The Munn Avenue Muse Podcast

Charles Levin
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Books
  • Updated Biweekly

Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration for Both Aspiring and Accomplished Authors from Munn Avenue Press www.munnavenuemuse.com

  1. 3d ago

    How a Real Family Argument Became a Technothriller

    This week on the Munn Avenue Muse, Charlie Levin sat down with author John Kuendig to discuss his new technothriller, The Good Club, a novel built around a question that refuses to go away: What if some of the things dismissed as conspiracy theories turned out to be true? For John, that question wasn’t born in a writer’s room. It started during heated debates with his brother, who followed QAnon and other fringe theories. After one particularly spirited exchange, John found himself walking along the San Francisco shoreline wrestling with a thought he couldn’t shake. “What if he’s right?” That single question became the foundation for The Good Club, a story set thirty years in the future where power, technology, and control intersect in unsettling ways. Building Fiction on a Foundation of Fact One of the reasons the novel feels so believable is the amount of research behind it. John spent countless hours investigating emerging technologies, studying scientific papers, and testing whether some of the book’s more alarming concepts could actually work. He used Google Earth to map streets in Taiwan so that action scenes would unfold exactly as they would in real life. It’s the kind of attention to detail that separates a good thriller from one that keeps readers awake at night. The Unexpected Writing Secret Like most authors, John battled writer’s block. His solution wasn’t forcing words onto the page. Instead, he stepped away. A movie, a walk, another book, or simply giving his brain room to work often sparked the breakthroughs he needed. Ironically, his biggest burst of productivity came after hip replacement surgery. With four weeks of forced downtime, he finally pushed the manuscript across the finish line. Not a writing strategy most of us are eager to try, but effective nonetheless. Learning to Trust the Reader One of the biggest lessons John learned during the publishing process was a familiar one: show, don’t tell. Rather than telling readers a character is embarrassed, show the flushed face. Show the hesitation. Show the reaction. He also discovered the importance of raising questions immediately. Munn’s early editorial feedback led him to completely rethink his opening chapter, creating a stronger sense of mystery and urgency from the very first pages. More Than a Thriller At the heart of the novel, The Good Club explores a timeless danger: what happens when people become so convinced they’re right that they begin viewing anyone who disagrees as a problem to be eliminated. History offers plenty of examples of where that road can lead. What makes the novel resonate beyond the thriller genre is the question it leaves readers with: What happens when good intentions become justification for control? The answer may be fiction. For now… 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring John Kuendig wherever you get your podcasts. 📘 The Good Club is available now at: AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org ✍️ ✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more. 👉 Subscribe below for more conversations with authors, publishing insights, and behind-the-scenes stories from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. Happy Writing, Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    22 min

  2. May 26

    The Nuclear Reactor in Your Belly

    Most people grow up hearing the same thing about anger: Control it. Calm down. Let it go. But after listening to clinical psychologist Dr. Mitch Abrams talk about anger on the Munn Avenue Muse, I kept thinking about how backwards a lot of that advice feels in real life. Abrams has spent more than two decades as a psychologist working with athletes, high performers, and people in high-conflict environments (like prisons), and his perspective is surprisingly refreshing. He doesn’t treat anger like some emotional glitch that needs to be removed. He treats it like energy. His book, I’m Not F*cking Angry: Adjust the Flame to Get What You Want from Life, centers around one idea that instantly clicked for me: Anger isn’t the enemy. Lack of awareness is. Anger Is Energy One metaphor he uses really stayed with me. He describes anger as a “nuclear reactor in your belly.” That sounds dramatic at first, but the more you sit with it, the more accurate it feels. Anger creates momentum. It sharpens attention. It pushes people to act, compete, build, protect, and persist. The goal isn’t to shut that energy off. It’s learning how to direct it. That’s where the phrase “adjust the flame” comes in. Too much emotional heat, and people lose perspective. Too little and they lose drive. Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot where emotion becomes fuel instead of friction. The Difference Between Aggression and Drive Most people hear the word “aggression” and immediately picture somebody out of control, but Abrams makes a distinction between reactive aggression and instrumental aggression. Reactive aggression is impulsive and emotional. Instrumental aggression is focused. It’s the determination that helps someone finish school, build a business, raise a family, or finish writing a book after wanting to quit ten different times. That distinction matters. Because ambition itself requires a certain level of aggression. Every meaningful accomplishment usually involves persistence, competitiveness, urgency, or intensity at some point. Why Awareness Matters Another point that stood out was his emphasis on early awareness. Abrams said many people don’t realize they’re angry until they’re already fully activated. By then, the body has already taken over the conversation. The real skill is noticing the signs earlier: the tighter jaw, the faster speech, the tension in your chest, the shift in your breathing. That small moment of awareness changes everything. It creates enough space to respond intentionally instead of emotionally. What Writers Can Learn From This As a writer, I also found his approach to communication incredibly valuable. He writes exactly the way he speaks. Direct. Conversational. Honest. No clinical performance. No overexplaining. And because of that, people trust him immediately. A lot of nonfiction writing loses readers because it sounds polished instead of real. Abrams avoids that completely. He understands that readers connect to specificity, personality, and lived experience more than perfectly structured advice. One thing he said really stuck with me: ideas are the skeleton, but stories are the flesh on the bone. That’s probably why his message resonates with people. You can feel the honesty in the way he writes. He also touched on something that feels especially relevant right now: how much modern communication strips away emotional nuance. Texts, DMs, emojis, and AI-generated responses all flatten tone and remove context. Human conversation has texture. Timing. Energy. Presence. You can feel sincerity in someone’s voice in a way you never can through a reaction emoji. That part honestly felt less like a criticism of technology and more like a reminder that real connection still matters. The biggest takeaway from the conversation was simple: Anger is part of being human. When people understand it, recognize it early, and channel it with intention, it becomes one of the most powerful sources of motivation we have. And sometimes the thought that gets people through the hardest moments is still the simplest one: “Watch me.” 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Mitch Abrams on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 I’m Not F*cking Angry! is available now at: AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Mitch through his official website ✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more. 👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    39 min

  3. May 12

    The Story You’re Not Telling Might Be the Most Important

    In 1950, a young boy stood at the Hungarian border as his life changed in an instant. Within minutes, everything familiar was gone, and a completely new chapter began. That boy was Tom Herskovits. Years later, his path would lead him to leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, General Foods, and Kraft. In a recent episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, he sat down with Charlie Levin to talk about the moments that shaped him and why telling your story matters more than most people realize. If you’ve ever thought your story was too ordinary to share, this conversation says otherwise. 1. The habits you build early stay with you After leaving the orphanage, Tom was taken in by a Hungarian chess master named Bala. They played every single day for years. Those games became something bigger than chess. They sharpened his focus, strengthened his patience, and trained him to think a few moves ahead. That mindset carried into every room he later walked into, from meetings to major leadership decisions. Small, repeated habits have a way of shaping big outcomes. 2. A story can open doors you didn’t even know existed Tom wrote Budapest to Boca to honor his son, David, and to support the foundation created in his name. Then something remarkable happened. After years of trying to connect with the chairman of a major corporation, Tom finally heard from him. The reason was simple: the chairman’s wife had read the book and felt a connection to it. That’s the quiet power of sharing something real. A story moves, travels, and reaches people in ways no plan can fully predict. 3. Momentum often comes down to a simple decision One of the defining voices in Tom’s life was his mother. She lived through war, imprisonment, and immense change, yet her outlook stayed focused on moving forward. At a pivotal moment, her words were clear: “We’re going again.” That mindset became a throughline in Tom’s life. It shows up in the risks he took, the roles he stepped into, and the way he approached each new chapter. Years later, when he returned to Hungary with his son to find his father’s grave, a sudden downpour met them as they arrived. It became one of the most meaningful moments he chose to include in his book. For anyone thinking about writing their own story Start with an outline. Map the moments that shaped you. Let your personal and professional experiences sit together on the page. That’s where your story comes alive. Because what feels ordinary to you often carries immense meaning for someone else. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Tom Herskovits on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 From Budapest to Boca is available now at: AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Tom through his official website ✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more. 👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    24 min

  4. Apr 28

    "Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Face"

    Most careers are presented as straight lines. You study the right subject, get the right job, make the right moves, and eventually arrive where you were always meant to be. Don Kurz’s life is a useful reminder that almost no meaningful career actually works that way. In the latest episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, Charlie Levin sat down with Don Kurz, entrepreneur, former CEO, and author of Do the Hustle, to talk about a life that moved from Division I championship lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, to teaching disco during the Studio 54 era, to leading public companies and navigating high-stakes boardrooms. At first glance, those worlds seem unrelated. They are not. What connects them is something far more important than industry: the ability to recognize when one chapter has ended and the willingness to fully commit to the next one. Listen to this episode and 45 more on the “Munn Avenue Muse” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Watch on Substack or YouTube. When the Original Plan Disappears Kurz’s first identity was built around athletics. As a national champion lacrosse player, the expectation was clear: keep going, keep competing, keep building on that path. Then two knee injuries ended it. The literal “Punch-in-the-face.” For many people, that kind of forced ending creates paralysis. We spend years trying to reopen doors that have already closed. Kurz did something harder. He accepted it. Rather than staying emotionally attached to a future that no longer existed, he allowed himself to seize a completely different one. That decision eventually led him to one of the most unlikely chapters of his life: becoming a disco dance instructor during the height of the 1970s nightclub era. It sounds absurd on paper, but that season taught him something many traditional career paths never do— how to connect with people, how to command energy in a room, and how confidence often matters as much as competence. The lesson was never really about disco. It was about adaptability. Why Passion Cannot Be Faked One of the strongest ideas in Don’s philosophy is that passion cannot just be performed. “You can’t fake an erection,” Kurz says. People can tell when you are simply showing up versus when you are fully invested. You might be able to force enthusiasm temporarily. You can survive a few weeks or even a few months by going through the motions. But long-term success requires something deeper. Whether you are leading a company, selling a product, or managing a team, people feel authenticity immediately. They know when you care, and they know when you do not. This matters because leadership is rarely about instructions alone. It is about kinetic energy. People do not follow titles; they follow conviction. When passion is absent, performance eventually collapses with it. Listen to this episode and 45 more on “Munn Avenue Muse” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Watch on Substack or YouTube. The “Toxic Star” Problem Every leader eventually faces the same uncomfortable test. There is someone on the team who produces enormous results. They bring in the biggest account, close the biggest deals, and make themselves seem indispensable. But they damage everything around them. They create resentment, weaken morale, and make the best people quietly start planning their exits. Many leaders keep them because the numbers look too good. Kurz argues that this is one of the most expensive mistakes a company can make. The moment leadership protects toxic behavior because someone is profitable, trust disappears. Culture stops being real and becomes a slogan. Your strongest people notice that immediately, and eventually, they leave. The short-term revenue never outweighs the long-term cost. A healthy room is always worth protecting. Learning to Pivot Without Ego Most people only see success in hindsight. They see the outcome and assume the path was obvious. What they do not see are the bad decisions, the financial losses, the failed bets, and the moments where pride makes people stay too long in the wrong place. Kurz speaks openly about this. He talks not just about the millions made, but the millions lost. That honesty is what makes his lessons valuable. The most important skill in business and life is often not intelligence or strategy. It is self-awareness. It is the ability to look honestly at what is no longer working and resist the urge to keep defending it simply because you have already invested too much. Sometimes maturity looks like persistence. Sometimes it looks like walking away. Knowing the difference is everything. Listen to this episode and 45 more on the “Munn Avenue Muse” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Watch on Substack or YouTube. Are You Still Holding Onto the Wrong Door? Most people know, quietly, where they are forcing something that no longer fits. A job, a role, a version of success they inherited from someone else. The hardest part is rarely recognizing it. The hardest part is letting go. Reinvention does not begin with confidence. It begins with honesty. It begins when you stop trying to return to a chapter that has already ended and start building the next one with full commitment. You do not need the entire map. You only need the willingness to move. Read It Now 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Don Kurz on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 Do the Hustle is available now at: * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Bookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Don through his official website ✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more. 👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    32 min
  5. The Creative Secret Hiding in Your Sleep (Most Writers Ignore This)

    Apr 14

    The Creative Secret Hiding in Your Sleep (Most Writers Ignore This)

    Charles LevinApr 6, 2026 We tend to think of sleep as a shutdown, a biological necessity, a reset button at the end of the day. But what if it’s something else entirely? What if, each night, you’re stepping into a different layer of consciousness—one that holds insight, emotion, and creative material you can’t access while fully awake? In the latest episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, host Charlie Levin sits down with psychiatrist, professor, and novelist Carol W. Berman to explore that idea through her novel, Blisstopia: A Utopian Fantasy. Her story ultimately isn’t just about sleep or dreams. It’s about what we create when reality becomes too painful to accept and how imagination can serve as a form of emotional survival. Writing What Reality Won’t Allow Berman didn’t begin writing Blisstopia as an abstract creative project. She began because she was facing an unbearable reality: her husband’s decline from Lewy Body Dementia. The disease presents a cruel paradox. The body remains relatively intact while the mind slowly disappears. Faced with that loss, Berman turned to fiction not to escape reality, but to reshape it. In her novel, she creates a world where her husband is whole again and her (fictional) son is free from addiction. This act of writing becomes what she describes as a kind of “restoration,” a way of preserving the emotional truth of her loved ones even as their real-world circumstances change. For many writers, this reframes the purpose of storytelling. Fiction is not always about invention; sometimes it is about reclaiming what feels like it’s slipping away. When the Conditions Are All Wrong There is a persistent myth in creative work that great writing requires ideal conditions, quiet spaces, inspiring environments, and uninterrupted time. Berman’s experience dismantles that idea. She traveled to Lisbon for what was supposed to be a writing residency, only to discover it was a sham rental. The apartment was freezing, noisy, and unworkable. Instead of abandoning the project, she adapted. She checked into a hotel, isolated herself, and completed the novel on an iPad. The lesson is straightforward but often ignored: the work does not depend on perfect conditions. More often than not, it depends on the decision to continue despite imperfect ones. The Voice That Tries to Stop You One of the most practical insights from Berman’s work comes from her clinical background. She describes the “negative introject”—the internal voice that undermines confidence and stalls progress. Rather than trying to suppress it, she suggests externalizing it. In one example, a patient visualized this voice as a skunk, something intrusive that “stinks up the place.” By giving it a concrete form, it became easier to recognize and separate from one’s own identity. For writers, this has immediate application. The voice that says “this isn’t good enough” often feels authoritative, but it is not necessarily accurate. Naming it can reduce its influence and make it easier to move forward. Why the Best Ideas Come in the Morning Berman also touches on a principle often associated with Walter Mosley: writing early in the morning because it is “closest to your dreams.” There is a neurological and psychological basis for this. Immediately after waking, the boundary between conscious and subconscious thought is still relatively thin. Imagination is more accessible, and internal censorship is lower. This makes the early morning a uniquely productive time for creative work, not because it is quiet, but because the mind itself is in a different state. Some writers spend years trying to force creativity later in the day, when it may be naturally harder to access. Why This Matters Now We live in a culture that prioritizes output over reflection and speed over depth. As a result, many people move quickly past the very experiences that could inform meaningful creative work. Berman’s story offers a counterpoint. It suggests that creativity is not just about producing content, but about processing reality especially when that reality is difficult. The moments that shape meaningful work are often small and internal: the decision to sit down and write, the willingness to confront uncomfortable emotions, and the discipline to continue even when the outcome is uncertain. Are You Ignoring Your Own Portal? The idea of sleep as a “portal” may sound abstract, but its practical implication is simple: there are moments each day when your mind is more open, more imaginative, and more capable of insight. The question is whether you use them. That might mean writing down the idea that comes to you in the morning, developing the story you’ve been avoiding, or simply paying closer attention to the thoughts that surface when you are less guarded. You don’t need to fully understand consciousness to benefit from it. You only need to recognize when it is most available and act on it. Read It Now 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Carol W. Berman on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 Blisstopia: A Utopian Fantasy is available now at: * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Bookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Carol at CarolWBerman.com ✍️ If you are working through your own story—whether it’s personal, professional, or somewhere in between—Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you’re ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more. 👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🗣 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    29 min

  6. Mar 31

    Why Your Next 3 Minutes Could Define Your Life: The 3:12 Rule with Sherry Levin

    Charles Levin We tend to believe that success is decided in the spotlight. But what if it’s actually decided in the quiet moments just before it, when no one is watching, and nothing has happened yet? In the latest episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, host Charlie Levin sits down with legendary basketball coach Sherry Levin to discuss her book Pregame: A Winning Mindset. While her stories come from the court, her lessons apply to authors facing blank pages, entrepreneurs staring down risky launches, and anyone standing on the edge of a life-changing moment. This isn’t really about sports. It’s about pressure and what you become when it arrives. Are You a Diamond or a Pencil? Under enough pressure, carbon can become either graphite or a diamond. Same substance. Different outcome. Sherry uses this metaphor to challenge her players and now her readers to rethink adversity. Pressure doesn’t destroy you; it reveals what you’re willing to become. When deadlines stack up, when rejection emails land, when life suddenly feels heavier than expected, you face a quiet choice: Will you wear down… or crystallize? “The choice is yours,” she tells her team. For writers, this might mean finishing the chapter you’re tempted to abandon. For leaders, it may mean making the decision you’d rather postpone. For anyone in pain, it could simply mean getting up tomorrow and trying again. Pressure is not the enemy. It’s the forge. The Power of “Next Play” One of Sherry’s former players, Leticia Rolle, carried a single lesson from the court into her life as an entrepreneur and model: Next play. Missed opportunity? Next play.Failed launch? Next play.Bad day at work or at home? Next play. In sports, hesitation costs possessions. In life, it costs years. Writers often stall because they keep rereading what didn’t work. Professionals replay conversations long after everyone else has moved on. Creators abandon projects because the first version wasn’t perfect. But progress belongs to those who refuse to freeze in the past. A setback isn’t a stop sign. It’s a transition. Momentum is built one forward motion at a time. The 3:12 Miracle Sherry recounts a championship game where her team trailed by nine points with only 3 minutes and 12 seconds left. Most teams would mentally check out. The scoreboard looked final. Instead, she gave them a simple, calm directive: Three stops.Three scores.One play at a time. No speeches. No panic. No desperation. Just a plan small enough to execute under pressure. They followed it possession by possession and completed the comeback to win the championship. Years later, Sherry used the same mindset during her battle with breast cancer. She didn’t try to conquer the entire fight at once. She focused on the next appointment, the next treatment, the next day. Overwhelm shrinks when the horizon shrinks. Your life rarely turns on one massive heroic act. It turns on a series of composed responses when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Everyone eventually faces a personal “3:12” moment. Why This Matters Now We live in a culture obsessed with outcomes and impatient with process. We celebrate the highlight reel while ignoring the preparation that made it possible. But every breakthrough is preceded by invisible minutes of doubt, fear, recalibration, and resolve. The email you almost didn’t send.The draft you almost deleted.The conversation you almost avoided. Those moments shape trajectories more than any grand plan ever could. And none of us does it alone. Behind every composed performance is a network of belief, teammates, editors, mentors, readers, family, and friends. Success is rarely solitary; it is communal strength expressed through individual action. Sherry’s guiding question cuts straight to the core: “In the eyes of someone else, would they be proud of you?” Not impressed. Proud. It’s a measure of character, not achievement. Is Your 3:12 Already Ticking? Maybe your moment looks like: Publishing the piece you’re afraid to share.Starting the book you keep outlining but never writing.Making the call you’ve been postponing.Showing up again after a quiet disappointment. You don’t need to solve everything today. You only need to win the next play. Because sometimes three minutes used well can echo across a lifetime. Read It Now 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Sherry Levin on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 PREGAME: A Winning Mindset is available now at: * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Bookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Sherry at SherryLevin.com ✍️ If you are preparing for your own “game day” whether that means writing a book, launching a project, or stepping into a new chapter, Munn Avenue Press is here to help you turn preparation into publication. If you would like to publish your book or audiobook (or are just beginning to imagine it), visit MunnAvenuePress.com and let the team help you bring your vision to life. Happy Writing!Charlie Levin, Publisher & Founder 👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🗣 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!” This post is public. Feel free to share. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    30 min

  7. Mar 17

    Information informs. Stories transform.

    Charlie Levin · Mar 17, 2026 In the latest episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, host Charlie Levin speaks with HR leader, consultant, and researcher Dr. Roz Cohen, author of The Engagement Dilemma. The conversation pulls back the curtain on one of the most uncomfortable truths in modern leadership: Many workplace culture initiatives aren’t meant to solve problems. They’re meant to look like they are. Cohen calls this phenomenon engagement theater, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The Most Dangerous Culture Problem Is Invisible Engagement theater resembles real effort. Town halls. Surveys. Retreats. Listening sessions. Carefully worded emails about values and belonging. On paper, everything appears positive. Employees, however, are remarkably good at sensing authenticity. When initiatives fail to produce meaningful change, trust erodes quietly—not through rebellion, but through withdrawal. People stop speaking up.Stop volunteering ideas.Stop believing honesty is safe. Over time, they stop bringing their full selves to work. Not out of laziness, but out of self-protection. Why Real Leaders Talk About Their Mistakes What makes Cohen’s book unusual is that she doesn’t present herself as the flawless expert. Instead, she shares deeply uncomfortable moments from her own career. Including one that still makes her cringe. Early in her finance career, she casually referred to an employee as “my pet” and tapped them on the shoulder, a comment overheard by her boss and immediately recognized as inappropriate. Many professionals would erase that memory. Cohen chose to document it. Leaders who pretend they have never failed create cultures where everyone else feels pressure to pretend as well. Acknowledging mistakes does not diminish authority; it makes leadership more human. And humans follow humans, not perfection. Stories Change People More Than Data Ever Will Cohen deliberately structured The Engagement Dilemma around narrative, not just research. Because information informs. Stories transform. A statistic might make you think. A story makes you remember. A personal story makes you feel. That emotional connection is what actually shifts behavior, whether in leadership, teaching, or writing. As Cohen notes, the fastest way to regain a drifting audience is simple: “Let me tell you a story.” Everyone leans in. Because stories are how humans make meaning. When Labels Replace Curiosity Cohen also tackles one of the most charged topics in modern workplaces: diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her argument is both bold and disarming. At their core, these concepts aren’t political. They’re human. People want to be seen. Understood. Valued for who they are. The problem arises when labels become shortcuts for understanding. Instead of learning about the individual in front of us, we interact with assumptions. Cohen compares it to wearing tinted glasses: everything you see is pre-filtered before you even begin. Clear vision requires removing the tint. The Values Driving the Message Cohen traces her motivation to two Jewish principles that shaped her worldview: Tzedakah — the responsibility to give backTikkun Olam — the call to repair the world Writing the book was, for her, an act of contribution. Knowledge that stays within elite circles helps no one. But if one leader reads the book and changes one behavior, if one employee feels more seen, more heard, more valued, that ripple matters. The Real Engagement Dilemma The biggest threat to workplace culture is performative care. Employees don’t need more programs that appear supportive. What matters is leadership behavior that demonstrates support in everyday moments. A manager who listens without deflecting.A system that makes participation possible for more than just the loudest voices.A culture where mistakes can be discussed openly and learned from. Engagement is not something leaders announce. It is something people experience. When individuals feel genuinely seen, motivation follows naturally. If you lead people, this conversation serves less as a set of tips and more as a wake-up call. The future of work will not be defined by perks, policies, or slogans, but by whether employees believe their leaders genuinely mean what they say. For Writers: Stop Waiting for the Perfect Conditions Cohen’s advice to aspiring nonfiction authors is refreshingly grounded: Start small. Stay consistent. Lower the bar. Write for 30 minutes. Write three sentences. Organize notes. Free-write without editing. Progress beats perfection. She compares writing a book to eating an elephant: one bite at a time. Most unfinished manuscripts aren’t abandoned because of a lack of talent, they’re abandoned because the task feels too large to begin. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Dr. Roz Cohen on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 The Engagement Dilemma is available now at: * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Bookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Roz at DrRozCohen.com ✍️ If you are ready to share your own story, whether it is fiction, nonfiction, or a blend of both, Munn Avenue Press is here to help you bring it to life. If you would like to publish your book or your audiobook (or are just dreaming about it), let the MunnAvenuePress.com team help make your dream a reality. Happy Writing! Charlie Levin, Publisher & Founder 👉 Want more unfiltered author journeys and publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly insights from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🗣 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!”This post is public. Feel free to share. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

    30 min

  8. Mar 3

    Writing to Stay Alive: The Memoir as a Survival Strategy

    Charles Levin · Feb 4, 2026 We often think of storytelling as an act of reflection. But what if it’s something deeper—something evolutionary? A survival mechanism. In the latest episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, host Charlie Levin sits down with Karen B. Gerson, author of the gripping memoir I Should Not Be Here. This isn’t just another trauma narrative. It’s a revelation. Karen’s story weaves through childhood trauma, OCD, PTSD, and depression—but instead of being crushed by these experiences, she used them as raw material for transformation. For readers, writers, and healers alike, this conversation is a masterclass in how to turn your most painful truths into powerful storytelling. When the Title Is the Story “I should not be here.” That was Karen’s internal refrain for years. Raised in a high-pressure school system where she felt she didn’t belong, she struggled academically and socially. Add to that undiagnosed mental health challenges, and the fact that she even made it through school, let alone wrote a bestselling book, is nothing short of remarkable. The title of her memoir isn’t dramatic, it’s accurate. And that’s what makes it land with such weight. “Memoirs aren’t about the extraordinary,” Charlie notes. “They’re about the impossibly personal.” Rethinking OCD: Not a Disorder, a Defense One of the most profound takeaways from the episode is Karen’s reframing of obsessive-compulsive disorder. For years, she viewed her compulsions as symptoms of something broken. But in writing her story, something shifted. She realized that her rituals lining up glass ducks just right, counting stairs before bed, were actually mechanisms of control in a world that felt terrifying. In that light, OCD became not a weakness, but a resource. A lifeline. A brilliant (if exhausting) tool for survival. “It wasn’t pathology,” she says. “It was my strategy.” Writing from the Wound, Not in the Wound Karen had tried to write the book before. Twice. But each time, it dragged her back into the pain. It wasn’t until she was far enough along in her healing that she could revisit the hardest moments without reliving them. She worked with ghostwriter Aaron to craft a safe container—one where she could pause, breathe, and return when ready. Some days, she simply had to say: “I’m done for the day.” And that was okay. This process led her to a fundamental insight: “If you’re writing from trauma, wait until you can touch it without bleeding.” Breaking the Mold: A Memoir Told by a Village Instead of a singular voice, Karen’s memoir features interviews with eleven people in her life, family, friends, even her children. The result? A multidimensional portrait of pain and healing. One of the most gut-wrenching moments came from her oldest son, who admitted that during Karen’s mental health crises, he had to seek out “other villages” for support. That chapter alone changed how they talked as a family. The truth didn’t just set Karen free—it opened new conversations. From Publication to Purpose I Should Not Be Here was released on November 18th, a day that left Karen in tears. The outpouring of support was immediate: * Childhood friends who never knew her struggle reached out. * Therapists thanked her for helping them understand their patients. * Readers said the book gave them permission to begin their own healing. Now, Karen is using her platform to advocate for mental health awareness, partnering with Kansas City news outlets ahead of Mental Health Month in May. This story isn’t just published, it’s in motion. Is Your Story Waiting? If you’re sitting on a story that feels “too messy,” “too painful,” or “too unfinished,” Karen’s message is simple: Don’t wait for perfection. Wait for readiness. And when that arrives tell the story like your life depends on it. Because for someone else, it might. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Karen B. Gerson on your favorite podcast platform. 📘 I Should Not Be Here is available now at: * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Bookshop.org 🌐 Connect with Karen at KarenBGerson.com ✍️ If you are ready to share your own story, whether it is fiction, nonfiction, or a blend of both, Munn Avenue Press is here to help you bring it to life. If you would like to publish your book or your audiobook (or are just dreaming about it), let the MunnAvenuePress.com team help make your dream a reality. Happy Writing! Charlie Levin, Publisher & Founder 👉 Want more unfiltered author journeys and publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly insights from The Munn Avenue Muse. 🗣 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!”This post is public. Feel free to share. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com

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Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration for Both Aspiring and Accomplished Authors from Munn Avenue Press www.munnavenuemuse.com

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