Dr. Lisa Gives A Sh*t

Dr Grant Brenner is a board certified physician-psychiatrist, an entrepreneur, author, teacher, speaker and not-for-profit board member. He has been featured on a variety of top ranked psychology resources and media as a thought leader and contributor. In other words, he’s a highly qualified professional unlike myself. At least I have people to call on! Dr. Brenner has been involved with many traumatic situations including 9/11—he wrote a book based on his experience and knowledge, so it was great to get his valuable insights. We discussed a range of subjects including how people in different circumstance, parents, single people, couples can effectively cope. And he talked about what he’s been seeing in his practice as well. I found this session reassuring since simply hearing from a pro that this is indeed as crazy as it feels and we are all developing from it together in real time—that’s all anyone can do. But there is an opportunity for growth in all of us. The bonus of the episode is that Grant has a wort

I was thrilled to have M Charlene Stevens, founder and Editor-in Chief of Arcade Project as my guest/patient. I've know Charlene for years, introduced originally to her by artist, curator, Christopher Stout. Charlene, if you don't know her is a presence in any room, gallery or museum. She is a meticulously fashionable, gorgeous, tall, woman with a generous and gregarious personality.  In this session, we dig into what's behind all that, Charlene talks about "imposter syndrome," her relationship with her mother and how it's changed after she passed away. I love hearing the description of Charlene's mother, a real leader in the community and the conflicts Charlene has in processing all that.  I don't mean this to sound too heavy. Charlene is someone who's always on a path to growth and this is an inspiring story along with the birth of Arcade Project four years ago. https://www.arcadeprojectzine.com/Arcade Project curates a mix of high and low culture. We focus primarily on visual art while providing a platform

This is the first DLG episode at the start of the pandemic. Emily Gallagher is running for state assembly against an old white dude who's been in the job unchallenged since 1973! WHA??? The election is June 23 and there are tons of ways that you can help her get elected without leaving your home! LOOK RIGHT HERE and DONATE HERE Emily is so inspiring because she is making a huge difference in our world and she is just like anyone else. No special advantages of any sort, she has to work for a living—no background in politics, etc. In this session Emily talks about her interest in letter writing at a young age, dealing with a sexual harassment situation at age 14 and her ability to get results influences her into being who she is today. In a poignant twist, Emily has recently lost her day job due to the pandemic. She takes us through her experience of getting let go over Zoom. We also find out her boyfriend is shy! Such great company on this show with Andrew Epstein who is an invaluable partner in her campaign w

I had a blast with Kevin Allison in this session. At over a million downloads a month, live shows all over the country, a book and more-RISK! is described as, "a hit podcast where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share." Listen to any episode and you will see what we're saying! It's sooooo exceptional. Kevin is a professional sharer, so he didn't hold back with Dr. Lisa. He talks about his gay group therapy that shrinks kept quitting, his current shrink, what he's really like vs. the onstage version of Kevin, some of his dating experiences, how relationships with his fellow members of "The State" developed throughout the show, and how there will never be enough downloads to make him happy.

Traditionally we see the female body as the focus of sexuality, which also make an important innovative with an important an original message. Alexandra is tired of art and sex being so focused on women's bodies. Putting the sole focus on women's bodies can present them in a passive way. Alexandra's work alerts us to a new way of depicting women in art. In her work, women enjoy sex actively. It makes me wonder why we don't see more of it. Rubenstein creates work from the point of view of women's pleasure. She paints famous sexy men, performing cunninglingus on women, from the pov of the woman who is being pleasured. In another series, "Thirsty," men's genitals are replaced with wall-mount bottle openers. And she make lots of beautiful paintings of penises. There is humor in her work which makes it smart, fun to look at and discuss It was great to hear her experiences and thought process on how she began to do this work. One important life event for her was that her family moved to the U.S. from Russia when sh

Theresa Buckeheister is one of those people who has so much innate creative capacity that she would be making a mark if she had grown up in Siberia, let alone a small town in Kansas—she would have found her way to NYC! She's from a family that she loves, but is not like her. This was an easy session as Theresa really drew me in, was self-aware and open speaking about how she came to be who she is - a New York Times worthy artistic director of the Brick Theater. With her leadership and accepting spirit, Theresa is a major facilitator/artist of what is special about this town we live in. Also, we both share a strong appreciation of Walter Wlodarczyk and his work capturing and documenting performances of all kinds. Here's a good description of Theresa from a Greenpointer story: Theresa Buchheister is a successful artist because she is a generous one; through multiple festivals and off-the-beaten-path venues, clandestine locales and dive hives, she has created myriad opportunities for creators of various stripes

Well this is a strange session—but on so many levels. First of all, Meryl Meisler was Dylan’s digital art teacher when he was in 7th Grade. They haven’t seen each other in ten years-since school really-and meet up IRL in the studio. Loved seeing them together and hearing in their reflections how they affected each other. Meryl got Dylan into her first film festival as a kid! The other part of this session is between Dylan and myself, with Meryl taking the shrink role. I had offended Dylan about four years ago when we were on stage together. And that’s all I’m saying. This is the closest I’ve come to crying on the mic though! And with all this going on, we barely got to touch on the fact that Dylan is the current Miss Subways!! https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/nyregion/Miss-Subways-NYC.html Here's some info about Meryl Meisler, an incredible photographer artist. You can see her work and all that stuff here: Her bio is too long for this post but you’ll recognize these places in it: Meisler has received fello

Adrienne Truscott is smart, wildly talented and innovative, so she's someone I've always wanted to meet, I found her to be really comfortable to talk to so we really went deep. Adrienne is someone who's really made her own way, which is why I think her work is so original. We talk about her athletic skills and how she came to combine them with her creativity after she got bored with sports. Adrienne was also generous in discussing a lot of other personal stuff which you can check out for yourself. There is so much to experience with Adrienne Truscott. I heartily recommend looking further into her/her work here: http://www.adriennetruscott.com/

Christopher Albert, host of The Junk and Jam Hour, every Monday, 2pm on Radio Free Brooklyn, fills in for me as I am on a boondoggle in Mexico City visiting art fairs such as Zona Maco and Material. In the meantime. Christopher takes on on his own journey exploring mental health. More about Christopher Albert: Armed with an acquired wit and intelligence that was born from the streets of NYC, Christopher Albert, also once an inhabitant of Los Angeles, is set to emerge as one of the funniest, charming, yet eccentric writers and humorists of our day. Though Christopher has produced content for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike, his true talents are rooted in entertainment and comedy. Christopher has had the unique opportunity to study the craft of humor with the best: instructors from the famed Comedy Store and Second City Hollywood, as well as invaluable insight from veteran comedy writers.  ​Christopher’s brutally honest approach to humor is evident in his litany of fearless content. His works i

Eric Drysdale has climbed a mountain and is now seeking new vistas. It was so interesting to hear how he kinda wound up naturally as a late night television writer, contributing to over 1500 hours of late-night television as a staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2000-2005), The Colbert Report (2005-2015), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015-2016) and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (2016-2019) He also contributed to the Daily Show’s best selling America: The Book, The Colbert Report’s I Am America and So Can You and its sequel America Again. He is the recipient of 14 Primetime Emmy wins and 18 nominations. With all that, Eric continues to look for new challenges, which is probably why he got to where he is anyway. Eric is also a serious collector of of amateur 1950s three-dimensional photography was featured in 3D: Double Vision, a survey exhibit at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). He also contributed an essay to the exhibition catalog. He continues to share his collection with smal

Susan Rousseau came in for a therapy session and she did a lot of hard work! Susan is charming and smart, the host of a great talk show, New In New York on RFB every Tues. 9am. Susan is very successful in television, most recently the interview producer for Desus & Mero. Susan, with a great TV career is obviously very talented, but like way too many of us, underestimates herself. In this session we dig into finding out more about where that comes from and we figure out a productive plan for her going forward. More about Susan and NEW IN NEW YORK: Hosted by Susan Rousseau. New York is wild. But being new in New York is Out. Of. Control. On this show, we’ll bring you some of the funniest, most fascinating stories from the people who somehow found their way to the city that never sleeps, knowing if they could make it here, they could make it anywhere, because hot damn. It’s hard. Each week, a new guest shares their uniquely personal good, bad, ugly, embarrassing, hilarious adventures with listeners. What brough

Hnry Flwr's bio reads like this: “My mother gave psychic readings to new friends in new towns all through my childhood, she meditated, we fled a cult, practiced Judaism for a year, and then she became a born again Christian. She was and still is a seeker. At fourteen, I went to a punk show. There I witnessed and felt the drive to save people with music, performance, and experience, the way I was saved as a young adult. At sixteen I left home and have been writing songs and practicing a sort of secular spirituality, where music is the prayer, ever since.” Hnry and We Color Live's Jocelyn Simone come to the studio where Hnry and I go deep into what his experience was like and how it affected him, creatively and otherwise. It seems that Hnry has taken fairly extreme circumstances and put them to great use in his own weird development. More about Hnry Flwr HERE YOU CAN SEE Hnry Flwr LIVE Jan. 29!!! - TICKETS HERE We Color Live PRESENTS: WAITING ROOM OF THE GREAT BEYOND In celebration of HNRY FLWR’s first official

In this session, we find that Chris Gersbeck is a great guy. His brother is annoying though. Dr. Lisa grills Chris about his less than ideal relationship with his sibling and how Chris's good instincts have led him to follow healing path by forming healthy, working relationships with talented comedians such as Dave Hill, Frank Coniff and Kambri Crews/Christian Finnegan of Q.E.D., who support him. Chris Gersbeck is a comedian, producer and writer based in Queens, NY. He currently produces and makes regular appearances on comedy podcasts Dave Hill: History Fluffer, Dave Hill’s Podcasting Incident, and So… You’re Canadian with Dave Hill which is on the Maximum Fun network. Chris also produces numerous live comedy events throughout New York City under the banner of Dumb Productions, Inc. and handles publicity for several popular podcasts including RISK! and Keith and The Girl. Along with comedian Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000), Chris produces Open Riff Night, a show where anyone can ri

I really enjoy spending time with fellow RFB host Benjamin Louis, of the ever popular, Ben Talks. Over the last few years, we have done many an RFB boondoggle together. Also Ben has been my first guest of the year, this being the third year in a row. In this session, we reflect on Ben’s previous two sessions, where his life has gone, where it’s going and how he’s grown. Ben, 29, talks candidly and honestly about his relationship with his work, women, religion and his family. He’s come to realize how pursuing a long-term career in radio is his passion and priority right now above all else (including the chicks!). We also discover that Ben is a lot more like his dad than it might seem…. Follow Ben! @BenTalkShow Listen Live every Thurs. 5-7, and for past episodes: https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/ben-talks/

I know Sharilyn pretty well, so when I ask her to explain why someone had referred to me as "intense," she was able to articulate pretty well why without upsetting me too much. We then turn the session to her where we discover that she needs to change to a more emotionally and culturally evolved primary care physician and she talks about her new interest in possibly dating on the internets. We come up with a motivating challenge for her. Soon, hopefully, she'll be back with positive results! Check out Sharilyn's work here: https://sharilynart.com/ Sharilyn does a lot of important work with Meer Musa and Tim Gowan for Trans-cen-der, their monthly artist review series! https://www.facebook.com/transcenderart

If I detail all the business and endeavors Indira Cesarine has going, it will exhaust you. Besides being an artist herself, she owns a gallery, a magazine, which she curates and contributes to, plus she has expanded her gallery, The Untitled Space into Untitled Media to include The Untitled Boutique, an online fashion retail site, Untitled Productions, a full service event production house and creative agency, I have work in her current exhibition, Body Beautiful and have chatted with her at some of her events, but didn't really get to understand how she makes so much happen as well as look while looking beautiful and polished. I also didn't understand where her deep passion for helping female artists came from. Until now. Her background , natural intelligence and hard work explain some of it, but it's her experiences really count. I learned a lot about Indira and got some good advice too! Here's what Indira said about this session,: Indira CesarineDecember 19 at 10:50 AM ·  Thank you Lisa Levy for your thou

One of the best , most entertaining books I audiobooked this year, is a memoir by Jacq The Stripper titled: The Beaver Show-she reads it herself., it's SO SMART and HILARIOUS. In this session with Jacq, I LEARNED a lot! I thought I knew something about strippers/stripping, but I don't think I've gotten to talk to someone who's as articulate, positive and empowering about it, as Jacq is. Also Jacq is expert. She was a consultant on the movie, Hustler with JLo. We had a deep, satisfying as well as amusing! conversation about sexual currency. For example we discussed how would you parent a 11 year old girl who had developed large breasts, knowing she would be a magnet for attention. What is the responsibility that women have to other women for promoting and using their own sexual currency? It was great to sit down to have a direct and mutually respectful, not without humor conversation about stuff you're not supposed to talk about. Bottom line on Jacq is-she is an entrepreneur and an advocate for sex workers. Sh

I first met Leslie Goshko in 2008 when we were both producing our own shows at Ochi’s Lounge, a great club run by the fabulous now-owner of Q.E.D., Kambri Crews in the basement of COMIX the biggest comedy club in NYC in those days. Leslie and I support each other’s work consistently and it REALLY HELPS. The last time Leslie visited the station was exactly 3 years ago this month so she returns to update up. 3 years ago, Leslie had just started performing at Loser’s Lounge at Joe’s Pub as well as pianist and host for Karaoke at Sid’s Gold. Today those have both turned into regular gigs for her. She outlines her other music director gigs she’s been doing, including an upcoming night at a fancy benefit to honor Seth Rogan and his dad, Mark. I also get Leslie, despite her resistance, to talk about the intense thrice-weekly gym workout with a trainer that she began a year ago and the effect it’s had on her psyche. Leslie is an example of how hard work, discipline, and oh yeah, talent! can lead to great things Also

I've known Godfrey for the last 20 years. Being South African has been a central part of Godfrey's identity, also the accident reminds you. Godfrey, a PHD in social work, now 70 years old, moved back from the US to South Africa about 5 years ago, In this session we get to understand Godfrey's lifelong connection to South Africa and why he's so joyous to be living there again. A first hand account of Apartheid was pretty powerful and you can see how it affected Godfrey throughout his life. If that's not enough, we also fit in how Godfrey helped develop this major worthwhile non-profit for doctors in the bush, The Tshemba Foundation, where he see wild animals up close, all day. We're talking elephants, Zebras, Giraffes, not freakin deer! The Tshemba Foundation is doing so much for the people in rural areas, check it out, volunteer if you can help!

I first saw John F. O'Donnell performing years ago in a basement in the bowels of Bushwick and his talent really spoke to me. I’ve followed his career and he’s just finished 5 years as a correspondent on Redacted Tonight. We got him back in the hood and most importantly back weekly live at Cobra Club! Live From Outer Space, every Friday night, 9pm, is a great, authentic, comedy show where you can see well-known comedians for cheap, he often co-hosted with the awesome Eric Bergstrom. John is undeniably funny and original. When he shows up to the studio this time he is also clean and healthy as a whistle. As he says so himself, “he looks years younger.” John openly dives right into describing his battle with bipolar illness. What’s so interesting, hearing about it from him, is that he has truly educated himself on his illness and the myriad ways, medical and otherwise, diet, yoga, etc. to cope with it. So as an unlicensed shrink, I learned a lot—he understands all the drugs quite well and how they work too. He’