Joe RaiolaEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Show Notes Joe Raiola is President and Artistic Director of Theatre Within , the nonprofit behind the Annual John Lennon Tribute , which he has produced since shortly after Lennon's death in December 1980. What began as an informal community gathering of poets, storytellers, and musicians grieving a neighbor has grown into one of New York City's most significant annual benefit concerts, and the only ongoing John Lennon tribute in North America or Europe officially sanctioned by Yoko Ono. This year's 46th edition takes place November 21 at Town Hall, honoring Cyndi Lauper . The tribute funds Theatre Within's core mission: bringing free programs in creative expression and mindfulness to two communities in need. The John Lennon Real Love Project brings Lennon's music and life story into public elementary and middle schools, where each class writes and records its own verse of "Real Love" over Lennon's original piano track, building a version of the song that belongs entirely to that school. A parallel program serves the cancer community with songwriting workshops for children, teens, and adults, alongside creative writing, visual arts, photography, and meditation programs, including the MAD Art Workshop, led by longtime MAD art director Sam Viviano. Raiola also spent 33 years as an editor at MAD Magazine , work that shaped a generation of satirists, including Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, both of whom Raiola says drew on the magazine's influence before either had a show of their own. He speaks candidly about what was lost when the magazine's ownership relocated production to California in 2017 with an entirely new staff, folding the relaunch after roughly sixteen months, and about why he still believes in the tactile, patient experience of a physical magazine or a vinyl record in a culture that increasingly wants everything instantly. The conversation also touches on where AI-generated performance fits into all of this, including an uncannily convincing AI vocalist Raiola has been following. But the heart of the conversation is Raiola's answer to the question he says sits behind everything Theatre Within does: what was John Lennon's essential message, if not to give a damn? Host Sean Martin , Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine, Studio C60, and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast & Music Evolves Podcast | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com/ Guest(s) Joe Raiola , President and Artistic Director of Theatre Within , longtime editor of MAD Magazine , and producer of the Annual John Lennon Tribute | Website: https://www.joeraiola.com Resources Theatre Within |

Show Notes Joe Raiola is President and Artistic Director of Theatre Within , the nonprofit behind the Annual John Lennon Tribute , which he has produced since shortly after Lennon's death in December 1980. What began as an informal community gathering of poets, storytellers, and musicians grieving a neighbor has grown into one of New York City's most significant annual benefit concerts, and the only ongoing John Lennon tribute in North America or Europe officially sanctioned by Yoko Ono. This year's 46th edition takes place November 21 at Town Hall, honoring Cyndi Lauper . The tribute funds Theatre Within's core mission: bringing free programs in creative expression and mindfulness to two communities in need. The John Lennon Real Love Project brings Lennon's music and life story into public elementary and middle schools, where each class writes and records its own verse of "Real Love" over Lennon's original piano track, building a version of the song that belongs entirely to that school. A parallel program serves the cancer community with songwriting workshops for children, teens, and adults, alongside creative writing, visual arts, photography, and meditation programs, including the MAD Art Workshop, led by longtime MAD art director Sam Viviano. Raiola also spent 33 years as an editor at MAD Magazine , work that shaped a generation of satirists, including Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, both of whom Raiola says drew on the magazine's influence before either had a show of their own. He speaks candidly about what was lost when the magazine's ownership relocated production to California in 2017 with an entirely new staff, folding the relaunch after roughly sixteen months, and about why he still believes in the tactile, patient experience of a physical magazine or a vinyl record in a culture that increasingly wants everything instantly. The conversation also touches on where AI-generated performance fits into all of this, including an uncannily convincing AI vocalist Raiola has been following. But the heart of the conversation is Raiola's answer to the question he says sits behind everything Theatre Within does: what was John Lennon's essential message, if not to give a damn? Host Sean Martin , Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine, Studio C60, and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast & Music Evolves Podcast | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com/ Guest(s) Joe Raiola , President and Artistic Director of Theatre Within , longtime editor of MAD Magazine , and producer of the Annual John Lennon Tribute | Website: https://www.joeraiola.com Resources Theatre Within |

Things We Said Today #442 – The 45th Annual John Lennon Tribute, a Chat with Joe Raiola In Episode 442 of Things We Said Today Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren DeVivo are joined by Joe Raiola, the founder, president and artistic director of the annual John Lennon Tribute concerts in New York – this year at Town Hall on December 12. (We also discuss aspects of the new archival set, “Power to the People,” since Joe took issue with some of our comments in Episode 441). The discussion begins after Ken’s news segment (at 14’36”). The website for the tribute: https://www.lennontribute.org/ As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your comments about this or any of our other shows to our email address thingswesaidtodayradioshow@gmail.com , join our "Things We Said Today Video Podcast" Facebook page and comment there, on X at @thingswesaidfab or Bluesky at @thingswesaidtoday, or visit us on Facebook and give us your thoughts. You can watch the show on our YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-zgHaPfL6BGmOX5NoyFE-A], or hear the audio version on Podbean [https://beatlesexaminer.podbean.com/], iHeart Radio, Apple podcasts and other sources of fine podcasts. Our shows appear every two weeks. Please be sure SUBSCRIBE, click LIKE and write a (positive, ideally!) review of our show here or on our iTunes page ! Our download numbers have been continually rising, as more people discover us and it's all because of you. So we thank you very much for your support! MANY MANY WAYS TO CONTACT US: Our email address: thingswesaidtodayradioshow@gmail.com BlueSky: @thingswesaidtoday Twitter @thingswesaidfab Facebook: Things We Said Today video podcast ALLAN on Facebook: Allan Kozinn or Allan Kozinn Remixed. Allan’s Twitter/X feed: @kozinn Bluesky: @allankozinn.bsky.social Threads: allan_kozinn The McCartney Legacy’s website: mccartneylegacy.co.uk/ The McCartney Legacy on Facebook: McCartney Legacy, on Twitter/X: @McCARTNEYLEGACY and on Bluesky: @mccartneylegacy.bsky.social The McCartney Legacy YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8zaPoY45IxDZKRMf2Z6VyA KEN’s YouTube Channel, Ken Michaels Radio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Dkp6fkIsYwGq_vCwltyg Ken's Website Beatles Trivia Page: https://www.kenmichaelsradio.com/beatles-trivia--games.html Ken’s other podcast, Talk More Talk: A Solo-Beatles Videocast You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@talkmoretalksolobeatles Ken's Weekly Beatles radio show "Every Little Thing" On Demand: http://wfdu.fm/Listen/hd1%20recent%20archives/ Ken's e-mail: everylittlething@att.net Ken's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ken.michaels.31/ DARREN on Facebook: Darren DeVivo