What happens when a life built on discipline, survival, and excellence finally makes room for joy?

In this episode, we explore Steeped, the powerful memoir of retired neurosurgeon Dr. Craig Yorke, whose journey stretches from the charged streets of Boston’s Roxbury to the operating rooms of America’s heartland, and ultimately back to the music that first shaped him.

Raised by parents determined to shield their son from the brutal realities of racism through achievement, Yorke grew up under relentless expectations. By sixteen, he was performing as a violin soloist with the Boston Pops, but the passion that opened doors also became a burden. Seeking purpose beyond obligation, he traded concert halls for surgical theaters, embarking on a decades-long career in neurosurgery where precision, endurance, and responsibility carried life-or-death stakes.

Steeped is more than a medical memoir. It is a deeply human story about identity, ambition, family, and the courage it takes to separate who we are from who we were told we must become.

Now retired and once again performing violin, Yorke reflects on the question that anchors his story. Not what he told his children to do, but what he himself had done to find freedom beyond fear and expectation.

A moving conversation about pressure, purpose, race, medicine, music, and the lifelong search for authenticity. This episode reminds us that sometimes the most delicate operation is learning how to live on our own terms.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

What does it actually take to bring that dash of vanilla extract to your kitchen counter?

This week, we’re journeying deep into the "dim green hush" of the Madagascar forest canopy with Emmanuel LeRoche, author of A Taste of Madagascar: Culinary Riches of the Red Island. Emmanuel spent years seeing Madagascar as a set of procurement numbers on a spreadsheet—until a life-changing trip with American chefs transformed his understanding of commerce into something far more intimate.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Marriage of Orchids: Why every single vanilla bean from Madagascar requires a human hand to "marry" the plant in the absence of its native bee.
• Beyond the Brochure: Emmanuel moves past the glossy tourist images to find the real Madagascar—where livelihoods hang in a delicate balance between tradition and survival.
• The Golden Reward: How the shift from wild honey raiding to sustainable beekeeping is saving both the forests and the bees.
• Fragrance in the Dark: A dusk walk through the ylang-ylang trees of Nosy Be to find the humid, floral origins of iconic scents like Chanel No. 5.
• The Shadow of History: A candid look at the lingering imprint of colonial rule and the uneasy harmony between ancient tribal traditions and the modern dining rooms of Antananarivo.

Emmanuel insists that Madagascar cannot be reduced to its exports. It’s found in the smoke of cooking fires, the soil beneath fingernails, and the silent, steady work of the people behind the flavors we often consume without a second thought.

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We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo

What happens when a master planner tries to out-strategize heartbreak? Corey Seemiller's "The Soulmate Strategy," explores her honest, funny, and deeply relatable journey from trying to control the pain of a very public breakup to discovering the freedom that comes with letting go.

We all inevitably become the brand. And that's why I wrote, "How to Become a Dynamic Podcast Guest and Sell Stuff." It's a sweet and short primer that teaches you about the gear, the appearance and the messaging that can grab and hold today's micro-attention spans and motivate your listeners to take action. It's Just a dollar ninety nine at Amazon. Grab your copy today and sell mo