every time I remember that and allow myself to follow my gut even if it’s taking me down an unconventional path. I gain something truly with each experience, whether I enjoyed it or not.” …

TueNight 10: Jo Piazza

By TueNight Crew

Jo Piazza with her son at a UFO viewing center in Southern Colorado(photo courtesy of Jo Piazza) “I’m finally at a point in my life where I can say my job is to make cool shit,” says Jo Piazza, TueNight contributor, author of seven books and former editor at Yahoo, Current TV and New York Daily News. Jo’s latest novel is Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win (Simon and Schuster), about a woman running for Senate in the most important race in the country during a midterm election. “I feel like writing Charlotte, this fearless and ambitious woman, has given me more confidence. I’m finally advocating for myself in a way I was afraid to in my 20s and early 30s. It’s funny because when I was younger I really had nothing to lose. I had no family, no mortgage, no health concerns. Now I have all of those things, but for some reason I feel less afraid.” Jo has been driving from coast to coast, promoting her new book.”My goal is to start a big ass conversation about women, ambition, power and leadership.” Amidst it all, Jo …

TueNight 10: Tamara Winfrey Harris

By TueNight Crew

Tamara Winfrey Harris is a stealth radical. She writes about race, gender and their intersection with politics, pop culture and current events. She graciously joined us in The Hotbed last month for a lively discussion of her book, The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America. Midwestern affability is her superpower; you’d never know The Washington Post once called her “…half myth-buster, half crusader and all the way fed up.” She likes Converse sneakers, margaritas and “cozy” mystery TV shows. She is ride or die for black women and girls. Housework is not her ministry. 1. On the nightstand: Apple TV remote; my reading queue: When They Call You A Terrorist by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors, and New Power by Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans; aromatherapy spray; dust…an embarrassing amount of dust. Shit. I really should dust more often. 2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Sleeping with the TV on. It has to be on, but not too loud. I need to hear the voices on the TV, but not be able to discern what they are saying. I’ve been doing this …

TueNight 10: Nancy Nowacek

By TueNight Crew

The silence around menopause is deafening. “It is easier to get people to talk about death and cancer than Menopause,” says Nancy Nowacek, artist, organizer and collaborator on Menopause: An Imperfect Guide. “Because it’s an incontrovertible milestone of age — [the secrecy] perpetuates and amplifies negative feelings women have about their age, their bodies, their very selves.” To that end, she’s created M_________, The Menopause Project, a pilot pop-up shop in Brooklyn, August 17-19, featuring experts in psychology, health, nutrition, pilates and powerlifting. The goal is to bring publicity, education and community to an experience common to, ahem, half the world’s population. “If we start joining together, in public, and learn about how our bodies are actually running incredible defensive plays, we can dedicate our hard-won experience, love and care to the rest of the world and start to lift the curtain on the mystery, shame, and confusion of what it means to enter the middle of our lives.” An artist by trade, Nancy has been working in design, play and the built environment for the past several …