PODCAST · society
Expressions
by Leeah Marie
Hi y'all! Great to meet you—I'm Leeah Marie, a self-proclaimed storyteller OBSESSED with what makes culture tick.In this series, I’m sitting down with people at the heart of cultural expression—those shaping art, language, community, storytelling, and beyond—to explore what builds and celebrates our shared humanity. Join me and learn from the creators and curators of culture each and every one of us has the capacity to be.
Episodes
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On Fulbright and Creating for the Sake of Creation
CALLING ALL ARTISTS! Do what you love ANNDD get that bread? This week’s Expression’s guest, says that is absolutely possible. Here’s how: A Fulbright!! You heard it here first: Fulbrights are not just for scientists and teachers; they need arts researchers! And that’s exactly how spatial designer...
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On Rebuilding the Structures of History with Malaika Newsome
From cultural anthropologist to curatorial assistant, Malaika Newsome, now at the International Center of Photography, is no stranger to investigating and cultivating across arts and culture. In this week’s conversation, we talked about what it means to explore cultural spaces as a Black person…
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On Creating Your Own Context with María Ruiz
Y’all ever scroll through Substack and BOOM, there’s an article that rocks your world? That’s how I felt about Maria Ruiz’s Rants of Art Curator, and it’s why I’m so excited to have her on this episode. Maria is a writer and curator based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together we talk starting over...
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On the Dots That Make Humanity with Kelsey Zalimeni
This week’s episode welcomes Kelsey Zalimeni, Deputy COO at blue-chip gallery Almine Rech and founder of ART.WORK, a mentorship initiative for emerging arts industry professionals. In this episode, Kelsey charts her path from small-town North Carolina, across London and Paris, from the sports…
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On What Makes a Practice and Who Makes an Artist with Stephane Calvin-Rosenberg
Couldn’t have an arts season without speaking to artists now, could we :) Please welcome Stephane Calvin-Rosenberg, an incredible mixed-media artist and curator. In this episode, she speaks to the tension of tradition and rootedness that makes culture, what it is like to operate as both an...
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On Culture as Little Tidbits with Tanisha Gandhi
Expressions is BACK and better than ever! Introducing Season 2: we’re still sitting down with the people at the heart of cultural expressions, except this season with a twist. We’re focusing all in on the thing that most people think of when you think of culture — the arts. To kick us off is...
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On Finding Your Unmuted Moments with Ehis Akhetuamhen [SPECIAL EDITION]
When Ehis first arrived in the U.S., he stayed silent to belong. Now, he’s helping others speak up. An immigrant from Nigeria who is now crushing it at Google, his story is one of quiet strength and loud becoming. Weaving together the personal and the professional, together, we unpack his story…
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On Super-Connectors, Wing People and the Human Handshake with Shaena Harrison [SPECIAL EDITION]
Cultural expression is how we signal “I’m here” before we ever speak. In this special edition, I’m sitting down with Shaena Harrison, a professional wing woman based in Stockholm who designs rooms where people actually meet each other. We talk about her definition of cultural expression as “the...
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On Finding Your Voice and Keeping It Alive with Laura Plata [SPECIAL EDITION]
From Medellín’s vibrant streets to quiet moments of self-discovery, vocalist and music consultant Laura shares her journey, from engineering student to her master's in composition, from performer to guide for others finding their voice. In this bilingual edition of Expressions, we talk…
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On Building the Culture Women Founders Actually Need with Nomiki Petrolla
Startup grit, real talk, and a give-first spirit. In this edition of Expressions, I sit down with Nomiki, founder of Theanna, who's building more than just a platform—she’s building culture. She breaks down why closing the access gap means starting long before funding. But she also makes it clear...
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On Social Media as Cultural Curator, the Joys and Pains of the Chronically Online, and the Case Against Lurking with Mya Shell
In this edition of Expressions, I sit down with Mya Shell—marketer, social media strategist, and Midwest-to-big-city storyteller—to explore the real meaning of cultural expression in the digital age. We talk about building personal brands with intention, translating online connection into offline...
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On Resisting Sameness and Balancing the Spiritual with the Substantive with Lolis Elie
We do ourselves a disservice by limiting cultural expression to the arts. It's in how we speak. What we eat. How we move through the world—even when we don’t realize we’re expressing ourselves. In this episode, I sat down with Lolis Elie, a New Orleans-born writer, filmmaker, and editor whose…
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On the Gen Z LinkedIn Revolution and Choosing to Take the Bold Path with Sevval Cira
In this episode of Expressions, I’m joined by the incredible Sevval Cira, where we explore what it means to show up authentically online. We dive into Sevval’s journey of finding her “why” and how it’s a fluid, evolving process—one that’s not always linear, and that’s totally okay. We also chat...
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On The Stories We Inherit and What We Choose to Keep with Ashley Strahm
When Ashley moved to Portugal from Durham, North Carolina, what she found was the work of writing a new story for herself. In this episode, we talk about being childfree in the South, finding unexpected belonging abroad, and letting go of the story that says success means exhaustion. From family…
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On Doing It Scared (Solo Episode!)
What do you do when fear shows up? Cry? Panic? Hike a volcano and regret every life choice? (Same.) In this solo episode of Expressions, I’m digging into personal culture—the kind you build quietly, in between jobs, in new countries, in broken Spanish, in big feelings. It's about showing up. Even...
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On The Cultures We Carry and the Ones We Create with Sara Lischinsky
“I didn’t feel that Venezuelan until I left.” In this edition of Expressions, I sit down with Sara Lischinsky—a marketer and storyteller whose life has been shaped by movement. We talk about what it means to build your own personal culture, how language and identity shift across borders, and why...
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On Music, M&A, and the Mentors Making It Happen with Trisha Gulati
What if you didn’t have to choose between your passions? Trisha Gulati is a singer, a computer science and stats student, a deal-closer, and a mentor in the making. In this episode of Expressions, we talk about bridging worlds—tech and art, tradition and innovation, student life and...
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On Making Finance Personal with Saanvi Ibrahimpatnam
What if finance wasn’t intimidating, but deeply personal? In this episode, I sit down with Saanvi Ibrahimpatnam, founder of InkWallet and first-year student at Cornell, who is on a mission to make financial education more accessible. We talk about how culture shapes our relationship with money…
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On Finding Home Across an Ocean with Kyndall Cox
Stepping into a new country isn’t just about travel. It’s about change—about seeing the world and yourself in a new way. In this edition of Expressions, I sit down with Kyndall Cox, director of the Douglass-O’Connell Global Internship, the very program that sent me to Ireland years ago and set me...
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On Writing, Building, and the Beauty of Just Starting with Madi Baldwin & Sophie Riley
Writing can be a solitary act, but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode, I sit down with Madi Baldwin and Sophie Riley, the founders ofNovelBound, a thriving writing community that started as two friends swapping drafts and turned into something much bigger. We get into the intersection of...
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On Jazz, the Soundtrack to Our Shared Humanity with Sunny Sumter
Some of my earliest memories are of my mom dancing in the kitchen, music filling the room. Sometimes it was go-go, sometimes it was jazz, but no matter the song, she always moved. That’s the magic of jazz—it’s more than music. It’s history, connection, and cultural expression in its purest form.…
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On Labor, Grief, and Everything In Between with Abbie Langmead
The first episode ever recorded for Expressions is finally here. After months of delays and unexpected tech challenges, including some audio imperfections, this raw and reflective conversation with Abbie Langmead feels even more meaningful. Together, we explore grief—not just as loss, but as a...
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On Creating A Life Uniquely Your Own (Solo Episode!)
Welcome to the first solo edition of Expressions! This week it’s just me, Leeah, diving into the story behind the podcast and the experiences that have shaped my perspective on cultural expression. I reflect on what it means to be a creator and curator of culture, my journey growing up across 5...
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On Changing Lives, One Play at a Time with Jacob Pelzman-Kern
Theater changes lives. It’s happened to me, and it’s happened to my guest this week, Jacob Pelzman-Kern, an award-winning actor and one of my very good friends. We dive into the magic of theater—how it creates safe spaces for people to be their full, unfiltered selves and inspires audiences in...
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On Curating Belonging (in Beverages and Beyond) with Erisse Peterson
To kick off the new year, we're diving deep into the concept of belonging. In this episode of Expressions, I sit down with Erisse Peterson—an incredible brand marketer and storyteller in the beverage industry. Erisse shares her journey of breaking down barriers in the beverage industry and wine...
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On Reclaiming Tech and Showing Up As You Are with Ananya Dutta
In this episode of Expressions, I’m joined by Ananya Dutta, a writer and tech PR strategist, to explore how technology shapes our daily lives and personal identities. From growing up as an not-so-tech-enthused creative kid in the Bay Area to building a career in the tech world she once resisted,...
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On The Power of Relentlessness with Mayan Benedicto
This week, I sat down with Mayan Benedicto, an incredible community builder and the visionary behind La Casa in Medellín—a space dedicated to fostering authentic connections and collaboration. We dive into Mayan’s journey to becoming a cultural connector, her philosophy of the "three C's", and…
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On The Stories Worth Telling with Nichimyo Rich
In this episode of Expressions, I’m joined by Nichimyo Rich, a storyteller and social impact PR strategist, to explore the art of amplifying voices and creating authentic connections. From her campaign “Girlhood,” highlighting the experiences of young women in the shelter system, to her…
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On Building Across Cultures with Moumi Fall
In this episode, Moumi and I chat about cultural expression and building community across different places and identities. We explore her journey from Senegal to New York and now DC, and how her multicultural background shapes her work in digital marketing and copywriting. Moumi shares insights…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Hi y'all! Great to meet you—I'm Leeah Marie, a self-proclaimed storyteller OBSESSED with what makes culture tick.In this series, I’m sitting down with people at the heart of cultural expression—those shaping art, language, community, storytelling, and beyond—to explore what builds and celebrates our shared humanity. Join me and learn from the creators and curators of culture each and every one of us has the capacity to be.
HOSTED BY
Leeah Marie
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Expressions have?
Expressions currently has 29 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Expressions about?
Hi y'all! Great to meet you—I'm Leeah Marie, a self-proclaimed storyteller OBSESSED with what makes culture tick.In this series, I’m sitting down with people at the heart of cultural expression—those shaping art, language, community, storytelling, and beyond—to explore what builds and celebrates...
How often does Expressions release new episodes?
Expressions has 29 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Expressions?
You can listen to Expressions on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Expressions?
Expressions is created and hosted by Leeah Marie.
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