The Key and the Kite

Ingar Kristiansen - The Sinatra Songbook

In 1989, when Ingar Kristiansen attended ”The Ultimate Event” in Oslo (a concert featuring Liza Minelli, Sammy Davis Jr, and Frank Sinatra), he knew instantly that he wanted to be a part of the crooning experience, one way or another. However, ten years passed by before he started performing songs with different big bands in the Oslo area. And this, he claims, was a most treasured learning experience. In 2000 he formed his own sextet, The Sinatra Songbook, consisting of professional musicians. It was meant to be a one night only gig, but as it turned out they all got such a kick out of what they did (the audience too!) and decided to continue. In addition to several TV performances, Kristiansen and his group have toured and played at all sorts of clubs, festivals and venues in Norway. And they have released two highly critically acclaimed albums as well, consisting of both standard and original material. A personal highlight was being the guest star with The Count Basie Orchestra during the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2019. His list of the most inspiring vocalists: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Harry Connick Jr and Bobby Darin.

Brian Bonner and Events in Ukraine

Brian Bonner became chief editor of the Kyiv Post on June 9, 2008. He took on the additional responsibilities of executive director on March 21, 2018, following the purchase of the newspaper by businessman Adnan Kivan, owner of the KADORR Group in Odesa, Ukraine. Kivan fired him along with the entire staff on Nov. 8, 2021. Bonner announced his retirement on Nov. 30, 2021, after spending the last weeks winding down operations. Bonner also held the chief editor’s job in 1999, three years after first arriving in Ukraine on a journalism exchange program. He spent most of his career with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota, where he covered international, national, and local news for more than 20 years as a staff writer, foreign correspondent, and assigning editor. Besides Ukraine, he has also reported from Russia, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom. In 2007-2008, he served as an associate director of international communications at the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. He also worked as an election expert on six observation missions with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s ODIHR in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan between 1999 and 2013. From 2017-2020, he served on the boards of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and European Business Association. He also won election to the EBA board in 2021 but resigned after leaving the Kyiv Post. He has a B.A. degree in history from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he wrote and edited for the Minnesota Daily, the student newspaper. He worked from the Kyiv Post headquarters at 68 Zhylianska St. in the Holosiivsky district of the Ukrainian capital.

Vanessa Weisbrod

Vanessa Weisbrod is the Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Boston Children’s Hospital Celiac Disease Program where she works to build a robust community engagement and education program. Vanessa comes to BCH after 12 years as the Director of the Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC where she led the effort to create national recommendations for managing children with celiac disease in learning environments and research looking at cross contact with gluten in shared kitchens and schools. Vanessa sits on the executive committee of the Harvard Medical School Celiac Research Program and the board of the Celiac Kids Connection. She is also on the executive council for the Society for the Study of Celiac Disease. She has authored four gluten-free cookbooks and wholeheartedly loves gluten-free food. You can find the celiac program website here: https://www.childrenshospital.org/celiac And check out Vanessa on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@bostonchildrensceliac

Kate Caldwell

Today on The Key and The Kite, a conversation with Emmy nominee, casting director, Kate Caldwell. Kate has experience in many areas of casting having worked the studio and network side at ABC Television and on both voice-over and live-action feature films at 20th Century Fox Feature Casting. Her favorite, though, is being in the trenches of independent casting. Her credits include the Netflix series UNBELIEVABLE for which she was nominated alongside Laura Rosenthal, Jodi Angstreich and Melissa Kostenbauder for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting For a Limited Series, Movie or Special, KINGDOM, HERCULES, the western series HELL ON WHEELS and BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2 & 3. After 23 years in Los Angeles, Kate Caldwell took her casting skills to the UK where she currently works with Emmy winning Casting Director Suzanne Smith.

Colorado Representative Leslie Herod

“Forget political stereotypes: This history-making legislator is unapologetically progressive, is insistent that state government can be bipartisan (even now), and wants to transform the criminal justice system.“ - 5280 Magazine. Leslie Herod is the first LGBTQ African American in Colorado’s General Assembly. Her Dad works in law enforcement. When George Floyd was murdered, her leadership resulted in Colorado passing the most far reaching, bipartisan, police reform in the country. Others say it could be a model for other states. We talk with Rep. Herod about what Colorado did, why she cares so much about criminal justice reform, and what comes next.

Jim McCorkell

Jim is the founder and former CEO of College Possible, a national nonprofit organization making college admission and success possible for low income students through intensive coaching and support.

Jeni Grouws - Avey Grouws Band

Jeni Grouws of the Avey Grouws Band discusses their new album, "Tell Tale Heart," her journey to becoming a musician, how music saved her life, songwriting, and what it means to have fans and to be a fan.

Julie Becker

Julie Becker is the CEO of Saint Francis House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where they help people transition from homelessness to hope.  Every day, Julie helps people find their new path in life.  She told KELO TV, "That’s kind of what my job is to show them that they have abilities. They are good people; they’ve maybe made some bad decisions or life circumstance have led them down the wrong path. I’m here to let them know that they’re valued and they’re appreciated. That’s why we call the people we serve at the St. Francis house guests because they are guests in our home,” 

 

Kevin Tuerff

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we visit with Kevin Tuerff.  Kevin's experience of being stranded in Gander, Newfoundland was one of the true stories that inspired the Tony award winning musical, "Come From Away."  It is also the basis for his book, "Channel of Peace, Stranded in Gander on 9/11.  Kevin is using his experience now to inspire others though his kindness focused charity, Pay It Forward 9.11.  

Crystal Echo Hawk

 Crystal Echo Hawk is an indigenous leader working to advance authentic, contemporary stories of Native Americans in an effort to shift public perception and increase support for Native peoples and issues.

Crystal directs IllumiNative, an organization that is turning research into action and building a movement of Native leaders and non-Native allies working to drive narrative change around Native Americans. She previously co-led the Reclaiming Narrative Truth project, the largest public opinion research and strategy-setting initiative led by and for Native peoples on harmful Native Americans narratives. Crystal has dedicated her career to shaping the perspectives of influential institutions and industry leaders in media, pop culture, and K-12 education.

Today, the majority of Americans know little to nothing about Native peoples, and Crystal’s work aims to address that. She seeks a world where Native histories and contemporary contributions are taught in all schools and Native peoples have increased representation in television and film, a world where they are authors of their own stories, able to build awareness and power to advance self-determination and equity for all Native peoples.