Behind The Shield

Tom Hewitt MBE, is founder and CEO of Surfers Not Street Children. He has worked in the field with street children in Africa for over 28 years. In 1998 he founded the Durban Street Team which went on to be renamed Surfers Not Street Children in 2012. Tom was awarded and MBE by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 for his work with street children in Africa. Tom is perhaps most well known for his success...

Dr Ben Sessa is a psychiatrist, author and one of the world’s leading researchers into the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs in a clinical or therapeutic setting. In this second conversation, we discuss the success of MDMA assisted psychotherapy, the psychedelic renaissance, British knife crime, the fiscal benefits of preventative healthcare and so much more. As a medical doctor, Dr Sessa pr...

Aaron Heller began his fire service career in 1984. He recently retired as a Deputy Chief in the Hamilton NJ Fire Department assigned to oversee the Training Division. He previously served as the Fire Chief for the Hamilton Township Fire District #9. Deputy Chief Heller is a NJ Level 2 instructor and NJ fire official. He is a past chief of the New Egypt Volunteer Fire Company, where he currently s...

Nimsdai is a former Ghurka, member of the British SBS, record breaking mountaineer and author. We discuss his powerful journey into the special forces, Project Possible, mountain rescues, his new book "Beyond Possible",, environmentalism, forging an indomitable spirit and so much more. Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja MBE Born in Nepal, Nims had a distinguished 16-year military career, of which he spent 6 y...

Dr. John P. Sullivan is a Clinical Sport Psychologist and Sport Scientist who currently serves as the Head of Psychology at High Performance Sport New Zealand. With over 30 years of clinical, academic, and applied experience, he is internationally recognized for his contributions to the integration of psychology, neuroscience, and human performance. From 2000 to 2016, Dr. Sullivan served as Direct...

Carl Mackenzie is an award winning Writer & Director, who is passionate about creating commercially accessible stories with a social commentary. We discuss his journey into filmmaking, veteran mental health, knife crime and so much more. Carl is a member of Directors UK and BAFTA. In 2016, Carl made his directorial debut with short film 'The Interrogation of Olivia Donovan'. The film screened...

Harry Turner is an Emmy winning filmmaker, with his film and life story – Wildcat. He deployed with the British Army at 18 and returned home with severe PTSD. With his life forever changed and not knowing what the future held, he left everything behind and fled to the Amazon rainforest. There, Harry found the peace his mind so desperately needed, but it opened the door to so much more healing. He...

Jules and Gédéon Naudet are the French brothers behind the documentaries 9/11, November 13 and Notre Dame to name a few. We discuss their childhood in Paris, studying film in NYU, what took them to the FDNY, their accounts of September 11, the heroism at the 2015 Paris attacks, saving Paris' most treasured landmark and so much more. Jules and Gedeon Naudet, brothers and filmmakers, shot, produced...

Aye Hood is a former rapper turned comedian from Shreveport. We discuss his childhood in Louisiana, the power of parenting, what pulls our youth into gangs, using social media for good, drug prohibition and so much more.

Mike Binney is a Battalion Chief at West Metro Fire Rescue in Lakewood, Colorado, with over 15 years of operational experience. He holds a Master of Public Administration in Emergency Management and Policy from the University of Colorado and recently earned his Master of Public Health in Health Informatics from Yale University, where he also served as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Bioethi...

Jim Poole is Chairman, President and CEO of Solace Lifesciences, Inc., maker of NuCalm® which is a neuroscience technology designed to relieve stress and improve sleep quality without drugs. In this second conversation, we discuss NuCalm's new Stress Assessment, cancer prevention, shift work, brain injury and so much more. Mr. Poole is an accomplished business executive with extensive experience i...

Johann Hari is the author of "Chasing the Scream" and "Lost Connections", two of the most powerful books ever written on addiction and mental health. We discuss his childhood trauma, the mental health crisis, the history of drug prohibition, the failure of the "War on Drugs", learning from other countries and much more. Johann Hari is the author of two New York Times best-selling books. His first,...

Mitch Aguiar is a 10 year Navy SEAL Veteran, Professional MMA Fighter and Entrepreneur. In this conversation, we discuss his journey into the military, war propoganda, the industrial military complex, teaching BJJ to law enforcement, juice fasting and so much more. His non-profit needs our support. Please consider donating to help make law enforcement safer for all. Mitch joined the Navy in 2008 a...

Doug Monda, Raul Rivas and Chris Fields are co-hosts of the 'Trauma Behind the Badge Podcast' and part of the 'Survive First' Family. We discuss the crushing impact of organizational betrayal on first responder mental health, the national recruitment crisis, courageous leadership and much more. Doug Monda Doug is a retired narcotics agent, is a leader in the field of mental health advocacy for fir...

Joel Salatin is a world renowned holistic farmer, author and speaker. In this third conversation, we discuss how to truly make America healthy again, changing the food in our schools, the takeways of the pandemic, home cooking and so much more. Joel calls himself a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer. Others who like him call him the most famous farmer in the world, th...

Lt Col Dave Grossman is a retired Army Ranger and author of several books including "On Combat", "On Killing" and "Assassination Generation". We talk about being a Sheepdog, the increase in school murders and much more. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the ro...

Shawn Downs is a 25 year veteran of the fire service, currently serving as Deputy Fire Chief of Operations in the District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department. We discuss his journey into the fire service, 9/11, their 24/72 shift schedule, the January 6th Capital Attack, the response to the Potomac River arcraft crash, DC's wellness initiatives and so much more. "Throughout my career, I have under...

Katie Hansen, a passionate and talented skydiver and BASE jumper, has been active in the sport since 2003. Her journey began with a jump the day before her high school graduation in Bremerton, WA. Katie's expertise spans wingsuit flying, freeflying, and canopy swooping. She has wingsuit BASE jumped worldwide, including Baffin Island, and competed in events like the World Wingsuit League (WWL) base...

Julien Pineau is a world renowned movement specialist and innovator. Julien specializes in getting athletes out of pain my identifying muscle imbalances and correcting them with functional movements. In this sixth conversation, we discuss the damage the pandemic had on the world's health, the fitness industry, influencers, wokeism, his training philosophy and so much more. Sports have been a part...

I'm reposting this episode as we lost Monty yesterday. He was 98 years old. Rest easy brother. Monty Montgomery is a WWII veteran, retired Miami Dade firefighter with 32 years of service and a multiple Spartan race finisher. Monty is the definition of late in life athlete AND young at heart. He ran his first triathlon at 48, first marathon at 58, went skydiving at 75, hang gliding at 89, bungee fo...

Jared Bonvell is an executive federal law enforcement professional and 17 year Air Force veteran with 8 years of experience conducting and directing large-scale, multi-jurisdictional criminal, fraud and counterintelligence investigations, security operations, and counter-terrorism operations. In this conversation, we discuss his journey into the military, law enforcement, his deployment in Afghani...

Dixon Phillips is a former collegiate athlete, Pasco County firefighter and union president of IAFF Local 4420. In this second conversation, we discuss the incredible results Pasco has seen over the last eighteen months, since announcing their transition to the 24/72, 42 hour work week. We discuss the explosion in recruitment, slashing of overtime, the influx of paramedics, fitness standards, annu...

John Doolittle is a retired Navy SEAL Captain and the Director of the Florida Chamber Health Council. In this second conversation, we discuss hurricane response, Florida's Special Mission Unit, first responder mental health, the healing power of eTMS, Kaatsu and so much more. John was raised in Walnut Creek, California. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy in 19...

Jim Poole is the CEO and President of Solace Lifesciences, a neuroscience company focused on personalized evidence-based wellness and performance and the creator of NuCalm. Dr. Blake Holloway, the inventor of NuCalm, spent several years immersed in the intriguing and exotic research of bio and neurophysics. His objective in inventing NuCalm was to design a software that would have direct physiolog...

Aaron Williamson’s path is one of relentless drive and reinvention. After proudly serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he emerged with a mindset rooted in discipline and a passion for pushing limits. That same intensity launched a career that now spans elite fitness coaching, on-screen performance, and high-profile transformations for some of the biggest names in entertainment. In 2000, Aaron was scr...