Brian Talks To Humans!

May 17 was the 65th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that declared segregated schools were unconstitutional. Yet we still have school segregation and education injustice in the US. With this in mind I sat down with my friend Okaikor, a fellow educator-activist. In part 1 of our conversation, we discuss her experiences as a Black student and as a teacher. Next week, we'll discuss her experiences as a teacher, activist, and emerging scholar. Go to briantalkstohumans.net and click on Contact for a link to donate to the costs of the podcast through Patreon.

Trigger warning: This episode contains a discussion of sexual abuse. There are no details of sex acts, but a description of how it started, how it continued, and how Rob felt about it. This episode's human is Rob, a friend I made in 12-step recovery circles. We discuss getting sober, sexual abuse, relationships and dating, and using creative outlets to deal with pain. Rob is adjusting to a queer community that's become more complicated, and a dating scene affected by technology's impersonality. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net for more info. Click on Contact there for social media and email, as well as a link to Patreon where you can donate to the cost of equipment and hosting fees.

This episode's human is Deb, a friend and former co-worker. I met Deb at my old teaching job and we connected well. But fast forward 15 or so years, and Deb has a life I wouldn't have predicted for her. We discuss that life and where she's at now as she starts to explore her own interests more. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net for info and a link to donate through Patreon.

This episode features an interview with a former student of mine, Manny. There was a problem with the audio when we played back the recording, and the method I had to use to fix it muffled the vocals a bit. I think it's still preferable to the original version. Manny is an interesting and creative guy, and I hope you enjoy our conversation. Make sure you check out his music, too. Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net for contact info and a link to donate through Patreon.

Just me checking in again. Will I finish my dissertation? Why am I even doing it? Will you donate money to hear these questions be answered in the future?

If you've listened to Episode 1 with Tim, you know I was having a bunch of technical difficulties when recording and editing the episode. I happened to wake up at 3:30 AM one day and decided to see what I could do about improving the sound quality. Without getting into the weeds about audio stuff, I basically tried to amplify the sections of the episode where I had to essentially mute my mic and it was hard to hear me. I hope this remastered version is more satisfying to listen to. (note: References to Tim's intro and outro music were edited out because I replaced those songs with new music for the "re-issue.") Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net for more info and a link to donate through Patreon.

This episode's human is Jen, a colleague of mine. We discussed her path from Long Island to Alabama to New Jersey. We also talked about how she's grown as a teacher and person in recent years, and how that's coincided with a new partnership and second marriage. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net for more info on the episode and a link to Patreon where you can donate to the costs of running the podcast.

This episode's human is Jason. He's the man behind the Brian Talks To Humans! logos, a drummer, and a music lover with around 3000 records in his collection. We talked about life on tour, music, and the alleged mass murder of Irish railroad workers in Pennsylvania. I really enjoyed our conversation and hope you do, too.

I'm interested in what you think of the first three episodes. Go to www.briantalkstohumans.net and click on Contact to get in touch.

First of all, let's all celebrate the sound quality improving on this episode. ​This episode's human is Cyrene. She's a good friend of mine whom I met in my doctoral program. We discuss her interesting family life, her path as an educator, and fourth grade boobs. I'll be spacing episodes out more moving forward. Expect a new episode about every two weeks.

I'm rush-shipping episode 2 for you because Karl had a time-sensitive announcement. I have news re: technical difficulties, too. Episode 2's human is Karl. Karl is a fellow socialist. We talk bout how he developed his political perspective, his brief stint as a teacher, some local issues...and the fact that he sometimes takes on a reptilian form. Enjoy listening.

This is the first episode of my new podcast! We had some major technical difficulties. Please be patient with me. I interview my uber nerd friend Tim about all sorts of topics. He's an interesting guy and I hope you enjoy listening.