Active Volcanoes to Extreme Filmmaking: Inside a No Ordinary Life | Chris Barron

What does it take to film inside an active volcano, deep underground in uncharted caves, or alongside lava lakes, seals, and astronauts—and keep your cool while doing it?

This week on Sports Will Save Us All, host Sasha Graham sits down with Chris Barron, an award-winning documentary producer, director, and series producer whose career reads like an adventure novel. Chris has spent over a decade creating high-stakes science and expedition films for the BBC, National Geographic, PBS, and Smithsonian Channel, and he’s worked in some of the most extreme environments on Earth—from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Namibia, Venezuela, and beyond.

Chris is also the host of the gripping podcast No Ordinary Monday, where he interviews people with jobs that push the limits of human courage—like landmine clearers, cave explorers, and special effects experts who literally blow things up for a living.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Sasha and Chris explore what extreme filmmaking has in common with elite sport: preparation under pressure, mental toughness, adaptability, and the ability to perform when everything is on the line.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How Chris went from forensic and molecular biology to filmmaking for the world’s biggest science networks

• Why turning down a £33,000 bonus changed the trajectory of his life

• What it’s really like to camp inside an active volcano with lava bombs landing nearby

• The moment a director had a panic attack deep inside a cave—and how Chris stepped up to lead

• Why extreme film crews need the same mindset as professional athletes

• The mental and physical preparation required to work in life-threatening environments

• A jaw-dropping story about wisdom tooth extraction using hypnosis—no anesthetic

• How problem-solving, trust, and teamwork make or break survival in extreme conditions

At its core, this episode is about choosing passion over comfort, thriving under pressure, and understanding that performance—whether in sports, science, or storytelling—is as much mental as it is physical.

If you’re fascinated by adventure, resilience, human limits, elite performance, filmmaking, science, or the psychology of pressure, this is an episode you won’t forget.

About No Ordinary Monday

Sports Fam, you can find Chris’s podcast, No Ordinary Monday wherever you listen to podcasts and online at NoOrdinaryMonday.com and on Instagram @noordinarymondaypodcast. 

You can see more about his production company Frontier Films at FrontierFilms.TV.

www.frontierfilms.tv

About Sports Will Save Us All podcast

Sports Will Save Us All is an inspirational sports podcast hosted by Sasha Graham, featuring powerful conversations with athletes, coaches, and changemakers about how sports shape mental health, resilience, leadership, and personal growth. Through real-life stories of women in sports, inclusive and adaptive athletics, and athletes overcoming adversity, the show explores how sports change lives—on and off the field.

On Instagram @SportsWillSaveUsAll 

Online at www.SportsWillSaveUsAll.com

To be a guest: Contact us on Podmatch or Via email at [e-mail]