We Don't Even Know

  Pandemic times are still something that we are still getting used to. Stay diligent everyone as the fall approaches us.  Christian and Shonali appreciate each other a little more on this day. Christian learns an important lesson from Shonali.  Shonali is thankful that Christian is honest with her. Did you know that bicycle theft and self haircuts are on the rise during a pandemic? Our guests are comedian & scientist Raj Sivaraman, and musician K. Michelle DuBois. Our first guest is virologist (someone who studies viruses) and comedian Raj Sivaraman who recently moved from NYC to Arizona.  Things are very different in Arizona.  We discuss mixed messaged, the neck gator controversy, the coronavirus being like the Goldilocks scenario of virus scares, being from Kentucky, In and Out Burger and we quiz Raj on his knowledge of conspiracy theories.  You will not find Raj Sivaraman doing virtual open mics BUT you should follow him on Twitter.  Shonali's husband - artist & mural painter Jasper Patch joins

Christian Felix, Shonali Bhowmik and Justin The Intern celebrated their 8 Yr. Anniversary with special guest comedian Shalewa Sharpe on 7/28/20.  Christian and Shonali chose  highlights from their over 80 episodes to discuss with Shalewa.  Topics covered include pandemic fashion, sanitizing body parts, your only black friend, mask culture, white activism, NYC sex guidelines, marijuana laugh, roasting skills, the "good guy" syndrome, BLM, holidays personified as people, hardwired for hope, job security, Mr. Show, fart punctuation and Jason Lam & Jiminy.  Shalewa was hilarious & gracious as usual, sharing with us her unique innate wisdom and  says "Even I didn't know I was that deep."   We shared highlights from our prior shows with guest appearances by Chelsea Peretti, Kenice Mobley, M. Lamar, Jeremy O. Harris, Patrick Waldo, Nore Davis, Sean Patton, May Jeong, Melena Ryzik, Felice Rosser.  Even Shonali's husband Jasper Patch makes an appearance.  You can check out the video version of the show on Fac

Special guests comedian Hannibal Buress and musician Nicole Atkins join WDEK tonight! Christian, Shonali and Justin The Intern are still in their apartments in NYC.  This has been an especially rough week for everyone.  WDEK's mission is to spread the love with its first Garbage Giveaway including a hand me down tracksuit  and an ancient fondue set.  Congrats to our winners!  As this is a Zoom recording, please bear with us as there are some small hiccups in the sound due to the video freezes.  Comedian, actor & rapper Hannibal Buress joins us from Gas Station, Arizona!  He explains how he got his comedy career started at the mini mart behind him. The man does it all, everything from rap to play all star celebrity basketball.  His new hit  Judge Judy is available now on iTunes.  Check it out! The song comes from the view of a person who was on the show and who is willing to get "roasted by Judge Judy."  All the way from California, Nate Pierce joins us for Get It Off Your Chest!  Christian has some ch

We come to you with our 2nd ever Live from the Epicenter of the Pandemic episode.We once again want to recognize and thank all of our first responders who are risking their lives for our communities. You are amazing!  Christian & Justin coincidentally both have a book about Assholes.  Hear who the assholes of this pandemic are today.  This pandemic is taking a toll on all of us especially those of us in NYC and we are eager for fellowship with friends new and old w guests comedian Chelsea Peretti and hip-hop artist Jabee.  We bring back one of our most popular segments #GetItOffYourChest with guests Carrie Imberman and Susie Cangelosi!   Note if you are watching the video version of the show, their zoom backdrops are gorgeous.  Carrie let's you know how she feels about "pandemic homework" and Susie's apartment has become a WeWork!  Shonali has some strong words for new sourdough bread bakers. Christian notes new dating tactics during this pandemic.  Our first guest is our longtime friend, comedian, actres

WDEK notes the seriousness of these times and our hearts are with all the first responders and health care workers working on the frontlines during this pandemic. You are our heroes. We have friends that are sick with Covid-19 and we are thinking of you and send love your way.  We hope that our show provides a little bit of lightness, fun, connection and somewhat of an escape for you in this time of crisis.  For the first time ever, We Don't Even Know w Christian Felix Justin Hall and Shonali Bhowmik did a Self Isolation FB Live Stream show. Thanks to everyone who was with us and special thanks to our brilliant guests - Andrea Rosen Brian Bahe and Chris Maxwell!  Christian, Justin and Shonali come to you from each of their self isolation abodes in NYC.  They discuss their coping methods and their own do's and don'ts during a pandemic.  Also Christian is giving away a fondue set. Our first guest is actress, comedian and Shonali's Variety Shac sister Andrea Rosen!  Andrea did not wash her h

At a time when the breaking news includes the coronavirus pandemic, Barney's shutting it doors, Harvey Weinstein sentenced to jail; We Don't Even Know Ep. 78, February 2020 starts out with even more important breaking news. Shonali & Christian completed the Whole 30 without cheating and Christian Felix has gotten lasik surgery! Most importantly they have another fantastic show with great guests along with real people sitting in a room communing together in real time.  First guests include former guests who found love on We Don't Even Know: Chelsea White and Tash Neal.  Find out what chicken tenders and gas have to do with being in love! Super personal questions are asked and answered by this beautiful twosome who unexpectedly hit it off during the July 2019 live recording of WDEK.   We discuss cat enthusiasm bonding and having to be on the DL when it comes to being in love in NYC.  Shonali gifts Christian with an "therworldly fragrances for earthbound souls” called the Tower by The Phoenix and The Fool.

Happy 2020!  Christian and Shonali roll into 2020 with tales of hunger and dogs gone wild.  Have you ever tried the Whole30? Christian and Shonali start the year out with another amazing lineup of guests.  Christian and Shonali are obsessed with all of them.  Their first guest is award winning choreographer, director, artistic director Raja Feather Kelly.  He is the artistic director of his own theater media dance company The feath3r theory.  How did a young man from Houston, TX with an obsession for pop culture, musical theater, dance and Andy Warhol become the critical darling of the uptown theater world?  His work as a brilliant choreographer is featured in works like Fairview and Strange Loop and his last performance as a dancer was a solo show, 2 years ago in Ugly at The Bushwick Star.  Go see his Kelly's upcoming works, Wednesday by the feath3r company and We're Gonna Die which he is directing at 2nd Stage premiering Feb. 4 and opening in February 25, 2020.  See why Raja's been featured in the New Yor

We welcome back Christian Felix aka Mr. Cardigan to the show.  Shonali & Christian discuss their preparations for the holiday season and seeing friends vs family over the holidays.   Our first guest (00:08:45) is comedian & filmmaker Kenice Mobley.  Kenice is from North Carolina and came to NYC via Los Angeles and Boston MA.  Kenice has only been in NYC for the past 2 1/2 years and she has already made a big impact on the NYC comedy scene.  Kenice tells us about a time when she received a "high volume" of Richard pics from men. Find out how she dealt with them.   Kenice has a podcast called Love About Town w co-host Rohan Padhye discussing love, sex & relationships.  Christian and Shonali lobby to be on her show.   Our second guest (00:26:50) is actress Angelline Chung who also happens to be a Julliard graduate thanks to her parents in Singapore. Angelline hails from Singapore and was on a television show there called Shall We Talk?  Her dream role is one which would deal with issues of mental h

We are 75 Episodes old as of of tonight, October 29, 2019.  Our guest co-host is choreographer, teacher, tennis fanatic and trivia master Joe Celej. Joe joins Shonali Bhowmik to discuss all things horrific.  Joe and Shonali are joined by guests artist Trish Tillman, comedian Clare O'Kane, Gary The Vampire and performer, musician, comic Lauren Maul.   Trish Tillman is a visual artist who lives currently in NYC and in one of Oscar Wilde's former residences.  We discuss the plight of an artist - working all alone for hours on end and not talking to anyone; having multiple jobs to supplement your income as an artist and making art as a child in Washington, DC.  Shonali is convinced Trish's sculptures are influenced by the art residency she did in India in terms of the colors, decorations, materials and simple forms she uses. We discuss Bollywood horror films, slackers & Trish's solo show opening at Aysa Geisberg Gallery in Chelsea on Thursday Nov.7.  Go to her opening party from 6-8pm to see her gorgeous wor

While Christian is traveling for work, we are pleased to have Duane Harriott, join us as Shonali's guest co-host.  Duane is a wedding DJ, a legendary DJ on WFMU, a composer AND one of the stars of the Other Music Documentary which was released over the spring of 2019.  Shonali and Duane discuss the power of the wedding DJ and strangers eating your food.  Their first guest is writer Tamara Best. (Timecode at 10:33) Her articles have been published in the New York Times, Time Out and The Daily Beast. She is the assistant managing editor of The Daily Beast.  Her work centers on the intersection of identity and culture for communities of people of color.  Tamara is of West Indian descent and also lived in Atlanta as did Shonali. They discuss Tamara's success in NYC as a writer and her parents' pride.  Tamara specifically shares her insight as to the urgency of the work (Fairview, Slave Play, Strange Loop, What To Send Up When It Goes Down) of a slew of African American playwrights who have recently burst onto th

It's the end of summer 2019 and beach time for Christian. Shonali & Christian's friendship is unique.  Their Episode 73 guests include playwright Jeremy O. Harris, comedian Nore Davis and musician Bianca Espinal aka BIA.E. This is an extra special double edition show.   Christian and Shonali are so excited to have playwright Jeremy O. Harris join them just as his hit play Slave Play makes its way to Broadway! Their in depth conversation (00:07:56 - 01:08:20) includes topics such as Harris' Color Purple book report in the 6th grade, his mom, Club Monaco, his Rihanna interview, the relationship of fashion to theater, Aleshea Harris, black erasure, colonialism, white attention, being considered a "polarizing figure", academic probation, The 1619 Project, art criticism and his appreciation of Mr. Show.  Jeremy O. Harris will be the youngest black man to ever be on Broadway and is having a big party on the first night of previews for Slave Play on September 10th.  His Broadway premiere is on October 6th.  Get

The Red Room has new air conditioning and WDEK is soaking it up. Christian and his washcloth went to a nude beach. Shonali is feeling like a real New Yorker.  Their guests on July 30, 2019 are magician Greg Dubin - "The Great Dubini," Comedian Chelsea White and Musician Tash Neal.  Shonali thought Greg Dubin aka "The Great Dubini" was a comedian when she met him but found out he was much more than that - he's funny and he's also a professional magician! He does tricks for us at the top of his interview and even Shonali & Christian who are standing beside him can't figure them out.  Greg started out doing magic as a kid, went to magic camp and stuck with it.  Find out how he avoids feeling like a hack.  Greg was born on the same day (not year) that Houdini arrived in America.  Do you know what Houdini's real name is AND what Greg's worst line is during his magic routine? Go see Greg perform his one hour show at The Slipper Room on September 4th.  Shonali went to San Diego to visit a family immigrant shelt

It's the beginning of the real summer of NYC.  Its time to bus out your washcloths y'all!  Christian and Shonali went to Mexico City and must poll the audience on flip flops. The first guest of WDEK Ep. 71 is accomplished actor Ato Essandoh.  Christian starts reading off his IMDB which is way too long to list here but check it out for yourself. Currently he's one of the television stars of CBS' The Code, was the star of Netflix' Altered Carbon and HBO's Vinyl; also holding roles in movies such as Django Unchained, Blood Diamond, Jason Bourne and so many more. Ato shares his journey from being a chemical engineering student at Cornell to becoming a professional actor.  Christian and Ato get educated as to the new national dance craze, The Git Up by Shonali. Ato is refreshingly humble for being such an accomplished actor.  He comments on luck in the business and his obligation to help others out.  By all accounts Meryl Streep is perfection in a human.  Shonali shares a personal story about her love for Bigfoot

Christian is back in the Red Room for Ep. 70 of We Don't Even Know.  Shonali and Christian can't help but spread the word of the phenomenal soul r&b pop hip hop artist Lizzo after seeing her live show just a few days earlier. We quickly move from self-love to self-mutilation - you sort of could call it that - waxing is not so popular these days is it? That's the question.  Bushes are back in  - well that's what Shonali thinks.  Shonali and Christian's first guest is writer Jamela Zahra (@ 00:12:35).  She explodes on to the podcast with an unpleasant waxing story.  Jamela grew up with MTV and always wanted to be a VJ. Her dream was to kick a blunt with Janet Jackson.  We believe that dream will come true.  Jamela has a website called HighHowAreYou.com geared to women who smoke cannabis, especially women of color.  Jamela's ultimate goal is to break down the stigma of smoking pot for black people.  After saying she herself should have her own brand of weed, she confessed she would like to have her own cook

Special guest co-host comedian Courtney Fearrington joins Shonali as they celebrate the taping of Ep. 69 with special guests comedian Rufat Agayev, musician Deah Harriott and atmospheric scientist Campbell Watson.   Courtney and Shonali start it all out on a serious note discussing  Nashville, the bachelor and bachelorette party capital of the country. We put our guest atmospheric scientist & surfer Campbell Watson on the spot and asked him to tell it to us straight. Are we going to die tomorrow? Campbell is from Australia and we can't figure out is he saying algae or alga blooms? We did learn about the good things that humans have done in fighting climate change. Make sure to find Cambpell's artistic and performative work either on stage or online and stop using plastic bags at the grocery.  Our second guest is comedian Rufat Agayev, who moved to NYC 8 years ago by way of Florida where he went to college and "trickled down to sociology" as a major.  There he started to perform as a rapper opening up for

It's March, it's springtime and it's still cold in NYC but we'll warm you up with our fabulous guests.  Nice, huh?  Special guests include painter, video artist Samantha Nye; stand up comedian Courtney Fearrington; illustrator and writer Jemima Williams; and performer, musician, playwright Benjamin Scheuer!   Christian and Shonali discuss spring attire in the cold and Christian's ability to draw random people towards him wherever he goes.  Could it be it's his name? The first guest is painter and video artist Samantha Nye.  She started had a professional career as a little girl which was being a child model.  When the work dried up, she found her way to art after leaving a massage therapist instructor career behind.  Samantha's art is powerful, compelling and lesbian focused. She delves into family relationships and the inherent sexuality found within those relationships.  Find out how she crossed the line with her supportive parents via her provocative art....she was an undergrad at the time. Check out Sama

2019 continues to be better than we thought it would be. Our Ep. 67 guests are stand-up comedian, writer, actor Sean Patton; actor, writer, producer Eric Lockley; and musician, comedian, artist Caitlin Cook.   It's February, the month of love, Black History Month, the month of the sauna and the red carpet for Christian and Shonali!  Our first guest of the night is Eric Lockley, an actor, writer, producer and a winner of the Amateur Night at the Apollo as a seven year old! Eric is one of the founders of the Movement Theater and a Producing Artistic Leader.  Eric was one of the producers of a powerful interactive experimental theatrical hit show called What To Send Up When It Comes Down by Aleshea Harris which was created to honor the black lives lost to “racialized violence."  We talk collective truths, comedy in drama, how much fish is too much fish and Jennifer Lewis as next year's Oscar Host. Watch Eric's web series Blacker here! For the first time ever in WDEK history, audience members, Catherine and Bra

We start out 2019 with an explosion not a bang. Our guests are award-winning investigative journalist May Jeong, award-winning writer/stand up comedian Josh Gondelman and singular blues punk rock n’ roll bad ass musician Shilpa Ray. Along with special surprise guest Mitch The Enthusiasm Coach and Megan Fitzpatrick Gets It Off Her Chest. Christian and Shonali catch up on the holidays, mom talk, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Schulz' signature and the opportunity which 2019 will hopefully bring. Their first guest is investigative journalist May Jeong.  May is a wunderkind.  She's spent years living in Afghanistan covering the war and received high accolades for reporting from there.  We discuss her courage, smarts and as she calls it being "young and dumb" in terms of saying yes to every opportunity to get the real story.  Look for her upcoming work in the New Yorker regarding another explosive ground breaking story. Shonali's new 2019 positive attitude is due to the new man in her life, Mitch The Enthusiasm Coach.  Mit

Our 2018 WDEK Holiday Episode 65 was taped in Shonali's apartment in front of a live audience w special guest co-host Shalewa Sharpe and guests comedians Sharron Paul, Chris Laker and musician James Harvey.  This is a re-taping of our brilliant October 2018 show for reasons you will learn when you listen to Ep. 65.  The cider was flowing and the holiday spread was spread out.   Shonali and Shalewa's friendship began way back in the ATL.  Cover your ears mom for the first 5 minutes of this conversation.  Christian, Shalewa and Shonali talk cornbread WET dressing and fried turkey.  Comedian, writer, producer, side hustler (aren't we all) Sharron Paul joins the party. They discuss holiday travel, improv passenger actors and using what Shalewa calls "fun airlines."  Have you ever heard of ice cream theft? Exciting news ya'll! Make sure to check out Sharron's adult novelty website called TheNastyAmerican.com . Comedian Chris Laker joins us in his festive socks and all around good shirt. We talk male Spanx, family

How many meals did you have on Thanksgiving? Well for one of our hosts, that answer is more than one.  It's the holiday season and in Episode 64 (is actually Ep. 65 BUT we unfortunately had issues with the audio recording for that show from October 2018 with Sharron Paul, Shalewa Sharpe, Chris Laker and James Harvey and will be sharing their voices with you next month.) Christian and Shonali must catch up on all things food and family related.  They are joined by guests photographer (our own in house WDEK photographer) and world explorer Daria Huxley, professional figure ice skater, comic actor & filmmaker Tommy Do and musician & writer Maggy Adeleye.   Daria Huxley moved to NYC from St. Petersburg, Russia for an internship only 3 1/2 years ago.  She admits to enjoying our Russian hacker WDEK Episode 57. Daria's photos are very much like paintings in that she transforms images of architecture into beautiful abstract compositions. Christian teaches us about the "not safe for work setting" for photos o