“Friends & Neighbors” began as a podcast in 2020, inspired by the wisdom of Fred Rogers, seeking to cultivate depth and simplicity in complex lives. Initial episodes explored guests’ personal insights and approaches to building community, managing possessions, and finding reflection. As COVID-19 raged and host Benjamin Wagner grappled with post-traumatic stress, conversations shifted towards mental health. Dialogues with authors, lawmakers, and advocates about trauma, authenticity, and healing illuminated the power of making the “mentionable manageable.” By creating a space for sharing stories and journeys, the podcast provides roadmaps for healing and strategies for healthier lives, embodying Rogers’ belief that “when we look for the helpers, we know there’s hope.”
Ron Lieber
Ron Lieber
Brian Ives
Brian Ives
For more than 30 years, Brian Ives has kept the music scoops coming on SiriusXM, VH1 and MTV. Brian currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations, and hosts a podcast called, “How You Play Your Hand” about musicians and resilience. This week, Brian and I discuss doing what you love, building rapport with artists and colleagues, and being present.
Martine McDonald
Martine McDonald
As Education Director at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and Founder of Practice Wonder, Martine McDonald is “dedicated to co-creating and developing diverse children’s media with mindfulness and representation of LGBTQ+ and families of color on screen.” In this episode, Martine, an early “Mister Rogers & Me” booster, goes deep into her journey as an advocate for diversity and inclusion, and a human being on Earth.
An “Essential” Conversation, Part II
An “Essential” Conversation, Part II
In the second part of our two-part conversation, music journalist, Brian Ives, and I discuss my new collection of “greatest hits,” “Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021),” including stories behind set staples “Summer’s Gone,” “Crash Site,” and “Dear Elizabeth,” as well as their potential legacy.
An “Essential” Conversation, Part I
An “Essential” Conversation, Part I
When it came to helping me put context on two decades of music for my new release, “Essential Benjamin Wagner (2001-2021),” my friend, Brian Ives, was the only choice. Brian is a rock journalism lifer with three decades at MTV, VH1, Loudwire, Sirius XM and Radio.com. He currently runs digital content operations for Beasley Radio’s 40+ stations, and hosts the podcast, “How You Play Your Hand.”
Karen Baum Gordon
Karen Baum Gordon
In her new book, “The Last Letter,” author Karen Baum Gordon explores the events that shaped the lives of her father and his parents — two Holocaust victims that he tried in vain to save in the early years of World War II. In this painstakingly researched, heartbreaking and inspiring page-turner, Karen reminds us that we often need to move towards our pain in order to understand it, and then let go of it in order to move on.
Dear Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth
How one Hell’s Kitchen public school custodian helped me understand the weight of sadness, and turn it into one of my most beloved songs.
Everything Is Unsettled
Everything Is Unsettled
This week, a nor’easter blows through the Brandywine Valley, downing limbs, shattering crockery, and prompting a reckoning.
Three Little Birds
Three Little Birds
Trench Town rock via Waterloo, Iowa. Or, Why I Covered Bob Marley.
Shaking The Nonsense Out
Shaking The Nonsense Out
In the sermon of Abbigail and my wedding ceremony (fourteen years ago today), our officiant, Fred Rogers’ ally, Bo Lozoff, tempered our idealized, golden-hour, white-chiffon fantasies with reasoned, practical, even difficult wisdom.
Restoration
Restoration
This week, a story about everyday heroism, Wissahickon Schist and The Wisdom of Fred.
We’re All Gonna Die
We’re All Gonna Die
What do you do when your real life exceeds your wildest imagination? Don’t keep it to yourself.
