This is My Silver Lining Silver Linings Media LLC

When she was just seven years old Erin Dionne knew she wanted to be an author.  She took all the right steps - she majored in English at Boston College, she earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Emerson College in Boston, and set her sights on writing the great American novel.  But a chance opportunity to take a class in children’s literature ignited a new creative spark. Today, Erin is a successful author who has written 7 books for tweens, children's picture books, and recently, a nonfiction book about writing.  She also writes mystery novels –for grownups– under a pen name.  
Erin talks with us about launching herself into the creative process, how she has learned to receive and accept feedback, and the generous community of writers she has found to share her experiences and challenges with. Erin confesses that she’s not one of those writers who writes every single day. She’s a busy mom and a professor of creative writing at Montserrat College. But, she finds at least 15 minutes every day to work on something related to her writing. 
At a time when it’s harder and harder to get our kids to put their devices down, we talk to Erin about the importance of reading and storytelling and the connection between reading and learning empathy. 
Episode Links and Resources
Erin Dionne
Montserrat College of Art 
Books by Erin:
Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking - A 14 Day Mystery 
Models Don’t Each Chocolate Cookies
The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
Bad Choices Make Good Stories
Lights, Camera Disaster
 
Books Erin Recommends:
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (A Memoir of the Craft), Stephen King
Bird by Bird: Som

Just off the coast of Portland, Maine, in the Casco Bay lies Great Diamond Island, the home of Crown Jewel, a unique dining hotspot where you are sure to make new friends and memories while you delight in the chef’s creative twists on seafood standards and truly smashing cocktails.  A 20-minute ferry or water taxi ride will get you there, but you’ll definitely need a reservation.  This gem is open Memorial Day to Columbus Day and offers an intimate dining setting, with 35 seats, in what was long-ago a Blacksmith’s shop.
Crown Jewel’s creator and owner, Alex Wight, has had a longstanding passion for creating memorable dining experiences; she has made this her life’s work.  As we discuss, after studying at the Institute for Culinary Education, Alex received hands-on training in the kitchens of some of the most renowned restaurants in New York and San Sebastian, Spain.  Hardwired for entrepreneurship, she knew early on that she wanted to bring her creative visions to life with her own restaurant.  
As with many entrepreneurial journeys, getting to and succeeding on Great Diamond Island has not been easy.  Alex learned to be a resilient and creative problem solver from her mom.  Her unflappable demeanor continues to serve her well.  We discuss the challenges of owning and operating a seasonal restaurant on an island with a limited water supply, making friends with neighbors, and launching a “boatside” service during the pandemic.  We get Alex’s impressions on how the restaurant business has evolved during her career with respect to diversity and equity.  Finally, Alex shares her thoughts on labor shortages and environmental sustainability in the industry.   
Episode Links and Resources
Crown Jewel
These Maine restaurants are making the extra effort for the environment, Tim Cebula, Portland Press Herald, June 11, 2023.
The 18 Essential Maine Restaurants, Kate McCarty, Eater.com, July 21, 2022.
Saved From the Flames, Ready for Love, Sandy Keenan, The New York Times, August 27, 2014
Fabulous Femmes at Flanagan’s Table, Karen Watterson, The Maine Mag, November 2016.
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© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

For Bram Zeigler, an economist and unapologetic capitalist, changing the narrative on poverty starts with dignity and self-determination.  In 2021, Bram founded Capitalists for Shared Income (C4si).  Inspired by the work of Milton Friedman, who advocated for a negative income tax in the late 1960s, C4si offers an innovative approach to address poverty and income inequality.  Through one-time debit card cash payments of $58, C4si partners with existing nonprofit organizations that work with the disenfranchised to lift them out of poverty.  While $58 may not seem like a lot to many listeners, it can make a lasting difference to someone in need of groceries, a tank of gas, or an oil change.  Bram intentionally chose $58, which is "a day's pay" for anyone working a job at today's federal minimum wage.  That’s a full day’s pay — $ 58.
While he sees a role for the government in addressing income inequality, Bram’s focus is on the private sector.  Despite its imperfections, Bram believes that capitalism is the best economic system we have devised to allocate resources and reward individual effort efficiently.  For the system to work for everyone, however, Bram believes that the individuals and organizations who reap the benefits of a free market economy are also responsible for self-regulating and addressing the widening income disparities between rich and poor.  Working with his board, partner organizations, and investors, Bram is applying his expertise in Asset Management to raise an endowment to fund C4si’s cash distributions.  
Through C4si, Bram has created a life with social impact, one debit card at a time.  
Episode Links and Resources:
Capitalists for Shared Income
A New Year’s Resolution For Capitalism, Kevin Coldiron, Forbes, January 6, 2022
Milton Friedman - The Negative Income Tax, interview on “The Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.”, 1968, YouTube
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, Stephanie Land, 2019.
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Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

How do we teach students about civics and generate excitement around civic engagement in the 21st century?  Like our ever-evolving American experiment, we try new tools.  iCivics leverages a suite of interactive video games that put students at the center of the educational action. 
By the time Justice O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court, she had grown increasingly concerned about the lack of understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the basic tenets of democracy and civic engagement during her time on the Court.  In 2009, she founded iCivics and worked with a team of educators and engineers to reimagine and reinvigorate civics education through gaming.  iCivics has become the nation’s premier non-profit civic education provider of high-quality, non-partisan, engaging, and FREE resources to more than 9 million students annually in all 50 states. 
Today, we are honored to speak with Louise Dubé, the Executive Director of iCivics.  Louise was born and raised in Quebec, Canada.  After earning a law degree from McGill University in Montreal, she came to the US and earned an MBA from Yale.  She became a US citizen.  Working in the criminal justice system in New York in the 1990s, Louise co-founded CASES, a mentoring and skills program for young offenders that offered an alternative to incarceration.  This experience ignited in Louise a passion for the transformative power of education, particularly the use of rapidly evolving technology to deliver memorable content.  She and her team at iCivics are committed to activating our young citizens, preparing them to solve problems and engage in challenging but respectful debate in their communities.   
Episode Links and Resources:
iCivics
Louise Dube Bio
CivXNow Coalition
Civics Secures Democracy Act
A Supreme Court Pioneer, Now Making Her Mark on Video Games, New York Times, March 27, 2016
New Poll Shows Strong Support for Civic Education Across Party Lines, Cision PR Newswire, October 27, 2022
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Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

In this final installment of our series highlighting stories of the achievements and challenges faced by some of the most distinguished women judges in our history, we speak with former Chief Justice Peggy Quince of the Florida Supreme Court, who is featured in the ABA’s recently published Her Honor - Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges, edited by  Lauren Rikleen.
Raised by a single father in Virginia with her four siblings, Chief Justice Peggy Quince learned early on what it means to be treated unfairly.  In 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the policy of “separate but equal” justifying segregation in schools was unconstitutional in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education.  The decision had little practical or positive impact on the course of young Peggy’s education - many white schools actively resisted efforts to integrate, with some shuttering for years to avoid it.  Still she persevered. 
Justice Quince tells us about the profound influence her father, Solomon Quince, had on her education.  He was determined to afford his children the education he had been denied.  Peggy excelled at school and after graduating from Howard University, she was inspired by both the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement, to pursue a career in the law.  In 1993, she was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal and then in 1999, she was appointed as the first African American woman to serve as a Justice on the Florida Supreme Court.  From 2008-2010, she served as Chief Justice.
Episode Resources:
Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges
Justice Peggy A. Quince Bio
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Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta lies the small town of Pincher Creek.  With a population of just under 4,000, Pincher Creek has the distinction of being the “Wind Capital of Canada.”  It is perhaps better known as the birthplace and hometown of the Right Honorable Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, the longest serving Chief Justice of Canada’s Supreme Court.
Despite being told by her 8th grade teacher that her aptitude for reading wouldn’t do her much good as a girl, Chief Justice McLachlin went on to study philosophy and eventually law at the University of Alberta.  Upon graduating with high honors, she spent six years in private practice and then turned to academia, teaching at the University of British Columbia for seven years.  At age 37, she received her first judicial appointment to the Vancouver County Court.  Could she have imagined the significance of this life changing moment?  Over the next eight years, from 1981 to 1989, Justice McLachlin was on the rise!  She was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the British Columbia Court of Appeals, made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and in March 1989, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Her highest honor came in the year 2000 when she was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, a role she held for 17 years, making her the longest serving Chief Justice in Canada’s history.    
Chief Justice McLachlin’s legacy cannot be adequately cataloged.  During her tenure on the Supreme Court, she authored over 400 majority opinions on the most consequential matters of legal interpretation under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including assistance in dying, the criminalization of prostitution, equality, free speech, and aboriginal rights.
Resources:
Truth Be Told: The Story of My Life and My Fight for Equality, Beverley McLachlin
Full Disclosure: A Novel, Beverley McLachlin
Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges
The Persons Case
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Music is considered “royalty-free” and discovered on Audio Blocks.
Technical Podcast Support by: Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.
© 2023 Silver Linings Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.