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Whitney Museum of America Art, July 2015


​Not-so-random stuff by and about me.
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PEOPLE.COM We Shall Overcome  I wrote a very personal essay for People ’s Voices From the Fight Against Racism series. I riff on my family, the 70s, the South Bronx, South Carolina, Kojak, seeing the pope, AOC’s power and strength, Nixon, Bella Abzug, the ghosts on The Hunger Games set, singing at the 2008 DNC, the MLK Memorial, meeting President Jimmy Carter and Rep. John Lewis and more. 
MEDIUM Why All the Bernie Mitten Memes? I channeled my obsession with the Bernie Sanders mittens meme into a slew of social media posts featuring the Vermont senator in all nine landscapes featured in Sacred Landscapes of the Soul—and this story, my very first for Medium. Most agree he looks most at home in the tundra. So why am I (and the rest of the world) so obsessed? I conclude: After Trump, it just feels good to laugh again.
mindbodygreen Have You Been Called An Old Soul? Here's What It Really Means I talked to mbg for a story listing the 11 characteristics of an old soul. Sign #8: You're not materialistic. Old souls, I share, have a sense that "we're living in this material world but there's something more important, and perhaps the things we've been taught in school, or by our parents, or society, aren't necessarily true." Read my thoughts about the other ten signs.
KAMALA'S WAY: AN AMERICAN LIFE Thrilled to have agented this phenomenal biography of Kamala Harris by veteran California political writer Dan Morain, out January 12, 2021 from Simon & Schuster. Town & Country includes KAMALA'S WAY on its list of the 28  must-read books of winter 2021. I love this graphic featuring additional choice picks by Chang Rae Lee and Gabriel Byrne, whom I regret not having fan-girled when I saw him outside the New York hotel we both happened to be staying at a few years ago. The New York Daily News gave KAMALA'S WAY a shout-out as well. After a first read of Dan's draft, I was crying. So inspiring, so moving. Congrats, America!
THE JENNY MCCARTHY SHOW "Good book alert! Good book alert!" So says Jenny McCarthy. And who am I to argue? I can't thank her enough for her enthusiasm for Sacred Landscapes and for having me on her Sirius XM radio show. "This is totally up my alley," she enthused before our interview began. "Let's go sell some books!" ​
HIGH ROAD TO HUMANITY In my very last podcast of 2020, host Nancy Yearout (get it?) and I rhapsodize about synchronicity and my spiritual journey, which took me from a small Baptist church in the Bronx to the Agape International Spiritual Center in the City of Angels. Delighted to have ended the year on this high note.
THE STEVE JORDAN EXPERIENCE  Personal  trainer Steve Jordan believes in getting fit from the inside out.  In our heart-to-heart, we discuss life in Lalaland (I believe California is a spiritual mecca and Los Angeles is truly a city of angels), and so much more.
FIRE IT UP WITH CJ God, Angels & Prayer CJ Liu and I share how we authentically express (no spiritual bypassing!) and align back to center during crazy times. I also reveal how I communicate directly with God. In other words, wherever you are, you, too, can align with the Divine—the subtitle of my book, Sacred Landscapes.
THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CURRICULUM OF JOY It quickly became clear when I spoke with Austria-based Wanako Oberhuber that though we may speak somewhat different  languages when it come to our respective spiritual practice (Wanako teaches A Course in Miracles), we're pretty much saying the same thing: There is only the One. We are one. I loved this conversation! ​
THE AWARE SHOW Finding Calm in the Midst of the Chaos  This year has proven to be unpredictable and even chaotic. How can we navigate the rocky storms? I was delighted to share my "calming wisdom and tips for staying grounded" with Lisa Garr, whom I've  listened to since forever on KPFK radio.
WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 What a thrill for this native New Yorker! And this station was my father’s favorite. We discuss Sacred Landscapes; my favorite book blurb; thriving in the throes of a global pandemic—and I demonstrate how to blow off a little steam, too. My interview was broadcast in segments the week of August 10 but you can listen to it in its entirety here.
CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE, CHANGE YOUR LIFE Conversations with Joan My talk with Joan Herrmann first aired Oct 4 @ 10 p.m. ET on New York's AM 970 The Answer and iHeartRadio.  Among the topics covered: How being a journalist prepared me for my life as a spiritual guide. ​How I define God. Click the link to listen on demand on Spotify, Apple Music, Stitcher and Google Play. ​
WOMEN 4 WOMEN SUMMIT Reset, Restart and Get Ready for 2021  I was both honored and delighted to be on the line-up at this Dec 1 gathering of inspired women hosted by Allison Carmen and Joan Herrmann, who invited me after interviewing me on her radio show (see previous entry on this page). Among the tips I shared in order to Reset, Restart, and Get Ready for 2021?! Focus on being vs. doing; give up thinking that things have to be a certain way; and live in the present moment.
ELLE Spread the Word In recent interviews for Sacred Landscapes of the Soul, I've discussed how writing a profile is akin to holding space in a spiritual session. Which leads me to reflect a few of my celebrity profiles. For the release of Poetic Justice, John Singleton's sophomore film, I interviewed the genius director for a second time (I first talked with him for Elle for a round-up story highlighting movies set in the 'hood. The cover line? "Homeboy Heroes Bust Out on the Big Screen). I thought about our interviews upon hearing news of his untimely death in 2019. He was always so excited to be doing what he loved! I also chatted with Janet Jackson, via telephone, for the story:  "I expected [her] to be quite withdrawn, but she was actually very open and sweet," I reveal on the issue's contributors' page. When her Poetic Justice co-star Tupac Shakur was tragically killed, I happened to be on weekend duty and flew to Vegas on a Sunday morning to cover the story for People.
INTERVIEW Jada Pinkett The Sass of '94  I was new to Los Angeles when I met Jada Pinkett in her trailer on the set of the horror film Demon Knight.  At the time, she had three movies in the offing and was three years away from marrying Will Smith. (I just watched The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion show, which reminds me—I also profiled the actress who played the sister on the show, Karyn Parsons.) So what did Jada and I first talk about? Her new look —she'd dyed her hair blonde. Who knew that years later we'd both have children in the business, or that her son would escort my daughter to prom? 
ELLE Mitch Longley Acts Up I've rarely maintained contact with story subjects—except in very special  instances. Mitch, an actor, model and advocate (he was confined to a wheelchair) showed up at my art exhibits after we both moved to Los Angeles from New York and we'd occasionally get together for lunch. Our first outing (in New York) was to attend a National Easter Seal Society ceremony after my Elle story won an EDI award "for media efforts promoting equality, dignity and independence of people with disabilities." Such a lovely soul and, as you can see from this Ralph Lauren ad, a face to match.
SPIRIT MATTERS TALK I share with podcast co-hosts Phil Goldberg and Dennis Raimondi that time I had a wholly holy out-of-body experience on an acupuncturist's table—and how I've always been deathly afraid of rollercoasters. Until now.
MYSTICAL MATCHMAKER Listen in as Marla Martenson, a fellow inhabitant of the City of Angels, and I discuss how to find calm in the chaos (breathing is key); whether we living out the End of Days or the Great Awakening; and how important it is to create—I'm painting again and writing lots! Marla recites a beautiful affirmation of self-love at the top. (I intuitively placed my hand over my heart as I took in her deeply felt words.) 
​PATHEOS Is God "Closer Than Your Own Breath"?  The very morning the world awoke to news of Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis, I learned that this lovely piece had been published. Writes Tom Rapsas in his "Wake Up Call" column,  "What I found most compelling in Sacred Landscapes of the Soul were the first-person essays that appear in italics every few pages in the book. They have been channeled or as Brailsford explains: The words flowed through me as if they were being communicated directly by God, speaking directly to me. And thereby, to you." 
INNER VISIONS Life and Liberty  ​Read my message about these times, published in Agape International Spiritual Center's inspirational guide. It opens with epigraphs from two of the greatest Americans to have ever lived. A preview: Freedom is a glorious thing, for we can think. It’s within our thinking, after all, where we really get to expand and soar. We catch ahold of and then latch onto a vision. One caveat—do not cling. Our grasp must be loose so as to allow other possibilities to flow. 
SIDEWALK TALK  Spiritual Sustenance Thrilled to see these words from "Shadow and Light," one of the 111 pieces in Sacred Landscapes, in this promo for my conversation with Traci Ruble, founder of the phenomenal nonprofit Sidewalk Talk, which has been "listening on sidewalks to end loneliness and hear the unheard" since 2015.  The passage appears in the Forest landscape and is meant to offer inspiration "when we are in the thick of it." ​
FOX NEWS 11 LA  Agape Choir at the DNC  In 2008 I headed with Agape's choir to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, to sing with John Legend. Watch to hear how excited I was to board  the Love Train. And here's the video of the pinch-me Rocky Mountain High experience. I  blog about it all here.
​BRIDGES & BLESSINGS  The deeply authentic soul known as Rev. Julie and I talk frankly about helpful spiritual practices (breathing and  dancing!), my former life as a momager and all kinds of good stuff. Thanks to my cousin, brother, dear Atlanta friend and the ex-beau who popped in.  At the end I read "The Fire This Time," a selection from Sacred Landscapes.  
​INSTAGRAM STORIES  Love this IG story from my cousin Grace. Sacred Landscapes As Beach Read! And she's not the only one to report that  she toted my book to the sand. A new landscape!
 NJ ADVANCE MEDIA  Karens would like to speak to the media about this whole "Karen" thing  As I told the writer of this article, Amy Kuperinsky, "Some of my best friends are white Karens and they hardly fit the stereotype." Case in point: Karen Springen, whom I first met at Newsweek, is one of the kindest beings on the planet. Back in the day, as evidenced by this photo, we didn't just twin with our names.   
WRITE VOLUMES  I discuss life, death, grief, mothers, secrets, inspiration, Harriet Tubman, writing and more with Genea Tafesse, editor of the Shades anthologies, in their first author video interview. The latest edition, Shades of Transition and Transformation, is dedicated to our mothers, Leah and Leola. 
FRIENDSOME AND THENSOME​
I hung out with the bubbly trio of Mindy Stearns, JD Cargill and Michelle Orrego  to discuss Sacred Landscapes of the Soul and what else...my name. They claim I'm "the coolest Karen out there!" Who am I to disagree? 
PEOPLE  Pain and Glory  Things got tense when I arrived at Gladys Knight's Vegas home for a story pegged to her memoir and she announced there was to be no mention of ex-husband Les Brown in the article. (He'd ridden her coattails long enough, she said.) A flurry of calls to my editors ensued, and after that initial hiccup, we had a good heart-to-heart. 
TEEN VOGUE  21 Mother's Day Tributes from Your Favorite Celebrities  The shortest, most flattering article about me: "They got it from their mamas. Amandla's caption of their gorgeous mom says it all: 'my mom the legend.' " They'll get no argument from me. Posting here now because I just came across this story online. Plus I love this coat.
INSIDE TV  What Simon Says Is Usually Right  While West Coast editor of this short-lived magazine produced by TV Guide and focused on television stars, I wrote a column defended American Idol's Simon Cowell and shared my guilty pleasure: Gastineau Girls. Today I don't even remember who that show was about!
PEOPLE Who Loved Ya, Baby? I did! Life came full circle when I traveled to Forest Lawn Cemetery for Telly Savalas' funeral, earning my very first byline on this second cover story for People. Actual first story? Interviewing celebrities such as Rita Rudner about their experiences in the Northridge earthquake. I first met the Kojak star when I was in elementary school. He happened to be shooting an episode in Carl Schurz Park near my school. A few friends and I snuck out a back door to watch him. He approached us and graciously signed autographs. But he demanded payment from me for mine: he tapped his cheek whereupon I kissed him. (Note: it was all quite innocent.) When I shared the story with his wife, she was quite touched. 
ESSENCE ​The Superhero: Karen Brailsford  "After being cast as Rue in The Hunger Games, rising star Amandla Stenberg is on everyone’s radar. With so much attention, the 13-year old says her mom is key." My mom reminds me that all things are possible. I can't say how honored and how grateful I was to be featured with Amandla in this Mother's Day tribute story. A highlight: heading to Venice Beach for the photo shoot.
PEOPLE  Hollywood Blackout  I was a member of the fastidious team behind this special report from 1996 that garnered lots of attention and  headlines (I appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the subject with Charlie Gibson.) We called some 130 sources to discuss the lack of representation in Hollywood. Five years later, little had changed. One could argue the same is true a quarter-century later.
INTERVIEW  Malcolm X  That's my mug on the contributors' page, featured with  Elvis Costello, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper and Donna Tartt. I talked to Spike Lee about his then upcoming film.  A silly moment: Spike teased me about my key chain, a statuette I'd bought as a souvenir in Africa. "That's a fertility symbol. You'd better be careful!" he warned. "That stuff works."
PEOPLE  Shock Waves
Seven years before Alice Sebold's much-heralded debut novel The Lovely Bones​ became a movie starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci, I sat down with the author at her Long Beach, CA, home.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler  "It's just possible that not since a spider named Charlotte saved a pig named Wilbur from the slaughterhouse has there been a more tender tale of interspecies love and devotion." I loved the illustrations, too.
FLY MOMMIE  Blog by @quinkenzo 
​Tell us a little about yourself?
My Instagram (@iamkarenbrailsford) bio at the time of this interview pretty much sums me up: Delighting in all things synchronistic, magical and miraculous.  I also share my favorite things, inspirations and what makes my soul happyl
HEART & SOUL Sister to Sister  From the contributors page, featuring a photo of me with Amandla: Karen Brailsford, a staff correspondent for People magazine, is used to meeting celebrities. So she wasn't prepared to be swept away by gospel-recording artists Mary Mary, with whom she "laughed, hugged, teased and cooked" for our cover story, "Sister to Sister." "Erica and Tina Campbell come from a place of deep spirituality and truth," she remarks. "It's hard not to be captivated by them." 
HONEY Nia Rides Again This 11-page spread on actress Nia Long was positively lavish. We met for dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills. I remember being impressed by her candor, her adoration for her little boy—and the Mercedes SUV she drove off in at the end of our gabfest.  
PEOPLE Danny's Song To commemorate his October 10 birthday, the parents of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, launched Daniel Pearl Music Day.  I was assigned to interview them at their home in Encino, CA. I must confess: This was a tough one. The Pearls' grief was palpable and they were very inspired to honor their son. Every year on his birthday I think about Daniel and imagine he's somewhere playing his beloved violin.
IN TOUCH Cosmopolitan Style  When I ran into actress Golden Brooks at the premiere of The Darkest Minds (she plays the mother of Amandla's character as a little girl), I gushed. I first interviewed the Girlfriends actress years earlier for this interior design story.  I was inspired to buy an African bench and a kimono  after a visit to her Hollywood Hills home, but I didn't encase mine in a glass box like Golden. During our reunion I reminded her that she had Coldplay's "Clocks" one full blast and we both laughed.
IN TOUCH California Dreaming Ryan Seacrest was a bit taken aback when I informed him he'd once taken me on a tour of his home. It was 2018 and we were together on the set of Kelly & Ryan. Amandla was there to promote The Hate U Give and during a commercial break both he and Kelly came up to me to chat. (Ryan and I tried to figure out which house he was living in then.) I can't stress enough how lovely the two morning hosts are. And what they do every morning is nothing short of brilliant. The banter...the comradery...Such pros.
 ​YOUR ISSUE HERE: WORKING WITH HOLLYWOOD TO DELIVER YOUR MESSAGE TO MILLIONS  I spent six months researching, reporting and writing this guide targeting non-profits desirous of promoting their causes in film and television storylines and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 
PEOPLE  Baby Who Have Babies
This image will forever be etched in my mind: The teen mother I was assigned to cover is sitting cross-legged on her living room floor. Propped up by a colorful Boppy pillow and nursing on each breast is a baby. Twin girls. ​
PEOPLE  Babies Having Babies
​How's this for perspective? When I visited my teen mom five years later, my daughter was a year old and I was in my my mid-thirties. A 16-year old Jamie Lynn Spears would give birth eight years later. The reality series Teen Mom  was a decade away.
NEWSWEEK  Black & White: How Integrated is America? 
​Recently I felt compelled to order a copy of this  March 7, 1988 issue of Newsweek, which I helped report. It arrived the day of George Floyd's memorial service in Minneapolis. As I turned the pages, memories began to flood my awareness. The subtitle for the lead story reads "Twenty years after the murder of Martin Luther King, blacks have gained a fragile new middle class and a troubled 'underclass,' while the civil-rights movement itself has fallen into a neglect that hurts everyone". Sidebars included stories on IBM, an affirmative action "success story," and a closing piece written by Jonathan Alter and reported by Karen Springen and yours truly entitled "Why We Can't Wait Any Longer: Arguments heat up about how best to confront the despair of the underclass."
​The special report earned a National Headliner Award: Third Place for Outstanding Coverage of a Major News Event for projects on discrimination and poverty.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW  Last Summer With Maizon​​ At the end of my review​, I enthused, “Let’s hope Jacqueline Woodson’s pen writes steadily on.” Thirty-three books later, Woodson won The Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest in children’s literature. Check out the gallery to see photo of us together with a Tony Award-winning princess. 
​PEOPLE  Author, Author  I spent the day in Berkeley, CA, with the literary world's dynamic duo of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, arriving in time to watch her whip up pancakes for their children. At the end of a very long day, he signed and presented a copy of Summerland, his new novel, to Amandla. 
REAL BEAUTY  Change for Change's Sake Six months after I moved to Los Angeles from my native New York, this New York Times Group publication featured me in a story about  adapting to Left Coast style. In the photo, I'm toting a much-cherished purse given to me by Leonard Bridges (I still have it!) I wrote about the handbag designer the previous year in a New York Times Style Makers piece.
PEOPLE  In His Father's House Spending time with the legendary gospel singer Andraé Crouch, whose songs ("Soon and Very Soon," among others, I sang as a child on the Sunbeam Choir at Fort Motte Baptist Church, was a revelation. 
PEOPLE  Open Book The author of Bird by Bird  and Operating Instructions is a wizard at showing us how to observe, write and live fully. What I gained from my extraordinary afternoon with the  writher? A deep appreciation for her engaged, engaging soul—and for Wheat Thins, which she nibbled on throughout our interview.
PEOPLE ​ Make a Joyful Noise
Rev. Matthew Fox, not to be confused with the actor from Party of Five  and Lost , is a very generous and gracious soul. How do I know this? Twenty-three years after I profiled him for People, he agreed to read Sacred Landscapes of the Soul ​and write a blurb for it. Talk about divine orchestration. 
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY  ​Hungry for More About The Hunger Games? A Q&A With Amandla Stenberg (AKA Rue) My former Newsweek colleague Karen Springen wrote this piece and I shot the photo, later published in a communications textbook.
SECRETS TO DATE BY  by Jula Jane
I edited this book. It was fun. And the cover really popped. I have nothing more to say, except for this: My favorite chapter title is "Match.con."
BETTER WAY MOMS So Not Lindsay Lohan: How to Raise A Child Star  I'd forgotten that I can be seen hovering nearby in this photo of Amandla with French director Olivier Megaton  on the Chicago set of her very first film, Colombiana.. I wrote about the experience for this mommy blog. P.S. Zoe Saldana was amazingly sweet and cool.
Newsweek Black Models Back to Stay  No, I haven't gotten the publication wrong here! This Elle magazine cover starring Karen Alexander was featured in a Newsweek story I reported. I must confessed I'm horrified to see that although that although I had lunch with Iman, and if memory serves, Beverly Johnson, too. And yet none of their quotes made it into the final story. My experience working on this piece proved to be  both inspirational and prophetic. Six months later, I left Newsweek to work for Elle.  
Interview Daughters of the Dust  I still get chills whenever I watch Julie Dash's gorgeous film, seen in the top half of this image, which I reviewed when it premiered. So imagine how it felt to be on the Louisiana set of Beyoncé's Lemonade. That's Amandla in the tree, along with Zendaya. I recognized the inspiration immediately.
NPR Tell Me More With Michele Martin
Should Kids See ​The Hunger Games?
The violent theme of The Hunger Games incited lots of controversy. As Rue’s mom, I had lots to say on the matter. 

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