Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 83:Ilona Levine

This week’s story is told by Ilona Levine.  Ilona was born and raised in the Moldovan part of the Soviet Union.  When Ilona was 13 years old, the Soviet Union collapsed and she witnessed her native Moldova begin its journey to becoming a sovereign nation.  Ilona grew up in an apartment and usually climbed the 15 flights of stairs rather than take the elevator due to the unreliable supply of electricity.  Ilona was a classical ballet dancer and was also a teacher during her teen years.  At times, she would teach as many as 150 students.  Ilona attended Moldovan Law School at the age of seventeen.  She essentially skipped the step of getting a bachelor’s degree because she tested so high on the law school entrance exam.  When Ilona immigrated to the U.S.A. at nineteen, she had not quite finished law school.  She was told that she would need a bachelor’s degree before she could finish law school in the U.S.  Ilona attained her undergrad degree in two and a half years.  Ilona is currently the General Counsel at Internet Society, a non-profit focused on growing and strengthening the internet across the globe.

Episode 82: DJ Oso Fresh

Bobby Alirezai, AKA DJ Oso Fresh, fled his native Tehran as a child when the Shah of Iran was exiled in 1979. In this conversation, he tells us about his story of moving to America, having to learn English from scratch, and the passions he has found joy in, including breakdancing, graffiti art, and DJing. 

He is the brother in law of Tim Clark, whom we interviewed on this podcast in episode 69. 

Episode 81: Lionel Bacon

Lionel Bacon is our guest this week. He is a former VCU basketball player and the youngest of twelve children. Lionel discusses his childhood and growing up in the Beecher Terrace neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. He told us how he got to VCU (an amazing mom, God and the ability to play basketball). 

Lionel talked about his journey and how it has led him to a life of helping others. From his 20 years at the YMCA to his current position at the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, Lionel is dedicated to helping people, especially kids. 

He told us about why he started competing in Spartan Races in 2018 and made it to the world championships the following year! We finished with Lionel telling us about his wife Christy and their three boys, as well as a very emotional chat about his dad.

Episode 80: Kevin Eastman

Kevin T. Eastman is the former assistant coach and VP for Basketball Operations of the Los Angeles Clippers. He also served as head coach and assistant coach in the college ranks, and was on Doc Rivers' coaching staff with the Boston Celtics for over a decade. 

He is now a semi-retired motivational speaker for sports teams and businesses.

Pictured: Kevin Garnett, Kevin Eastman, Doc Rivers

Episode 79: Kenny Wingle

Kenny Wingle is a stand-up comedian and producer of the upcoming ROFL Comedy Series in Richmond VA. Kenny is a Detroit native, born to a Native American mother and Polish father. He has been a stand up comedian for years, and has produced comedy shows featuring the likes of Whitney Cummings.

He is producing Richmond's Open For Laughs (ROFL) Comedy Series which you can enjoy at Atlas 42 (4032 Cox Rd Ste A, Glen Allen, VA) over the coming weeks and months (Apr 23, May 14, May 28, Jun 18 and Jul 30).

This conversation features guest host Kevin Flippen, friend of the podcast and youth baseball coaching partner to Kenny.

Pictured (left to right): Kevin, Kenny, Paul

Episode 78: Cla Meredith

Cla Meredith is a former MLB pitcher who played for the Red Sox, Padres, and Orioles. This episode he tells us about his Richmond roots, the origin of his name, and his athletic career, including some thoughts on teammates like Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman, and coaches such as Bruce Bochy.

He now serves as a firefighter for Henrico County. 

Episode 77: Intentionality

Boomer Muth is a musician, entrepreneur, and soon-to-be father, and this episode we heard his story.

At the tender age of 5, Boomer learned the truth about Santa in a way that will bring a tear to your eye and put hairs on your chest. In the 8th grade, he was a star Mathlete, and carries a love for math and music to this day.

An entrepreneur, he is the co-founder of a successful point-of-sale financing company called West Creek Financial. West Creek makes it easier for people to afford things they need, and has helped elevate RVA on the startup map. 

He is also lead singer and guitarist for the band Acoustic Underground, and tells us about chasing the rockstar dream and getting to open for bands like the Strokes. 

Not one to avoid tough topics, Boomer also reflected on his experience with divorce, and offered his perspective on mental health, including the impact COVID-19 has had on it. 

Episode 76: Travis Herman

Travis Herman is a brewmaster and co-founder of Scofflaw Brewery, an Atlanta based brewery founded in 2015.  Scofflaw experienced phenomenal growth, clocking in one of the fastest first-year expansions in craft-brewing history. Travis tells us about his origins, how he earned his wings as a brew master, meeting Rachel Ray, and what it takes to get a batch right and build a business. Read more about Scofflaw at https://scofflawbeer.com/

Episode 75: DuBois Miller

DuBois Miller is an author and former correctional educator of 32 years. He grew up in Lynchburg VA, going to segregated schools and living in a house without electricity, but experiencing great cultural enrichment on the buzzing McKinley Street. He documents his coming of age in the 50s in his book "Ten on Tin," for which there is a sequel called "Three More on Tin." 

DuBois spoke with us about his perspective on segregation, integration, and race in America having lived through decades of social upheaval. We also talked about how he got into the field of correctional education, and what it was like teaching inmates throughout Virginia's prisons.

We are also joined by his son Ed Miller, also the guest of our 12th episode. 

Episode 74: Justin Addison

Justin Addison is a US Army Veteran, Jets fan, and Executive Chef at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He enlisted on 9/11, and was later deployed to Fallujah, Iraq as a PsyOps specialist. We were also joined by Mohammed Saeed, who served as the interpreter for Justin's team during deployment. They formed a natural connection and were effective teammates in the field. They now consider each other brothers, and live minutes from each other in Williamsburg. This episode, we focus mainly on Justin's story, which does include some shared stories from their deployment. If you are curious about Mohammed's story, we spoke with him on episode 54.