Neurons to Nirvana

Pundits and Politics with Shane Rogers, co-host of Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Your feedback helps guide the future of the show! Please consider filling out this short questionnaire by clicking here.
Do most Americans really agree on 90% of the issues facing our country? Why do we feel so divided? Can comedy and podcasting bring us closer together rather than create even more distance?
Continuing our discussion on the craft and artistry of stand-up comedy, improvisation, and the platform of podcasting to express yourself, I am joined today by Shane Rogers, stand-up comedian and co-host of the Midnight Facts for Insomniacs podcast. Shane spends weeks preparing and consistently deep dives into researching obscure topics and themes for every episode. Both he and co-host Duncan MacEwan provides a refreshing take and unique style of humor and entertainment for their listeners.
Connect with Shane
Visit his website to learn more about Shane and his podcast.
 
Be a part of this podcast!
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
Follow Tom on Instagram and Twitter
 

International Comedian Steven Morgan

Your feedback helps guide the future of the show! Please consider filling out this short questionnaire by clicking here.
Stand-up comedy may be the hardest artistic craft, and today’s guest is comedian, improviser, storyteller, actor, writer, musician and jack of all trades, Steven Morgan. Steven and I talk about this challenge, including the longevity and relevance of comedic material and the dilemma in balancing improv versus scripting during a performance. We also talk about how the resilience of being a comedian can cultivate leadership in unexpected times. 
Connect with Steven:
https://stevenmorgan.wales/
Be a part of this podcast!
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.

Putting a voice to your story with Tyler Foley

Would you speak in front of hundreds of people naked? After listening to this episode, you won't have to, but you'll understand why having the confidence to be seen for who we are is crucial in developing our ability to share our voice.
Sean Tyler Foley is passionate about helping others confidently take the stage. As a lifelong actor and showman, he knows how to entertain, and has delivered hundreds of talks on everything from employee engagement to personal growth and achievement. His ultimate goal is to coach people to step into their speaking power so they can create a positive global impact by reaching the hearts and minds of millions with their stories. He is author of the #1 best-selling book The Power to Speak Naked. Connect with Tyler: https://www.seantylerfoley.com
Get Tyler's book: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Speak-Naked-Communicate-Effectively/dp/1631954458
Be a part of this podcast!
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
 

Bonding-Based Lovemaking with Carolin Hauser

How do we heal trauma and grow closer through intentional intimacy and sex? Today, we’re speaking to the author of the book Blossom –7 Steps to Sexual Healing, Chief Pleasure Officer, Carolin Hauser. Carolin’s work is based on cutting-edge intimacy advice, quantum physics, and biology.  We explore topics that many may consider taboo, like infidelity, addiction, and oral sex and how all of this relates to our vibrational state. Carolin is redefining pleasure and offers training and teachings from Sedona, Arizona and she offers a new perspective on traditional lovemaking and healing relationships. 
 
I welcome the opportunity to learn about this alternative paradigm. If you like content like this, please like and follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.
 
We’ve just launched a quick survey and your feedback helps guide the future of the show! Please consider filling out this short questionnaire by clicking here.
 
Connect with Carolin:
carolinhauser.com
Grab Carolin’s book here.
 
Be a part of this podcast!
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
 

The creative catalyst of grief with Maggie Daniels

Ever find yourself swimming in grief? Poet, writer and director Maggie Daniels has, and she wrote SWIMMING in hopes of bringing a relatable experience to any listener who has lost a parent, tried to save a friend, or feels alone and unable to articulate their feelings.
What do we gain when we lose someone we love?  Maggie and I explore this topic in-depth in this heartfelt episode. Maggie explains how writing her poetry book "Swimming" helped her through a traumatic experience. Maggie shares some real wisdom about capturing moments from our loved ones while we have them as well as shares several of her powerful poems. She's pushed through trauma by making a trailer for a movie script called "Tanglewood" based on a true story. 
 
Learn more about Maggie here: maggielogic.com
---
Your feedback helps guide the future of the show! Please consider filling out this short questionnaire by clicking here.
Be a part of this podcast!
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
 
 

The Misfit Musician Billy Nomad

Your feedback helps guide the future of the show! Please consider filling out this short questionnaire by clicking here.
From across the pond comes alternative singer/songwriter Billy Nomad, a successful independent musician who has used songwriting and music to bridge the gap of self-expression and social interaction. At 15, Billy was diagnosed with a chronic illness. His illness and high-functioning autism inspired Billy to funnel his energy into all aspects of music as a creative outlet.
Now a writer, performer and budding record label producer, Billy talks with Tom about his life as Billy Nomad —the past, the present and his vision for the future. Learn the stories behind some of his songs and his upcoming production plans. For more information visit BillyNomad.net
It isn’t just his accent that put a smile on my face, but some of his insights on curiosity, creativity, and mental health. Bill brings an authentic voice and story and his lyrics are often healing and direct. He speaks of suicide and darkness, using music to cope and escape horrendous bullying and mitigate emotional burnout.
Listen to Billy Nomad on bandcamp:
https://billynomad.bandcamp.com/
--------
Be a part of this podcast!Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.

Songs of Freedom with Mardi Gras Indian Funk Band Cha Wa!

From the NOLA streets to the stage to the studio, two-time grammy nominated band Cha Wa delivers an organic sound, an authentic story and an undeniable energy. This brass band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit shares their electric energy and thoughts on their unique style of music. Tune in and hear about the history behind the funk and feathers.
http://www.chawaband.com/
------------
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
 

Vedic Astrology & Life Readings with Indra Rinzler

Does passion for life include an experience of joy? Indra shares that joy may indeed be part of the overall experience, yet folks seem to be both tormented as well as excited in living their passions. 
This week’s guest is Indra Rinzler and he's a life-time spiritual seeker.  He has traveled to 56 countries and has a broader view of society than most in his 75 years of life. 
Indra shares wisdom from the observations and life experience he's had. We discuss his vocation with Vedic astrology and use of the enneagram.  You'll really need to explore the rest of the story as we explore other interesting points of connectivity.
Connect with Indra: www.indrarinzler.com
----
Sign up on our website to receive exclusive show insights and be the first to know about podcast extras and join the Neurons to Nirvana community.
 

Becoming an Integrated Man with Keith Gilmore

What does it mean to be a man in 2022? How do we integrate psychedelics into rites of passage in a safe and effective way? Join me as I speak with Keith Gilmore, a writer, speaker and coach who writes primarily on culture, ethics, psychology, spirituality, philosophy, and psychedelics. He’s the co- founder of Texture Life Coaching and offers one of the top ranked psychedelic integration coaching programs in the country. 
Keith offers a 12-week community program called The Integrated Man, which is a free program for men to have support, get real and share wisdom.www.texturecoaching.com

Memoir of a Working-Class Rock Star: Ivan ”Funkboy” Bodley

Sit in on this fun conversation and time travel with us as Ivan FunkBoy Bodley shares hilarious and heartbreaking stories from his search for fame, financial stability, and peace of mind through the joy of playing music with some of the all time greatest musicians across many genres. 
https://www.youtube.com/user/funkboynyc https://www.abebooks.com/9798711152200/Famous-Memoir-Working-Class-Rock-Star/plp

Meet Maven Avila of Dead Letterman

Continuing the exploration of the power of music to heal, inspire, and inform, on this episode I bring on Maven Avila, the frontman for Dead Letterman. Maven is a budding artist from Kentucky and he brings a strong viewpoint to his music and his political advocacy. We discuss music and creativity as an avenue for healing from abuse, the state of our nation, social equity, and Maven's pursuit of his passion.
www.surj.org
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/deadletterman/departures

Just Asking Questions with That Eric Alper

This episode is one is for the music history lovers. Join Tom Hartridge and today's guest, Eric Alper as they go on a deep dive, exploring some of the greatest musicians of all time and exchange a wealth of details about music history.  Eric Alper has worked with Bob Geldof, Natalie MacMaster, Carole King, Matt Dusk, Randy Bachman, Ringo Starr, Slash, The Wiggles, Snoop Dogg, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ray Charles, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Palmer, and many more legends.
 
Eric Alper is a Canadian music correspondent, blogger, radio host and former director of media relations at eOne Music Canada based in Toronto, Ontario. Since 2016 Alper has run a music public relations company That Eric Alper and is the host of @ThatEricAlper show on SiriusXM. 
 
Connect with Eric: 
Twitter: @ThatEricAlper
www.thatericalper.com

Curious about Cannabis with The Panther Group

Should it be illegal to heal ourselves? Mental health is becoming an epidemic in itself yet there is a real opportunity for another viable and readily available option to help ease pain, anxiety, and depression. The cannabis industry is growing fast, and while many US states have legalized its use, we have a long way to go before full legalization. 
This is why Tom opened a dialogue with Scott Berman, co-founder and president of the Panther Group who has spent years researching cannabis products, companies, and legislative developments around marijuana. Together we take a deep dive into this fascinating and powerful topic.
Scott also serves on the Board of Directors for Athletes for CARE (A4C), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with a community of athletes finding support, opportunity and purpose in life after a career in sports by using their influence for social change.  
LinkedIn | The Panther Group: Overview
Website | The Panther Group

BREAKING: The US Healthcare System with Dr. Lisa Vallejos

In a very heartfelt and vulnerable discussion, Tom and Lisa Xochitl Vallejos, Ph.D., LPC (Dr. V) discuss the origins of mental health treatments in the US. Dr. V offers her root cause analysis of how a lack of community denies us sufficient time to properly grieve and heal from traumatic experiences. Hitting on social inequities, gender disparities, and racial biases, Dr. V challenges our thinking, arguing that in order to address the mental health crisis, we must first disassemble the framework of mental health treatment in Western societies. Recognizing how therapy is neither affordable for a large segment of underprivileged individuals nor profitable under a managed care insurance-only model for the therapists themselves, Dr. V speaks from her heart about social injustice on how traditional psychology and counseling focuses on the individual and often ignores the collective.
Dr. V. has been teaching at the college and graduate level since 2009 and has been a therapist since 2004. Over the years, Dr. V has been increasingly dismayed by the lack of culturally proficient therapists and has made it a priority to challenge the status quo. Dr. V believes that therapy and psychology need to be radically overhauled to be effective and accessible to clients who hold marginalized identities. While Dr. V works with training therapists on addressing multiple systems of oppression, her specialty is anti-racism in therapy.
Dr. V has her Ph.D. in psychology and is a licensed professional counselor. Lisa authored Shattered, How Everything Comes Together When It All Falls Apart and believes that until all of us are free, none of us are.

Musings with Shane Mauss Part 2

We continue with part 2 where Shane Mauss pulls no punches in this interview as he dives into psychedelic exploration, the evolution of his career and mental health since the release of his documentary Psychonautics: A Comic’s Exploration of Psychedelics, and the merits, or lack thereof, of microdosing. Shane flexes the depth of his scientific knowledge and natural skepticism in a healthy and complex discussion of psychedelics, cognitive bias, creativity and apathy. Shane's interview was separated into two parts.  
Shane Mauss been a stand-up comedian since 2004 and touring full-time since 2007. He has been interviewing scientists each week since 2014 for the Here We Are Podcast. In 2019 He released the documentary Psychonautics. In 2021 Shane joined artist Ramin Nazer to form Mind Under Matter. Originally from La Crosse, Wisconsin this former factory worker skipped college to become a stand-up comedian. He has had five appearances on Conan, several on Comedy Central, and many other spots on Kimmel, Showtime, Epix, and more.
Shane's newest project Mind Under Matter combines passions for comedy, science, philosophy, and art into one show.