New Podcast Episode: "Episode 18: The Little Mermaid, The 'Live Action' Movie Deep Dive"

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If you need a moment (several moments) of joy right now, you need to listen to the latest episode that just dropped at ALBB's sister podcast, "Wait, What Is That?" podcast: Episode 18: The Little Mermaid, The ‘Live Action’ Movie Analysis.” Invite these friends into your listening space to hear co-hosts Brandon Lillard and Katie Hellmuth and their special guest, Moraya Seeger DeGeare, MA, LMFT, who is a relationship and race specialist (she's a relationship with BFF Therapy, a therapist and sex advice columnist for Refinery29, and the In-House Relationship Expert for Paired.com). Moraya is generationally mixed race, Brandon is Black and married to a white woman, and Katie is super white bread white.

Be sure to listen to the hidden opener that Moraya whispered into the microphone: “Today we talked about The Little Mermaid. We talked about relationships and race. And some random things about how some white people got dizzy.” Nailed it."

Covered In This Episode:

  • Kid Takes

    • ie Brandon's son's "beef with Flounder"

    • ie Moraya’s daughter’s reaction of “That’s ME!!!” when she sees Arial first emerge from the water and flip her hair

    • ie Moraya’s son considering Arial’s shark attack strategy: “if only she would have the shark flip onto it’s back…” Moraya responds: “This isn’t Octonauts”

  • How we feel about "Live Action" Remakes

  • Relationships, Trauma, and Un-Attended To Trauma Presenting Later In Life.

  • Was Ariel’s Dad a misogynist? Or a product of his life trauma and pain. Why is he so strict? Moraya asks: “What does trauma do to our bodies? Is it misogynist, or is it parenting from a trauma that has not been attended to?”

  • Racism

  • Little Mermaid Deep Dive Bits are sprinkled throughout

  • Sometimes we refer to the original book version of The Little Mermaid

You will laugh out loud with and by yourself during this episode. It’s a must-listen. Travel through trauma theory, which can be comforting, and relish in a movie review. Take as long as you need.

Denise VanBuren Commissions Local Podcast Studio Partnership To Produce DAR's "Our Patriots" Podcast

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Denise VanBuren, well known in Beacon for her deep community involvement as the former President of the Beacon Historical Society, and Melzingah Daughter and former President General of the National Society Of The Daughters Of The American Revolution, commissioned the local podcast production studio partnership Tha’Max and Tin Shingle to produce 65 episodes of DAR’s breakout podcast, “Our Patriots.”

Denise is Vice President of Central Hudson, and in her marketing role, can be heard delivering soothing yet important safety messages about gas and electric during storm or unexpected situations. Denise served as the reader for all of the episodes, which were first published in DAR’s magazine, American Spirit Magazine.

Features include John Stark, Horatio Gates, Joseph Plumb Martin, Margaret Cochran Corbin, Nancy Hart, Frances Wright, and others.

“Brandon is gifted with bringing out special qualities in people,” said Katie Hellmuth, owner of Tin Shingle and publisher of A Little Beacon Blog. “Under his direction, Denise’s voice lifted the words from the page into our ears with the committed and loyal energy she is known for.”

Brandon Lillard, owner of Tha’Max Studio, observed: “Working with Denise was a pleasure! Her patience and professionalism made this project both special and easy.”

Listen to all of the episodes here on DAR’s website, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Learn more about producing your own podcast with Brandon and Katie’s help here at Tin Shingle. Katie and Brandon are the co-hosts for the super Beacon podcast, “Wait, What Is That?”

The Resistance That Won't Go Away :: Palestinian Love Shines From Beacon & Beyond

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Pick a day, any day, and Beacon local Kamel Jamal, owner of more than one restaurant in town (Ziatun, Beacon Bread, WTF, creator of Tito Santana Taqueria, and Végétalien, both he since sold), wears his heart on his sleeve for his home country of Palestine.

Every day for him is a day of love he shows for a free Palestine. From the food he plates, the restaurants he decorates, the merch he makes, most centering back to somehow to empower those still living in Palestine.

In this podcast, Kamel discusses how his parents left Palestine when he was a toddler with some of his family thanks to a family friend who sponsored them.

Co-hosts Brandon Lillard and Katie Hellmuth Martin sat down with Kamel on A Little Beacon Blog's sister podcast, "Wait, What Is That?" for an at times emotional interview about his view of how the people of Palestine are living now. The time was May 2021 during the escalation of protesting by residents in Palestine in the neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah. Their homes were scheduled to be demolished, and Muslim neighbors in the Hudson Valley as well as the world were sounding alarms.

In this podcast, Kamel describes his Palestine. He discusses how his parents left Palestine when he was a toddler with some of his family thanks to a family friend who sponsored them. He describes why he continues advocating from America for Palestine's liberation, so that people can live without fear of their homes and businesses being demolished by occupiers. He discusses the lack to basic rights, like clean water, receiving mail, and having to pass through armed checkpoints to get to a job or part of town.

In 2021, a protest march in Newburgh was organized with Next Step Hudson Valley where the Palestinian community came out, consisting of people young and old, with roots in Palestine, Pakistan, and other communities. Speeches were held on the lawn of Representative Sean Maloney's Newburgh's office.

Beaconites normally quiet about their cultural origins brought pages of prepared speeches, to express to an engaged audience about how their parents, siblings, cousins and/or friends felt about the global response to this little neighborhood protest in Palestine that spring. A Little Beacon Blog covered that march, which you can read about here and listen to some speeches.

Kamel Jamal, speaking at the Free Palestine protest march in Newburgh on the steps of Representative Sean Maloney’s office. Several other speakers participated.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Khitam Jamal Nakhleh’s Starbucks order, where her name is “FreeGaza,” which results in the barista shouting the demand to the room. Khitam is Kamel’s sister.
Photo Credit: Khitam Jamal Nakhleh

Since then, a lot has happened. Kamel's sister, who many know as Kate, champions the Free Palestine movement with every step she takes. Recently, she declared she was going by her birth name: Khitam Jamal Nakhleh. She is known to use subtle tactics like ordering a Starbucks under the name of "Free Gaza" so that the demand has to be called out to the room full of customers.

Every now and then, something pro-Palestinian will make the news in the US, like when Emma Watson (Hermione Granger from Harry Potter), and a UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador, voiced her support for Palestine. Or the feature story in Vanity Fair's February 2022 issue, "Generation Gaza" by veteran war correspondent Janine di Giovanni who revisited Gaza "and found resilience and hope among its 2 million Palestinian residents, two thirds of whom are under the age of 25," according to the lead-in for the article.

Also according to the February Vanity Fair feature: "Gaza's 20 and 30 somethings, it so happens, tend to be highly educated, multilingual - and jobless. 64% of the youth labor force is unemployed, largely due to the occupation. Nonetheless, year after year, they have proved indefatigable." Running a business there is virtually impossible, due to actions taken against business owners. But some continue to try, as this designer does, which was featured in Vogue.

In May 2021, neighbors came out to show their support of Palestine by creating a chalk art message on the sidewalk outside of Beacon Bread, owned by Kamel.

Circling back to the first line of this article - pick a day, any day - in the publishing world, an article usually needs to be published in a timely way. Like, back in May or June 2021 after we recorded this podcast episode and covered protest march. In Palestine, their inability to live free lives is every day, with different demolitions of family homes scheduled, like this one at the end of January 2022 or this one where the family had to self-demolish their own home.

But timing gets tricky. During the "Wait, What Is That?" episode, the silence of friends was discussed, acknowledging that talking openly about this topic can be difficult leading to unexpected responses. There is a moment where Kamel's emotions overcome him. You'll need to listen closely to the interview to hear where.

Peek Inside Ziatun

If you haven't been inside of Ziatun yet, here is a peek. Kamel admits this is one of his favorite places to be, and you can tell in the flavor of the food. The hummus is unlike any you have had, being extra smooth. There are plenty of warm soups to choose from, like the Addas soup. View the merch and buy a bag or two. Don't miss the watermelon t-shirt, designed to show resistance through food.

New "Learn To Podcast" Program For Youth Via Library With Brandon Lillard

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A new podcast program for kids Grade 7 and up is available through the The Howland Public Library through a new youth mentorship program partnership with Brandon Lillard from I Am Beacon. Brandon is a podcaster of such podcasts which include Not Up For Debate, Steady Geakin’, and ALBB’s own Wait, What Is That?

The program is a 6 week online podcast workshop that will meet in a weekly cooperative learning workshop. Participants will learn by doing. Students will learn what it takes to produce their own podcast from start to finish, from writing scripts and conducting interviews to adding music and editing. This free workshop will take place via Zoom on 6pm Tuesdays, October 20th - November 24th from 6-7pm. An online information session will be held on Tuesday October 6th at 6pm. 

The Youth Podcast Program is a mentorship program that will provide youth and adolescents the opportunity to engage in an in-depth exploration of topics relevant to the challenges that they are facing and create and share their work with an audience as they learn about communicating through electronic media.

During the Youth Podcast Program, youth and adolescents will research and write about current events and issues affecting their lives, develop real-life/ job related skills, improve their literacy skills, learn to work collaboratively in small groups online and use current technology software to create a podcast.          

Young people in grades 7 and up interested in participating can attend an online information session on Tuesday, October 6th, at 6pm via zoom. Class size is limited and registration is required. Priority registration given to students living in the Beacon City School District. To register and receive the Zoom invitation email Michelle at community@beaconlibrary.org.