Loren Munk is an amazing painter and art world chronicler. His art and videos are an amalgamation of art history. The well-known painter, Katherine Bradford said he deserves a MacArthur "Genius" Award and I wholeheartedly agree. As James Kalm, he’s had over 2 million views of his web series covering art, galleries, artists, openings and even some street musicians. There is so much to learn about this former Mormon from Utah. Loren was talented as a child but art didn’t come alive for him until he was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army during the 70’s. Loren was a highly active part of the art world in the 80’s. He never quit, but the art world went through it’s paces and he and his wife, Kate, focused on bring up two boys. In the meantime Loren, reentered the art world with a vengeance. This is genuine inside scoop, folks. There’s even a discussion of, “What’s more important for an art career,-the work or the relationships?” Listen →

Five days before the historic 2018 mid-term elections, I sit down with creative entrepreneur, Yulia Laricheva. I’m on the hunt to find out where her drive and ambition comes from. It's hard not to feel like a lazy ass around this lady! This leads to a deep dive into her experience of moving to the U.S. from the outskirts of Moscow when she was 10 years old. Yulia feels lucky to have the opportunities she has as opposed to what they would have been if her family hadn’t left Russia, and she doesn’t want to miss a single minute in her creative quest to help women and minorities succeed. Also Yulia really opens up about her life in all sorts of ways. More about Yulia and her company, DREAM NATION here: http://www.dreamnation.io/ Listen →

This session is a follow up to very intense personal session on Feb.1, 2018 that I had with fellow Radio Free Brooklyn host of Ben Talks. https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/drlisa/episodes/2018-02-12T13_00_17-08_00 Also check out Ben's show-Thursdays, 5-7pm!https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/ben-talks/ Here on Oct. 25, 2018, we check in again in this session, 9 months later, RFB host, Ben Louis is going places fun, EXCITING and scary. The last time I sat down with Ben on Feb.1st, 2018, he was going through a breakup of a long-term relationship. On the eve of his 28th birthday, Ben is poised to take off - on radio and live on stage. He’s focused on his career and it’s taking him places. There’s a lot of inspiration in here for you lazy asses out there. I’m looking forward to having Ben back in a bunch of months to hear what’s happened from this glance into his future. Listen →

Thanks to the Ecuadorian Film Festival, I get to sit down with accomplished actress and jazz singer Cristina Morrison, appearing in one of the main selections, Agujero negro (Black Hole) http://www.ecuadorianfilmfest.com/copy-of-template-5, who grew up in Ecuador and Miami but has also lived in Galapagos. Fascinating to hear how as a young girl she grew up in 2 very different cultures, American and a strict Catholic Latin American one. Her story about a childhood trauma involves being locked in a car! She has two sons and they can’t take her seriously when they see her act-it’s just mom acting! We were also joined by Andrea Taps,www.andreataps.com who was in the studio, representing the Ecuadorian film festival, so we get to hear the 2 ladies talk Ecuador and speak a bit in Spanish. Also got a recommendation for a great Ecuadoran restaurant in Manhattan. Besides hearing about her work and life, we got to fit in some of Cristina’s remarkable voice. Listen →

Nikhil Melnechuk, is the director of the Bowery Poetry Club and https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com and producer of feature documentary "Don't Be Nice," https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com/dont-be-nice/ which is about to premier at 2018 Bushwick Film Festival https://www.bushwickfilmfestival.com. We had a great deep dive into the world of slam poetry, which is a great template for understanding performance, writing and art in general. What's more important, "Making the work or pleasing the audience?" question gets turned over and examined a few times. More about Nik here! https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com/staff/nikhilmelnechuk Listen →

Anthony is a thoughtful guy for such silly songs. I guess I’m thinking now his silly songs are not very silly at all when you really think about them. https://music.anthonykapfer.com/ He’s super-talented and can’t help following his own path, which makes for a lot of great stories. We really bonded, especially since he reminded me of Frank Zappa. We got to play his music, a song from his album “Songs for Children to Cry To”— “D is for Divorce,” which is hilarious and created an earworm that I still have right now. Thanks Anthony :/! There’s some really intense conversation about 2 car accidents, one that affected Anthony as a young child and one as an adult. This episode is extreme crying and laughing. I really felt like we got a window into Anthony in this one. www.anthonykapfer.com/ Listen →

I’m really depressed and overwhelmed because of Bushwick Open Studios self-pressure, as well as all the other shit going on in my life. A commission – making 12 paintings in 2 weeks! You can feel my distress in the beginning of the session, then Norton comes in and we talk about the spectacular show he is curating at the gallery 100 Bogart which is next store to the studio.so When he comes in, I finally chill out. Norton, who is a spectacular curator and artist, http://www.nortonart.net/ also lives in my same building — we were able to have a direct hilarious conversation about the tension between our dogs! Norton also has a terrific Insta: http://www.nortonart.net/ Listen →

Marianne Faithful, who knew! I love Billy-I’ve gotten to hang with him at the RFB studio quite a bit. He makes me feel better about my age group cause he’s such a cool guy and has totally kept up, showing me you can stay young forever! Billy’s had a life in music and hosts TWO RFB shows, Thursdays 11am: https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/the-attitude-adjustment-show/ AND Sundays 11pm, https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/cosmic-debris/ He met Marianne Faithful at the 8th Street record store he was working at in the late 70’s There’s also a lot of boldface music names in this episode from Billy’s adventures. Billy’s childhood includes a tough dad which has likely made him more sensitive. In the past few years, he’s also been devoted to making art and paints all the time, which I didn’t know—great to hear about the motivation behind his paintings. Listen →

Amy Hill and I have known each other for a long time, but like with so many artists, we mostly see each other circulating at openings. We use the occasion of her 3rd solo show at Front Room Gallery-https://www.frontroomles.com/ — open until Oct. 21 to sit down together in the RFB studio. It was particularly lovely to be able to sit down with her and grill her about whatever I was interested in knowing about her. She is a charming sport! See more of her incredible work HERE: http://www.amyhillpaintings.com/ So much to uncover about Amy — her childhood — her creative, intelligent family — scientist dad, artsy mom, talented sibling. Everyone had drawing talent. Amy's drawing talent and consistent hard work has definitely been the compass in her life and has opened more doors for her than she will likely admit to — she's way too modest:))Her stories about her early artist years in the lower east side stick in my head. Eventually she and I get to talking Listen →

Ikechukwu Ufomadu is an actor, comedian and entertainer. He trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and internationally in The Netherlands and Indonesia. Who would've guessed we'd wind up talking about Buddhism? And so much more! I didn't know a whole lot about Buddhism, so it was fascinating to hear about Ike's practice‚— and which helped me understand why Ike is an original performer, like no other. He has a background in experimental theater from NYU Tisch. When you combine it with his original sense of humor and innate desire to simply entertain you get this: http://www.ikehimself.com/ In my role as Dr. Lisa, I got to find out a lot about Ike. How his father moved back to Nigeria when he was a kid and left him with his siblings and mother in Texas. We also dig into what part of Ike does his character come from and represent? I loved hearing Ike talking about how he came to New York to go to NYU and what that was like for him to be new in such an open town. Listen →

When I first, met Sharilyn Neidhardt a few years ago when I moved to Bushwick, I noticed that she was a leader in the community right away, and now I know why. Sharilyn has the goods—in her work, how she handles herself and her presence in a group of people. What I’m saying is, this lady has her shit together. We get to check in with her just a few days before her solo show, SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE, opens at Art During the Occupation Gallery http://www.art-during-the-occupation-gallery.com We talk about the feelings in her work, influences from her job in a newsroom, how making art has replaced drinking, the art group she helps run, Tran-scen-der https://www.facebook.com/transcenderart/ , and how she makes her own fucking oil paints! If you want to read her love of art in her own words, read this: https://drawingnewyork.com/2018/06/12/why-i-draw-by-sharilyn-neidhardt/ After reading this and talking with her, I felt so inspired, I spent my entire weekend working on art, so Listen →

It’s likely you are familiar with Spencer Tunick’s work, but in case you are not, he’s the guy that organizes, photographs and exhibits huge sculptural, landscape type photographs of naked people. https://www.spencertunick.com/ Spencer and Kristin Bowler, check her/her work out here—https://www.instagram.com/krystlpink/—literally travel the US—all 50 states https://tinyurl.com/y9c2a4dp,—and the globe together https://www.amazon.com/Naked-World-Spencer-Tunick/dp/B007NE050Q, self-funding and producing these otherworldly bodyscapes. Spencer has been interviewed and documented widely, but rarely with his wife—and them as a couple. I have known Spencer and Kristin since the 90’s, when they were just dating and before they had their two girls, Seda and Isla now 13 and 11, so I was able to test out some of my Dr. Lisa theories. Here are some of the topics we discussed: • How Kristin and Spencer met. How they began dating • Listen →

In my position as an untrained therapist, I would say that the way Heather “presents” and the way she really is don’t quite match up. Kind of the way the Kerry Russell character on “The Americans”, can go from glam to hand to hand combat without breaking a sweat. Except Heather wouldn’t hurt anybody. She’s SUPER caring! Heather is a writer/director who’s made a lot happen, including a feature film, "Inside You", that she wrote, directed and starred in. https://www.amazon.com/Inside-You-Heather-Fink/dp/B075RMN46NWhoa! We talk about her take on life which relates to some of the themes in her film, how men and women function together in society without thinking too hard and women get the short end of the stick too often. Heather’s opening story about being called out in a dramatic horrible way in front of the class kind of says it all. She simply doesn’t see why she is getting in trouble. We both agree – the boys Listen →

So I had a seriously deeply engaged humanitarian come to the studio and discuss how he came to the service that he is in now, which is mostly leading young people at risk into exemplary human beings. He's been doing it for over 20 years and he makes crazy positive shit happen. Ambassador Tate's road was harsher than I can imagine. It involves foster homes, alcoholism, abuse and the murder of his brother. You can't help but find this dude inspiring. The thing about this session that stuck with me is the story of how he had the agency as a child to get himself out of a terrible situation. Dr. Tates program is called Hip Hop to Hip Hope. Find out more or get involved: unitedunderonestar@gmail.com or 347-286-3942 Listen →

I have been a huge fan of Portia Munson since I saw her work at the Bad Girls Show at the New Museum in 1994. In our session, she was an open book on so many topics which both surprised me and yet, made sense at the same time since her work is so honest. We talked in depth about her childhood, her dyslexia which likely help develop her focus to make visual art. She talked about growing up in a religious family, and how it affected her. We discussed her role as a young female artist attending Cooper Union and Skowhegan, before moving to the Catskills with her husband. Some great pre-gentrification, lower east side stories in there! She had an early job which including being a cab driver-weird, right? She has a great, secure take on being a mother-she has 2 children, a boy, now 24, and a girl who is 19. I could go on-but just listen for yourself! More about Portia's work: https://www.ppowgallery.com/artist/portia-munson/work www.portiamunson.com This video is a great studio visit with Listen →

This was so fun and outta control! Artist Eric Doeringer http://ericdoeringer.com/ teaches a pre-college class at the school of Visual Arts http://www.sva.edu/ in the summer. He has these 15-16 year olds that he teaches art making, art appreciation and how not to fall into the subway. I actually learned a lot because I don't interact with that many kids at one time and I was so impressed with the range of personalities and how they each translated to the radio show! They had questions for me and I had questions for them, and we all had a great learning experience! Photo From left: Cindy, Manuel, Eric, Akiva, Charlie, Gabriela, and Sophie. Listen →

The Devil's Pimple is a short film about life, love, death, and a large pimple man, created by the two boys Leo Galen Rauf and Martin Kramer, with an all-star cast of Anna Slate, Bryson Jenkins, Colby Howell, Felipe Sevilla, and Martin Kramer. This session with Martin and Leo we cover the true story behind this adventure (hint: Sheepshead Bay) and the process of how these two resourceful young men got their film done. We also got to dig into their perspectives on the older generation. And Leo and Martin give us a peek into their future as well. COME TO THE PREMIERE!! July 25, 7pm at Barbes, 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 347 422 0248 http://barbesbrooklyn.com/ HUGE SHOUTOUT to Eryn Levine for recording and editing! Listen →

In our phone session RevJen highlights some of her (frightening to me!) adventures, such as being at a balloon sex fetish party. Or how she was a stripper as an experiment at a hole-in-the-wall bar in Queens. Then there’s the family float party her dad instigated when the basement flooded. She's fearless and funny. Besides all the art, performance, Art Star Matriarching, RevJen is an amazing writer. This is one of my all-time favorite books EVER. https://www.amazon.com/Live-Nude-Elf-Sexperiments-Reverend-ebook/dp/B005PQSTX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531934480&sr=8-1&keywords=Reverend+Jen More Reverend Jen Books: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Reverend+Jen About REVEREND JEN’S WORLD-FAMOUS TROLL MUSEUM: http://narrative.ly/reverend-jen-and-her-den-of-four-hundred-trolls/ Marc Maron remembers the Lower East Side with Rev. Jen Part 1: https://youtu.be/3esdlwx4SrM Marc Maron Remembers the Lower East Side Part 2: Listen →

Lane Twitchell http://lanetwitchell.paspartout.com/ is an intense, complex, accomplished artist. His work is remarkable and as multi-layered as he is. Although I’ve known Lane since 1996, we covered a lot of new ground here. As a self-proclaimed psychotherapist, I would say from hearing about Lane’s siblings, that he comes by his intensity biologically. I also think that we got into “an elephant in the room,” topic about how his work and how his history affects the presentation of it. One thing we can be 100% certain about—Lane has integrity and a beautifully powerful connection with his work. Listen →

Leigh Celent is dropping her new LP. This powerhouse of a front women talks about her life and journey from the last EP to this one. It’s inspiring to understand what it’s like for someone who is CEO of her own band and managed 2 tours, a new EP a band change, a growing bond with her audience, a brief dalliance with a man—all in 6 months. She’s as active as Beyonce but without the staff. Inspirational for all of us who want to make shit happen in our lives! http://www.castleblackmusic.com/ Listen →