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Conversations Live Vicki St. Clair

Career, Creativity, Personal Development

Apr 16 : Punch Through Your Creative Blocks with Patti Dobrowolski

April 16, 2025

Tap Into and Harness the Creative Genius Hidden Inside of You

Creative Genius You, the Equation that Makes You Great with author Patti Dobrowolski

In Creative Genius You, The Equation That Makes YOU Great! Patti Dobrowolski’s simple formula helps you unlock a unique genius and creativity all of your own.

Today Patti shares how visual acuity can help liberate you from blocks and accelerate the creative process.

She provides insight into the subtle math behind goal achievement. Why granting yourself permission to listen to your inner voice is vital.

Patty explains the Desire + Love + Sweat equation. And the importance of developing our curiosity, intuition, and imagination.

About Patti Dobrowolski

Three-times TedX speaker, Patti Dobrowolski, is a critically acclaimed comic performer, international keynote speaker, writer, and business consultant. She has taught innovative visual practices to Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, and small businesses. In an earlier podcast you can hear about Patti Dobrowolski’s first book, Drawing Solutions: How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life.

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Business, Career, Creativity, Non Fiction

Apr 09: Stories Sell with GrandSLAM Champ Matthew Dicks

April 9, 2025

Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Your Brand

Stories Sell with author Matthew Dicks

Like it or not, everyone in the workforce today has a brand – whether you’re self-employed, a contractor, freelancer, or employee.

Some have more than one brand — Matthew Dicks is a high-school teacher, an author, keynote speaker, Moth GrandSLAM champ, consultant to Fortune 500 groups, and even a wedding DJ!

Some brands have commonalities. Some do not.

But at the heart of your ability to sell yourself, your work, your products, or services there’s a common link to success and connection. And that is storytelling.

Today we look at Matthew’s book, Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Your Brand. He shares how where most companies, salespeople, and marketers get storytelling wrong. Why you should focus first on story, then on purpose. And what makes the all-important 5-second Moment.

Meet Matthew Dicks – Bestselling Author, Moth StorySLAM & GrandSLAM Champion

Matthew Dicks is and expert storyteller and the internationally bestselling author of several novels, including Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, and Something Missing. His nonfiction titles include books we’ve discussed on the show before: Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling. Someday is Today:  22 Simple Actionable Ways to Propel Your Creative Life. And his latest, Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and our Brand. Matthew Dicks is a 56-time Moth StorySLAM Champion, and a 9-time GrandSLAM Champion, whose stories have been featured on the nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour. His stories have also appeared on PBS’ Stories From the Stage.

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History, Journalism, Non Fiction

Apr 02: Taking Manhattan with Russell Shorto

April 2, 2025

The Extraordinary Events that Created New York and Shaped America

Taking Manhattan with author Russell Shorto

It’s well known that in 1626, Indigenous inhabitants sold the entire island of Manhattan to the Dutch for just $24 worth of beads and trinkets. What’s not so well known is the history behind the English seizure of the island and its transformation from New Amsterdam to New York.

Author, investigative journalist, historian Russell Shorto took on the challenge of researching the fascinating details behind this. Today we explore some of the highlights around that, and meet some of the key characters integral to the transition. Russell also presents a picture that’s maybe, less about seizure, and more about collaboration between the parties who once pointed cannons at each other.

Meet Russell Shorto

Russell Shorto is the best-selling author of eight books, including Smalltime, Revolution Song, Amsterdam, and The Island at the Center of the World. He is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New York Historical and senior scholar at the New Netherland Institute.

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Environment, Journalism, Non Fiction, Social Issues

Mar 26: David Lipsky and How America’s Anti-Science Movement was Set Up

March 27, 2025

The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial

The Parrot and the Igloo with author David Lipsky

“Lipsky spins top-flight climate literature into cliffhanger entertainment.” ~ The New York Times

David Lipsky is a writer’s writer as well as a reader’s writer. In The Parrot And The Igloo: Climate And The Science Of Denial, Lipsky explores how the virulent “anti-science” movement in America was set up by design.

In other words, it was planned, programmed, and paid for.

Today, we learn when, how, and why planned “denial” movements began, and who won the casting call to become the first Celebrity Doubter and “paid voice” behind the massive Climate Denial Campaign.

We look at scientists who sounded warning bells. And how we went from being a country that supported science, to a population divided into science supporters versus science deniers, hucksters, and propagandists.

Meet Bestselling Author David Lipsky

David Lipsky is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Absolutely American and Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, the basis for the movie The End of the Tour. He’s written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Magazine, and is a recipient of the National Magazine Award and the GLAAD Media Award. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Magazine Writing anthologies. Lipsky teaches writing and literature at NYU and lives in New York City. The Parrot And The Igloo is a NYT Editors’ Choice, a New Yorker and Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2023, and a USA Today Must Read.

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Essays, Humor, Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Mar 05: Itching to Love with Award-winning Author Shelley Fraser Mickle

March 5, 2025

The Story of a Dog

Itching to Love with author Shelley Fraser Mickle

“[Shelley’s writing] warms us with the wisdom and perspective that come from a lifetime filled with animals, people, history, science, and literature. An absolutely unique memoir by one of the South’s great storytellers.”

— Danny Rubin, Screenwriter (Groundhog Day)

When you’re used to being needed and hearing someone shout “Mom” a hundred times a day, who are you, and what do you do when the kids leave home? Like millions of other moms, award-winning writer Shelley Fraser Mickle faced that same dilemma. Her solution found her.

Today Shelley shares why she wrote to author William Faulkner and how that worked out. We discuss the importance of storytelling and passing down family stories. How humor helps us physiologically; why we should laugh out loud and try to find the humor even during dark days. Shelley shares her love of horses, and the dog who saved her, Buddy. We also discuss the challenges and joys of writing a memoir, ITCHING TO LOVE: The Story of a Dog.

Meet Shelley Fraser Mickle

Shelley Fraser Mickle is a multiple award-winning author and beloved storyteller. Her readings delighted listeners on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 2000 to 2006.  Shelley’s second novel, REPLACING DAD, won a Friends of American Writers Award and was adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie. Currently, her 2023 narrative history WHITE HOUSE WILD CHILD: HOW ALICE ROOSEVELT BROKE ALL THE RULES AND WON THE HEART OF AMERICA is in development as a film series. ITCHING TO LOVE: The Story of a Dog is Shelley’s memoir.

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Conservation, Memoir, Nature, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Feb 26: Bad Naturalist – Paula Whyman

February 26, 2025

One Woman’s Attempt to Restore 200 Acres of Farmland in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Bad Naturalist with author Paula Whyman

With humor, humility, and awe, writer Paula Whyman faces her limitations, while getting to know a breathtaking corner of the natural world.

When she first climbed a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains looking for a home in the country, she had no idea how little she knew about hands-on conservation, or how quickly her tidy backyard ecology project would grow into a massive endeavor.

From Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop we explore some of Paula’s many challenges, failures, and successes as she learns hour by hour how to work with nature and its seasons, with indigenous versus invasive growth, and nature … the ultimate boss.

Meet Paula Whyman

Paula Whyman’s new book, Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop, is a blend of memoir, natural history, and conservation science. Her short story collection You May See a Stranger, earned praise from The New Yorker, a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and won the Towson Prize for Literature. Paula Whyman’s stories have appeared in journals including McSweeney’s Quarterly and Virginia Quarterly Review, and her fiction was selected for the anthology Writes of Passage: Coming-of-Age Stories and Memoirs from The Hudson Review. Whyman’s nonfiction has been featured on NPR, and in the Washington Post, The American Scholar, and The Rumpus. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the literary journal Scoundrel Time.

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Adventure, Exploration, Historical, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Feb 19: Outdoor Adventure Author Buddy Levy with Realm of Ice & Sky

February 19, 2025

Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue

Realm of Ice and Sky with author Buddy Levy

Winner of 2023’s National Outdoor Book Award, Buddy Levy, returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair, this time to talk about his latest Arctic survival book, Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue.

  • “The gripping account of a fatal polar adventure. Hair-raising suffering and heroism in the Arctic.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Levy says it’s not the history of one voyage. It’s the history of one TYPE of voyage – trying to reach the north pole airborne, in an airship. If successful, it would signal a changing of the guard – from dog and sled travel, to the new technology of airborne travel.

We explore “the greatest Arctic rescue” – a dramatic, nearly forgotten 19th-century mission that tested human resilience, ingenuity, and survival in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth. We also discuss the journeys of the three key explorers; their challenges, failures, and successes. And Buddy shares how he pieced together these 19th century adventures to make a riveting story.

Meet Buddy Levy

Buddy Levy is the author of nine books including Realm of Ice and Sky, and Empire of Ice and Stone: The True Story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition That Went Horribly Wrong. [Hear that PODCAST.] His work has been featured or reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, The Washington Post, and many other outlets. He was the co-star, for 25 episodes, on HISTORY Channel’s hit docuseries Brad Meltzer’s DECODED. In 2018 he was an on-camera expert on the 4-part TV Series THE FRONTIERSMEN: The Men Who Built America (HISTORY, Executive Producer Leonardo Di Caprio).

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Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Women's Issues

Feb 12: Say No to Cervical Cancer with Dr. Linda Eckert

February 12, 2025

Expert advice in ENOUGH: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer

Enough: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer with Dr. Linda Eckert

Did you know that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women? That it’s highly treatable and almost 100% preventable? Yet each year, approximately:

— 340,000 women around the globe die of cervical cancer.

— 14,000 women in the U.S. receive news that they have cervical cancer.

— Over 90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV as it’s commonly known.

In ENOUGH: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer, Dr. Linda Eckert integrates scientific evidence, personal stories, and policy advocacy to inspire readers to take action. We discuss what you need to know — from symptoms to treatments and prevention. She busts common myths around vaccines, HPV, which groups of women are disproportionately affected. And how HPV can also affect men. Most of all, Dr. Eckert leaves us with hope, and the knowledge we need to help wipe out cervical cancer.

Meet Dr. Linda Eckert

Dr. Linda Eckert is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist with over three decades of experience in women’s health. She serves as a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Global Health at the University of Washington, where her clinical practice is centered at Seattle’s Harborview Women’s Clinic. Her areas of expertise include vaginal and vulvar infections, vaccines, cervical cancer screening, and cross-cultural medicine. In addition to her research and clinical practice, Dr. Eckert serves on the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Expert Immunization Committee and is the organization’s liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She was also the obstetrics lead for the Global Alignment of Immunization Safety in Pregnancy Program.

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Creativity, Health & Wellness, Nature, Non Fiction

Feb 05: Creativity Expert Michael Gelb on the Health, Productivity, & Creative Benefits of Walking Well

February 5, 2025

A new approach for comfort, vitality, and inspiration in every step.

Walking Well with coauthor Michael Gelb

Today’s guest, creativity expert Michael Gelb, coauthored WALKING WELL: A New Approach for Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step with movement artist Bruce Fertman.

Michael Gelb shares the science behind the transformational benefits of walking, including how the immune system, the brain’s neuroplasticity, the gut, our kidneys, longevity, weight, anxiety, mood, and more can improve with regular movement. We also discuss what he calls The Four Dignities. And how walking in nature – as many of our creative guests have attested to – helps spark creativity and combat stress.

Meet Coauthors Michael J. Gelb and Bruce Fertman

Michael J. Gelb is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, executive coaching, and innovative leadership. He’s a fifth-degree black belt in aikido and teaches tai chi and the Alexander Technique. The author of 17 books – including the international bestseller How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci – Michael Gelb is also a professional juggler who performed with the Rolling Stones.

Bruce Fertman brings 60 years of study as a movement artist and educMator to his work. His training includes gymnastics, modern dance, ballet, contact improvisation, the Alexander Technique, tai chi chuan, aikido, chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), Argentine tango, and kyudo (Zen archery). For the past 30 years Fertman’s taught in Europe, Asia, and the Americas helping people experience the interconnectedness of physical and spiritual life.

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Journalism, Non Fiction, Social Issues

Jan 15: Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks with Nicole Perlroth

January 15, 2025

What You Can Do Today to Keep You and Your Data Safe from the Cyber Weapons Arms Race

This is How They Tell Me the World Ends with Author Nicole Perlroth

Even if everything seems to be working and functioning normally, chances are, a cyber attack has already infiltrated your digital world without your knowledge.

In This is How They Tell Me the World Ends, Nicole Perlroth reveals unreported stories of the cyberweapons market, the most secretive, invisible, government-backed market today. We discuss the active participation of the US. How a pre-strike of cyber attacks on Ukraine aided Russia before they attacked on land. And the singularly most vital thing you can do to protect yourself and your data.

About Nicole Perlroth

Nicole Perlroth was the lead cybersecurity, digital espionage, and sabotage reporter at The New York Times for a decade, where her work was optioned for film and television. She’s a regular lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Today, she increasingly prefers life off the grid. This Is How They Tell me The World Ends is Nicole’s first book, and a New York Times bestseller.

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