Podcast

Episodes of the No, YOU Tell It! Podcast

“Left My Heart” Part 2: Zach Rothman-Hicks and Carl M. Banks (Episode 78)

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It is fitting that this heartfelt story swap, inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennett, includes our first live musical performance.

Give a listen as story coach Tim Lindner gets to know a little bit more about our two storytellers before they step into each other true tales in the second half of our “Left My Heart” show performed at Grove 34 on June 5, 2024. Full program here.

Content notice: These stories are true, traded with open hearts, and this half of the show contains a depiction of suicide.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. You can learn more about suicide from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at afsp.org.

Carl M. Banks and Zach Rothman-Hicks

Read about how engaging with Tony Bennet’s music and history from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives inspired the storyteller’s modern-day true tales. The ART HEART portraits will be on display during the show, along with other surprises.

Stories

  • HEAD, HEART, and SAN FRAN, by Zach Rothman-Hicks, performed by Carl M. Banks
  • THE HOUSE WHERE NOBODY LIVES, by Carl M. Banks, performed by Zach Rothman-Hicks

Storyteller Bios

Zach Rothman-Hicks is an educator and multimedia conceptual artist who creates interactive performances and projects intended to spark reflection, dialogue, and action. He has been a New York City Public School teacher since September 2009 and an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College since 2012 and Queens College since 2022. In April 2020, while a student in the PIMA MFA Program at Brooklyn College, he initiated Gabbing with Gays, a project that explored Emotional Intimacy in the LGBTQIA+ community. This project inspired future interactive art pieces, which were presented at the Staten Island Museum, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the Newhouse Center, Alice Austen House, Easton Mountain, Queens Public Library, Hunters Point Park Conservancy, Chashama, Culture Lab, and the 14th Street Y.

Carl M. Banks is a troubadour and musical nomad. Born in the heartland of Saint Louis, Missouri, he found his rhythm in the bustling streets of New York City, now calling Astoria, Queens, his home.  Traversing the country as a touring singer-songwriter, his lyrics and melodies echo the highs and lows of the American landscape while his stories touch on personal and profound narratives. He has been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and on WFUV’s local artist spotlight, “New York Slice.” Carl is also an ultra-marathon runner and co-creator of Queens-based “Bridge and a Slice Half Marathon” and “HotDog Eater 50 kilometer.”

December 5, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , ,

“Left My Heart” Part 1: January Yoon Cho and Catherine Kapphahn (Episode 77)

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For the first time, our four storytellers participated in a Queens community “Art Heart” event about a month before the show, where all the participants generated and shared personal stories inspired by the life and music of Astoria legend Tony Bennett from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives.

What started that day grew into this heartfelt story swap about the intricacies of mothers, daughters, language, music, and the immigrant experience.

Give a listen to the first half of our “Left My Heart” show performed at Grove 34 on June 5, 2024. Full program here.

Story partners Catherine Kapphahn and January Yoon Cho

Read this imaginary interview with Tony Bennett published in the Queens Gazette by Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Stories

  • MOTHER’S DREAM, by January Yoon Cho, performed by Catherine Kapphahn
  • LOPSIDED STAR, by Catherine Kapphahn, performed by January Yoon Cho

Storyteller Bios

January Yoon Cho, an interdisciplinary visual artist, works with video, photography, and drawing, intertwining themes of social conformity, feminism, and environmentalism. She has exhibited across the US and Europe. Notably, Cho’s The Walk Project received fiscal sponsorship from the NY Foundation for the Arts and grants from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and Puffin Grant for Feminist and Environmental Art. Cho has taught at Parsons School of Design, New School University, and Hanyang University (Seoul). Originally from Seoul, Korea, she moved to the US in 1990 for her art education, earning a BFA from RISD and an MFA from Parsons.

Catherine Kapphahn is a writer, educator, storyteller, and speaker. Her memoir Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Mereceived The Center for Fiction’s Christopher Doheny Award and was published by Audible. Her manuscript Miseducation of a Dyslexic Girl: a Memoir in Poems and Classrooms was recently long-listed for the Steel Toe Books Poetry Award. Catherine received grants from the Queens Council on the Arts and City Artist Corps. Her writing has appeared in Queensbound, Motherwell Magazine, Croatia Week, Newtown Literary, the Feminist Press Anthology This is the Way We Say Goodbye, Astoria Life, and CURE Magazine. Catherine is an adjunct lecturer at City University of New York at Lehman College in the Bronx, where her students’ stories inspire her. Catherine is also a yoga teacher. She grew up near the mountains in Colorado and now lives between two bridges in Queens, New York, with her husband and two sons.

November 21, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

“Hell Gate” Part 2: Alicia Lieu and A. King McCarty (Episode 76)

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After the main arch was completed, a writer for the New York Tribune said: Perhaps never in human history has a mechanical triumph of such magnitude been launched with so little fanfare.

In the second half of our Hell Gate show, founding member and story director Erika Iverson interviews the authors before their story partners take the stage so that we can learn more about them and the inspiration for their true tales, the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives.

Listen to Part 1 here.

Story Partners Alicia Lieu and A. King McCarty

Featured Stories

THE BRIDGE TO THE BRIDGE, by Alicia Lieu, performed by A. King McCarty, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

UNDER THE HELL GATE, by A. King McCarty, performed by Alicia Lieu, and directed by Erika Iverson

Bios

Alicia Lieu, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst based composer/conductor hails from San Jose, California. As a composer, she has been awarded grants from QCA and City Artist Corps. She is the creator of Dance-it-Yourself Nutcracker and co-founder of nonprofits Composers Collective, Pitches Brew, and New York Conducting Institute. She spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, before moving to NYC and conducting has taken her to Russia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. She earned her B.A. in Music Composition from UC Santa Barbara, M.M. in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UT El Paso.

A. King McCarty (Ashley King) is an artist, writer, actor, musician and founder of Artstoria New York with her husband and fellow creator, Graham McCarty. She is a two-time recipient of the Queens Community Art Grant and an Art Hotel resident artist. She lives near the Hell Gate Bridge with her husband, son and lots of plants and comic books. Visit her on Instagram at @artstoriany and @akingmccarty

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THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

October 22, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , , ,

“Hell Gate” Part 1: Jackie Sherbow and Mia Arias Tsang (Episode 75)

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“With a regular coat of paint that bridge can last as long as the pyramids.” – Bob Singleton, Executive Director, Greater Astoria Historical Society from Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old in AMNY, March 27, 2017

Our September Hell Gate show at Grove 34 in Astoria was a Queens-based Bookend Event for the 2024 Brooklyn Book Festival. Four Queens storytellers traded true tales inspired by the history of the Hell Gate Bridge from the archives of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Before their story partner takes the stage, story coach Pichchenda Bao asks the authors a Hell Gate-themed question to learn a bit more about the iconic bridge and the writer. The full program is here.

Story partners Jackie Sherbow and Mia Arias Tsang. Photo credit Yui Kitamura.

Featured Stories

CROSSING THE BRIDGE by Jackie Sherbow, performed by Mia Arias Tsang, directed by Erika Iverson

REAWAKENING by Mia Arias Tsang, performed by Jackie Sherbow, and directed by KJ Fitzsimmons

Bios

Jackie Sherbow is the Woodside, Queens-based author of Harbinger (Finishing Line Press, 2019), publisher at THRASH Press, and senior managing editor of Ellery Queen’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines. Their poems and stories have appeared in places like The Sierra Nevada Review, Luna Luna, Mystery Magazine, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. They are the former editor-in-chief and currently serve on the board of directors of Newtown Literary, the journal and organization dedicated to the writers of Queens.

Mia Arias Tsang is a writer and freelance editor based in New York City. Her work explores themes of queer desire, intimacy, and disconnect. A Tin House Summer Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Copy, Autostraddle, Half Mystic Press, Fatal Flaw Magazine, and Broad Recognition Magazine, among others. She is a copy editor for the literary magazine Identity Theory and program coordinator at the literary nonprofit House of SpeakEasy, and writes a newsletter called Overripe Peach. She lives in Queens with her cat, Peanut, and is currently working on a novel.

***

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2024 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

No, YOU Tell It! “Hell Gate” is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

October 14, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

“Fly By” Part 2: Ben Katzner and Briana McDonald (Episode 74)

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Kicking off part 2 of our “Fly By” show, host Ellie Dvorkin Dunn shares some fun facts about teenage pilot Elinor Smith before we hear the second set of true tales inspired by the story of “The Flying Flapper” from the archives of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

No, YOU Tell It! “Fly By” was on September 28, 2023, at Grove 34 in Astoria. Podcast introduction by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons and features:

  • Like Me or Not by Ben Katzner, performed by Briana McDonald, directed by Erika Iverson
  • Macarons by Briana McDonald, performed by Ben Katzner, directed by Erika Iverson

Story partners Ben Katzner and Briana McDonald at Grove 34 in Astoria.

Want a copy of Ben or Briana’s middle-grade books? Grab your copy and share it with the young readers in your life.

Donate here to support No, YOU Tell It!, and we’ll send you an electronic copy of Annie Shi’s zine, “The Flying Flapper,” that we gave out to the audience at the show so you can learn more about Elinor Smith and her historic 1928 flight under not one but four East River bridges – Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg … and Queensboro!

 

SPECIAL THANKS

No, YOU Tell It! “Fly By” was an OFFICIAL 2023 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall. 

This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

 

April 8, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , , , ,

“Fly By” Part 1: Lowell Stephens and Robin Gelfenbien (Episode 73)

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Have you ever heard of Elinor Smith? Our fall “Fly By” show was a fantastic way to learn about this teenage pilot who beat out Amelia Earhart for “Best Woman Pilot in America” in 1930.

For this special show hosted by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn and produced in partnership with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, we provided our storytellers with a visual prompt depicting Elinor Smith’s legendary 1928 flight under four East River bridges—Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg … and Queensboro!

The animated image created by Queens artist Annie Shi inspired a modern-day story swap of a very different kind of airplane dare and a gutt-wrenching attempt to bridge the divide between father and son. WATCH the full show here on our YouTube page.

Lowell Stephens performs Robin Gelfenbien’s story

Donate here to support No, YOU Tell It!, and we’ll send you an electronic copy of Annie’s zine, “The Flying Flapper,” that we gave out to the audience at the show so you can learn more about Elinor Smith and her historic flight.

No, YOU Tell It! “Fly By” was on September 28, 2023, at Grove 34 in Astoria. Podcast introduction by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons and features:

  • Connecting Flights by Robin Gelfenbien, performed by Lowell Stephens, directed by Erika Iverson
  • Liquid Mercury by Lowell Stephens, performed by Robin Gelfenbien, directed by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons

 

SPECIAL THANKS

No, YOU Tell It! “Fly By” was an OFFICIAL 2023 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall. 

This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

March 25, 2024 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , , ,

“Here & Gone” Part 2: Olena Jennings and Rosalie Chandler (Episode 72)

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Did you know that two 16-foot-tall stainless-steel statues once stood atop the Astoria Pool locker rooms? Or that thousands of visitors to the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens signed a book that was included in the Westinghouse Time Capsule designed to endure for 5,000 years?

Learn more about the storytellers and the Queens history from the archives of The Greater Astoria Historical Society that inspired this story swap from the second half of our “Here & Gone” show hosted by Ellie Dvorkin Dunn.

My Book About Water by Olena Jennings, performed by Rosalie Chandler

*Peace Through Understanding by Rosalie Chandler, performed by Olena Jennings

*As Ellie noted during the show, we want to let you know that the latter story contains themes related to sexual assault.

Left to right: Story partners Olena Jennings, Rosalie Chander, and host Ellie Dvorkin Dunn. Photo: Sachyn Mital

Stories directed by Erika Iverson. Plus, a special shoutout to Broadway Silk in Astoria!

Congratulations to Olena for receiving a Pushcart Prize for her translation with Oksana Lutsyshyna of Kateryna Kalytko’s collection Nobody Knows Us Here, and We Don’t Know Anyone from Lost Horse Press.

Learn more about the Queens history highlights below. The narratives were written by storyteller Rosalie Chandler with special insights from Bob Singleton of The Greater Astoria Historical Society.

These four highlights also inspired the Queens “Here & Gone” artwork by Yelena Tylkina.

**

Special thanks to Rosalie Chandler, Bob Singleton, and Ava Vitali for helping us create these Queens “Here & Gone” highlights. The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

June 27, 2023 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

“Here & Gone” Part 1: Lakshmi Gandhi and Dan Jessup (Episode 71)

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In the first half of our show, story partners Lakshmi Gandhi and Dan Jessup swap stories about the culture of mutual agitation that bonds Mets fans and a mid-life move to Astoria blocks away from where inventor, Chester Carlson, created the world’s first photocopy.

Two Continents and a Whole New Ballgame by Lakshmi Gandhi, performed by Dan Jessup

The Certainty of Here by Dan Jessup, performed by Lakshmi Gandhi

These stories were directed by show host, Ellie Dvorkin Dunn.

Lakshmi Gandhi and Dan Jessup, photo credit: Sachyn Mital

For the first time, our “Here & Gone” storytellers’ modern-day true tales were inspired by Queens history from the archives of The Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Learn more about how the word “ASTORIA was on the First Page of the Information Age,” and the other Queens history highlights

Inspired the Queens “Here & Gone” artwork by Yelena Tylkina and the night’s stories.

**

Special thanks to Rosalie Chandler, Bob Singleton, and Ava Vitali for helping us create these Queens “Here & Gone” highlights. The Greater Astoria Historical Society is the place to learn and celebrate Long Island City and its neighborhoods. Learn more at astorialic.org.

This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall.

This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

June 13, 2023 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , ,

Episode 70 – Punch Up (Part 2)

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Celebrating 10 years of No, YOU Tell It!, the second half of our “Punch Up” show starts with the story of a waitress getting a visit from a former co-worker who looks happier and healthier than seems possible. Trying to match her glow-up, she seeks out the same Shaman but finds the visit … less than inspiring.

Enjoy “Shaman Says,” Written by Jenn Wehrung and performed by Aida Zilelian.

You can also WATCH the full show live-streamed from Culture Lab, LIC. Or, watch “Punch Up,” and other past shows on the NYTI YouTube channel.

Switching it up, our final story also starts in a bar, where an old frenemy creeps back into every corner of the narrator’s life, causing her to reflect on why some friends are better left in the past.

“One Final Lesson” was written by Aida Zilelian and performed by Jenn Wehrung.

Top left: Jenn Wehrung; Top right: Story partners Aida Zilelian and Jenn Wehrung; Bottom left: Ellie Dvorkin Dunn and Jenn Wehrun; Bottom right: Aida Zilelian

This story swap was directed by our wonderful guest host for the evening, Ellie Dvorkin Dunn.

Returning as a Bookend Event for the Brooklyn Book Festival, our “Punch Up” show also celebrated the release of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology from Palm Circle Press.

Here’s how to check out ALL THE THINGS:

November 22, 2022 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

Episode 69 – Punch Up (Part 1)

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Lose yourself in school-age nostalgia in our first story, “Confection Resolution,” written by Matt Storrs and performed by Maria Rubio, which finds our hero fighting the same childhood foe … three times.

Switching it up, “The Great Unknowns,” written by Maria Rubio and performed by Matt Storrs, follows an exhausted nurse in the middle of the global pandemic who carves out time for herself with a surfing lesson.

Returning as a Bookend Event for the Brooklyn Book Festival, our “Punch Up” show also celebrated the release of the No, YOU Tell It! Ten-Year Anthology from Palm Circle Press.

You can also WATCH the full show live-streamed from Culture Lab, LIC. Or, watch “Punch Up,” and other past shows on the NYTI YouTube channel.

Top left: Matt Storrs; Top right: Maria Rubio; Bottom left: Ellie Dvorkin Dunn interviews storyteller Matt Storrs

Huge thank you to alum and guest host Ellie Dvorkin Dunn! Give a listen as she punches up the evening with her warmth and humor.

Here’s how to check out ALL THE THINGS that Ellie mentions in the show:

November 15, 2022 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , , ,
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