Episodes

Kindness is a gentle powerful act. It is the quality of being pleasant, friendly, and concerned for others. Hosts Courtney Cheng and Zahra Hasanian read Cynthia Brian’s Gift of Kindness from the book, Be the Star You Are!® 99 Gifts for Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference. New reporter, Katie Choo joins the team with her segment, Aim to Shoot, focusing on college professors today. In Hope Heals, Zahra restores our trust and faith in humanity as she shares her experiences o...

Have a dream and follow it. Have a plan and stick to it. Have a goal and achieve it. Every January, people make resolutions to lose weight, earn more money, sleep more hours, travel to distant lands, and spend more time with loved ones. By the beginning of April, most of those great intentions have been long forgotten. Hosts Asya Gonzalez and Brigitte Jia show us how to create goals and make them achievable, whether it be in business, art, school, or relationships. Book Smart reporter, Maria Won...

What do you hope for? What is hope? How can we instill more hope in ourselves and others? Asya Gonzalez, Katelyn Darrow, Maria Wong, Zahra Hasanain, and Brigitte Jia offer variations on the theme of hope. You’ll hear about how volunteering with a charity offers hope to those less fortunate, books with themes of hanging on to hope, how to heal from the inside out with hope, and the association of hope and art. Personal perspectives, youthful insights, and phenomenal passion is our gift of hope to...

Imagination is the inspiration for ingenuity. Asya Gonzalez and Katelyn Darrow host an invigorating conversation with author, lawyer, translator, and programmer, Ken Liu, about his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, the first in a silk punk epic fantasy series. Zahra Hasanian reads the chapter, The Gift of Imagination from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are!® 99 Gifts for Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference to glean the importance of parents encouraging the wild imag...

You can dream, and you can plan, but faith is the crucial catalyst that creates the reality. Cynthia Brian We can exist without faith, but we can’t live without it. What is faith? How do we find it? How do we keep it? Hosts Asya Gonzalez and Brigitte Gia discuss the gripping, coming of age, and engaging story in the book, Queen of Water, with Book Smart Reporter, Maria Wong. The conversation highlights how even through terrible, heart and spirit breaking conditions one can be faithful, strong, a...

Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Peanuts are alive and well! Hosts Brigitte Jia and Zahra Hasanian interview Hadley Belle Miller, the voice of Lucy, in the new peanuts movie. br They also read Joel Goodman’s story, The Gift of Humor, from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are!® for Teens and talk about what constitutes humor. In Hope Heals, Zahra shows us the healing effects of laughter. Instead of from “grim and bear it” adopt an attitude of “grin and share it.” Laughter and humor are the best medi...

Being a volunteer for Be the Star You Are! 501 c3 charity offers major benefits to the individual. Hosts Jennifer Lee, Zahra Hasanian and Courtney Cheng reminisce about how they have grown as people because of their involvement. As hosts and reporters of Express Yourself!™, they have learned to be spontaneous, timely, and prepared as they interview guests. You’ll hear about the early years of this teen radio broadcast, how to be grateful for all the little things in life, and plans for a healthy...

What is the meaning of care, and how do you heal both inside and out? Hosts Brigitte Zia and Zahra Hasanain read from Be the Star You Are!® for Teens the chapter, The Gift of Healing by prominent physical therapist, Arlyn Van Dyke about his childhood accident that lead to him becoming a healer. They then travel across the pond to the Emerald Isle with a fascinating interview with author of The Summer King, Orla Melling. Melling’s books of young adult fantasy weave spiritual themes with high adve...

What is the meaning of joy, and what is true happiness in life? Hosts Brigitte Jia and Caiseen Kelly investigate cheerfulness. They read the chapter, The Gift of Happiness by MJ Ryan from the book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS written by Cynthia Brian. Health Rap reporter Alex Pawlakos brings the research indicating that happiness strengthens our immune system, combats disease, disability, while reducing stress. Zahra Hasanaian, our Hope Heals reporter discusses the importance of passion for ...

Skeletons, pumpkins, and ghosts! Oh my! It’s Halloween and the favorite holiday of our hosts Asya Gonzalez and Caiseen Kelly. After a fun discussion about creating costumes and childhood pranks, Art Attack Reporter, Brigitte Jia, takes us back in history to discover how Halloween came about. Special guest is Disney star, Sophie Reynolds. Sophie Reynolds is one of the newest members of the Disney family as the sweet and fun-loving ‘Ashley’ on “Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything” with Cameron...

Remember Kermit, the Frog moaning about the difficulty of being green? In today’s show, host Asya Gonzalez looks at what it means to be green in a variety of ways. She kicks off the program reading the chapter, The Gift of Green by Cynthia Brian from the book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS and follows up with numerous ways to be pro-active stewards of our earth. Economics Tune-Up Reporter, Alex Pawlakos looks at being environmentally astute from the viewpoint of our wallets. Save the environme...

Individuality is more important than imitation. But how can you express your individuality? Hosts Asya Gonzalez and Brigitte Jia talk about how teens can find their true identity. They read the chapter, the Gift of Individuality by Cynthia Brian, from the book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS which focuses on marching to the tune of your own drum. Author of more than 50 books, Elizabeth Lenhard is interviewed for her newest book, Flirt-Our Song. Elizabeth has always been a full-time writer start...

What is friendship and how do we create life long relationships? Hosts Caiseen Kelly and Brigitte Jia discuss the meaning of real friendship. The Gift of Friends by Erica Miner from the book Be the Star You Are!® for Teens is read with tips on how to be a friend. The ladies then interview author, Erin Bow with her newest YA science fiction novel, The Scorpion Rules, that reveals how friends help one another survive. In Art Attack, Brigitte shares information on how movements in art were begun be...

What is fortitude and do you have the strength to keep on keeping on? New host Brigitte Jia examines fortitude for a full hour beginning with reading the Gift of Fortitude by Cynthia Brian from the book, Be the Star You Are! for TEENS. In our 2nd and 3rd segment, Brigitte introduces Rachel Caine, the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling author of more than 45 novels that span the categories of horror, suspense, urban fantasy, science fiction, media tie-in, historical, an...

When someone does you wrong, it can be hard to forgive. Without forgiveness, we can’t move on. Host Asya Gonzalez reads the chapter, The Gift of Forgiveness, from both books, Be the Star You Are!® for Teens and Be the Star You Are!® 99 Gifts for Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference where we learn that time spent blaming and complaining is totally wasted. We are the winners, not the losers, when we forgive and let go because it means that we can also forgive ourselves. Co-h...

What is financial literacy and why is it important to understand starting at a young age? According to the dictionary, financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in the world; how you earn it, how you manage it, how you invest it, how you use it to help others aka donating. Producer, Cynthia Brian, sits in the hosting seat to interview teen reporters Zahra Hasanian, Eric Pawlakos, and Asya Gonzalez on what financial literacy means to them, how they are learning, and what are...

The word “work” often has a negative connotation. Hosts Caiseen Kelly and Asya Gonzalez look at the “whys” of working hard to achieve goals. They interview award -winning author Brooks Olbrys about his book series, The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob. This colorful and inspiring early chapter book series provides young readers with an introduction to timeless principles of achievement. Brooks encourages us to follow our hearts and passions to discover our purpose, then, work will be fulfilling and ...

The word “work” often has a negative connotation. Hosts Caiseen Kelly and Asya Gonzalez look at the “whys” of working hard to achieve goals. They interview award -winning author Brooks Olbrys about his book series, The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob. This colorful and inspiring early chapter book series provides young readers with an introduction to timeless principles of achievement. Brooks encourages us to follow our hearts and passions to discover our purpose, then, work will be fulfilling and ...

Encouragement is the gift of caring and kindness. Without encouragement and support from at least one dedicated cheerleader, it’s difficult to succeed in life. Hosts Henna Hundal and Asya Gonzalez read The Gift of Encouragement penned by Billijo Doll from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are! for Teens, then discuss how encouragement has made the difference in their lives. Katelyn Darrow shares how she began she charity, Angels of God Clothing Closet at age 12 with the encouragement of frie...

Knowledge is power. Information is food for the mind. Nourish yourself with education. Show hosts Henna and Asya read the chapter, The Gift of Education by Dr. Don Martin, from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are! for Teens then chat about their own journeys in their pursuit of education. They then welcome Aussie author of 21 books, Sue Lawson, who discusses the life of a writer and her new book Freedom Ride, based on true events. Asya wraps it up with the importance of educating on oursel...

The Gift of Dreams No matter who you are or where you come from, you have the power to dream. Imagine the life you want to live. Host Jennifer Lee jumpstarts our dreams with a rendition of “Imagine” followed with host Henna Hundal and Jennifer offering ways to do what you love and love what you do as they read the chapter, The Gift of Dreams from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are!® for Teens. Why do we dream? HealthRap Reporter Alex Pawlakos sheds light on the science behind dreaming. Of...

You’re unique, one-of-a-kind, an original. The vitality of life springs forth when we learn to not only rejoice in our commonalities but also appreciate our differences. Hosts Jennifer Lee and Henna Hundal discuss different strokes for different folks with Express Yourself!™ reporters Courtney Cheng, Maria Wong and Zahra Hasanain. The chapter, The Gift of Differences penned by Anna Meyers from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are!® for Teens is read and talked about by the hosts followed by...

Do you often wonder what your future holds? What incredible things you stand to accomplish? Where you’ll end up in 10 or 15 years? The answers, as many would say, are in the stars. First time host, Jennifer Lee, joins experienced host Henna Hundal to sing the song “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson that says a lot about what destiny means. Following up on the topic, in Health with Henna, Henna offers concrete tips on how to create a healthy future through exercise. Both hosts read the chapter, The Gi...

Can eating dark chocolate before going on a date help you be more relaxed? Find out in today’s Express Yourself!™ with hosts Henna Hundal and Asya Gonzalez as they chat with regular reporters, Alex Pawlakos, Courtney Cheng, and Brigitte Jia. Alex offers many anxiety relief tips in his segment of Health Rap that will be helpful not only for dating opportunities but for all encounters. Courtney’s Book It! report explores the ups and downs of dating through two movies, The F Word and Everything Bef...