The Balanced Voice with Rania Mankarious

This week on #TheBalancedVoice Podcast, we sit down with Derek Potts, Executive Producer of the new Deep Water Productions film, Narco Sub.

Derek Potts is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has been a court appointed leader in some of the largest complex litigations of the past decade. He is the Founder of Potts Law Firm, Potts Family Foundation, and Deep Water Productions. In his many professional and creative endeavors, his dedication to law and justice is evident. He continually seeks to use his talents and resources to help others and bring awareness to critical safety issues.

We were thrilled to receive a special invitation to interview him and to discuss these critical questions:
What lengths would you go to, to protect your family?
What role does & should Hollywood play in bringing awareness to public safety issues?

Watch Episode 16 on our Facebook or YouTube pages, and anywhere you can find podcasts!

This week on Episode 15 of #TheBalancedVoicePodcast we welcome Crime Stoppers of Houston's very own Director of Victim Services and Victim Advocacy, Andy Kahan, to discuss the shocking trend of the repeat release of violent offenders on bond.

In their conversation, Rania, Andy and Expert Contributor, Jennifer Hohman, break down how this disturbing trend correlates to rising crime rates and affects Human Trafficking Victims.

Watch or listen to our Season 2 premiere this Wednesday, January 13th at 10AM Central!

In the final episode of Season 1, Host Rania Mankarious and Executive Producer Sydney Zuiker reflect on the making of The Balanced Voice and what they have learned from this season.

From guests that have shared heartbreaking stories, to industry leaders in the fight against racism and child sex trafficking, Season 1 showed us different angles of humanity that are not only sometimes genuinely horrifying, but also inspiring and heartwarming.

Not all topics are easy to talk about in today's world, and we want to thank each and every one of our guests in Season 1 for opening their hearts and minds to this platform with the intentions of having honest conversations, even if we don't always agree with one another.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year, and that you will join us for The Balanced Voice Season 2 starting on January 13th at 10AM Central!

#TheBalancedVoice #Podcast #RaniaMankarious #SydneyZuiker #Politics #Community #Education #Conversation #CrimeStoppers #Houston #Headlines #Opinion #Rewind2020
#Season1 #Law #Economics #Media #Local

On this episode we welcome the one and only John Quiñones!

John needs no introduction, but in case you forgot, he began his career as a radio news editor at KTRH Houston and other local stations before joining ABC News as a general assignment correspondent, and ABC News Primetime Co-Anchor. Although, you may know him best from his hit TV show, What Would You Do?

Join John and Rania for a conversation about everything from John's youth and rise to success, some incredible stories as a correspondent, how the media has changed over the years, and how he has witnessed the good in community members throughout the years of filming his show. You won't want to miss it!

#TheBalancedVoice #Podcast #RaniaMankarious #JohnQuiñones #TV #Television #ABC #ABCNews #WhatWouldYouDo? #DigitalCorrespondent #Expert #Education #Influencer #Ethics #Wisdom #Stories #CandleInADarkRoom #Journalist #Integrity #Journalism #CrimeStoppers #Houston #Texas #Speaker

Leading memory experts such as Dr. Elizabeth Loftus suggest that memory is not always as reliable as we think it is, especially amongst children, but jurors are extremely swayed by eyewitness testimony.

In fact, it is widely accepted in the field of psychology that 75% of wrongful convictions include faulty eyewitness testimony. When someone is wrongfully convicted, their life is not only stolen from them, but justice is not served for the victim.

As an organization who believes strongly in elevating and believing the victim, we were extremely interested to have Michelle Tuegel Simpson, attorney and advocate for the legal rights of victims, and Jennifer Hohman, Crime Stoppers of Houston board member and podcast contributor on The Balanced Voice to discuss the intersection between wrongful convictions and victim advocacy.

In this conversation, Rania, Michelle and Jennifer discuss wrongful convictions, eyewitness testimony, victim advocacy and trauma informed care.

#TheBalancedVoice #Podcast #RaniaMankarious #JenniferHohman #MichelleSimpsonTuegel #Law #Lawyer #Wrongful #Conviction #Criminal #Justice #System #Victim #Advocacy #LawEnforcement #CrimeStoppersOfHouston #Criminal #Trial #Jury #Legal

64% of people in a OnePoll study reported that certain conversations were simply off limits with their family, but many psychologist discourage shying away from difficult topics with loved ones.

In this conversation, we sit down with Dr. Lauren Pinkston, voice behind @upwardlydependent Instagram page, Assistant Professor of Business as Mission at Lipscomb University and Executive Director of Kindred Exchange—a nonprofit with a purpose to provide an alternative to traditional short-term missions that promotes sustainability, empathy, and authentic cross-cultural engagement.

Dr. Pinkston has successfully cultivated a growing online space for respectful dialogue about many of our world’s most polarizing subjects and she graciously shares some of her secretes to this success with us. We hope today’s conversation give you some helpful tools to engage in balanced dialogue with those around you, including your family, this holiday season!

#TheBalancedVoice #Podcast #RaniaMankarious #DrLaurenPinkston #Psychology #KindredExchange #UpwardlyIndependent #Sustainability #Empathy #Cultural #Engagement #Dialogue #Expert #Entrepreneur

We are thrilled to have Bre Lasley, founder of The Bia Movement, on The Balanced Voice this week and hope you learn in this episode some practical ways to protect yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.

Crime Stoppers of Houston hosted our first ever College Safety Summit over the summer in an effort to educate young people on the importance of fighting for your safety in all aspects of life. We knew that Bre Lasley would be the perfect keynote speaker for the event and could not pass up the opportunity to record a podcast episode with her! Bre survived every young person’s biggest fear when a stranger crawled into her window in the middle of the night and attempted to murder her and her little sister, Kayli. Since her attempted murder she has made it her life mission to educate young people on the importance of defending yourself holistically because she believes that every single person is worth defending.

#TheBalancedVoicePodcast #RaniaMankarious #CrimeStoppersOfHouston #CrimeStoppers #BreLasley #PublicSafety #PSA #CollegeSafetySummit #College #University #Safety #Education #Lifestyle #Speaker #Expert #Tips #Tricks

In this special episode of The Balanced Voice we talk to Christen Price, legal counsel for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation about a case she will be arguing on behalf of Nevada victim, Bekah Charleston. This is a pioneering case led by survivors against the state of Nevada that argues legal prostitution in Nevada is a violation of the 13th amendment. If you are raising a child in America, then this is a conversation you can’t miss.

This week on #TheBalancedVoice #Podcast we welcome Titania Jordan, the Chief Parenting Officer at @barktechnologies. Titania knows first hand that parenting in a tech world is challenging and overwhelming.

In this incredible conversation, she shares tangible ways to keep your family safe online.

#TheBalancedVoice #RaniaMankarious #TitaniaJordan #CrimeStoppersofHouston #Bark #Children #Internet #Privacy #Predators #Abuse #Harrassment #Tips #Advice #Education

Today on The Balanced Voice we sit down with Barrister Dawood Ghaznavi, a Supreme Court attorney from Pakistan. Dawood shares the story of a young MIT graduate Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who, as a young mother, was deemed to be working with Al-Qaeda during the 9/11 attack. Afina has been held in Dallas for years and it is estimated that the U.S. Federal Government pays many millions for her hospitalization each year. Barrister Dawood Ghazanavi and author of “Afina Unheard: Uncovering the Personal and Legal Mysteries Surrounding FBI’s Most Wanted Woman” shares her case with Houston tomorrow! Join us on Facebook live at 10am or on any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Thank you to Crime Stoppers of Houston Board Member, Maha Khan for your assistance in securing this episode.

*The views expressed in each episode are those of the podcast guest and do not necessarily represent the views of The Balanced Voice or Crime Stoppers of Houston.*