Photo credit: David Belusic
MEGHAN DAUM
Meghan Daum founded The Unspeakeasy in 2022. She is the host of The Unspeakable Podcast. She is also the author of seven books, including the new collection, The Catastrophe Hour. Her other books include the New York Times Notable Book The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars, the critically acclaimed The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects Of Discussion, and the cult classic My Misspent Youth.
A Los Angeles Times opinion columnist from 2005 to 2016, she has written for numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and Vogue. Meghan is the recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts grant. She has been on the adjunct faculty of the Writing Division at Columbia University’s School of the Arts and also teaches private workshops in personal essay, memoir, and op-ed.
FOUNDER
KATHLEEN SYKES
Kathleen is a freelance marketing strategist who specializes in working with event producers and arts organizations. In addition to launching The Unspeakeasy, she has done work for a symphony orchestra, an opera company, Chronicle Books, A Special Place in Hell podcast, and more.
She is an avid seamstress and a history enthusiast. She studied fashion design for two years and owns a dozen historical fashion textbooks just for fun. She loves travel and speaks Spanish fluently. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her corgi, Jeff, and is always open to opportunities to relocate somewhere coastal.
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
ONLINE COMMUNITY MANAGER
LUBA KAPLANSKAYA
Luba Kaplanskaya is a retreat coordination and marketing professional living in Los Angeles. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz and spent time studying in Baja California, Costa Rica, and Thailand. In her spare time, she lives a very active lifestyle as a regular at the gym while also going on many walks/jogs and playing in pickup soccer games. She is also a ceramics artist and a recurring attendee of standup comedy shows.
RETREAT COORDINATOR