EP 52: Where Science Meets Soul: Finding Your Joyspan with Dr. Kerry Burnight & Claire Burnight
Release Date: 11/12/2025
How U2, Billie Eilish & Major Tours Helped Launch Musically Fed with Maria Brunner
Crazy Amazing Humans
What really happens to all the untouched backstage food after a concert ends? In this episode of Crazy Amazing Humans, Katrina Carlson and Jefferson Denim take you behind the scenes of major concert tours and festivals with Maria Brunner, longtime music industry executive and founder of Musically Fed. Her remarkable nonprofit rescues untouched catering from concerts, tours, festivals, sporting events and entertainment venues, delivering it to veterans organizations, shelters, domestic violence shelters, community agencies and people facing food insecurity. Maria spent decades in the music...
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Why Women Shrink, Why Men Feel Lonely & How We Heal with Leah Van King
Crazy Amazing Humans
Leah Van King joins Crazy Amazing Humans for a powerful and deeply honest conversation about feminism, patriarchy, male loneliness, self-trust, emotional healing, addiction recovery, and what it means to stop shrinking and start living authentically. Known for her massive online following and viral commentary on gender, culture, relationships, and emotional health, Leah explains why true feminism is actually liberating for both women and men because it breaks down the restrictive “personality prisons” created by patriarchy. Leah shares personal stories about growing up watching her mother...
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EP 56: An Insider’s Look at the LA County DA’s Office: Nathan Hochman on Humanity and the Hard Middle
Crazy Amazing Humans
What is really happening inside the Los Angeles justice system? In this powerful episode of Crazy Amazing Humans, we go behind-the-scenes with Nathan Hochman, the current District Attorney of Los Angeles County, for a candid and deeply human conversation about crime, justice, public safety, and the real challenges facing Los Angeles today. As the elected DA of Los Angeles County, Hochman leads the largest local prosecuting office in the United States, serving nearly 10 million people across 88 cities. His office handles more than 180,000 criminal cases each year, from violent crime and...
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EP 55: She Was Gretl in The Sound of Music; Kym Karath’s Real Story Is Even More Powerful
Crazy Amazing Humans
Most people remember Kym Karath as Gretl from The Sound of Music, one of the most beloved films of all time. But what happened to her after that role is a story far fewer people know. In this episode of Crazy Amazing Humans, we sit down with Kym Karath for a deeply personal and powerful conversation about her life beyond the screen, her journey after early fame, and the experiences that shaped who she became. After starring in The Sound of Music, Kym went on to appear in well-known television shows including The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, My Three Sons, Lost in Space, and Archie Bunker's Place....
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Seeing the Need, Serving the Unhoused in Los Angeles: Luther Keith, Jr. and Central Urban Mission
Crazy Amazing Humans
There’s a moment most of us try to avoid. The moment you lock eyes with someone living on the street. What happens if you choose not to look away? In this powerful episode of the Crazy Amazing Humans Podcast, we sit down with Luther Keith Jr., founder of Central Urban Mission, a faith-driven outreach serving unhoused communities across Los Angeles since 1998, and a trained gang intervention specialist who has worked in gang-impacted neighborhoods since the late 1980s. For more than two decades, Luther has shown up on Skid Row and South Los Angeles morning and night feeding hundreds of people...
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EP 53: Bouncing Forward: Resilience, Hope, and Community
Crazy Amazing Humans
In this episode of the Crazy Amazing Humans podcast, hosts Katrina Carlson and Jefferson Denim are joined by producer Ken Carlson for a year-end holiday reflection on resilience, hope, and community. We begin on location at Marquez Elementary School in the Pacific Palisades. We walk the campus, see the play structure that survived the fires, and meet a community that stands as a powerful symbol of resilience. It is a community rebuilding after loss, led by children, teachers, and staff who continue to show up for one another with courage, care, and hope. From there, the conversation returns to...
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EP 52: Where Science Meets Soul: Finding Your Joyspan with Dr. Kerry Burnight & Claire Burnight
Crazy Amazing Humans
What if joy—not time, success, or wealth—was the real measure of your life? And what does joy truly mean? In this powerful episode of Crazy Amazing Humans, hosts Katrina Carlson and Jefferson Denim sit down with Dr. Kerry Burnight, a nationally recognized gerontologist, and her daughter Claire Burnight, a future naturopathic doctor, to explore how to move beyond Lifespan and Healthspan into the groundbreaking concept of Joyspan—the measure of how much joy, vitality, and meaning we experience throughout our lives. Drawing from over 30 years of gerontology research, Dr. Burnight challenges...
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The Heart Behind the Haunt: Halloween Spooktacular Santa Monica ReBOOt!
Crazy Amazing Humans
Every year, Halloween in Santa Monica becomes something truly special. It’s not just a night of costumes and candy, it’s a joyful neighborhood celebration of community, creativity, and compassion. What started years ago as a simple night of trick-or-treating for the Carlson family, neighbors and close friends has transformed into the Annual Halloween Spooktacular, a beloved community event that now draws thousands from across Los Angeles. For this fun and festive episode, we’re on location at the Carlson’s haunted home with all their Halloween decor-–monsters, vampires, ghosts,...
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EP 50: What if the Hardest Thing You’ve Ever Been Thru Reveals Your Superpower? Patti Davis, Daughter of President Ronald Reagan, on Alzheimer’s, Addiction & Finding Strength
Crazy Amazing Humans
In this milestone 50th episode of our Crazy Amazing Humans Podcast, we sit down with Patti Davis—author, journalist, advocate, and daughter of President Ronald Reagan—for a deeply moving and honest conversation exploring how personal struggles can become a source of strength, purpose, and healing. From her bestselling memoir The Long Goodbye, chronicling her father’s battle with Alzheimer’s, to her powerful new book Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew, Patti Davis shares how she has walked through fire and emerged with a strength she never knew...
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EP 49: Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Muhammad Walk Into a Bar… with Rev. Dave Carpenter
Crazy Amazing Humans
What if the path to healing our divided world isn’t found in power or politics—but in realizing that we belong to each other? In this powerful and thought-provoking episode of the Crazy Amazing Humans Podcast, we sit down with Rev. David Carpenter, senior pastor of Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, to explore how faith, inclusivity, and a radical sense of interconnectedness can heal our divided world. Reverend Carpenter is a deeply compassionate and forward-thinking leader who has been reshaping the conversation around faith. With an M.Div. from...
info_outlineWhat if joy—not time, success, or wealth—was the real measure of your life? And what does joy truly mean?
In this powerful episode of Crazy Amazing Humans, hosts Katrina Carlson and Jefferson Denim sit down with Dr. Kerry Burnight, a nationally recognized gerontologist, and her daughter Claire Burnight, a future naturopathic doctor, to explore how to move beyond Lifespan and Healthspan into the groundbreaking concept of Joyspan—the measure of how much joy, vitality, and meaning we experience throughout our lives.
Drawing from over 30 years of gerontology research, Dr. Burnight challenges our culture’s obsession with anti-aging, inviting us to redefine aging as a season of continued growth, connection, and purpose. She shares her keys to living with vitality and fulfillment, helping you shift your mindset, cultivate connection, and embrace aging as evolution—not decline. You’ll also learn practical ways to strengthen both body and spirit through her Inner Four: Grow, Connect, Adapt, and Give.
Meanwhile, Claire Burnight shares her deeply personal story of surviving a life-threatening brain tumor in her twenties and finding alignment through holistic medicine. She encourages us to find stillness each day, listen to our bodies, and see illness not as failure, but as communication guiding us back to balance. Her gentle wisdom highlights the essential determinants of health—sleep, nutrition, connection, sunlight, and gratitude—and how to nurture them in our daily lives.
Together, this inspiring mother-daughter duo reminds us that joy is an inside job, available to every person at any age. Whether you’re 4 or 104, thriving means using all the tools you have to shift your mindset, strengthen your connections, nurture gratitude, find purpose, and embrace each season of life.
As Dr. Kerry Burnight says, “It’s not about adding years to your life—it’s about adding life to your years.”
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Peace and love,
Katrina Carlson