Our Founding Mothers, Don Was and more....

It's the 3rd of July. And since tomorrow's actual holiday falls on a Saturday, many of us have today off. Tonight's show on Air America radio will be a "best of" ... but the good news is that I'll be back again all next week for more Nic @ Night!

But last night's show had so much going on that I wanted to share it with you.

I started the program with some personal comments. A friend of mine -- actually a very, very dear friend of my boyfriend's-- passed away yesterday. We've learned of a number of famous people who've died recently, but it's much more difficult to deal with when it's someone close to, and even worse when it could have been prevented. If only the health care system in this country actually worked.
Hear my comments on Charlie's death by clicking here.

When we hear about the birth of our nation, the stories we're told are about the "founding fathers." Very little is written in the history books about our Founding Mothers. So, last night I invited my friend Amy Simon back to the show to talk about her research into the women that were quite active, but still relatively unknown today! Listen to our interview here.

Scroll down to see a wonderful video of the old Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me" as performed by Iranian superstar Andy Madadian, Jon Bon Jovi and others, including producer Don Was, who put the whole thing together. Don joined me on the air last night to talk about this video, along with his music, and his Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music on MyDamnChannel.com.

Hear my interview with Don Was by clicking here!

And we got an update on a story we've been following all week. A boat carrying relief supplies for residents of Gaza was boarded by the Israeli Navy, and the 21 volunteers on board, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, were captured and imprisoned by the Israeli government. Last night, we connected with Free Gaza's Greta Berlin in Cypress, and got an update on the situation. Listen to our phone call here.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday! Please remember to join me Monday night, July 6 on Air America radio from 8-10pm PT/ 11pm-1am ET. You can listen live online at www.airamerica.com/listen. My special guest will be former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura!

Radio (Not Radio)

Sort of like Radio or Not! Right?

Well, tonight, I'm thrilled to welcome Don Was, who came to fame as half of Was (Not Was) before becoming known as one of the best music producers working today!

Although I've always been a fan, I've never had the opportunity to interview Don. But over the past week, I've seen this video everywhere. Don brought a bunch of people into a studio -- Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora, along with Iranian super star Andy Madadian -- and they recorded this rendition of the Ben E. King classic "Stand By Me".

Here's the video, along with Don Was' intro, explaining what it's all about.



Don will join me at the beginning of the second hour -- 12 midnight ET/9pm PT.

In our first hour, in honor of the 4th of July coming up this weekend, we'll take a fun albeit irreverent look back at our founding fathers and mothers with comedienne Amy Simon.

And, of course, we'll deal with the news of the day too.... I hope you'll join in the fun!

Catching Up... A Plethora of Interviews

I've been remiss. I really got thrown off course on Friday when my power was out all day. I now have a backlog of interviews that I'm just getting around to podcasting.

This should keep you occupied for a quite a while... so, here goes:

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm about his new book, This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America.
Click here to listen

Michael Jackson died on Thursday. My power went out Friday morning at 6am. The one good thing about that was the fact that I couldn't watch any of the news coverage that dominated the television all day Friday. Although I didn't see any of it, humorist Andy Borowitz watched ALL of it, and joined me on the air Friday night to fill us in on the day he'll never get back.
Listen to my chat with Andy Borowitz here.

After receiving a bunch of emails from Michael Jackson fans, who accused me of everything from "jumping on the bandwagon" to having my mind in the gutter for even thinking there was anything sexual in his sharing his bed with young children who were not related to him, I decided it was time for a dose of healthy sex. So, I invited sex expert Chrystal Boughon from Better Sex Radio to join me on the air.
Hear our discussion here.

Yesterday was another big news day.... Making good on a US- Iraqi Security Pact signed by then-President George W. Bush, June 30 was the day designated to withdraw US troops from the major cities in Iraq, moving toward the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline to have American forces out of the country. I spoke with Jonathan Morgenstein of Third Way, a Marine reservist who was called up for two tours of duty in Iraq. Click here to listen to our interview.

While Americans are in the midst of a debate over the future of health care in this country, more and more people are seeking out alternative treatments for illness. I've recently come across a very promising development in the search for a cure for cancer. Seriously!

My boyfriend's dog, Orion, was diagnosed with malignant oral melanoma. The tumor that was growing inside Orion's mouth was growing so quickly that it had begun affecting his right eye. Our wonderful vet suggested he try a botanical compound called Neoplasene. Six weeks later, the tumor is virtually gone.

I know many others can be helped with his info, so I invited Dr. T.S. Fox of Buck Mountain Botanicals to join me on the air last night. Listen to our interview by clicking here.

My old friend Judge David Young was one of the 250 people invited to the White House on Monday to take part in President Obama's reception for leaders in the LGBT community. He joined me last night on the air to talk about that experience, along with some recent high profile cases-- Bernard Madoff, the New Haven Firefighters Supreme Court ruling and Sonia Sotomayor, SC Gov. Mark Sanford, and lots more. Hear our interview here.

And finally, the fate of 21 people who were on a relief mission to Gaza had their boat boarded by the Israeli Navy in international waters, and were taken prisoners. Among the 21 passengers was former US Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. I reached out to Donna Baranski-Walker, who has posted updates on the FreeGaza.org website. Hear our conversation by clicking here.

Tonight on Air America (from 11pm-1am ET), a conversation with the president of the National Education Association, an update on the passengers hijacked by the Israeli Navy, and some highlights from President Obama's town hall on health care from this afternoon. I hope you'll join in by listening (airamerica.com/listen) and calling in at 866-303-2270.

Tuesday night on Air America Radio

I'm very late posting this update on tonight's show, as I actually went out this evening. Just to show you the things we do for love, I accompanied my boyfriend to see the Average White Band at the Hard Rock Live.

He wanted to go so, even though I'm a music snob, I went... and got home just in time to go on the air.

I'll post all the links and show information tomorrow, but I did want to post this information about the Free Gaza relief boat carrying former Congresswoman and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, and 20 others, that was apprehended by the Israeli Navy.

Read the Green Party's press release here and visit FreeGaza.org for more information.

Just Another Manic Monday

I thought that, after Friday, things could only get better. That'll teach me to ask the rhetorical question "What else could go wrong?"!

Actually, I made it through Friday without power, and made it through my show with the help of a friend's studio. And much to my surprise, on only about 3.5 hours of sleep, I then drove for another 3/5 hours and got to my daughter's camp in time time pick her up at the appointed time of 11am. And we made it back home without once falling asleep at the wheel!

We spent last night at my boyfriend's house, where I overslept. But I got the kiddo to day camp by 10:00 this morning, only to arrive home in time to find my just-months-ago-replaced roof leaking! I kid you not. And this was not a small drip drip drip. This was an entire guest room bed drenched downpour!

The roof guy arrived, only to tell me that "there's probably about 100 gallons of water sitting on top of the flat roof" and "if you don't get the drain unclogged, the whole thing could come caving in." Oh yes, welcome to Monday!

So, as I sit here writing this at 6:32 pm, the workmen are still in my garage, where they had to cut through the drainage pipe and re-direct the water to the side of my house. We all think the drain went right into the ground, which is beyond saturated. Ahh, the joys of home ownership.

Anyone in the market for a house in North Miami Beach?

Now, on to tonight.... This weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in NY's Greenwich Villiage, which really signaled the beginning of the gay rights movement in the US and around the world.

As Gay Pride Month comes to a close, President Obama welcomed a gathering of LGBT leaders to a reception at the White House.

Tonight, I'll be joined by Congresswoman Jan Schatowsky, D-IL, who is a Vice Chair of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Equality Caucus, who will give us an update on how far the gay community has come in its fight for equality. She'll be with us live at the beginning of the show.

In our second hour, I'll be joined by Miss Major, one of the elders in the LGBT movement, who was at the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and has been an active participant ever since. I promise you a fun and enlightening hour with Miss Major, and hope you'll call in and speak with her at 866-303-2270.

And, of course, we'll spend some time talking about the other big news events of the day, including the sentencing of Bernie Madoff to 150 years, and the long-awaited Supreme Court ruling on the New Haven Firefighters reverse discrimination case.

So much to do tonight in the short two hours we have together. Looking forward to chatting with you then!

Listen online at www.airamerica.com/listen.

Thank God it's Friday!

It's been a rough day in Nicole Sandler-land. A fitting end to a very strange week, I suppose.

After wrapping up last night's show at 1am ET, I finally fell asleep somewhere in the neighborhood of 2am, with the music of and stories about Michael Jackson emanating from my television. The sleep timer, thankfully, ended the Jacko deluge, and I slept peacefully until 6:00 this morning. That's when my dogs both jumped up, clearly alarmed by something.

Then I heard an odd beep that I'd never before heard. When I realized it was coming from the "uninterruptable power source" I bought last week after Florida's thunderstorms kept knocking out my power in a series of surges, I glanced over at the darkened clock which confirmed that the power was off.

I awakened again at 7, this time deciding to call the power company. They said that they were aware of the problem, and expected power to be restored by 10:45am to the 155 customers who were affected by this outage. At 11:00, the message had been changed to an expected restoration time of 11:45 and, at noon, they said we'd probably have our power back by 4pm!

So, I did what any self-respecting, sweaty South Floridian without air conditioning should do under similar circumstances-- I went to the movies! After enjoying Angels & Demons more than I thought I would, I checked in again with FP&L (Florida Power & Light), who had moved their estimated time of our return to air conditioning and all the other luxuries that electricity affords, to 6PM.

Lucky for me, the theater across from which I sat making phone calls was to start showing The Proposal 15 minutes later! I called a friend to ask if I could use his studio tonight, just in case power wasn't back on by 11pm, and thankfully, he was able to accommodate me. So, I wandered in to watch the sweet, albeit predictable romantic comedy... figuring that surely my power would be on by the time it was over.

That'll teach me to call anyone surely.... (sorry, it's been a long day). When I arrived home at 7pm, the geniuses at FPL said that their new target time was 7:50. I had already decided that 8:00 was my cut-off time. So, when 8:00 hit and it was getting too dark to do anything more at home, I made one final call. That's when the recording said that they couldn't give us a time when power would be back on.

So, I opened the windows for the pups, filled their water and food bowls, and headed down to Coral Gables to the Atlantic Radio Network studios, which is where I'm now sitting, recounting the not-too-pleasant events of the day.

The only positive aspect I can come up with is that I was not subject to another day of wall-to-wall coverage of the fact that Michael Jackson is dead.

So, here we are on a Friday night. During tonight's first hour, I will share some of the emails I received today about last night's show. Actually, they were pretty evenly split... between those who thanked me for being realistic and calling Michael Jackson's actions as I saw them, and those who though I was completely out of line. Wait till you hear some of these comments.

In our second hour, we'll segue into healthy sex (as opposed to talking about grown men with a freakish preoccupation with young boys). I'll be joined by Chrystal Bougon, Chief Toy Officer of BlissConnection.com and Sex Expert for Better Sex Radio. Chrystal has personally facilitated over 1,000 Pleasure Parties over the last 6.5 years and has talked with thousands of women about their sex lives or lack there of. It is, after all, the weekend...

Join in the discussion by calling 866-303-2270!

The Death of an Icon

I was out at an appointment today, constantly checking email on my cell phone (waiting for a potential guest to get back to me), when I got the first tip that there was trouble in Neverland. The alert read "Michael Jackson Rushed to Hospital in Cardiac Arrest". But somehow it never crossed my mind that, an hour later, we'd be witnessing wall to wall coverage of his death.

The cynical side of me first thinks of Farrah Fawcett, feeling bad that the coverage of her death will be upstaged by the death of "The King of Pop."

In all reality, Michael gave himself that title. Not that he didn't deserve it. But, there was that other side of Michael Jackson... the creepy side. The extreme plastic surgery, his affinity for being surrounded by young boys and, worse, the allegations and stories of child molestation.

Recently, my 10-year old daughter has been using the name "Michael Jackson" as a sort of synonym for weird people. When I realized she had been doing that, I asked her what she knew about Michael Jackson. She responded with something along the lines of "Just that he's really creepy" That's when I pulled out the old Jackson 5 CDs.

Tonight, we'll deal with the death of Michael Jackson. I remember being on the air in Los Angeles the morning that the news broke that Jerry Garcia had died. Because my station was probably the only one that actually played the music of the Grateful Dead, we became the de- facto place to go. I wound up hosting a thrown-together memorial at Griffin Park that evening. In fact, I posted the audio from that morning on my podcast a few years ago, on the 10th anniversary of his passing. (You can hear that aircheck by clicking here.)

My friend, music journalist Chris Willman is out in LA and on assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to write a reaction piece. We'll find him as he drives around Los Angeles getting reaction from grieving fans. I'm working on a few other guests as well. But, in our first hour tonight (11pm ET/8pm PT), I want your reaction. Call in at 866-303-2270.

In the second hour tonight, I had already scheduled another friend, who happens work in the music industry as an artist manager. Ron Stone, president of Gold Mountain Entertainment, and has been an outspoken critic of internet piracy, and has influenced legislation on the issues of digital music, file sharing, and musician's intellectual property distribution rights. We'll talk about all of those things, and more, when Ron joins me on the air tonight.

What's Health Care like in Canada?

Click here to find out by listening to my conversation with two Canadians!

If we listen to the Republicans, we'd all believe that in Canada, people wait forever to see their doctors and the system is a mess. But I know better than to believe everything they tell me, so I set out to find some regular Canadian folks and ask them myself!

So, last night on my Air America Radio show, I was joined by two Canadians. Laura Madison lives way north, not too far from Winnipeg, where she works as a criminologist. Andy Krieger lives in Vancouver, British Columbia where the weather is much nicer, and he teaches people how to speak without foreign accents (check out his website here!)

Listen to the hour we spent together last night. I think--especially if you listen to the critics on the right-- you'll be pleasantly surprised at the care they receive, and you'll be shocked when you hear what they pay for it, and when you hear their reactions to what we have to go through to get health care in the US.

Tonight, in the midnight hour ET, we'll listen back to some of President Obama's Town Hall Meeting on Health Care that will air live this evening from the White House on ABC-TV.

I'll start the show with an interview with Ryan Grim of Huffington Post, whose new book "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America" was just released yesterday.

And we'll talk to my favorite activist, David Swanson (www.afterdowningstreet.org, www.davidswanson.org, www.democrats.com) about the Torture Accountability Rallies planned all over the country for tomorrow.