Digging Deep with Mark Sutcliffe

Olympian, world champion, broadcaster and author of ‘My Mother's Daughter’ Perdita Felicien speaks with humour and insight on her lessons growing up under difficult conditions but with a mother’s love and compassion which taught her what it truly means to win. In this candid and animated conversation, Felicien shares insights on turning failures into learning experiences, discovering your own stre...

Prolific author and Canadian Senator David Adams Richards has explored courage, integrity, morality, and human nature throughout his life. In this fascinating, inspiring, and emotional conversation, the esteemed and highly decorated storyteller shares memories of his remarkable grandmother fiercely fighting for her theatre, his unwavering relationship with his wife, and his call to the Senate. He...

Could war be solved in our lifetime? Human rights activist, author, and War Child Canada founder Dr. Samantha Nutt believes we have the power, the resources, and the capacity to make peace possible. In this inspiring and stimulating conversation, Dr. Nutt shares heart-wrenching stories from her time in war-torn countries and how she built a different kind of humanitarian organization that emp...

Hassan Al Kontar was living in Dubai when civil war broke out in his home country of Syria. Unwilling to fight his own people and unable to stay in the United Arab Emirates, he eventually found himself trapped in a Malaysian airport, where he stayed for more than seven months. He survived on the kindness of strangers. And using the power of social media, he attracted attention and support and even...

How many times do you have to show up at-bat before you get lucky? NYC-born serial entrepreneur and founder of Fellow.app Aydin Mirzaee believes the secret to success is irrational optimism, and that great managers are made, not born. In this conversation, Mirzaee speaks about his profound business relationships and what makes them unique, why skills trump passion, questioning your default behavio...

When accomplished investor John Ruffolo was struck by a transport truck while cycling in September 2020, emergency officials feared he wouldn't survive. In the months since then, he has applied his strength and determination to not only his physical recovery, but his plans to launch Maverix Public Equity, which he calls the pinnacle of his life's work. Ruffolo shares the powerful lessons he's lear...

Author, Order of Canada recipient and Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips shares the lessons he's learned from a lifetime of storytelling and engaging audiences. Phillips has turned his fascination with weather history and trivia, his infectious enthusiasm, and his communications expertise into a platform for promoting and practicing environmental sustainability. In this en...

In the summer of 1980, Darrell Fox left high school early to join his big brother Terry in New Brunswick for the Marathon of Hope. And since then, for more than four decades, he has been following in Terry’s footsteps in the fight against cancer. In an intimate, emotional conversation, Darrell relives that pivotal time on the road, the gratitude he felt as an eyewitness to Terry’s determinati...

Football hall of famer, three-time Grey Cup winner, broadcaster, and now assistant coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League, Henry Burris leads teams to championships through discipline, devotion, and a positive attitude. In this conversation, he talks about overcoming early setbacks in his career, proving people wrong, determining your own outcome, being scrutinized as a Black...

Canada's most-respected health care journalist and author André Picard has become an indelible voice in Canada's fight against COVID-19. In this episode, he discusses how the research behind his new book Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada's Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic drove him to action, and shares insights on developing...

Chris Jones has reached the highest levels of storytelling. His work for Esquire magazine generated widespread attention and won him numerous awards. More recently, Jones has been screenwriting for the Netflix series Away, which was based on one of his articles. It's a surprising outcome for someone who never intended to be a writer and who at 26 years of age, walked in off the street to Esquire's...

Performance physiologist, medical researcher, athlete, and author Dr. Greg Wells shares a long list of highly useful takeaways about sleep, nutrition, fitness, managing stress, happiness, and reaching your full potential. After breaking his neck bodysurfing at age 15, Wells has devoted his life to studying human performance. He talks about why action precedes motivation, his unique and effect...

With talent, determination, and an unabiding belief in herself, Janice Dean jumped from working in radio in Ottawa to a high-profile broadcasting career on national television in the U.S. She shares the lessons she has learned from being harassed by powerful men in broadcasting, being diagnosed with MS in 2005, and becoming a bestselling author. She shares powerful insights about everything f...

Grenada-born entrepreneur and Canadian politician Celina Caesar-Chavannes, author of Can You Hear Me Now?, shares the story of sending out 732 resumes and receiving no job offers, launching her own business, and eventually running for Parliament. She shares lessons on growing up surrounded by fear, learning from "Ms. Take", overcoming shame associated with miscarriages and depression, practic...

Adam Miron, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of HEXO Corporation, a Canadian medical cannabis producer with a market value of $5 billion, is not afraid to work hard. Miron talks about confidence as a key ingredient to success, how taking chances defines entrepreneurship, going public with his company, putting on a brave face, and why it was important to spend 45 minutes with every new HEXO emplo...

Ron Deibert, author of Reset and director of the Citizen's Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, explains how the Internet has become an albatross, why social media is an existential threat, and what we can do about it. He shares his fears of being detained in China, and how he ended up on stage with Gord Downie. And he talks about how each of us should practice digital hygiene, understand bot...

Dr. Jillian Horton, author of We Are All Perfectly Fine, shares powerful lessons about mindfulness, her replenishing outlook on life, how she's let go of the delusion of control, made peace with loss, accepted her circumstances (while bettering them), and learned - at last - how to accept feeling good. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c...

What is the nature of creativity? Is it at risk as we age? How do we cultivate our creative purpose? The author of the Age of Creativity, Emily Urquhart shares her unique perspective as the daughter of esteemed artist Tony Urquhart and novelist Jane Urquhart, and the many lessons she learned in a journey through time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

Under Dave Smart, the Carleton Ravens won 14 national basketball championships in 17 years. The extraordinarily successful coach talks about motivation and leadership and the tools he's learned on and off the court: listening instead of lecturing, teaching people how to deal with pressure, admitting your struggles, and how every great player needs to know how to pass. See Privacy Policy at https:/...

The author of So-Called Normal shares the powerful lessons of his heartwrenching but inspiring journey from a near suicide to becoming a mental health advocate and influential speaker, with a TEDx talk viewed over 6 million times. He shares the story of his breathtaking reunion with the man who saved his life, how he practices gratitude, and why if you're wrong, you're learning. See Privacy Policy...

The New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and You Are Awesome goes deep on his darkest moments and how he turned his pain into a new career path, failure and success, the shortness of life, saying no, doing the right things, resiliency, finding the one thing that delights other people, and why great is the enemy of life-changing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy a...

Podcaster, blogger, and tech expert Amber Mac, the president of Amber Mac Media, shares many lessons and stories including how she practices gratitude, why you should let go of your blueprint, how to keep things lean and profitable, why she abhors long meetings, why there is no such thing as putting out too much content, how small businesses should invest in technology, and how she met Tony Robbin...

Editor, writer, radio host, author of 40 books and former co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, explains why conflict rarely leads to resolution; how he works together with leaders of all faiths; the importance of listening; how his faith is helping him come to terms with his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and why obsessing over yourself "may be a short-term fix, but i...

11-time Ironman champion and bestselling author Lisa Bentley shares her extraordinary story of overcoming Cystic Fibrosis to become one of Canada's greatest athletes, how she turned CF into her superpower, why a champion isn't someone who wins, and how compassion fuels competitiveness. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...

Best-selling historical fiction author of six books including The Gown and the just-released Our Darkest Night, Jennifer Robson talks candidly about her decision to become a writer, luck and Downton Abbey, the doubt she faces and the tools she's built to overcome them, and how she mixed discipline with instinct to become one of the best-known authors—let alone female authors talking, primarily, ab...