The Curious Introvert

The message given at every commencement speech is, “Go into the world & make an impact!” This makes anyone who gone on to lead an ordinary life to feel like an extraordinary disappointment.  Dr. Brandon Warmke is an Associate Professor & philosopher at Bowling Green University who believes that living a quiet life is not an underachieving consolation prize.  In this episode, he shares the...

By the time she was twelve, Carissa Phelps had run away from home, dropped out of school, and fled blindly into the arms of a brutal pimp. After years of being trafficked, she was able to escape, graduate from UCLA with a law degree and an MBA, and become an attorney working to help at-risk youth & end the infrastructure behind human trafficking. She shares names of corporations listed in laws...

After selling a successful business, a series of serendipitous events led Matt Simpson to research Ayahuasca as a healing modality for trauma. The experience was so healing, that he never returned to the rat race or his addictions. He now coaches others on how to properly and responsibly use psychedelics to heal trauma and addiction. In this episode, you’ll hear the big problem that plant medicine...

Dr. Bruce Greyson was the protégé of Near Death Experience Researcher, Dr. Raymond Moody. Dr. Greyson was raised in a scientific household with no particular religion, his interest in near-death experiences was a scientific one that started when an unconscious patient of his described (in detail) a conversation he had with another woman in a different room. Despite the scrutiny of his peers, he sp...

Gary Arndt is a photographer, travel blogger & podcaster whose list of visited countries is so long, where he hasn’t been is actually a shorter list. In this episode, we challenge what exploring culture is and is not, the Parochial vs cosmopolitan mindset, how to save money & increase your human connection, his surprising moment in Oman, cultural travel tips & the good and bad of cruis...

In this conversation-style episode, I talk with the hosts of the Bledsoe Said So podcast, Ryan Bledsoe & Nick Fermanides. Ryan is the son of former guest & UFO experiencer, Chris Bledsoe. Their family & the strange phenomena happening at their home has been studied by NASA, the CIA, academics & the defense intelligence agency & thanks to their small Southern town & Pentecos...

Melissa Garner is a licensed mental health counselor in Florida who specializes in assisting women in recovering from trauma & toxic relationships. In this episode, we’ll briefly discuss how people end up in these kinds of relationships, paint a picture of types of abuse & the reasons people stay, create a safety plan & how to support those in abusive relationships. We also address whe...

Dan Wise was the office manager of a Georgia pill mill. Before going to prison, he made a Hail Mary YouTube video asking for advice on how to survive a prison sentence. After serving 2 of his 5-year sentence, he re-entered the world to discover that the video had become popular & he was inspired to make a business coaching others on how to make the most of federal prison. In this episode you’l...

KC Davis’ personal growth journey began at 16 when she entered a rehab center for drug addiction & mental health issues. It continued at 19 when she became an evangelical Christian. Since then, her journey has taken some winding turns. She’s now a licensed professional counselor, author & host of the podcast Strugglecare, where she shares skills for survival & self-kindness for her fel...

Sarah Vermunt had a public meltdown in a Publix that made her realize the career she was in & the Ph. D. she was pursuing was not at all what she really wanted.  Many can relate but remain stuck in expired jobs because they don’t know what else they would do. Sarah is now a career coach & best-selling author of Careergasm.  In this episode, you’ll hear what to do if you don’t have time for...

"We made an agreement with each other that we would not eat each other no matter how hungry we got." Douglas Robertson is the author of The Last Voyage of the Lucette . He was just a teenager when his family was lost at sea for 38 days.  In this episode he shares more than just a survival story. He shares his unique coming of age story & an opportunity to recalibrate what crisis is....

Fraidy Reiss is the founder of Unchained At Last, an organization dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the U.S. In this episode, she shares her personal experience of being forced into an abusive marriage, how she finally escaped with the help of a cereal box & the work Unchained is doing to end child marriage in the US. This is a remastered episode that originally aired on Septemb...

Dr. David Tolin is the Founder & Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living, the author of over 200 scientific journal articles & even received the Award for Lifetime Contribution to Psychology from the CT Psychological Association, but you may recognize him from the reality TV series Hoarders, The OCD Project or My Shopping Addiction. In this episode he shares wha...

Kim Lee (a pseudonym) is a psychotherapist, married swinger & an author. In her book, The Swinger in the Mirror, she chronicles her rollercoaster of self-reflection & relational entanglements. In this episode, through her story & psychological expertise, we chronicle the pitfalls of unspoken expectations, making & re-making the rules of commitment & communication. You’ll also h...

Jenny Radcliffe is a professional con woman & people hacker who uses social engineering to test the vulnerability of professional security systems. She shares how she got started in her teens, avoided a life of crime & how we can all be less vulnerable. You’ll also hear about her favorite break-in, the biggest security mistake we’re all making & her hot take on Anna Sorokin. This episo...

In 2016 the Canadian government passed the C14 bill, allowing some individuals to have assistance from a medical practitioner in ending their own life. Jan Ditchfield is the founder of a non-profit called Bridge C14, A Network of Peer-to-Peer Connections and Community Supports Through All Stages of Medical Assistance in Dying (AKA Maid). She is also someone with first-hand experience with how the...

Jay Alders is an internationally acclaimed multidisciplinary fine artist, photographer, and designer whose distinctive style has been seen on album covers like Slightly Stoopid and 311 and in media outlets like Forbes, Surfer Magazine, and Penthouse. He's also a husband and dad of 3, and he's always expanding his mind and his passion projects. In this episode, we explore how to make time...

Dr. Kate Mangino holds a Ph. D. in human rights & social development & is the author of the book, "Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home." She covers how to know if you’re the cognitive laborer, why gender equality is critical for boys & girls, society vs biology, the right and wrong way to divide chores & how to start a conversation with your partner without...

Kashif Khan believes healthcare shouldn't be about waiting to get sick. After watching his father’s health deteriorate & eventually cause an early death, he found himself as the head of his household at age 17. Later he developed 5 chronic conditions with no answers from doctors. This pushed him down the path of human biology & DNA, allowing him to not only cure himself but found The...

Nikki Eisenhauer is a licensed professional counselor, chemical dependency counselor, and professional psychotherapist. She is also an incest & abuse survivor. In this episode, we discuss if trigger warnings are a tool for healing or a crutch for victimhood, we explore symptoms that your entire childhood may warrant a trigger warning, what actual trauma is, how not to manipulate ourselves &amp...

Chris Bledsoe is considered the most credible experiencer in the world of phenomenon, someone whose experiences have been studied by NASA, the CIA, academics & the defense intelligence agency. he is set apart from many other experiencers in that he is a deeply religious man who continues to experience rejection & judgment from his spiritual community for sharing his message. But what other...

The Ysleta community of El Paso sits near the Mexico border & is known for its paranormal activity. Leon Baker was a border patrol agent for 23 years where he experienced paranormal activity like ghosts, shadow people & unexplainable thermal readings. In this episode, he shares his ghost stories as well as a few surprising immigration stories. This episode originally aired Oct, 3, 2022. If...

Brenda McPhail is at the intersection of technology, civil liberties & human rights. Her PhD is in the social impacts of tech, with a focus on surveillance & privacy in areas like workplace surveillance, health information privacy, & AI regulation. She’s currently the Acting Exec Dir of the Master in Public Policy in Digital Society program at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. In...

Nina Teicholz, journalist & author of the New York Times’ Best Seller, The Big Fat Surprise, shares how college professor, Ancel Keys, was at the root of the widely unquestioned nutrition policy of the diet-heart hypothesis that states low fat, low cholesterol is THE heart health anthem of the USA since the 1950’s, yet heart disease killed 700,000 Americans in 2020.  In this remastered episode...

Dr. Elaine Kasket is a cyberpsychologist whose private practice & daily life frequently puts her at the intersection of technology & psychology. She’s ALSO an American Mom living in the UK, who wants nothing more than to display her own pride in her child & stay in touch with stateside relatives. In this episode, we talk about sharenting: the impact of curated personas, parasocial rela...