Howard Whitmore is a Middle School Choir Director in NJ, where he also advises the African American Culture Club and the Gender &amp; Sexuality Alliance. He is also the president of Mystic Vision Players, a non-profit theatre company based in Linden, NJ, and a seasoned performer who has performed in hundreds of shows.  Howard and I talked about the current state of the world ,what it was like growing up as a black, gay man, what he learned from a recent panel he held on racism in NJ Community Theater, and lots more! Howard is a genuinely kind and compassionate human being, and everyone&apos;s world would be made better with him in it. Enjoy! <a rel="payment" href="http://patreon.com/lightersidepodcast">Support the show</a> (http://patreon.com/lightersidepodcast)

Black Trans Lives Matter with Shauntelle Rose Hammonds

It started as a weight loss podcast, which quickly became a mental health podcast, which somehow became a pandemic podcast.  Jay, your host  (anxiety/depression/OCD/childhood trauma/family addiction)  lost 185 lbs after having bariatric surgery.  Guests have ranged from actor Ken Marino to a woman you have never heard of who lost 250 lbs, to a recovering addict, to essential workers during COVID-19. In 2020, the show became daily and ran for 100 episodes in 100 days. The culmination of everything The Lighter Side strove to be, Jay created an oral history of the pandemic, as told through the voices of the people who lived through it. There's something for everyone on the Lighter Side.