Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Billy Corben joins Michelle for a high-energy masterclass in nonfiction storytelling for the silver screen. The acclaimed director of “Cocaine Cowboys” shares his experiences behind the lens, including his face-to-face interviews with hardened criminals. Billy and his producers created the Pop Doc genre, which turned the tide of documentaries from the dry docs of yore to compelling, cinematic masterpieces that now reign Netflix queues everywhere.

In Episode 11, Tasha Nikol joins Michelle for an exploration of the ancient practice of herbalism. It’s estimated that 75% of the world’s population relies on natural remedies as medicine. Tash only recently decided to partake in her long lineage of farmers and herbalists. She tells us about her immersive apprenticeship at Centro Ashé in Costa Rica, where she learned how to engage with plant energy. Walk away with a deeper appreciation for plants as you peer into the world of holistic herbal health.

Michelle welcomes figure painter Christian Fagerlund to Episode 10 of The Cultured Podcast for a mesmerizing conversation about painting the human body. Christian is an oil painter who has focused on depicting the human form for 25 years. Christian's intuitive approach enables him to capture each subject’s essence, rather than simply transcribing what his eyes see. What’s more, most of his work is small-scale...as small as 1.5 inches by 2.5 inches!

Dig at the roots of disruptive fashion design. Michelle interviews designer and hypercreative Bianca Cooper, who unearths the secrets to eliminating expectation and achieving artistic liberation. The creative silhouettes and designs in Bianca's clothing line, Biyunka, are inspired by everything from nature, texture and contrast, to the depths of metaphysics and the continuum. Listen to find out how Bianca's fascination with profound existential concepts offers her a chance at artistic immortality.

Pack your bags and get ready to visit Colombia's capital city, Bogota. Michelle and her best friend, Masha Murakhovsky, share their hilarious adventures with exotic fruits, sanctuaries, family, and crazy delicious food. Oh, did we mention they record this episode on top of a mountain in Bogota? Yea, it's a good one.

Join Michelle as she explores arguably the three most influential acting methods (out of more than eight in circulation) and the legendary acting teachers responsible for them on Episode 6 of The Cultured Podcast. Piggyback off of Michelle’s contagious passion for theater to discover the tools actors use to shapeshift into different characters that whisk us away to places real, fictional and fantastical.

Michelle travels to Miami, Florida, to chat with her gifted guest Karelle Levy. Together, they weave an eye-opening look at the creative possibilities that exist within even the most pigeonholed art forms. A renowned textile artist and the owner of KRELwear, Karelle pins down her artistic vision and the creative influences behind her tropical, skin-baring silhouettes.

Dig at the roots of identity as Michelle Khouri and Brandon Sadler share their experiences as multicultural people. Brandon is a biracial artist whose vast repertoire of art—created under the pseudonym Rising Red Lotus—features predominantly Chinese, Korean and Japanese influences. Episode 3 of The Cultured Podcast takes you deep into Michelle and Brandon's cultural musings while unearthing how heritage can ignite a flame of inspiration.

Michelle Khouri has a lively discussion with international food writer Kate Kordsmeier about food customs throughout the world. But first, Michelle opens up about her addiction to butter coffee, which has her feeling extra inspired and energized. And, yes, that’s butter coffee…as in butter in your coffee. Michelle and Kate then dig into religious food rituals, global food norms and the table etiquette of different cultures.

Michelle visits Georgia’s lush countryside to chat with award winning site-specific director Brian Clowdus, whose nationally acclaimed Serenbe Playhouse productions have set Robin Hood in a forest, Miss Saigon among vast plains, and Sleepy Hollow in a working stable. Michelle gives Brian his new superhero name, while Brian clues us into what it takes to bulldoze the fourth wall and immerse audiences in fantastical worlds through immersive theatre and site-specific theatre.