

Behind Greatness by Inspire North
Behind Greatness
Bringing you curious minds and profound ideas. Your weekly dose of real conversations. We chat openly with industry and thought leaders from all walks of life, exploring the "what ifs" and "why nots".
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 6, 2026 • 1h
227. Robert Waggoner – Author / Speaker / Lucid Dreaming Expert - Following the Creativity
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We had loads of fun in this conversation. Robert Wagonner joins us from his home in the Midwest. He is a veteran lucid dreamer, having taught himself how to do it in the '70s and never looked back. Robert elaborates on the lucid state as being an educational system. He discussed "buzzing" while having an out of body experience as a young boy, his brother's book and the Monroe Institute, flying through his neighborhood, house cats and mountain lions. We hear about the mysterious "N4" (144), the mentally mediated realm, following the creativity and the blue light. We explore the magic of goofiness, fear, becoming an electron, the search for inherent evil, Daoist societies, "going the distance" and the voluntary death experience. What a trip. "Doubt is gravity". Robert, Website + Books: https://www.lucidadvice.com/ Other: https://www.lucid-dreaming-advice.com/about-robert Lucid Dreaming Foundation: https://www.luciddreamingfoundation.org/#1 [CORRECTION – The Monroe Institute initially helped Joe McMoneagle to control his OBEs] Episodes mentioned: Joe McMoneagle, ep 198, 199, 200, 210, 215, 218 and Athena Laz, ep 100 To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Dec 24, 2025 • 1h 16min
226. Dr. Kevin Knuth (part 2) – Physicist / Former NASA scientist – Widening the Scope (for the Bigger Picture)
We welcome back to the podcast our friend Kevin Knuth - of viking extraction ("Knud") … . Kevin is a Professor of Physics at the University at Albany. He is a former NASA research scientist designing artificial intelligence algorithms for astrophysical data analysis. His current research interests include the foundations of physics, quantum information, autonomous robotics, the search for and characterization of extrasolar planets, and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Put on your seatbelts: angel hair, engineer-animals and chemist-plants, "curiosity band-width", extra terrestrial gardeners, lizards and spoons, 1954 incident above a soccer field in Florence, studying refractory time, remote viewing in the family, UAPx, levitation, caterpillar silk from barbell-shaped ufos, believing and seeing, physics we haven't studied yet, what Kevin figured out finally and a donation to Kevin's university and endowment to help him and his team study it all. Stickshifts and Safetybelts. https://youtu.be/qW9mZLnQ7Yc?si=-0od8M2LGZOLoLX3 Episodes mentioned: Kevin Day (ep 171), Stephan Schwartz (ep 155,156), Diana Pasulka (ep 142), Jeffrey Krypal (ep 118, 189) Kevin, UAP paper: · The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP): http://knuthlab.org/papers/knuth+etal---2025--new-science-UAP.pdf · arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.06794 New Endowment Fund at University of Albany: https://www.albany.edu/news-center/news/2025-ualbany-receives-major-gift-advance-scientific-research-unidentified-aerial A Tear in the Sky: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15120486/ UAPx: https://www.uapexpedition.org/about 1954 incident in Florence: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29342407

Dec 14, 2025 • 53min
225. Lisa Smartt – Literary Specialist / Author / Researcher of the Unravelling - Being of Service
Lisa Smartt, a literary specialist and author of "Words at the Threshold," shares her intriguing insights into language and consciousness, especially as we approach death. She discusses the fascinating shift in speech patterns near death, highlighting the beauty of humor and metaphor during this time. Lisa recounts personal stories, including a poignant moment with her mother, and emphasizes the need for curiosity over fear at the bedside. Her extensive research reveals unique patterns in end-of-life language, inviting deeper understanding and connection.

Dec 2, 2025 • 1h 10min
224. Dr. Alex Gomez-Marin – Physicist / Neuroscientist / Philosopher / Author – Always Seeking
Dr. Alex Gomez-Marin is a physicist, neuroscientist, philosopher, and author exploring consciousness and anomalous experiences. In this conversation, he critiques the rigidity of academia and the constraints of materialism. Alex discusses the importance of investigating near-death experiences and everyday anomalies, arguing these insights profoundly affect our understanding of existence. He also champions the acknowledgment of traumatic experiences while connecting complex ideas from Kabbalah to quantum physics, making a compelling case for a broader inquiry into the human experience.

Oct 14, 2025 • 59min
223. Philip Carr-Gomm – Druid / Psychologist / Author – Letting the Big Self In
Thanks for joining us at Behind Greatness. We sit down with Philip Carr-Gomm, who joins us from his home in the country in Sussex, England. Philip works, thinks and plays at the cross-section of psychology and spiritualism. He is an author and lecturer and works as a psychologist and psychotherapist. For decades he has rooted his spiritualism in Druidry and he is one of today's most public Druids. We discuss a ton: trees as our spiritual companions, "surrendering", dropping down a hole in New Zealand, lucid dreaming and the big self, pushing the gorilla down into the basement and another Druid - Winston Churchill. Never quite finished with his exploration, Philip is always making progress. Philip, Website: https://philipcarr-gomm.com/ "Know Thyself": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Oct 3, 2025 • 59min
222. Cameron Scott – Founder, Royal Ngala Safaris / Professional Photographer / Wild Life Guide - Awakening Your Senses
Thanks again for joining us. Today we chat with Cameron Scott who joins us from his native city of Johannesburg. Cameron is a professional photographer, a life-long wildlife lover and owner of Royal Ngala Safaris in South Africa. He charms us off the bat with his straight-talking recount of his first love: Africa's nature. We learn about the Big 5, running with gorillas, travelling hundreds of miles for a shrew, a camp-site scare with a lion, sleeping in trees and walking with bull elephants. We are treated to a story about Cam's life-altering moment with a lion hunting episode, the importance of not sweating the small stuff and the magic of watching people experience facing the majesty of wild animals for the first time. All of this from the home of human kind. Episodes mentioned: Ep: Bruno D'Amicis (ep63) , Julie Church (ep94), Elisabetta Tosoni (ep96), Julie church, David Salmoni (ep213), Dr. Rudy Schild and the Astronaut-Elephant Story (ep 186 & 217) Cameron, · Royal Ngala website: https://www.royalngala.com/, IG: @royalngala, FB:RoyalNgalaSafaris · IG: @camscott_wild · FB: @CamScottWild To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Sep 9, 2025 • 1h 5min
221. Abby Lutz – Death Doula / Registered Nurse - Passing It On
Today we chat with Abby Lutz who joins us from her backyard in Colorado. Abby is a nurse, a death doula and a consciousness explorer. Abby is building her Death Dojo, a place where she explores death as a practice, a portal and a source of limitless possibility. We talk about fear and its enemy: exploration with wonder. Abby brings us through some experiences with patients crossing over, her own similar personal experience, carrying empathy in your toolbox, seeing death versus watching death, trees, the "loss-iness" of words, oppositional defiance disorder, space/seas/deserts, the Octopus and "preparing the others". A perfect chat amongst the trees. Desserts and Death. Episodes mentioned: Max Catricala (ep 6, Antarctica), Meganne Christiane (ep 10, Antarctica), Natalie Sudman (ep 97, Antarctica), Dr. Jay Dahman MD (ep 62, trees), Paco Calvo (ep 212, plants), Jennifer Mather (ep139, the Octopus) "A Horse with No Name": - Dirtwire (Remake) - https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=P2VaXOZdsTo&si=Z73og0tZgCERJKw9 - America (Original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxh9Da_EJB4&list=RDXxh9Da_EJB4&start_radio=1 - History - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Horse_with_No_Name To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Aug 19, 2025 • 1h 13min
220. Ken Atchity – Film Producer / Author / Story Merchant / Former Uni-Prof – Embracing the Insecurity of Freedom
Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We sit down with Dr. Ken Atchity at his home in California. Ken started his adult life on an academic stream and he eventually became what he personally dreaded: a tenured professor. But, shortly after his tenure-ship, he decided to breakup with his career and start anew. Already an author, Ken decided to write screenplays and produce films – not ever looking back for over 30 years. as been producing films since 1996. We talk about his thoughts on competition, creativity and what it hinges on, doing great work in isolation and how he turned around his accountant dad to seeing the freedom and beauty in insecurity. We talk staring at fire and mountains, dying by committee, the perfection of Dante's Divine Comedy, chopping wood – and the Rose Café. Seeing the David before carving it. Go back in time to see our early episodes with like-minded luminaries who embrace Ken's philosophy: Kenneth Oppal (ep 106), Mike Narducci (ep 24), Steve Litchman (ep 36), Matt Larochelle (ep 30) and Tim Kring (ep 52). Ken, Websites: https://storymerchant.com/ https://www.atchityproductions.com/about-us IG: @storymerchant To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Jul 22, 2025 • 44min
219. Ralph Blumenthal – Award-Winning Journalist / Author - In Search for the Bottom Line
Ralph Blumenthal joins us today from his office in NYC. Ralph is a Distinguished Lecturer, an Award-Winning Reporter and Journalist for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009, and a writer on organized crime and cultural history. He also is known for co-authoring the now famous NY Times article in 2017 along with Leslie Kean and Helene Cooper that broke the door open on the secret AATIP program. He and Kean followed that up in 2023 with their breaking story on David Grusch and the details of a secret retrieval program and existence of non-human intelligence. Moreover, he is also the distinguished biographer of the late Harvard psychiatrist and author Dr. John Mack with his book "The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack." Ralph has both writing and NYC at his core. Ralph straight-talks us through everything important to him: his curiosities, his artistic background, his Jewish heritage, mysteries that fascinate us, his wife's sensibilities- and the life, research and curiosities of John Mack. We talk unmovable beliefs, inquisitions and the big questions. What is the bottom line? People mentioned in this episode can be found here: Rudy Schild (re John Mack) – ep 179 Leslie Kean – ep 112 Guy Consolmagno – ep 133 Danny Sheehan – ep 169 Ralph, Books: https://ralphblumenthal.com/books/ Website: https://ralphblumenthal.com/bio/ X: @ralphblu To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Jul 8, 2025 • 1h 10min
218. Joe McMoneagle - Part 6 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Fearing Ourselves
Joe was a US Army intelligence veteran before being selected for the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as "Remote Viewer No. 1" within Project Stargate, the United States' first organized research into psychic phenomena, conducted by the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and the founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center for exploring human consciousness. Chapters: 00:00 Trapped in a Lucid Dream 02:36 Secret Military Retirement 08:50 Joe's Youth 19:33 Remote Viewing at the National Security Museum 27:39 Remote Viewing, Lucid Dreaming, Out-Of-Body Experiences 32:45 Why Lucid Dreaming Exists 36:35 Using Lucid Dreaming for Remote Viewing 41:45 Getting Stuck in Multiple Lucid Dreams Whilst Remote Viewing 55:37 Meeting Another Entity in an Out of Body Experience At 21, Joe was already a staff sergeant, nicknamed "Pop." He shares insights into his upbringing, revealing why he was exceptionally experienced and mature when he enlisted. We discuss the practice of separating new war recruits from seasoned field operatives. Joe highlights his unclassified work as a psychic spy, now showcased at the NSA Cryptological Museum in Washington, to the apparent dismay of the CIA. He also explores OBE versus lucid dreaming, surviving a nested lucid dream state during a government-sponsored experiment, enduring bear attacks, and encountering informational beings in the out-of-body state. NSA Cryptological Museum: https://www.nsa.gov/museum/ Joe's Exhibit: https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/News-Highlights/Article/Article/3946210/new-exhibits-at-the-national-cryptologic-museum-unlock-your-curiosity/ Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: Russell Targ (ep 80) – Co-Founder, SRI Institute Courtney Brown (ep 131) Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 155, 156) Lyn Buchanan (ep 163) Nancy DuTertre (ep 167) Paul H. Smith (ep 180) Joe's Links: Books: (via Amazon) Parapsychological Association: https://www.parapsych.org/users/jmcmoneagle/profile.aspx Monroe Institute: https://www.monroeinstitute.org/pages/trainer-joe-mcmoneagle IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2140996/ To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org


