Michael Palmisano has created a brand for himself as one of YouTube and the internet's premier guitar teachers. Known for his "Guitar Teacher REACTS" videos, he has - as of this date - over 171,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel "Michael Palmisano. Micheal can't remember a time in his life that he wasn't playing or holding a guitar. He decided to go 'all in' on a career with the guitar after getting his business degree. Times weren't always easy. ...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast A few years ago I had a hernia operation. The first thing I said to the nurse after I awoke from surgery was "The subconscious is a place created for people who need to hide their fears." Honest, that's what I said. This brief episode investigates how fear and negative thinking can ruin us, starting with the idea of NOT feeling sorry for oneself. The power is in how we think, plain and simple. For more information about me or how to join my mailing list, find me at eyesopenproduct...
Sep 24, 2020•21 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast You could say that in every dark cloud there is a silver lining…. COVID, as you know, has wreaked havoc on human life and the economy, around the world and in the US. In this episode we welcome back a guest who visited us in April for our HEROES OF THE QUARANTINE CULTURE episode. David Brancaccio, is HOST AND SENIOR EDITOR OF MARKETPLACE MORNING REPORT ON PUBLIC RADIO. Anyone who has a page dedicated to him in Wikipedia is SOMEBODY! Here’s here to talk all things economy with us today, wrapped i...
Sep 17, 2020•42 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast It's not lost on me that on this day in 2001 nearly 3,000 lives were lost and a nation was shocked when four coordinated terrorist attacks were waged. The gravity of the situation pales in comparison to the bump in the road I'm currently going through. I, we, have been asked to leave a home that I have lived in - rented - for over eight years. The abrupt and shocking news was delivered to me via the most impersonal of methods: certified mail. The sudden interruption of 'normal&apo...
Sep 11, 2020•9 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast HOW NOTES HERE Oliver Wood has a touch of survivor's guilt. Many of his peers and even some mentors in the music business didn't stick with it. Finally, after years of sleeping on couches and sharing hotel rooms with bands he got a decent paycheck in his mid-40's. He and his brother Chris, the younger Wood Brother, call is "the slow rise to the middle.' Oliver's take on life during COVID and the music business, life in general will keep you captivated in this explor...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Canoeing the heights: rock climbers in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire in the USA performed a high profile, high wire, eye catching demonstration in New Hampshire's White Mountains at Cathedral Ledge on September 5, 2020. Sightseers and curious tourists hiked up the Cathedral Ledge road to see the Rainbow flag representing the LGBQT movement and a huge Black Lives Matter flag flying from the canoe, replete with two paddlers secured safely inside. The display could be spotted fr...
Sep 06, 2020•32 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Herein is a revelation straight from Havana Cuba, where I witnessed a mirage of my father, who had passed more than a decade before. My father was a poet, an English literature major at Brown University. He instilled in me an almost surreal sense of the romantic, which, and this is for a future episode, I believe is what made him an alcoholic, and, tragically, partially inspired the death by suicide of my brother, only three months after his own passing. These are lessons learned in pursuit of E...
Aug 31, 2020•13 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Barry Katz does not disappoint with his unique and inspiring blend of life philosophy, Hollywood chutzpah, life coach and all 'round good guy. For a man that towers over me at, what, 6-foot-four, he is soft spoken and mild mannered. Give him a chance, though, ad he'll spellbind you with his insight, wit and wisdom. In Part 2 of my interview with Barry, we veer off into new territory. In fact, while bestowing his life's stories of love, loss and incredible commercial success with c...
Aug 25, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast This is a story about a father's enduring legacy, about a man who left this world young. While any dad who leaves before his time is worthy of consideration, this dad was world famous. He was the legendary blues harp (harmonica) player, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, vocalist and band leader the late Paul Butterfield. Today we go for a ride through Paul's old home of Woodstock, New York with his son, Gabriel Butterfield. Gabe was just 22 when his father passed. His father'...
Aug 18, 2020•44 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast On April 18, 2014 the silence of Everest was forever rocked by a devastating serac avalanche that took the lives of 16 souls. In an instant, all that was ever believed about Everest changed. The gigantic block of ice was believed to be the size of a six story apartment building. As it tumbled down over the steep wall of the west shoulder of Everest, it smashed into thousands of pieces, many the size of small cars, and exploded into the Khumbu Icefall. Climbing through the Khumbu Icefall that mor...
Aug 11, 2020•39 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Barry Katz is a modern day renaissance man. He is also funny as hell. Smart. Successful. Humble beginnings. I met Barry in high school, where we competed on swim teams from neighboring towns, then went on to compete together on the Boston University Swim Team. Barry's beginnings are inauspicious: he was a high school bully. A swim coach - who happened to be my AAU coach - spotted Barry serving detention one day and said 'kid, come swim with my team and I'll get your 9 million hour...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast When I first started climbing back in my late 20’s I wanted to mix my newfound love of the mountains with my career…. It was my dream to bring the two together, so that I could make a living doing what I love, that being a filmmaker or cameraman filming on mountains around the world. It’s taken me many places, including four expeditions to Mount Everest. The Highpointers with the Bargo Brothers is a new PBS television program premiering in July 2020 fefaturing my two guests, Branndon and Greg Ba...
Jul 29, 2020•31 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast I awoke today to news of an old college buddy, my first roommate, who is very sick. I had coincidentally had a dream about him last night, where I hugged him and told him that I was sorry I hadn't stayed in touch over the years. I also was attacked on social media by someone I thought was my friend, who went insane when he heard me make a comment about Donald Trump bragging about his genius in a supposed cognitive test. I'm learning a lot about people these days... All I can say is tha...
Jul 24, 2020•14 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast THIS IS A MUST LISTEN for all interested in current events, about how an elementary school in the most violent neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York has virtually transformed thousands of lives. This is a story about two separate worlds intersecting to make something beautiful. About an amazing elementary school that gives hope where there is only hopelessness and despair. It’s a story about a now decades old friendship formed out of a seemingly random encounter. When one man, a black man, my secon...
Jul 08, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast The 2019 expedition to solve the mystery of who climbed Everest first changed many lives, is now the subject of a new film called LOST ON EVEREST, is the cover article in the July issue of National Geographic Magazine and is the subject of a book by NY Times Best Selling author and professional climber Mark Synnott. The Third Pole will be released in the spring of 2021. One of the chapters of Synnott's book is called The Day Everest Broke, and describes in heartbreaking detail the story of ...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast This episode begins with the sounds of Barred owls calling in the New Hampshire night, as I muse about my sudden illness on Mount Everest in 2019. The wisdom of the owls is apt for Episode 10 as we recall the words of wise men from our past, including Albert Einstein, Halie Salassie and Bob Marley. On the question of racial discrimination, Haile Salassie in a speech said to those who will learn, this further lesson: "That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferi...
Jun 12, 2020•24 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast (THESE NOTES WILL BE UPDATED) Mickey Raphael was given his first harmonica by an uncle who said if you can play Oh, Suzanna I'll give you the harmonica. Mickey would go on to play a whole lot more than that, having been Willie Nelson's harmonica player for over 46 years. He's played with the likes of Townes Van Zandt , Chris Stapleton , Tom Morello , Paul Simon , Snoop Dogg , Engelbert Humperdinck , Leon Bridges , Neil Young , Norah Jones, Bob Dylan , Ray Charles , Duane Eddy , Vi...
May 26, 2020•36 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast On June 8, 1924, two British mountaineers by the name of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were seen at an altitude of over 28,000 feet 'headed toward the top' of Mount Everest by team member Noel Odell. At the time it was the highest any person had ever climbed before. After a few minutes, clouds obscured Odell's view of them and they disappeared, never to be seen again. 29 years later, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully summited Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953. Whil...
May 15, 2020•1 hr•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast When we encounter tragedy or a traumatic event in life, it often times opens up a portal through which we can gain a new perspective of life. We actually learn through the experience and can become more wise in the process. In today's episode I interview photographer, adventurer and wilderness educator Oscar Manguy. We caught up with him at his home in a remote location in Finland, talked to him about his life in the outdoors, photography, and of the ritual of drinking Maté, is a traditiona...
May 07, 2020•38 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Ever look out the window at work or in school and wish you were out there doing something big, living out your dreams? That is what this episode is about. We meet a man who used to do that. Then decided that enough was enough. Adventurer and three time Guinness Book of World Record holder Mike Reid says you don’t have to be gifted or talented. You don’t need anything given to you. If you refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer, anyone can achieve their dreams. As a child Mike was bullied. He experienc...
Apr 29, 2020•46 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast During this time, when the world seems to be going insane, we can lose our minds or keep our act together, or PROSPER! I don’t know about you, but when this stuff happens and we look at the super macro of it, click a few down on the pull down tabs of life, I like what is happening. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the devastation it’s having on life and millions of people and businesses in the world. But, beyond this, I feel like I’ve never been busier in taking advantage of this time. In Episode 4 of...
Apr 23, 2020•32 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast This one is about the heroes...well, two at least. Both of them would say PHOOEY, I'm no hero... So, let's just say it’s about how people are getting by. Specifically, it's about the small business owners, faced with the gut wrenching decisions they have to make when faced with going out of business, laying off employees...survival. This Heroes of the Quarantine Culture on Baker Street with Thom Pollard welcomes two incredible individuals on the front line of the economy. Peter Du...
Apr 14, 2020•50 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast There is a romance to uncertain times. In the undulations and valleys that we experience in life we are given an opportunity to learn new ways to do things. Much like the relationship between a master and his student, experiences offer us an opportunity to see things from a different angle. This episode isnt about making guitars, per se, but about making a dream come true….about finding a muse and following it to completion. We'll be talking with Tom Thiel, an entrepreneur who spent his lif...
Apr 07, 2020•36 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, PEOPLE: Today on Baker Street with Thom Pollard I welcome the ever talented bluesman and Buddhist practitioner Reverend Freakchild. We'll talk about everything under the sun, as well as listen cuts off his new album called The Bodhisattva Blues. His insight and music will cover everything from the blues to drugs, to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Grateful Dead, to Buddhist philosophy from the Buddha himself to Naropa University, where the Reverend is studying for a m...
Mar 31, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast If you think this episode is making a statement about my personal political preferences with this photo you're HIGHLY mistaken. Like me, if you're actually breathing, you know that the collective consciousness of the US political landscape is deeply divided. What's the old saying? War is not healthy for children and other living things? How does the current political divisiveness affect you? Does it raise your heart rate when you hear the detritus of political squabbling blurt out...
Feb 11, 2020•41 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 18 we got to meet Nathanael Smiley Tejeda, who gave up his Make-a-Wish grant to help his now former high school build a new weight room. That was back in August of 2019. This past December the weight room was finally unveiled. I called Smiley at his college in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he is starting his second semester of freshman year at Springfield College. Smiley talks about being in remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma, how exciting it was to unveil the new weight room and lif...
Jan 28, 2020•22 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast This is a special BONUS EPISODE of Baker Street: THE BUSHFIRES CURRENTLY RAVAGING AUSTRALIA ARE NOT ONLY OUT OF CONTROL IN ALMOST EVERY AUSTRALIAN STATE BUT THEY ARE COMPLETELY UNPRECEDENTED, AND OF A MAGNITUDE THATS NEVER BEEN EXPERIENCED. This tragic loss of life, property and infrastructure has been declared a national state of disaster. In this Bonus Episode I interview Scott Salmon, owner of Nautilus Effects Systems based in Canberra Australia. (ABN 605 277 208 29). Scott's business is...
Jan 16, 2020•37 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast For anyone concerned about suicide, contact the National Crisis Line. 800-273-8255 (TALK) This is a crisis line for EVERYONE Veterans Press 1 - for expedited service, specifically for veterans EPISODE 27: Today’s topic cuts close to the bone. If you’ve listened to Episode 23, called Don’t Tell a Lie, Your Life Depends on It, I talk about the suicide of my brother, my best friend, a beautiful, kind soul that broke so many hearts. In Episode 27 we’re talking about suicide. Why does it happen, you ...
Jan 14, 2020•40 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is a n instant classic, exploring not only the beauty of Australia but the inner journey of discovery and enlightenment with my good friend and fan of this podcast, Rod McCurdy. This episode summarizes exactly why Baker Street with Thom Pollard exists in the first place. A recent sojourn to Australia unearthed a serendipitous encounter with Aboriginal musician George Dow, who masterfully demonstrated his didgeridoo. We discuss the hunter versus farmer hypothesis, first written about...
Dec 20, 2019•53 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast There's a damn good reason that this is BY FAR my most downloaded and shared episode. We are in a divisive, tumultuous period, in the USA as well as worldwide. I decided to remove myself from the s*** slinging here on Facebook, have muted or unfollowed dozens of normally sane and rational friends since chasm began to widen. If you're interested in doing a deep dive into the mind and soul of the most powerful man in the world and how he has come to build a large constituency, this is a ...
Nov 19, 2019•44 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast 
