Episode #88 on The Happiness Quotient: America’s only full-time professor of art crime. Erin Thompson studies a variety of relations between art and crime, including the looting of antiquities, museum theft, art made by detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and the legalities and ethics of digital reproductions of cultural heritage. Erin Thompson has discussed these topics for the New York Times , CNN, NPR, and the Freakonomics podcast, among many others...and coming up next on The Happiness Quotient SHE...
Jul 02, 2021•52 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Today, a special guest, Peter Hillary, son of the first man to ever climb Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary,…..Peter himself has climbed Everest twice. In addition to being an accomplished mountaineer Peter is a speaker , and he raises funds for Himalayan Foundations around the world.... Together with his sister Sarah Hillary, they manage the intellectual property of the Ed Hillary estate. I can almost guarantee you know someone named after his dad... During a recent conversation, Peter and I ta...
Jun 25, 2021•35 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Greetings to you all - this is a special edition of the HQ. In April I had the honor of doing an Instagram Live event with my old friend Renan Ozturk to talk about Everest, creativity, filmmaking and, yup, nutrition in the mountains. I mean, we’re talking to a guy who used to sustain on candy bars and Ramen and coffee at altitude. The event was hosted by one of our 2019 Sandy Irvine Search Expedition sponsors, Good To-Go foods, the ultimate in dehydrated backpacking food. THANK YOU TO THE WOOD B...
Jun 18, 2021•43 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast TODAY I HAVE A GUEST OF UNIMAGINABLE INSIGHT AND TALENT WITH US, THE PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST REPORTER, JOHN BRANCH OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TO TALK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports In 2017 I received a request from today’s guest, whom I’d never met before, but as you’ll find out in the interview, I was well familiar with his work, John Branch, a NY Times sports reporter - not your traditional sports, but rock climbing, skiing, mountaine...
Jun 15, 2021•41 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast This episode has a transcript for hearing impaired. COVID19 wasn’t all bad. A ton of musicians and recording artists invested themselves in projects that they wouldn’t normally have been able to do if they were on tour. On Tour is where the Wood Bros find themselves for much of the year, at least pre-covid. Back in September of 2020 I talked with Oliver where he was at his home in Nashville, The Wood Brothers tour had been effectively shut down and, I learned later, that in addition to trying ou...
Jun 09, 2021•42 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #83 is an amazing story of Mount Everest with six time summiter and the climber leader of our 2019 expedition to search for the body of Sandy Irvine, New Zealand's Jamie McGuinness. The original intent of my interview with Jamie was to talk about the expedition of ours in 2019, which has since become a National Geographic film called Lost on Everest and is the subject of a book by NY times bestselling author Mark Synnott called THE THIRD POLE, MYSTERY OBSESSION AND DEATH ON MOUNT EV...
Jun 02, 2021•54 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast The didgeridoo, the long wooden musical instrument dating back 10,000 years or more, are commonly and rightfully associated with the aboriginal culture. Today I’m going to introduce you to an ambassador of the Aboriginal culture, a fascinating man with a deep and learned understanding of his culture and also of the didgeridoo and the art and dance that goes with it. I first met didgeridoo musician George Dow at Sydney Bay, Australia, at the Circular Quay. My Friend Rod McCurdy and I were about t...
May 19, 2021•31 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast Thirty years after he successfully summited Mount Everest from the north side, Port Townsend, WA resident Andy Politz is leaving Base Camp AT THE TIME OF THIS POSTING for his second ascent. Age 61, Politz' first expedition to Everest was on the West Ridge in 1985. During that season was the very first guided expedition in the history of Everest. Today, Andy reports seeing 1,000 or more tents. And, whereas perhaps one fixed wing aircraft flew by for a sightseeing tour, today alone Andy witne...
May 14, 2021•26 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast "The only disability is a bad mindset," says former NFL linebacker David Vobora, who went from the TOP OF HIS GAME, to the agony of defeat and addiction, and in so doing, discovered his true calling. David was picked LAST in the NFL draft of 2008...which earns the dubious moniker of MR IRRELEVANT. This is anything but a football story, and how wrong the Mr. Irrelevant tag was...for a person who has gone on to help countless broken veterans who’ve returned from the war, emotionally brok...
May 10, 2021•53 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast ELISABETH SHARP MCKETTA is a storyteller and the author of eight books: INCLUDING Fear of the Deep (2016) and Fear of the Beast (2019), both collaborations with artist Troy Passey; the biography Energy: The Life of John J. McKetta, Jr. (2017), a true story of a coal miner–and my grandfather!–who set out to change how America uses energy; and a children’s book titled We Live in Boise (2019). SHE DID A TEDX TALK CALLED “ Edit your life like a poem .” projects in the works include the anthology Wha...
May 03, 2021•59 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast The man with more boots-on-the-ground experience searching in the Death Zone for clues to the Mystery of Mallory & Irvine, Jake Norton, is our guest today. Jake was 25 when we first met on Mount Everest in 1999. He first climbed Mount Rainier with his dad at age 12. By age 18 he was guiding for Rainier Mountaineering and soon was leading international climbs around the world. Although we were living in two different worlds in 1999, I with a son and a house, he as a guide with a camera. We we...
Apr 19, 2021•53 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast This is an episode about grit, about life and death, about the extremes of human endeavor, how far a human being can possibly go when they put 100% of themselves into something….it’s about heart, friendship…. This episode is set within the backdrop of the greatest mountain on the planet….Mount Everest, Chomolungma, goddess mother of the world….. Today’s episode welcomes back my ever talented friend and expedition partner Mark Synnott in anticipation of the release of his highly regarded book abo...
Apr 12, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast LITERALLY: THIS IS THE TALK THAT INSPIRED THE 2019 SANDY IRVINE SEARCH EXPEDITION, which led to the film LOST ON EVEREST by National Geographic and Mark Synnott's book THE THIRD POLE: MYSTERY, OBSESSION, AND DEATH ON MOUNT EVEREST. This presentation is one of only two sold out events EVER at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine. The presentation was captured on camera by a student at the back of the auditorium, using a microphone mounted to th...
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast This recap episode recounts the inspiration for this podcast coming into existence. While training for Mount Everest in April of 2019, my daily routine would include a strong hike up into Tuckerman or Huntington Ravine on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, USA. Many times I felt the presence of something, someone. Looking back, I believe that the essence of Sandy Irvine, who disappeared on Mount Everest on June 8 in 1924, was asking for assistance. As our expedition set out to locate Sandy, last...
Mar 31, 2021•34 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Music Soothes the Soul. MUSIC FOR THE SOUL - this is a good one. DAMN good. Highlighting the very best clips from my music interviews on The Happiness Quotient, consider this a Get Stoked for the Weekend or Week or Day or Life starter kit. Each short clip is accompanied by a cut from each of the musician's respective studio albums. Featuring these fine musicians and their tune following: Daniel Donato - Fire On The Mountain Oliver Wood - The Battle Is Over: But War Goes On Mickey Raphael - ...
Mar 26, 2021•45 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Seth Walker literally dropped out of college to eek every ounce out of his guitar. He grew up in a small commune. Learned to play the cello, guided by his musician parents. When he first heard the sounds of T Bone Walker (no relation), he was hooked on the Blues. Seth has been a touring musician for decades. That is, until Covid shut things down. He said it was as if he was on a spinning, flaming hamster wheel. Covid helped him. Because of it, he found time to write his memoir. If you could call...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast The Happiness Quotient #71 The Legend of CLARENCE GATEMOUTH BROWN This episode of the The Happiness Quotient can be found in audio only format at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/8029682 And on YouTube at this address: https://youtu.be/BDXmcezMIwQ Clarence Gatemouth Brown did not want to be known as a bluesman. He called his brand of music "American and World Music, Texas Drive and Swing" In a previous lifetime I was a television reporter for an NBC affiliate in western Massachusetts...
Feb 25, 2021•56 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast What was the fate of famed British mountaineers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine? And were they the first to climb Mount Everest? Today's guest is noted historian and author Tom Holzel to talk about his fifty plus year fascination with solving the mystery of Mallory & Irvine. Mallory and Irvine’s disappearance on Everest on June 8th 1924 has captivated and intrigued generations of mountaineers and would-be sleuths. Did they make it? What happened to them? Tom Holzel has studied this more...
Feb 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast Inspired by two back-to-back dreams in which I walked and learned from masters of ancient wisdom, I reflect about the teachings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Given the impeachment proceedings taking place in the United States, these dreams and Nietzsche's principles for becoming an exceptional individual are timely and prescient for our future. It's all about individual accountability and becoming greater than oneself. Revolution starts from within. BELOW, PLEASE SEE NIETZSCHE'S PRINCIP...
Feb 11, 2021•22 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast This powerful episode revisits an inspiring interview of hope with Holocaust survivor Irene Butter. For the thousands living today who survived that period in history, when the Nazi’s reigned terror around the world and attempted to rid the world of those who they deemed were a threat to their so-called superior race, the memory is a daily experience. Irene, like many, has chosen to honor those who lost their lives by telling us her story. Today we share a condensed interview with Irene first co...
Jan 27, 2021•40 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast Chris Carter grew up the son of missionaries in Kenya, Africa. He moved to the United States to study, climb, learn. In 2018 Chris took the physical and spiritual challenge of hiking the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail in the western USA. The film he created grabbed me from the first sounds of a camp stove lighting up. I welcome Chris to The Happiness Quotient to discuss the journey, about the friendships formed, and about the process of creating this incredibly moving and powerful film called To...
Jan 21, 2021•56 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast "All of my wisdom came from all the toughest days I never learned a thing being happy" These words from The Wood Brothers' song Happiness Jones sum up our podcast. The band has given us the green light to use the song as our new theme music! We are beyond honored here at The Happiness Quotient. Hear the story of how it came to pass. We're also going to introduce you to 6-time Everest climber Michael Hamill of Climbing the Seven Summits, one of the top Everest and moutaineerin...
Jan 14, 2021•35 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast Recorded just as the polls closed during the runoff elections in Georgia, USA, we bring back Dr. Nathan Schwartz-Salant for his insightful take on how an individual must stand one's ground during times of chaos and uncertainty. The late Dr. Nathan Schwartz-Salant, a prominent Jungian analyst, in this interview from February 8, 2020, on the eve of the New Hampshire primaries, offers a way for us to 'stand our ground' during these uncertain times, how to embrace the darkness of the ...
Jan 06, 2021•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our thoughts are very powerful. The thoughts that make up a great part of our conscious life create the person that we project onto the world, create the reality of our own lives. Imagine a person being a tiny little radio station, broadcasting out to the world the thoughts, fears worries emptiness and depression that fill the mind. To commune with your soul, all it requires is for you to be like Source, or Soul, that being an all loving being, So when you choose to come from a place of love you...
Dec 29, 2020•23 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast A quotient is an answer to a mathematical division problem. When we gather experience and look at the opportunities within our most challenging days, by deduction we begin to grow in wisdom. Hey, at the very least, we might learn what not to do. When we become wise and stop desiring the acquisition of wealth, or love or spiritual enlightenment, we will begin to become naturally happy. The Happiness Quotient endeavors to apply knowledge to the experiences in our lives, exploring how Happiness can...
Dec 21, 2020•45 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast Folks, the winter solstice approaches. Thom gets prepared to announce some HUGE news about the future and where things are going. Groove to some music by Daniel Donato and let Thom tell you what it's all about. Music by Daniel Donato, the real Cosmic Cowboy "Always Been A Lover" Find him at: www.danieldonato.com Find his music on Spotify by typing in 'Cosmic Country" and listen to his podcast on Apple Podcasts at: https://podcasts.apple.com/ua/podcast/daniel-donatos-lost...
Dec 17, 2020•13 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast What do you get when you mix a Jam Band with a Country Band? You get Cosmic Country, a la Daniel Donato, a rising Nashville musician who got his start on Lower Broadway in Nashville at the age of 14 when he first stepped on stage. His story is inspiring, amazing, insightful and filled with positivity and wonder. Daniel's new album is called A Young Man's Country, and you can find it here on Daniel's website at www.danieldonato.com Daniel's podcast is Daniel Donato's Lost...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast After eight wonderful years locked in the embrace of a warm cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, it was time I had to move. The news came as such a shock that it hadn't occurred to me to shop for a home to purchase. Time was short. I had two months to find a place to move the entire kit and kaboodle, in an absolutely over-saturated rental market, tapped by AirBnB and second home buyers, finding a place to live is nigh impossible around here. But, the Universe provides! I share my ...
Nov 02, 2020•23 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast This is the Truth about Everest. Hours after the passing of my mother in 2016 I was visited by a magnificent presence that assured me of my safety on Everest. Three months later, high up inside the Khumbu Icefall, that same presence assisted me during a serac avalanche in which four of us might have been killed. PLEASE SHARE AND PLEASE SUBSCRIBE on Apple Podcasts. If you would like to be added to my mailing list or to be notified with details of the upcoming Everest event please email me at thom...
Oct 16, 2020•36 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast As Chair and CEO of Warner Bros., Ann Misiaszek Sarnoff became the first female to serve as a Studio head in the entertainment industry. Ann is truly a trail blazer, an inspiration to young and old to prove that hard work, determination and persistence far outshine the traits championed in the age of immediacy. Ann was named head of WarnerMedia’s Studios and Networks Group in August 2020. In this role, she is responsible for all of WarnerMedia’s content-focused teams, uniting the Warner Bros. Pi...
Oct 06, 2020•53 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast 
