Stevie’s Work

Period Power! Club members Kat and Divine talk sex education, chocolate cravings, and how advocating for period poverty awareness in high school helped set the course for advocacy in all areas of life. Xyajah shares her TMI Project monologue, where she speaks about getting her first period at just nine years old, feeling unprepared and unable to speak about it with her family.This episode was produced in partnership with HUDSY and Kingston High School’s Period Power! Club. It was written and produced by Hayley Downs, Blake Pfeil, and Raine Grayson. It was directed by Raine Grayson. All episodes are shot and edited by HUDSY.TMI Project is available to offer true storytelling workshops and performances for your school or workplace: tmiproject.org.If you believe in the power of true storytelling to change the world, support TMI Project with a donation today! DONATE TODAYLinkshttps://www.tmiproject.orghttps://www.instagram.com/tmiprojecthttps://www.facebook.com/tmiprojecthttps://www.tiktok.com/@tmiprojecthttps://www.hudsy.orghttps://www.periodpowerclub.com

November 4th 2025 In this moving episode of Fighting For Ukraine, Ukrainian journalist-turned-soldier Yuriy reflects on life in the midst of the Ukraine war — and on the small dreams that help him and his comrades endure. As the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine stretches far beyond the first six months, Yuriy shares how Ukrainian soldiers hold on to hope by imagining the peace that will someday come. Some plan to ride motorcycles or rebuild farms; Yuriy dreams of returning home to read two heavy volumes — The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings and The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Yuriy reveals the inner world of a Ukrainian soldier: the longing for normal life, the optimism that survives even on the front lines, and the reminder that every unread book or unplayed record can become a symbol of survival. Send Yuriy your letter of support fightingtherussianbeast@gmail.com  Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy   Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat  Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/  —-more—- TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)    It is November four. In the early days of a full-scale war, we in the Army held on thanks to the confidence that it would all end soon: in six months or in a year, everyone would go home, return to the usual routines. All the conversations back then were about what awaited each of us at home or at work. But as six months passed, then a year and even more time, it became harder and harder to cling to the expectation of a quick return to normal life. Even the most stubborn born started to realize that this was going to drag on for a long time. Those with more flexible minds were the lucky ones. These people adapted pretty quickly to military life, eagerly started earning ranks and had no problem tying even their distant future to the army. There are actually a lot of them- people who were completely civilian before, who became real warriors and feel perfectly fine in their new role. But there are others who still need to envision some kind of conditionally peaceful future. Since in our reality, it is still nowhere in sight, people start inventing it for themselves. I have a friend who bought a motorcycle for after the war, even for he does not know how to ride it. Another one, with no agricultural experience whatsoever, bought an abandoned farm that he plans to restore and start growing some plants. I'm still a civilian inside too. I need some picture of future outside the army. So, a year ago I bought myself two slightly used books The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings and The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. These are very detailed description of jazz and blues recordings starting from the dawn of sound recordings and covering almost up to the present day. And the title does not mean that the books were written by penguins, or that the Penguins are the primary audience. It refers to the publishing house, Penguin, which printed the books.  You might say, that is nonsense compared to a motorcycle and especially a farm- but I'll tell you that this purchase is a proof that I'm no ordinary optimist. Behind buying the books was the imagination of how after the war, I'd spend evenings, slowly reading them, listening to the albums, mentioned in them, and then buying on vinyl those what I liked the most. There are already too many assumptions in that. I have to live until peace comes. I have to keep my hearing and my love for music. I need to have time and the opportunity to read those books -and the money for the records. Like I said, I'm an optimist. The books are waiting for me at home. They are big and heavy to lug around, they have delicate paper covers. And anyway, I bought them specifically to read after the war, not now. So, I haven't even opened them yet. And once for a moment, I even regretted that. Completely unexpectedly, a few months ago, not far from the front line, I was with a few comrades in open terrain when a Russian drone came flying straight at us. And for some reason at that moment, I didn't think about my family, my daughter, or anything else only, that I had never started reading those books. A strange moment: these could be your last seconds, and you regretting that you never opened The Penguin Guide To Jazz Recordings. The drone flew past us, giving me a chance to eventually get to my books. I hope I'll still make use of that chance.

If you don't know Gretchen Peters, I will bet you definitely know some of her songs. From Independence Day (Martina McBride), Cloud #9 (Bryan Adams), On A Bus To St. Cloud (Trisha Yearwood), Rock Steady (Bonnie Raitt)… the list goes on and on.  So when I interviewed her for the first time (I was lucky enough to do it twice) I was READY. This is probably the interview I am the most proud of, we talked about sexism within the music industry, being an independent artist and finding your own path as a writer. We dig into the origins of one of her songs, "The Boy From Rye" and how it's the heart of her most recent album, Dancing With The Beast. Note: This interview was originally recorded and published in November 2019. —-more—- For two decades, Gretchen Peters (she/her) has been one of Nashville's most beloved and respected artists. "If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as 'On A Bus To St. Cloud,'" People Magazine wrote, "she has already earned herself a spot among country's upper echelon of contemporary composers.” Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her "both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes,” and said her song “The Matador”, "moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet”, Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Her 2015 album, ‘Blackbirds’, debuted at #1 on the UK Country chart and in the top 40 UK pop chart, and was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Her latest album, Dancing With The Beast, was released on May 18, 2018. https://gretchenpeters.com  

It is the end. And the end. And the end! Will Michael find the progenitor's technology? Will Moll be able to bring L'ak back to life? Will Rayner and DISCO be able to hold off the Breen? Will Saru be able to engage in diplomacy with Primarch Tahal? And most importantly: is there going to be a wedding at the end? Come for the science fiction, the pew-pew, and the fate of all the galaxy — stay for a cute wedding sequence. Hope everyone you love got out alive. It's time to say goodbye, old friends. Live long — and prosper.