On The Shoulders Of Giants

Summer Break: I'm working hard getting some much needed R&R before I start my next season of the On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast. I've already lined up some exciting guests for Season 3, but in the meantime, here is one of my favorites from Season 2. Katherine Bramhall is a midwife who specializes in pregnancy, at home childbirth, postpartum, women’s sexual and reproductive health, and newborn care out of her Gentle Landing Midwifery home office in Barre Vermont. In 2004, in response to the earthquake in Bam, Iran, Katherine began her intensive years of disaster relief work, focusing on the long-term effects of trauma on family and maternal/child health systems. In addition to Iran, her relief work has taken her to Russia and Bali Indonesia, New York City, post-Katrina Louisiana and Haiti.

Summer Break: I'm working hard getting some much needed R&R before I start my next season of the On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast. I've already lined up some exciting guests for Season 3, but in the meantime, here is one of my favorites from Season 2. Rebecca Roose and Timna Dulmer are two parents of two children who have taken the decision to allow their children to live as the gender they identify with in order to save them from a future of heartache and pain. Please open your heart and your minds as we hear the extraordinary and intimate journeys of these two families that are re-writing the definition of normal family life.

Summer Break: I'm working hard getting some much needed R&R before I start my next season of the On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast. I've already lined up some exciting guests for Season 3, but in the meantime, here is one of my favorites from Season 2. Confronted by Hope: Episode 24 - Reverend Rick Welch is the Executive Director of Teen Challenge Vermont. In this interview, he talks to me about experiencing abuse as a child, a troubled life as a teenager and drug addiction as an adult. Despite 16 treatment programs and 56 detoxes, it was only after getting connected with Teen Challenge that he got freed from 20 years of drug enslavement.

Children Of Hephaestus: Chris Thompson is the Executive Director and a founding board member at Generator Makerspace. Generator Makerspace is a combination of artist studio, classroom, workshop, and business incubator at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Generator is mashing together traditionally siloed areas like art, technology, design, music, film, and science by providing tools and technology often available only in factories, schools and universities or at a high cost to the users, like 3D printer and laser cutter, high end computers and software as well as a workshop dedicated to rapid prototyping of products; it aims to be a jumping-off point for creative individuals and new small businesses to get their designs and ideas up and running. Generator VT: https://generatorvt.com/

Mind Full or Mindful: Dr. James Hudziak is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, who was named to U.S. News and World Report’s Top Doctors list in 2012-2013. Dr. Hudziak placed in the top 1% for excellence in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with special expertise in ADD/ADHD, genetic neuroimaging and health promotion.  He is also a Professor of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, the Director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, and the Director of the Wellness Environment at the University of Vermont. Dr. James Hudziak: https://www.uvmhealth.org/medcenter/provider/james-j-hudziak-md UVM School of Medicine: http://www.med.uvm.edu/ Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families: http://www.med.uvm.edu/vccyf/home UVM Wellness Environment: https://www.uvm.edu/we

My Brother’s Keeper: Jacob Bogre is the Executive Director of the Association of Africans Living In Vermont (AALV), an organization whose mission is to equip immigrants and refugees with necessary tools, skills and support to resettle in Vermont. Jacob is an immigrant himself, who arrived on the shores of this country in 2003 from Burkina Faso. He holds a Master's in Law degree from University of Ouagadougou. AALV helps new Americans from all parts of the world gain independence in Vermont communities through a range of services including job development, behavioral health awareness, interpreter services and more. Their mission is to promote the equal opportunity, dignity and self-sufficiency of refugee and immigrant individuals and families. AALV Website: https://www.aalv-vt.org/

Be Curious, Be Curious, Be Curious: Jan Reynolds is an award-winning author of 17 books and photographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, and Outside magazine. Jan is also a world class skier who holds the women’s record for high altitude skiing; an Olympic biathlete and Triathlete, Esquire magazine called her the Athlete of the Decade, she is a mountain climber and was one of the first women to climb and ski around ALL the peaks of Mt. Everest; she has also been an expeditioner and photojournalist for major publications.  But what really caught Jan’s imagination and what sets her apart from her peers, are the 17 books she has written about all the indigenous people she met along these mind blowing adventures and the vanishing cultures that she has immersed herself in. Jan lives in Stowe, Vermont. Jan Reynolds: www.janreynolds.com

The Voice of Vermont: Jane Lindholm is the host of the award-winning Vermont Public Radio program "Vermont Edition" and is also the host and creator of "But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids". Jane joined VPR in 2007 to expand Vermont Edition from a weekly pilot into the flagship daily program that it is today. Jane is now the unofficial voice of Vermont and helps inform Vermonters navigate complex, social, political, environmental, economic, etc. issues at the local, regional and national level.  Jane Lindholm: http://digital.vpr.net/people/jane-lindholm Vermont Edition: http://digital.vpr.net/programs/vermont-edition

Unconditional Love: Most transgender children still live in the shadows, viewed as freaks of nature: rejected by their families, many grow up hating their bodies, falling victim to high rates of drug abuse, violence, depression and suicide. Rebecca Roose and Timna Dulmer are two parents of two children who have taken the decision to allow their children to live as the gender they identify with in order to save them from a future of heartache and pain. Please open your heart and your minds as we hear the extraordinary and intimate journeys of these two families that are re-writing the definition of normal family life. Outright Vermont: www.outrightvt.org/ Pride Center of Vermont: https://www.pridecentervt.org/

Community Driven: Ali Dieng is a Councilman for Burlington Ward 7. Ali is a passionate and dedicated community leader. Only having been in the U.S. for 10 years, Ali is now the Family Outreach Coordinator and Parent University Manager in the Burlington School District, and is deeply engaged in the community in everything from the the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity to the West African drumming and dance association he co-founded, Africa Jamono. He studied international law at the University of Mauritania in Africa and in his recent election to the Burlington City Council, he is the only person of color and second immigrant American to sit on the council. Ali's Website: http://alidieng.com/

Informed Choice: Katherine Bramhall is the founder of Gentle Landing Midwifery and President of Yayasan Bumi Sehat in the US. Katherine specializes in pregnancy, at home childbirth, postpartum, women's sexual and reproductive health, and newborn care. In 2004, in response to the earthquake in Bam, Iran, Katherine began her intensive years of disaster relief work, focusing on the long-term effects of trauma on family and maternal/child health systems. Gentle Landing Midwifery website: http://www.gentlelanding.com/ Bumi Sehat Foundation International website: http://www.bumisehatfoundation.org/

A Bold Explorer Into The Great Unknown: Bruce Duncan is the Managing Director of the Terasem Movement Foundation Inc. The Terasem Movement Foundation is a Vermont-based organization that supports scientific research and development in the areas of cryonics, biotechnology, and cyber consciousness and they are the inventors of Bina48, one of the most advanced social robots in the world. Equipped with artificial intelligence software called a character engine, Bina48 uses artificial intelligence based on human memories, attitudes, beliefs, and mannerisms to interact with people - Bina48 can think, engage, evolve and remember everything! Is Bina48 the blueprint by which one day our lives can be recreated by digitally uploading, preserving, evoking and reviving human consciousness. Website: http://www.terasemmovementfoundation.com/ Lifenaut: https://www.lifenaut.com/

Confronted by Hope: Reverend Rick Welch is the Executive Director of Teen Challenge Vermont. In this interview, he talks to me about experiencing abuse as a child, a troubled life as a teenager and drug addiction as an adult, but how Teen Challenge freed him from a life of enslavement. Teen Challenge was founded by David Wilkerson in 1958 as a faith-based, long-term residential treatment center for young men and women caught in the vicious cycle of drug and alcohol dependency. There are now 1,600 Teen Challenge programs in 125 countries, providing 35,000 beds of residential rehabilitation treatment, and 261 of those centers are located in the United States. Teen Challenge Vermont Website: https://tcvermont.org/

Overweight Underachievers with Counter Culture Values: Jerry Greenfield is the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's. Jerry talks to me about how he and his childhood friend, Ben Cohen, two overweight underachievers with counterculture values, founded the world's most popular ice cream brand out of the failure of the things they were individually trying to do. From humble beginnings in 1978 in a scoop show in Burlington Vermont, the ice cream company has grown to an multinational corporation, but in true Vermont fashion, the company has maintained localvore values and pushes progressive social causes.

From Dilettante To Turnaround Artist: Elisabeth (Liz) Robert is the former CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear & now Owner/CEO of Terry Bicycles. 'Start-up entrepreneur’, 'business executive', ‘going-private’, ‘turn-around artist’, ‘relocation-preneur’ and real estate developer, from  startups to publicly traded corporations  - there are very few Vermont business environments and challenges Liz has not mastered.

Red Sea, Blue Ocean: Marguerite Dibble is the President/CEO of GameTheory.  Marguerite founded GameTheory in her Junior year at Champlain College in Burlington Vermont in 2011. She and a small team of fellow Game Development students dove in directly after graduation, building products and forging a future for the company, building game powered solutions to tackle real world problems. Visit GameTheory: www.gametheoryco.com Previous On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast Episodes: tcrutanhira.com/podcastepisodes/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/OnTheShouldersOfGiantsPodcast

Breasts: Fun and Sexy … and Practical: Supermoms, Sascha Mayer & Christine Dodson, are the founders of Mamava Inc. Mamava is a company that delivers design solutions for nursing mamas on the go. Mamava is on a mission to normalize pumping and breastfeeding. With the "Happy Breasts" logo and the words “Privacy for pumping and breastfeeding” emblazoned on the front of their nursing pods, they are on a mission to remind those that have forgotten that  breastfeeding is a natural part of life, get over your squeamishness that milk comes out of a human and to support women who feed the tiny citizens of the world from their own bodies. Visit Mamava: www.mamava.com Previous On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast Episodes: tcrutanhira.com/podcastepisodes/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/OnTheShouldersOfGiantsPodcast

Mission Driven: Allyson Laackman's 16 year old daughter convinced her to volunteer for the Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign.  Little did Allyson know that in a few short months, she would then go on to serve as the first Chief Financial Officer of the Obama White House, as the Interim Director of Executive Residence and eventually the Chief of Staff of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, during the 2012 Obama Reelection Campaign.  Allyson now lives right here in Vermont where she currently serves as the Executive Director of the Burlington Housing Authority (BHA) and speaks at length about caring about the mission.

Empowering Communities One Student At A Time: Raichle (Rai) Farrelly is an Assistant Professor by day who follows the convictions of her heart by night. After a trip to Tanzania and seeing how lack of access to education was adversely affecting children in rural communities, Rai founded Project Wezesha, a non profit aimed at providing educational opportunities for under-served girls and women in remote and under-developed regions. The aim of Project Wezesha is to empower local communities through increased access to education for the children.  By engaging the community and relying on village leadership, Project Wezesha is able to target the locally identified needs of the community. Rai still works full time at St. Michael's College in Vermont while running her non-profit and also serves as the Executive Director of Girls Education International. Project Wezesha: http://www.projectwezesha.org/ Donate To Project Wezesha: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/educate-children-in-tanzania/ Previous On The Shoulders Of Giants Podcast Episodes: https://tcrutanhira.com/podcastepisodes/

Give Peas A Chance: At the age of 26, Trevor Sullivan, was already on the way to founding Burlington's most popular vegan restaurant-café: Pingala Café, and in just 3 short years has already opened a second cafe as well as a vegan consumer packaged food line, Animaloo Vegan Foods. I've found myself pigging out at Trevor's vegan cafe, the stuff is righteous and downright delicious ... the future is vegan!