Making NYC More Progressive (with Marti G Cummings)

In this episode, we are tawking with a trailblazing Korean-American artist, plus-size model, content creator, and cannabis entrepreneur P.S. Kaguya, whose uniqueness is not only helping her carve out her own path, but also open doors and provide financial opportunities for others like her. Kaguya shares her personal story of overcoming abuse and rejection, and together Maxim and Kaguya take a deep dive into why representation is an economic issue, how the fashion industry has been changing, Avril Lavigne's influence on early 2000s queer culture, being canceled, and why it is time that we embrace drug-consumption and create safer ways for people to have access to substances.   Stream P.S. Kaguya's single "Wifi" on Spotify.  Follow us on Instagram, and YouTube.

Our guest this week is an iconic and multi-talented musician and artist Aja. Known to the world as a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 and All-Stars 3, Aja was catapulted into international fame as a drag queen. Since then, Aja has quit drag, came out as non-binary, and released two studio albums, including their newest sophomore album The Crown, which came out this May.   As we break down the album, Aja tawks about the process of creating such a vulnerable and eclectic album during a pandemic, who were their musical inspirations growing up and how they dealt with the public transition from a drag artist to a musician, as well as dishing on racists fans, Nicki Minaj and always standing up for themselves.   The Crown is available to stream on all platforms.   Follow Let's Tawk! on Instagram, and YouTube. 

Queer Musicians are Here, and they are here to stay!  This week, we are tawking to the multi-talented Kezra Leon, musician, rapper, and club/drag personality. Kezra shares his story of coming into the music business as a queer rapper, the inspiration behind his bold and assertive music such as their new single "ICV" (I Choose Violence), how their collaboration with the legendary Aja came about, as well as dishes his thoughts on Lil Nas X breaking the barriers and paying tribute to the late hip-hop legend DMX.  This episode features Kezra's songs "Big Mad" and "ICV" Check out Kezra's music on Spotify and Other Platforms, and follow them on Instagram and Twitter.  Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

IT'S SEASON 2 FINALE! We are wrapping up this season with a very special guest who embodies everything Let's Tawk ! is about- Marti G Cummings: a New York City Icon, Drag Artist, Activist and a Candidate for New York City Council. Marti shares with us the reason they decided to run for public office and how they plan to fix NYC many problems with a bold progressive idea that consists of things like #DefundThePolice, raising the minimum wage, providing guaranteed income, implementing a city-wide Green New Deal and investing more into underrepresented communities' education, housing and infrastructure. Follow Marti on Instagram and Twitter. To find more about the campaign, go to https://www.martiformanhattan.com/ Follow us on Instagram and TikTok. See you next season!

Every season due to climate change, natural disasters are getting worse and worse, leaving behind destruction of property that can be devastating. This week, we are tawking to George Siegal, director of "The Last House Standing"- a documentary about how to build in order to save your home against hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other disasters. George shares his story of how this film came about, what one can do to protect themselves and their property and what could have been done different in Texas.  To watch the film and learn more, go to https://www.thelasthousestanding.org/, or find them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Find Let's Tawk! on Instagram and TikTok

This week, we are tawking to Steven Patzer- a candidate for New York City Council from 47th District, Maxim's home area. Steven, a freshman on the block, is shaking things up in politics by leading a clean campaign that is focused on empowerment, empathy and equality in hopes of bringing those things to a neglected South Brooklyn. Maxim and Steven discuss what it means to run for a local positions, how his campaign style differentiates him from his opponents and what he plans to do with issues such as homelessness, de-facto-segregation and LGBTQ+ issues. To learn more about Steven campaign, visit his official website, Twitter and Facebook.  Check our podcast on Instagram and TikTok. 

The Stock Market has become the center of attention last week, when the stocks of a struggling company GameStop started rising and causing major chaos on Wall Street. As Reddit users tried to save GameStop by purchasing stocks after they were shorted by hedge funds, it erupted into a small war between the rich and the poor. ⠀  To disect what went down, we are tawking with Isabella Davilla, a stock trader, to understand what is happening on Stock Market with GameStop and Reddit, the role online brokers like Robinhood played, the kind of year 2020 was for the stock exchange, comparing Trump and Biden administration in regard to the stock market and how one should get into trading.  Follow us on Instagram ; TikTok and Twitter 

January 23 will go down in Russia's history as the biggest protest in its modern history, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the street to protest Vladimir Putin's stagnant and corrupt regime following the poisoning of opposition leader Alexiy Navalny. Navalny, who is Putin's most prominent critic, has been exposing Russia's corruption for more than 10 years and last August he was poisoned and almost died. He recovered in Germany and was arrested upon his return to his homeland. This episode, Maxim is tawing about who Navalny is, how deep is Putin's corruption and shares his own experince of joining the protests abroad in New York City. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok #FreeNavalny

For our first episode of the year, we are tawking about the horrific events that took place on January 6, 2021 when the angry mob of MAGA/ White Supremacists and QAnon supporters stormed the Capitol building in an unconstitutional attempt to interrupt the certification of the electoral college victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Organized online and supported by the President Trump, the attempted coup was unsuccessful, even though it put in danger the lives of the entire legislative branch and caused both physical and symbolic damage to our Democracy.  Maxim is dissecting what has happened, what led up to it and what needs to be done moving forward in order to make sure that this internal terrorist attack doesn't happen again. Follow us on social media at Instagram and Twitter.

That’s a wrap on 2020. We wanted to take a moment and thank all of our listeners for sharing this challenging and illuminating year with us. In this episode, Maxim revisits some of the most prominent political and cultural moments of the year, and shares his message for the upcoming 2022 year of the Ox.