The Adulting Well Podcast

This week we welcome Blake Schwarzenbach back to the show to talk about the pandemic, writing, the craziness of the past five years, Jawbreaker, and more!

Blake Schwarzenbach is an American musician. He is the singer and guitarist of Jawbreaker, and was also a member of Jets to Brazil, The Thorns of Life, and forgetters. He is known as the godfather of emo.

This week we sit down for an amazing conversation with  Kira Roessler.

Kira Roessler is a musician, singer, and two-time Emmy Award-winning dialogue editor. She is perhaps best known as the bassist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag during the 1980s.

Season 5 kicks off with our friend A.C. Thompson joining us once again. A lot has happened since the last time he was on. Covid, BLM Protests, The United States capitol attack... A lot. We talk about it all!

A.C. Thompson is a staff reporter with ProPublica. His stories, which often examine the criminal justice system, have helped lead to the exoneration of two innocent San Francisco men sentenced to life in prison and the prosecution of seven New Orleans police officers. In addition to working as a print and web journalist, Thompson has reported extensively for television, serving as a producer and correspondent for the PBS documentary series Frontline. His life was fictionalized on the HBO show “Treme.”

Death By Incarceration is a show about life behind bars. The USA is the only nation where a minor can be sentenced to die by incarceration before turning 18. A minor can’t vote, can’t serve in the military, can’t drink or smoke, but they CAN go to prison for the rest of their lives. Each week, hosts Luis "Suave" Gonzalez (Suave podcast/released lifer) and Kevin McCracken (Adulting Well podcast) will be joined by law-makers, community leaders, and the incarcerated as they shed light on institutions that viciously target and harm marginalized communities. From Crawlspace Media and DBI Media

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/death-by-incarceration/id1558992420

Popularly known as “The Cat Daddy,” Jackson Galaxy is the host and executive producer of Animal Planet's long running hit show “My Cat From Hell.” Jackson, an animal advocate and cat behavior and wellness expert, is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author with more than 25 years of experience working with cats and their guardians. He is on a mission to educate people about cats and deepen the human and cat bond, while reducing the number of animals that end up in shelters.

Long before Jackson was known as “The Cat Daddy,” the working musician found he had a unique ability to connect with cats when he took a job at a local animal shelter. During the decade that followed, he worked with thousands of cats, successfully lowering the euthanasia rate at his shelter. His work at the shelter led to a private practice of working with cat guardians and cats in their homes, which helped keep cats out of the shelter in the first place, and became the premise for “My Cat From Hell.” An immediate hit, the show has been a broadcast staple for ten seasons and has become a global phenomenon, placing Jackson at the forefront of a worldwide obsession with all things feline.

All along, Jackson has stayed true to his roots as a shelter worker, educator, fervent advocate and in-home cat family therapist. At the root of Jackson’s unique approach is a philosophy known as “Cat Mojo,” which teaches cat guardians the skills to help their feline friends build confidence and thrive within their environment, and to better the human/cat relationship at the same time. Jackson has extensively detailed his work and life in his growing collection of authored books. His first, “Cat Daddy,” is a memoir, telling
the story of a life-changing relationship with a cat named Benny during his years as a musician, shelter worker and an addict struggling to find a path towards recovery. His subsequent books, co-written by Cat Style Expert Kate Benjamin from Hauspanther.com, “Catify to Satisfy” and “Catification,” which both landed on the New York Times Best-Sellers List, focuses on designing a home that works for both cats and humans. His latest book, “Total Cat Mojo,” is a comprehensive guide to his approach on total cat wellness and eliminating behavioral problems by understanding cats and their instinctive behavior.

Jackson has always been committed to bringing better products to the market that live up to his high standards. Jackson Galaxy Solutions, the only line of flower essence remedies designed by a behavior specialist and a veterinarian, has been helping animals live happier and healthier lives since 1995. More recently, his partnership with Petmate has brought a 20-year vision to fruition, providing innovative toys and products for every stage of a cat’s life.

True to his goal of helping to save all animals, Jackson started the Jackson Galaxy Project in 2015, now a Signature Program of GreaterGood.org, which seeks to better the lives of at-risk animals by transforming the places they live and helping the people who care for them. Jackson spends much of his time these days devoted to growing the reach and impact of the life-saving JGP Programs and partnerships, including Cat Pawsitive, which focuses on giving shelters and rescue workers the tools to train cats in their care in
order to help them find their mojo and get adopted, Safe Haven, which retrofits domestic violence shelters so victims can bring their pets when leaving an abusive home, and Operation Homeward Bound, which is
a transport program that flies cats and dogs to shelters around the country that have more room to find them new homes.

Jackson has been featured on 20/20, The Today Show, The

Laurie began her career began in 1995 as an HR assistant for Leaf Candy Company, providing operations assistance and recruiting services for an hourly workforce in a manufacturing environment that was heavily unionized and staffed with immigrants from war-torn Bosnia. Since those glorious days, she’s worked at Monsanto, Alberto-Culver, Kemper Insurance (out of business), and Pfizer. Even as her title and compensation grew, she hated her job.

She became a writer, speaker, and podcaster as a result of the heartbreak and outrage she experienced throughout her corporate career. While she loves calling out boorish behavior, she is dedicated to the revolutionary and long-overdue mission of fixing work by telling stories and teaching leaders how to create workplace cultures that support, empower, and engage workers meaningfully.

Now she helps executives and HR leaders prioritize the employee experience to avoid the collateral damage of a toxic work environment. You can find her all over the internet, shaking her fist and yelling at clouds.

https://laurieruettimann.com/

Two people able to paint like one, especially for an extensive period of time is a rare thing indeed. For over a decade Kelly Tunstall and Ferris Plock have been presenting elaborate stories of earthly conditions through mischievous characters representative of both their individual and collective imagination. While often playful in appearance, the sprawling, interwoven tapestries provide a more surreal glance into the intersection of dreams belonging to a soundly bonded couple, both creatively and emotionally. An ever-evolving dialogue between beauties and beasts and masculine and feminine, KEFE World is a chromatically vibrant place where fantasy is reality and vice versa. Even Inanimate objects, buildings, food, and feats of other human inventions are bequeathed by their own personalities, often sharing in or driving the emotions, behavior, and energy of the subjects of each vignette. These meticulously drafted environments, both two and three dimensional, are born out of a variety of media including acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, ink, and gold leaf. An appreciation for traditional craft practice, textiles, and elaborate Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks is present in the stylization and framework of their imagery. At their roots, Tunstall’s airy and casual figures maintain a state of quiet confidence as if they are immune to society’s pressures and expectations and the weight they carry in the real world. It is as if these long and elegant stylized characters leaped out of a vogue existence at the beginning of their prime, preserving all of their strengths and feminine attributes with which to explore an alternate world of boundless imagination and possibilities. Somewhere along their journeys, they stepped into Plock’s semi-psychedelic cartoonish sphere occupied by living, breathing architecture and anthropomorphic creatures capable of shape-shifting seamlessly throughout their elaborate displays impish behavior. The couple’s meticulously crafted modern mythology serves as a prime example of what fantastic chemistry can do when built on the foundation of trust between two partners unencumbered by artistic fears and creative anxieties. Tunstall and Plock are veterans of multiple esteemed artist residencies, including at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Their work both individually and collectively has been exhibited in revered galleries across North America, Europe, and Asia. The duo maintains representation in San Francisco, Portland, and New York. KEFE has been commissioned for work in a bevy of private collections as well as a number of internationally recognized bars, restaurants, hotels, and other chic hospitality outposts. They have participated in a number of notable product design collaborations with Bulleit Bourbon, Uniqlo, Krooked, and Element. The duo resides and works in an occasionally foggy neighborhood in San Francisco with their two boys and two cats.

Jesse grew up in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia. Upon discovering HC punk, he fully immersed himself in the mid-/late-'80s scene.

He founded Philly Zine and moved to a squat at 51st and Baltimore in West Philly. By the late '80s he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he sang for acclaimed (and often chaotic) bands such as Blatz, The Gr'ups, The Criminals, and The Frisk. He was an elected member of the Berkeley Rent Board, he's run a record label, and much, much more! Too much to cover in one episode, that's for sure!

Amy Miller was one of Comedy Central’s “Up Next” comics for 2018, and was a breakout favorite in Season 9 of Last Comic Standing. Her Comedy Central Presents set has been viewed over 3 million times on Youtube and Facebook. She was also a featured comic on Viceland's Flophouse. On Last Comic Standing, Keenen Ivory Wayans said she had one of the “fiercest jokes he had ever heard.” Originally from the East Bay, Amy found her comedy chops in Oakland and is still a regular at the SF Punch Line and Cobb’s Comedy Club. Her material is personal, political, and 100% authentic. The Laugh Button says “She found a wildly creative way to find empowerment while simultaneously sparking laughter” and Courting Comedy says “Miller juxtaposes an unassuming demeanor with unflinching assurance.” After a move to Portland in 2012, Amy quickly rose to the top of the Pacific Northwest comedy scene, winning Portland’s Funniest in Helium's 2015 contest, as well as being voted Portland’s Funniest Comedian for 2013 and 2015 in the Willamette Week. She was the first woman to win each position and the only one to win all three. 

Amy’s debut album Solid Gold is available on Kill Rock Stars, and was named one of the top 10 comedy albums of 2016 by the Interrobang. You may have also seen Amy on Viceland or heard her on Sirius XM, NPR, Doug Loves Movies, The Adam Carolla Show, The Bennington Show, Put Your Hands Together, All Fantasy Everything, Keith and the Girl, or her own podcast "Who's Your God?." 

Amy is a nationally touring festival and comedy club headliner, and she has performed in the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, SxSW, the High Plains Comedy Fest, Laughing Skull, Big Sky, San Francisco Sketchfest, the Bumbershoot Festival and more.

Terrie Samundra is a Director and Screenwriter whose debut feature KAALI KHUHI, a Netflix Original, was released internationally in October 2020. Samundra's short films ICE CREAM WALLAH, KUNJO and A SHORT TALE OF XUAN, have screened in film festivals internationally garnering accolades.

She is a Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab alumna, a SFFILM/Kenneth Rainin Screenwriting fellow and alumna of the Sundance Women in Film Finance Lab. She has written extensively with her creative partner David Walter Lech on the screenplays KAALI KHUHI, WOMAN ON THE HILL, BETAMAX, WESTERN INTERIOR SEAWAY,  and the episodic series THE BALLAD OF POOJA and THE BLOOD BELOW. She has also written a narrative adaptation of the D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus documentary, TOWN BLOODY HALL, and an adaptation of the one woman play by Actor-Creator Fawzia Mirza, entitled ME, MY MOM, & SHARMILA. 

Samundra has taught screenwriting at San Francisco State University, is a mentor of the Qalambaaz Screenwriters Lab, and an arts instructor at Create Now, a program for at-risk youth in Los Angeles. Terrie is a National Geographic Grant recipient, a Princess Grace Award recipient, an active member of the Writer’s Guild of America, and is represented by the Gersh Agency.

Jane Kim served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing a diverse district in San Francisco, including the lowest-income residents and the wealthiest zip code in the City.  Further, she represented a district absorbing close to 80% of all residential and commercial development in San Francisco. She is a member and top voter getter for San Francisco Democratic Party Committee in 2016 and 2020.

Her landmark initiatives include leading San Francisco to be the first city in the nation to make Community College tuition-free for all residents; the Fair Chance Act (removing unnecessary barriers to employment and stable housing for the millions of Californians who have a conviction record); passing the strongest and most progressive minimum wage law in the nation raising our minimum wage to $15/hour; securing full-time nurses for homeless shelters and establishing a medical respite shelter for aging and sick homeless residents. Kim also led the single largest investment in any US city has made towards childcare- a tax on multi-million dollar commercial real estate to raise $140M+ per year to make universal affordable childcare a reality

Supervisor Kim is a fierce affordable housing advocate who has fought to increase the affordable housing requirement from 12% to 25% and has won an unprecedented 40% affordable housing requirement in two major development projects in her district. She is proud to have authored and passed the strongest and boldest tenant protection ordinance in the country stemming frivolous evictions. 

Jane most recently served as the National Regional and California Political Director for Bernie Sanders 2020 and is a Senior Fellow of Engagement at the Young Elected Officials Network, a program of the People for American Way. She is currently the Senior Advisor for Build Affordable Better California.

Prior to being a Supervisor, Jane Kim was a community organizer at Chinatown Community Development Center, a civil rights attorney at Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and served as President of the San Francisco Board of Education. She received a dual B.A. in Political Science and Asian American studies from Stanford University and her J.D. from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. 

Owning a bar during COVID: This week we talk past and present punk with Golden Bull Owners Mark Lynn, Jason Beebout, and Bill Schneider.

Mark Lynn moved to Oakland in 1994. In addition to co-owning The Golden Bull, he also co-owns Bay Functional Fitness, a health, fitness, and wellness company. Bands: Dead Sound (with Bill), Dear County, and Arrica Rose and the …’s

Bill Schneider moved to The Bay Area in 1987 from Santa Monica.
Bands: Sawhorse. Monsula, Pinhead Gunpowder,  Uranium 9v, Influents, Dead Sound, Coverups. Music stores: Black Market, Univibe, Univibe Drums, Broken Guitars. Currently: Touring guitar tech , tour manager and owner of The Golden Bull.

Jason Beebout was born 1970 in San Francisco.
"My first band in 85’ was called Operation Ivy but then we changed it to Isocracy and let some other dudes have the old name. Then we started throwing trash at people at Gilman Street in 86 til our drummer quit and started greenday with some other dudes, but he quit that band too so whatever. Then I started samiam in 88’ and we’ve had at least 50 different members besides me and Sergie “the originals”. Many of them also went on to join much more popular bands, but some died or got jobs."

Cheyenne is the founder of Queer Wave Coffee. She is an industry legend who has been in the coffee industry for almost two decades.

Anna Merlan is a New Mexico-born, Los Angeles-based journalist, specializing in subcultures, alternative communities, conspiracy theories, crime, belief, death, sexual violence and women’s lives. She is currently a reporter on the Features desk at VICE. She was previously a reporter at the Special Projects Desk, an investigative division within Gizmodo Media Group, a senior reporter at Jezebel, and a staff writer at the Village Voice and the Dallas Observer. Her work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, BBC Travel, Topic, and on the op-ed page of the New York Times. She has been accused of being both a lizard person and a CIA agent, but never at the same time.

Maggie Freleng is the host and producer of “Unjust & Unsolved” a popular new podcast about wrongful convictions. Formerly a Producer-at-Large for NPR’s Latino USA, she is an Adjunct Professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She was an NPR Next Generation Radio fellow, mentor and 2019 Ford Foundation “50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism” fellow. Maggie was also a TV documentary host for VICE and Oxygen’s “The Disappearance of Maura Murray.”

Adam Myatt a.k.a. The Cat Man of West Oakland is not your normal crazy cat lady. After taking photos of West Oakland’s feral cat population for about a year, he found a litter of kittens that would change his life…

Megan has been working as a professional illustrator since 2006. In addition to creating beautiful watercolor pet portraits and traveling the craft fair circuit - Megan designs graphics, illustrations, and textiles for a variety of clients including Chronicle Books, Maximum Fun, Meowbox, and Tea Collection. When she isn't painting cats, she enjoys looking at animals in predicaments, drinking coffee, and sitting on her porch when the weather is pleasant. In addition to being an artist, she is a lifelong cat lover - her first word was "kitty." Her current work is created in Milwaukee, WI alongside her husband and 3 mischievous cats.

We're celebrating finally getting the whole Jawbreaker trio on the show by recasting our Chris and Blake episodes. Enjoy.

This week sit down with Adam Pfahler to talk about his first bass guitar, drumming, covid, Jawbreaker, and much, much more!

This week we sit down with Ian MacKaye.

This week we had an amazing conversation with filmmaker Crystal Moselle.

Cyrstal is a New York based director best known for her Sundance,  Grand Jury Prize award winning documentary, The Wolfpack.  In the past she was a producer on the critically acclaimed documentary film, Excavating Taylor Mead.  In the last decade she has been working with short-form storytelling for publications such as Vice, Nowness and The New York Times, where she created a series called "Something Big, Something  Small," featuring talent such as Pharrell Williams and Shepard Fairey.  Later collaborations with Pharrell included, “Meet the Bae’s,” a series profiling the artists back up dancers.  Moselle's short film for Miu Miu, That One Day,  premiered at The Venice Film Festival.  The feature version of the film "Skate Kitchen"  premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2018.

Her HBO series, Betty, is airing now.

Michelle Cruz Gonzales was born in East LA in 1969 but grew up in Tuolumne, a tiny California Gold Rush town. She started her first band in that small town at the age of fifteen and moved to San Francisco two years later. She played drums and wrote lyrics for three bands during the 1980s and 1990s: Bitch Fight, Spitboy, and Instant Girl.

Michelle is the author of The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band

This week we did something a little different. We interviewed Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries.  While he is not a grown-up punk kid, he is a grown-up we respect on many levels. 

His lifetime commitment to helping people who are in the margins is truly an inspiration.  Big thanks to Father Greg for coming on!  We hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed the interview.

In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, Father Greg and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.

In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

Father Greg is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His 2017 book is the Los Angeles Times-bestseller Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.

He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, the White House named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics.

This week, Kevin and Joshua sit down with Chris Bauermeister (Jawbreaker) to talk about getting into punk music, toy stores, tattoos, mental health, his work at the Thurston County Food Bank, and a lot more.