
Behind Greatness by Inspire North
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”.
Latest episodes

Apr 22, 2025 • 1h 8min
213. David Salmoni – Zoologist / Big Cat Expert / Animal Presenter - Trying A Lot of What-Ifs
Dave Salmoni has been a television host, producer, zoologist, animal and animal/adventure expert. His work has ranged from wildlife and adventure, to competition reality, talk show expert and a regular on news outlets for everything and anything animal. Dave is forever that boy with a fascination for large predator cats and he easily enchants your host with his big cat stories. In his early 20s Dave picked up and left for South Africa to work on re-wilding tigers. There, his life changed forever. We talk about communication with animals, sharing a kill with a lion on his birthday, tigers vs lions and hanging with rhinos. We learn his thoughts on tenacity, self-confidence and the significance of wondering harder than being scared. Trying a lot of what-ifs, indeed. David, IG - @realdavesalmoni X - @davesalmoni Animal Instincts, Animal Planet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGj0D83KEto&list=PLMilupvERrnDAgX6Tx-ooShYnDOIlAs9P YT – Living with Lions: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rdAcrP6NcG8&si=9W0OubR4muSDD1FA YT – On Conan O’Brien: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D3mX34qNAHQ&si=bc6xMDzXtSdyF4Th YT – On Jimmy Kimmel: https://youtube.com/watch?v=g04ipP_RqBE&si=DTrSSkXDpCgTo46A To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org

Apr 1, 2025 • 1h 3min
212. Dr. Paco Calvo - Cognitive Scientist / Philosopher of Biology / Author – Challenging Your Expectations
We are speaking with Paco Calvo, who joins us from Southern Spain. Paco Calvo is a renowned cognitive scientist and a philosopher of biology, known for his groundbreaking research in the field of plant cognition and intelligence. At the University of Murcia he leads the Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), focusing on the study of minimal cognition in plants. He is the author of Planta Sapiens. At his lab he studies the ecological basis of plant intelligence by conducting experimental studies at the intersection of the areas of plant neurobiology and ecological psychology. His interdisciplinary work combines insights from biology, philosophy, and cognitive science to explore the fascinating world of plant behavior, decision-making, and problem-solving. This is the backdrop to our conversation. Paco is a philosopher and scientist who actively wonders and asks questions about plants – and tests for them. Do plants think? Do plants feel? How do plants make decisions. We discuss how these questions bother the current heterodoxy … and the current calls for the defunding of his scientific work. We learn about “fast science”, the dangers of working for a membership, the importance of considering all hypotheses ... and we are reminded about Einstein and his take on ideas vs testing. We hear from him his ultimate obsession and as a treat, his take on language. The history of science is the history of the blow to human ego. See also the episode with Dr. Vera Tiesler (ep 81). Paco: Minimal Intelligence Lab— http://www.um.es/web/minimal-intelligence-lab Planta Sapiens: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393881080 or https://www.amazon.com/Planta-Sapiens-Science-Plant-Intelligence/dp/0393881083/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1PSGAKM3N72FP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8eFGG0mC1oCLiJNQtHOD-M86tJXe8BES42Z7OqCSjGBZtZBDaqR-Kt2FvX7QWqzVXgpRtyD0MHiT8AeMAps2yEeaa708j8ijG5LtQD04SXRCVwgcvp-aIazdPNHahF18.YpvTll09DBmbFyClrpNFiKN7L8LvzAR0YAR2_29qnjI&dib_tag=se&keywords=planta+sapiens&qid=1743352157&sprefix=planta+sapien%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1 Laurie Anderson: Language is a Virus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eTSL2kopP4 To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.

Mar 25, 2025 • 1h 15min
211. Dr. Rudy Schild & Nick Cook – Challenging Old Theories
For earlier one-on-one episodes with Nick see ep 207. With Rudy, see ep 179 , 186, 192, 195, 196, 204. Welcome back to Behind Greatness. This is the second of a series of talks where we host two luminaries in one conversation. Nick - a prolific journalist and author - joins us from his home in the UK. Rudy - a preeminent astrophysicist – joins us from his place in Massachusetts. This is the first meeting between the two and as expected, it was a fun one. Rudy unpacks his groundbreaking work on black holes as finite, magnetic objects and the universe’s outer edge, while Nick ties it to his consciousness research sparked by a shared death experience. Together, they explore: Is the universe a self-learning AI? Do UFOs shift our perception – or maybe have us remember? And is love the substrate of it all? How does reincarnation fit into all of this? Is there a feedback loop? From helical waves to quantum holograms, to plasmas and orbs, this mind-bending talk asks the big “why nots” and “what ifs.” Nick, Website: https://www.nickcook.works/about-nick... Books: https://www.nickcook.works/books/ Rudy: Center for Astrophysics – https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/ Journal of Cosmology – https://thejournalofcosmology.com/Abo... Personal website – http://www.rudyschild.com/ List of Published papers – (via The SAO Astrophysics Data System) CCRI (Consciousness & Contact Research Institute) – https://agreaterreality.com/ NASA – Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy “SOFIA” – https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sofia/

Mar 18, 2025 • 1h 14min
210. Joe McMoneagle Part 4 - Ret. US Army / Remote Viewer #001 / Author – Being Shards of a Whole
This episode is part 4 in our series with Joe McMoneagle. Joe was a US Army intelligence veteran already before he was chosen to be a part of the psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1978. He became known as “Remote Viewer No. 1″ within Project Stargate. Project Stargate was the United States’ first organized research into psychic phenomena via the Defense Intelligence Agency and contractor SRI International. He is an author and also founder of Intuitive Intelligence Applications Inc. Today, he also teaches Remote Viewing at The Monroe Institute, a leading center in exploring human consciousness. We continue to follow Joe in the deep-end of his experiences. We start with telepathy and lying, language as an inhibitor and a protector, an incredible near death experience in East Germany, love v empathy, a life review and remembering, heaven and hell, being shards of a whole, more out of body experiences, losing the fear of death and dying, and reaching more people who are suffering. “As living entities what we are is perhaps the grand engineer or the architect of reality trying to understand what it is.” 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:19 Telepathy Before Language 00:03:55 Telepathy Tapes 00:10:38 The Link Between Autism and Telepathy 00:12:50 Joe's Near Death Experience - "Which One?" 00:31:55 The Cause of Death in the Near Death Experience 00:40:09 What Exists After Death 00:48:12 Could Humans Just Be Shards of a Larger Being? 00:53:07 What Deja Vu Is 00:58:38 Continuous Learning 01:06:40 Fixing Anaesthesia Complications with Coca-Cola? See here other previous guests mentioned: - Dr. Diane Hennacy re telepathy (ep 113) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/dr-diane-hennacy/ - Natalie Sudman re NDE (ep 97) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/breaking-down-our-beliefs/ Previous episodes/discussions on Behind Greatness with Remote Viewers: Russell Targ (ep 80) – Co-Founder, SRI Institute https://youtu.be/7Gw3fIFI73k Courtney Brown (ep 131) https://youtu.be/_jCZzPgdzcM Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 155) https://youtu.be/0E6jhiMd7Dk Stephan A. Schwartz (ep 156) https://youtu.be/VATz-Y59UiY Lyn Buchanan (ep 163) https://youtu.be/K2Ig3C88BxQ Nancy DuTertre (ep 167) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/nancy-du-tertre/ Paul H. Smith (ep 180) https://behindgreatness.org/episode/dr-paul-h-smith/ Joe McMoneagle: - Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joseph-McMoneagle/author/B00MD24CZW?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5&qid=1728261714&sr=1-5&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true - 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/ Listen to Behind Greatness: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/67B5chxVFze3EWUgs9iPJg - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-greatness-by-inspire-north/id1511953342 To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here (as a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors): https://behindgreatness.org

Mar 7, 2025 • 1h 14min
209. Dr. Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy – Clinical & Research Psychologist, University of Virginia / Author – Exploring the ‘So What?’
We speak with Dr. Kim Penberthy today who joined us from the University of Virginia. Kim wears many hats. She is a professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She is also a board certified clinical psychologist and conducts research, teaches, and provides clinical care at UVA in psychiatry and the cancer center. She also studies and researches after death communication. She lived on a farm in a house that witnessed Civil War strife, with her mother a nurse and her father a would-be farmer surgeon. Exposed to life and death on a farm, she began at an early age asking herself and her parents metaphysical questions – long before she became a clinician and research scientist. We hear about her life changing story at the beach and fascinating surgical table stories heard from her aging father. We learn about her pursuit in researching after death communications from those who lose loved ones and how this research may help develop more wholistic therapeutic approaches to grieving. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Coming Up 00:01:21 Introduction 00:03:50 The Division of Perceptual Studies 00:07:45 Does Your "Soul" Exist After Death? 00:13:58 Asking "What is the purpose of life?" and "What happens after death?" 00:20:26 Seeing a Person that is Dead 00:26:01 Divine Interventions 00:32:11 After Death Communication 00:42:34 Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan 00:46:26 Government Funding for Near Death Experiences 00:57:12 Aftermath of NDE's and OBE's Episodes to check out: Dr. Bruce Greyson (ep 69), Dr. Antonia Mills (ep 88) and Dr. Iya Whiteley (ep 185) Kim, https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/dops-staff/kim-penberthy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-kim-penberthy-79017824/ Book w Morgan: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Mindfully-Across-Lifespan-Intergenerational-ebook/dp/B08LXJFNST/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4A42NNAPUGA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3NWBIzpE1SZHjenYF1AtZg.fOCzcGTIApPhdVhuHyTPrOIvW9O8at0lMhi9-7Gch_o&dib_tag=se&keywords=kim+penberthy+Living+Mindfully+Across+the+Lifespan%3A+An+Intergenerational+Guide&qid=1740933711&sprefix=kim+penberthy+living+mindfully+across+the+lifespan+an+intergenerational+guide%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1 For fun, story about Meat from the Sky: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Feb 23, 2025 • 1h 9min
208. Antonio Cupo – TV / Film Actor, Producer – Being Rooted
We are sitting down with Antonio Cupo at his home in Vancouver. Antonio grew up in Vancouver and early in his career he spent many years in Italy as a lead actor in one of the most popular TV drama shows in Italian TV history – Elisa di Rivombrosa. But, that was just a start. We explore some great human themes in our conversation – the meaning of “immedesimarsi”, using “as ifs” to explore, performing the experience while reliving it, acting from pictures in your head, the power in losing the need to make money, grandmothers being shot at and a beautiful story about a guy in the rain looking for a coffee. With art comes a lot of pain. Antonio, IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1182955/bio/ IG: @antoniocupo X: @antoniocupo To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Feb 6, 2025 • 1h 4min
207. Nick Cook – Author / Journalist – Walking Between Places
Nick Cook, a best-selling author and seasoned journalist, dives into fascinating topics like the nature of consciousness and the possibility of living in a simulation. He shares gripping tales of the Soviet 'Caspian Sea Monster' and discusses Edgar Mitchell’s telepathy experiments on the moon. With insights on the role of intuition in creativity, he explores the transformative power of boredom and curiosity. Nick’s reflections on writing reveal how personal experiences shape storytelling, inviting listeners to rethink the essence of greatness in everyday life.

Jan 21, 2025 • 43min
206. Dr. Salima Ikram – Egyptologist / Archeologist / Author – Co-Ruling of Felines and Humans
Dr. Salima Ikram is an Egyptologist and Archeologist. Thanks for joining Behind Greatness. We recorded this chat “coincidentally” on the opening day of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), October 16 2024. Salima graciously joined us from Cairo to have this conversation that day. Salima decided on Egyptology at age 8 and “hasn’t grown up since”. We learn about experimental archeology, puppy farms, slavery, cattle vs elephants and Egyptian cocktails. Salima brings us through her fascination with mummification, felines and their majesty, “chatting with the dead” and how death is viewed in the East. And more… A fun, magical cat … uhm, we mean chat. Or do we? . See previous episodes referenced: Allan Savory (ep 138) , Jack Horner (ep 159), Andrea Lani (ep 205 re the feline) Salima, - Website: https://www.salimaikram.com/ - University: https://www.aucegypt.edu/fac/salima-ikram FB: @slIkram To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors

Jan 8, 2025 • 53min
205. Dr. Andrea Lani – Aerospace Scientist/Engineer - Keeping to an Eagle Eye View
Andrea Lani is an aerospace scientist and engineer. Andrea has had experience working with NASA, NATO and the von Karmen Institute and he is now working on an EU project to develop a leading-edge shielding prototype for space vehicles. Andrea had an experience as a young boy viewing an object in space that he could not explain. He decided to dedicate his adult life to academic and practical scientific exploration to help inform him on the technology that he witnessed as that little boy. As a lifelong scientific explorer, he elaborates on how his undying curiosity also eventually led him to a spiritual awakening. We hear about losing time, the peculiar properties of the feline, the power of meditative states, the triangular prism inside a cube inside a sphere, Metatronic visions, Dr. Edgar Mitchell’s IONS and having an Eagle Eye view on things. See also Garry Nolan/Rudy Schild (ep 204), Ryan Graves (ep 141), Helane Wahbeh (ep134), Rey Hernandez (ep 153,154). To give to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors.

11 snips
Dec 20, 2024 • 1h 14min
204. Dr. Garry Nolan & Dr. Rudy Schild – Informing Your Wonder
Dr. Garry Nolan, a leading immunologist from Stanford, and Dr. Rudy Schild, an esteemed astrophysicist from Harvard, come together for an engaging conversation about the mysteries of the universe. They explore the existence of non-human intelligence and the purpose of life, bringing personal anecdotes into the scientific realm. The duo also addresses the impact of consciousness and intuition on our understanding of extraterrestrial phenomena while advocating for transparency in scientific discussions. Expect a thought-provoking dive into the cosmos!
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