Northwest Philly Neighbors
18 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsOur 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!
Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Season 1 Wrap
December 18, 2019 16:00 - 1 minute - 893 KBWe’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 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 st...
Alex Burns - Transporting Audiences with Vibrant Classic Theater (part 2)
December 04, 2019 19:00 - 39 minutes - 25 MBIn 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’...
Alex Burns - Transporting Audiences with Vibrant Classic Theater (part 1)
November 23, 2019 17:00 - 42 minutes - 27.3 MBQuintessence 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 theat...
Tiffany Palmer - Leader in LGBT Family Law, and Newly-Elected Judge
November 14, 2019 02:00 - 57 minutes - 33.6 MBAs 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 i...
Dave Gillies - Juggler and Wire Walker (part 2)
November 13, 2019 16:00 - 39 minutes - 24.9 MBIn 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 riggi...
Tiffany Palmer - Leader in LGBT Family Law, and (likely) New Judge
October 31, 2019 01:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBAs 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 i...
Dave Gillies - Juggler and Wire Walker (part 1)
October 16, 2019 15:00 - 39 minutes - 24.9 MBGreat 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 othe...
Keith Russell - Birds, Community, and Saving Wild Places in the City
October 03, 2019 02:00 - 50 minutes - 29.1 MBWith 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 lark he 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 … disc...
Voices of the Village Fair
September 18, 2019 19:00 - 45 minutes - 25.5 MBEvery 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 ...
Shameka Sawyer - Coaching Aspiring Filmmakers
September 04, 2019 19:00 - 55 minutes - 30.2 MBEvery 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 cre...
John Janick - Transforming His Yard and Yours With Native Plants (to save our food supply)
July 17, 2019 20:00 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBCrucial 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 m...
Elizabeth Vander Veer Shaak - Bowmaker and Violin Shop Proprietor
July 03, 2019 17:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBCaptivating 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 ... ...
Lori Tharps - An Upbeat Voice for Multiracial Equality
June 19, 2019 19:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBWith 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 neigh...
Joel Fish - Sport Psychologist
June 06, 2019 01:00 - 44 minutes - 20.5 MBJoel 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 t...
Kittura Dior - Empowering Small Business Owners, Plus Caribbean & Family Stories
May 22, 2019 16:00 - 42 minutes - 19.7 MBTake 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 ...
Yvonne Haskins - Lifelong Civic Contributor and Community Builder
May 08, 2019 13:00 - 55 minutes - 25.2 MBDon’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 ...
Tracy Ulstad - Defending Death Row Inmates
April 24, 2019 04:00 - 50 minutes - 28.3 MBOn 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 i...
Amy Ignatow - Author and Illustrator
April 10, 2019 04:00 - 40 minutes - 18.8 MBColorful 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 w...
Nina Berryman - Urban Farm Manager
March 27, 2019 13:00 - 49 minutes - 22.8 MBNina 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 favor...