In this week’s episode Broderick is in conversation with Louisa Peck. Raised a staunch atheist, Louisa Peck rejected her 1982 Near-Death Experience (NDE) as a hallucination in order to continue her alcoholic, ego-driven lifestyle – until the same voice that had been present in her NDE broke into her consciousness twelve years later to redirect her life's course. Louisa’s parents had urged her to excel academically, physically, and socially – but they couldn’t pass on what they didn’t possess: an appreciation for self-honesty and the humility it cultivates. At 34, when she arrived home after driving there blind drunk at 80 mph, not caring what might result, her angel broke into her consciousness with two stern messages: 1) This is the last time I can help you, and 2) You DO know right from wrong. A month later, Louisa attended her first 12-step meeting and today has 29 years sober.

Her book, Die-Hard Atheist: From NDE Denier to Full-on Woo-Woo -- Against my Will, recounts not only her experience on the other side during her cardiac arrest, but also unfolds the after-story of how increasingly frequent communications from her angel guided her to embrace the sacred work of everyday love, kindness, and compassion as the framework of a joy-filled life. 

In this episode I speak with Laura Uplinger. Laura is a student and educator in the field of conscious conception, pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding. Since the late 1970s, she has been a proponent of the powerful influence a mother’s inner life has on the formation of her baby during pregnancy and the breastfeeding months.

From 1988 to 1999, she served on the Association for Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology And Health’s Board of Directors, and is currently the vice-president of the Brazilian Association for Prenatal Education, with whom she coordinates seminars and an 18-month training program, in which the spiritual dimensions of pregnancy, as well as psychological and physiological ones, are addressed.

Laura documentary film "Pregnancy & Civilization, The Power of Pregnant Women Over Our Future" can be view from the following link: https://vimeo.com/anepbrasil/documentary

In this episode I speak with Charles Holmes. Charles is a skilled facilitator and educator whose 30 years of experience has honed a passion for creating meaningful dialogue among groups whose diverse opinions would otherwise work against a common understanding of desired outcomes. Charles has facilitated projects with clients from health care to forestry and mining, software and pharmaceutical companies, educational institutions and utility firms, government and not-for-profit sectors. The meetings he has designed and facilitated have focused on innovation, conflict resolution, community engagement, long range scenario planning and 100’s of strategic planning sessions with Boards and management teams. He has worked with multi-national corporations in many settings throughout North America, Mexico, Asia, Europe and Saudi Arabia. Charles is also a co-founder of the Academy for Systems Change, a collection of global thought-leaders committed to advancing the capacity for awareness-based systems change worldwide and are deeply involved in developing living examples of biological, social, spiritual and economic well-being.

For more information about Charles and his work visit: https://www.ceholmesconsulting.com/

In this episode I speak with Sharon Robinson. Sharon is originally from the US where she lived mostly in the Southeast. She was a physical therapist living in Georgia when she had her 2 birth children with midwives in South Carolina. A few years after they were born, she felt called to study midwifery herself. After graduating with a Masters Degree in Midwifery from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, she and her family went to Cambodia. While in Cambodia, Sharon also worked alongside a Cambodian midwife providing care to some of the pregnant women she met through her work and in the community. After Cambodia, she and her family (then plus one adopted Cambodian son) moved to New Zealand where she hoped she could provide midwifery care in a way that aligned with her calling. She has now practiced midwifery in New Zealand for over 20 years and is a strong advocate for women's choice. She has also traveled quite extensively assisting women with births in Tonga, Mexico and the Amazon Jungle in Peru.

Sharon has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and she reports being "well." In fact, she says, she is happier than she's been since she was a child.

In this episode I speak with Wendy Baron. Wendy is a teacher, author, coach, researcher, and leader in the field of social, emotional, and academic development. She co-founded the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project and New Teacher Center—a national non-profit dedicated to improving student learning by accelerating the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders. Wendy served as Chief Academic Officer and leader of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) at New Teacher Center—with an emphasis on creating cultures of belonging that are inclusive, and culturally responsive. In 2018, Wendy began co-leading the CA statewide Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Communities of Practice. Currently, Wendy works with district and school leaders, counselors, mental health clinicians, and community partners in Santa Cruz, CA supporting a systems approach to social, emotional, academic development and transforming schools as centers of wellbeing.

In this episode I speak with Bob Yuhnke. Bob is a writer and environmental policy analyst who formerly served as co-chair of the transportation subcommittee at the US Climate Action Network. Bob has spent a half century in the fight to protect communities from the diseases of air pollution, and ecosystems from the ravages of acid rain and climate change. He helped lead the fight for clean air as an assistant attorney general responsible for cleaning up steel mill pollution in Pennsylvania, creating the acid rain program as a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, and contributing to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Bob earned a degree in American History and political science from Canisius College (’65), and completed all but the dissertation for a Ph.D. in history at the University of Virginia and Columbia University before attending Yale Law School (J.D. ’72).

In this episode I speak with Dr. Terry Rogers. Dr Rogers is a graduate of Dartmouth College (1961), and Cornell University Medical College (1966). He completed his training in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington. He is Board Certified in these specialties, and also holds a Certificate in Biomedical Ethics. After 15 years of practice in Seattle, during which time he was the Director of Respiratory and Critical Care at the Swedish Hospital Medical Center, he joined King County Medical Blue Shield (now Regence Blue Shield), first as Senior Medical Officer, then as Chief Operating Officer. He has retired as Medical Director of Lakeside-Milam Recovery Centers, and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Healthcare Quality in Seattle. Dr Rogers was also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He still works part time seeing patients at the recovery center. Other activities include portrait photography, playing the saxophone in a traditional jazz band, walking his dog Jenny, rebuilding his old MG and being a pest to his lovely wife Karin.

In this episode I spoke with Lisa Kring LCSW (MSW- USC). Lisa works in Los Angeles in private clinical practice as a therapist. She is also a senior mindfulness teacher at InsightLA, and as a KAP integration therapist. She became a certified teacher of the Mindful Self-Compassion course under the guidance of founders Chris Germer and Kristin Neff in 2015. She has been a committed practitioner of mindfulness meditation in the Theravada tradition for over 20 years, and is a graduate of the Dedicated Practitioner Program and the Advanced Practitioner Program through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Lisa is trained in Hakomi Somatic Mindfulness Psychotherapy and is a certified death doula. Lisa works as an integration therapist with Mystic Health Integrative Medicine Center in Los Angeles, and is a graduate of the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Research Certification Program through the California Institute for Integral Studies, and is trained in Ketamine Assisted Therapy through the Polaris Insight Center. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and recognizes her two young adult children as her deepest teachers in life.

For more information about Lisa and her work visit: https://insightla.org/teacher/lisa-kring/

In this episode I speak with Cator Shachoy. Cator began the practices of yoga, Buddhist meditation and energy healing in 1990 to support recovery from chronic illness. Through the regular practice of these disciplines, she regained her strength and vitality. Cator is a Craniosacral practitioner, yoga therapist and meditation guide. She has an inclusive family based private practice in the San Francisco Bay area. Cator teaches classes, workshops and retreats locally, online and internationally. She is the author of, The TMJ Handbook: A Therapeutic Guide to Relieving Jaw Tension and Pain with Yoga and Mindfulness.

For more information about Cator and her work visit: www.catorshachoy.com and www.tmjhandbook.com

In this episode I speak with Chef Curtis Aikens. Curtis is a former host and Founding Chef of The Food Network. Mentored by Julia Child, Chef Paul Prudhomme, The Green Grocer, Joe Carcione, and Edna Lewis, he is one of the few chefs featured in Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. After learning to read at age 26 through Literacy Volunteers of America and the Marin County Free Library, Chef Curtis has authored seven books sharing his passion for the culinary world, along with his personal journey of struggle and success.

Curtis has hosted shows for ABC and been featured on major networks including CNN, NBC, and CBS. He has hosted seven shows for Food Network and made live appearances around the world. Chef Curtis has been invited as a guest chef at the White House for three sitting presidents, both Democrat and Republican.

He currently lives in Novato, California, with his fiancée Lisa and runs a garden and culinary program for the Marin County Cooperation Team in Sausalito and Marin City. Chef Curtis’s personal motto is Spread Love.