Compelling Folk: Recent Episodes
Aaron D.S.
Everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone gets a chance to tell it. Join comedian Aaron D.S. on a thought-provoking journey into the lives of others. From influencers to artists, sex workers to scientists, and everything in between, Aaron takes a light-hearted look at our shared worlds through the eyes of another in the hope of connecting them back together again.
According to the US census bureau, only one in five Americans can converse in two or more languages. However, one of them happens to be Jared Gimbel, a Polyglot with a growing arsenal of 12 languages. Jared joins Aaron to talk about how he manages it, what wisdom he’s picked up along the way, and to spit some multilingual poetry rhymes.
Zoe Martin Doike first picked up both the viola and violin at 5 years old and hasn’t put them down since. In her ascension to the top of the classical music scene, she successfully earned tenure in the viola section of the New York City Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. But is she happy? And what was it like to play for the Dalai Lama? And how can we make sense of Classical music in today’s world?
They say those who can do, and those who can’t teach. However, Julien Gelinas is special in that before becoming the nursing program advisor and head e-sports coach at Long Island University, he was ranked number one out of 25 million league of legends players in North America. Under his alias, Zatsmod, his climb to the top won him a $50,000 cash prize and later earned him a spot to visit and defeat China’s best team on their own turf. In this hour long chat, we discuss what is E-Sports, what is it like to be the best at something, and if following your dreams is really worth it.
Phillip Gerba is a New York City Tour Guide by day and a talented comic book artist by night. Combining his deep knowledge of history and an education at a clown conservatory, he’s created a comic book genre completely unique to him.
Aaron sits down with LA-based photographer, Mike Dempsey. In the past, he’s done work for the directors of the award winning film “everything everywhere all at once,” music videos for American indie rock band “Manchester Orchestra,” and even advertisements for McDonalds. Now finishing his tour of his new photo exhibition titled “Banana Peel,” he’s here today to show us how to see things through a different lens.
Twitch steamer Mason “DrDoctorman” joins Aaron to discuss the art of playing video games online with a live audience and the ethical boundaries that comes with it.