May 26, 2020
01. Push to Open Churches Contradicts Religious Teaching
02. Would Earlier Intervention Have Saved Thousands of Lives?
03. Reality TV Addiction Expert on COVID and Sobriety
04. Veteran Journalist: The Kent State Shootings 50 Years Later
05. National Smile Day is Sunday 🙂
06. Can You Collect Unemployment If You Refuse to Go Back to Work?
07. Stimulus Stupidity and Tax Blunders! Blame the IRS!
08. World-Famous Natural Healer’s Secrets Using Ingredients in Your Kitchen
09. This Silent Disease Puts You at Risk for COVID Complications
10. Discover Why Everyone Is Getting on Your Nerves
11. How Marketing Will Change Thanks to COVID-19
12. Could Sloppy Record-Keeping Cost You Your Life?
13. Miraculous Things to Come out of the Pandemic
14. 5 Simple Tools for Stressed-Out Parents
15. Why We Need to Save the United States Postal Service
1. ==> Push to Open Churches Contradicts Religious Teaching
Several faith leaders are speaking out against
President Donald Trump’s demand that governors allow
churches to reopen while the country still battles the
coronavirus pandemic. According to the activist Rev.
Dr. William Barber II, Trump’s push contradicts a
fundamental tenet of the president’s Christian faith ?
to love your neighbor as yourself. “It’s a violation of
loving your neighbor as yourself to do something that
you know could put your neighbor in harm’s way,” says
Barber. “That’s a fundamental violation.” Barber points
to scripture verses that lash out at people who cling
to religious customs while mistreating the poor,
immigrants and other marginalized people. Barber, co-
chairman of The Poor People’s Campaign, also says that
reopening the country too soon will be at the expense
of poor and low-income working people. “This false
choice, that you have to either open up or go to work
and possibly die, is a choice, it didn’t have to be
this way,” Barber says. The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber
II is the president of Repairers of the Breach, co-
chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call
For Moral Revival; bishop with The Fellowship of
Affirming Ministries; visiting professor at Union
Theological Seminary; pastor of Greenleaf Christian
Church, Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro, North
Carolina, and the author of four books. Contact him at
(919) 429-6080; (919) 432-4103 or @RevDrBarber
2. ==> Would Earlier Intervention Have Saved Thousands
of Lives?
In a study from Columbia University, disease modelers
found that if physical distancing measures in the U.S.
had begun on March 1, two weeks earlier than most
people started staying home, the vast majority of the
nation’s deaths — about 83 percent — would have been
avoided. Alison Galvani, director of the Center for
Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis at Yale
University, says it’s undeniable that a more rapid
implementation of public health intervention would have
saved lives. “The non-linearity of epidemiological
dynamics means that the impact of early action or
inaction is amplified over time as an outbreak
progresses. The window of opportunity for the prompt
containment of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United
States closed while messages of denial were being
propagated by our president. Overall, we were
exceedingly slow to implement control strategies.”
Galvani believes the lifting of distancing measures is
being done prematurely and will “cost thousands upon
thousands of lives. I fear that still many more
Americans will die unless a more sustained and
concerted effort is made to overcome this pandemic.”
Contact Alison Galvani at alison.galvani@gmail.com
3. ==> Reality TV Addiction Expert on COVID and
Sobriety
COVID-19 has caused numerous physical and mental health
issues and is creating special problems for addicts
trying to maintain sobriety during the pandemic. Even
though she’s 14 years sober, Jennifer Gimenez
recognizes the impact of isolation and stress from the
global health crisis as she works through her own
sobriety. Listeners will recognize Jennifer, a former
supermodel, from the VH1 reality television series
“Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” and as the sober living
house manager on the spinoff, “Sober House.” She also
appeared on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and
in the film “Blow.” Invite Jennifer on your show to
share her story of sobriety during the coronavirus
crisis and create greater awareness about treatment
options and resources for addicts and those touched by
addiction. Jennifer Gimenez is regularly featured as an
addiction and recovery expert on numerous television
networks and social media platforms. Contact Clarissa
Ford at (646) 843-1828; cford@5wpr.com
4. ==> Veteran Journalist: The Kent State Shootings 50
Years Later
Bob Giles was a young newspaper editor at the Akron
Beacon Journal on the day of the Kent State shootings
on May 4, 1970. Invite him on your show and hear the
story of how he and his staff painstakingly pursued the
truth of the shootings – a tragedy that has haunted the
nation for 50 years and significantly changed the
debate about the Vietnam War. He’ll describe the
turmoil and drama of the newsroom on that fateful day
and on the campus of Kent State University, where the
Ohio National Guard opened fire on students, killing
four and wounding nine others. You’ll hear how
reporters struggled to make sense of the situation and
sort fact from fiction for a horrified world wanting to
know “what” and “why.” After a 40-year newspaper
career, Giles became senior vice president of the
Freedom Forum, executive director of its Media Studies
Center, and curator of the Nieman Foundation for
Journalism at Harvard University. He is the author of
“When Truth Mattered: The Kent State Shootings 50 Years
Later.” Contact Johanna Ramos-Boyer at (703) 991-8328;
jboyer@rtirguests.com
5. ==> National Smile Day is Sunday 🙂
The country could be forgiven if its citizens didn’t
feel like smiling much these days; after all, people
are sick and dying from a mysterious contagious disease
and are prohibited from getting too close to each
other, and unemployment is at record levels. Yet it is
because we find ourselves in this dire situation that
it is more important than ever to smile at one another
— even from six-feet apart — says Barry Shore, who is
known as The Ambassador of Joy. Shore will be
celebrating National Smile Day on May 31 and wants
everyone else to join him by starting the day with a
big smile on their faces. Certainly, if there is anyone
who knows how to smile through adversity it is Shore, a
successful serial entrepreneur with three patents who
in 2004 became a quadriplegic overnight from a rare
disease. During the 16 years that followed, Shore has
pushed himself to regain much of his functioning even
as he inspires other people to see the joy in their
lives. Shore can also talk about his Keep Smiling
Movement which he co-founded with well-known celebrity
photographer Ken Rochon. Barry hosts “The Joy of
Living” podcast and is founder of the JOY of Living
Institute. He has been featured on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox
and in O Magazine, Forbes, Daily Herald, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, MarketWatch and more. Contact him at
(310) 770-4685; barry@barryshore.com
6. ==> Can You Collect Unemployment If You Refuse to Go
Back to Work?
More than 33 million Americans are out-of-work as a
result of the coronavirus-induced lockdown throughout
the nation, but even as states begin to ease stay-at-
home measures and allow businesses to open up, some
workers remain hesitant to return to their jobs. Some
are worried about on-the-job safety issues or have a
vulnerable family member at home. Others, like some in
the service industry, can make more money on
unemployment right now. According to the Department of
Labor, a general fear of virus exposure is not a valid
reason to not return to work or quit your job and
obtain unemployment benefits. Workplace attorney
Jonathan Bell can discuss the issues involved and what
your listeners’ options and rights are. Jonathan Bell
is a labor and employment attorney and the founder of
Bell Law Group, PLLC in New York City. Contact Mark
Goldman at (516) 639-0988 (call/text);
mark@goldmanmccormick.com
7. ==> Stimulus Stupidity and Tax Blunders! Blame the
IRS!
It’s bad enough that the IRS creates so much waste and
chaos during tax season. This year our tax “non-
experts” will be doing it until July. Plus they have
already been messing up the stimulus packages. So says
former Internal Revenue Service tax agent Richard
Green, who will shock audiences with the IRS stupidity
he has observed firsthand. With the IRS responsible for
sending out stimulus money, did you realize that
thousands of foreigners have been sent $1,200 checks
while countless deserving U.S. citizens are still
awaiting their money? And the IRS, using outdated
technology and data, is still sending double and even
triple checks to individuals. Will such mistaken
payments ever be recouped? Will the right people ever
get their money? Find out more when you interview Green
while COVID-19-related controversies are at their peak.
Green, author of “Agents of Deceit,” is ready to offer
his expert advice on whether we can fix these issues.
Contact Richard Green at (909) 570-1509;
rgreen@rtirguests.com
8. ==> World-Famous Natural Healer’s Secrets Using
Ingredients in Your Kitchen
Before Clint Rogers, Ph.D. spent a decade traveling the
world with the legendary Indian master healer Dr.
Pankaj Naram, the university researcher was a skeptic
when it came to alternative medicine. But after
witnessing Dr. Naram in action and watching him cure
Dr. Clint’s father, the researcher’s attitude changed.
Dr. Naram, who counted among his patients the Dalai
Lama, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela as well as many
ordinary people, passed away on Feb. 19. Sharing Dr.
Naram’s wisdom with people all over the world is Dr.
Clint’s priority and “Ancient Secrets of a Master
Healer: A Western Skeptic, An Eastern Master, and
Life’s Greatest Secrets” is his new book. On your show
he’ll discuss how to boost your immune system with
things already in your home, instantly reduce anxiety
and release stress, and reduce blood pressure to normal
in minutes. Listeners will learn ways to ease arthritis
and joint pain with food, improve memory and focus by
pressing certain points on the body and achieve healthy
and lasting weight loss. Clint G. Rogers, Ph.D., is a
university researcher whose TEDx talk on Dr. Naram has
been viewed by millions. Dr. Clint designed and taught
with Dr. Naram a university certification course in
Berlin, Germany, for doctors. Contact him at (914)
215-4792; DrClint@MyAncientSecrets.com
9. ==> This Silent Disease Puts You at Risk for COVID
Complications
You have probably heard that people with certain health
conditions are more likely to fare poorly if they
contract coronavirus. But did you know that among those
diseases is one that many people do not even know they
have? It’s true; more than 7 million people don’t know
they have diabetes out of the 30 million adults who
have the condition. That is why it is more important
than ever to educate the public about diabetes and how
to manage it with the expert guidance of Nadia Al-
Samarrie, a leading patient advocate in the diabetes
community. Nadia is editor-in-chief of Diabetes Health,
a 400,000-circulation magazine used in hospitals,
diabetes classes and doctors’ offices as an educational
resource for patients, and her AskNadia column is
ranked No. 1 by Google as her DiabetesHealth.com
website. Nadia is also the author of “Sugar Happy: Your
Diabetes Health Guide in Achieving Your Best Blood
Sugars” and “Letting Go of Your Diabetes Complication
Fears.” She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, and
other major cable networks. Contact her at (415)
741-3545; nalsamarrie@rtirguests.com
10. ==> Discover Why Everyone Is Getting on Your Nerves
People’s differences can create stress at the best of
times. Living in lockdown, these stresses can explode.
Leadership expert Marc A. Pitman can tell you why
people act the way they do. Using an easy-to-understand
system, he can provide insight into why your team,
staff, or family may be harder to live with right now.
He can explain the different ways people react to
stress and how to help you get through the pandemic and
come out even stronger than before. His forthcoming
book, “The Surprising Gift of Doubt,” provides a
framework for people to move past feeling like a fraud
and manage teams more effectively. Contact Marc Pitman
at (317) 751-1610; mpitman@rtirguests.com
11. ==> How Marketing Will Change Thanks to COVID-19
Selling, buying, advertising, seeking or offering
deals. All these aspects of marketing are dynamic and
prone to rapid change. No wonder the effects of
COVID-19 are so powerful in today’s marketing arena.
Learn more from Steve McChesney, best-selling author of
“Rearranging Change: How You Market to an Ever-Changing
World.” He’ll explore with your audience his wide
knowledge of marketing facts and fallacies. Among the
many topics he can discuss are: how COVID-19 isolation
is changing our buying and selling habits; why Amazon
is a behemoth that cannot be ignored; and whether
America’s baby boomers have been replaced as the
generation with the most buying power. McChesney will
also explain how and why marketers should sell people
what they want but give them what they need.
McChesney’s new Rearranging Change Podcast is now
available on all major channels. Contact him at (321)
414-2147; smcchesney@rtirguests.com
12. ==> Could Sloppy Record-Keeping Cost You Your Life?
In the middle of a pandemic, keeping your own medical
records in order is more important than ever. In a
medical emergency, anyone can be rattled enough to
forget important details, finding themselves unable to
answer physicians’ important questions about their
health or that of a loved one. Anne McAwley-LeDuc, a
retired nurse practitioner (APRN), learned this the
hard way after her husband fell down the stairs and
showed signs of paralysis. At the hospital, physicians
sought answers about his medical history but she
couldn’t answer vital questions. McAwley-LeDuc wants to
help others — especially ordinary folks with no medical
background — advocate for themselves and their loved
ones for better and safer health care. She’ll discuss
the role patients play in reducing medical errors, ways
disorganized medical records can be deadly, and why so
few patients keep good medical records or grasp the
need to do so. Anne McAwley-LeDuc developed the
“Personal Health Organizer” to keep essential medical
information in one place and provide a snapshot of your
health history. Contact her at (860) 300-1603;
AMcAwley@rtirguests.com
13. ==> Miraculous Things to Come out of the Pandemic
Despite the misery COVID-19 times have wrought, we need
to keep in mind that they have also been responsible
for some positive even miraculous things. Let Susan
Shumsky brighten your listeners’ days as she shares the
good things that occurred that we never would have
imagined. New-found respect for teachers and the role
they play in shaping young lives, an enhanced
appreciation for the elderly whose absence from our
lives is palpable, and a worldwide burst in creative
expression are just some of what Susan will talk about.
She’ll also touch on why the pandemic is forcing us to
be more introverted (and that’s good) and to re-
evaluate our priorities and why she says the world is
now operating on a higher vibrational level. Susan
Shumsky has 17 books in print and has proven to be an
enthralling guest during more than 1,200 media
appearances. Contact Susan Shumsky at (917) 336-7184;
SShumsky@rtirguests.com
14. ==> 5 Simple Tools for Stressed-Out Parents
Parenting is never easy but being quarantined with
children while being unemployed or on the pandemic
frontline is making it even harder. Families will
welcome the creative suggestions of educator Laurie
Marshall, suggestions that will help everyone get along
better and safely blow off stress. She’ll share why
parents and kids should put paper bags over their heads
to convey emotions such as anger and silliness, why
families should make a practice of singing and dancing
together, and how taking three deep breaths when they
feel out of control can center parents and interrupt
impulsive behavior that can lead to harming family
members. Marshall is a bullying prevention expert and
the author of multiple books. She has trained over
6,000 teachers in project-based learning and
facilitated 125 bully-prevention, nature-based murals
with over 25,000 people in schools, nonprofits, and
government agencies (NASA, FEMA, U.S. Botanical
Gardens). Contact Laurie at (415) 360-3304;
lmarshall@rtirguests.com
15. ==> Why We Need to Save the United States Postal
Service
House Democrats have included money for the U.S. Postal
Service in the latest $3 trillion stimulus package, but
it’s unclear whether the Senate will act on the
measure. Critics of the USPS say it’s a failing
business, but others, like Richard John, say it was
never meant to be a business. “The Founders intended
the Postal Service to be a pillar of the republic,
binding together millions of Americans, urban and
rural, for the common good. It therefore always had
congressional oversight limiting what management can do
to make a profit. Rather than being mismanaged, the
Postal Service is — and has long been — one of
America’s great successes,” says John, author of
“Spreading the News: The American Postal System from
Franklin to Morse.” Instead of privatizing it, he says
we should take inspiration from the Founders and re-
envision its mission for the 21st century. Some of his
suggestions include expanding the Postal Service to
include high-tech “last mile” capabilities,
reestablishing a low-cost consumer banking system, a
popular service the Postal Service maintained for much
of the 20th century, and rolling out low-cost municipal
broadband. “Rural electrification transformed vast
swaths of the hinterland; might not rural Postal
Services be configured as hubs for the digital economy
of tomorrow?” he asks. In the closer future, John
reminds us the Postal Service will play a crucial role
in ensuring trustworthy mail balloting, a major issue
in the age of COVID-19. Richard John recently wrote the
piece “The Founders never intended the U.S. Postal
Service to be managed like a business” for the
Washington Post. Contact him at rrj2115@columbia.edu
Don’t see any guests or topics for your show? Search
through past RTIR Newsletters and find hundreds of show
ideas and possible guests at www.rtironline.com
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