‘Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.’ – Oprah Winfrey
So Many Women and Announcing…
As we roll out Season 8, I’m delighted to tell you that our podcast series Sylvia & Me has been enjoying great success. Our weekly downloads are up to 2,000. The past year has afforded me the opportunity to read some amazing books and meet these amazing, inspiring female authors. And I want to share them with you. So…the good news is that starting this Thursday, and for the next several Thursdays, we will be airing a special edition of Sylvia & Me: Sylvia & Me – My Reading Corner.
Today’s podcast and Bunmi Laditan
A conversation with Bunmi Laditan, an award winning, Webby nominated writer. Most of you may know her by her moniker ‘Honest Toddler’ and her debut novel, Confessions of a Domestic Failure, a satirical, realistic look at motherhood. Bunmi has outdone herself with her latest book, Dear God: Honest Prayers to a God who Listens.
She had originally written this collection of poetry and prayers as a way of following her own spiritual journey. Written with candor, self-aware humor, and a profound insight, Bunmi saw that so many were struggling with similar journeys. And so with much humility, she agreed to publish Dear God. The book is for anyone seeking to reconnect and for those looking for a good word. Bunmi shares with me her journey and it is a journey of emotions that we all experience – doubt, anger, love, desperation, gratefulness and more.
Meet Bunmi
Dear God was featured on the Today Show, and Bunmi is a contributor to Parenting.com, Mothering.com, iVillage.com, the New York Times and the Huffington Post. Bunmi lives outside of Montreal with her family. Her social media following is large. But more impressive is that there is communication between her followers, not just emoji’s. Bunmi relates and is not afraid of having a conversation, even with someone who disagrees with her.
A candid conversation with Bunmi:
- · Childhood and faking it
- · Marrying at 16 and converting to Judaism
- · Culture not religion
- · Identity as a Jewish wife and mother
- · Divorce and becoming a seeker
- · Struggles with depression and anxiety
- · Journey to reconnect with God
- · Raising her three children
Thursday and Sylvia & Me – My Reading Corner with Author Jona Frank
Join me on Thursday’s podcast for our 1st Sylvia & Me – My Reading Corner, to have a conversation with portrait photographer and author, Jona Frank. Known for her portraits surrounding youth culture, Jona made a slight detour and wrote a memoir. Not one for doing what is expected, Jona’s memoir was done not with words, but with photographs. If you’re thinking, great, a book of old photos…you would be wrong. Cherry Hill: A Childhood Reimagined stars Laura Dern as her mother.
‘Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not the sitter.’ – Oscar Wilde
Jona grew up in the 60’s in suburban Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Her mother lived the life that a suburban housewife was supposed to live. The men went into the City, a grey background while the women stayed at home, tending to their house and family. As a stereotypical suburban woman, Jona’s mother never deviated from the standards that had been set for her. Instead her mother did what was expected of her, not what she may have wanted to do. Jona rejected this way of life and went on to construct her life from within herself, rejecting the standards that others had set.
Meet Jona Frank
Meet Jona Frank, whose high school passion for photography led her to study at the University of California on a scholarship. She did go home after graduating but returned to Los Angeles pursuing her personal dreams, not other’s expectations and standards.
Jona’s works have been exhibited at such venues as the Smithsonian’s National Gallery in Washington, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and the Kimbal Art Center.
An insightful conversation:
- · A photo shoot in a small town in England and a connection with Cherry Hill
- · Suburbia and the stereotypical woman
- · Art class, a blank piece of paper, a phone call and tulips
- · Doing it her own way
- · Societal norms and individual desires
- · Casting Laura Dern
- · Staged pictures and the strain of maintaining an image
- · Recreating the non-Kodak moments
- · Creating images between reality and cinematic fantasy
- · What’s next
Thank you
Again, thank you for all your support and for being loyal listeners to Sylvia & Me.
As always, you can find Sylvia & Me wherever you listen to your podcasts. Like what you hear please leave a review and tell a friend.
Stay safe…stay healthy…and as always…STAY TUNED!