Face2Face with David Peck

Bob Logan and Face2Face host David Peck talk about the new play Copenhagen, complementarity, futurism, science for peace, wisdom over knowledge and having lunch with Neils Bohr.

Find out more about Copenhagen and purchase tickets here.

Synopsis

Two tiny particles colliding can cause a nuclear reaction. It is 1941, nations race to perfect The Bomb, and two scientists meet in occupied Denmark for a conversation that will change the course of history. Copenhagen is a story of language, spoken and unspoken, and heard and unheard. An individual speaks to not only connect to another person, but to know where they stand in their relationship to reality; to experiment and test the boundaries of where they end and where the universe begins. In the language of quantum physics, we divide an atom into smaller and smaller pieces to get to its core – the sub-atomic world. Michael Frayn (Noises Off, Democracy) invites us to bear witness to the ultimate ethical impasse.

Biography

Bob is the physics Consultant for the Soulppeer production of Copenhagen and is Prof. Emeritus - Dept. of Physics & the School of the Environment and a Fellow of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. He is also the Chief Scientist of the sLab at OCAD Univ. He taught the Poetry of Physics and Physics of Poetry course at U of T. He once had lunch with Niels Bohr when he was a student at MIT and collaborated and co-authored a book with Marshal McLuhan.

He was also active in the business world operating a computer training company 1982-2000 and a web development company from 1994 to 2000 through which he did extensive consulting in knowledge management. He was active in politics from1974 to date.

He has served as an advisor to PM Pierre Eliot Trudeau, policy chair of the Ontario wing of the federal Liberal Party and an advisor to various federal cabinet ministers.

He is also an author or editor of 12 books and many articles in refereed journals. He is currently engaged in consulting in the electricity sector as an associate of Elenchus Consulting. He continues to teach The Poetry of Physics at the U. of Toronto where he is Prof. Emeritus. In June 2011, he was presented with the Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship by the Media Ecology Association.

Photo Credit: Daniel Malavasi 

Image Copyright: Daniel Malavasi and Soulpepper theatre. Used with permission.

Music Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Dominic and Face2Face host David Peck talk about the ethics of cinéma vérité filmmaking, different versions of truth, poverty and white western development, empathy, curiosity and why the little things matter.

Trailer

Synopsis

On March 17th 2019 Clean Hands won the BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE jury award at the Cinequest Film Festival by a unanimous decision, “CLEAN HANDS represents passionate filmmaking; Intimate and powerful, it is a timely film that speaks to what is happening in central America and takes you places you don’t expect.” 

Shot over the course of seven years in Nicaragua, Clean Hands is a feature-length fly-on-the-wall cinéma vérité which tells the remarkable, riveting story of the Lopez family surviving against the backdrop of Central America’s largest garbage dump, La Chureca and beyond. It is about family, extreme poverty, the hope and innocence of children, rescue and salvation, and the challenges we all face. The four Lopez children are ages 6 to 10 when we first meet them. They have never been to school. They cannot read or write. They are kids, prone to mischief and silliness. They rely on each other as siblings, playmates, companions, and friends. Unlike their parents, they don’t fully grasp what they don’t have. La Chureca is the only life, and only world, they’ve ever known.

Clean Hands is a powerful story of real human drama. There is struggle, togetherness, liberation, and challenge.

Biography:

Michael Dominic is a multi-award winning documentary filmmaker and photographer from New York City. In the last decade he dedicated his life to making work that has a social conscience. His objective for his work is truth, to show what lies beneath the surface or out of sight.

Before Clean Hands, he made several other films; most notably the feature length documentary, Sunshine Hotel and the narrative short Tulips for Daisy.  Sunshine Hotel won three Best Documentary awards and was nominated for another dozen or so. After Sunshine Hotel’s run of almost thirty film festivals it ran on national US television for two years on Sundance Channel. Tulips for Daisy was also nominated for several awards including a nomination from the Akira Kurosawa Memorial Short Film Competition. 

His tenure as a photojournalist took him around the globe. His work has appeared in dozens of outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, The Tribune De Geneve, France-Amérique, The New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Playboy, Redbook, Le Figaro, Le Parisien, Bilan, Chåtelaine, L’actualité, ABCNews.com, CBSnews.com, MSN.com, Jet, Fashion TV, Sundance Channel, MTV, VIVA, as well as others.

He studied film at The School of Visual arts in New York City from 1990 to 1994. At the same time he worked for Annie Leibovitz as an intern and photo assistant.

He currently lives in Jackson Heights, Queens New York with his wife Ting.

Image Copyright: Michael Dominic and Broadway Bill Productions. Used with permission.

Music Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Rumeet Billan and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new bestselling book Who Do I Want to Become, Tall Poppy Syndrome, psychological capital, self-confidence, stress and tolerance and why we need to be comfortable in our own skin.

Synopsis

Who Do I Want To Become? It’s a book for anyone, of any age, who has been stumped by the question of what they're going to be when they grow up.

A class project is due, and Dylan is struggling with the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Ultimately, he realizes that it's who you are that matters the most.

Who Do I Want To Become? is a refreshing new take on a question asked time and time again. One that invites us to discover something wonderful about ourselves that has nothing to do with what you want to be and everything to do with who you are and who you want to be.

Biography

Dr. Rumeet Billan is an award-winning, internationally recognized entrepreneur, learning architect, speaker, author and humanitarian. Her mission is to raise potential by designing experiences that build resilience. Dr. Billan is the President and CEO of Viewpoint Leadership and an expert on Psychological Capital and Resilience. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and has designed and facilitated programs, courses, and training sessions across industries and sectors.

She led the groundbreaking national research study on The Tall Poppy Syndromewhich reveals the impact of the silent systemic syndrome on women in the workplace and is the National Ambassador for Not Myself Today®, an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association that aims to transform workplace cultures.

Recently, she released her first bestselling book, Who Do I Want To Become?, designed for children and adults who are struggling with the question of what they want to be when they grow up. She also serves on the Board of Directors for G(irls)20, a renowned global non-profit that aims to mobilize girls and young women for economic advancement locally and worldwide.

To learn more, please visit www.rumeetbillan.com

Image Copyright: Rumeet Billan. Used with permission.

Music Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bella Bathurst and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new book Sound: A Memoir of Hearing Lost and Found, murmurations, non-verbal cues, recognizing the moment, hearing loss, phantom smells, and ordinary miracles.

Synopsis

In this surprising and moving book, award-winning writer Bella Bathurst shares the extraordinary true story of how she lost her hearing and eventually regained it and what she learned from her twelve years of deafness. Diving into a wide-ranging exploration of silence and noise, she interviews psychologists, ear surgeons, and professors to uncover fascinating insights about the science of sound. She also speaks with ordinary people who are deaf or have lost their hearing, including musicians, war veterans, and factory workers, to offer a perceptive, thought-provoking look at what sound means to us.

If sight gives us the world, then hearing—or our ability to listen—gives us our connections with other people. But, as this smart, funny, and profoundly honest examination reveals, our relationship with sound is both more personal and far more complex than we might expect.

Biography

Bella Bathurst is a writer, photojournalist, and furniture maker. She has written four non-fiction books, including The Lighthouse Stevensons, which won the 1999 Somerset Maugham Award, and a novel, Special, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Part of her time is dedicated to time make and design furniture.

Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, and many other outlets. She lives in Herefordshire, England.

And Head here to read more about Bella and her work.

Image Copyright: Bella Bathurst. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blitz the Ambassador and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film The Burial of Kojo, African film making and story telling, magic and allegory, paradox, guilt, genetic memory and truthful moments.

Trailer

Streaming on Netflix, March 31st.

Synopsis

Through a magical realist lens, The Burial of Kojo follows the story of Esi, as she recounts her childhood and the tumultuous relationship between her father, Kojo and her uncle, Kwabena.

Directed by TED fellow, music composer and musician Blitz Bazawule, the film chronicles the tale of two brothers through the gifted eyes of a young girl who transports the audience to the beautiful lands of Ghana and other worlds that exist between life and death.

Born from a newspaper article and a Kickstarter campaign, Bazawule skillfully captures the beauty of a family, even when the circumstances aren't beautiful. The Burial of Kojo is an essential human story of courage and survival. The Burial of Kojo is a 2019 Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) Official Selection and 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Winner.

A Note from the Director:

It all began with a newspaper article I read while visiting family in Ghana two years ago. The text was bold and direct…."Galamsey Miners Buried Alive.” That headline stopped me dead in my tracks. For those unfamiliar with Galamsey, it's a local term for illegal gold mining, an extremely dangerous practice with little financial reward and irreversible environmental consequences. I became obsessed with understanding why young men and women risked their lives 30 feet underground, only to be paid a fraction of what the gold was worth. I visited the mining towns of Tarkwa and Prestea to do some research. The more I dug, the more apparent it became who really controlled the illegal gold mining industry in Ghana. Chinese companies assisted by local Chiefs really run the show, operating in the shadows while young local miners suffered all the risks and backlash. I knew immediately this was a story worth telling.

However, I didn't want to focus on the obvious theme of victimization. I wanted to craft a narrative that was personal and intimate, giving the audience a glimpse into a Ghanaian family dealing with love, loss, tragedy, betrayal and sibling rivalry.

Biography

Blitz Bazawule is a Filmmaker and Musician born in Ghana and based in New York. Blitz's short films Native Sun and Diasporadical Trilogìa premiered at New Voices in Black Cinema and Blackstar Film Festival respectively. Blitz is also the founder of Africa Film Society, an organization focused on the preservation of classic African films.

As a composer and musician, Blitz has released 4 studio albums, Stereotype, Native Sun, Afropolitan Dreams and Diasporadical.

Blitz's feature directorial debut 'The Burial Of Kojo' premiered at Urbanworld Film Festival presented by HBO. Blitz is a TED Fellow and recipient of the Vilcek Prize.

Image Copyright: Blitz the Ambassador and Array Now Films. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Booth and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new book The Achiever Fever Cure, mood disorders, staying present, insomnia, losing weight and gratitude, meditation and how important it is to get out of own way.

Synopsis

In a world obsessed by hyper-productivity, it’s all too easy to become hooked on chasing the next accomplishment without ever finding fulfillment. Founder and CEO of her own successful market research company, Claire Booth was driven by ambition and competition, yet plagued by feelings of inadequacy and a sense that she was never enough despite her constant striving. Booth calls this condition “achiever fever.” Recognizing that it was making her miserable, Booth set herself on quest to find relief and cool the heat.

The Achiever Fever Cure is a frank, funny and inspiring story of a road to recovery where Booth discovers a more joyful and purposeful life, one that also turns out to be good for business.

Biography

Claire Booth was a successful but stressed-out market research entrepreneur and executive suffering from what she calls “achiever fever”— constant striving coupled with chronic feelings of inadequacy. Sick and tired of feeling miserable, self-help skeptic Booth decided to try anything that might bring relief, from mindfulness to martial arts, from spending ten days in silence to “smiling” at her spleen. At first, she was fearful that slowing down and softening up would mean losing her professional edge. Instead, she discovered a more joyful and purposeful life, one that also turned out to be good for business.

Claire Booth is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker. She is the founder and CEO of market research firm Lux Insights, with two decades of experience serving some of the world’s most recognized brands. She teaches at the UBC Sauder School of Business, is a Board Director at cutting-edge theatre The Cultch and is a Big Sister.

In her spare time, Claire swims with the NorthShore Masters team and is a long-time member of the CCC climbing group at Base 5. Originally from the Prairies, she lives with her partner, Chris, in North Vancouver, Canada.

Image Copyright: Claire Booth. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melanie Wood and Face2Face host David Peck talk about her new film Living in HOpe, people as people, human centered healthcare, learning to live with others and why you should never ye your hair grey.

TrailerWatch the Series here on the Knowledge Network.

Synopsis

Living in HOpe is the culmination of more than a year of filming with unprecedented access at The HOpe Centre in North Vancouver. Each of the four Living in HOpe episodes offers a bold challenge to rethink how we perceive people living with mental illness.

One in three Canadians will experience mental illness or a substance use disorder in their lifetime, while more than 600,000 Canadians have reported needing mental health care that isn’t provided. Despite this, and recent nationwide awareness campaigns to increase understanding of mental illness, there is still deep stigma associated with mental disorders, particularly those relating to psychosis or schizophrenia—as seen in the shame that many HOpe Centre patients experience.

“Often we hear about mental illness only after someone has recovered. As a society we are used to hearing—and wanting—success stories, but the reality for many who experience mental disorders is that it is a long, sometimes lifelong struggle,” says Melanie Wood, writer and director of Living in HOpe.

“By sharing stories of patients even when they are at their most vulnerable, we better understand that people living with mental illness are not ‘other’. They are just people. And they have a voice.” The documentary’s scenes are intimate, compassionate and dramatic. Patients share the circumstances that brought them to HOpe—and their dreams for the future. The series is surprisingly full of humour, jokes between patients, and witty remarks about their own illness.

Biography

Melanie Wood has written, directed, produced, and executive-produced a wide variety of current affairs and documentary programs. Her work as producer and documentary filmmaker reflects not only the pulse of the times, but the voices of those who inhabit them. Her work pursues themes that strike a personal chord, and indeed affect all of us in some way. Melanie’s produced and directed two documentaries on the borderlands between the Internet and the human spirit. Her documentary A Stranger In Our Home, the disturbing tale of two teenage victims of Internet predators, has been extremely popular for both broadcasters and educators around the world. 

The groundbreaking documentary O.com, on cybersex addiction, was a finalist at the New York Festival. It also won the Platinum Award at Worldfest-Houston, the Jury Award at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival and was selected to screen at the Montreal World Film Festival. Her documentary, School Of Secrets, presents a tale of truth – and its consequences – in the story of a Vancouver teacher and the teenage girls he seduced. School Of Secrets premiered on The Lens on CBC Newsworld and won a Remi Award in Houston and a Gracie Award in New York for Best Documentary under 60 minutes.

Wood’s international documentary credits also include To Have and To Hold, profiling the victims of stalkers, The Sweet Assassin revealing the devastating effects of diabetes in the First Nations community, On Wings and Dreams: The Men Who Built Canada’s Airlines an historical documentary for Global Television, and Chasing The Cure: Brett Finlay, Man Against Microbe, a one hour science biography in a series for Paperny Films broadcast on Discovery Health.

Recently Melanie produced Carbon Hunters, a film by director Miro Cernetig for CBC, and BBC International. She also produced and directed The Difference Makers: with Rick Hansen, a prime time mini documentary series for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. She is currently producing Liberia’77 in association with Knowledge Network. Liberia’77 is the personal photographic journey of director Jeff Topham that examines how despite time, war, distance and culture photography connects us all.

Find out more about Melanie’s work here.

Image Copyright: Melanie Wood and Stranger Productions. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Officer and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Invisible Essence, the The Little Prince, the personal and

universal, a return to childhood, imagination, mystery, wonder and the contemplation of sunsets.

Trailer

Synopsis

Invisible Essence: The Little Prince explores the global legacy of The Little Prince 75 years after its publication. Weaving the author Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s extraordinary biography with fascinating discussions of key sections of the book, the film explores the ways life and art reflect one another in curious ways. Indeed, the film reveals that St-Ex’s own story – his childhood, his love affair, his friendships, his politics, and his harrowing brushes with death – inform the story at every turn.

Working imaginatively with the famous line “what is essential is invisible to the eye”, the film introduces a modern day Little Prince – a seven year-old blind Pakistani-Canadian boy who absorbs the book for the first time – and follows him over the course of a day as he grapples with the meanings of the story he has just read.

Throughout, Invisible Essence: The Little Prince captures engaging conversations with an incredible range of individuals such as Mark Osborne (director of the animated film ‘The Little Prince’), Adam Gopnik (Staff Writer at The New Yorker), Rupi Kaur (Poet, New York Times Bestselling Author), Stacy Schiff (Pulitzer-Prize-winning biographer of St-Exupéry), and Olivier and François d'Agay (the great nephew and nephew of Antoine de Saint- Exupéry).

Although a fable, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s transcendent story suggests an ethical philosophy about life in its own way, a code of respect for humanity.

Biography

Charles Officer is the founder and creative director of Canesugar Filmworks. His filmmaking career began with a slate of award-winning short films that premiered at International Film Festivals around the world. He is an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre Director Residency where his debut feature Nurse, Fighter, Boy was produced (TIFF ’08, 10 Genie Nominations 2010). Charles followed with the feature documentary Mighty Jerome (4 Leo Awards in 2011, 2012 Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary).

Officer directed Stone Thrower: The Chuck Ealey Story for the eight-episode documentary series Engraved on a Nation (2014 CSA Best Documentary Series). In 2017 he made The Skin We’re In, featuring journalist and activist Desmond Cole and the feature documentary Unarmed Verses (Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature Awards, Vancouver International Film Festival 2017, TIFF Top Ten People’s Choice Award 2018).

Charles has also directed multiple episodes of dramatic series such as Rookie Blue, Private Eyes, Netflix Original 21 Thunder and Ransom. He recently completed his third feature documentary Invisible Essence: The Little Prince based on the international best selling novella.

His feature crime noir Akilla’s Escape starring Saul Williams begins production spring 2019, and he is developing the series adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s novel Son of a Smaller Hero with Generic Productions and Prospero Pictures.

Image Copyright: Charles Officer & Cane Sugar Filmworks. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Thom Powers form TIFF and producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Fell and Face2Face host David Peck talk about peak experiences, core identities and values, losing weight, eureka movements, the tortoise/hare approach to decision making, the fear of boredom and why science and self help should be connected.

Synopsis

After years of helping people change, James Fell had a sudden insight about sudden insight: significant life change doesn’t often come from just putting one foot in front of the other, carefully observing and altering habits, slogging through baby steps toward new behavior. Rather, the research reveals that serious life turnaround usually happens in a moment, with a flash of inspiration. Epiphany arrives like a lightning strike, rapidly shifting the recipient of such enlightenment onto a new path that creates a better life.

Motivational psychology has traditionally focused on slow and steady―gradual improvement over time to reach a desired goal, whether it’s weight loss, career change, battling addiction, or success in relationships. We’ve all been told that the tortoise beats the hare. But, through compelling science and powerful stories, James Fell shows us that the hare has the edge; overwhelming desire can be awakened fast and furiously. When you learn to become attuned to that sensation of sudden awakening, a new path can be followed almost effortlessly.

Everyone has the ability to experience the lightning strike. The Holy Sh!t Moment will teach you how to create a life-changing epiphany and go directly from intention to action.

Biography

James Fell is a highly regarded science-based motivator for lasting life change. With millions of readers around the globe, he has the mission of helping people achieve sudden insight into what inspires them to live the life they know they’re meant to.

He has been a regular contributor for numerous major publications, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, AskMen.com, Men’s Health, TIME, The Guardian, NPR, and a variety of others. Fell is the author of Lose it Right: A Brutally Honest 3 Stage Program to Help You Get Fit and Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind.

You can find out more about him and his work here.

Image Copyright: James Fell. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Thom Powers form TIFF and producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Taylor and Face2Face host David Peck talk about the arts as a gift for everyone, Bono and U2, beauty and desire, a history of doubt, vehicles for Grace and why donuts are an uncomplicated food group.

And check out this short film as it documents the friendship between Bono and Eugene Peterson (author of contemporary-language Bible translation The Message) revolving around their common interest in the Psalms. Based on interviews conducted by David Taylor and produced in association with Fourth Line Films, the film highlights a conversation on the Psalms that took place between Bono, Peterson, and Taylor at Peterson’s Montana home.

Biography

W. David O. Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller, is the author of The Theater of God's Glory and of the forthcoming books, Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts (Eerdmans, 2019) and Honest to God: The Psalms and the Life of Faith (Thomas Nelson, 2019).

He is also editor of For the Beauty of the Church(Baker, 2010)and Contemporary Art and the Church: A Conversation between Two Worlds IVP Academic, 2017).He has published articles in The Washington Post, Image Journal, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today, among others.

An Anglican priest, he has lectured widely on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. In 2016 he produced a short film on the psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson. He lives in Houston with his family.

He tweets @wdavidotaylor

You can find out more about David here.

Image Copyright: David Taylor. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.