• Season 2 Opener
    May 10 2021

    Well friends, it has been a while hasn't it!? So much has changed since I last recorded an episode and took a very unexpected break so that I could MOVE BACK TO CALIFORNIA!

    If you hadn't heard already, Dr. Roben and I bought a 12 acre farm near where we grew up in San Jose. The place is beyond amazing and we are hard at work to turn it into the place of our dreams. I have uploaded a number of video's documenting the process on Youtube. 

    With a lack of decent internet and even worse cell phone service I may not be able to do as many interviews as I would like so I figured I would make this season about the move back and talk about what I am learning about life on the farm! I hope you stick around and enjoy! 

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    5 mins
  • Dive Officer Amanda Weiler
    Sep 28 2020

    Episode 24 - Amanda Weiler took a class in high school which changed her life forever when she learned to SCUBA dive. After working in some pretty delightful spots around the world doing research, she eventually made her way to Chicago where she began volunteering at and then working at Shedd Aquarium.  She is now working as a dive officer at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.

    Instagram - scubamanda

    Music
    Father John Misty: “Fear Fun” “I love you, honey bear” & “Pure Comedy”
    Iration: “Hotting Up” & “Time Bomb”
    Slightly Stoopid: “Everything you need” & “top of the world”
    Arcs: “yours, dreamily,”

    Podcast
    ologies by Alie Ward


    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    What Can You Tell Me Spotify Playlist
    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VCQ3STiUJkW0ktT7g73G4?si=Fa6OsJdXRlyDc3Vm0Aqt3w

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Bar Owner Melani Hoffman
    Sep 7 2020

    Episode 23

    Melani Hoffman was born in Flint, Michigan and as a young adult settled in Chicago alongside her brother. She went to college but it just wasn't for her. She worked in bars and restaurants and quickly worked her way up to management. Melani moved from Chicago to NY and spent several years learning about beers and at the same time running a small theater. A move back to Chicago gave her the opportunity to open her own bar, The Green Lady, a phenomenal beer-focused bar located at 3328 N Lincoln Ave.
    www.thegreenladychicago.com

    Instagram:tglchicago 

    Fb:The Green Lady

    Twitter: TGLChicago

    Music

    Black Pumas

    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    What Can You Tell Me Spotify Playlist
    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VCQ3STiUJkW0ktT7g73G4?si=Fa6OsJdXRlyDc3Vm0Aqt3w

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    1 hr and 35 mins
  • Magician David Kovac
    Aug 24 2020

    Episode 22 - David Kovac is an incredibly charming and talented actor turned magician who keeps busy entertaining and emceeing at the world-famous Magic Castle. David talks about growing up Buddhist, getting slapped by The Cat in the Hat, how his wedding was almost ruined until some wonderful friends came together to save the day, and how the graceful Neil Patrick Harris spent an evening with his sister while she was flying solo at the Magic Castle.

    http://www.davidkovac.com

    MUSIC

    Shirley Horn - I Love You Paris (live)

    Leonard Cohen

    Mccoy Tiner with Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane


    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    What Can You Tell Me Spotify Playlist
    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VCQ3STiUJkW0ktT7g73G4?si=Fa6OsJdXRlyDc3Vm0Aqt3w

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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • 911 Dispatcher Ellen Joyce
    Aug 17 2020

    Episode 21 -  
    Ellen Joyce grew up in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago, a classic south side Irish neighborhood. She went to school at Eastern Illinois University and earned a degree in Public Health Education and then went to graduate school at University of Illinois for the same.

    At 25 Ellen moved back to Chicago when her mother had a stroke and she took the test to become a police dispatcher. Two years later she got the call that she was hired. This was in 1998 and 22 years later she is still on the job.

    Some hilarious calls that she has received while dispatching.

    MUSIC

    Classic Rock

    Beatles

    Led Zeppelin

    Ani DiFranco

    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    What Can You Tell Me Spotify Playlist
    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VCQ3STiUJkW0ktT7g73G4?si=Fa6OsJdXRlyDc3Vm0Aqt3w

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    58 mins
  • Ethiopian Immigrant and Restauranteur Samuel Sake
    Aug 10 2020

    Episode 20-

    Samuel Sake

    https://www.tesfacuisine.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/tesfaethiopiancuisine/

    https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicagos-beloved-ethiopian-restaurants/d1f87d9d-4355-4116-9dad-bc08c2ab5e54

    Born and raised in Moyale, Ethiopia in 1990, Samuel moved to Chicago in 2005 speaking about six words of English. Listen as he recounts his amazing first time experiencing snow fall and cold, the hilarious time he was asking for a rubber in a high school class and how we met when he began training circus at Circesteem as a teenager.

    Samuel now runs a successful restaurant with his mother- TESFA Ethiopian Cuisine, an absolutely delicious restaurant in Uptown, Chicago that you MUST try!

    Sometimes money cannot buy you anything- Try to get someone to carry a suitcase up a mountain for money in Ethiopia… NO... for a chicken maybe...

    Ethiopian Music-

    Teddy Afro

    Yared Negu

    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    What Can You Tell Me Spotify Playlist
    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4VCQ3STiUJkW0ktT7g73G4?si=Fa6OsJdXRlyDc3Vm0Aqt3w

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Vocalist Kenny Williams
    Aug 3 2020

    Episode 19 -

    Today I interview vocalist Kenny Williams. Since the age of 5 when he began singing into a hair brush, the sound coming out of Kenny’s mouth has made people stop and listen, whether he was on a Broadway stage, performing on a cruise ship, or as lead singer with the Platters.

    http://www.kennywilliamssings.com

    https://www.instagram.com/kennywilliamssings/

    Music

    Gregory Porter

    Lianne La Havas 

    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Carnival Owner Bill Johnson
    Jul 27 2020

    Episode 18 -

    Carnival Owner Bill Johnson

    Fantasy Amusement Company

    https://fantasyamusements.com/

    http://www.showmensleague.org/

    https://www.oaba.org/

    Listen to Bill Johnson talk about how, as a child growing up in 1960's Chicago, he stumbled upon a carnival where he was hired to pick up baseballs at one of the games. While working odd jobs in his young adult life Bill always made his way back to the carnival. When he was 24 years old Bill bought his first ride for $20,000 and today owns Fantasy Amusement Company, an Arlington Heights based carnival ride company.

    https://www.whatcanyoutellme.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/whatcanyoutellme/

    https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoutellme/

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    1 hr and 10 mins