Johnatan Machado is a Venezuelan artist, curator, and photographer living in Qatar. In this episode, Johnatan shares his long and grueling journey pursuing a career in art, giving honest and valuable advice applicable to anyone seeking a creative endeavor or dream. He also details his experiences as a photographer from National Geographic to be one…

Dr. James Green is a former chief scientist at NASA. In this episode, he reflects on his long career in space and the countless NASA missions and achievements. He also shares some incredible stories, like how he caught the first hacker on their network (it's unbelievable!). What planet will Humans first Live on? What are all those UFO sightings? Is…

Hasna Nada has dedicated the past ten years to advocating for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is a personal journey inspired by her son being diagnosed with autism. Back when parents who had children with autism would seek answers and support in online forums, Hasna decided to take a leap of faith and set up the Child Development Ce…

Shahd Ahmed, also known as @thisisshoosh on social media, has over 14 years of experience in events and production in the UAE and Qatar for some of the biggest brands. It would be too long to list them. She recently started The Abstract Agency and was the casting director for the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 TV commercial and was part of the …

This is part two of my conversation with Ali El Dali. If you're back for another raw conversation on life and all things better living, Ali's got a great and interesting perspective. We discuss a range of topics: from insights from the book It Didn’t Start with You: Overcoming Generational Trauma by Mark Wolynn and why it's important to end generat…

This episode is part one of my conversation with my friend Ali El Dali, a Lebanese-Venezuelan whose work takes him to places far and wide. He's passionate about self-development and takes workshops and attends retreats on sound-healing, breath-work, meditation, ceremonies, and so on. Ali believes in the psychosomatic relationship between mind and b…

This is part two of my conversation with Naser Mestarihi the vocalist and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Winterburn. He's been a musician for nearly two decades, and in 2010 he became the first to officially release a rock album out of Qatar. The views expressed by my guests are not always reflective of my own. The podcast is a space for a v…

Naser Mestarihi is the vocalist and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Winterburn. He's been a musician for nearly two decades, and in 2010 he became the first to officially release a rock album out of Qatar. Naser speaks his mind and doesn't hold back on the reality of all things music industry from bad record deals, fake streams, and toxic soc…

I taught a two-day workshop titled 'How to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice' as part of Tasmeem Doha 2022: Radical Futures at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. This was my first time sharing my craft and passion with a group. I usually consult or help people on a one-to-one basis, and let me tell you, this workshop was at full capacity!…

Cristiano Carvalho is a Brazilian working in the Aerospace Industry. He grew up in Brazil and spent most of his career worldwide selling planes for Embraer, the world's 3rd largest plane manufacturer. Cristiano shares insights from his experiences doing business with people from different cultures, including a bizarre practice in Japan used for bui…

Abood is an actor on a popular TV show (About Cinema/عن السينما) on the Al Jazeera Media Network. The conversation kicks off with an in-depth look at personality. What was the process of being cast for the show? What it's like being on set? What are some valuable things he's learned along the way? All this and more on the episode. Abood also shares…

Wasim Ahmed is a tech entrepreneur and is one of the founders of Metavisionaries. This tech startup aims to create an educational ecosystem in the Metaverse for people to "learn, interact, transact, build and ultimately live." In this episode, we discuss the goals for Metavisionaries and why he believes there is a significant need for this now in a…

Buzaki Hayir is a Somali living in the diaspora. He grew up in Qatar then moved to India, where he lived as an international student for over a decade. We begin our discussion with his experiences, racist encounters, and unforgettable lessons he learned along the way. Besides, what does he mean by the "tax of living in India"? The first part of the…

Kim Wyatt is an Australian media personality and TV presenter. Kim rose to popularity in Qatar as a prominent food writer, using the name 'mama baba ganoush.' I first interviewed Kim on the radio, but this time nothing is off-limits! We discussed Kim's misconceptions before moving to the middle east over a decade ago. She opens up on what it was li…

Gentë Retkoceri is a professor of acting and an experienced film and theater actress. Gentë has been acting in different drama plays in theaters across East and West Europe, USA, and has also been part of the National Theater of Kosovo. We begin with what it was like growing up in Kosovo during the Serbian occupation. Many of the plays and projects…

Aida Al Barwani is a Freelance Marketing Consultant. She started working on major marketing projects in Dubai and has been a digital nomad for the past decade. The meaning of digital nomad is someone who performs their occupation entirely over the Internet while traveling; a person who has no permanent fixed home address. In this episode, Aida shar…

Michael Anderson is a South African primary school physical education teacher based in Qatar. He’s also an amateur motocross athlete who hosted and competed in many events. You can find him trying to be an inspiration and good role model for his students at school and on social media. Michael began working at a school at 17 and quickly transitioned…

On this solo episode, I look at a list from a blog titled "12 Simple Ways to Build Momentum" from Becoming Minimalist - sharing my comments and suggestions along the way. Like many others, I went into 2022 ready-to-go, but January had other plans. That's life, we need to master the art of getting back into the groove or flow, so I have been searchi…

We're back again with my friend Moby Buhmaid a Qatari actor/screenwriter who was on episode one of this podcast. This was also recorded at his farm the same day I got COVID for a second time. We caught up on how things are going with his web series. He's currently in the casting process. Moby discusses lessons from one of the most influential books…

This episode is different than the usual format. It's a solo episode and a complete guide on one of the easiest, cheapest, and most versatile self-help tools you can do, which is the art of journaling. There is a lot of confusion and hesitation when it comes to people not knowing how to approach this simple habit. I'll clear all of that in this epi…

Neeshad Shafi is a climate activist considered one of the 'World 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy' by Apolitical. He's also the Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Arab Youth Climate Movement, the first registered non-profit association focusing on climate change in Qatar. This conversation is a response to the claims made by Mikhai…

Ahmad Abbas, also known as Seth, is one of the earliest podcasters in Qatar. He’s had several podcasts on Facebook, Soundcloud, but you might know him from Sit Down with Seth on YouTube. Since he’s my cousin and a fellow podcaster, expect a raw back and forth conversation. I ask him for a simple burger recommendation, which leads to a semi-tragic s…

Anca Stefania is a Romanian intimacy and sexuality coach working with men and women to help them be the best version of themselves. In the realm of healing and growth, there's nothing she doesn't do, from teaching yoga to hosting full-moon women circles. Anca has traveled far and wide to seek enlightenment, going to expensive retreats in Europe to …

Mikhail Tretyak is a Ukrainian-American working in one of the giant energy corporations. His career began at Universal Oil Products (UOP), traveling to different sites worldwide to investigate and troubleshoot technical issues. Our conversation starts with Mikhail’s experiences in China in the 90’s one of them being a gut-wrenching story of him hel…

Dianne Matibag (DJ Chloe) has worked as a radio host across several stations in the Philippines and Qatar, including Mellow 94.7fm, Wave 89.1fm, Qabayan 94.3fm, and now QBS 97.5fm - where we both met. This was a great conversation! Dianne reflects on her beginnings and details the hazing culture that existed in the radio industry back then. Did you…

Jassim Al-Shamali is a CrossFit athlete whose inspirational story is well-known in the CrossFit community.We begin with a turning point in his struggle with weight loss. Still, before we could dig any deeper, we had to establish what defines an ‘influencer’ and whether he considers himself one? Then we get into the heavy stuff, where he details his…

Ahmed Shaheen is a radio host based in Qatar. Ahmed tells us the truth on how he got started in radio at the age of 18, nearly a decade ago. He reflects on his beginnings, lessons learned, and the challenge of doing live on-air interviews with some guests. Do radio hosts put on a personality? I also asked him for the weirdest request he got from a …

Abdulaziz Yousef Ahmed (Temsa7) is a well known artist in Qatar. I interviewed him for the radio back in 2020, but this time we go way deeper. Temsa7 details an embarrassing public breakup then having to go straight into lockdown, forcing him on a journey of emotional healing and self-discovery. We get into the idea of shame as a manipulation tool …

Chris Thomas is an energy expert working in the gas industry. He details what it was like growing up in Trinidad and his experiences at an all-boys school. We discuss the British vs American school system and how one of them builds confidence while the other destroys it. Chris shares insights from one of the most influential books on crowd psycholo…

Mohammed 'Moby' Buhmaid is a Qatari actor/screenwriter and a longtime friend. We recorded this episode at Moby's family farm, since he's moved back from LA he spends much of his time alone working on his new web series. We get into the reality of pursuing creative work, and the unrealistic expectations people have when first starting out. While try…