Johnny Yaps
Johnny Yaps is a podcast that started with the purpose of sharing great conversations.
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#134 Jake O'Driscoll
04/16/2024
#134 Jake O'Driscoll
I recently caught up with Jake O'Driscoll when he was in Sydney for Subversion. It was great to be able to sit down with him and chat about life, from family to his experience leaving AFL to pursue Jiu Jitsu, starting his own academy, picking a fight with Sonny Bill Williams and much more I'm really blessed to have conversations like this, I apologise for the technical issue with the video, the most important thing is that the audio is all there, so I hope you enjoy this conversation and listening to the insights that Jake shared. Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30842823
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#133 Josh O'Brien
04/03/2024
#133 Josh O'Brien
In this episode I sat down with Josh O'brien, a young hungry MMA athlete who is not afraid to chase his dreams. I enjoy chatting with people at all different stages of the journey as anyone who has chased something would know that feeling of dreaming big and trying to find a way to put it together. I actually commentated Josh's first fight alongside at Wollongong Wars and it's interesting to reflect on Josh being so active despite being early in his career in the sport. If anything, I also found that this conversation made me even more interested to follow his journey. There are plenty of people who would dismiss other people for having big aspirations, however I think one of the exciting things in life is that there are no guarantees of how it all pans out. Shout out to Rival Gym Castle Hill for letting us use their space to record - apologies if there is a bit of background noise! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30671818
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#132 James O'Leary & Cameron Scott
03/26/2024
#132 James O'Leary & Cameron Scott
In this episode I sat down with James O'Leary of Undisputed Performance & Rehab, a qualified physio, PT and strength and conditioning coach who also runs these 'project' style challenges that allow people to build strength / skill, get fit among likeminded individuals. The other guest in this episode was Cameron Scott, a registered Nurse who is a Bobsled (bobsleigh) pilot who is looking to compete at the olympics in this crazy sport. I think for most people our introduction to the sport is the movie 'Cool Runnings' and it was really cool (pun intended) to chat with the boys to talk about the sport, how the strength & conditioning / training impacts their performance in the sport and also to just see 2 guys who have been friends for a long time interact with each other. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30545798
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#131 Janice 'Ling Ling'
03/19/2024
#131 Janice 'Ling Ling'
In this episode I sat down with Janice 'Ling Ling', a training partner and friend who I've had plenty of great conversations with. It's always interesting to find out more about people so aside from knowing her skills in the training room it was fun to chat with her about a broad range of topics, from her experiences with skydiving to motorbikes, Janice is the kind of person to go deep when she gets into something. She's also full of great stories from punching her skydiving instructor in the face to having a motorbike getting set on fire to writing articles for a men's magazine. Janice also creates some ridiculous (yet informative) jiu jitsu content and is available for jiu jitsu coaching! Enjoy! Links: https://www.instagram.com/cutiep1e666/
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30436873
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#130 Rebecca Fitzgerald
03/13/2024
#130 Rebecca Fitzgerald
In this episode I sat down with Rebecca Fitzgerald, an engineer, potter, mother of twins, time traveler (jokes!) & more. I know Bec through Jiu Jitsu as she's a serial competitor who just loves the sport. It's great to see people getting bitten by the combat sports bug at any stage in life. That said, life isn't always easy. From experiencing difficulties with fertility to going through rounds of IVF to a pleasant shock of ending up with twins, it's nice that Bec was willing to share her experience on such a difficult topic. Bec also started her working life as an accountant, before walking away from a career with a 'big 4' accounting firm to pursue engineering. We also chat about sustainability, her pottery ventures and a whole bunch more! Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30354108
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Ben '10' Nguyen: Validation from Asian parents, UFC, Tiger Muay Thai & a life-changing phone call
03/06/2024
Ben '10' Nguyen: Validation from Asian parents, UFC, Tiger Muay Thai & a life-changing phone call
Hi Everyone, In this episode, I got to sit down with Ben10 Nguyen, a former top 8 UFC Flyweight and it was really cool to actually be able have Brian Ebersole sit in with us at the start to talk about this crazy moment that changed the trajectory of Ben's entire life. From growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to being the non-academic sibling, Ben had been fighting for a while and was at this point of deciding whether he was going to settle into a more 'normal' life when he received a call from Brian Ebersole at Tiger Muay Thai. Ben also went viral for his fight against Julian Wallace and was featured on Lawrence Kenshin's Striking Breakdowns and it was cool to listen to his mindset going into that fight. Nowadays Ben spends most of his time coaching and is a great wealth of knowledge for MMA - if you're interested in those things check out the links below! Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30252888
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#128 Danie Dynamite
02/27/2024
#128 Danie Dynamite
In this episode I sat down with Danie Dynamite, a content creator who also has an upcoming Combat Jiu Jitsu match at Fusion Fighting Championship. From a negative experience in school that led her to working in hospitality and event management to getting into rave music, DJing and through to dog grooming, Danie eventually found her way to Wimp 2 Warrior (now called Train Alta) Little did she know that this little program would change her life and ignite her passion from combat sports and Jiu Jitsu. It's always difficult to align the things you love with the things we have to do for work, so it's also pretty cool to see other people making a go of the things that they love. As such, seeing Danie get opportunities from something she enjoys is a great example for people to realise it can be done! Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30131008
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Duke Didier: Judo, Grieving the miss on big goals, transitioning to MMA, blood clots & Progression
02/20/2024
Duke Didier: Judo, Grieving the miss on big goals, transitioning to MMA, blood clots & Progression
Hi All! In this episode I sat down with the 'Duke of Canberra' - Duke Didier. It was awesome to listen to his journey of pursuing the Olympic dream from grieving a missed goal and self-medicating to re-framing and setting new goals. Duke is currently signed to One Championship and should be returning to the big stage again soon. We also discuss starting a Martial Arts & Fitness gym - Progression MMA in Canberra to fixing the vein structures in his legs and so much more. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/30030773
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#126 Colby Thicknesse
02/13/2024
#126 Colby Thicknesse
In this episode I sat down with Colby Thicknesse, a professional mixed martial artist fighting out of Freestyle Fighting gym in Windang. It was fun to chat with him about life, from being a twin to having the competitiveness of wrestling drive a small wedge between them to his mindset, approach to injuries, his mindset and so much more. With an upcoming bout at Hex Fight Series against Michael Mannu, I'm excited for 'Slickness' to get back in there and do his thing. It was also cool to chat about the early days at Freestyle, before Alex Volkanovksi was the champ and it was a small room of core people grinding away from the shining lights to having some of the best martial artists in the world coming to the gym to help and share their knowledge and insights. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/29929493
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#125 Gabriel Santos
02/06/2024
#125 Gabriel Santos
In this episode I sat down with Gabriel Antonio Teixeira Dos Santos (a mouthful of a name right). I didn't realise part of the reason the names could get so long was due to the inclusion of the parents surnames in the kids names, it's always interesting to come across these cultural norms. There was a particular memory that Gabe shared with me of seeing his mother crying and tearing up photos when he was a young child that brought this memory to the surface for me of seeing a very similar thing with my own mother when I was maybe 16 or 17. There's something so raw about that memory that it definitely forms a part of my person today. Anyway, Gabriel is a really great person to train with and it's always admirable to find people who are pursuing a better life. Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/29818543
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#124 Dori Duncan
01/30/2024
#124 Dori Duncan
In this episode I sat down with Dori Duncan, a professional female Muay Thai athlete (#13 in the World Female Featherweight rankings) who has an upcoming fight against the #1 contender Judy Humber on the 24th February 2024. Shout out to Kristof from Strive Dietetics who connected Dori and I, it was great to sit down with Dori to talk about all things life, mindset, training, working, having a sibling 11 years older and delving deep into the world of being a Professional Female Muay Thai Athlete. It's always difficult for an athlete to balance pursuing their competitive goals wholeheartedly and having some form of a living at the same time and it's probably even more difficult for female athletes, as such it was great to talk with Dori about the balancing act she plays whilst also doing her best to promote female participation in the sport. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/29712238
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#123 Fran Bavaro
01/24/2024
#123 Fran Bavaro
In this episode I sat down with Fran Bavaro, a female jiu jitsu athlete who coaches, competes and also works in aged care. Fran describes herself as the 'slightly more forgotten' middle child which no doubt has played a role in her perspective on things and it was really interesting to talk about how she had to analyse herself for her tertiary studies. We often forget how fortunate we are in a 1st world country, so it was interesting to listen to Fran's perspectives on humanitarianism and 'volunteerism'. One of the other things I really appreciate about this conversation is the candour that Fran provides in sharing her own stories and struggles. Enjoy! Links: PS. The book I was referencing was the Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
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#122 Finn Canning & Frederick Daniel
01/16/2024
#122 Finn Canning & Frederick Daniel
In this episode I sat down with Finn Canning the 'Guardian of Gi' and Frederick Daniel. I always enjoy chatting to younger athletes as they pursue their goals. From Jiu Jitsu to general degeneracy, betting on the UFC to finding lucrative side hustles in the Sneaker game, this was a really fun conversation with a couple of guys who really love the sport. Finn, despite being a serial guard puller actually started with Judo. As a smaller kid, he was looking for a way to not get pushed around and found his way into combat sports. Freddie never surprises me with some of the stories he pulls out, from talking to women or his sneaker hustle, to watching endless amount of Jiu Jitsu. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/29505678
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#121 Gase Sanita
01/02/2024
#121 Gase Sanita
In this episode I sit down with Gase Sanita - a Female Professional Mixed Martial Artist who in her amateur career won IMMAF worlds 2 years in a row. It's amazing the different journeys people take in life, from being a mum early in life to finding martial arts as a way to get fit, fighting her way down from 95kg+ divisions to the Bantam / Feather divisions she competes in nowadays. Gase is an amazing person, who grew up as one of the only Polynesian families in Christchurch, New Zealand. There's so much in this episode that makes me appreciate the attitude and work ethic that Gase has, from her experience with post natal depression to her commitment to the sport. I hope you enjoy this episode and support Gase in her career (if you like the fighting stuff) Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/29304028
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#120 Brian Ebersole
12/07/2023
#120 Brian Ebersole
In this episode I sit down with Brian 'Bad Boy' Ebersole. I remember watching Brian's fights and thinking that he must be such a wild dude that it's a little bit crazy to think how twists and turns and we've become good friends through working together. I suppose when the guy used to shave an up arrow into his chest hair and throw cartwheel kicks in cage fights, what other impression are you meant to get? I still remember at a local Showdown Fight night when I was getting involved in the local scene that I grabbed Brian backstage for a short interview and I asked him 'Have you got any advice for aspiring fighters?' and the response he gave me was something like 'dont do it how I did it'. Brian is such a gentleman with a big heart that it's amazing to be able to share a conversation like this with him about his life, wrestling, travelling and much more. Enjoy Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28970143
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Episode #119: John Luhr
11/30/2023
Episode #119: John Luhr
Hi Everyone! In this episode I sit down with John Luhr, a father, jiu jitsu enthusiast, General Manager at a digital web and app development company and much more. John is a great example of not judging a book by its cover. Despite his 'viking' like look, he works in a very intellectual field and always seemed to be a bit of an entrepreneur despite some fairly humble beginnings (to be fair, that's probably a product of circumstance). I think that's fairly obvious when you see all the different businesses he's involved with from Puppi Lovers (dating apps) through to Oktion (Charity / donation apps) It's always interesting when I do episodes like this to understand how people get to where they are in life and these episodes are such great snapshots of this particular moment in time. Anyway, Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28859313
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#118 Luke Pezzutti
11/26/2023
#118 Luke Pezzutti
Hi All! In this episode I sit down with Luke Pezzutti, an OG of the MMA scene in Sydney. From his involvement in Cage Fighting Championship to the running of Lion's Den Academy, Luke has been involved with the sport for a very long time. t was great to sit down and listen to his stories, from the early days of trying to learn Jiu Jitsu from the 'seminar' circuit, to his experiences with Hector Lombard, to the pressures of running the biggest promotion in Australia at the time - Cage Fighting Championship. Today, Luke has a great promotion he runs - Superfight, however is focused on getting his current crop of athletes to the pinnacle of the sport. Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28790918
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#117 Cem Onur
11/16/2023
#117 Cem Onur
In this episode I sat down with Cem Onur from Champ Mouthguards. I always recommend that people who are getting into contact sports to have a fitted mouthguard. Oddly enough, I had reached out to Cem a while back to do a podcast episode and it was a 'chance' meeting that allowed us to actually meet in real life to connect over business opportunities and to actually sit down and do this episode. Shout out to Jesse from Legends gym who kindly lent us the space to do this. I always find family dynamics to be something so intriguing, one of the beautiful things in life is the relationships we share with people and Cem has definitely got a special relationship with his mother. I think this episode is also a great example how in life we're going to experience a range of careers - for Cem, logistics, real estate, finance and the dental prosthetics industries! Anyway, enjoy!
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28668788
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#116 Ali El Kheir
11/09/2023
#116 Ali El Kheir
Hi Everyone! In this episode I sit down with Ali El Kheir from Sydney Wrestling Academy. Ali also coaches one of my friends and teammates Gase Sanita (shoutout Gase!) and I remember years ago when lots of people in the Jiu Jitsu scene were talking about this blue belt on the scene. As such, it was great to catch up to talk about a range of topics, from a talking parrot to family, his martial arts story as well as his upcoming match with Thalison Soares at the next Subversion event. In an age where people are told to be 'all in' it's important to recognise that the 'what' we do in life should never be the 'first' thing in order of importance in our life. Enjoy! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28564556
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#115 Anthony Doueihi
11/02/2023
#115 Anthony Doueihi
In this episode I sit down with Anthony Doueihi to chat about his experience traversing the Camino de Santiago with no training. To put this in perspective, Anthony walked around 1200 kilometres on his pilgrimmage. There's obviously a lot of time for reflection when you're walking long distances by yourself so it was nice to chat with Anthony after his return and having the opportunity to reflect on certain parts of his journey. From working as a Pastry chef through to Remedial building, faith, gratitude there are so many themes in this episode that I enjoyed and I hope you enjoy it too.
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28495394
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#114 Bobby Sandhu, Frederick Daniel & Jeremy Skinner
10/24/2023
#114 Bobby Sandhu, Frederick Daniel & Jeremy Skinner
Hi All, It would be kind of difficult to summarise all the topics of discussion in this episode. However if you like listening to stories, random talk about Jiu Jitsu, discussions around teaching, competing and some fairly crazy tangents, well this episode is for you. Shout out to Hayden Limebeer for a little cameo towards the end as well. Note: I got it wrong in the podcast it was actually Kevin Kelly who talked about the 1,000 true fans idea (link below:) Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28405949
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#113 Josh Majdalani
10/16/2023
#113 Josh Majdalani
Hi Everyone! In this episode I chat with Josh Majdalani aka Locomotion Massage as he does some work on me. One thing I realised after doing this episode is how hard it is to maintain your train of thought when you're in pain, however it's a good pain that needed to get worked on anyway. Josh is an interesting guy and despite appearances is a massive teddy bear who with the advantage of weight is able to do good work with his massage therapies. That said, Josh's story of how he came to this point is even more interesting, having worked as a corrections officer before getting in trouble for a bad habit with the white stuff. From getting in trouble to sorting through PTSD and reflecting on his own journey, I think it's important to accept certain things that have happened in your life as they put you in frame for the things in your future. As such, regret is one of those things that whilst a valid emotion, it doesn't help you to grow as a person if you repeatedly hang onto it. Anyway, I tried my best to edit out the dead moments in this episode so I hope you all enjoy it! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28325426
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#112 Richard Walsh
10/05/2023
#112 Richard Walsh
Hi Everyone! In this episode Richy Walsh and I are in the car heading down to Canberra for a visit to an MMA gym, so it was a great opportunity for us to chat and record a podcast! Apologies if the audio quality is a little different, I've tried my best to cut out all the background noise etc. (I actually find it a little odd trying to do a podcast without the microphone and the headphones on, but I'm trying to get better at it) From fighting in the UFC to his work with the UFC Performance Institute, Richy has experienced some pretty amazing things and to be able to share his insights experiencing life after fighting is definitely something for all athletes to think about. I'm really blessed to be able to spend time with not only great martial artists but just great people. This episode in reflection didn't really feel quite like a podcast and more like the kind of conversations Rich and I often have as we share ideas and perspectives on a whole range of issues. There's something about getting to the tip of the spear in any given field that I think will resonate for a lot of people, enjoy! Links: https://www.instagram.com/richufc
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28232765
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#111 Sami Baki
09/26/2023
#111 Sami Baki
In this episode I sat down with Sami Baki, a Jiu Jitsu Black belt, father, co-owner of Bankstown Martial arts. I met Sami through commentating at one of the local MMA shows and I dropped in to visit him at Gracie Humaita Bankstown to chat. Sami grew up as the middle child of 7 siblings and although it would be a fairly uncommon thing nowadays it was great to listen to him share his experiences growing up in a big family. There's no shortage of stories in this one and it was great to listen to Sami share his experiences and also his thought process as things unfolded along the way. Goal setting is also an important theme from this episode and Sami shares how approaching life in 5 year blocks allowed him to focus on Jiu Jitsu and subsequent life goals.
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28149743
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#110 Reid Reale
09/20/2023
#110 Reid Reale
In this episode I sat down with Reid Reale - Director of Performance & Nutrition at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China during his recent trip to Australia to assist athletes for UFC 293. Now if you're expecting a masterclass in weight cutting and nutrition for combat sports.... This episode won't be it, to be fair, Reid would have done more than his fair share of talking about nutrition and performance in other podcasts so the real takeaway on that front is that you simply can't overlook the basic pillars of eating good food, sleeping right and putting in the work. If you did want to get these kinds of insights, you can find plenty of those resources in his published works here: Reid is widely considered an authority on the science of combat sports nutrition, however as you all know I'm interested in finding out the stories of how people actually end up where they are. There's plenty of great stories in this one, so I hope you all enjoy it!
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28091393
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#109 Keller Locke-Sodhi
09/13/2023
#109 Keller Locke-Sodhi
In this episode I sat down with Keller Locke-Sodhi of I've built a bit of a relationship with Keller through Grapple Mania and Grappling education and part of the reason for us getting together was to talk about this idea he had to find some uniformity when we think of what 'distinction' would be in jiu jitsu. I've always found Keller to be really thoughtful and always willing to invest himself to develop ideas to further the development of the sport. It was also interesting that despite us coming from polar opposite experiences in Martial Arts we have come to such similar conclusions. I hope you enjoy this conversation! Links:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/28019271
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#108 Meer Awny
09/06/2023
#108 Meer Awny
In this episode I chat with Meer Awny of Ethos Performance - a dedicated Strength & Conditioning facility for combat sports athletes. Meer is a fairly intense guy, I think we nailed this down to his Kurdish heritage so it was interesting to chat with him and hear his experiences that led him to the pathway of focusing on S&C for combat sports. Enjoy! https://www.instagram.com/ethos.performance/
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/27955446
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#107 Voytek Szczepanik
08/30/2023
#107 Voytek Szczepanik
In this episode I sit down with Voytek Szczepanik to talk about life, anxiety and so much more. I remember Voytek mentioning that he had a gun pointed at him when he was 9 so when I had the opportunity to sit down with him I had to find out the reasons why. Apologies for the delay in releasing this episode, life has been a little bit crazy of late, however I hope you all enjoy this episode!
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/27889374
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#106 Michael Lyons
08/17/2023
#106 Michael Lyons
In this episode I sat down with Michael Lyons and we spoke about some pretty heavy topics in this episode. Most people would be familiar with the term PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, however Michael shared some insights into 'Moral Injury' that really made me think. If you wanted to learn more about this topic see link below: That aside, as trivial as this might sound, I had never heard of the term '10 pound poms' so it was insightful to find out it only cost Michael 10 pounds to get to Australia (by plane I might add!) Michael and I also shared a lot of common experiences having both being involved in the automotive industry, however I found his story of getting into Pastoral care work to be really interesting. You all might have realised I enjoy talking about faith as a topic and this episode was fairly confronting to listen to Michael share his emotions at the loss of a son who was in his late 20's. I hope you enjoy the listen.
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/27778413
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#105 Martin Stark
08/08/2023
#105 Martin Stark
In this episode I sat down with Martin Stark. A Keynote speaker, LinkedIn Top voice, boxer, founder of World Gay Boxing Championships and more. I've always welcomed the chance to talk with people from all walks of life and it was interesting to listen to Martin's experiences and perspectives. Often people are quick to judge someone based on a view they may have, or how they look or speak, however it is only through discussion we can break down the process of 'othering' people and foster real discussions. I've no doubt there will be a range of perspectives on this conversation and I hope that people can listen, think critically and evaluate their own perspectives. At the end of the day, we are all human beings and by starting with the things that we know are common to the human experience, we can appreciate how other people can formulate their perspectives as well. Enjoy! Martin Stark on LinkedIn:
/episode/index/show/johnnyyap/id/27690132