Face 2 Face With David Peck

Nick Saik   Nick talks about his new film Know GMO, drought resistant crops, weed management and rational optimism versus irrational pessimism.   Synopsis A 90-minute science based documentary that shows the public what the words “Genetically Modified Organism” really mean; Know GMO examines the real world challenges of Organic food production globally. We want to know: has biotechnology contributed to global food security? Are new agriculture technologies actually decreasing disease? Are they conserving land? Can it all really be done in a sustainable manner? We’ve set out to improve the public understanding of sustainable agricultural tools spanning Organic and Genetically Modified food production all across the globe. Know GMO is a film about different points of view. This film is really three films in one. It’s a story about Genetically Modified Food, and how it’s been setup as the antithesis of Organic Food. It’s a story about fathers and sons, how Director Nick Saik and his father, Rob Saik have taken o

  Rick and I talk about kitchen table culture, aspiring leaders, 3 part epiphanies, and why conversation is a deeply creative process.   Biography   Rick Wolfe is the originator of the Kitchen Table Conversation approach to facilitated dialogue. He developed the process for use in his management consulting practice. As a consultant he specializes in strategic planning, brand development, stakeholder engagement and business development. Based in Toronto, Rick has frequently undertaken assignments across Canada, the US and in the UK. Stakeholder engagement assignments have also taken him to various European centres and Tokyo.   Among the clients he has served: IBM, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Smith & Andersen, RBC, TD Bank, Barclays Bank, Sun Life, Lifelabs, EXL, TCS, Siemens, SAS, Microsoft, Clifford Chance, Norton Rose Fulbright, Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, LG Electronics and the University of Waterloo.   Prior to opening his consulting practice, Rick was a senior account servi

Anita and I talk about racism in Canada, why we need to build inclusion, how hate speech and free speech are very different and why there is only one human race.   Biography   Anita Bromberg is the Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, a Canadian Crown Agency dedicated to eliminating racism and maintaining harmonious relations across diverse communities. A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Community Program Excellence Award, Anita brings to the position three decades of experience working on issues of racism and discrimination, as well as human rights, countering hate and intergroup relations. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Anita is a lawyer by profession, and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1982. She is a frequent spokesperson, lecturer, trainer and media representative on topical issues of the day, particularly as they relate to racialized communities. A court recognized expert on racism and extremism, she has also instituted and participated in nu

Charles Plant   Charles and I talk about fear, doubt and uncertainty, success and entrepreneurship and why gossip is a way to regulate one’s own behavior.   Biography   Charles is a serial entrepreneur. He has an MBA in marketing and was trained as a Chartered Accountant and a banker.   He spent 15 years as co founder and CEO of Synamics, a telecommunications software firm that provided mass calling platforms to telcos. Since then he has co-founded two other technology companies and been an officer, director or investor in a dozen others. He’s provided financing, consulting and coaching services to several dozen other firms and provided training to thousands.   Charles spent four years at MaRS ending as CFO. For most of his time at MaRS he spearheaded a group of former entrepreneurs and specialists who developed thought leadership, provided education, mentorship, market intelligence and capital to over 2,000 technology startups in Ontario.   Among several other jobs in management consulting and investment ba

Bobby Motta   Bobby and I talk about magic, deception, mentalism, entrepreneurship and building a business from the ground up and about why perspective is everything.   Biography   Experience Bobby Motta, the mentalist and mind reader who gives a performance you have to see to believe. Canada’s own master of the unknown earns props from celebrities here and abroad, astounding stars like Russell Crowe and Nelly Furtado.   His incredible ingenuity and stage effects have also made him one of the industries most sought-out consultants behind the scenes, loaning out his secrets to names like David Blaine, and Criss Angel, and consulting on some of Stage and TVʼs biggest production spectaculars to date.   His ultra-thrilling style and mesmerizing technique grabs hold and won’t let go, blurring lines between reality and the paranormal realms as he pulls you in. Bobby is the epitome of his craft with international appearances that set the bar.   He’s been featured on almost every major television network and starred

David and I talked about entrepreneurship, what’s wrong with our educational system, why learners need to be engaged and how passion plays such an important role in pretty much everything and about his exciting initiative called Kaajenga. Biography   David founded KAAJENGA after a 25-year career in consulting, eLearning, technology, and banking. He became Chief Executive Officer of Spring Valley Architectural Innovations in 2011 and helped turn it around, grew sales 435% creating a national sales network in the process. At various stages throughout his career he has held many executive management positions in both private and public organizations including; INTERCHANGE, The Executive Knowledge Exchange, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Networks North NETWORKS NORTH INC. (NASDAQ:NETN), IRGATEWAY (TSX Venture Exchange) and Curriculum Services Canada (Not for Profit). He was nominated for Canadian Young Entrepreneur of the Year and built a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution for his service-b

Eugene Burger   Eugene and I talk about magic as a “way”, storytelling, how words have hypnotized us, why we all need to wake up and why mystery is really the problem.   Biography He's amazed and delighted audiences from Las Vegas to Tokyo. As Stagebill magazine proclaimed, Eugene Burger is "universally recognized as perhaps the finest close-up magician in the world." "Close-up magic" is just that: magic performed right under your nose, where everyone becomes part of the show. And with Eugene Burger it is an unforgettable experience, for as the Chicago Reader noted in an unprecedented eleven-page cover story about him, "Burger adds something extra." His warmth and humor are captivating and his magic is simply amazing. By definition, magicians are pretty special people, but Eugene Burger is considered exceptional even by other magicians. He has written fifteen best-selling books for the trade, starred in eight instructional videos, lectured extensively to magicians' groups in over a dozen countries, and his wr

Matthew and I talk about his latest TV appearance, Las Vegas, why he’s finally left his ego behind as a performer and how he thinks there’s an audience for everything now.   Biography Having worked with comedy greats such as Drew Carey and Jerry Seinfeld, and submitted for a Canadian Comedy Award, Matthew DiSero performs everywhere from Casino’s Las Vegas to corporate events in Tokyo. Headline performances at Canada’s Walk of Fame Ceremonies, Ohio’s “Great Lakes Comedy Festival”, Regina Comedy Festival and Moncton’s HubCap Comedy festivals, have led to television appearances on the Comedy Network, ABC, The CW network and Bite TV.   Matthew DiSero is both a comedian and magician, blending the two disciplines together to create the perfect interactive, clean and funny show for after dinner and special events. Talent buyers the world over regularly hire Matthew because he is consistently funny, entertaining and on target with their audiences. In demand internationally Matthew DiSero can also be seen performing

Glenn Mullin Glenn and I talk about “humourful humility”, the power of the inner life, Buddhism, the first Tibetan fart joke and the beneficial presence of others. Biography Glenn H. Mullin is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature, and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation. He divides his time between writing, teaching, meditating, and leading tour groups to the power places of Nepal and Tibet. Glenn lived in the Indian Himalayas between 1972 and 1984, where he studied philosophy, literature, meditation, yoga, and the enlightenment culture under thirty-five of the greatest living masters of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His two principal tantric gurus were the late great masters Kyabje Ling Dorjechang and Kyabje Trijang Dorjechang, who were best known as Yongdzin Che Chung, the two main gurus of the present Dalai Lama. The list of Glenn’s other teachers and initiation masters includes the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje Rinpo

Rob Stewart   Rob and I talk about the environment, why Sharks are sophisticated animals, when he first fell in love with humanity, why he still has hope and the need for us all to go a little farther and deeper.   Biography   Rob Stewart is an award winning wildlife photographer, filmmaker, conservationist and educator. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Stewart began photographing underwater when he was 13. By the age of 18 he became a scuba instructor trainer and then moved on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, studying in Ontario, Jamaica and Kenya. Before making Sharkwater (2007), Stewart spent four years travelling the world as chief photographer for the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s magazines. Leading expeditions to the most remote areas of the world, Stewart’s highly sought after images have appeared worldwide: www.robstewartphotography.com   While on assignment to photograph sharks in the Galapagos Islands, Stewart discovered illegal longlining, killing sharks within the marine reserv

John Aitchison   John and I talk his new book The Shark and The Albatross about the natural world, poetry, beauty, patience and emotion and looking for subtle signs in the environment.   Biography John is a wildlife filmmaker who works for the independent production company Otter Films Ltd. Otter Films has worked with the BBC, National Geographic, PBS and Discovery Channel on series including The Hunt, Frozen Planet, Life Stories, Life, Big Cat Diary, Springwatch and Yellowstone. He is the author of The Shark and the Albatross, published recently in the UK by Profile and in North America in May 2016 by Greystone Books. The BBC's Natural World series commissioned Otter Films to produce the Amber Time Machine. It features David Attenborough's quest to discover what amber can tell us about the past. You can watch it here on the BBC Earth YouTube channel. You can download a list of productions here. The BBC's Frozen Planet website is here and The Hunt's website is is here ---------- Please visit my website for

Susan Delacourt   Susan and I talk about “image politics” and the media, Stephen Harper’s legacy, Ottawa and how it’s constantly changing and why voters are often appealed to through their wallets.   Biography Susan Delacourt is a political columnist with the Toronto Star and iPolitics and a regular political panelist on CTV, CBC Radio, and Global TV. She is the author of four books on Canadian politics and teaches strategic communications and journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa. Since arriving on Parliament Hill to report for The Globe and Mail in the late 1980s, Delacourt has covered many major political events – Canada’s constitutional battles, the ups and downs of the federal Liberal party, the rise of the Reform Party, and the merger of a united right under Stephen Harper. Her writing has appeared regularly in the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post over the past few decades, as well as in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Delacourt writes often on political culture. Her most recent book,

Jürgen Todenhöfer   Photo: Copyright: Jürgen Todenhöfer   Jürgen and I talk about “truth”, ISIS, brainwashing, the media, respect for other cultures and the real face of war. Biography   Jürgen Todenhöfer was born on the 12th of November 1940 as the son of a judge in the German city of Offenburg/Baden. In 1959 he completed his high school studies in the city of Freiburg. He then studied law and political science at the Universities of Munich, Paris, Bonn and Freiburg. He completed his training as a qualified lawyer in 1969 and received his doctorate in law from the University of Freiburg. In 1970 Todenhöfer joined the political party CDU (Christian Democratic Union). Shortly thereafter, he became personal assistant of the CDU’s Secretary General Dr. Bruno Heck in Bonn. In 1972 he became a judge at the Criminal Court of the city of Kaiserslautern. In the end of 1972, he was elected to the German parliament. He remained a member of the “Bundestag” until 1990. Todenhöfer attracted as much public attention for h

  Lawrence talks in our second interview about his love for magic, dogmatism, pleasure, making mistakes, about the notion of “tools and not rules”, why we’re all storytelling animals and how Aristotle was a friend to artists everywhere.     Biography Lawrence Hass, Ph.D., is Professor of Humanities at Austin College and the Associate Dean of the McBride Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas. In 2010 he retired early from college teaching to pursue magic full-time as a performer, teacher, author, and publisher.   Lawrence Hass creates magic shows that combine astonishing, artistic magic with ideas that lift the spirit. He performs at theaters, nightclubs, universities, art museums, private parties, medical schools, public conferences, and corporate events all across America and internationally. He performs regularly in Las Vegas and at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.   Dr. Hass has also won multiple awards both as a writer and an inspirational teacher of magic. His expertise in teaching and dire

  Greg Paul Greg and I talk about identity, justice and the possibility of hope, poverty, love and why we’re short on happiness around here. Biography Greg Paul is a pastor and member, as well as the founder, of the Sanctuary community in Toronto. Sanctuary, a community in which people who are wealthy and people who are poor live, work and share their experiences and resources on a daily basis, makes a priority of welcoming and caring for some of the most hurting and excluded people in Canada’s largest city, including people struggling with addiction, mental illness, prostitution, and homelessness. Greg is the author of four award-winning books: Close Enough to Hear God Breathe; The Twenty-Piece Shuffle; and God In The Alley. His most recent book, Simply Open, offers a contemplative path for busy people. He is the father of four children, and married to Maggie, who has three children of her own. ---------- For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here. With th

Brian McKenna   Brian and I talk about his new film Newfoundland at Armageddon, unnecessary war and how an incident with bullies changed his life.   Trailer   CBC link here.   Newfoundland at Armageddon will air on CBC TV on Thursday, June 30 at 8 pm (8:30 pm NT), mere hours before the 100th anniversary of the event that changed Newfoundland - and Canada - forever.   Synopsis   One hundred years ago, on July 1st, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment took part in a massive First World War offensive on the Somme, led by the British to liberate France and Belgium from the claws of the Germans. Some 800 soldiers from the Regiment went over the top that morning, near Beaumont-Hamel in France.   The following day only 68 were able to answer roll call. Because of that battle, nothing about Newfoundland would ever be the same. To commemorate the one hundredth anniversary, Brian McKenna’s latest feature documentary film Newfoundland at Armageddon tells the story of this epic tragedy. Using a technique he perfected during

Alex Hinton   Alex and I talk about peace and reconciliation, trust, genocide, Hannah Arendt and our understanding of the other and what all this means about “us”.   Biography   Alexander Hinton is Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights and Professor of Anthropology and Global Affairs at Rutgers University, Newark. He is also a past President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (2011-13) and holds theUNESCO Chair in Genocide Prevention.   He is the author of the award-winning Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide (California, 2005) and nine edited or co-edited collections, Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America (Duke, forthcoming in 2015), Mass Violence: Memory, Symptom, and Response (Cambridge, forthcoming in 2015),  Hidden Genocide: Power, Knowledge, Memory (Rutgers, 2014), Transitional Justice: Global Mechanisms and Local Realities after Genocide and Mass Violence (Rutgers, 2010), Genocide: Truth, Memory, and Representation (Duke, 2009), N

Jay Whitelaw   Jay and I talk about his new approach to giving and an amazing new app he’s designed called Givesome. We touch on philanthropy, why’s he’s passionate about the giver and how a meeting at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas changed his life.   Biography After 10 plus years as a Manager and Director at Eagle’s Flight, a Guelph-based international experiential training company, Jay Whitelaw is pursuing his passion for charitable work around the world.    Jay is the Executive Director and recent Founder of Givesome, a non-profit that provides a giving ‘experience’ by showing donors the difference they make through the gifts they give.     Jay lived in Namibia, Africa and created the concept for Givesome after seeing first hand the tangible difference that donations can have on individuals and communities in need.    Jay's desire is that Givesome will become a catalyst for an enormous increase in global giving.    He lives in Guelph, Ontario with his wife Hannah and 4-year-old son, Jackson.   For more info a

Mac King   Mac and I talk about comedy and magic, show business and working in Las Vegas and why he’s a good listener and how that makes him a better performer and why nice guys don't always finish last.   Biography   Acclaimed by MAGIC Magazine as the premiere comedy magician in the world today, magician and comedian Mac King was just named “Magician of the Year” by the Magic Castle in Hollywood, just broke a Guinness World Record, has appeared on seven TV specials for NBC-TV, just got voted the 6th best show in all of Las Vegas, just rocked on The Late Show With David Letterman, and his book from Random House just entered it’s ninth printing. How did a kid from Louisville, Kentucky find himself in the enviable position of being perhaps the funniest magician in America?   Mac became interested in magic as a kid because both of his grandfathers (Elwood Huffman and Pax King) were keen amateur magicians. Elwood would perform a trick for Mac, and when asked how he did it, Elwood would point to his shelf of magic

  Jeff McBride   Jeff talks about magic mystery and deception and magic as “effect without a casue.” He has plenty of wisdom and insight to share on the art of practice, discipline, and “expert simplicity” and about the power of possibility.   Biography   Jeff McBride, named Magician of the Year by The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, is recognized as a foremost innovator in contemporary magic. New York Times columnist Glenn Collins writes, "What Mr. McBride gives his audiences is a mesmerizing performance...a magic show that is at once a celebration of mystery and a struggle to understand powerful forces." McBride most recently headlined at Caesars Magical Empire in Las Vegas, where he was voted critics' choice as Best Magician in Las Vegas in the Review-Journal annual poll. He is featured on the PAX TV series, "Masters of Illusion." Earlier this year, McBride previewed his new theatrical show, The Forbidden Secret of Magic with Eugene Burger and Abbi Spinner at Magicopolis magic theatre in Los Angeles, and p