Under The Skin with Russell Brand

This week’s guest on the podcast is Jahnavi Harrison. Jahnavi is a British musician known for her mantra meditation music (kirtan). She was raised in a family of Bhakti-yoga practitioners at Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of England’s most important spiritual landmarks. For over 12 years she has travelled the world, offering her voice and violin playing in the performance of sacred music. 

Jahnavi founded Kirtan London, a project that aims to make mantra music accessible and relevant to a wider audience through events and retreats. 

She also recently collaborated on a new song with Willow Smith - you can listen to it on Spotify and all the regular streaming platforms.

This week’s guest is Judd Apatow, director, producer and writer of many of the biggest comedy films and hit TV shows of the last two decades including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40. He also helped propel me into the world of Hollywood acting, casting me in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.
We discuss everything from writing for the Larry Sanders Show, what fuels creativity, the the power of intuition and the magic of comedy!

Judd’s new movie, The King of Staten Island, is available to Rent At Home now.

This week we have returning guest Prof. Kehinde Andrews.
Kehinde is an academic, activist and author. He is the Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University; the Director of the Centre for Critical Social Research; founder of the Organisation of Black Unity; and co-chair of the Black Studies Association.
This podcast digs deep into the core, historical and economical reasons behind racism not just in America but globally. Kehinde explains the route to real change and what needs to happen in order for a global revolution to take place. What do we have to sacrifice to make this happen? And are we willing to go through with it?
His books include Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century and Resisting Racism: Race, Inequality and the Black Supplementary School Movement.

This week’s guest is Kasia Urbaniak! Kasia is the founder and CEO of The Academy, a school that teaches women the foundations of power and influence. 
She has worked as professional Dominatrix, practiced Taoist alchemy in one of the oldest female-led monasteries in China and obtained certifications in Medical Qi Gong and Systemic Constellations.
Since founding The Academy in 2013, Kasia has taught hundreds of women practical tools to step into leadership positions in their relationships, families, workplaces, and wider communities. 
Her new book, ‘Unbound: A Woman’s Guide to Power’ is out in August.

This this week I spoke with Dr. James McLeary. James is a deeply experienced wisdom holder, expert facilitator and member of the Elder Council of Inside Circle Foundation. Inside Circle focuses on reducing prison violence, lowering recidivism, and guiding inmates through healing that allows for meaningful lives after release.
He is the executive producer of the documentary, THE WORK, detailing Inside Circle’s program in Folsom Prison.

I saw that documentary, you have to watch it, it’s a powerful documentary. He’s got a powerful energy and he knows the score on Jungian psychology, 12 Step Recovery and a lot of things and it’s a very interesting conversation. I think he’s talking about ways of setting up ceremonial space for us to deal with the deep truths about who we are and move from unconsciousness to consciousness, move out of the unaware habitual behaviours that condemn us to a life of bland consumerism, out of that into the fire of our potential awakened existence.

Charles Eisenstein returns to Under The Skin for a second time, this time with some interesting and in depth analysis on the current situation facing the world as Covid-19 begins to reframe how we see society and power. I was particularly inspired by Charles’s latest essay “The Coronation” - which you should read if you have the time.
In this podcast we discuss our relationship with death, our need for belief in authority and whether governments are preparing for civil unrest, conspiracy theories vs alternative ideas and Charles’s analysis on where we are going wrong and what we could be doing to make things right!

This week’s guest is Helena Norberg-Hodge! Helena is founder and director of Local Futures. Local Futures is a non-profit organization "dedicated to the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.

We discuss the importance of localized framing versus globalisation systems, what a future after this pandemic and lockdown eases should look like in order for society to thrive, and Helena divulges the incredible lessons she’s learned from her time in Tibet and traveling.

If you’re interested in real, practical solutions to many of the issues we’re facing right now, this is the podcast for you.

'Under The Skin' asks: what's beneath the surface - of people we admire, of the ideas that define our time, of the history we are told. Speaking with guests from the world of academia, popular culture and the arts, they'll help us to see the ulterior truth behind our constructed reality. And have a laugh. This show is moving to Luminary! For more, go to LuminaryPodcasts.com.

David Runciman is author of "How Democracy Ends" and host of the Talking Politics podcast. We spoke about what the function of democracy is, the significance of the generational divide when voting, the relationship between corporations and government, anarcho-syndacalism & the rise of populism.

Today's guest is the always intriguing journalist and great storyteller Jon Ronson. Fascinating, open and honest. We talked about his investigative podcasts into the world of pornography, how he fought his way out of depression and the dark world of social media shaming! It was an authentic and emotionally very real experience with Jon.