BETTER presents: Make Food Food Again

Host Mark Brand welcomes Harold O'Neal to Better for a conversation about embracing conflict and creative storytelling through impact by turning inside. Don't miss a little performance on his keyboard at the end of the episode!

Harold O'Neal is a musician and social entrepreneur, known for his work as a producer, pianist, composer, public speaker, and storyteller. He is widely recognized for his association with the legacy of jazz pianists and has also worked with a diverse range of artists across various musical genres, including U2, Lupe Fiasco, Bob Geldof, Jay Z, and Damien Rice. O'Neal has also been granted fellowship to the prestigious Royal Society of the Arts, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as patron. Recently, Harold O'Neal brought his storytelling expertise to Pixar's Academy Award-winning film, Soul, serving as a creative expert behind the scenes with his stories providing valuable resources to the filmmaking process. O'Neal is currently working on a range of exciting projects, including his next cinematic jazz album set for release in 2023. He's also producing and scoring a feature-length film with an Academy Award-winning director, scheduled for release in 2024. Additionally, he's collaborating with NASA's Chief Story Architect, Paul Propster, to co-found the Admira Summit, a social enterprise focused on youth outreach, technology, and storytelling.

Find out more about Harold O'Neal: 
https://www.pianocinema.com/
https://www.admirasummit.org/home
https://www.instagram.com/haroldonealofficial

Holley M. Kholi-Murchison is an artist and cultural geographer exploring work as a portal to self and communal actualization. They study the human condition, desire, and potential within and outside of evolving definitions of work and workplace. From their research, they tell love stories, make artifacts and resources, and design and program spaces that open pathways for creators to nurture their gifts, talents, and growing edges for their life's work and personal fulfillment. Currently, Holley is Managing Partner and Director of Studio and Media Lab at Oratory Glory, and a co-steward at Celie & Squeak. Find out more about Holley (including the Tell Me About Yourself or TMAY book referenced in this episode) HERE.

BETTER is back for season two with Mark Brand. Today, he welcomes friend and fellow DJ Kirk St. Cyr, better known by his stage name as 4 Korners. He’s the official DJ for the Toronto Raptors and an international musician – he’s played the top nightclubs in more than 20 countries across the world while collecting awards and accolades, AND an NBA championship ring! Find out more about 4Korners and listen to his debut album 4Korners of the World HERE.

Tara McGuire is a mother, a steep advocate for change in the fight against overdoses, a former broadcaster, and a powerfully potent writer. Her book “Holden After and Before," gives us an honest insight into her grief, carried from the loss of her son, Holden to the opioid crisis, which Tara points out is better viewed as what it truly is: an overdose crisis.

"He died because he made a mistake that day,” she says with heavy compassion for her own loss, and her son's loss, too, "He wasn't trying to die."

Holden's overdose at 21 is not an isolated event. 

Over 35,000 families know their version of her pain from the last five years alone. That's 21 deaths a day. And while the "cause of death," might be marked on paper with the same words, the Cause of Life and the person behind it only exists once.

We’re all one of one. That's the love part of the loss. That’s the crisis of One in many.

Tara has turned that love for her son into proactive activism. She is now invited to speak to judges with power to change the course of treatment made available to people struggling.

In this episode, we talk about the solutions—the life-saving solutions our youth deserve. 

And Tara drops bars in one of the most special elements of this episode. Through her prose and poetics Tara's gives voice to hope. At the top of Segment 2, we hear her read an excerpt and go into her world as she breathes in the life of her son . 

All of this takes us to the key emotion driving impactful change: compassion.

"We need to find out why people are numbing themselves with these substances at all. Who we’re losing through this overdoes crisis are our most sensitive people." Tara says, "We need to be in the prevention business... we need to provide care instead of punishment."

That part.

WORKS:
- Author of "Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose"
- Notably recognized essay: “I Can Feel Him Breathing”
- Tara's poems and essays have been recognized by Room Magazine, the Writer’s Union of Canada, the TNQ Edna Staebler personal essay contest, as well as broadcast on The Sunday Edition and The Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio

TOOLS:
- Wisdom that guides us to our calling
- How to speak to your children about drug use with compassion 
- Language to help us demystify the stigma of substance abuse
- Permission to take your time with grief and guidance for how to express grief 
- How to transfer energy when someone we love dies 
- Reminders that bad advice exists everywhere and to feel your feelings
- The importance of ritual 
- Pharmaceutical information that helps us question why our doctors are prescribing these highly addictive meds to begin with when there are alternatives 

MEMORIAL FUND
After his passing, the Holden Courage Memorial Fund for Artists was created to support street artists. Link to donate here

Addictions Treatment Helplines in Canada

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (U.S.)

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media

Rick Doblin is a a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist and the visionary behind MAPS—the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), a non-profit dedicated to “delivering global healing through psychedelic research.” 

His research proves how psychedelics heal trauma. 

Rick started studying the power of psychedelics as medicine just one year before the US government scheduled an emergency ban on psychedelics—and he has continued to work on the frontlines of advocacy for the return of this medicine ever since. 

In this episode, you’ll hear us talk about the need for deep healing in a society that’s running on fumes. His words on PTSD and what’s possible for even the most complicated of cases brings a depth of hope that anyone with trauma (big t or little) can drop shoulders after listening. 

The long term effects measured by his clinical trials are there. The safety is there. The need is there. The only thing missing is the regulatory approval and the adaptation for certain psychedelics to move from Schedule I (the highest of offense) to Schedule II, which allows medical use. 

We also cover the extremes, like balancing a sober life with the use of this medicine— because that’s all it is, medicine—and combining it with therapy.  

And we catch beautiful quotes like this one:

“A lot of the people who are involved in substance abuse problems feel isolated and alone. Part of the antidote to that is to feel that you are connected to this magnificent adventure of billions of years that’s produced life on earth, and to feel that there’s this web of love that’s underneath everything.”

TRIGGER WARNING: 
This episode discusses suicide and suicidal ideation, and some people might find it disturbing. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please, contact your physician, go to your local ER, or call the suicide prevention hotline in your country. 

For the United States, the numbers are as follows:
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Both programs provide free, confidential support 24/7.

For Cananda, the numbers are as follows:
Call the Canada Suicie Prevention Service 1.833.456.4566, available 24/7/365 or Text the Crisis Text Line at 45645, available 4pm - midnight

WORKS:

- founder and executive director of MAPs—the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which has “dedicated the last 36 years to changing the way people think of, talk about, and consume psychedelics through research, education, and advocacy.”

- TED: The Future of Psychedelic-Assisted Research

TOOLS:

- Research that sheds light on the true safety psychedelics can provide in healing trauma

- Profound insights and data that open us up to what’s happening when our minds are on psychedelics 

- Reminders of the power therapy has and why I always always recommend it

- Insight into the studies MAPS is conducting to better understand the profound effects this medicine creates

- Discussions around the equity and accessibility of these tools and what changes have to happen

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media

Rachel Sumekh was in college when she noticed the problem: her peers are hungry. Then she spotted the solution and moved instantly into action. No flinching here. (You can see why we’re friends.) 

It didn’t take long for the administration to see her impact before they tried to shut it down. While they moved to block progress, the Obama White House named her organization a “Champion for Change.”

What one authority called rebellion, another named Revolution. 

Same coin, different sides. One truth.

In this conversation, Rachel speaks openly about the influence her Iranian-Jewish background has on her experience as a human in service to other humans.

You’ll hear us talk about our duty, as people, to help end each other’s suffering.

Let’s let that one hang.

That’s OUR duty: end each other's suffering. 

We also explore the chapter-close of her decade-long role as the Founder of Swipe Out Hunger—a national nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger, which is something that went largely overlooked before her eyes and heart took notice—proving once again that it just takes One of us (to start).

To date, the team at Swipe Out has proudly served over 4.8 million nourishing meals across more than 450 campuses. 

“This is a baton pass,” Rachel says mid-interview about leaving Swipe Out in the hands of new leadership. “These problems are so big. I’d need to be the whitest of white men to believe that I need to stay there and solve this problem.”

And with THAT truth, the episode is yours. Let’s go. 

WORKS:
- Founder of Swipe Out Hunger—a national nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger. From its beginnings as a grassroots movement at UCLA in 2010, Swipe Out Hunger has since served 4.8 million nourishing meals across more than 450 campuses in all 50 states and Canada.
- Board member for her LA based Jewish community, IKAR
- Owner, TypicalPersianGirl.com

RESOURCES:
If you or someone you know is experiencing hunger on a college campus, visit swipehunger.org to learn about resources

TOOLS:
- How to align your skill set with an issue you care about
- Tools to recover from lone-wolf syndrome
- Reminders that help us conceptualize away time from working
- Incredible awarenesses around the true path to creating change
- How to face the challenges of being idealistic as an adult
- Reminders to find safe people who you can open up to
- Stories that remind us HOW normal and common food insecurity really is 

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media

Eamonn Store is IN boardrooms changing the hearts, minds, and actions of some of the world's biggest companies. He’s the former CEO of The Guardian and current Founder & CEO of FairShare—an impact consultancy driven by the belief that “making a contribution to the World is no longer just a 'nice to have.'”

I call him a board whisper because he has the critical ability to get people in powerful seats to see past greed’s inherent blindness and come to truth.

We talk about capitalism’s many side effects—one being what Eamonn calls “addiction to winning,” and then move into how our current climate crisis, among other crises, can all see themselves in the face of this phenomenon. 

Thankfully, it’s hard-TRUTH-facing conversations like this, with people like Eammon who put action behind their beliefs, that brings us to see what’s most important and most possible: we have to show up for each other.

We have to. We have no other choice.

Trust, when I say, this conversation brings layers of wisdom about the machine, about community, about change, and our ability to make it—with a lens on what it looks like to live life with a compass of contribution at North. 

WORKS:
- Former CEO of The Guardian, North America
- Founder & CEO of FairShare, an Impact Consultancy that helps companies advance a Purpose beyond their product’s benefit and practices Conscious Commercialism, which “leverages the soul of your brand to the benefit of all while creating more long-lasting business value." 

TOOLS:
- Tools to help us give ourselves permission not to push for perfection when the world just needs us to show up
- Reflections that help us see our addiction to winning
- The importance of developing a worldview 
- Reminders to give yourself permission to reflect on the last 5 years of your life with a compassion-centered lens 
- Reminders to value stakeholders in business, rather than centering shareholders alone
- Questions to help you identify your true purpose 
- Reflections that validate the difficulty of disappointment that comes with hoping corporates aligns with true purpose and impact  

RESOURCE:
- You'll hear us also talk about YOUTH v GOV, a must-watch documentary 

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media with special support and assistance for today's episode from Sarah Burke.

Brother Ernie Paniccioli is a legendary hip hop & culture historian, humanitarian, and self-taught photographer who has been ‘documenting the culture since the start.' 

My first meeting with Brother Ernie was in Vancouver where he said the feeling of being seen—truly seen and known—was more alive because Indigenous people are "everywhere." Unlike in Brooklyn where he grew up eight blocks away from Biggie Smalls.

In this conversation, we track the history of hip hop as a global voice—a global power—and how it can teach us to inhabit a consciousness that promotes our collective wellbeing over a collective violence that he says, knowingly, only leads to the perpetuation of more violence. 

Here's a quote to kick us off, "If you're gonna love Tupac, if you're gonna love Biggie, then you have to look at it through a different lens—and that lens is how do we not hurt each other? How do we not expand on that violence? How do we not relive it? They say, History's best qualified to teach you, whether it's Germany and the Holocaust or the American Native situation. Unless you know your history, you're condemned to repeat it. So, my thing is very simple: let Tupac and Biggie rest in peace, but more importantly, learn from that and learn that violence creates more violence. What you eat, what you see, and what you absorb is what you become," he says before leading us into a list of recommendations to enlighten the mind and lighten the heart.

Also, special side note, if you're catching this at the time of air, Brother Ernie's work is currently being displayed at the GRAMMY Museum Experience, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The feature exhibit is called, “A Hip-Hop Life: Five Decades of Hip-Hop Music, Art and Culture" and displays early & exclusive, behind-the-scenes photos of Hip-Hop legends: Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Naughty By Nature, Lauryn Hill, the Fugees, Ice T, Chuck D, Queen Latifah, and many many more.

WORKS:
- Dig into the history (see Ernie's prints for sale here)
- Hip Hop Hall of Fame in 2014 
- Served as the chief photographer for the hip hop magazine, “Word Up!” for over 20 years
- Spokesman at The United Nations for The Temple of Hip Hop during the Hip Hop Peace Conference
- Published several books, including “Who Shot Ya”
- Featured as the subject of the award-winning documentary, “The Other Side of Hip-Hop"

TOOLS:
- Stories that help guide us into a deeper knowing of ourselves
- Wisdom that appeals to the importance of history, knowing it, and using it to shape the future
- Spiritual truths that guide us out of violence and into regular, good fun
- Legendary tales that remind us to celebrate the ones who gave us what we have today

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media

Zach Sciacca, aka DJ Z-Trip is a conduit for the power of music AND the love of music.

He has a history of working alongside the world’s greatest artists including Chuck D & Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie and the list of legends goes on (check the list of WORKS below*)

His work showcases the connectivity that music brings us across lifetimes, friendships, memories… 

Music is one of—if not THE most—transformational tool we have. 

But when a song gets mashed with another, it transcends everything and becomes something entirely new. 

THAT power is something Z-Trip has mastered and even pioneered, in the truest sense of the word. Without Z-Trip, the modern-day mash-up doesn’t exist in music. His genius shows up in his ability to simultaneously create containers of celebration & containers of healing—both needed. It IS evolutions in music like this that have helped make me who I am today. 

What DJ Z-Trip DOES (for a living and for life) honors the past, present, and future all at once. 

Time is transcended. Feelings are processed. Memories are made and people are remembered. 

I bring him on today as my dear friend and someone I've been a fan of since before our friendship (shoutout Ant Demby for bringing us together at the Playlist retreat)—and let this stand as a reminder that bigging up your friends is always, always the move.     

WORKS: 
- Listen to DJ Z-Trip and support his crazy talent on Twitch, Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube
- 2009 recipient of the "America's Best DJ Award" (he remains on the top 10 lists year after year)
- Respectively, Z Trip is the “Godfather of the mashup movement” 
- Topped the charts for “Best Album of Year” lists including Rolling Stone Magazine, Spin, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, among many others with his 2001 album, "Uneasy Listening, Vol. 1" 
- He has a history of working alongside the world’s greatest artists including Chuck D & Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie and the list of legends goes on
- Opened for The Rolling Stones
- Headlined at major shows like Coachella and Rock The Bells
- Produced music for EA Games and Tony Hawk
- First and only DJ to have a remix approved by Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's estate

TOOLS:
- What it means to be an entertainer, to transcend space and create containers of healing
- Reminders to let you know the importance of slowing down and reflecting on the impact of your work and life
- The value of having perspective of where you’ve been to see where you’re going
- The beauty of people whose life purpose is to give people a break from the hard stuff
- Reminders of how music gets us through the day and through life
- Advice that guides craters to be conduits who connect creation to audience not audience to your ego
- Metaphors that reflect the balance we need for trust & safety AND playfulness & challenge
- The importance of reconnecting with the core of your being
- Stories that give the gift of gratitude for the music collectors in your life
- Reminders to be a fan of your friends and how they show up in life
- Truths that show us that time and time again, only you can do things your way
- Permission to adapt daily for the sake of creativity 
- Inspiration to be your own student
- Resonance that reflect the truth of how powerful music is as a healer 
- Wisdom that reflects the importance of respecting the culture and the history of your craft
- Inspiration to take what you’ve learned in life and open someone else’s world with it

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media

Jennifer Crawford is a gender creative queer who I could happily gush about for the entirety of this episode. 

We first met cooking for an organization called Sistering in Toronto, which does critical work with women and trans people who are predominantly street entrenched and fleeing violence.

You’ll hear that story upfront. (I promise, it’s a warm one.)

Jennifer is also the first queer winner of MasterChef Canada, and—wait for it—a professional wrestler who goes under the moniker of Moon Miss. BOTH of which make it super easy for us to talk about the inherent multi-dimensionality that comes with being a person (period), and that leads us right into talking about the trauma that first causes any of us to mask, and the secondary trauma that comes from the pain of masking.

It’s a lot of uncovering.

"There's a lot of peace in learning how your mind works and giving yourself that permission slip to treat the stakes as high as they are. When I think about authenticity, it's not something I think about a lot in terms of like, ‘Oh, am I being authentic?’ I think about the stakes being so high—and they are for so many. It's not just a thing we do for clout online. It is a thing we do to survive, and connect with other people, so that we can thrive together.” - Jennifer Crawford

Take that in. And get ready to feel a whole lot of permission.

(*Check the list of tools below for the full scope.)

WORKS:
- Winner of MasterChef Canada (Check their recipes at jenniferecrawford.com)
- Professional wrestler, under the name Moon Miss
- Columnist and author of the platform, “My Queer Kitchen" on Daily Xtra
- Columnist for SaltWire

TOOLS:
- Reminders that free you from having to mask who you are
- Truths that come from permission-granting lived-experience stories 
- How sobriety can help us discover more nuance about ourselves
- Insight into the beauty and gift that comes with noticing yourself 
- Reflections that help us depart from codependent patterns
- Lived lessons on finding the balance between humility and self-abandonment
- Truths that show you’re always worthy of nurturing
- Wisdom that creates doorways into small degrees of change (rather than the pressure to 180)
- Connection and truths revealed about lone-wolfing life and how to break away from the damage of this trauma response
- Ideas that free you from the trappings of niching down your life

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

BETTER is recorded on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.
 

BETTER with Mark Brand is produced by Pamela Rothenberg of I HEAR YOU STUDIOS and Adam Karch with Orbyt Media