I Find It Interesting

In this episode of the "I Find It Interesting" podcast, I sit down for an extended interview with Peak Extracts' CEO Katie Stem. Katie is an absolutely fascinating person, whose background, interests, and skillsets cover an immense range of topics. Our conversation barely touched the surface of Katie's vast and varied curriculum vitae. As CEO of Peak Extracts, Katie deals not only with the foundational business matters of the company, but also works out the chemistry, portioning, and...

Christine Frazer is an H.R. consultant, based out of Bend, Oregon. Does that sound interesting to you? Well, I've got to be honest here, when I was first given Christine's name (and, especially, her job title) as a potential guest for the show, I was a bit... Well... Hesitant. Human Resources consulting? How interesting could that be? Well, as it turns out, absolutely fascinating. Because Christine has an absolutely fascinating backstory. Because she's spent time in prison. Because she's...

The most interesting people in our world aren't the people who can be defined by a simple job description or some single past achievement. As part of their character, interesting people do a number of things, often moving through numerous and varied careers, and racking up a list of achievements over the years. Well, Dave Allen is one hell of an interesting person. A talented and influential musician, Dave Allen first showed up on the scene in the mid-1970s, playing bass with the British...

Throughout most of her day-to-day life, Rachel Zoller is a mom, an office administrator, and an educator. But when she heads out into the fields and woodlands of North America she becomes "Yellow Elanor," a specialist in all things fungi related. Just a few weeks back, Rachel (i.e.: Ms. Elanor) and I headed up a mountainous trail on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge, where we hunted for mushrooms and talked about... Well... About a wide variety of mushroom related topics. This was a...

Reema Zaman is an actress, artist, essayist, public speaker, and author of the outstanding new memoir, "I Am Yours." In this episode of the podcast, Reema and I sit down in front of the microphones and have an in-depth discussion about culture, power, relationships (good and bad), and the creative process. Reema and I then discuss her new book, along with the authors and books who've inspired her.

In this short introductory episode, Matt Monroe, host of the "I Find It Interesting" podcast outlines the purpose of the show (i.e.: its focus on interesting people, places, and things) and highlights the sorts of guests who will be appearing on the pod: people who've had – or are having – a front row seat to the changes in our society and culture.