A Song Called Life Osi Atikpoh

Dr. Daniel Swain is a climate scientist focused on the dynamics and impacts of extreme events—including droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires—on a warming planet. Daniel holds joint appointments as a research scientist within UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, a research fellow in the Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the California climate fellow at The Nature Conservancy. Daniel engages extensively with journalists and other partners, serving as a climate and weather science liaison to print, radio, television, and web media outlets to facilitate broadly accessible and accurate coverage surrounding climate change. Daniel also authors the Weather West blog (weatherwest.com), which provides real-time perspectives on California and western North American weather and climate. He can be found on Twitter @Weather_West.

Dr. Helen Lavretsky is a Professor In-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA and a geriatric integrative psychiatrist with federally funded research program in geriatric depression and integrative mental health (NIMH, PCORI, and NCCIH) using mind-body interventions. She is a recipient of the Career Development award from NIMH and the NCCIH, and other prestigious research awards. Her current research studies include investigations of psychopharmacological treatment of geriatric depression, mild cognitive impairment and the use of Tai Chi and yoga for treatment and prevention of late-life mood and cognitive disorders. She is the Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the recipient of the Distinguished Investigator awards for research in geriatric psychiatry from the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. She is the Semel Scholar in Integrative Mental Health and the Director of the Late-life mood, stress and wellness program and the Integrative Psychiatry clinic

In Episode #144, Dr. Marcus Hunter engages in a thought-provoking discussion with Osi on the contentious topic of reparations for African-Americans. They explore the compelling arguments supporting reparations and encourage a reevaluation of our perspectives on this matter. Additionally, they analyze recent polling data indicating a notable shift among black voters, traditionally aligned with the Democratic party, contemplating backing Trump in the upcoming presidential election.





Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter is the Scott Waugh Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences Division, Professor of Sociology & African American Studies at UCLA. Coiner of #BlackLivesMatter, he is the author & editor of five books, including Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation (HarperCollins/Amistad, 2024). Professor Hunter served as the Inaugural Chair of UCLA’s African American Studies Department and President of the Association of Black Sociologists. The National Science Foundation and Social Science Research Council have also supported his research. In addition, Hunter drafted and advised Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s historic Bill to establish the first-ever US Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation Commission. He has appeared on C-SPAN’s BookTV, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, the LA Sentinel, USA Today, the Daily Beast, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Diana Winston, hailed as one of the nation's most prominent mindfulness teachers, joins Osi in Episode #143. They explore possible reasons behind why practices such as meditation and mindfulness haven't resonated as deeply with the Western world compared to other regions, common misconceptions surrounding mindfulness, Diana's firsthand experiences living as a Buddhist nun for a year, and more.



Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) and the author of The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness. Called by the Los Angeles Times “one of the nation’s best-known teachers of mindfulness,” she has taught mindfulness since 1999 in a variety of settings including hospitals, universities, corporations, nonprofits, and schools in the US and Asia. A sought-after speaker, she developed the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPS) curriculum and the Training in Mindfulness Facilitation, which trains mindfulness teachers worldwide. She is a founding board member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

In Episode #142, Osi welcomes Deepfake and AI expert, Dr. Wael AbdAlmageed, to cover the growing concerns surrounding deepfake technology. The discussion encompasses the formidable challenges posed by deepfakes, their potential impact on societal dynamics, especially in critical events such as elections, and the profound consequences of a future where visual trust becomes increasingly uncertain.



Dr. Wael Abd-Almageed is a Research Associate Professor at Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a Research Director with Information Sciences Institute, both are units of USC Viterbi School of Engineering. He is the Founding Director of the Visual Intelligence and Multimedia Analytics Laboratory (VIMAL). His research interests include representation learning, debiasing and fair representations, multimedia forensics and visual misinformation identification (such as deepfake and image manipulation detection) and face recognition and biometric anti-spoofing.

In Episode #141, musician Jake Ward joins the podcast to discuss all things music. Together with Osi, they challenge the notion of exclusively favoring one genre and explore the intriguing phenomenon of individuals limiting their music choices based on personal identity. Furthermore, they delve in the origins of music and ponder the hypothetical scenario of a world without this art form.



Jake Ward is a musician and frontman of Jaume, an innovative hyperpop rock band hailing from the vibrant music scene of Los Angeles. Catch the electrifying performance by Jaume live at The Mint on March 2nd, 2024. Secure your tickets now by visiting the following website: https://wl.seetickets.us/event/berriesandtoast-impulse-bangs-jaume-joao-the-darbies/585141?afflky=TheMint