Northwest Philly Neighbors: Recent Episodes
Rick Mohr
Our neighborhoods are full of interesting people, with stories, projects, and knowledge we’d love to hear about. But we might never meet, even if they live on the next block. Here’s a chance to meet an engaging person in each episode, from the fertile neighborhoods of northwest Philadelphia. Hear their stories, and learn about their worlds!
We’ve now finished Season 1! It’s been my pleasure to bring you these great stories from fascinating neighbors, and I’m looking forward to more in Season 2.
I’m not sure yet when we’ll start — sometime in 2020 — but if you’d like to get notified please join the mailing list, which means you’ll get an email every other week during the season.
Thanks so much to you for joining me. A lot goes into every episode, and knowing you’re listening inspires me to find the most interesting people, bring out their best stories, and polish up the episodes.
Thanks for all your comments and guest suggestions, which you’re always welcome to send to rick@nwphillypodcast.net
See you next season for more stories from Northwest Philly Neighbors!
Rick Mohr
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
In part 1 we heard vivid stories of how Alex found his way to theater, developed his directing style, and launched Quintessence Theater in Mt. Airy.
Now in part 2 we take a lively trip through building the Quintessence production of Christopher Marlowe’s challenging “Dr. Faustus” — finding a “charismatic and dashing” actor for the lead role, convincing a nationally-known designer to create a blockbuster experience with a tiny budget, figuring out how the devil can set off fireworks when it’s prohibited by the Fire Marshal, walking home after opening night, and more.
And we hear what’s behind the stellar performances Alex gets from actors — looking for humanity, facility with language, and body ease in auditions, and crafting just-right feedback in rehearsals to help actors get to places they haven’t gone before.
Along the way we see how his enthusiasm, vision, and sense of adventure build a great experience for the actors and the audience as well as for himself.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Alex Burns and Quintessence Theater Group:
- Alexander Burns website
- Quintessence Theatre Group
- Bios - AlexBurns.com, Broad Street Review
- Quintessence’s "Doctor Faustus", with links to reviews
- Articles
- Classics Now and Forever: Interview with Quintessence Theatre’s Alexander Burns (Phindie, 2011)
- “I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden) (Phindie, 2015)
- Mt. Airy director stirs up toil and trouble at Arden (Chestnut Hill Local, 2015)
Quintessence Theater Group stages classic plays, with dynamic, innovative productions always true to the heart of the story. Artistic Director Alex Burns gives us a rich inside view.
Hear how he found the seeds of his style in a thrilling collision of American emotion-centered acting with strict Shakespearean rhythm, how a chance encounter led him to launch Quintessence in Mount Airy after being certain he was leaving Philadelphia forever, and lots more.
He’s out to show that classic theater is not elitist, where everyone who walks in the door feels transported as they experience the story together. Like in his radically condensed Hamlet, where four hours become two and the static story becomes power charged.
Articulate, down-to-earth, and full of heart and humor, Alex shares inspiring big ideas as well as real-life challenges of keeping a small theater afloat.
And don’t miss part 2 next time, with great stories that open up how Quintessence productions come to life.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Alex Burns and Quintessence Theater Group:
- Alexander Burns website
- Quintessence Theatre Group
- Quintessence production of Hamlet (2013)
- Bios - AlexBurns.com, Broad Street Review
- Articles
- Classics Now and Forever: Interview with Quintessence Theatre’s Alexander Burns (Phindie, 2011)
- “I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden) (Phindie, 2015)
- Mt. Airy director stirs up toil and trouble at Arden (Chestnut Hill Local, 2015)
In part 1 we heard how Dave evolved from teacher to juggler, and then discovered a love for wire walking over rivers.
His current passion is rigging and walking tightwires in beautiful places — from the Susquehanna River to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) — where sometimes the negotiation is as much of an adventure as the wire walking. He describes the seemingly impossible feat of rigging a tightwire with nothing but open water on one side, and how in Venice he stumbled on an eerily similar rigging system from 500 years ago.
Back home we hear how he came to live in a 9000 sq ft mansion (built by a shoe polish baron) central to the dynamic Philly circus arts community, musings on the rising participation in circus arts, and how to stay balanced as the years advance.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Dave’s Funicular Circus troupe, and the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts:
- Tightrope walkers will tempt the Susquehanna River at expanded Kipona Festival this year (PennLive 2016)
- Funicular Circus video (2018)
- Philadelphia School of Circus Arts
- West Mt. Airy church gets new life as circus school (Curbed Philadelphia, 2017)
As a law student motivated by social justice issues Tiffany ignored her professors’ advice to keep a low LGBT profile, instead launching a career where she’s helped countless people navigate the murky legal waters surrounding non-traditional families and births.
Hear how she helped preserve a six-year mother-daughter bond when the former partner (the biological mother) cut off contact … how she prevented a well-known actress from backing out of motherhood after a surrogate birth … how she intervened when airport security stopped a gay couple with their newborn because no mother was present … and how along the way she won a seminal Pennsylvania Supreme Court case allowing people in non-traditional families to have full parental rights.
Same-sex marriage has been profound nationally, and also personally for her 2-mom family. But we hear how it also forces people to come out if they want to register for benefits, risking workplace discrimination which is still not illegal.
Asking “Am I doing enough?” after the 2016 presidential election she became a candidate for judge, winning a position in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas a week after we talked. She talks about her eye-opening campaign, and the kind of judge she aspires to be.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Tiffany Palmer:
- Jerner & Palmer, Attorneys at Law — Website, Facebook
- Tiffany Palmer for Judge — Website, Video
- Thomas Jefferson University bio
- Articles by Tiffany Palmer
- Common-law marriage opens doors to legal rights for LGBT elders (Philadelphia Gay News, 2019)
- Surrogacy Attorney Tiffany Palmer answers questions about the New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act (Jerner & Palmer, 2018)
- Baby S: Are You My Mother? - a Lesson in Contractual & Parental Responsibility (Path2Parenthood, 2016)
- 8 Articles about same-sex marriage, adoption, and surrogacy (Philadelphia Bar Association, 2011-2015)
- Obergefell Brings Marriage Equality Nationwide, But Legal Questions Remain (Philadelphia Bar Association, 2015)
- The Winding Road to the Two-Dad Family: Issues Arising in Interstate Surrogacy for Gay Couples (Rutgers School of Law Journal of Law and Public Policy, 2011)
Great stories from 45 years of connecting with people through circus arts.
As a teacher Dave inspired fifth-graders for years to learn juggling and create weekly performances — to the consternation of an uptight principal who eventually got him fired (for juggling). But that opened other doors as he learned the ropes of street performing, harkening back to his street-preaching grandfather and using a knack for theatre to connect with audiences. Hobby became profession as he joined with other jugglers and circus artists, building a troupe of “kind, curious, and patient” entertainers. Along the way juggling expanded to wire walking as he discovered the thrill of “taking my fear for a walk” on a long wire over bodies of water.
And don’t miss part 2 next time as we hear about adventures in wire walking on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), how he came to live in a 9000 sq ft mansion central to the dynamic Philly circus arts community, and more.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Dave Gillies:
- Bio
- History of the Give and Take Jugglers
- Juggler, tightrope walker is a Philly Folk Fest treasure (Courier Post, 2017)
- Subsistence juggling (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2007)
With a lifelong passion for birds, Keith has connected countless people with nature and sparked the saving of two priceless wild places in the city.
Hear how a kind neighbor helped open the world of birds for him as a kid … why Philadelphia is a great city for wildlife … how on a larkhe ran a citywide bird census, still going strong 33 years later … how years of bird census data convinced the water department to save and reopen a beautiful wild reservoir in a low-income neighborhood … discovering rare birds thriving in industrial settings … how a passion for birding (and the financial crisis!) allowed saving a vast exquisite meadow in the city … how despite declines some bird species are actually increasing or rebounding … and more.
You’ll be drawn in by his easygoing enthusiasm and deep knowledge.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Keith Russell:
- Audubon staff bio
- Delaware Valley Ornithological Club bio (2007)
- Philadelphia Mid-Winter Bird Census
- Discovery Center
- Hidden habitat reclaimed as Discovery Center opens in Fairmount Park (WHYY, 2018)
Houston Meadow
- If You Restore It, They Will Come (FoW Newsletter, 2017, p.10)
- Meadow Lark: Hard work and determination restores Houston Meadows (Grid, 2013)
- Houston Meadow Reclamation Project is on track to achieve its goals (FoW newsletter, 2012, p.10)
- Forest or meadow? Not everyone agrees (Inquirer, March 2010)
- A Wissahickon Valley gem (Roxborough Review, 2009)
Articles
- For migrating birds, the Philly skyline can be deadly (Billy Penn, 2018)
- Birding in Philly’s Forgotten Habitats (Audubon, 2018)
- The 2016 Ludlow Griscom Award for Contributions to Regional Ornithology (American Birding Association, 2016)
- Birding in the City of Brotherly Love (Audubon, 2016)
- Talk will show how to prevent bird-window collisions (Chestnut Hill Local, 2018)
- Profile: For the Birds (Grid, 2009)
- Where have all the pigeons gone? Philly numbers are down as predators thrive. Could it be a trend? (Inquirer, 2019)
Videos
- Bird Watching in the City: Who Knew? (2015)
- Audubon: Keith Russell (2018)
Every booth at the Mt Airy Village Fair offers an interactive experience, and at the Northwest Philly Neighbors Podcast booth we invited fairgoers to sit down and tell a story. Sixteen people (ages 8 to 73) accepted, and their stories spanned the spectrum from poignant to entertaining, informative to funny.
Here they are, with links for more about some of the tellers and their projects:
1:11 - Mike Gross - Helping remove a state law loophole that promoted segregation
3:50 - Terry List - The Australian Lilly Pilly and me
6:36 - Evan Mohr - Serving breakfast using a domino run
8:11 - Joanne Fleisher - The hardest thing I’ve faced and overcome
12:54 - Nathan Long - My favorite pet, Glenn Bergman
13:55 - Leif Taylor - How I got my puppy
15:00 - Jen Sheffield - Decades of daily journaling
17:10 - Andrew Kirkpatrick - Harry Potter voices, live
19:47 - Walt Bader - My son the muralist
21:20 - Mila Shane - Climbing a Vermont waterfall
23:03 - Keith Murphy - Pete Seeger and the Golden Vanity
28:33 - Michele Zipkin - Producing podcasts
30:37 - Jan Alter - The highlight of 38½ years as a Philly public school teacher
33:15 - Patty Skuster - Women on Wheels in the Wissahickon, and soup
35:34 - Dan Vidal - Pain recovery with Neurosomatic Therapy
38:11 - Cheri Black - From Kansas farm to Jamaican B&B
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
Every year Shameka Sawyer leads 5-10 aspiring filmmakers through all phases of creating a short film. Participants create a film in 6 months, even with day jobs and no prior experience — an alternative to years of full-time film school.
Shameka is everything you’d want in a coach: confident, supportive, lighthearted, patient, and direct. Enjoy her stories from 6 seasons of filmmaking as she takes us through an impressive set of stages and skills — scriptwriting, casting actors, finding crew, scouting locations, rehearsing, planning shots, lighting, sound, directing actors, editing, music, distribution — and the crazy things that happen along the way.
Independent filmmaking is much more accessible today thanks to technology, opening up screens to diverse voices and topics. Films from this year’s participants tell stories of racism and domestic violence, as well as lighter ones about reinventing yourself or discovering super powers.
Hear too how Shameka reinvented herself by starting college at age 30, growing into the honors society at the Community College of Philadelphia and ultimately graduating from Penn — all while raising a family.
Big thanks to Mt Airy Nexus, where this episode was recorded. It’s a beautiful coworking space in the heart of Mt Airy, where you can sign up for a desk or office or conference room and join a friendly community.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Shameka Sawyer and The 5 Shorts Project:
- The 5 Shorts Project — website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram
- From teen mother to filmmaker and entrepreneur, S.L. Sawyer brings others along
- LinkedIn profile (“Although there aren't many of us, I'm an African American Woman in Film and Video Production.”)
Crucial pollinators like bees and butterflies are disappearing but John helps restore them — with his native plant nursery, neighbors’ yards, and inspiring know-how.
Hearing the wakeup call that our conventional approach to lawns and gardens is decimating native plants and pollinators John fully transformed his Mt Airy property into a haven for native plants, attracting abundant wildlife in the process. He even added a pond, now spontaneously home to toads, frogs, and dragonflies — and no mosquitoes!
After transforming neighbors’ yards as well but frustrated by the one-hour drive to the nearest native plant nursery John took the plunge and started his own — Good Host Plants, now supplying Philly with native plants and enthusiastic coaching.
Enjoy fascinating stories along the way, like how 250 native mason bees do the work of 40,000 European honeybees, how a caterpillar is like a steak to a bird raising its young, and how popular yard plants like pachysandra and English ivy have a dark side as they spread through the woods and out-compete native wildflowers.
And we take a twilight walk around John’s yard, hearing frogs calling in the pond as he tells “plant it and they will come” stories about his plants and the wildlife they attracted.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about John Janick and Good Host Plants:
- Good Host Plants — Website, Instagram, and Facebook
- Creating native outdoor space for Pollywog Pond daycare center
- Grace Jeschke’s blog post about John’s talk to the Philadelphia Botanical Club
Captivating stories from the world of violins and bows — and the players, makers, kids, and community that enrich it. Learning the bowmaker’s craft in France & Belgium ... making a bow that gives the exact sound and feel requested by an elite player ... running a violin shop that empowers its workers ... how the shop helped revitalize part of Germantown Avenue ... the forgotten attic violin with a famous $38,000 bow ... how the last living French bowmaker revived the craft in the 1970's ... helping customers find community through music ... offering affordable rentals so people of all means can play a quality instrument ... planning the shop’s groundbreaking transformation to a worker-owned co-op ... how four irreplaceable bows were saved from the Nazis ... how one tenth of a millimeter can make all the difference ... and an audio clip from her band Cabriole.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Elizabeth and Mount Airy Violins & Bows:
- Mount Airy Violins & Bows website
- Cabriole at Rittenhouse Soundworks video
- A Visit With Bow Maker Elizabeth Vander Veer Shaak (Violinist.com, 2006)
- The bow finds the player at Mount Airy Violins & Bows (WHYY, 2011)
- There are more than 240 steps in making a bow - Great bowmaking in Mt. Airy with no strings attached (Chestnut Hill Local, 2011)
With her books, podcast, blog, and articles, Lori leads people to think and act differently around issues of race and color.
Enjoy her stories — growing up in white Milwaukee suburbs supported by a huge extended black family … meeting a vast diversity of black people while writing for Vibe magazine in New York … her first book, celebrating black hair in its natural state and revealing the campaign against it … discovering a home for her multiracial family in Mt Airy, so different from neighborhoods in common stories of segregated America … researching “colorism” and the wide range of family dynamics when people are the same race but different colors … coping with being mistaken for the nanny of her light-skinned daughter … and more.
Celebrating multi-racial experiences that work, calling out injustice, and explaining how historical roots of inequality affect people today, Lori is an antidote to negative narratives of black experience.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Lori Tharps:
- My American Meltingpot blog and podcast
- Selling Your House While Black
- Deconstructing White Supremacy
- Celebrating Juneteenth Is As American as Strawberry Soda
- The Solution for Starbucks in 5 Easy Steps
- Temple University bio
- Books
- Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream (with Ibtihaj Muhammad)
- Same Family, Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America's Diverse Families
- Substitute Me
- Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (with Ayana Byrd)
- Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain
- Articles
- The Difference Between Racism and Colorism (Time 2016)
- When Black Hair Is Against the Rules (NY Times op ed, 2014)
- Does your son or daughter need a black pride tune-up? (WHYY, 2015)
Joel illuminates the mental side of sports, sharing stories from decades of work with athletes from kids to pros. He talks about forging connections with Philly’s major sports teams … helping young pro athletes handle the challenges of sudden fame … how self-talk, relaxation, and visualization skills enable performance for athletes at all levels … how to be a terrific sports parent … how pro teams increasingly value personality as well as talent in draft picks … and using sport as an arena to teach life skills. Enjoy his vivid examples and insights, delivered with an engaging personable style.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Joel Fish:
- Psychology of Sport — website and Facebook page
- 101 Ways to be a Terrific Sports Parent
Take a dynamic trip inside Power Up Your Business — a free, successful, innovative program run by the Community College of Philadelphia with city funding. Small business owners learn from experts, peers, and coaches, gaining insights and practical skills they apply to grow their businesses.
Hear Kittura’s expressive narration of small business stories and challenges, the unexpected bounty of city resources, and on-the-ground reports from walking commercial corridors across the city.
Along the way enjoy evocative stories of her journey — life in the Caribbean, selling high-end jewelry, and the rich history of her Mount Airy family.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Power Up Your Business and Kittura Dior:
- Power Up Your Business Annual Report 2018
- Entrepreneurs benefit from Power Up Your Business program
- Power Up Your Business website
- Kittura Dior on LinkedIn
Don’t miss these rich stories from a full life of 81 years (so far)! Growing up in a nurturing and accomplished black community in Jim Crow Atlanta ... how running red lights as a police officer under Rizzo led to a deep understanding of abuse of power ... the glass ceiling for African American lawyers in Philly law firms ... how the fight to save a Germantown grocery store exposed “councilmanic prerogative” to the city ... and revitalizing Germantown by creating a path to homeownership for today's residents.
Throughout her many career reinventions and volunteer projects Yvonne homes in on key community issues and brings people together to tackle them.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Yvonne Haskins, and organizations she talks about in this episode:
- 1950’s Atlanta bus story (Yvonne as a young Rosa Parks)
- LinkedIn profile
- Mt Airy USA Community Champions video
- Germantown residents are fighting to bring down the neighborhood's notorious blight king
- Germantown United CDC
- Women Organized Against Rape
- Jumpstart Germantown
On top of legal know-how, investigative social work skills are a big part of Tracy Ulstad’s job as a Federal Public Defender for death row inmates. She meets thoroughly with the people in her client’s life, often building a picture for the jury of how a history of family violence and abuse led to the crime—an alternative to sterile facts which suggest an evil person.
Now progressive, Tracy credits her conservative upbringing for launching her career—via the humanitarian values she learned in Catholic school. She describes the stark challenges her clients face during decades on death row, how she talks about work with her 7-year-old son, and the groundbreaking state Supreme Court case that might eliminate the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Tracy Ulstad and the Capital Habeus Unit:
- Habeas Corpus Unit, Federal Community Defender Office (Eastern PA district)
- Could a Philly killer’s appeal lead PA Supreme Court to abolish the death penalty?
- Capital punishment in the United States
Colorful Mt Airy author and illustrator Amy Ignatow creates pithy, funny, adventurous books for middle-grade kids (secretly enjoyed by grownups too). Around ages 8-12 kids start to make decisions for themselves and navigate social groups, so there’s lots of room for Amy to weave drama and humor. It’s a time when kids “find their people” -- and as Amy says “it’s a lot easier to dismiss a bully if you have friends to connect with.”
She reads and discusses passages from her “Odds” books, in which a group of kids who normally wouldn’t be caught dead together warily join forces after discovering they’ve gained (mild) super powers, like being able to teleport but only 4 inches to the left.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Amy Ignatow:
- Moore College of Art bio
- Popularity Papers Blog
- Plot summaries for Odds series and Popularity Papers
- Revenge of the Sis (Star Wars: Jedi Academy #7)
- Video of a funny one-minute play Amy wrote
Nina Berryman talks about her wide-ranging work as Farm Manager for Weavers Way Farms -- from hands-in-the-dirt know-how, through educating a diverse mosaic of workers, to running a produce business with a dozen partner groups. The beautiful farms tucked in corners of urban Philly, giant vegetable planning spreadsheets, harvesting in July heat, preparing weekly vegetable shares for 250 CSA members, handling insects organically, inspiring students from Saul Agricultural High School, her favorite weird vegetable, and connecting with urban farmers in Philly and the wider world. She does it all with enthusiasm, heart, humor, and grit.
Podcast website: https://nwphillypodcast.net
More about Nina Berryman and Weavers Way Farms:
- Weavers Way Farms
- So Tell Us, Nina — Does it Feel Like 10 Years?
- Henry Got Crops! Blog