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Episode 58 with Nick Rod is up! Look at this stud. Don’t you want to hear what he has to say? Nick is a former co-leader...
22/09/2020

Episode 58 with Nick Rod is up! Look at this stud. Don’t you want to hear what he has to say?

Nick is a former co-leader of NP Baltimore, owner of the , and he does some other important things that involve trash incinerators and we talk all about it. What can I say, this guy love’s trash.

There are lots of jokes at the beginning, mostly at the expense of our friend , but I hope you stick around for the second half of the conversation which gets more into the environmental justice and city planning world, along with racism in the fitness and running industry. Cheers!

10/09/2020

SOUND UP FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK: “Black Lives Matter to me is not a political thing at all...it’s a human thing. Because Black lives do matter. And we want to call that out, because it’s important. Especially right now, but it always has been, throughout history in America. So, to say that he didn’t want it to be a political forum, it just really didn’t sit well with us.”

Today I have Winnie Lok on the show! Winnie is an ultra runner, an avid road racer (over 250 finishes and counting!), and an expert selfie taker. She’s the joyful runner you hope to meet on the starting line who will just make you so excited for the challenge ahead. And today, we start our conversation with a recent challenge she encountered when a race director asked her team to change their name from Black Lives Matter because it was “too political.” Spoiler alert, they ended up withdrawing from this race days ahead of the start, and stood by their convictions, that BLM is not political in the least.

We also chat about growing up in the US as an immigrant from Hong Kong, the grind of the theatre world in NYC, and how she ended up in Atlanta in her very own tiny home. Thank you for joining me Winnie!

Three years ago I sat down with my friend Jorge and got to know him even better. We talked about growing up in NY and CT...
04/09/2020

Three years ago I sat down with my friend Jorge and got to know him even better. We talked about growing up in NY and CT, how he ended up out west, and his first time ever camping. We started to discuss the barriers to entry in the outdoors for marginalized populations, but never truly got into the meat of the topic.

Today, years later and what feels like decades later of growth for both Jorge and I, we return to this conversation as he catches me up on what he has been up to in Lander, Wyoming. Jorge is still that fun, goofy guy, who chooses to sleep on the deck in a tent, wear pizza hats to make people laugh, and make fun of you for being so white. It's why I am just one of many who love this guy so much.

But you can hear such a stark difference in how he speaks about his job and, more importantly, his purpose of improving both representation in the outdoors and mentorship to the youth community.

He's the best, and I hope you love this conversation that probably could have gone on for 3 more hours.

Episode 55 is up and ready for your eager ears! Can ears be eager? I would argue yes. Anyways, it’s a quick breather and...
28/08/2020

Episode 55 is up and ready for your eager ears! Can ears be eager? I would argue yes. Anyways, it’s a quick breather and catch up with as he wanted an excuse to chat since I’m no longer paid to talk to him. In all seriousness, I stepped away from NP last week, so we took a minute to take a stroll down memory lane, laugh, and talk about how great I am in case you or your company is hiring (hi, I’m unemployed now).

Next week we have back on the show and we dive deeper into his work to improve access to the outdoors, something I can’t stop talking about. So go back and listen to Jorge’s original episode (episode 12) nearly 3 years ago to learn more about who he is and so you can hear this wild transformation in his voice since we last talked. It’s like I’m talking to a new guy. It’s amazing. Okay that’s enough, bye!

Episode 54 with this stunner, Jesse Dubin, is now live! I get to know Jesse and more of their background story as they s...
21/08/2020

Episode 54 with this stunner, Jesse Dubin, is now live! I get to know Jesse and more of their background story as they share with us their q***r journey. We discuss the gender spectrum, pronouns, how we will make mistakes and how to respond to those mistakes, giving your child room to express their own identity and so much more. This could have been a 3 hour episode. So much to take away here and I can’t wait for you all to get to know Jesse a little better. Download wherever you get your podcasts!

New episode on a Saturday! Partly because I’m excited to release this episode. Partly because 8/15 has special meaning t...
15/08/2020

New episode on a Saturday! Partly because I’m excited to release this episode. Partly because 8/15 has special meaning to the guest, Maggie MayKay of NP Brooklyn. In the lunar calendar, the 15th of the 8th month is for family, it’s when the moon is roundest and harvesting happens.
8 sounds like baat in Cantonese, which rhymes with faat (luck, prosperity, fortune). And 8/15 is when Crazy Rich Asians was released in the US, a film we speak at length about towards the end of this conversation. Thank you for sharing your story !

We have Dana Bogan on the show today! Dana hates small talk so we jump into the deep end immediately and I loved every s...
11/08/2020

We have Dana Bogan on the show today! Dana hates small talk so we jump into the deep end immediately and I loved every second of it. If you don’t already follow her, .soul.sarcasm is an incredible writer and has been sharing bits and pieces of her life growing up as a biracial female in a white neighborhood and how the challenges of racial discrimination intersect with having a physical disability and mental health disorder. She speaks so eloquently about all of these challenges and humbly forgets to mention she’s a casual 2:57 marathoner, medical social worker, and phenomenal friend/family member. Download now on iTunes, Spotify, stitcher and SoundCloud.

Wisconsin Notes has been a fun project of love and bad jokes since day 1. It was poorly executed interviews with enduran...
08/08/2020

Wisconsin Notes has been a fun project of love and bad jokes since day 1. It was poorly executed interviews with endurance athletes, short stories about not making it to the bathroom in time, and birth stories. Really inconsistent and confusing content. ⠀

After taking a year off to figure out how to balance a career, baby, and family, I brought back my favorite hobby-making people tell their story into a microphone. ⠀
Over the last few months I have pivoted alongside my work with November Project to elevate BIPOC voices, diversify our guest list, and have conversations that I have wanted to have for years but didn't have the confidence to record on air. ⠀

People, especially white people, are constantly talking about how they are doing the work. "Yeah, I read like all of White Fragility, I'm totally doing the work. All the work. The work is done. I've completed said work." ⠀

I'm never going to educate people on how to do their work (but I'll probably/definitely continue to make fun of white people) but I hope the people who listened to Brogan and I laugh at our list of travel faux pas are also listening to Tonieh talk about being the mother of three Black grown children or Adeoti speak about her experience growing up in a nearly all white community in Rhode Island with Nigerian parents. ⠀

These are all such amazing epsiodes and it's all to the credit to the guests who listen to me stumble and make mistakes and then actively learn to improve. We have some of the best episodes yet to come with lots of laughs and lots of varying perspectives so all of this to say: I pivoted and I'm not going back. I hope you are all coming with me.

Now live we have another cross over episode from November Project the Show! Over on the youtube channel there have been ...
06/08/2020

Now live we have another cross over episode from November Project the Show! Over on the youtube channel there have been some great conversations happening with our newest host, Tywon Thompson and various Black members and co-leaders in an effort to open the airwaves for thoughtful discussions and different perspectives. Today we have Tywon joined by two NP co-leaders, Kayode out of November Project Baltimore and Kwamye from November Project Kelowna in Canada. Both of these men have also written some very powerful blog posts in the past few months on the November Project website so I encourage you to read those as well. Thank you to all three men for giving us your time, giving us some good laughs, and some further insight into your stories. Check it out now on iTunes, Spotify, stitcher or soundcloud!

Episode 50!! Adeoti Ashiru joins us today! Adeoti is a first generation Nigerian American who grew up in Rhode Island be...
30/07/2020

Episode 50!! Adeoti Ashiru joins us today! Adeoti is a first generation Nigerian American who grew up in Rhode Island before attending Northeastern University in Boston, eventually heading out west where she lives in Santa Cruz County today. While I have known Ade since 2014, I was eager to get to know more of her story. She talks about her parents and their relationship with racism, moving to the USA in their early 20's, and then raising two children in a predominately white neighborhood and school system. She speaks to navigating these spaces and finding her voice along the way. I also spend a lot of time gushing about her as a vocalist, which I hope you were able to hear for yourself on our IG story (I saved it for you so you can all be super fans with me). If you want to hear more, check out Baby And The Luvies on spotify. Thank you to Adeoti for this lovely conversation!

Episode 49 with Tywon Thompson, Claudia Thompson, and Vinnie Cent is now live! This is the final cross over episode from...
22/07/2020

Episode 49 with Tywon Thompson, Claudia Thompson, and Vinnie Cent is now live! This is the final cross over episode from November Project the Show and is a really important episode for those who are part of the NP community or any fitness community for that matter. These three have been around since the inception of November Project and through the telling of their experiences provide the perspective of entering a largely white running community as a Black member. Thank you to and , as well as our host , for your time and your words. Please give this entire episode a listen and share it with your fitness community!

Another episode! We are on fire. And today we are THIS excited to talk about birth control!! Last week, the Supreme Cour...
16/07/2020

Another episode! We are on fire. And today we are THIS excited to talk about birth control!! Last week, the Supreme Court undercut access to birth control under Obamacare. Under the Affordable Care Act, churches and synagogues were automatically exempted from the birth control insurance mandate but not automatically exempt, were nonprofits like religiously affiliated universities, charities and hospitals, which employ millions of people who want their health insurance plans to cover birth control for themselves and their family members. This changes that.

Today I have former November Project San Diego co-leader and current NP Minneapolis member, Shira Klane, Nurse Practitioner, on to discuss all things birth control. This episode is not only for people who identify as women or have female anatomy, this is for everyone! Learn more so you can better support your partner, sister, mother, friend, neighbor, and know what you are talking about when you head to the polls. Goooooooo Uterus!!

Episode 47 of WI Notes is with our friend and NP Milwaukee member, Tonieh Welland. This episode was recorded the week be...
14/07/2020

Episode 47 of WI Notes is with our friend and NP Milwaukee member, Tonieh Welland. This episode was recorded the week before Juneteenth with Brogan and Bojan on November Project the Show. You may recognize Tonieh (shown middle, with 2 of her 3 children) from the film “Showing Up”, and she shows up for us here today to both educate us on the importance of Juneteenth and offer her perspective as a mother to 3 children (who are now taller than her 😆). Thank you Tonieh for your time and your heart! And thank you all for listening.

James Broad is a dog Dad, a soon-to-be human Dad, a snow enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a loving husband, son, and brother...
09/07/2020

James Broad is a dog Dad, a soon-to-be human Dad, a snow enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a loving husband, son, and brother, a yogi, and so much more. He's also a Black man, and on this episode of NP The Show with Brogan Graham and Bojan Mandaric, James speaks candidly about the death of George Floyd and how growing up as a Black man in America has shaped him and will shape how he raises his unborn son. We are forever fans of this man and so grateful of his time. Thank you for listening.

⁣Hiiiiii beautiful humans! We have been quiet here on WI Notes this past month, as I didn’t feel my voice needed to be c...
07/07/2020

⁣Hiiiiii beautiful humans! We have been quiet here on WI Notes this past month, as I didn’t feel my voice needed to be clogging the airwaves. Over on the November Project YouTube channel we have been having some amazing conversations though and I wanted to make them more accessible to our very active, on-the-go listeners. Over the next week, I will be releasing all of those episodes here! ⠀
First up is a conversation , and I had with our anti-racism educators, Soumya Palreddy and D.A. Dirks. They have been a part of the NP world for years and we have been incredibly lucky to work with them. In this episode we talk about the mistakes NP has made in the past, the work we have been doing around identity and why we stopped using the word ‘tribe’. ⠀

As always, if you know someone (maybe yourself!) who you would love to hear from on WI Notes, please let me know!

Riley Pathman is a staple at November Project San Diego. He’s strong, joyful, has incredible endurance, and has a sarcas...
29/05/2020

Riley Pathman is a staple at November Project San Diego. He’s strong, joyful, has incredible endurance, and has a sarcastic and fun chauffeur named Jim, who also happens to be his Dad. Today on Wisconsin Notes, I have the honor of interviewing 2 of the 4 members of Team Pathman out in California. Over 20 years ago, Riley and his brother Shane were born 14 weeks premature, resulting in a movement disorder called cerebral palsy. The shock of caring for twins with special needs was quickly pivoted by Jim and his wife Lisa to a mindset of “if other kids can do it, then ours can too.” If the adaptive equipment didn’t exist, Jim built it. If there was a sport his sons were interested in, he made it happen. Riley is competitive and thrives in the racing atmosphere, which is what he is missing so dearly during these lockdown times. So this past week the Pathmans hosted their very first “Everybody’s Home Half Marathon”, complete with a loop around their home (which they ran 265 times!), a DJ, cheering dinosaurs, official timers, and a post race beer garden. Due to Riley’s underlying respiratory issues, the Pathmans will be on lockdown for months to come so this most likely be the first of a complete “Everybody’s Home Race Series” so keep an eye out for the next race. This is a long one but worth every minute as these two will quickly turn your day around and motivate you to lace up your shoes and get out the door today. @ San Diego, California

Episode 43 is up with our wonderful guest, John Kohler! Let’s seeeee...we talk about John’s jump from smoker to runner, ...
22/05/2020

Episode 43 is up with our wonderful guest, John Kohler! Let’s seeeee...we talk about John’s jump from smoker to runner, how his family was on Boylston street in 2013 when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon, how his Dad has become a regular on his trail crew (😭so sweet), and how he made his way to the 135 last year, and hoping to complete it again this year. As a former leader of , he’s one of our favorite humans and I hope you ultra nerds like this episode!

Episode 42 is with our friend Orrin Whalen of Los Angeles, California! Orrin is...a character. At the ripe age of 6 he m...
15/05/2020

Episode 42 is with our friend Orrin Whalen of Los Angeles, California! Orrin is...a character. At the ripe age of 6 he moved with his family from the UK to Malibu,
grew up on the beach with a baguette in his hand and eventually found his way to Boston for college. Back to LA he went after school and he brought with him. Fast forward a few years, after a bit of travel around Europe and La Playa, he has returned to LA to paint and sculpt and make incredibly gorgeous pieces. Listen to his story, his bad jokes, and his devilish little giggle on this weeks episode and then check out orrinwhalen.com. Available on iTunes, soundcloud, and Spotify

08/05/2020

If you are looking for a little escape from the heaviness of the world, listen to episode 41 of Wisconsin Notes with guests and , now live in iTunes, Spotify, and a bunch of other places I can’t remember. I spent most of the recording reminding them it wasn’t a video. So there’s that.

01/05/2020

Episode 40. As always, there was a lot of laughing.

⁣It’s Friday! Which means there is a brand new episode of Wisconsin Notes for your ears to feast on! ⠀⠀On this episode w...
01/05/2020

⁣It’s Friday! Which means there is a brand new episode of Wisconsin Notes for your ears to feast on! ⠀

On this episode we have co-leader, Vinny Carrano. He tells us his story, from being a young child who tragically lost his older sister to cancer, to his life in the military serving 4 years for the Marine Corps Infantry as a Corporal (E4), the ongoing affects his deployment in Afghanistan have had on him, and the work he is currently doing as the Director of Development and Engagement for the Emily Whitehead Foundatjon, whose mission is to provide less toxic treatments to pediatric cancer patients. There was a lot to talk about! Check it out on itunes, spotify, soundcloud or our website.

Ah, brotherly love. In today's episode, we have returning guest, Chris Heuisler, and this time he is joined by his young...
24/04/2020

Ah, brotherly love. In today's episode, we have returning guest, Chris Heuisler, and this time he is joined by his younger brother, Tim. In many ways these two couldn't be more opposite (as shown in this photo). At the time of recording, Chris was the Global Run Concierge for Westin Hotels, and is still is an avid marathon runner, father of two, doting husband, and oozes the All-American boy next door vibe with such ease. In summary, Chris is someone you want as your neighbor. He probably would mow your lawn when you're on vacation.

Tim is the youngest of 5 Heuisler siblings, is covered in tattoos, and spends his 9-5 (which is never actually 9-5) slinging whiskey at industry events as the Master Whiskey Ambassador for Beam Suntory. He is living in NYC, although is often on the road traveling for work, and absolutely hates running. After chatting with these two for an hour, however, I think he would also be a stellar neighbor and might even mow your lawn if there were lawns in NYC. I guess being kind is just a Heuisler trait.

Throughout this interview we dive into what it's like to be from a large family, the breakdown of their personalities and how they both arrived in the professions they are in. Family, relationships, and incredible birthday celebrations, this episode is meant to feel like you're sitting around the kitchen table with your own siblings and I hope it's as relatable and entertaining as it was to participate in.

Episode 38 is live in iTunes and Spotify! Today we have two guests who are passionate about coffee, lifting heavy things...
17/04/2020

Episode 38 is live in iTunes and Spotify! Today we have two guests who are passionate about coffee, lifting heavy things, community, and anything that has to do with Ottawa, November Project Ottawa co-leaders, Liz MacKenzie and Lauren Garland. Check it out and give us a rating on iTunes if you liked it! If you don’t like it, please take that to the grave with you. Thanks so much ❤️ @ Ottawa, Ontario

⁣Episode 37 is up on iTunes and I honestly couldn’t happier to introduce you all to my friend Jacob Conway. ⠀⠀⠀He's a Ca...
10/04/2020

⁣Episode 37 is up on iTunes and I honestly couldn’t happier to introduce you all to my friend Jacob Conway. ⠀


He's a California born ray of sunshine, now living in NYC working for the plant based milk start up, Uproot. We discuss Laura's different levels of veganism and where Jacob falls, his move to the east coast, city rodents, and why he has so many matches in his bathroom. It's joyful and easy and I hope a good distraction from your day. ⠀

⁣I have been sitting on the next few episodes of WI Notes for a few months, attempting to rack up a handful of good in-person interviews before I released any on the airwaves, but in these very odd times of endless solo running miles I figured there’s no time like the present to roll them out. So over the next few weeks you will hear a collection of phone interviews as well as in-person interviews that were done in the pre-demic era. ⠀


So have a listen and be sure to let me know how much you love Jacob. Available on iTunes, soundcloud, stitcher, and our website.

Check, check. Is this thing still on? After a long break away, your favorite podcast about nothing is coming back this S...
10/02/2020

Check, check. Is this thing still on? After a long break away, your favorite podcast about nothing is coming back this Spring! Stories told by all of you about life’s ups and downs, embarrassing moments, big wins, mental health challenges, and other random topics we decide to dive into. Who do you want to hear from? Tag guests below and I will hunt them down until they talk to me. It’s an aggressive podcast.

It’s a WI NOTES takeover! Not sure why or how, but I caved to the immense social media pressure to allow my friends  and...
07/02/2019

It’s a WI NOTES takeover! Not sure why or how, but I caved to the immense social media pressure to allow my friends and (Or ) to take over as guest hosts on the newest episode of Wisconsin Notes. This interview is with Mike Burstein and Dave Spandorfer, the co-founders of Janji, a running apparel company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Boston. The company is notable as socially conscious with a percentage of sales funding global clean water initiatives and they also design apparel that features themes from the countries they partner with. Just a warning that after listening to this interview you may feel inspired to both go for a run and save the world.

***

As I am sure you have noticed, I have not been posting new episodes recently and will be taking a short break away to regroup and line up some new and exciting interviews. Over the last year, Brogan and I have learned a ton, improved our skills, and played around with all different genres of interview in order to figure out what direction we want to take Wisconsin Notes. It has been a blast, and now I want to build up the weird interview library. So if you have a ridiculous story, have a request of someone you would love to listen to, or have enjoyed a style of interview over the others please let us know! And always, while you are listening to today’s episode, please head to iTunes and give us a star rating and if you are really feeling yourself today maybe even a written comment.

Two more short stories from our time spent in San Francisco make up episode 34! From a story about how to avoid chafing ...
28/12/2018

Two more short stories from our time spent in San Francisco make up episode 34! From a story about how to avoid chafing by taking a trip down the dairy aisle to a more introspective look at the role fear has played in his life, take 15 minutes to listen to our friends Billy and Nicholas, available now on iTunes, stitcher, SoundCloud and on our website in bio.

Claire Wood and Keith Kelly both wear a lot of hats. Claire is the SBU Manager at New Balance, overseeing the product cr...
13/12/2018

Claire Wood and Keith Kelly both wear a lot of hats. Claire is the SBU Manager at New Balance, overseeing the product creation for global running footwear, is a talented runner, and a hilarious storyteller. Keith is also an employee of New Balance, was an incredible runner back in the day (2000 NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Champion), and has since moved on to Cat 1 cycling which is no small feat. These two have been friends for more than a decade and have a unique, insider perspective of the running industry. Today's chat covers running shoe poetry, Elaine Kennedy's flannel pajamas, and Claire's dog Violet. All of it random, all of it entertaining. Check it out on iTunes, SoundCloud, stitcher, or our website posted in the bio 🙌🏻

He’s back with another short story and, much like this photo, it will make you incredibly uncomfortable. Episode 32 come...
06/12/2018

He’s back with another short story and, much like this photo, it will make you incredibly uncomfortable. Episode 32 comes to you from November Project co-founder, Bojan Mandaric, and is up now for your listening pleasure. 🐟 🐠 🐟

Thanksgiving Special! This past weekend, The North Face made the difficult but responsible call to cancel all races in t...
22/11/2018

Thanksgiving Special! This past weekend, The North Face made the difficult but responsible call to cancel all races in the ECSCA due to the poor air quality in San Francisco. A couple hundred miles away the wildfires in and around Paradise, CA were still raging, destroying everything in it’s path. As runners gathered in the Bay Area for a race they could no longer run, Jonathan Levitt and friends decided they could use their hard trained fitness and community of runners to raise money for the victims of the Camp Fire. And so the Donner Party 50k was born. On episode 31, we get to know he hardest working man on twitter better and hear about how the run snowballed into such a success.

As the doctor handed my newly born baby to the nurses my first question to ask/yell at the doctor was “Is he 15 pounds?!...
17/10/2018

As the doctor handed my newly born baby to the nurses my first question to ask/yell at the doctor was “Is he 15 pounds?!” On this episode of Wisconsin Notes, I take the very rare role of podcast guest as calls in from San Diego to hear all the gruesome details about labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery. The episode is oddly long because it turns out the two of us have LOTS of jokes about being parents. For all the expecting parents out there...listen with caution. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.

To know her is to love her and Episode 25 of WI Notes will get you behind the scenes to know Mary Arnold even better. To...
17/10/2018

To know her is to love her and Episode 25 of WI Notes will get you behind the scenes to know Mary Arnold even better. To me (a non-ultra runner) she is one of those unicorns who runs insane races and somehow makes you believe you can too. Between trail and road running, she has run 75 races over the marathon distance, been engrained in the NYC running scene for years, and has recently joined up with to educate and encourage people to get to the polls! She’s turbo and inspiring while also (somehow) being relatable. So tune in today on iTunes, SoundCloud, stitcher or our site in bio, and let us know how cool you also think Mary is!

SHORT STORY TIME: Today we have not one, but TWO stories from men who were “kissed” by lightning. Immediately after they...
17/10/2018

SHORT STORY TIME: Today we have not one, but TWO stories from men who were “kissed” by lightning. Immediately after they both played the lottery and won millions. That last part is a slight fabrication but listen today to episode 27 live on iTunes, stitcher, SoundCloud and in the link in bio (photo: not me)⚡️⚡️⚡️

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