Beyond Face Value

For episode 11, Brandon and Kamryn had the opportunity to speak with David Heredia, founder of Heroes of Color. We discussed what it’s like to be an Afro-Latino on the West Coast, his choice of leaving Walt Disney Animation and starting his own company, why it’s important to have more diversity in his work and what cartoons influenced his work the most growing up.

In this episode, we spoke with Dave Brill. He is a sports producer at ABC7 Los Angeles and a journalism professor at College of the Canyons. We talked about how sports leagues have adjusted to COVID-19 guidelines, the inconsistency of journalists reporting on COVID-19 and his experience with the virus when it first shut classes down in Spring. 

For episode 9, Kamryn had the opportunity to speak with Troi Blank, a 20-year-old rapper/producer from Los Angeles. Apart of the multimedia collective, Raised by the Internet, he has accomplished so much for his age. We discuss his debut album "LIMBO," dedicating his album to his late stepfather, why he became a rapper and why Frank Ocean is so important to him. 

For episode 8, Brandon spoke with Lara Vanian Green. She is the host of the Armenian Enough Podcast, where she speaks with outside of the box people in the Armenian Diaspora. They talked about what it means to be Armenian enough, what it was like for Lara to be a LGBTQ person in the Armenian community, how the Armenian Genocide forced her family to move to Argentina and Syria, and they called out racism and homophobia in the Armenian community.

In this episode, we ask each other some questions so you all can get to know us a little more. We talk about what we'd do if COVID-19 weren't around, our struggles with mental health and why we aren't as religious as we used to be. We cap things off by talking about how Kamryn is a Harry Styles stan and what celebrities Brandon would invite to a dinner party.

For this episode, we had the opportunity to speak with Donté Green, an artist that studies acting at CalArts and is a relative to activist Rosa Parks. We talked about how love is our greatest weapon for the current "BLM revolution", why going to middle school with mostly white people was shocking to see, growing up in Detroit and why he is speaking on behalf of all the black lives lost since 1619. 

In the second part of our conversation with Donovan, we talk about the difference between protestors and looters, the importance of travel, how he was born in Germany and what it was like to be a military brat, and why people need to go to therapy.

For this episode we have Donovan Alexander Beck aka The Mind of Sol. He is a filmmaker, writer and general human being who likes to make things. We talk about Donovan’s media business, how to handle uncertainty as an artist, how to deal with creative block, and the role of media during times of unrest.

For our fourth episode, we talked to a few members of the young activist group, Generation Z. We asked them about what their goals are for the future, some encounters while peacefully protesting and the hanging of Robert Fuller.

 Matt Martinez is the owner and host of The Human Glue Project podcast. We talked about the importance of human connection, the loneliness epidemic in the United States, the role that social media plays in our day-to-day interactions and Matt's love for country music. 

Continuing our conversation with Ashley, we discussed race in America, the killing of George Floyd, and the aftermath. Then we closed off what it was like to be in a Fall Out Boy music video and getting to be on stage with her favorite band.

In this episode we talk to published writer and professor Ashley Jean Granillo about publishing a book in kindergarten, her Mexican roots and experiencing racism as a Latinx person in Southern California.

For our first episode we talked with Phil Gussin, a political science teacher, about his former life as a plumber, political discourse in America, climate change and people protesting COVID-19 shutdowns. We also get into his music taste and weird things he's seen on the internet in the past week.