The Happiness Quotient

Barry Katz is a modern day renaissance man. He is also funny as hell. Smart. Successful. Humble beginnings. I met Barry in high school, where we competed on swim teams from neighboring towns, then went on to compete together on the Boston University Swim Team. Barry's beginnings are inauspicious: he was a high school bully. A swim coach - who happened to be my AAU coach - spotted Barry serving detention one day and said 'kid, come swim with my team and I'll get your 9 million hours of detention wiped out.' Barry was officially born. 

He is a successful talent agent, helped jumpstart the careers of comedians Dave Chappelle, Tracey Morgan, Jay Mohr, Jim Breuer, Louis CK...need I say more? Hell, just that he worked with Jim Gaffigan is enough for me. He has brokered 100 TV development deals, Executive Produced over 50 television specials....  

Barry got his career off to a start in Boston, as a student at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Services at Boston University, and - well, you'll hear it here - made his way through the side door of the comic industry by good old hard work, taking risks and, ultimately, how he responded to a tragedy in his life.

Listen up. Be ready to be inspired. Ladies and Germs, Barry Katz, of Barry Katz Entertainment from Hollywood California.

Find Barry on Instagram and Twitter:
@barrykatz 

Music by The Reverend Freakchild off his new album The Bodhisattva Blues
Find him at: https://www.www-reverendfreakchild.org/
And his new album at: 
https://www.www-reverendfreakchild.org/the-bodhisattva-blues

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to Baker Street with Thom Pollard on Apple Podcasts, or find me at www.eyesopenproductions.com for more about Mount Everest or to inquire about a speaking event. Ask to be on my mailing list by writing me at [email protected] 

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Thom Dharma Pollard

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When I first started climbing back in my late 20’s I wanted to mix my newfound love of the mountains with my career….  It was my dream to bring the two together, so that I could make a living doing what I love, that being a filmmaker or cameraman filming on mountains around the world. It’s taken me many places, including four expeditions to Mount Everest.

The Highpointers with the Bargo Brothers is a new PBS television program premiering in July 2020 fefaturing my two guests, Branndon and Greg Bargo, who explore the United States by climbing the highest point in all 50 states. They invite local experts and some of the country's most interesting people to join them as they discover the best that each state has to offer.

I was fortunate enough to be featured in Episode 3 of The Highpointers, climbing to the summit of New Hampshire's highest point, Mount Washington. It's a wonderful episode. Our interview talks about their program and about all the work that it took to make it to this point. They're great guys and are tons of fun to listen to.

MUSIC for today is Metyu, VKTRD and Ondro M, found on the free music archive. You can find them at godot.sk/en or on their YouTube channel Met Yu

THE HIGHPOINTERS can be watched online at thehighpointers.com  
PLEASE check them out

Write me at thom.dharma.pollard if you'd like to be added to my mailing list. Check me out at eyesopenproductions.com for more and to inquire about my speaking presentations and how you can hire me for one of your events. 

Peace and love,
Thom Dharma Pollard

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Thom Dharma Pollard

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I awoke today to news of an old college buddy, my first roommate, who is very sick. I had coincidentally had a dream about him last night, where I hugged him and told him that I was sorry I hadn't stayed in touch over the years. 

I also was attacked on social media by someone I thought was my friend, who went insane when he heard me make a comment about Donald Trump bragging about his genius in a supposed cognitive test. I'm learning a lot about people these days...

All I can say is that I CAN DO BETTER. On this, the anniversary of my mom's birth, I share some thoughts on the world at large, on how I can only focus on me, not anyone else, in making the world a better place. 

Please listen. Please share. 

Peace and love,
Thom Dharma Pollard

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How can the words and philosophy of the learned Socrates and the war on truth against Ptolemy and Galileo assist us in these troubled times? How can we grasp the idea of unmarked vans and warriors clad in armor and masks coming to whisk away peaceful protesters? 

In this episode I offer some wise words about malevolence, and why you should look out for it in your life, why you should purge it from you, and why you, me, all of us must go deep into our hearts for Truth, and not stand for malevolence. 

Looking up at Neowise the comet I was reminded of a time when I opened my heart to someone, when I was younger, more innocent, ignorant perhaps….to someone who asked for a place in my world and I hesitatingly acquiesced. Then, after only a short time, weeks actually, in my all too youthful years of existence began to experience the reality of a ticking time bomb that was silently brewing, where I had offered safety and warmth and nourishment of the soul, unconditional love, this friend began to show a malevolence of the likes I had never before experienced.


Listen and learn from the aged wisdom, for else we are doomed to repeat history. 

Music for the episode is from Fork In The Blender, off their album called Training Bra Sweat. You can find more from them on the free music archive and at http://www.comfortstand.com

Please check me out at eyesopenproductions.com

and follow me on Instagram @thom.dharma.pollard

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thehappinessquotient)

THIS IS A MUST LISTEN for all interested in current events, about how an elementary school in the most violent neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York has virtually transformed thousands of lives.

This is a story about two separate worlds intersecting to make something beautiful. About an amazing elementary school that gives hope where there is only hopelessness and despair. It’s a story about a now decades old friendship formed out of a seemingly random encounter. When one man, a black man, my second guest, was bringing his 14 year old son, a talented 6’ 8 basketball recruit from East NY, meets a young white assistant director of admissions, graduate of Harvard’s graduate school of education, working at a top prep school in New England, where the son had been recruited to play.

Normally, there would be no reason at all to mention whether any of my guests were black, or white, or of any cultural background, because it doesn’t matter….unless it’s pertinent to the story. In this case, while the friendship of these two men had absolutely zero to do with race, the events that took place in the few years after their first meeting, formed a lifelong bond which has changed the lives of thousands of youths in one of the toughest neighborhoods in all of Brooklyn New York.

The real story started with the tragic drowning of a young and promising basketball player Brewster Academy named Trey Whitfield. Out of the sadness and sorrow of his loss his father, AB Whitfield, a former NFL player and his wife, Janie Whitney created a school named after their late son. This is a beautiful story that MUST be heard.

For more information about the Trey Whitfield School visit: treywhitfieldschool.org
Find me at eyesopenproductions.com
For more about Stu and the Wildcat Inn and Tavern visit: wildcattavern.com

The music was brought to you by none other than the Reverend Freakchild, found originally on the Free Music Archive. Look for the Reverend's new album, The Bodhisattva Blues at
http://www.www-reverendfreakchild.org/the-bodhisattva-blues

Reverend Freakchild was the guest on Season 2's Episode 1, a great listen. Visit bakerstreet.buzzsprout.com and click on S2 Episode 1.

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Thank you!
Thom Dharma Pollard

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The 2019 expedition to solve the mystery of who climbed Everest first changed many lives, is now the subject of a new film called LOST ON EVEREST, is the cover article in the July issue of National Geographic Magazine and is the subject of a book by NY Times Best Selling author and professional climber Mark Synnott. The Third Pole will be released in the spring of 2021. One of the chapters of Synnott's book is called The Day Everest Broke, and describes in heartbreaking detail the story of some of the eleven people who lost their lives on May 23, 2019. This gripping episode features Mark Synnott, who takes us on a journey to Everest and how the project started and how it turned into the history making expedition for all the world to see.

Everything you thought you ever knew about Mount Everest will change when you listen to this interview with New York Times Best Selling Author and professional climber Mark Synnott. In 2019 Mark and I made a blood pact to go to Everest to try to solve the most enduring mystery in all of modern exploration: who climbed Everest first. Shortly after we made the blood pact to go 'no matter what', Mark told our friend Renan Ozturk, who virtually transformed the shape of the expedition by bringing in National Geographic, The North Face and Sony as sponsors.

The film about our history making expedition - LOST ON EVEREST - premiers on National Geographic Channel on June 30th in the United States. Mark is writing a book, The Third Pole, about our expedition, which will be released in the spring of 2021. I interviewed Mark at my home on June 20, 2020, almost exactly two years after we made our blood pact. His interview will totally transform everything you thought you knew about Mount Everest.

The interview is presented to you here basically unedited, unfiltered, raw and as-it-happened. From Everest Mystery sleuths to anyone who enjoys a damn good story, this interview is for you.

For more information about Mark Synnott:
https://www.marksynnott.com/
For more information about Renan Ozturk:
https://www.renanozturk.com/

For more information about me:
eyesopenproductions.com

If you like what you hear and want to ensure the future of Baker Street with Thom Pollard, Support the show https://www.patreon.com/thomdharmapollard

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL WORLD PREMIERE DATES:
France – July 5th 2020 21:55
Netherlands - July 6th 2020 22:00
Italy – July 9th 2020 21:55
Romania / Greece – July 12th 2020 20:00
Germany – July 12th 2020 20:10 
Brazil – July 14th 2020 21:00
United Kingdom – July 14th 2020 18:00
SEA – July 15th 2020 22:00
LATAM – July 18th 2020 22:00
Turkey – July 19th 2020 20:00
Central Europe – July 19th 2020 21:00
Taiwan – July 19th 2020 22:00
Australia – July 21st 2020 20:30
Africa – July 22nd 2020 19:15
Poland – July 22nd 2020 22:00
Balkans – August 6th 2020 21:00
Canada – September 26th (Tentative)

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Thom Dharma Pollard

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This episode begins with the sounds of Barred owls calling in the New Hampshire night, as I muse about my sudden illness on Mount Everest in 2019. The wisdom of the owls is apt for Episode 10 as we recall the words of wise men from our past, including Albert Einstein, Halie Salassie and Bob Marley.

On the question of racial discrimination, Haile Salassie in a speech said to those who will learn, this further lesson:

"That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; That until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil." – Haile Selassie I

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I'm done standing idly by. I watched live as the president stood in front of St. John's Church in Washington, DC this week, after calling for a violent dissemination of a peaceful protest. That he was holding in his hand a brand new, obviously never opened Bible was a show of sheer sanctimony, to say the least. Worse so, it was another of a thousand tiny lies we've witnessed since the inauguration of DJT to deceive the American public. We are slipping toward totalitarianism at the hands of a person intent on all-consuming power. If any of you thought he gave one flying f*** about your welfare, you are dead wrong. I'm white. I have a voice. I will use that voice. I will not stand idly by as 240+ years of our democracy is stolen at the hands of a racist, vacuous shell of a man who values the feigned acceptance of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping more than the voices of millions upon millions of black men and women, men and women who watched in horror as George Floyd lay lifeless on the Minneapolis streets.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thehappinessquotient)

(THESE NOTES WILL BE UPDATED)

Mickey Raphael was given his first harmonica by an uncle who said if you can play Oh, Suzanna I'll give you the harmonica. Mickey would go on to play a whole lot more than that, having been Willie Nelson's harmonica player for over 46 years. He's played with the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Chris Stapleton, Tom Morello, Paul Simon, Snoop Dogg, Engelbert Humperdinck, Leon Bridges, Neil Young, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Duane Eddy, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Leon Russell...DO I NEED TO SAY MORE? 

Mickey's story is a perfect fit for Baker Street with Thom Pollard. He picked up the harmonica and knew that he was destined to be a pro. His early influences include Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry & Brownie Mcghee and the legendary bluesman Paul Butterfield, with whom he soon became friends. 

Mickey tells a great story about playing with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame, and how he introduced Tom's mom to Willie. 

Mickey's website is at mickeyraphael.com
Hand to Mouth, the music is courtesy of Mickey Raphael and Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield's One More Heartache, which Mickey plays before he hits the stage every night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHMryjUnu58

First song he ever played with Willie Nelson, Funny How Time Slips Away:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZaZqx9v3dU

PLEASE VISIT ME AT eyesopenproductions.com - click on CONTACT and ask to be added to my mailing list.

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Thank you!
Thom Dharma Pollard

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On June 8, 1924, two British mountaineers by the name of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were seen at an altitude of over 28,000 feet 'headed toward the top' of Mount Everest by team member Noel Odell. At the time it was the highest any person had ever climbed before. After a few minutes, clouds obscured Odell's view of them and they disappeared, never to be seen again.  

29 years later, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully summited Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953. While they were the first to survive the epic ascent, many wondered if perhaps Mallory and Irvine might have been the first to actually stand on the top of what was known as The Third Pole. 

75 years after the disappearance of Mallory & Irvine, a team of filmmakers and mountain climbers discovered the frozen body of Mallory at 26,750 feet. The team was looking for the camera they were known to be carrying that day. If the film could be safely brought down and developed, perhaps there would be summit photos. To this day, that camera has never been found. 

I was High Altitude Cameraman on that expedition in 1999. I returned in 2019 with a team of climbers to search for the body of Sandy Irvine. One of the most knowledgeable historians on Everest and the mystery of who climbed it first, Jochen Hemmleb, is the guest of Episode 7. His exhaustive dedication to a life of research of all things Everest will transfix all who listen to this interview about the greatest mystery in all of exploration. 

For more information on Jochen you can find him at jochenhemmleb.com

Miusic for the episode was found on the Free Music Archive and is by Lobo Loco. Lobo Loco's music can be found at musikbrause.de

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Thom Dharma Pollard

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