Though Rick Ruskin has a voice sometimes reminiscent of James Taylor, with all the enchantment that implies, and though he's got a lot of wonderful lyrics & tunes, the way that Rick most distinctively shines is through his magic on the guitar. Born and raised around Detroit, Michigan, migrating to California in the late 1960's, and having played for years with prominent artists like Olivia Newton John & Jackie DeShannon, Rick Ruskin has been located in Seattle for the past few decades in a home complete with an excellent recording studio plus a drum kit for creativity, exercise and therapy.
Mark Neumann was a Franciscan brother for 20 years, including 6 years working as a medical missionary in Zaire, now called the Congo. After a total of 35 years as a pediatrician, he is making his 1st run for office, in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin's 3rd district in the US House of Representatives, currently occupied by Ron Kind. As a world-healer and a people-healer, he is now seeking to further heal our country as a politician.
Liam Hooper takes on the "gayest" passage in the Christian Bible, the story of the Roman Centurion and the healing of his personal servant. Does this text condone gay sex? Gay relationships? Slavery?
Liam deepens the significance of the passage by connecting it to the narrative that comes immediately afterwards: Jesus raising a widow's only son from the dead.
Extinction Rebellion has a take on addressing the climate crisis that is refreshing, since their plan is to step pass the log-jam of the political process in the US, and taking the power right back to the people. And instead of talking about things like carbon neutrality by 2050 or the like, their plan is to do it by 2025. Impossible is not in the vocabulary of Extinction Rebellion, and they've already got a hefty track record to show they can get things done. Daniel Yildirim is what they call a mass mobilizer for this area of the country, operating out of Viroqua, Wisconsin.
Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Atheist, Catholic Worker, Lutheran, Meditation, Quaker, Secular Humanist
Leslie Evers has been singing and writing songs forever, but she waited decades to release them to the world. With her beautiful voice, lyrical skill, and trusty guitar and banjo, she casts magical-musical spells. Located on the folk-jazz continuum, Leslie has also performed for years with The Gryphon Carolers. Home is Palo Alto, CA, and she will soon release her first hymn!
Think of this as a patchwork quilt. Instead of one long main segment, the Art House, and the Puzzler Question, we have sewed together five shorter segments from around the world that each stand alone. Together they tell a larger story.
Olivia Oguadinma in Nigeria discusses the role of storytelling in motivating her peers to meaningful action. Through her Gems on Earth podcast she reaches young people throughout Western Africa and beyond.
The KKK experienced a "rebirth" in the early 1900's, growing virulently across the country, differently manifesting depending on the area. Dr. Michael Luick-Thrams is founder & director of TRACES Center for History and Culture, sponsors of the upcoming BUS-eum display & tour with 5 displays for 2020, Topic today is The White Cancer: America and its Ku Klux Klan, including the current 3rd wave which we are still in. Michael helps us see current events more clearly in the reflection of our history.
Robinlee Garber started out from New York, explored other cities & states while also exploring careers in creating art, stage production, and clinical art therapy, but she found home in Chicago, where she also found found fulfillment in adding music performance to her art therapy work. Her musical passions are life-long, centering around folk, blues, jazz, and what she calls torch-folk, although she only began performing music professionally in the last 15 years or so. She has released two albums, one of torch/jazz standards, and the other of folk/singer-songwriter character, with many more of her songs ready for studio recording when the opportunity presents itself.
Mike McCabe is a political reform activist. Farm-raised, Peace Corps-deepened, journalist-honed, Mike worked 15 years with the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. He ran in the 2018 Democratic primary for Wisconsin Governor, and shares the motivations, experiences, & lessons of that run in his new book, Unscrewing America: Hopes from the Heartland . He currently works with Our Wisconsin Revolution.
Consummate journalist & author,Larry Tye shares about his new book, DEMAGOGUE: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy, full of lessons completely applicable to today, especially considering that the McCarthy playbook was passed directly to his assistant, Roy Cohn, and from Roy to Donald Trump. Larry Tye makes history accessible & enthralling, and serves it up for the betterment of the world. Larry worked at the Boston Globe and a number of other newspapers before writing 8 books (as of the present moment) and founding the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship.
Past/current religious/spiritual influences:
Jewish