The Explorer Poet Podcast

My guest today is Feldsott, an artist and healer with a long and fascinating story. At a young age, Feldsott became an artist on the rise, but he was disillusioned with the business side of art and stopped exhibiting or selling his work. Instead, Feldsott disappeared to South America where he championed environmental issues and studied with Indigenous people for more than 25 years. During this tim...

My guest today is Jason (J.M.) DeBord, best-selling author of the Dream Interpretation Dictionary, Creator of DREAMS 1-2-3, and host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast. Jason is well known in the dream work space, and also as RadOwl, the moderator of Reddit's most popular subReddit on dreams - r/dreams. Jason is the author of a new book Nightmares: Your Guide to Interpreting Your Darkest Drea...

My guest today is Jessica (Jess) Watson Miller, the founder of PsychCrisis.org - a nonprofit working to reform the psychiatric crisis system. Jess has a deeply personal connection to the crisis system and its flaws, and so works passionately to educate others about psychiatric crises and how to manage them, as well as designing new systems and working with current operators to improve their servic...

My guest today is Bud Harris, an author, psychologist, and Jungian analyst. Early in life, Bud pursued a career in business but his life lacked meaning. Following a period of dissatisfaction and searching, he returned to school and eventually became a diplomate Jungian analyst. Bud has written dozens of books, including Sacred Selfishness, Into the Heart of the Feminine, and Becoming a Love Warrio...

My guest today is Catherine Raven, an author, biologist, and overall inspiring human being. Catherine is a former national park ranger, she earned a PhD in biology from Montana State University, and holds degrees in zoology and botany from the University of Montana. Her first published book of non-fiction - Fox and I: an Uncommon Friendship - was the winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science...

My guest today is Jared Janes, a coach, podcaster, community builder, and meditator. From an early age, Jared has had a deep interest in human development, and has been willing to endure quite a lot to learn about and experience that development for himself. Jared spent six years exploring a handful of popular meditation methods and spiritual traditions, but still sensed that something was missing...

My guest today is Béa Gonzalez, an author, podcaster, lecturer, educator, and one of my favorite social media follows. I’m a fan of Béa because of her passion for teaching people about the importance of a metaphorical approach to life. As an author, Béa’s novels have been published in seven countries. Her titles include The Bitter Taste of Time, The Mapmaker’s Opera, and the recently published Inv...

My guest today is Bernie Taylor, a naturalist, author and archaeoastronomer whose research explores the origins of mankind’s creativity and awareness of the natural world. He’s authored several books, including Biological Time and Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero , which explores mankind’s creative capacity by looking at Paleolithic cave art from 40,000 years ago. Bernie proposes that se...

My guest today is Dr. Alicia Colson, an archaeologist and ethnohistorian, who’s conducted fieldwork in Canada, the UK, the US and Antigua, all in an effort to understand our human past. In her work, Alicia collaborates with indigenous communities in an effort to understand differing viewpoints, while also using AI computing to make scientific discoveries. Alicia’s a member of The Explorers Club's...

My guest today is Charles Pezeshki, a professor of engineering at Washington State University, and self-described world traveler, husband, and father of two. Charles has published in the field of design theory and high performance work teams. He runs a large Design Clinic and has worked on large-scale projects in various fields: from organizing sustainability education in Europe, to understanding...

My guest today is Dr. Angela Puca who’s research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents. Angela holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Philosophy and has lectured at Leeds Trinity University for several years. In 2021, The University of Leeds awarded her a PhD in Anthropology of Religion, which will be published in the upcoming year. Author of sev...

My guest today is Maija Haavisto who guides and teaches somatic work, imaginal practice, loving-kindness meditation, nondual practices and hypnosis. She is also a novelist, journalist, translator, poet, medical writer, playwright, artist, photographer and disability activist. Maija has written 17 books published in Finland. She maintains the Discord community ‘Mind Is the Gap’, which focuses on th...

My guest today is a fantastic human being, artist, and teacher named Shea Stanfield. Shea is author and publisher of the Starlight Scribe series, in which she highlights artists and their work, in an attempt to explore their sources of inspiration. Writing the stories of artists and their creative expressions is Shea’s way of celebrating the creative spirit and the artists who allow it to bring th...

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My guest today is a fascinating person and a true explorer, named Patricia Morgan. A conceptual artist based in Tucson, Arizona, she begins each piece with the concept, then searches for a medium through which to share it. Using sculpture, photography, and materials relevant to the concept itself, such as concrete, coal, or baby-bottle nipples, she creates outsized interdisciplinary installations...

In this solo episode, I break down the story of Raya and the Last Dragon, in which I discuss a story of healing, how any level of human interaction is comparable with any other, species kingdom family individual, Bubbles that kept me trapped, being raised in physical and social isolation, homeschooled, controlled education, fundamentalist christianity, poverty, emotionally unavailable, lack of edu...

In this solo episode, I break down the story of Po, a lovable panda, who’s journey takes him to the pinnacle of Kung Fu, where he becomes the Dragon Warrior, defeats Tai Lung, and saves the Peaceful Valley in Dreamworks animated movie Kung Fu Panda. I discuss dreams, the philosophy that our opponents are not our enemies, the point of a foe is to test you, to find people who are worthy to have in y...

Today is a solo episode, in which I cover the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve not as story of the first people that ever existed, but a story of what it is to exist in the west, both trees existing in the garden, the west only has access to one, the Tree of Life, immortality, eternal life as reincarnation in the east, reincarnation in symbolic and practical terms, reincarnation in psycho...

My guest today is an amazing, photo-realistic painter named Benjamin Johnson. Born in Philadelphia, Ben spent his formative years in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, where he developed an eye for the little things. Ben’s highly detailed oil paintings are inspired by the natural world and our place in it. He often incorporates scientific or historical themes, and frequently collaborates wit...

My guest today is Adam Helms, a fascinating artist and human, who’s work encompasses drawing, printmaking, sculpture, assemblage, and archival research. Adam’s work often highlights marginalized social and political groups and the American frontier. Our conversation flowed naturally from the moment Adam and I were in the same room together. I found him to be thoughtful, engaging, and full of inter...

My guest today is the great Barbara Rogers. Barbara is a painter, educator, world traveler, and a very very kind person. Barbara paints to transcend daily life, to evoke the sublime, to reaffirm the existence of beauty and the critical importance of cherishing the earth. Her work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, and she’s now a professor emeritus from the University...

My guests today are a lovely and amazingly talented pair of artists named Kelly Leslie and Craig Cully. Kelly is a designer, a teacher, and a lover of collaboration. Whether its problem solving with her clients, discovering something new with her students, or creating a series of fascinating paintings with her husband Craig, Kelly tells me that collaboration is the practice of being human. Craig i...

My guest today is a nationally recognized artist, accomplished educator, and driven creative coach named Carrie Seid. Carrie has produced and taught art most of her life and, while she’s still a creator, she also dedicates time to helping others create. Through her Creative Catalyst Training, a holistic program of workshops and face-to-face sessions, Carrie helps creative individuals to re-calibra...

My guest today is a free spirit and a fantastic sculptor named Barbara Jo Borch. Barbara’s artwork deals with the connections and contrasts between nature and mankind. As she creates, she plays with the ideas of natural versus rational and spontaneous versus intellectual, which she also demonstrates in her proces. Barbara begins with a concept in mind, but allows the materials to take unplanned co...

My guest today is Ahn-Thuy Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American photographer, educator, and all-around fantastic human being. Through her art, Ahn-Thuy investigates her personal history as a female immigrant, creator, and product of her heritage. She lives and works in Tucson, Arizona, where she’s the head of the photography program at Pima Community College. You can find her work in galleries, on magazi...