The American Dream

Episode #12: Late Night Thoughts Pt. 3

Insomnia keeps me from dreaming and it's also what's been causing me to delay posting episodes. I'm gonna try to be better at uploading content, but it hasn't been easy. I hope my listeners will understand and maybe even empathize.

Episode #11: Hemu Basu - Cake Artist

Hemu Basu is an award-winning and nationally recognized Cake Artist, who has been featured in several competitions including Food Network’s Halloween Wars. As a child, she always had a fascination for artwork but was unable to follow that passion until many years later when she stumbled across making a cake design for her son. That in turn led to her realizing her talent for making and designing cakes. This podcast has featured many badass women but Hemu certainly “takes the cake” (yes, pun intended).

Episode #10: Late Night Thoughts Pt. 2

"Follow your dreams and the money will come," is a popular saying but how accurate is it? Pursuing dreams can often lead to restlessness, as ironic as that may sound, because often we're unable to stop ourselves from well, ourselves. This episode is for those dreamers bombarded by questions that keep them up at night like, "will the career I pick make me enough money?"

Episode #9: Katherine Timmins, MD - Kidney Specialist

I first met Dr. Timmins when I was working on a story about kidney transplants. And for someone that knows absolutely nothing about the human body, her patience is unparalleled so when I’d ask a stupid question like, does it really matter if we drink Evian or Fiji water to help prevent kidney disease, she humored me. The answer, by the way, (health-wise) is our kidneys can’t tell the difference so if you like Fiji water, you’re drinking it purely for taste. So I can keep buying the cheap ass bottled water from the store or drink from my fridge. But aside from that, one of the first things she told me was the kidney was her favorite organ. This show loves people that take pride in their work. No job is easy but when you’re in a position where you’re life is on the line, you need someone like Dr. Timmins, who actually cares and wants to do everything she can to save lives.

Episode #8: Ryan ESL - Music Producer/DJ

Ryan ESL is a Music Producer, best known for the song ‘Stanky Legg’ by GS Boyz, but he has been able to work with some well-known musicians including Kanye West, Future, and Maxo Kreem. This episode is one I’ve been looking really forward to because he’s not only a long-time friend. We met at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas – so he calls me by my first name and not by the stage name, which is a privilege only some get. Aside from that though, he’s also produced some of the best beats I’ve ever heard, so naturally, I’ve been dying to pick his brain on music. It’s definitely one of my favorite interviews and that’s why the episode is a bit longer than the others because this one is a long time coming. His songs have also been featured on HBO’s Insecure, and ABC’s Blackish… And You can find more of his songs on soundcloud.com/ryanesl