Author: VALERIE CONKLIN

I’m hoping to interview a cosplayer. There’s a lot of visual spectacle to cosplay and crafting. I think there’s also an interesting story to be told about the process of organizing fan events. I have a friend who cosplays and she tells me she’s happy to connect me with one of her friends for an interview. They’re involved in organizing Cosplay Contests and cosplay themselves. I’m hoping to do an interview in their home so I can also get some footage of them showing me their costumes and crafting station. There’s a con this weekend where I can hopefully get some b-roll because the press of people and costumes at cons is so visually striking.

HOST INTRO: Unionization, strikes, and contract negotiations have been making headlines for months. Recently in New York City, two Barnes & Noble locations elected to unionize over the summer. The flagship store at Union Square and the high-earning Park Slope store, along with a few others across the country, have unionized and are currently negotiating their first contract. Valerie Conklin spoke to a representative of their union and some employees at other New York City branches that haven’t unionized to get their takes.

AMBI: Audio of a B&N transaction being completed. (FADE DOWN AS TRACK BEGINS)

TRACK: I just picked up Carlos Morales, a lead bookseller, from Barnes & Noble’s Upper West Side location. We’ve stopped in a nearby library so he can get away from his workplace for a while. Carlos looks around and points out the books he recommends to customers as we walk through the shelves and find a quiet spot to speak.

ACT: MORALES: “Working retail can be a little frustrating. Customers aren’t understanding, you have to be on your feet, you’re always looking for a book that’s like finding a needle in a haystack, so it’s a lot of stress.”

TRACK: When I ask Morales why he thinks Barnes and Noble Union Square unionized and not his own store. He points out the location’s proximity to the corporate office–they share a building–and the huge daily volume of customers numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

ACT: MORALES: “At Union Square, there’s a lot of stress from Management, from customers.” “Whoever is feeling really mistreated, that’s where it starts off and I don’t think all the stores are feeling it as much as Union Square.”

AMBI: Phone ringing. (END ABRUPTLY BEFORE TRACK BEGINS)

TRACK: The unionizing Barnes & Noble stores joined the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. I have Chelsea Connor, National Director of Communications and Media Relations for the RWDSU, on the phone to discuss where Barnes & Noble is at in its negotiations. She tells me that working through the pandemic brought workers’ frustrations to a head.

ACT: CONNOR: Workers have experienced really what it has meant to be reopening amidst a pandemic. With that comes struggles.” “Customers who are not behaving properly. It comes with aggravation of customers who are returning to instore shopping.”

TRACK: Connor describes the difference between the stores that have unionized and those that haven’t.

ACT: CONNOR: “That’s not to say that other stores aren’t organizing, it’s just that those two stores are ready and moved and workers were able to file earlier this year.”

TRACK: Other workers at Morales’s Upper West Side location tell me they haven’t been contacted by anyone planning to unionize. One senior barista says he wouldn’t want to join a union anyway because organizing requires a lot of extra work. For now, the stores that needed it most are negotiating their first contract with Barnes & Noble. For Baruch College, I’m Valerie Conklin.

HOST INTRO: Seeing The Nutcracker ballet every year is a tradition for many families. But for some people, being in the show is the real treat. This fall, as rehearsals for the iconic show ramped up, journalist Valerie Conklin interviewed an eleven year old ballet dancer excited to do her part.

TRACK: I’m sitting down with sixth grader Sarina Conklin to discuss her favorite extracurricular activity, ballet. We sit on her bed, just a few feet from where her pink ballet bag hangs from her closet’s door knob. She’s just arrived home after being fitted for her Nutcracker costume, and she’s very excited to share her backstory.

ACT: SARINA: “I started ballet when I was like really young and I just stuck with it even if it was like hard sometimes. I just did it because I didn’t really wanna lose my streak.”

TRACK: When asked what challenges she faces, Sarina assures me ballet is actually easy. Then, she ammends her statement, saying it has been a little tough this year.

ACT: SARINA: “I broke my foot this summer so I kind of like lost like some of my like movement and I had to get it back.”

TRACK: Sarina tells me her weekly ballet classes are already devoting most of their time to Nutcracker rehearsal, which she loves because she gets to show off what she’s learned in front of an audience.

ACT: SARINA: “We perform the Nutcracker at the Shubert Theater in New Haven.” “I am going to be the same thing as last year cause last year I was a Russian Trepak Corpse, I was a Trepak Corpse but we usually call it Russian I believe.”

TRACK: The Shubert Theater’s website warns guests that The Nutcracker has limited seats available, so this year’s show is going to be another popular one. For Baruch College, I’m Valerie Conklin.

https://medium.com/@valjameslynn/swordplay-in-midtown-53f39a6e69ed

https://medium.com/@valjameslynn/mostly-cats-and-plants-f16a94f833dc

Flatbush Cats: This is a local organization near me that addresses the NYC stray cats problem by running a trap-neuter-return program and organizing a network of foster homes for cats that would benefit from indoor life. I want to get an understanding of the work Flatbush Cats does and share a sense of urgency with viewers. I haven’t reached out yet, but I’m hoping to follow a volunteer caring for a cat colony. This will let me get some wide shots of people interracting with strays and hopefully some pictures of the sheer number of loose cats in Brooklyn. I also know a friend-of-a-friend who is currently fostering, so I’ll reach out to them for a more intimate look at fostering.

Gotham HEMA: This is a German sword fighting club in Manhattan. I know a couple members, and they tell me that the club is open to coverage. I’m very impressed at how inclusive this club is, especially of queer members, so I’d like to capture the way these queer members have built themselves a community in an unexpected place. I could easily attend some classes to take pictures of drills and spars. I also intend on asking a friend-of-a-friend to allow me a more personal look at her experience. I’m hoping for some pictures of her sword collection, commute, and participation. The club also has a parade coming up, which might be an oppurtunity for some interesting photos.