The Happy Pear Podcast

What happens when you mix a life of media expertise with the desire to help us collectively look after our health, planet and ‘precious life’? Well, we think you get Sarah Wilson! We used to call her the Sugar Lady, as she wrote, best selling book, I Quit Sugar  and founded  IQuitSugar.com, a program that has been completed by 1.5 million people in 133 countries. But will find no mention...

Not a pleasant question, but have you ever wondered what the biggest killer of men in the Western world is? This week, meet Rip Esselstyn, a former professional athlete and firefighter who has dedicated decades to helping people improve their health and fight this biggest killer. “The number one cause of death amongst fire fighters is heart attacks, not fires!” But don’t worry! There’s a happy end...

Have you ever heard of Dr. Melanie Joy? Well, if you haven’t you should! Is it acceptable to say this could be our favourite episode to date? Joy has an incredible capacity to distill information in the most tangible way. She effortlessly cuts to the core of so many major issues that impact us all. From the macros like climate change or racism to the micros of personal relationships. “When you loo...

Coined “The Death Metal Irish Baron”, this re-wilding, filmmaking, vegan Lord is not only continuing in the lineage of great ancestors before him but also going against the grain. How? By giving back what he inherited to its true owner: Mother Earth herself… This week's podcast guest is Lord Randal Plunkett. He has been described as an idiot, a moron and crazy but that doesn’t stop him. Randal is...

This week you get two for the price of one! Well, actually four if you include us ;) We had the pleasure of hosting both Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke, and delved deep into their new book: The Plant Based Athlete . Matt being an ultra runner and Robert being a bodybuilder - they are the perfect pair to write THE book on a plant-based diet for athletes. We had a super stimulating conversation. Asi...

To kick off our new series no better man to have than the wise monk himself - Manchán Magan. And guess what, it was in person! Whoop! Genuinely what a treat, and you can really tell! His name, Manchán, literally means ‘little monk’ and if you were to meet him, there really is no better fitting name - Even how he holds himself has an air of soft wise intellect. We began thinking we were going to di...

“We are victims of our own success” Has economic growth destroyed us all? Usually economic growth is seen as a good thing right? Or at least that is what politicians would have us believe.  In this episode prepare yourselves! Put your seat belts on! As Richard Heinberg does not hold back. There is no softness or sugar coating here, he has been spreading the word of our impending climate crisi...

Do you talk to strangers? When you think of the word ‘stranger’, does danger come to mind? This week we talk to the insightful Joe Keohane, a veteran journalist who has held high-level editing positions at  Medium, Esquire, Entrepreneur , and  Hemispheres . His writing—on everything from politics, to travel, to social science, business, and technology—has appeared in  New York &nbsp...

This week we are thrilled to say we have our friend, the eco-warrior, Davie Philip. Davie is a community catalyst and facilitator at  Cultivate.ie , the sustainability cooperative based in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, and a network weaver with  ECOLISE.eu , the European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability. He is the coordinator to the Open Food Hub at C...

This week we are delighted to give you the brilliant John Stewart. John is a sought-after speaker, author and educator, with over 25 years of international experience. He was the Head of  Green School Bali (Voted The World’s Greenest School) and literally wrote the book on ‘ Thriving at School '!  Having won numerous awards within the educational world, John recently took on the biggest...

Prepare yourself, we are the ULTIMATE fans of our latest guest…  Steve even claims that in his teenage years he dreamt of being married to one of his songs. If you are over the age of 30 you probably “made out” to at least one of his many hits. The song “Everything I do”, still holding the longest consecutive reign for the Number 1 hit single in chart history! We are thrilled to announce that...

“I am a storyteller; that’s what I do…” Welcome to this week’s episode with the delightful, insightful and charming, Professor Jonathan Dawson. Jonathan might describe himself as a storyteller, however, in this episode it is not Jonathan telling the story: we deconstruct “The Story” or many narratives that we have all been told, which play a huge part in the cause of our climate crisis. “The key n...

For episode 4 of our Community series, we present to you the very man who changed our own perspective on community living years and years ago. The co-founder of the Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes, Mr Rob Hopkins! To give you a bit of background on Rob, he is the author of numerous books including, The Transition Handbook,  21 Stories of Transition  and most recently,...

Bruce Parry, Bruce Parry, Bruce Parry! What a gent! How often do you get to speak with someone who has fully immersed themselves in 15 different indigenous tribes all across the world? He ate what they ate including maggots and insects, he slept where they slept at times on hard dirt floors tangled between legs and arms and mosquitos crawling at his skin, he took part in ceremonial practices and p...

For our second episode in our Community series, we are delighted to present the magical Dan Buettner! Buettner is an explorer, National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and producer, and a  New York Times  bestselling author. He discovered the five places in the world—dubbed Blue Zones—where people live the longest, healthiest lives.  Buettner now works in partnership wit...

As the first guest of our new season titled Community, we are delighted to give you “Mother Earth” herself - Helena Norberg-Hodge. To say we were blown away is an understatement - Dave announced at least three times that he was her new biggest fan! Helena is a pioneer of the new economy movement and recipient of the Alternative Nobel prize, the Arthur Morgan Award and the Goi Peace Prize for...

This week's podcast is with the brilliant Professor Paul Dolan. Paul is a Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also is an author and hosts his own popular podcast called Duck-Rabbit We had a great laugh with Paul, our conversation focused on the many facets of Happiness and how one glove does not fit all. “This idea that one size fits all app...

Wow, to say our minds were blown is an understatement! This week we are delighted to present to you our wonderful guest and friend, the mighty brain that is Zach Bush MD. For those who don’t know Zach, he is a renowned, multi-disciplinary physician of internal medicine, endocrinology, hospice care, and internationally recognised educator on the microbiome as it relates to human health, soil health...

For any of you who haven't had the pleasure of listening to Doctor Alan Desmond, this is a real treat. In many ways, we feel he is our 'Father of Gut Health'! A great friend of ours that we have had the pleasure to work with on a number of occasions, including on our own Healthy Gut Course . For over 17 years Dr Al has been studying the gut. Not the easiest undertaking as you'll hear from this epi...

This week we are delighted to bring you, YouTubers and VanLifers, Eamon & Bec! As their title suggests, Eamon and Bec are a couple who spend their time traveling around in their customised van. Earning their money from their popular youtube channel which follows all their adventures. “The overnight success that took 10 years to build - that couldn’t be more true for us! You could look at our c...

This weeks podcast is with the delightful Dr Gemma Newman. Gemma is a friend of ours, a GP with a special interest in the environment, women’s health, and nature. We have had the pleasure of working with her on a number of health courses, including our recent The Happy Skin Challenge . This was a very informative chat to say the least. We covered so many topics from antibiotic resistance, agricult...

Philippa Perry, what an amazing person. The type of person you always want on your side in an argument! She is a psychotherapist and author of many books, including the most recent no. 1 best selling “The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)” I believe the title says it all!  In our chat Philippa really puts us in our box and made us rethink our ba...

This weeks episode is with our good friend Tony Riddle. Tony is a natural lifestyle coach, author and record-breaking barefoot endurance athlete. Regarded as a trailblazer within the field of natural movement and lifestyle, Riddle is the creator of the Natural Lifestyle Philosophy, that encourages modern urbanites to reconnect with certain innate, ‘wild’ behaviours in order to increase physical, e...

What a story! Where to start? A 22 year old armed robber who ended up in highest security prison with two life sentences. Whilst in prison he broke two world records, eventually leading to becoming an ultra athlete. Now Nike sponsored and to top it all off he’s gone vegan! John has an amazing outlook on life, and is a true example of how the positive impact of sport and movement can have on your w...

This weeks podcast is with the man who has lived many lives, the infamous, Glen Hansard! I mean where do we start? For those who aren’t familiar, Glen is an Irish songwriter, actor, vocalist and guitarist for The Frames, and one half of duo  The Swell Season Having played roles in the BAFTA-winning film The Commitments , as well as starring in the film Once , which earned him an Aca...