Hey Human Podcast

E271 Human Naomi Grossman is larger than life, packing a lot of punch and filling the room despite her small frame. She’s an award-winning writer of one-woman plays about coming of age and sexual awakenings. She’s “Pepper,” “Samantha Crowe,” and currently “Rabid Ruth” on American Horror Story. She’s got an Emmy nom and an impressive […]

E270 Human Dr. Moran Cerf reminds me of a Rubik’s Cube. He’s a fascinating jumble of neuroscientist, businessman, educator, inventor, storyteller, hacker and philosopher. This curiosity-driven, fast-talking polymath of independent, unique moving parts, fits all together (seemingly) effortlessly. Brain hacking, decision-making, dream exploration, consciousness, and studying the brain fr...

E269 Human Riaz Patel is working to help humans see past labels and biases. His show “Four Chairs” (Facebook) connects people who seemingly have nothing in common and brings them together with common ground. He’s the creator of the EPIC System of communication and “Transformation Experiences.” A voice of reason in an ever-divided landscape, the […]

E268 Human Shirley Wainess spent her childhood feeling unsafe, and yet found an inner strength that would carry her through incredible experiences, including a paralyzing car accident, NDEs, illnesses and tragedies. By 16, she was a trapeze artist and has since been in banking, nursing, film/tv and improv. Wow! For more information and links, please […]

E267 Human Paul Evans Pedersen, Jr. is many things: Retired firefighter, musician, folklorist, journalist and author. He seems to have what Stephen King calls “The Shining,” too. He could tell you tales to make your hair stand on end. We discuss ghosts, devils, aliens, arsonists, technology, a whistling stranger and his latest collection of stories; […]

E266 Human Jeannie Alexander is Executive Director of No Exceptions Prison Collective. Its mission focuses on sentencing reform, internal prison conditions and the abolition of all private prisons. She is also a co-founding resident of Harriet Tubman House, an interfaith community dedicated to restorative practices in earth stewardship and human rights. She served as the […]

E265 Human John Fusco has been making films since he was a kid in his neighborhood, shooting on Super 8. The author, screenwriter, producer and musician has created over a dozen films, including; Young Guns (I, II) Thunderheart, Hidalgo, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Babe, The Shack, The Highwaymen and tv’s Marco Polo. His […]

E264 Human B. Jeffrey Madoff is the founder of Madoff Productions and the genius behind commercials and branded content for Victoria Secret, Ralph Lauren, Radio City and Tiffany, to name a few. His best-seller, “Creative Careers: Making a Living With Your Ideas,” is based on the class he developed and teaches at Parsons School of […]

E263 Human Dr. Joshua Smith is an Evangelical pastor and the author of “Robotic Persons: Our Future with Social Robots.” We discuss how he came to his faith and how he views the modern Evangelical. Digging into his book, we discuss the responsibilities, rules and ethics of Artificial Intelligence, “personhood,” Imago Dei, what the future […]

E262 Humans Robyn Rosenkrantz & Michael Glover are Bright Blue Gorilla. With their unique brand of music (a little bit story, a little bit comic, a little bit wild and crazy), they’ve traveled all over the world. Most recently, they released their film 36 Husbands, a musical-comedy-kung fu movie. We discuss their jet-set adventures, movies, […]

E261 Human Dr. Roberta Kung is an anesthesiologist, mind-body health practitioner and founder and CEO of Gifted Taste. We discussed neurodivergent kids, medicine, the Myth of the Model Minority, racism, the Mother Wound, women empowerment, men’s intuition, Chi, social constructs, the belly-brain connection, and so much more. For more information and links, please visit: HeyHumanpodcast.com

E260 Human Nelson Tressler‘s memoir, “The Unlucky Sperm Club,” is a journey fantastical. Except it’s real. Born of a traumatic event, he unwittingly became the catalyst for a young policeman’s murder. Was it vengeance, misguided rage or a case of mistaken identity? Tressler shares the family’s not-so-secret secret that shook his small town.  He may […]

E259 Human Carrie Akre is a legend in the Seattle music scene. As the frontwoman for bands like Hammerbox, Goodness and the Rockfords with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, she rocked sold out shows and was a household name across the Pacific Northwest. She also released four critically acclaimed solo albums. She’s focusing now on supporting […]

E258 Human Tevin Tavares has done more in the first quarter century of his life than some people do in the whole of theirs. He’s an award-winning filmmaker, producer and director. He’s also an actor and was a commercial creative director.  When Tavares produced an original video of Kendrick Lamar’s LUST, the Oakland Native went […]

E257 Human Barbara Caplan-Bennett was diagnosed with desmoplastic melanoma (a type of skin cancer) and, after a few surgeries and doctor’s recommendations, decided the best course of action to keep the cancer from spreading throughout her body was to remove her nose. In her memoir, “Noseworthy: How I Battled Melanoma by Giving Up My Nose […]

E256 Human Ben Ewing had shoulder pain that wouldn’t go away. He thought maybe he’d pulled something playing golf. As he sat across from the doctor he let the words sink in…”you have cancer.” In this episode, Ben talks about his startling, terminal diagnosis, his observations about the time he has left and some of […]

E255 Human Dr. Max Frieder is an artist, educator and co-founder of Artolution, a foundation that empowers children and families through collaborative public arts initiatives that engage communities in creative experiences to promote healing, resilience and positive social change. Max’s work has taken him all over the world to refugee camps, hospital workshops, war-torn landscapes, […]

E254 Human Ramona Holloway is well known as a co-host of WLNK’s syndicated “The Matt and Ramona Show” out of Charlotte, NC. She’s also known on Twitter and Facebook as the woman who cares for her mother Louise (“Wheezy”) since a dementia diagnosis changed both of their lives forever. Ramona isn’t shy about documenting her […]

E253 Humans Kate Hasting and Josh Beale are the founding members of the group Hasting & Co. They’ve spent years honing their sound; a mix of roots, rock, humor, and what they call a midwestern “country authenticity.” Their recent single, “Canadian Tuxedo,” is a winking take on the traditional girl-seeks-boy scenario. Kate and Josh are […]

E252 Anna Swenson began her work in end-of-life care in 2015. She was one of the first team members at Recompose, a company that uses “natural organic reduction” to transform human remains into soil, allowing for a much smaller environmental impact (1/8 the energy) than conventional burial or cremation practices. “Recompose utilizes the principles of […]

E251 Clinical addiction specialist and social worker human, Vanessa Lech, is the founder of Carolina Addiction and Anger Management, PLLC. We chat about anger, passive aggressive behavior, addiction as it relates to emotion and some of the nuances of her practice. For more information and links, please visit: HeyHumanpodcast.com

E250 Human Matt Hundley is working to become one with the land, nurturing it into a sustainable, fertile environment that can support a copacetic and bountiful harvest, yielding its food and water while maintaining its natural, renewable abundance. As a homesteader and founder of Tennessee Homestead Design, he puts his skills to use as a […]

E249 Alan Zweibel cut his comedic teeth in the Catskills writing jokes for comics in the Borscht Belt. He was one of the original Saturday Night Live writers (Zweibel wrote many of its memorable sketches, including the Samurai character for John Belushi and he helped to create the characters of Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna and […]

E248 Hospice physician and End-of-Life researcher human, Chris Kerr, M.D., PhD., is the acclaimed author of Death is But a Dream and the Chief Medical Officer at The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, in Buffalo, NY. He has researched thousands of patients’ dreams and visions at the end of their lives and has found […]

E247 Human Navaris Darson is a gay, black man who grew up in a close and religious Southern family in Fayetteville, Georgia. He’s an actor (Two Broke Girls, American Horror Story, Home, Will and Grace), a writer, and has taught Improv at the Groundlings. We chat about upbringing, love, diversity in film and television, religion, […]