Arash's World Podcast

In this episode, I welcome back Rabbi Matthew Ponak to Arash’s World to explore his card deck, “ The Hebrew Letters Twenty-Two Mystical Teachings .” We talk about how Hebrew letters can be more than sounds on a page since in the mystical tradition that Rabbi Matthew draws upon, they can also tell a story of how reality unfolds. Whether you’re learning the alphabet, drawing a card, or reflecting on...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with filmmaker Susanne Rostock on how her documentary “ Following Harry ” reveals the depth of Harry Belafonte’s commitment to human rights. Susanne explains that his art and activism were inseparable as he understood the influence of his voice and used it to connect people, support others, and inspire and encourage meaningful action. The docu...

In this wide-ranging conversation on Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with author and human connection coach Larry Kesslin about what it means to live as an integrated, authentic person. Drawing on his book The Joy Molecule: How to Unlock the Power of Human Connection , Larry distinguishes the roles we perform from the deeper self beneath them. He argues that joy and inner peace begi...

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking to author, poet, professor, and dedicated walker Ken Wilson about his book, Walking Well: Trails, Paths, Pilgrimages . We start with a simple question why walk? and follow it from his childhood rambles and daily commute through Regina’s Wascana Centre to the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage that made walking an even bigger part of his life. Ken exp...

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with birth-injury attorney, bestselling author of A Parent’s Guide to a Safer Childbirth , and host of “ The Childbirth Attorney Podcast ” Gina Mundy who draws on more than two decades of reviewing childbirth cases to explain how families can prepare for a safer delivery. Gina highlights several practical considerations: approaching...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with Author and Poet Robin Blackburn McBride about her book River of Dreams , a character-driven blend of historical, metaphysical, and women’s fiction. The novel follows Avery Conlon from a mysterious childhood experience in Toronto’s Don River to her work as a nurse in a 1920s mental hospital, where she uses heightened intuition to help wome...

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with author and veteran criminal defence attorney Frank Abrams about his forthcoming book, The Slander of Billy the Kid and the Abrams Tintypes. Frank recounts how a group of five tintype photographs purchased at a flea market led him to believe that one image depicts Billy the Kid alongside Pat Garrett and other figures associated...

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with Michel Pouliot, Executive Director of Canadian Parents for French, BC & Yukon Branch on the gradual decline in French-language enrolment across British Columbia. Although demand remains strong, he explains that French Immersion and Core French programs face limited classroom capacity, enrolment caps, and uneven support from...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with Darlene Madott who describes herself with distinct precision: “a writer” and “a reluctant lawyer who had to find a way of being in the world.” In this wide-ranging conversation, Darlene talks about her latest book, Closing Ceremonies and Dying Times , a paired collection that explores heartbreak, grief, death, and love with a rare blend o...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ron Stotts , a transformational guide, bestselling author, and executive coach about mindfulness, inner transformation, and the process of creating an inspired life. Ron explains that his work is less about solving isolated problems and more about helping high-performing leaders expand their internal capacity, become more self-aware,...

In this powerful and inspiring episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with rapper, writer, and filmmaker T Savage about her upcoming biopic, Thru the Eyes of the Hustler’s Daughter , a deeply personal film rooted in her Baltimore upbringing, childhood trauma, mental health journey, and determination to transform pain into purpose. Joined by her mother, Shontel Greene , and actor/former NFL...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with Les Carroll , Air Force and Air National Guard veteran, documentary filmmaker, author as well as novelist. Les reflects on his 28-year military career, his deployments to Afghanistan, and his powerful and humbling experience of serving at the Air Force Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base. We also discuss his documentary Bringing the Fallen H...

I have the great pleasure of speaking with filmmaker Casey Carter about his award-winning documentary “To Use a Mountain.” The film begins with the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, when the U.S. government searched for a permanent deep geological repository for nuclear waste, turning six rural communities into candidates for a “competition” none of them wanted to win. Casey explains how the document...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with author and lecturer Perry Atwal about his book Wisdom for Life: Timeless Insights for Cultivating Joy and Growing Your World . We explore the difference between information and wisdom, the importance of meaning over money, and how joy grows through health, relationships, learning, and practical honest self-reflection. Perry argues that wh...

Dr. Tiffanie Tate joins me here on Arash’s World as a true “multi-hyphenate” i.e. physician, author, playwright, veteran officer of the US Navy, ordained minister, soccer Mom referee, radio personality, and much more to discuss her children’s book Perfectly Perfect and the deeper message behind it. At the heart of our conversation is a powerful idea: children do not have to earn their worth. Dr. T...

What happens when a successful engineer with patents, promotions, and all the outward signs of achievement realizes he’s still deeply unhappy? In this episode, licensed experiential therapist, contemplative teacher, and founder of Unbreakable Inc., Joe DeNicholas , shares the powerful story of how a panic-inducing moment in the tech world became the catalyst for a complete transformation. His jour...

Bestselling author and former Canadian Army reserve medic Brent van Staalduinen joins me here on Arash’s World to discuss The Peace Thieves , his novel about a peacekeeping mission in Croatia and the personal fallout that follows. He explains the book’s dual narrative between Francis, a reserve medic deployed in 1993, and Viva, the daughter he never knew and how that structure helps reveal the gap...

In this episode of Arash's World Podcast, I have the great pleasure of speaking with the amazing Leslie Lee Sanders regarding the personal and cultural forces that inspired her memoir, Ready to Listen?: A Spiritual Self-Help Memoir . Leslie reflects on finding her voice as a Black woman in publishing, moving beyond silence and people-pleasing, and using spirituality as a path toward empowerment an...

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with Psychiatrist and Relationship Expert Dr. Laura Dabney and author of “ I Need You… Now Go Away!: Reclaiming Your Life When Someone You Love Has a Personality Disorder ” where she reframes personality disorders not as “types of people,” but as a core emotional conflict: an almost phobic push–pull between closeness and distance. D...

In this episode of Arash’s World, I have the pleasure of speaking with Ellis Scott , a debut novelist of sharing his unconventional path to publication, which includes beginning his writing career at 55 after early retirement due to illness following decades spent delivering humanitarian aid in conflict zones. Now 62, he is the author of Night Terminus, a novel that confronts one of our most devas...

In this episode, I’m joined by Poet Kathryn MacDonald to discuss her hybrid poetry collection The Blue Gate , a book-length lyric poem that moves from love into loss and grief, with its central section of a serendipitous month-long trip to Kenya shortly after her husband’s death. Kathryn explores recurring motifs of rain and water as bountifulness amid drought, and red-tailed hawks as a metaphor f...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with University of Alabama Professor and Author of Sitting with Elephants: Lessons in Humility from the African Bush Dr. Ron Dulek who shares how a life devoted to teaching led him to an unexpected second classroom: the African Bush! In fact, he recounts how a desire to “squeeze the juice” out of life pushed him and his wife to buy a remote ho...

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking to Stacey Nye , Co‑Creator of The Fix Code , for a deep and personal conversation about healing, consciousness, and lasting inner change. Stacey shares her journey from personal crisis to co‑creating a rapid, intuitive self‑healing method alongside her business partner, Daniel Flear, whose decades of study in hypnotherapy and NLP with a pivotal spiri...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of talking to Hattie Myers and Aneta Stojnić , two key figures behind “ Room: A Sketchbook for Analytic Action ,” a psychoanalytic magazine and community as well as a recipient of the prestigious Sigourney Award . Our conversation explores the origins of “Room,” which was founded after the 2016 U.S. presidential election to provide a space for analysts to...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of speaking with Kasia Van Schaik , a writer, professor, and artist, discusses the central themes of her book/memoir “ Women among Monuments: Solitude, Permission, and the Pursuit of Female Genius .” We explore what it means to live a creative life, especially as a woman, and the ongoing search for permission both societal and self-given to pursue artisti...