The Explorer Poet Podcast

My guest today is John Bucher, a renowned mythologist and story expert who has been featured on the BBC, the History Channel, the LA Times, The Hollywood Reporter and on numerous other international outlets . He serves as Executive Director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and is a writer, podcaster, storyteller, and speaker. He has worked with government and cultural leaders around the world as...

My guest today is Teddy Hamstra, a writer and seeker in Los Angeles. He is the recipient of a PhD from the University of Southern California, where he completed and successfully defended a dissertation entitled 'Enchantment as a Form of Care: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Mysticism.' Recently, Teddy has been working for the Joseph Campbell Foundation, spearheading their Research & D...

My guest today is Dr. Monica Martinez, an author, professor, podcaster, and Jungian psychotherapist who works in São Paulo and Granja Viana, Brazil. The aim of Monica’s practice is to encourage self-knowledge through tools and processes that encourage a fuller and healthier physical, emotional and intellectual life. We discussed archetypes, polarities, age, wisdom, flexibility, openness, psycholog...

My guest today is Aaron Balick, a psychotherapist, academic, and a leading voice in the psychology of technology. As the author of the groundbreaking book The Psychodynamics of Social Networking , he pioneered the exploration of the psychological dimensions of technology, with a particular focus on the impact of social media, online behaviour, and hyperconnectivity on individuals and their relatio...

My guest today is John Bonaduce, a writer, lecturer, and theorist in “Mythobiogenesis”. John earned a doctorate in mythological studies with an emphasis in depth psychology. His specific expertise lies in his work on Mythobiogenesis, a term and theory he coined during his doctoral studies. John is currently a regular contributor to the Joseph Campbell Foundation through his writing as well as a le...

My guest today is Randolph Nesse, a founder of evolutionary medicine whose work with George Williams inspired many to expand explanations of disease from descriptions of why and how mechanisms fail in some individuals, to evolutionary explanations for traits that leave all individuals in a species vulnerable to a disease. Their six categories of possible explanations have become canonical: the lim...

My guest today is Drew Norton, a dynamic coach and co-host of The Everyday Leader Podcast and The Climb. With a background spanning sales, hiring, recruiting, leadership, and training across diverse industries, he's a seasoned expert in cultivating individual and organizational success. His career journey encompasses a proven track record in sales, and he's passionate about translating his wealth...

My guest today is Cynthia Poorbaugh, a certified Jungian Analyst, faculty member and supervisor for the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association, and member of the Board of Directors for the C.G. Jung Foundation of NY. As an artist, Cynthia exhibited in institutions and galleries in New York from 1987–2003. Cynthia also has an interest in the symbology and psychology of alchemy and astrology and, like J...

My guest today is Dean Abbott, a writer, podcaster, coach and spiritual director, who helps people live more soulfully in their relationships with self and others. We discussed X/Twitter, social media, publishing as a personal notebook, being helpful to others, personal development, asking ‘so what?’, asking yourself ‘what would you do in this situation if you believed x’, self-narratives, reimagi...

My guest today is Diana McKendree, a Jungian psychotherapist, educator, international keynote speaker, leader of women’s pilgrimages, and Iconographer. She is a senior faculty member with the Haden Institute, teaching Spiritual Direction and Dreamwork. Ordained an Interfaith Minister, Diana continues to search for the common threads that weave humanity and soul together. We discussed reading dream...

My guest today is Scott Neumeister, Ph. D., a literary scholar, TEDx speaker, and mythic pathfinder from Tampa, Florida, where he earned his doctorate in English from the University of South Florida in 2018. His specialization in multiethnic American literature and mythology comes after careers as an information technology systems engineer and a teacher of English at the middle school and college...

My guest today is Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph. D. a psychologist, writer, speaker, and Jungian analyst who is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Real Dialogue in Vermont. She has published 19 books including, The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance and Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path. She is the co-author, w...

My guest today is Roy Wang, a men's coach and believer in the renewing powers of the sacred wild man archetype. We discussed coaching, myth, beliefs, Robert Bly’s Iron John, the sacred wildman archetype, divorce, nice guys, people pleasing, mother wounds, father wounds, the Oedipus Complex, core beliefs, Robert Glover, the mindset of not being good enough, emotional caretaking, Carl Jung, proj...

My guest today is Bradley Olson, a writer, mythic explorer, and mythic life coach. Brad also works with the Joseph Campbell Foundation as the Publications Director, the MythBlast Series Editor, and the host of the foundation’s flagship podcast, Pathways With Joseph Campbell. We discussed mythic life coaching, reading myth as literal versus metaphorical, literature, behavioral reinforcement, The Po...

My guest today is Cherron Sue, an unschool mom of two, a peaceful parent, a thinker, and a writer. We discussed unschooling, play, standard homeschool myths, socialization, home environments, judgement, church culture, boundaries, public school, public education, children’s emotions, public school parents, lowest common denominators, mental health, zoning, grade levels, common core, screen time, r...

My guest today is Bernhard Guenther, a truth seeker, writer, lecturer, podcaster, and drummer. We discussed truth seeking, awakening, inner work, outer work, spiritual bypassing, detached objectivity, the evolution of consciousness, the psycho-spiritual, detachment without dissociation, evil, Carl Jung, shadow work, idiot compassion, healthy egos, owning your own power, individuation, anima/animus...

My guest today is Mina Stillwater, a writer, blogger, ceremonial magician, and avid researcher of the strange. We discussed fundamental Christianity, the Bible, historical parallels, metaphysics, grimoires, morals, values, synchronicity, the Police, alchemy, spiritual alchemy, chaos, four-fold breathing, ceremonial magic, high magic, divine entities, energy, Jungian Psychology, depression, poetry,...

My guest today is Dylan Treadwell, a storyteller driven to discover and create transformative, empathetic, and cathartic experiences. You can read Dylan’s writings by subscribing to the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s MythBlast Newsletter. We discussed storytelling, campfire stories, first encounters with myth, missionary work, the good news, the gospel, voodoo, mythical crossovers, literalist prose,...

My guest today is Todd Corsetti, the first elected Libertarian in Idaho, who ran for and won the office of Precinct Committeeman. Todd is a retired engineer and manager in the semiconductor industry, a student of Austrian Economics, and an active member of the Libertarian Party of Idaho, where he holds positions as chair of region 3 and chair of the Public Relations Committee. In 2024, Todd came o...

My guest today is Matt Loesby, Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Idaho. By day, Matt is a full time software developer, who splits his time between volunteering for his church, developing a video game, hiking in the Rockies, and doing administrative work and activism for the Libertarian Party of Idaho. In 2024 he ran for the U.S. House Idaho District 1 on the platform, ‘Stop Doing Evil’. Matt...

Welcome to the Explorer Poet Podcast. This episode will be a bit different. Rather than one guest, this is a group call, with a discussion facilitated by Rick Belden, who was first on the podcast back in Episode 51. He returns here for what was a virtual night of exploring personal stories, the processing of grief, and the pathway to healing. On the call, we discussed questions such as - What is a...

Ron Rivers is an entrepreneur, non-profit founder, author, and lecturer. Ron’s focus is on binding systems and spirit in alignment with the single truth and relational universe. His efforts coalesce at the intersection of Spirituality, Web3, AI, Political Economy, Philanthropy, and Systemic Reformation. He is the author of Self-Actualization in the Age of Crisis and the founder of SpiritDAO, a non...

Mollie Adler is a podcaster, writer and seeker, exploring emotional alchemy and the shadow side of the human psyche. She is the host of the Back From the Borderline podcast and the Night Night Bitches podcast. You can also find her writings at the Back From the Borderline substack. I’m a big fan of Mollie’s work, as well as her willingness to be open, objective, and ruthlessly raw, and I couldn’t...

Dr. Adele Lafrance is a clinical psychologist, research scientist, author, and the co-developer of emotion-focused treatment modalities, including Emotion-Focused Family Therapy, and she’s also a psychedelics researcher, with a focus on ayahuasca, MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine. She is the co-author of What to Say to Kids When Nothing Seems to Work: A Practical Guide for Parents and Caregivers , wh...

Nick Taber is a blogger and youtuber who writes about and discusses authoritarianism in school systems, the mental health industry, and the troubled-teen industry. He’s a proponent of true self-awareness and growth, and a believer in developing human potential. In our conversation we discussed awareness, perspective, conflict, being strong willed, troubled-teen industry, psychological abuse, brain...