Bush Flying in Indonesia: From IT Desk to Remote Mountain Airstrips

A tidy flat, a good salary, a steady routine — and a growing knot of anxiety. That was Matt Dearden’s life before he walked away from IT and flew halfway across the world to become a bush pilot in Indonesia.

In this episode of No Ordinary Monday, Matt takes us inside the reality of remote aviation, flying for Susi Air across one of the most challenging aviation environments on Earth. What followed was a crash course in flying beyond the textbook: single-engine turbine aircraft, dirt airstrips carved into mountain slopes, jungle valleys that shift from clear skies to dense cloud in minutes, and communities where aviation is the difference between isolation and survival.

Flying the Pilatus Porter on the Frontier

We explore the aircraft that makes this work possible — the Pilatus PC-6 Porter — a rugged STOL plane designed for short, steep, and unpredictable runways. Matt explains how “pioneering routes” connect remote villages across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, why cargo can range from medical supplies to fuel drums to live pigs, and how pilots manage risk when terrain, weather, and human decision-making collide.

He’s candid about aviation accidents — how they rarely have a single cause, but form chains of small decisions — and the mindset required to keep flying with humility, discipline, and focus in high-risk environments.

Alone in Cloud, Low on Options

Then the story tightens.

Mid-afternoon, alone in cloud, flying on oxygen with fuel drums banging behind him, Matt is hit with sudden nausea. The horizon spins. There’s no autopilot. No outside visual reference. Just instruments, terrain warnings, and willpower.

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Episode Links: 

Matt's Website - https://mattdearden.co.uk/

Matt's Book - https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Shangri-really-Worst-Place-ebook/dp/B0DHWCHSNK

Socials: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattdearden

https://www.instagram.com/indopilot/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/IndoPilot/

For More Info Visit: 

https://www.noordinarymonday.com/ep023-matt-dearden-bush-pilot

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A backpack floats in brown water. The ward is a tent. The air is forty degrees. And still, patients keep coming. We open the year with Dr Lakshmi Jain of Médecins Sans Frontières, who takes us from NHS corridors to a flooded field hospital in South Sudan, where logistics, infection control and compassion collide in the harshest conditions. With planes grounded and supplies tight, she shows how medicine adapts when the plan dissolves, and how a team holds the line when a hospital turns into a lake.

We trace Lakshmi’s journey into humanitarian medicine: the early pull of travel and justice, the discipline of mastering HIV and TB in the UK, and a humbling first mission in Kenya amid strikes and neglected TB wards. She shares the nuts and bolts of fieldwork—running out of supplies, living in tents, waking at dawn, mentoring local clinicians—and the mindset shift from textbook certainty to on-the-ground pragmatism. The story of a child with a snakebite, waiting seven days for a runway to dry, becomes a lesson in making the most of a hard ceiling of care without losing heart.

Lakshmi also brings us to Bihar, India, where advanced HIV intersects with visceral leishmaniasis and devastating stigma. Here, science meets dignity: undetectable equals untransmissible becomes a lifeline, carried by mental health teams and quiet conversations at the bedside. We talk about hope, family, and what people everywhere want—safety, health and a future—along with clear advice for aspiring humanitarians across roles: doctors, nurses, logisticians, epidemiologists and communicators.

If this story moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick five-star rating or review. Your support keeps the feed ad-free and helps us bring more voices from the front lines of healthcare to your ears.

Links:

https://www.msf.org/

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DHlZjZCCAQk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakshmi-jain-3a5b32366/

https://scienceportal.msf.org/api/assets/7846/download/14086

For more information visit Lakshmi's episode page here - https://www.noordinarymonday.com/ep021-lakshmi-jain-msf-doctor

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What are the 3 most dangerous countries to visit for a backpacking trip? And how can you get in? Former CIA Counter-Terrorism Analyst Brent Giannotta joins the show to share his expertise. Carl and Ben also pepper him with every CIA movie reference and conspiracy theory they can muster.

Please follow Brent and subscribe to his Substack!

Some of the Topics Covered:

-Most Dangerous Places to Backpack

-Life or Death Backpacking Situations

-CIA Conspiracy Theories

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A storm hits ten hours after the helicopter drop, tents bow under the wind, and the generators choke on spindrift—yet the drill keeps turning. That’s the edge-of-the-map reality behind a rare ship‑to‑helicopter ice core mission to West Antarctica, where we joined glaciologist Dr Peter Neff to chase air bubbles that hold the clearest record of our past atmosphere.

We dig into why tiny pockets of ancient air are such powerful climate evidence, how methane and CO2 stayed largely steady for thousands of years before spiking with industrialisation, and why that rate of change matters for heat, oceans, and sea level. Peter breaks down Antarctica’s “three buckets” of science, the stakes at Thwaites Glacier, and what coastal cores can reveal about storms, snowfall, and tipping‑point dynamics that satellites alone can’t capture. From improvising a hand‑controlled generator throttle to coordinating 15 sling loads back to a Korean icebreaker, this is science as endurance, logistics and teamwork.

Beyond the tent walls, we talk about trust: why posting raw field clips on TikTok and Instagram connects new audiences to public‑funded research, and how open communication strengthens policy conversations. We explore what new high‑resolution methane records add to climate models, why the biggest uncertainty is human choice, and how leadership across government and business can turn risk into opportunity. For students and career‑changers, Peter offers practical advice on joining the polar workforce and building skills that matter in the field and the lab.

Subscribe for more unfiltered stories from extreme jobs, share this episode with someone who loves science and adventure, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. What part of the mission surprised you most?

Research: 

https://swac.umn.edu/people/peter-neff

https://peterneff.weebly.com/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=f--szIYAAAAJ&hl=en

Socials: 

https://www.tiktok.com/@icy_pete

https://www.instagram.com/icy_pete

https://www.youtube.com/@icy_pete

linkedin.com/in/dr-peter-neff-6a4b7429

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SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

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WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].

What happens when a seasoned therapist loses his footing and chooses to walk straight into the world’s darkest rooms? We sit down with Dr Chad Scott, a psychologist, prison therapist, and author, to trace a journey from illness and anxiety to a practice he calls reflective dark tourism—visiting sites of profound suffering with reverence to learn how to live.

Chad takes us through the steps into an Auschwitz gas chamber, the mirror-stillness of Hiroshima’s museum, and the bone-lined halls of the Paris Catacombs. He explains why these places aren’t morbid attractions but moral classrooms, where memento mori becomes a practical guide: remember you must die to remember to live. Along the way, he connects the dots between exposure in therapy and walking through history’s hardest truths, showing how facing what we fear can expand emotional intelligence, cultivate resilience, and shrink the grip of anxiety.

We also explore the ethics of dark tourism, the criminalisation of mental illness he witnessed as a prison therapist, and the stories told at sites like Whitney Plantation and Little Bighorn. Chad shares honest advice for aspiring counsellors, the craft of leaving work at work, and how these journeys helped him through end-stage liver disease and the uncertainty of a transplant call. His message is simple and challenging: avoidance narrows your world; reckoning restores it.

If this conversation resonates, tap follow, share it with someone who needs courage today, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Then tell us: which place changed the way you see life?

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/chadscottauthor/

Chad’s books: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chad-Scott/author/B0DDDGVCPB

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SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

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A phone call, a private jet, and a destination so secret no one would say it out loud—then a palatial compound, an accidental insult to a billionaire, forced vodka shots, a stage sinking into a swimming pool, and Andrea Bocelli arriving by helicopter. That’s only one chapter in conductor Robert Emery’s wildly unconventional career, and somehow it’s not even the most meaningful part.

We start by demystifying what a conductor really does. Robert frames the role like a film director: shaping pace, colour, tension, and emotion so a hundred musicians move as one story. From Beethoven to Star Wars, he shows how interpretation turns notes on a page into something you feel in your bones. Then we trace his audacious origin story—from playing Top of the Pops by ear at seven to phoning a major orchestra as a teenager and producing a week of concerts to fund his degree. The takeaway is equal parts craft and courage: talent matters, but so do relationships, logistics, and the will to ask for the gig.

The tone shifts from comic to cathartic when Robert recounts conducting in Japan after Fukushima. As a tribute began, the entire audience stood and wept—sobs echoing through the hall. Holding the music steady while hundreds grieved clarified what he believes: music isn’t just entertainment; it is medicine for the nervous system and a language for collective emotion. That belief now fuels his orchestral meditation work, blending lush strings and gentle harmonies with carefully chosen frequencies to support calm, focus, and release. Whether you love classical music or think it isn’t “for you,” Robert’s mission is to make the door wider—sometimes with a tux, sometimes with a lightsaber.

Listen for a rare mix of backstage chaos, practical career advice, and a fresh case for why orchestral music still matters. If the story moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your support helps us bring more extraordinary guests to your queue.

Official Website: 

https://robertemery.com/ 

https://orchestralmeditations.com/

The Emery Foundation 

https://teds-list.com/

Robert’s Socials: 

https://www.instagram.com/robertemeryofficial/ 

https://web.facebook.com/robertemeryofficial/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

https://www.youtube.com/robertemeryofficial

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertemeryofficial

More Info: 

https://noordinarymonday.com/

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SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].

What happens when a Secret Service interrogator plays Two Truths and a Lie with us on mic? We invited special agent and polygraph examiner Brad Beeler to stress‑test our storytelling and, more importantly, to reveal how professionals separate sharp detail from slick delivery. Three claims hit the table—a shoot in Antarctica, a cheetah lick in Namibia, and a bumblebee suit on a neuroscience series—and the questions get precise fast.

Brad walks us through his approach: pin the year, anchor the place, force a mental replay of movement, texture, and logistics, then loop back later to see if anything bends. You’ll hear how he listens for sensory anchors, how he treats confidence with suspicion, and why a crisp narrative can be either rock‑solid truth or a well‑worn cover story. Even with decades in interrogation and polygraph work, he’s candid about the ceiling of accuracy when there’s no external evidence. That honesty sets the tone for a playful but revealing experiment in credibility.

We also explore a bigger idea: everyday culture trains us to accept small lies for the sake of harmony, making binary truth harder to spot in casual talk. The game becomes a live lesson in the limits of gut reads, the power of specific follow‑ups, and the value of humility when calling a bluff. If you care about interviewing, negotiation, journalism, or simply becoming a better listener, this bonus is a compact field guide to critical questioning and the psychology of belief.

If you enjoyed this, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves lie‑spotting, and leave a quick review to help others find the podcast. Subscribe for more bonus sessions and behind‑the‑scenes stories from No Ordinary Monday.

🎧 Listen to Brad’s full episode here on the channel for the complete story behind his career and his wild No Ordinary Monday experience.

https://www.noordinarymonday.com/ep018-brad-beeler-secret-service-agent

https://bradleybeeler.com/

Check out Brad's book - "Tell Me Everything":
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637748426/?bestFormat=true&k=tell%20me%20everything%20brad%20beeler&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-ww_k1_1_11_de&crid=248VD6GPOI385&sprefix=brad%20beeler

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SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].

What does it really take to open a locked human safe? Not pressure. Not tricks. Presence. Retired US Secret Service special agent Brad Beeler joins me to unpack the art and science of getting to the truth when everything rides on a single expression or a mistimed pause. From presidential protection to high-stakes interviews, Brad shows how tactical empathy, careful prep, and an unwavering poker face can turn silence into clarity.

We start with the foundations: reading people without judgment, building a confessional environment, and crafting first impressions that calm the nervous system. Brad shares how a deaf best friend taught him to rely on eye contact, congruent body language, and vocal tone—and why letting someone “bathe in their own dopamine” builds trust faster than any script. He then takes us inside the “King of Counterfeit” case, revealing how a meticulous forger exploited human shortcuts and how aligning with ego, curiosity, and respect led to confession, twice.

Not every interview is winnable, and Brad is candid about the difference between situational offenders and the rare truly predatory mind. He explains the coping rituals that keep the job from following you home and the moments he values most: when a careful conversation vindicates an innocent person. We also cover career advice, the whole-person hiring approach, and a grounded look at polygraph—imperfect yet useful when paired with honesty and solid process.

If you’re a leader, parent, teacher, or anyone who negotiates under pressure, you’ll leave with practical tools: ask better follow-ups, avoid stealing the spotlight, prepare like it matters, and speak to the why beneath the what. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves real-world psychology, and leave a review—what insight will you try first?

Links:

https://bradleybeeler.com/

https://www.secretservice.gov/

Socials:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradbeeler1865/

https://www.instagram.com/bradbeeler1865/

Send us a text

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].

Headlights in the distance. Two elderly evacuees in the cab. A van bogged down a kilometre from the Russian border. That single night becomes the turning point for Tenby Powell, a former soldier and business leader who now runs one of the few foreign‑flagged humanitarian teams still operating on Ukraine’s front line.

We sit down with Tenby to unpack what aid work looks like when drones own the sky and mines haunt the verges. He explains how KiwiKare moved from broad donations to precision medical impact: Road of Life ambulance transfers, targeted hospital resupply sourced locally, and Heat for Health, a clever programme that turns old water cylinders into stoves and boilers so families can cook and keep warm when power and water are cut. Along the way, he shares candid lessons from the field: why pull logistics beats push shipments, how to plan routes that respect shifting minefields, and when to abort missions because a sector is too hot.

The hardest dilemma sits at the centre of the story: in a war where humanitarian markings attract strikes, how much of every donated dollar should fund electronic warfare equipment, hardened glass, and underbody plates instead of antibiotics, dressings, and fuel. Tenby talks through the numbers, the ethics, and the brutal arithmetic of survival after losing ambulances to drone attacks. He also highlights the partnerships that make the difference—Ukrainian NGOs, hospital directors, and head nurses who set priorities with precision and hold teams to account.

If you care about effective altruism when it counts, modern warfare’s impact on civilians, or what it truly takes to evacuate patients under fire, you’ll find hard truths and real hope here. Subscribe, leave a five‑star review, and share this episode with someone who wants their support to matter. 

Visit KiwiKareUkraine.co.nz to learn more about Tenby's work and help fuel the next lifesaving mission.

Donate Here:

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kiwi-kare-ukraine-kiwi-aid-and-refugee-evacuation

Socials

https://www.instagram.com/tenbypowellnz/

https://www.youtube.com/@kiwik.a.r.eukraine1488

https://web.facebook.com/TenbyPowellKiwiK.A.R.E/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

Reach out to us at - [email protected]

Send us a text

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].

A tiny part failed, a race unravelled, and a dominant team learned a lesson that reshaped its season. We sit down with engineer and technical leader Ruaraidh McDonald-Walker to trace the arc from childhood curiosity to Mercedes’ hybrid breakthrough, then step into the heat of the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix where creeping temperatures and unseen constraints forced brutal clarity. What failed wasn’t the obvious component; it was an overlooked piece in the electronics. The fix demanded humility, predictive tools, and a culture strong enough to ignore blame and choose action.

We unpack how Ruaraidh pivoted early to electrification, why nobody knew what a racing-grade electric motor should look like, and how Mercedes fused chassis and power unit thinking to create a single, coherent system. Ruaraidh takes us trackside to describe the reality behind the garage screens, the cadence of remote factory operations running on Australia time, and the difference between dyno confidence and race-day chaos. The Canada story becomes a leadership case study: avoid decision stasis, derate early when the data hints at a slow-burn failure, and keep an open mind when physics contradicts assumptions. From there, we zoom out to thermodynamics, energy efficiency, and why electrification isn’t fashion but physics.

For future engineers, Ruaraidh shares practical advice: build things, question sources, volunteer at circuits, and treat creativity as a core engineering skill. Music, Lego, and pinball machines become tools for recovery in a high-pressure world; recovery, in turn, sustains performance. Along the way, you’ll hear how a blame-free culture enabled bold ideas like unconventional turbo layouts and how predictive models turned panic into process after Montreal.

If you enjoyed the story, follow or subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick five-star review to help more listeners find the show. Your support helps us bring you more candid conversations with people who build at the limit.

Ruaraidh’s Socials:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruaraidh-mcdonald-walker-1608a64/
https://www.instagram.com/f1ruaraidh/?hl=en

Formula Student Website - https://www.imeche.org/events/formula-student

Formula One 2014 Canadian Grand Prix Highlightsx - https://youtu.be/839YKsTnMns?si=IlB3pLBFWuUzvKZW

Dollar Academy Pipe Band  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc1gVYzFKB0

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SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at noordinarymonday.com, email us at [email protected].