ARTS. WORK. LIFE. Season 2 episode guide now available 

The entire Season 2 of APAP's award-winning podcast ARTS. WORK. LIFE. has dropped. Enjoy the bold, untold stories of performing arts workers like you. 

Want to know more about what's inside these episodes? Below is a handy episode guide to the storytellers and themes. Prefer a PDF? Here it is.

Episode 1: IMPROV EVERYWHERE

Aruna Kharod (Austin, TX), an ethnomusicologist and South Asian performing artist, who learned to let go of her perfectionist training to find joy again.

Audrey Rose Dégez (Pittsburgh, PA and Paris, France), an American playwright and producer for CP4P International Productions, who had a planned residency in the Ukraine when the war broke out and instead established a creative refuge for artists like her.

Gracie Meier (Santa Fe, NM), a multimedia artist and artistic director for The Exodus Ensemble, who demonstrates how improvisation and flexibility are strengths.

Kendra J. Ross (Brooklyn, NY), a dancer, choreographer, community organizer and founding director of STooPS, who took the pandemic as a time to slow her unsustainable pace.

Episode 2: ROOTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Malou Beauvoir (Brussels, Belgium and New York, NY), a singer, songwriter and actress who, in an effort to preserve her family's culture, found her unique voice.

Heena Patel (Asheville, NC), the CEO of MELA Arts Connect, who, after carrying the burden of responsibility for her culture, gave herself permission to renew and grow.

Dominic Moore-Dunson (Akron, OH), a choreographer who grappled with the violence in his community and the legacy he would leave his children through dance.

Episode 3: FOR THE KIDS

Amancay Kugler (Chicago, IL), the executive director of Yes Ma’am Circus, who faced the unique stressors of parenting while performing.

Beatrice Thomas (California), a creative producer, drag performer and educator, and former director of Drag Queen Story Hour, who risked their own safety to preserve the magic of storytelling.

Brian Bon (Anaheim, CA), a clogger, arts educator and director of Powerhouse Percussive Dance, who discovered the powerful impact of arts education.

Episode 4: OUTSIDE IN

Chris Rooney (Chicago, IL), a circus performer and founding member of the BIPOC Circus Alliance Midwest, who unveiled the beauty that comes from creating new spaces.

Farah Merani (Los Angeles, CA), an actor, writer and arts educator, who confronted her complicated relationship with Shakespeare.

Mari Lee (New York, NY), the CEO and artistic director of Salon Séance, whose new perspective as an outsider helped her create ways for people far outside the “elite” world of classical music to connect with it.

Leland Faulkner (Maine), a performing artist and arts educator, who, after devastating times, remade himself by reconnecting with his Native roots.

Episode 5: WITH OR WITHOUT A NET

Josh A. Campbell (Philadelphia, PA), a curator and engagement and education professional, who, hired as a new leader of color in an organization, realized the support he expected didn't exist.

Lexis Hamilton (Laramie, WY), a presenter and program coordinator for the University of Wyoming, who, after being sexually harassed on the job, struggled to regain her confidence.

DJ Doza The God (Chicago, IL), an international DJ and transgender man, whose medical emergency revealed an unexpected community of support.

Shenea Stiletto (Las Vegas, NV), a USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Member and circus arts advocate, who translated her traumatic experiences into powerful advocacy.

Episode 6: BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX

Emily Issacson (Portland, ME), a conductor and the founder of Classical Uprising, who when told that her innovative ideas don't fit in classical music, paved her own way.

Luke Greeff (Chicago, IL), a dancer, choreographer, circus artist, and educator, who when confronted with a work environment that failed to support transgender and gender non-conforming artists, stepped away and started one that would.

Sam Simon (McLean, VA), a playwright, author and actor, who, facing his own diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's, is committed to sharing his story in a one-man show, for as long as he can.