Nicole Alifante is a former actress, current singer songwriter, teacher and activist, and she joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Nicole is the founder of the non- profit organization CURE, which stands for: Coalition for Understanding Racism in Education, based in Westchester, NY. CURE engages in hard conversations about the construction of race and systemic racism by bringing in seasoned speakers and activists. Nicole is an artist, and she brings her heart and soul to her art, but also to listening and amplifying other people’s voices. Since she was on MILK Podcast in 2017, Nicole has grown CURE and is deeply committed to doing anti racism work in her community. We follow up the conversation from 2017 and see where she is right now, in the time of COVID-19, working and creating as an anti-racism activist/artist mom. Follow Nicole's music at www.nicolealifante.com and CURE at www.learnwithcure.com. Listen to Nicole's interview from Season 1, Epsiode 22 as well, to get a sense of Nicole’s trajectory as an activist who is learning and growing every day.

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MILK Podcast is swapping feeds with The Only One in the Room Podcast. Co-Hosted by Laura Cathcart Robbins, a writer and a recovery thriver and survivor, each episode, Laura and her partner Scott interview a person about their Only One story, highlighting stories of being “othered” and encouraging connection between listeners and guests. 

On this episode of Only One in the Room, Laura speaks to actress and producer Kimberly Rusell. Her story as a mother is a fascinating one. Kimberly was a young actress, dating celebrity after celebrity and then (predictably) found the love of her life on a film set. She married Michael Bonewitz, they had three beautiful babies and then made the decision together to put her acting career on hold while she raised their three children. But a chance encounter with a stranger, a mom at her kid’s school, threw them all an unexpected curveball: Her dying wish was to have Kimberly and Michael take her five children after she died and raise them as her own. What would you do if you were faced with a question that would change your life and those of an entire family that isn’t your own? Check out this conversation between Laura Cathcart Robbins and Kimberly Russell on The Only One in the Room Podcast. They are two Moms I’d Like to Know. Follow @theonlyoneintheroom on instagram and theonlyoneintheroom dot com.

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Kimberly Peeler-Allen is back with Mallory two years later in the MILK Studio. Kimberly has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years. She is the Co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office.

Higher Heights has helped drive the national narrative about the power of Black women voters and has inspired countless Black women to step into their power whether it is as voters, activists or elected leaders.

Kimberly and her Co-Founder Glynda Carr built Higher Heights from an idea on the back of a placemat into a network of over 90,000 members, donors and activists across the country that have helped elect 10 Black women to Congress, 1 Black woman to the US Senate and grow the number of Black women in statewide executive office and leading our nation’s largest cities.

A highly skilled political fundraiser and event planner, Kimberly was the principal of Peeler-Allen Consulting, LLC from 2003 to 2014, the only African American full-time fundraising consulting firm in New York State. Kimberly served as finance director for Letitia James’ successful bid to become Public Advocate of the City of New York and the first African American woman elected citywide in New York’s history. Kimberly also served as the Co-Executive Director of New York Attorney General Letitia James' Transition Committee when she was elected to that office in November of 2018.

In 2018, Kimberly was selected as one of the Roddenberry Fellowship's 20 established and emerging activists to devote an entire year to projects that will make the U.S. more inclusive and equitable through their inaugural cohort.

Kimberly also serves as a board member of ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women's Equity. She is currently a visiting professor at the Center for American Women and Politics at Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

She is drawing on her life experience as an organizer and operative to write her first book, Activist Momma, a celebration of this intersection and the gifts that mothers bring to movement work. It profiles the lives of a group of black women who are leading some of the most impactful movements at the local and national level. 

Follow Kimberly on twitter @kimberp_a and @higherheights and @higherheightsPAC to support getting more Black women into elected office. You all better have voted in your state's primaries, or Kimberly will be very disappointed, and you don’t want that.

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Financial Expert Farnoosh Torabi is in the MILK Studio with Mallory. Farnoosh is one of America’s leading personal finance authorities — her award-winning and critically-acclaimed podcast, "So Money," has surpassed 12 million downloads, thanks to its one-of-a-kind interviews. On the show, she spotlights leading experts, authors and influencers – from Arianna Huffington to Margaret Cho to Queen Latifah – about their financial perspectives, money failures and habits. She also answers listeners’ personal financial questions each week.

Farnoosh is a sought-after speaker and bestselling author. Her latest book is When She Makes More: The Truth About Love and Life for a New Generation of Women.  Farnoosh’s work and advice have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Time, Marie Claire, Glamour, Redbook and USA Today. She appears on major news and talk shows. Highlights include the NBC Today, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, The View and Live! With Kelly and Michael. She hosted the Webby-nominated web series, Financially Fit, on Yahoo. She’s also served as a money coach on such shows as Remake America on Yahoo!, Bank of Mom & Dad on soapNet and TLC’s REAL SIMPLE. REAL LIFE. She graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Finance and International Business. She also holds a Master’s from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Farnoosh just moved with her husband and two kids under 6, from Brooklyn, to the 'burbs, and we talked 3 months in to the pandemic about “working” in quotes, from home, and about how she talks to her children about race and about money, and how the most recent uprising over racial injustice has informed her current series "Black Wealth Matters." Find her at SoMoney.com and on instagram @FarnooshTorabi.

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Novelist Edan Lepucki joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Edan is the bestselling author of California and Woman No. 17, and the creator of the popular Mothers Before Instagram account. @MothersBefore was timed to the release of her latest book, which explored the themes of art, motherhood, and identity. Edan asked women and non-binary people of all ages to submit a favorite photograph of their mother before she became a mother and write a description of what the images invoke. @MothersBefore was and remains hugely popular, and now Mothers Before is a book. In it, Edan gathers more than sixty original essays and favorite photographs to explore the question: Who was your mother before she became a mother? The daughters in this remarkable collection are writers and poets, artists and teachers, and the images and stories they share reveal the lives of women in ways that are vulnerable and true, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always moving. Contributors include Jennifer Egan, Angela Garbes, Alison Roman, and Jia Tolentino, among others. Mothers Before is a thoughtful and intimate celebration of motherhood and female identity. Edan is also the cohost of the podcast Mom Rage, which is candid and terrific. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. Follow her at edanlepucki dot com and @edanlepucki.

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Meena Harris joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Meena is the author of “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea," an illustrated picture book based on a true story from the childhood of Meena’s mom and aunt. Meena is founder of the groundbreaking Phenomenal Women Action campaign, she is a respected entrepreneur and is recognized as an influential voice for women’s equality. In the book, two sisters make a difference in their community by dreaming big and fighting for what they believe in. It’s an early lesson on the power of community organizing, and an example of what Meena’s grandmother always told her: “Each of us has a role to play.” Meena believes that to fight for women’s equality, we need to start with girl’s equality, and her book focuses on listening to girls of color, supporting their big ideas, and following their lead.

Currently, Meena is head of strategy and leadership at Uber, where she leads brand transformation initiatives focused on corporate citizenship, customer loyalty, and employee engagement. In addition to Uber, she has advised major brands on diversity and inclusion. Meena is also an attorney with extensive experience in consumer protection, data privacy, and cybersecurity. She is a graduate of Standford University and Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco with her partner and two daughters. The book can be purchased through a link on phenomenal girl dot com. Follow Meena @meenaharris or @phenomenal.com

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Jason B. Rosenthal, author of “My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir," is in the MILK Studio with Mallory. In March of 2017, beloved author Amy Krouse Rosenthal published an essay, about her love for her husband Jason, in the New York Times Modern Love column. Amy had been fighting late stage, aggressive ovarian cancer and ultimately died two weeks after the essay was published. The piece, "You May Want to Marry My Husband," had gone viral, touching millions of readers. Jason’s memoir is his response to Amy’s death, and to their lives as partners, parents, and explorers. Jason is the New York Times bestselling author of "Dear Boy," co-written by his daughter, Paris Rosenthal. He is the board chair of the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation, which supports both childhood literacy and research in early detection of ovarian cancer. A lawyer, public speaker and devoted father of three, Jason is passionate about helping others to fill and expand their blank spaces, and to continue the intention and legacy of Amy’s life work. Amy was a MILK, and Jason is the first, and probably only, honorary non-MILK guest. Follow Jason @jasonbrosenthal on Instagram and the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation at http://www. amykrouserosenthalfoundation.org

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Educator Nikki Turpin is in the MILK Podcast Studio with Mallory. Nikki is a teacher at Nashoba Brooks School in Concord, MA and this fall will be the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader at an independent school in New England. She is the Programming Director for Robbins House, and African American Museum in Concord and leads the Youth In Philanthropy Program at Middlesex School for Foundation for MetroWest. Nikki has long held a passion for African-American history and recently presented at the Association of African American Museums, discussing the importance of telling the full stories of African-American female suffragists. She leads professional development workshops and leadership trainings for kids and adults as a diversity and inclusion consultant, and has worked in public, private, and independent education for over a decade. She has been closely observing the effects of distance learning as an educator, a spouse, and a parent, and shares thoughts about her own daughter's racial identity and how her and her husband are navigating their quarentine household of home schooling and working from home as teachers. Follow Nikki @naturpin on Instagram.

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Journalist Eilene Zimmerman joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Eilene is the author of SMACKED: A story of White Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tradgedy, a deeply personal memoir about her husband Peter, who died after struggling with an addiction he kept secret from her and their two children. Beyond Eilene’s personal experience discovering Peter’s body and retracing his secretive and harrowing addiction story is her own examination of herself as a partner and as a woman, as well as a powerful, reported look at addiction, privilege, and comsumption in our culture. Eilene has been a journalist for three decades, covering business, technology and social issues for a wide array of national magazines and newspapers. She was a columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business section for many years and since 2004 has been a regular contributor to the newspaper. In 2017, Zimmerman also began pursuing a master’s degree in social work, which she is completing soon. She lives in New York City and can be found online at https://www.eilenezimmerman.com

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Zibby Owens, is in the MILK Studio with Mallory, in a remote mom podcast to mom podcast host conversation. Zibby is the host of the award winning literary podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. A mother of four and a writer herself, Zibby has contributed to Redbook, Marie Claire, Parents, Huff Post, the New York Times online, What’s Up Moms, Kveller, Shape, SELF, and many other publications. She has been called “NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” by Vulture.com. Her podcast was selected as one of Oprah Magazine’s top 21 book podcasts in 2019. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, she previously worked at Unilever, idealab! and other start-ups. She currently lives in New York with her husband, Kyle Owens of Morning Moon Productions, and her four children, ages 5-12.

Since the Covid-19 shelter in place began, Zibby has pivoted her podcast, her “in real life” author talks and literary salons, all online, created an online literary magazine called “We Found Time,” with original essays from her podcast guests, a Zoom live book club with authors and readers, and Instagram live chats with authors. Follow her on instagram @zibbyowens, and check out her podcast, writing and events at www.zibbyowens.com.

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