In the Balance

Susan reconnects with award winning flash fiction writer and friend Meg Pokrass. Meg discusses her journey from acting to poet to flash fiction writer, how a rare illness changed her life and informed her creative work, and the key lesson she tries to impart to her students. She also shares a few of her flash fiction pieces and she and Susan reminisce about their teenage friendship.

“I like to live in that space of not really knowing the answers. People have different motives simultaneously and exactly what the right thing to do isn’t 100% clear.” Award winning playwright Gina Gionfriddo joins Susan to discuss two of her plays; Becky Shaw and Rapture, Blister, Burn, and how they relate to the world at large in a conversation that explores how we react to difficult and challenging subjects, what we do in situations of moral greyness and responsibility, and moving forward to push back against assumptions of what the “ideal life” is like.

“If you examine your thinking process, you may come to the same conclusion; that thoughts happen to us, we don’t necessarily control them.” Psychiatrist Dr Dan Mierlak returns to In the Balance to discuss his new book, The Spanish Molecule, a purposefully sassy and thought-provoking read. He and Susan discuss some of the central themes of the book - and by extension, themes of the human condition - including how to avoid becoming captive to the choices we make in life, why it’s important to respect and go with the flow, and what happens to the population at large when a world-changing event like the covid-19 pandemic forces us to ask ourselves how we want to live our lives?

“For many people, they feel I give them permission to tell their truth.” Poet, photographer, and artist Alexis Rhone Fancher returns to In the Balance to discuss her unapologetic and exquisitely done poetry. She tells us that her work stems from two different perspectives of the life force: eroticism and grief, evoking images and experiences from true life, a way of “trying to figure things out and laying it out on the page.” She and Susan discuss how to be creative while in quarantine, why writing erotica is not the same as writing pornography, and why we all should read poetry.

“If you mentor women, you can take care of a whole society.” Tony-nominated broadway producer, director, and entrepreneur Dani Davis talks with Susan about her commitment to mentoring and growing the next generation of women by cultivating learning through authentic leadership, finding common ground, and learning by doing together. She also discusses the power of telling your unique story, creating new rituals, and the importance of defining and honouring our purpose in everything we do.

“The theatre’s job at its heart is to ask the question “How can we get along? How can we get along better?” So every play that was ever written that is of any worth is about that question.” This weeks’ guest Anne Bogart is considered to be one of the greatest innovative directors in the modern theatre. She joins us to discuss how to cultivate and foster collaboration both in the theatre and within our own lives, talking with Susan about her evolution as an artist, the relationship between the artists and audience during a live performance, and what to expect from the performing arts now that we seem to be moving past post-modernism.

“What the research shows about uncertainty is that, the more we fight it, which is sort of our natural instinct, the more we can often end up feeling hopeless or avoid situations that make us feel uncertain. It becomes overwhelming because none of us can tell the future.” Dr. Erica Lee, Psychologist at the Boston Children’s Hospital talks to Susan about how we can talk to kids and adolescents about covid and coping with all the uncertainty, fear, and anxiety that surrounds us. She discusses the most common struggles and behavioral changes she sees in the children and families she works with, the power of mindfulness practices and validating our feelings while we move through this transitionary period, and why it’s important for adults to ensure they are prioritising their own self-care during this time.

In this episode Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer returns to In the Balance for a conversation about the state of the world as we continue navigating our way through a global pandemic, how this collective trauma is affecting our mental health at both a macro- and microcosmic level, what it means for our social reality and how to move forward during the big push to get back to “normal.”

“When people of all ages create together, the potential is boundless.” In this final episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, Susan talks with actor, director and artistic director of the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre Nina Schuessler about the mission of theatre and how it brings people together. She talks about her work at the theatre, educating and entertaining children, teenagers, and adults, how it has adapted and changed through the pandemic, and her vision for moving forwards in the future: getting back to basics, committing to inclusivity and justice, with an emphasis on “inviting everyone in.”

“In a very real way, all of us are actors. Every one of you is playing the leading role in the story of your own life. It’s a heroic narrative and you’re the protagonist. All of us, even in our quietest shapes, are living heroically - or trying to.” What’s my motivation? It’s a phrase we’ve heard actors ask countless times. However the answer to that might be much deeper than we think. In this second to last episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, Susan talks with actor, director, and author Jeff Zinn about his book The Existential Actor and how its themes extend beyond the theatre, making it a study of humanity and what motivates us all. Together Susan and Jeff discuss universal truths such as awareness of our own mortality, the armor we wear to protect ourselves, how culture affects how we see the world, and the losses that we choose.

“I need to fight for who I am, and I need to do it now.” In the fifth episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, we are joined by the wildly talented singer and songwriter Tianna Esperanza, who discusses her debut album Gypsy Afro, her experiences of growing up on Cape Cod and her search for community, how loss and grief have shaped her art and her life, and what all of these things have taught her about moving forward, who she is, and how she wants to be seen.

“I was putting too much emphasis on my music making me successful…so I put it away.” In the fourth episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, singer/songwriter Sarah Burrill takes us through various journeys through life. She talks about how she began her journey as a singer/songwriter at the age of three when she saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, the challenges of the entertainment industry, her difficulties and struggles with addiction and how that affected her music, and her battle with a rare form of invasive breast cancer. She shares what she has learned from each of these phases of her life, about not tying our talent to our success, about expectations and resentment, and about the power of love from your entire community to help heal both the body and the spirit.

“Make your own change. It’s all out there and once you start putting the pieces together, you can create the future.” In the third episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, Susan talks with actor, director, and playwright David Drake about his trajectory as an artist and activist, how he came to understand his part in the larger picture by witnessing the events unfolding around him during the AIDS crisis, how that inspired him to write his acclaimed play The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, and how he uses his art and the theatre to hold up a mirror to the audience with the deep intention to teach us and bring us together. He also talks about his vision for a better world and the work that needs to happen now as we continue to move forward and create the future we want to see.

In the second episode of our Artists on the Cape Series, Susan talks with vocalist, business woman, and mother of five, Mozelle Andrulot. Mozelle discusses her experiences growing up on Cape Cod and her journey to finding the freedom to follow her own path, balancing the elements in her life she holds to be important, in whatever form that might take. Mozelle also shares her incredible vocal talent with us, singing a beautiful rendition of Billie Holiday’s Crazy He Calls Me, that you won’t want to miss.

In this first episode of our “Artists on the Cape” series, Susan speaks with award-winning mystery and historical fiction author Jeannette de Beauvoir about her various works, the life experiences that brought her to these genres, and what she loves about Provincetown. She also shares a passage from one of her books that she wrote in Provincetown in one of those dune shacks with a typewriter and no electricity, how living there has enriched and affected her writing and creativity, and the processes and methods she uses to write engaging books with realistic and empathetic characters

“We live in a culture that is a very hungry culture because so many of the things that our souls crave are not what we are feeding ourselves.” Award-winning poet laureate Danusha Laméris discusses her stunning works and how she integrates the different facets of life to express the curiosities and wonders of the world around us, held in space by the memory of a moment in time. She is no stranger to profound and deep loss, and speaks about writing not only from a place of grief, encouraging us not to push them away, but to excavate them carefully and push ourselves to the edge of discovering joy and pleasure once again. Danusha also gifts us by reading two of her poems aloud, “The Watch” and “Stone.” Her poetry reads like watching a film, bringing us into the world of the storyteller on a sensory level, and reminding us why we need poetry in our lives.

“There is nothing that is more real than your experience of this moment.” Scientist, discoverer, and inventor Kenneth Shinozuka visits In the Balance to discuss his vision for the future: a world free from suffering and pain, brought about by the creation of neurotechnology to alter our states of consciousness. Kenneth discusses the importance of being present in the moment, how this form of consciousness differs from our normal state of being wrapped up in our own minds, and how it can be the gateway for radical compassion and the dissolution of suffering. He also talks about humanity’s attachment to suffering, the role of unconditional love in moving us forward, and why consciousness should be something you actively bring forth for yourself, rather than pushing a button or using mind altering substances.

“Knowing the answers and living the answers are two entirely different things.” Coach, mentor, researcher, and writer Homaira Kabir is dedicated to getting people, particularly women, to question whether they are living their “ideal” life. In this episode, she and Susan have an in-depth discussion about self-worth and how it manifests into different types of confidence, Homaira’s own journey to become a student of humanistic psychology and a coach, and how we can own our feminine qualities and share these qualities with the world.

“We all have a story that defines who we are in life.” Author, leadership consultant, and former undercover CIA agent Katy McQuaid discusses events of significant loss during her young adulthood, and how those events shaped the core values she lives by. She talks about the traits that most great leaders seem to embody, and the importance of being a team player. Katy also offers her advice on how we can thrive during time of change, and waxes poetic about the things we can learn from dogs, especially from Grace - her beloved Finnish Lapphund who inspired her to write children’s stories about love and courage.

“What do you dream about? Where are your aspirations? Who is it that you want to become? How do you want to show up in life?” Best-selling author and master clinician Dr. Joan Rosenberg talks about how we can curate and cultivate and shape the life we want by redefining our ideas of emotional strength. She discusses why we need to be very careful to avoid negative self-talk, and how we can use curiosity as an approach to developing our emotional resilience and as a catalyst for change, particularly when we are experiencing fear or anxiety.