Behind Greatness by Inspire North
Bringing you curious minds and profound ideas. Your weekly dose of real conversations. We chat openly with industry and thought leaders from all walks of life, exploring the “what ifs” and “why nots”.
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237. Thomas Campbell – Physicist / Author of My Big T.O.E. / Speaker - Living Gracefully with Uncertainty
06/30/2026
237. Thomas Campbell – Physicist / Author of My Big T.O.E. / Speaker - Living Gracefully with Uncertainty
Thanks again for joining us at Behind Greatness. This episode was recorded Spring of 2026 and is part 1 of a developing series with Thomas Campbell. Thomas is a physicist, lecturer, and author of the My Big T.O.E. (Theory of Everything), a trilogy of books that claims to unify general relativity, quantum mechanics, and metaphysics, as well as the origins of consciousness. He worked as a systems analyst with U.S. Army technical intelligence for a decade before moving into the research and development of technology supporting defensive missile systems. Subsequently, he spent the better part of 30 years working within the U.S. missile defense community as a contractor to the Department of Defense. He most recently worked for NASA on the Ares I program (a follow-on to the Shuttle), assessing and solving problems related to risk and vulnerability to ensure mission and crew survivability and success. Thomas speaks and writes often about the importance of shifting from our current materialistic-focused ethic based on control-power-force to caring-sharing-compassion. A deep-end dive from the get-go. Thomas has a lot to share on consciousness and physics, making decisions on love vs fear, and low vs high entropy choices. We talk about how to avoid making decisions on “mouthing the scripts”, on being stuck as a “mimic of yourself” and on living a sterile life. We hear about the partnership between the intellect and intuition, living a life of elegance, the forgotten value of living in a tribe, grace vs anger and developing the ability to seeing the bigger picture. Thomas also gives his view on his own awareness. Another episode mentioned in this episode: Olympian 100m sprinter, Anson Henry (ep 74) Tom, Website: YT Channel: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donor.
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236. Joe McMoneagle - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being in the Moment
06/16/2026
236. Joe McMoneagle - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being in the Moment
This episode is part 8 in our series with Joe McMoneagle. Joe McMoneagle was a US Army intelligence veteran already before he was chosen to be a part of the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1″ within Project Stargate. Project Stargate was the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena via the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and also founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he also teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center in exploring human consciousness. Joe never disappoints. He starts us off with the Bahamas and his 1st tour in the 60s at age 19 in intelligence … caught in a category 5 storm and left for dead, a man-eating grouper, a strange UAP experience with splitting time, a cone of light, radiation burns and a navy medic throwing out his report. We talk the kidnapping and subsequent remote viewing rescue of General Dozier, the strange case of a Tokyo mayor, finding missing people in Japan, lobster-tail currency and a mysterious underwater creature. See here other previous guests mentioned: Dean Radin (ep 122) Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: · Russell Targ () – Co-Founder, SRI Institute · Courtney Brown () · Stephan A. Schwartz (, ) · Lyn Buchanan () · Nancy DuTertre () · Paul H. Smith () Joe, · Books: () · Parapsychological Association: · Monroe Institute: · IMDb: The Kidnapping of General Dozier: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donor.
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235. Alex Andersen – Animal Whisperer / Owner, Pet Talk – Seeing the Magic in the Middle
06/02/2026
235. Alex Andersen – Animal Whisperer / Owner, Pet Talk – Seeing the Magic in the Middle
Today we are chatting with Alex Andersen, owner of Pet Talk Communications. Alex has been honing her intuition to communicate with animals and is spending her life helping others to train themselves to do the same. We are charmed by her openness to discuss her life’s work. She shows us how working with animals has (re)shaped her worldview, her philosophical stance and her ideas on the metaphysical. We head straight into mystical techniques, the limiting factor of the “should dos”, animals as teachers and the staff meeting often going on in her head. We learn about the closing off of empathy, “multiple clairs”, negative vs immature entities, fears, finding the magic in the middle and animals holding the line on oneness. Listen in on Alex’s explicit breakdown on the difference between wolf-dog and cat communication and her understanding of their cosmic partnership with human beings. Past episodes referenced: Ep 31 - Tyson Yunkaporta Ep 97 – Natalie Sudman Ep 212 - Paco Calvo Ep 213 - Dave Salmoni Ep 222 - Cameron Scott Alex, - Website: & - IG & TikTok: @pettalkwithalex To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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Dr. Carlos Eire – Yale Professor / Author / Podcast Host, Christian Mysticism – Flying into the Weird
05/19/2026
Dr. Carlos Eire – Yale Professor / Author / Podcast Host, Christian Mysticism – Flying into the Weird
Carlos Eire is a Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University. At 11, during the height of the Cold War, he became one of the 14,000 unaccompanied children airlifted from the Soviet colony of Cuba to the US. He is now a historian of late medieval and early modern Europe who focuses on the Protestant and Catholic Reformations; the history of popular piety; the supernatural, and death. His book, They Flew, was awarded the prize for Best Book in the History of Religion by the American Academy of Religion and has been nominated for the Book Prize in Science and Religion awarded by the International Society for Science and Religion. All of his writings are banned in Cuba, where he has been proclaimed an enemy of the state. Carlos is also the Co-Host of the Christian Mysticism podcast. Lots of scintillating topics in this discussion: his Cuban parents, Santeria and the problem solving religion, “curses and cures”, the malocchio (el mal de ojo), bringing your beliefs into the afterlife, exploring “the weird vs the Weird” and his personal Near Death Experience while on an operating table. Carlos, Profile: Book: The Christian Mysticism Podcast: Dio: The birth of the warding off of the evil eye at rock concerts: Sebastian Maniscalco: the pepper hanging from rear view mirror: Episodes mentioned: Luis Zuniga ep 115 – Cuban political prisoner Rune Rasmussen ep 90 – Nordic Animism Father John Szada ep 174 - Exorcist Bayo Akomolafe ep 102 - Philosopher Dr. Iya Whitley ep 185 – Space Psychologist Dr. Kim Penberthy ep 209 – Clinical Psychologist To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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233. Enrico Colantoni, part 2 - Veteran Hollywood, Broadway, TV Actor/ King Napper – Nothing … and Everything
04/14/2026
233. Enrico Colantoni, part 2 - Veteran Hollywood, Broadway, TV Actor/ King Napper – Nothing … and Everything
Enrico is back! Our “Fairy Godfather”, Enrico has been one of the earliest supporters of this podcast and our original format of our not-for-profit (since 2011). He was also our guest on our maiden voyage, in episode 2 - back in May 2020. We get started where we left off in Episode 2, exploring a ton of what-ifs and why-nots. Enrico is a veteran actor – starring in Hollywood films, in Broadway theatre productions and in internationally syndicated, culture-making TV series. And in this chat we sit with Enrico as we know him: a guy from the neighbourhood, always in movement and always in search of bigger answers. We discuss the important hold of belief systems on our actions and the untraining . We learn about an out of body experience on stage, realignment with the what is, embracing the original moment and the danger of tribalism without the actual purity of the tribe. We hear ultimately about his thoughts on his last words on earth --- and about a series of recent books that vaulted him into a different kind of question-making, including the questioning of his own beliefs and has had him crave more about the idea of mission and home. Untraining. Fault (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Enrico’s upcoming theatre production Fault – April & May 2026, directed by Jason Alexander: Enrico, IMDB: IG: @enricocolantoni_really The English teacher: Working Class roots: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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232. Joe McMoneagle - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being Inordinately Curious
03/26/2026
232. Joe McMoneagle - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being Inordinately Curious
THANK YOU TO THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY [JPL] & NASA FOR PROVIDING THE NEGATIVES. Thanks again for joining us at Behind Greatness. This episode is part 7 in our series with Joe. Joe was a US Army intelligence veteran already before he was chosen to be a part of the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1″ within Project Stargate. Project Stargate was the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena via the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and also founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he also teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center in exploring human consciousness. In this conversation: remote viewing Mars and its civilizations, sharks saving whales, the impossible archived, wearing masks, bombarded by prejudices, doing things because we can, foretelling in shark bites, being watched, weaponizing new inventions, gold prospecting amongst the trees – and lessons learned through donkeys. Honourable mention: Dr. Chris Lowe, ep 190 & Dr. Jeffrey Krypal, ep 118 & 189 Archives of the Impossible: Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: · Russell Targ () – Co-Founder, SRI Institute · Courtney Brown () · Stephan A. Schwartz (, ) · Lyn Buchanan () · Nancy DuTertre () · Paul H. Smith () Joe, · Books: () · Parapsychological Association: · Monroe Institute: · IMDb:
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231. Dr. Susan Plunket – Clinical Psychologist / Author – Uncrushing
03/17/2026
231. Dr. Susan Plunket – Clinical Psychologist / Author – Uncrushing
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. Today we have a Jungian chat with Susan Plunket. She has her own practise in the city that never sleeps --- fitting for a psychologist who works on dream interpretation . We talk about her dad’s profound life changing experience in the Pacific during WWII and his fortifying parenting style, flying with her sister and basketball courts in space. We dive into the discussion of being crushed into 3D reality, death dreams of AIDS patients in NYC in the 80s and 90s, the ego-self and the greater-self, seeing beyond the illusion of separation and the lessons of her discarnate teacher. The psyche prepares you for death via dreaming. Let’s go!! Episodes to check out: Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor (ep 101), Dr. Thomas Verny (ep 121), Dr. Tony Cicora (ep 55) Susan, Website:
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230. Dr. Rudolf Schild, continued (part 6) – Getting Over It
02/24/2026
230. Dr. Rudolf Schild, continued (part 6) – Getting Over It
For Rudy, part 1 to part 5 please visit episodes #179, #186, #192 , 195 and 196. Thanks for joining us again at Behind Greatness. We are back again with Rudy. Rudy is a pre-eminent expert on black holes and a world-renowned Astrophysicist from Harvard, practising in the field since the mid-1960s. He is also the co-Founder of FREE / CCRI (see co-Founder past guests Rey Hernandez & Mary Rodwell) and also the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Cosmology. With Rudy we explore and re-explore: the important research work of the FREE foundation, breeding programs and John Mack’s work, fossilized critters in meteorites, his take on the “alien agenda”, evidence of life in space, astrotheology, the purpose of the universe and his beloved car collection . “It’s shocking, but you better get over it.” Previous episodes/discussions referenced in this episode with Rudy: Dr. Kevin Knuth (ep 216, 226) Matthew Roberts (ep 188) Danny Sheehan (ep 169) Rey Hernandez (ep 153, 154) Dr. Robert Davis (ep 151) Mary Rodwell (ep 149) Rudy, Center for Astrophysics – Journal of Cosmology - Personal website - List of Published papers - CCRI (Consciousness & Contact Research Institute) - Book (co-Author with Suzy Hansen) – Dual Soul Connection: The Alien Agenda for Human Advancement: Book: Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness & Contact with Non Human Intelligence - Edgar Mitchell Book: The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut’s Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds - NASA – Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy “SOFIA” -
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229. Dr. John W. Price – Psychotherapist / Musician / Myth-Maker – Navigating the Mush
02/03/2026
229. Dr. John W. Price – Psychotherapist / Musician / Myth-Maker – Navigating the Mush
John is a Depth Psychotherapist, Jungian scholar, musician, podcast host (The Sacred Speaks) and the co-founder of The Center for the Healing Arts and Sciences. John sees the sacred in most things. We talk death, aging, decay … “human-ing”, questioning our myths, nourishing the mundane, music, the multiplicity of the masculine, blood rites of passage, disrupting our filters and navigating the mush. A fun episode all the way through. “Give me the weird”. Smoking in the Boys Room, John, Website: The Sacred Speaks Podcast YT Channel: IG: @thesacredspeaks Centre for the Healing Arts and Science: Album, Questionably Red: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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228. Joan Riera – Anthropologist / Africanist - Opening Windows
01/20/2026
228. Joan Riera – Anthropologist / Africanist - Opening Windows
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. Joan (a Catalan name, pronounced “shwan”) is an Anthropologist currently living in San Sebastian, Spain. He also owns a travel company called Last Places. This endeavour was born from his love of exploring the last places on Earth and living with its inhabitants – places where no tourists exist. He adopted his grandmother’s gaze on the world, living in life’s mystical rhythms – following by what you feel rather than by just what you see. In service to this gaze, Joan has focused his life’s energy to investigating and researching decaying traditions around the world. We talk about the Amazon, Cameroon, startlink-ification effects on tribal culture, fruit-cracking fish, thinking less v feeling more, dancing with wolves and churches, supermarkets and tracksuits. We may have also discovered a new emotion. Joan, Website & Travel company: IG: @lastplacetravel YT: Goonies: Dances with Wolves: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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227. Robert Waggoner – Author / Speaker / Lucid Dreaming Expert - Following the Creativity
01/06/2026
227. Robert Waggoner – Author / Speaker / Lucid Dreaming Expert - Following the Creativity
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We had loads of fun in this conversation. Robert Wagonner joins us from his home in the Midwest. He is a veteran lucid dreamer, having taught himself how to do it in the ‘70s and never looked back. Robert elaborates on the lucid state as being an educational system. He discussed “buzzing” while having an out of body experience as a young boy, his brother’s book and the Monroe Institute, flying through his neighborhood, house cats and mountain lions. We hear about the mysterious “N4” (144), the mentally mediated realm, following the creativity and the blue light. We explore the magic of goofiness, fear, becoming an electron, the search for inherent evil, Daoist societies, “going the distance” and the voluntary death experience. What a trip. “Doubt is gravity”. Robert, Website + Books: Other: Lucid Dreaming Foundation: [CORRECTION – The Monroe Institute initially helped Joe McMoneagle to control his OBEs] Episodes mentioned: Joe McMoneagle, ep 198, 199, 200, 210, 215, 218 and Athena Laz, ep 100 To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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226. Dr. Kevin Knuth (part 2) – Physicist / Former NASA scientist – Widening the Scope (for the Bigger Picture)
12/24/2025
226. Dr. Kevin Knuth (part 2) – Physicist / Former NASA scientist – Widening the Scope (for the Bigger Picture)
We welcome back to the podcast our friend Kevin Knuth - of viking extraction (“Knud”) … . Kevin is a Professor of Physics at the University at Albany. He is a former NASA research scientist designing artificial intelligence algorithms for astrophysical data analysis. His current research interests include the foundations of physics, quantum information, autonomous robotics, the search for and characterization of extrasolar planets, and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Put on your seatbelts: angel hair, engineer-animals and chemist-plants, “curiosity band-width”, extra terrestrial gardeners, lizards and spoons, 1954 incident above a soccer field in Florence, studying refractory time, remote viewing in the family, UAPx, levitation, caterpillar silk from barbell-shaped ufos, believing and seeing, physics we haven’t studied yet, what Kevin figured out finally and a donation to Kevin’s university and endowment to help him and his team study it all. Stickshifts and Safetybelts. Episodes mentioned: Kevin Day (ep 171), Stephan Schwartz (ep 155,156), Diana Pasulka (ep 142), Jeffrey Krypal (ep 118, 189) Kevin, UAP paper: · The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP): · arXiv: New Endowment Fund at University of Albany: A Tear in the Sky: UAPx: 1954 incident in Florence:
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225. Lisa Smartt – Literary Specialist / Author / Researcher of the Unravelling - Being of Service
12/14/2025
225. Lisa Smartt – Literary Specialist / Author / Researcher of the Unravelling - Being of Service
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We speak with Lisa who joins us from her new abode in Emerald Isle. Lisa is the author of Words at the Threshold. Her book is a fascinating compendium of 7 years’ research on (and collection of) people’s last words. We are charmed by Lisa’s casual and playful demeanour from the get-go. We learn about her research, her own deeply personal experiences with dying loved ones and the emotional wisdom of a particular fireman who helped save a moment. Lisa shared with us her ideas about the consensuality of language, humour in dying, the openness and curiosity of our former childhoods that help to book-end – and Herb. The conversation reaches new depths, touching upon Lisa’s personal experience with a certain kind of evil that we started to cover in the previous episode with Alex … and what Lisa has found with the unravelling of speech. My modality is broken. Wow. Episodes mentioned: Dr. Bruce Greysen (ep 69) re NDE research, Rey Hernandez (ep 153, 154) re modalities, Alex Gomez-Marin (ep 224), Emmeline Villar (ep 173). Lisa, · Website: · Book: Words at the Threshold: What We Say as We're Nearing Death - Book mentioned: · Final Gifts: Understanding and Helping the Dying - Callaghan, Maggie; Kelley, Patricia: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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224. Dr. Alex Gomez-Marin – Physicist / Neuroscientist / Philosopher / Author – Always Seeking
12/02/2025
224. Dr. Alex Gomez-Marin – Physicist / Neuroscientist / Philosopher / Author – Always Seeking
Welcome back! Today, we sit down for a great talk with Alex. He works as a physicist, a neuroscientist, an intellectual activist and an author – and he experiments, researches and explores the invisible things that are very real. We quickly slide into a “no time to lose” rhythm with Alex. For just reason. Alex is consumed with investigating impossible things that happen. As a scientist and a seeker he worries about the obstinacy of materialism and “isms” in general and the rigidity of academia as he sees it. We discuss navigating the two worlds of poo-poo and woo-woo, rigorous inquiry, consciousness, evil, ideas as an instrument and the significance of “smallness”. Love. Electrons. Ghosts. Amy Adams (Arrival): Episodes/Guests mentioned in this episode: Jeffrey Kripal, Ep 188, 189 Stephan Schwartz, ep 155, 156 Antonia mills, ep 88 Kevin Knuth, ep 216 Rey Hernandez, ep 153, 154 Paco Calvo, ep 212 Rudy Schild, ep 179 186, 192, 195, 196 Emmeline Villar, 173 Alex: Book: “La Ciencia Del Ultimo Umbral” - Hidden war on Consciousness: With Rupert Sheldrake: ’ To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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223. Philip Carr-Gomm – Druid / Psychologist / Author – Letting the Big Self In
10/14/2025
223. Philip Carr-Gomm – Druid / Psychologist / Author – Letting the Big Self In
Thanks for joining us at Behind Greatness. We sit down with Philip Carr-Gomm, who joins us from his home in the country in Sussex, England. Philip works, thinks and plays at the cross-section of psychology and spiritualism. He is an author and lecturer and works as a psychologist and psychotherapist. For decades he has rooted his spiritualism in Druidry and he is one of today’s most public Druids. We discuss a ton: trees as our spiritual companions, “surrendering”, dropping down a hole in New Zealand, lucid dreaming and the big self, pushing the gorilla down into the basement and another Druid - Winston Churchill. Never quite finished with his exploration, Philip is always making progress. Philip, Website: “Know Thyself”: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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222. Cameron Scott – Founder, Royal Ngala Safaris / Professional Photographer / Wild Life Guide - Awakening Your Senses
10/03/2025
222. Cameron Scott – Founder, Royal Ngala Safaris / Professional Photographer / Wild Life Guide - Awakening Your Senses
Thanks again for joining us. Today we chat with Cameron Scott who joins us from his native city of Johannesburg. Cameron is a professional photographer, a life-long wildlife lover and owner of Royal Ngala Safaris in South Africa. He charms us off the bat with his straight-talking recount of his first love: Africa’s nature. We learn about the Big 5, running with gorillas, travelling hundreds of miles for a shrew, a camp-site scare with a lion, sleeping in trees and walking with bull elephants. We are treated to a story about Cam’s life-altering moment with a lion hunting episode, the importance of not sweating the small stuff and the magic of watching people experience facing the majesty of wild animals for the first time. All of this from the home of human kind. Episodes mentioned: Ep: Bruno D’Amicis (ep63) , Julie Church (ep94), Elisabetta Tosoni (ep96), Julie church, David Salmoni (ep213), Dr. Rudy Schild and the Astronaut-Elephant Story (ep 186 & 217) Cameron, · Royal Ngala website: , IG: @royalngala, FB:RoyalNgalaSafaris · IG: @camscott_wild · FB: @CamScottWild To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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221. Abby Lutz – Death Doula / Registered Nurse - Passing It On
09/09/2025
221. Abby Lutz – Death Doula / Registered Nurse - Passing It On
Today we chat with Abby Lutz who joins us from her backyard in Colorado. Abby is a nurse, a death doula and a consciousness explorer. Abby is building her Death Dojo, a place where she explores death as a practice, a portal and a source of limitless possibility. We talk about fear and its enemy: exploration with wonder. Abby brings us through some experiences with patients crossing over, her own similar personal experience, carrying empathy in your toolbox, seeing death versus watching death, trees, the “loss-iness” of words, oppositional defiance disorder, space/seas/deserts, the Octopus and “preparing the others”. A perfect chat amongst the trees. Desserts and Death. Episodes mentioned: Max Catricala (ep 6, Antarctica), Meganne Christiane (ep 10, Antarctica), Natalie Sudman (ep 97, Antarctica), Dr. Jay Dahman MD (ep 62, trees), Paco Calvo (ep 212, plants), Jennifer Mather (ep139, the Octopus) “A Horse with No Name”: - Dirtwire (Remake) - - America (Original): - History - To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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220. Ken Atchity – Film Producer / Author / Story Merchant / Former Uni-Prof – Embracing the Insecurity of Freedom
08/19/2025
220. Ken Atchity – Film Producer / Author / Story Merchant / Former Uni-Prof – Embracing the Insecurity of Freedom
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We sit down with Dr. Ken Atchity at his home in California. Ken started his adult life on an academic stream and he eventually became what he personally dreaded: a tenured professor. But, shortly after his tenure-ship, he decided to breakup with his career and start anew. Already an author, Ken decided to write screenplays and produce films – not ever looking back for over 30 years. as been producing films since 1996. We talk about his thoughts on competition, creativity and what it hinges on, doing great work in isolation and how he turned around his accountant dad to seeing the freedom and beauty in insecurity. We talk staring at fire and mountains, dying by committee, the perfection of Dante’s Divine Comedy, chopping wood – and the Rose Café. Seeing the David before carving it. Go back in time to see our early episodes with like-minded luminaries who embrace Ken’s philosophy: Kenneth Oppal (ep 106), Mike Narducci (ep 24), Steve Litchman (ep 36), Matt Larochelle (ep 30) and Tim Kring (ep 52). Ken, Websites: IG: @storymerchant To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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219. Ralph Blumenthal – Award-Winning Journalist / Author - In Search for the Bottom Line
07/22/2025
219. Ralph Blumenthal – Award-Winning Journalist / Author - In Search for the Bottom Line
Ralph Blumenthal joins us today from his office in NYC. Ralph is a Distinguished Lecturer, an Award-Winning Reporter and Journalist for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009, and a writer on organized crime and cultural history. He also is known for co-authoring the now famous NY Times article in 2017 along with Leslie Kean and Helene Cooper that broke the door open on the secret AATIP program. He and Kean followed that up in 2023 with their breaking story on David Grusch and the details of a secret retrieval program and existence of non-human intelligence. Moreover, he is also the distinguished biographer of the late Harvard psychiatrist and author Dr. John Mack with his book “The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack.” Ralph has both writing and NYC at his core. Ralph straight-talks us through everything important to him: his curiosities, his artistic background, his Jewish heritage, mysteries that fascinate us, his wife’s sensibilities- and the life, research and curiosities of John Mack. We talk unmovable beliefs, inquisitions and the big questions. What is the bottom line? People mentioned in this episode can be found here: Rudy Schild (re John Mack) – ep 179 Leslie Kean – ep 112 Guy Consolmagno – ep 133 Danny Sheehan – ep 169 Ralph, Books: Website: X: @ralphblu To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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218. Joe McMoneagle - Part 6 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Fearing Ourselves
07/08/2025
218. Joe McMoneagle - Part 6 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Fearing Ourselves
Joe was a US Army intelligence veteran before being selected for the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1” within Project Stargate, the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena, conducted by the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and the founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center for exploring human consciousness. Chapters: 00:00 Trapped in a Lucid Dream 02:36 Secret Military Retirement 08:50 Joe’s Youth 19:33 Remote Viewing at the National Security Museum 27:39 Remote Viewing, Lucid Dreaming, Out-Of-Body Experiences 32:45 Why Lucid Dreaming Exists 36:35 Using Lucid Dreaming for Remote Viewing 41:45 Getting Stuck in Multiple Lucid Dreams Whilst Remote Viewing 55:37 Meeting Another Entity in an Out of Body Experience At 21, Joe was already a staff sergeant, nicknamed “Pop.” He shares insights into his upbringing, revealing why he was exceptionally experienced and mature when he enlisted. We discuss the practice of separating new war recruits from seasoned field operatives. Joe highlights his unclassified work as a psychic spy, now showcased at the NSA Cryptological Museum in Washington, to the apparent dismay of the CIA. He also explores OBE versus lucid dreaming, surviving a nested lucid dream state during a government-sponsored experiment, enduring bear attacks, and encountering informational beings in the out-of-body state. NSA Cryptological Museum: Joe’s Exhibit: Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: Russell Targ (ep 80) – Co-Founder, SRI Institute Courtney Brown (ep 131) Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 155, 156) Lyn Buchanan (ep 163) Nancy DuTertre (ep 167) Paul H. Smith (ep 180) Joe’s Links: Books: (via Amazon) Parapsychological Association: Monroe Institute: IMDb: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org
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217. Nick Cook & Dr. Rudy Schild, Part 2 – Seeing the Entanglement
07/01/2025
217. Nick Cook & Dr. Rudy Schild, Part 2 – Seeing the Entanglement
For Rudy + Nick, part 1, see ep 211. For one-on-one episodes with Nick see ep 207. With Rudy, see ep 179, 186, 192, 195, 196, 204. Welcome back to Behind Greatness. This is a continuing series of talks where we host two luminaries in one conversation. Nick - a prolific journalist and author - joins us from his home in the UK. Rudy – a preeminent astrophysicist and a self-described “hopeless astronomer” – joins us from his place in Massachusetts. This is the second meeting between the two. Exploring again the depths of the “why nots” and “what ifs” in this conversation. Nick and Rudy get into plasmas and plasmoids, orbs and their mimicry and camouflage, a tear in the sky, Wilhelm Reich’s love-measuring waveform, stories on famed Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, an account of Wernher von Braun and Roswell, and Edgar’s space story about swapping consciousness with an elephant. For others: Series with Joe McMoneagle – Remote Viewer #001 – ep 198, 199, 200, 210, 215 Nick: Website: Books: Rudy: Center for Astrophysics – Journal of Cosmology – Personal website – List of Published papers – (via The SAO Astrophysics Data System) CCRI (Consciousness & Contact Research Institute) – Book (co-Author with Suzy Hansen) – Dual Soul Connection: The Alien Agenda for Human Advancement: (via Amazon) Book: Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness & Contact with Non Human Intelligence – (via Amazon) Edgar Mitchell Book: The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut’s Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds – (via Amazon) NASA – Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy “SOFIA” – 00:00 NASA's Unspoken Astronaut Challenges 04:46 Introduction to the Discussion 06:23 Nick and Rudy's Quest for Truth 06:47 Remote Viewing and Plasma Phenomena 10:56 The Nature of Consciousness and Entanglement 13:52 Love and Quantum Entanglement 18:50 Probes, Orbs, and Alien Surveillance 23:02 The Science of Plasmas and Orbs 42:14 Reflective Qualities of Orbs 46:51 Remote Viewing and Aerial Phenomena 50:26 Belief Systems and Perception 01:00:20 Edgar Mitchell: A Life of Exploration 01:13:59 Astronaut Experiences and Consciousness 01:19:50 Closing Thoughts and Reflections To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.
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216. Dr. Kevin Knuth – Physicist / Former NASA scientist - Why is There Not Nothing?
06/17/2025
216. Dr. Kevin Knuth – Physicist / Former NASA scientist - Why is There Not Nothing?
Our chat today is with Dr. Kevin Knuth, who joins us from Albany. He is a Professor of Physics at the University at Albany (SUNY). He is a former NASA research scientist designing artificial intelligence algorithms for astrophysical data analysis. His current research interests include the foundations of physics, quantum information, autonomous robotics, the search for and characterization of extrasolar planets, and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Like any good scientist, Kevin is truly interested in the weird. He is inspired by space and by gravity. We learn on what is intimidating vs what is scary, what is perceived as magic, telepathy and intuition, “contriving coincidences”, the importance of the subjective experience, investigating UAPs, a story about the Matrix and a hairy raising story about a personal experience that became a catalyst for his sleeplessness and his deep curiosity about the weird. What is going on? Why is there not nothing? Referenced episodes: Kid Koala (ep 28) Russell Targ (ep 80) Jeffrey Kripal (ep 118, 189) Jeremy Taggart (ep 136) Ryan Graves (ep 141) Kevin Day (ep 171) Rudy Schild & Garry Nolan (ep 204) Kevin's Website: Kevin's Sol Foundation Work: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.
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215. Joe McMoneagle, Part 5 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Violating Time
05/27/2025
215. Joe McMoneagle, Part 5 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Violating Time
Joe McMoneagle was a US Army intelligence veteran already before he was chosen to be a part of the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1″ within Project Stargate. Project Stargate was the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena via the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and also founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he also teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center in exploring human consciousness. We’re back into the jungle of Joe’s experiences. We discuss how Joe actually never wanted to work in the military psychic spy program, begging his superior not to assign him to that desk. We hear about double blinded RV exercises on live Japanese TV and saving/finding missing people – live. We learn about the incredible stresses in the program and the early deaths of his comrades succumbing to those stresses. We hear about the several years that Joe spends with congress and senators demonstrating the success of the program and securing funding for 20+ years through his efforts. We talk beliefs, violating time, building a house after a triple by-pass, ingesting agent orange, growing back his liver, another angle to the grey ghost story and being knighted. Oh, and Joe explains to us what God is. “Time is not what we believe it is.” Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: · Russell Targ () – Co-Founder, SRI Institute · Courtney Brown () · Stephan A. Schwartz (, ) · Lyn Buchanan () · Nancy DuTertre () · Paul H. Smith () Joe, · Books: () · Parapsychological Association: · Monroe Institute: · IMDb: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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214. Fr. Seán ÓLaoire – Former Catholic Priest / Clinical Psychologist / Author – Giving Death the Middle Finger
05/06/2025
214. Fr. Seán ÓLaoire – Former Catholic Priest / Clinical Psychologist / Author – Giving Death the Middle Finger
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We chat with Fr. Sean O’Laoire, joining us from his mountain side home in California. We delight in the dance with this conversation. Sean has a background in math, a PhD in transpersonal psychology, he speaks multiple languages and is an ordained catholic priest. We learn about his experience living in Africa, cataloging hundreds of Gaelic proverbs, dealing with death threats from politicians, receiving that letter from the Vatican and everything in between. We talk STATE vs STAGE of consciousness, churches and graveyards, “Irishing” Christianity, his druid grandfather, reincarnation and the early Church, the banning of Irish funerals, telepathy, stories and culture, language as a blessing and a curse, the masculine and the feminine, imagination, dancing with the dead and the Lioness …. What a dance. “Remembering who we are.” Sean: · Website: · IG: @spiritsinspacesuits To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.
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213. David Salmoni – Zoologist / Big Cat Expert / Animal Presenter - Trying A Lot of What-Ifs
04/22/2025
213. David Salmoni – Zoologist / Big Cat Expert / Animal Presenter - Trying A Lot of What-Ifs
Dave Salmoni has been a television host, producer, zoologist, animal and animal/adventure expert. His work has ranged from wildlife and adventure, to competition reality, talk show expert and a regular on news outlets for everything and anything animal. Dave is forever that boy with a fascination for large predator cats and he easily enchants your host with his big cat stories. In his early 20s Dave picked up and left for South Africa to work on re-wilding tigers. There, his life changed forever. We talk about communication with animals, sharing a kill with a lion on his birthday, tigers vs lions and hanging with rhinos. We learn his thoughts on tenacity, self-confidence and the significance of wondering harder than being scared. Trying a lot of what-ifs, indeed. David, IG - @realdavesalmoni X - @davesalmoni Animal Instincts, Animal Planet: YT – Living with Lions: YT – On Conan O’Brien: YT – On Jimmy Kimmel: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org
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212. Dr. Paco Calvo - Cognitive Scientist / Philosopher of Biology / Author – Challenging Your Expectations
04/01/2025
212. Dr. Paco Calvo - Cognitive Scientist / Philosopher of Biology / Author – Challenging Your Expectations
We are speaking with Paco Calvo, who joins us from Southern Spain. Paco Calvo is a renowned cognitive scientist and a philosopher of biology, known for his groundbreaking research in the field of plant cognition and intelligence. At the University of Murcia he leads the Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), focusing on the study of minimal cognition in plants. He is the author of Planta Sapiens. At his lab he studies the ecological basis of plant intelligence by conducting experimental studies at the intersection of the areas of plant neurobiology and ecological psychology. His interdisciplinary work combines insights from biology, philosophy, and cognitive science to explore the fascinating world of plant behavior, decision-making, and problem-solving. This is the backdrop to our conversation. Paco is a philosopher and scientist who actively wonders and asks questions about plants – and tests for them. Do plants think? Do plants feel? How do plants make decisions. We discuss how these questions bother the current heterodoxy … and the current calls for the defunding of his scientific work. We learn about “fast science”, the dangers of working for a membership, the importance of considering all hypotheses ... and we are reminded about Einstein and his take on ideas vs testing. We hear from him his ultimate obsession and as a treat, his take on language. The history of science is the history of the blow to human ego. See also the episode with Dr. Vera Tiesler (ep 81). Paco: Minimal Intelligence Lab— Planta Sapiens: or Laurie Anderson: Language is a Virus To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.
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211. Dr. Rudy Schild & Nick Cook – Challenging Old Theories
03/25/2025
211. Dr. Rudy Schild & Nick Cook – Challenging Old Theories
For earlier one-on-one episodes with Nick see ep 207. With Rudy, see ep 179 , 186, 192, 195, 196, 204. Welcome back to Behind Greatness. This is the second of a series of talks where we host two luminaries in one conversation. Nick - a prolific journalist and author - joins us from his home in the UK. Rudy - a preeminent astrophysicist – joins us from his place in Massachusetts. This is the first meeting between the two and as expected, it was a fun one. Rudy unpacks his groundbreaking work on black holes as finite, magnetic objects and the universe’s outer edge, while Nick ties it to his consciousness research sparked by a shared death experience. Together, they explore: Is the universe a self-learning AI? Do UFOs shift our perception – or maybe have us remember? And is love the substrate of it all? How does reincarnation fit into all of this? Is there a feedback loop? From helical waves to quantum holograms, to plasmas and orbs, this mind-bending talk asks the big “why nots” and “what ifs.” Nick, Website: Books: Rudy: Center for Astrophysics – Journal of Cosmology – Personal website – List of Published papers – (via The SAO Astrophysics Data System) CCRI (Consciousness & Contact Research Institute) – NASA – Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy “SOFIA” –
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210. Joe McMoneagle Part 4 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being Shards of a Whole
03/18/2025
210. Joe McMoneagle Part 4 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being Shards of a Whole
This episode is part 4 in our series with Joe McMoneagle. Joe was a US Army intelligence veteran already before he was chosen to be a part of the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1″ within Project Stargate. Project Stargate was the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena via the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and also founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he also teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center in exploring human consciousness. We continue to follow Joe in the deep-end of his experiences. We start with telepathy and lying, language as an inhibitor and a protector, an incredible near death experience in East Germany, love v empathy, a life review and remembering, heaven and hell, being shards of a whole, more out of body experiences, losing the fear of death and dying, and reaching more people who are suffering. “As living entities what we are is perhaps the grand engineer or the architect of reality trying to understand what it is.” 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:19 Telepathy Before Language 00:03:55 Telepathy Tapes 00:10:38 The Link Between Autism and Telepathy 00:12:50 Joe's Near Death Experience - "Which One?" 00:31:55 The Cause of Death in the Near Death Experience 00:40:09 What Exists After Death 00:48:12 Could Humans Just Be Shards of a Larger Being? 00:53:07 What Deja Vu Is 00:58:38 Continuous Learning 01:06:40 Fixing Anaesthesia Complications with Coca-Cola? See here other previous guests mentioned: - Dr. Diane Hennacy re telepathy (ep 113) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/dr-diane-hennacy/ - Natalie Sudman re NDE (ep 97) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/breaking-down-our-beliefs/ Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: Russell Targ (ep 80) – Co-Founder, SRI Institute https://youtu.be/7Gw3fIFI73k Courtney Brown (ep 131) https://youtu.be/_jCZzPgdzcM Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 155) https://youtu.be/0E6jhiMd7Dk Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 156) https://youtu.be/VATz-Y59UiY Lyn Buchanan (ep 163) https://youtu.be/K2Ig3C88BxQ Nancy DuTertre (ep 167) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/nancy-du-tertre/ Paul H. Smith (ep 180) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/dr-paul-h-smith/ Joe McMoneagle: - Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joseph-McMoneagle/author/B00MD24CZW?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5&qid=1728261714&sr=1-5&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true - Parapsychological Association: https://www.parapsych.org/users/jmcmoneagle/profile.aspx - Monroe Institute: https://www.monroeinstitute.org/pages/trainer-joe-mcmoneagle - IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2140996/ Listen to Behind Greatness: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/67B5chxVFze3EWUgs9iPJg - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-greatness-by-inspire-north/id1511953342 To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org
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209. Dr. Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy – Clinical & Research Psychologist, University of Virginia / Author – Exploring the ‘So What?’
03/07/2025
209. Dr. Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy – Clinical & Research Psychologist, University of Virginia / Author – Exploring the ‘So What?’
We speak with Dr. Kim Penberthy today who joined us from the University of Virginia. Kim wears many hats. She is a professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She is also a board certified clinical psychologist and conducts research, teaches, and provides clinical care at UVA in psychiatry and the cancer center. She also studies and researches after death communication. She lived on a farm in a house that witnessed Civil War strife, with her mother a nurse and her father a would-be farmer surgeon. Exposed to life and death on a farm, she began at an early age asking herself and her parents metaphysical questions – long before she became a clinician and research scientist. We hear about her life changing story at the beach and fascinating surgical table stories heard from her aging father. We learn about her pursuit in researching after death communications from those who lose loved ones and how this research may help develop more wholistic therapeutic approaches to grieving. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Coming Up 00:01:21 Introduction 00:03:50 The Division of Perceptual Studies 00:07:45 Does Your "Soul" Exist After Death? 00:13:58 Asking "What is the purpose of life?" and "What happens after death?" 00:20:26 Seeing a Person that is Dead 00:26:01 Divine Interventions 00:32:11 After Death Communication 00:42:34 Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan 00:46:26 Government Funding for Near Death Experiences 00:57:12 Aftermath of NDE's and OBE's Episodes to check out: Dr. Bruce Greyson (ep 69), Dr. Antonia Mills (ep 88) and Dr. Iya Whiteley (ep 185) Kim, Book w Morgan: For fun, story about Meat from the Sky: To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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208. Antonio Cupo – TV / Film Actor, Producer – Being Rooted
02/23/2025
208. Antonio Cupo – TV / Film Actor, Producer – Being Rooted
We are sitting down with Antonio Cupo at his home in Vancouver. Antonio grew up in Vancouver and early in his career he spent many years in Italy as a lead actor in one of the most popular TV drama shows in Italian TV history – Elisa di Rivombrosa. But, that was just a start. We explore some great human themes in our conversation – the meaning of “immedesimarsi”, using “as ifs” to explore, performing the experience while reliving it, acting from pictures in your head, the power in losing the need to make money, grandmothers being shot at and a beautiful story about a guy in the rain looking for a coffee. With art comes a lot of pain. Antonio, IMDB: IG: @antoniocupo X: @antoniocupo To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: . As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors
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