Busy K’s 2016 Booklist

What time is it?  It’s time for Busy K’s 2016 booklist!  I’m just realizing that most of these books are about war or apocalypse.  Thanks 2016!

Queen of the Climbers

A Woman’s Place is at the Top by Hannah Kimberley, St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

My friend Hannah Kimberley has written a book about Annie Smith Peck, one of the most accomplished women of the twentieth century that you have never heard of!  I had the honor of assisting Hannah with archival research over the past several years.  It was truly inspiring to read diaries, letters, and ephemera from such a tenacious character. I often felt like I had walked back in time: from the country’s reaction to Lincoln’s assassination, to the nail-biting climb to the top of Peru’s the highest point, to the suffrage marches in New York City. Peck accomplished all of her feats as an unmarried woman and often (gasp) in pants!

Pre-orders will influence the first printing, and, if there are enough, it can put a book on the bestseller list, since all those pre-orders count towards first week book sales.  You can order it here.

On the eve of a big moment for women in politics, I recommend this book about another woman who carved her own path.

Turns Out the Bat is Mightier Than the Sword

Grand Central Station

(Oct 25, 2016 UPDATE: 7.57 million viewers watched Talking Dead this weekend.  Congratulations to the team and thank you all for tuning in!)

Y’all ok?  Do you need a hug? That was rough.  I’ve known what was going to happen since our trip to Atlanta this summer, but it was still hard to watch.  The good news is that this season will introduce our pals to new characters and communities. I can hardly wait.

Chris Hardwick wins “Hardest Working Host” in television for his performance.  A “very special” Talking Dead aired last night in Hollywood Forever cemetery with the entire cast available to talk about the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead.  What they didn’t count on was the pouring rain.  What started out as a light sprinkle got progressively worse causing Hardwick’s mic to short out, but I have to hand it to him, he never once lost his cheer.  What a night!

Tune in for more exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew of Season 7 of The Walking Dead.

¡Vivan Los Muertos Vivientes!

Fear the Walking Dead, Episode 208 “Grotesque.” AMC. 2016.

Who watched Talking Dead following the Season 2 mid-season premiere of Fear the Walking Dead last night?  An awful lot of you, that’s who!  Thank you for continuing to make Talking Dead the number one talk show on television among adults ages 18-49.  Last night Talking Dead featured exclusive on-set interviews with Cliff Curtis, Colman Domingo, and Paul Calderon.  In June, I went down to Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico and met with the cast and crew.  The local Mexican crew that worked with us were fantastic and knew what I wanted even before I knew myself.  Gracias a todos.

Big News: Busy K joins the NYWIFT Board of Directors!

This summer, I was elected to the Board of Directors of the New York Women in Film and Television organization (NYWIFT). I am proud to serve the organization, which supports the careers of women in the Entertainment Industry.

I am honored that this week NYWIFT is running a profile on me, as part of their “Meet the New Board Members” series.  You can see it here.

A Planet on Steroids: Mission Juno

“Everything about Jupiter is extreme; it’s a planet on steroids” — Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator, Mission Juno

This illustration depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, with its solar arrays and main antenna pointed toward the distant sun and Earth. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

July 4th is a day of celebration, and not just for Independence Day!  It is also the day that the spacecraft Juno will finally reach its destination Jupiter after a 5-year voyage.  Juno should reach the planet’s orbit by tonight (July 4) and will then spend 18 months studying what lies beneath Jupiter’s thick cloud cover.

From NASA:

“During Juno’s orbit-insertion phase, or JOI, the spacecraft will perform a series of steps in preparation for a main engine burn that will guide it into orbit. At 6:16 p.m. PDT (9:16 p.m. EDT), Juno will begin to turn slowly away from the sun and toward its orbit-insertion attitude. Then 72 minutes later, it will make a faster turn into the orbit-insertion attitude.

After the main engine burn, Juno will be in orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will spin down from 5 to 2 RPM, turn back toward the sun, and ultimately transmit telemetry via its high-gain antenna.

Juno starts its tour of Jupiter in a 53.5-day orbit. The spacecraft saves fuel by executing a burn that places it in a capture orbit with a 53.5-day orbit instead of going directly for the 14-day orbit that will occur during the mission’s primary science collection period. The 14-day science orbit phase will begin after the final burn of the mission for Juno’s main engine on October 19.”

I had the great honor of filming some early interviews with Juno’s scientists and engineers leading up to the launch for the official Mission Juno website.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I’m reposting a piece about the project.

The Greatest Generation

Several Tuskegee Airmen at Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. Photo by Toni Frissell, Library of Congress.

On Memorial Day, it seems fitting to repost a piece about a job I did for AMC when Tom Brokaw hosted the AMC’s War Heroes Weekend Marathon.  We filmed his interview on the aircraft carrier, Intrepid. He interviewed me as much as I did him.  Included is a poignant clip about the African American servicemen of WWII.