A Flair For The Curious

Bonnie Dias is a Certified Dog Trainer, Behaviorist, and Behavior Consultant with the Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) and the author of The DTLA Dog: Canine Handbook for Downtown L.A. Bonnie is also the founder of City Strut, where she offers exercise and play, training, boarding, and behavior assessment for dogs in Los Angeles and NYC, as well as consultations worldwide via Skype for their human companions. In this episode, we get to know Bonnie and her book, and in discussing...

John Freese is a co-host of the Down With the Dharma podcast, and recently published an academic article titled, The Dependent Origination of Whiteness. In this episode, we take the serious topics of social justice, race relations, Buddhist philosophy, and mental health, and deliver them in a fun, upbeat, and enjoyably informative conversation that’s easy to follow along. The article itself "argues that whiteness is a deeply rooted existential experience in the bodies and minds of European...

Kevin Ackad is a Certified Massage Therapist and founder of Inner Shift Healing (https://www.InnerShiftHealing.com/), a place where he incorporates his talents and training as a Reiki Master, Angel Communicator, and Breathwork Meditation facilitator in helping his clients shift and heal their energies. Kevin is enthusiastic about empowering the people he comes in contact with to develop their own strengths and abilities, and also believes each person has the potential to further awaken, and...

Jessica Gonzalez is the host of The Mommy Jane Neighborhood, a place where she provides education, advocacy, and inspiration about cannabis to her many followers. In doing so, she is destigmatizing the use of cannabis for other mothers and parents like herself, as well as the millions of people who use the plant for its various benefits and applications. By sharing her cannabis-infused journey of weight loss, laying off the alcohol, and improving her mental health, Jessica's path of...

Tom Moritz is a scholar, environmentalist, knowledge manager, and adjunct professor at University of the West (Rosemead, California), where he teaches in the Liberal Arts, Psychology, and Buddhist Chaplaincy departments. Some of his courses include Environmental Leadership and Buddhist Psychology and Addiction, both of which are discussed in this episode! Tom also talks about growing up with progressive parents who took him to China at a young age, having an anti-war attitude during the...

Mike Baez is a writer, filmmaker, cinematographer, and trained actor with a hilarious sensibility that shines through in all of his work (and this conversation!). Humanist, and thinker with a heart of gold, Mike recently moved to Los Angeles after living in New York and working with Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment on Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1 (2013) and Return to Return to Nuke 'Em High Aka Vol. 2 (2017). Inspired by his experience with Troma, Mike produced his first...

Monica Muñiz is a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher who has been practicing for over twenty years, and she currently teaches at the Yoga Cove in Monrovia and at Hot Yoga Claremont. In this conversation, Monica shares her story of learning to love and accept herself through yoga, what it was like growing up in Puerto Rico, and the shift in power dynamics happening in both yoga communities and back on the island. Whether you are a new or experienced yoga practitioner, enjoy positive & progressive...

Pat Cornett is an Army Veteran, artist, cornerman, and host of YouTube's Nak Muay LA; a channel dedicated to Thai and Muay Thai culture with a West Coast, California vibe. Since transforming his mind, body, and spirit while reconnecting to his family and heritage through Muay Thai, Pat released a 30-minute, action-packed documentary about his legendary Grand Uncle, Sakchai Nakpayak. Sakchai was a revered and beloved up-and-coming fighter in 1950's Thailand who was murdered defending the...