Before we go forward, let us look back on the masterpiece that started it all... • When legions of monstrous creatures known as Kaiju rise from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To fight back, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots called Jaegers, controlled simul…

In this episode, Angeli Chitale and I discuss Ayurvedic medicine, past and present, and across cultures. From her grandparent’s home in India to her naturopathic practice on the west coast of Canada, Ayurveda has had a major influence on her view of health. Speaking about her relatives both as medical practitioners and as patients, she shares much …

Albert speaks about Pacific Rim. Enjoy! 🎙 The Topic Podcast Network is 100% community-supported and created over many hours, so if you enjoy what we do, please consider donating to ko-fi.com/topicnetwork and joining patreon.com/topicnetwork! Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks! 🎙 Official: https://pacificrimmovie.com Show: https://instagram…

Albert speaks about Pacific Rim. Enjoy! 🎙 The Topic Podcast Network is 100% community-supported and created over many hours, so if you enjoy what we do, please consider donating to ko-fi.com/topicnetwork and joining patreon.com/topicnetwork! Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks! 🎙 Official: https://pacificrimmovie.com Show: https://instagram…

Albert speaks about Pacific Rim. Enjoy! 🎙 The Topic Podcast Network is 100% community-supported and created over many hours, so if you enjoy what we do, please consider donating to ko-fi.com/topicnetwork and joining patreon.com/topicnetwork! Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks! 🎙 Official: https://pacificrimmovie.com Show: https://instagram…

Albert speaks about Pacific Rim. Enjoy! 🎙 The Topic Podcast Network is 100% community-supported and created over many hours, so if you enjoy what we do, please consider donating to ko-fi.com/topicnetwork and joining patreon.com/topicnetwork! Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks! 🎙 Official: https://pacificrimmovie.com Show: https://instagram…

Albert introduces the show and speaks about Pacific Rim. Enjoy! 🎙 The Topic Podcast Network is 100% community-supported and created over many hours, so if you enjoy what we do, please consider donating to ko-fi.com/topicnetwork and joining patreon.com/topicnetwork! Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks! 🎙 Official: https://pacificrimmovie.com…

Judy Becker Worsley and David Berkshire return for another episode and a deeper dive into the Worsley Five Element lineage. Judy continues to share with us the impact on her life of the philosophies of the Five Elements system and how it has always served as a compass for her. The teachings of JR Worsley, that she and David continue to passionately…

I waited a very long time to have this discussion with Bill Porter, and it was well worth the wait. Bill is a prolific writer and adventurer, and also, under the pen name of Red Pine, a renowned translator of ancient Chinese works from Cold Mountain to Lao Tze. Bill has written and translated dozens of books over many decades, and his radio shows i…

In this episode Elham Ansari takes us on a millennia-long journey inside of Ayurvedic medicine. In expert fashion, she distills down what can be a dauting philosophy to make pragmatic into a practice that anyone can adopt into their daily routine. We spend a lot of time covering Ayurvedic nutrition, from the exotic to the local, including animal-ba…

Judy Becker Worsley has been a devoted student of Professor JR Worsley since 1973, and was designated by JR to succeed him as Master of the lineage upon his death. Prior to his death, they founded the Worsley Institute, which is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Worsley Five Element Acupuncture tradition that is rooted in natural l…

Julian Scott is a legend in the field of acupuncture and holds special distinction in pediatrics. He has more than 40 years of practical experience and has authored numerous books including Acupuncture in the Treatment of Children and Acupuncture for the Eyes. We enjoy a very easy-going conversation exploring Julian’s path to becoming an influentia…

Sajah Popham is a renowned herbalist, educator, and author committed to the balance of the science and spirituality of plant medicine. As the founder of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, he trains herbalists in a holistic system of plant medicine that encompasses clinical Western herbalism, medical astrology, Ayurveda, and spagyric alchemy. Spa…

7Song is a renowned herbalist who has been studying and practicing herbal medicine for nearly 40 years. Having studied under legends such as Rosemary Gladstar and Michael Moore, he opened the Northeast School of Herbal Medicine in Ithaca, New York, and is the Director of Holistic Medicine at the Ithaca Free Clinic. 7Song shares much of his wisdom i…

Angela Hicks is joint principal and co-founder of the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading, England, and author or co-author of six books including the textbook Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture that she co-wrote with her husband John Hicks and previous podcast guest Peter Mole. Angela has been a profound inspiration in the field…

Lorie Eve Dechar is a legendary alchemical acupuncturist, a pioneer who has inspired countless through her teaching, writing, and clinical practice. She is perhaps best known for her book Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing, which for 15 years has helped guide a generation of acupuncturists into deeper level…

Rebecca Avern is the author of two pediatric acupuncture books including the newest, Chinese Medicine for Childhood Anxiety and Depression. Anxiety and depression are conditions we talk about extensively in this episode. Through her Oxford-based pediatric clinical practice, Rebecca has amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience, much of which she…

Kampo is Japanese herbal medicine influenced by the classical Chinese tradition. In this episode, renowned Kampo and Shiatsu practitioner Nigel Dawes and I discuss all things related to its practice and so much more. Nigel began studying Kampo in Japan forty years ago and has been practicing and teaching ever since. He is the founder of the London …

Although not by design, this conversation with renowned acupuncturist Peter Mole continues in a similar vein of five element acupuncture that was introduced in my last podcast with Dr. Peter Eckman. Peter Mole began his acupuncture training under the legendary J.R. Worsley at Leamington Spa in England in the late seventies and has been in clinical …

This is a fascinating conversation with a truly unique doctor. Dr. Peter Eckman earned both his MD and PhD in Physiology in the early 1970s. Having never heard of acupuncture, an early job offer as a staff physician in a Los Angeles acupuncture clinic changed his life, as well as the trajectory of acupuncture in the West. There he received on-the-j…

It is an honour to have Kenneth Cohen back on the podcast after our last engrossing conversation about Qigong and Taoism. As passionate as he is about those topics, Native American medicine is his way of life, and that is what we explore in this episode. Ken is a traditional healer who has lived, practiced, and studied indigenous ways for most of h…

Ecuador is a wonderland of botanical diversity and tradition, and Rocio Alarcon takes us on a plant-based journey through its jungles, people, and ceremonies. Rocio is an incredibly grounded and gifted protector of land and ancestral knowledge. With a doctorate in Ethnopharmacology, she is the founder of the IAMOE Center, a 100-hectare region of bi…

I waited many months for this interview with Chanchal Cabrera as she kept at bay all distraction while on a self-prescribed writing retreat to work on her book about herbal oncology. And the wait sure was worth it. Despite Chanchal’s long history lecturing on herbal medicine at Pacific Rim College, this was our first opportunity to meet. I doubt it…

Cordelia McFadyen’s lifelong battle with chronic health issues changed swiftly in outlook when a doctor suggested she eliminate a few potentially problematic foods from her diet. The previous 20 years, marred by dozens of courses of antibiotics, copious medical testing, and even surgery, had offered little to be optimistic about, but with the elimi…

Yarrow Willard has become a highly respected herbalist and educator, not because of the legendary status his father Terry has garnered, but because Yarrow set out to blaze his own path. In 2008 he and his wife began Harmonic Arts, a rapidly growing plant medicine company that first sprouted on Vancouver Island and now has spread its influence far a…

In this episode with Ethan Murchie, we talk about all things martial arts and the classic texts of Chinese medicine. Ethan is the founder of the Montreal Gongfu Research Center (Gongfu, more commonly known as Kungfu). He is a veteran practitioner of many Chinese martial arts including Taichi, Xingyi, and Bagua and has practiced Chinese medicine or …

Sandra Robertson, like another recent guest of the show (Deirdre Courtney, episode 49), was told by her mentor Lillian Bridges (episode 31) that she had the facial characteristics of a writer and thus should write. And so she did, submitting her first book proposal for her first book to Singing Dragon Press. They liked what they saw and today, Trea…

Johan Hausen has lived a life that, if I had access to multiple lifetimes, would be one of the iterations I would want to play out. Replete with martial arts, Shaolin temple life, inner alchemy, classical Chinese culture and language, book translating and publishing, and travel, his life path weaves threads of modernity with ancient history. A cruc…

My guest in this episode truly needs no introduction. Rosemary Gladstar’s impact in the world of herbal medicine cannot be overstated, and it would be potentially easier to create a list of who she has not inspired and what she has not catalyzed than to do the opposite. For the last half century, plant medicine has been the centre of her life, and …

My guest in this episode is a Chinese Medicine therapist and leading Israeli specialist who uses acupuncture for neurological rehabilitation. David Bomzon studied under Dr. Toshikatsu Yamamoto, the discoverer of Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture. David is the founder of the Pnima Center, which is the largest community clinic in Israel for integrative …

Dr. Kevin Hu has been a faculty member at Pacific Rim College since 2007. After earning his PhD in medicine from a highly respected TCM university in China, Kevin moved to Canada to continue pursuing his passion of Chinese Medicine. He draws deep inspiration from the classics of Chinese Medicine, especially from the Shang Han Lun, Jing Gui Yao Lue,…

My guest in this episode taught himself how to read Classical Chinese via textbooks and online tools and forums so he could read ancient philosophical texts in their original language. Daniel G. Reid’s translations include The Heshang Gong Commentary on Lao Zi’s Dao De Jing and The Thread of Dao: Unraveling Early Daoist Oral Traditions. In this epi…

The world of Sabine Wilms is filled with benevolent sages, ancient scripts, magical herbs, and goats, and it is my absolute pleasure to bring you into this world during this episode. Like the sages that she translates, Sabine is a rare being that radiates light, love, and generosity. Try not to be enchanted by her enthusiasm for life and her missio…

It is the rare individual whose spirit shines with luminous brilliance. My guest is one of these unique, connected beings and her energy lights up this podcast. Deirdre Courtney’s relationship to spirit is integral to her existence and the healing process that she crafts for her patients. Deirdre’s journey as a practitioner began with a passion for…

Stuart Alve Olson found an interest in Chinese philosophy as a teenager. In his late 20s, he began his formal training in ancient Eastern practices that continues today, more than 40 years later. His deep education in Taoism and Buddhism have helped give him fodder to author nearly 40 books and to teach students around the world. As you will soon h…

If you are not yet familiar with the work of Guido Masé, hopefully this interview will serve as a worthy introduction to this man’s genius and contribution to the world of herbalism. For two hours non-stop, Guido eloquently delivers plant lore and science, useful insights into myriad systems and processes, and priceless life wisdom. The world of he…

Livia Kohn is a fascinating human being with a remarkable zest for life. This interview proved to be most enjoyable and educational and humbling in terms of what a person on her path can manifest. When not partaking in Scottish Country Dancing, of which she does with fervent regularity, Livia can be found travelling the world lecturing on Daoism (T…

Surviving at the edge is something that herbalist Jim McDonald is no stranger to. From finding a passion for herbs in the Michigan woods and letting plants be his original teachers to waking from a months-long coma that left him with amnesia, he has not walked the middle road very often. In this episode Jim shares the harrowing illness and experien…

Kenneth Cohen is a legendary Qigong Grandmaster, Chinese scholar, and world-renowned health educator. In this interview he delivers powerful, insightful, and inspirational narrative that spans cultures and millennia and regularly reminds listeners of our interconnectivity, not just to each other, but to all that is. Ken is the author of the interna…

Michelle Gellis is a renowned practitioner and teacher of facial rejuvenation acupuncture. In this episode she shares her cosmetic philosophies and techniques, including the use of facial gua sha and cupping. Her treatments are not just to enhance physical appearance, although they do this very well, but also to treat disorders affecting the face a…

If you have every wondered where your herbal products come from and the authenticity of manufacturer claims, this episode is for you. Ann Armbrecht is author of The Business of Botanicals, in which she explores how our store-bought herbal medicines come to being. Through rigorous research and travel, Ann traces the often lengthy and meandering supp…

This fascinating conversation with Mike Malterre, the Executive Vice President of Stream2Sea, the manufacturer of the safest mineral sunscreen and body care products on the planet, is a deep dive into the skincare product market. It is no coincidence that Stream2Sea was born from a passion for diving and protecting the oceans by the CEO Autumn Blum…

Amos Ziv is an Israeli-based acupuncturist, herbalist, and integrative medicine researcher. Along with his classmates Jason Robertson and CT Holman, Amos studied channel palpation with Dr. Wang Ju-Yi and applies it to his cardiovascular health-based clinical practice and research. Amos is the CEO of CardiaCare, which aims to provide the world’s fir…

Shauna Doll grew up in the relatively treeless city of Grand Prairie, Alberta, and fell in love with nature through a forested ravine that runs through the city and served as her childhood playground. Today, Shauna has found a professional connection to that love of nature through her work with Raincoast Conservation Foundation as the coordinator f…

Tom Malterre has made a career of examining subtilties of good health and true wellness that most don’t even give fleeting consideration. As he advocates, “we are supposed to be engaged entirely with our environment.” But when our environment is filled with visible and invisible toxins, those toxins become part of is. To minimize their damage, we c…

Michael Isted is dedicated to integrating the power, beauty, and joy of plants into everyday life. As the founder of The Herball, a herb-inspired company that crafts and sells beauty products and curates beverage, cosmetic, and scent-based creations for the hospitality industry and innovators, Michael’s genius-like craftmanship is sought after arou…

Z’ev Rosenberg has been a leader in the field of Chinese Medicine for nearly 40 years. He is the former president of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado where he helped to spearhead the drive to the licensure of acupuncture in the state. And for more than 2 decades he served as the Chair of the Department of Herbal Medicine at Pacific College o…

Much like the timeless classics that Dr. Heiner Fruehauf has devoted his life to study, this episode too will be a timeless classic of this podcast. Heiner’s sage-like wisdom and advice effortlessly flows forth in the recounting of his life’s journey and work. His breadth and depth of experience, and consciousness to value all degrees of experience…

Merlin Young is determined to provide safer and more effective treatment for the world’s most deadly pandemic that today is killing more than 3,000 people per day: tuberculosis. In particular, Merlin has spent the past 14 years working with moxibustion in the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, work that has taken him to many places inc…

Even if she stopped today, Dr. Debra Betts would be leaving behind a tremendous legacy that has greatly impacted the global treatment of pregnancy and childbirth with acupuncture. But, as this conversation indicates, Debra is neither stopping nor slowing down her research, teaching, and pioneering work in this specialty. As Debra indicates in the e…