Moments of Clarity

Our guest today on Moments of Clarity is Ros Ben-Moshe. Ros is a Laughter, Wellbeing and Positivity author, academic and practitioner. She is Adjunct lecturer at the School of Public Health and Psychology at La Trobe University where she coordinates the Laughter, Resilience and Wellbeing online short course for professionals. Ros is author of The Laughter Effect – How to Build Joy, Resilience and Positivity in Your Life (2023) and “Laughing at cancer – How to Heal with Love, Laughter and Mindfulness”. Often called on for expert opinion in mainstream media, she has also written for publications including The Canberra Times, Huffington Post and Wellbeing magazine. In today's conversation we discuss Ros's new book "The Laughter Effect" and many of the lessons Ros has learnt about laughter over the years. We hear about Ros' early life, career and the various pathways she took to get to the point she is at today. Ros talks about her cancer diagnosis and first hearing about Laughter Yoga, how we can work to reframe our situations, being grateful and how you do not have to be funny to laugh. It was a fantastic chat and we know you will learn a lot from it. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our website at www.moc-pod.com. Links https://ros-benmoshe.com/ https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/rbenmoshe https://www.instagram.com/rosbenmoshe/?hl=en https://au.linkedin.com/in/rosbenmoshemph-454a122a https://twitter.com/RosBenMoshe https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/could-laughter-make-us-happier-and-less-stressed-/102258166 https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/laughter-effect https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/they-say-it-s-the-best-medicine-so-here-s-how-to-bring-more-laughter-into-your-life-20230720-p5dpyl.html Time Stamps 0:00 - 7:51 Introduction with Matt and Toby 7:52 - 43:34 Part 1 with Ros Ben-Moshe 43:35 - 63:49 Part 2 with Ros Ben-Moshe 63:50 - 65:05 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing.

Today's guest on Moments of Clarity is Alexandre Fleck Soares Brandao (Alex Fleck). Alex moved to Australia in 2018 to pursue a PhD at UNSW Sydney under the Scientia Scholarship Program. His research focuses on how social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have reshaped the way social movements pursue legal change. He has previously taught at UNSW Law, but is currently in the last stages of finishing his thesis. Alex is originally from Brazil, but has lived in different places. As a child he briefly lived in Southern California and as a young adult moved to the Basque Country, Spain, where he completed his Masters degree in Sociology of Law. Alex lives in Sydney, New South Wales with his partner Michele whom he met while protesting at the Federal Law School in his hometown of Porto Alegre, Brazil. They were both law students at the time and were occupying the building in a struggle against illegal changes to the faculty and fell in love. Alex's strong interest and knowledge in law, social media, and politics shines through in this conversation. He is articulate and values-driven yet demonstrates how important it is to understand the nuances and perspectives on various issues. Matt, Toby and Alex discuss: Social media and it's impact on activism, politics and society. Whether social media has democratised power or created a new paradigm of power. The difference between amateur and professional activists and how it leads to repression. The history of Jair Bolsonaro Brazilian politics more broadly Links Twitter @A_FleckBrandao https://twitter.com/a_fleckbrandao?lang=en Interview on Ticker News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKLzMHaf60 https://www.unsw.edu.au/law-justice/about-us/our-people/higher-degree-research-students/alexandre-fleck-soares-brandao https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/anticonstitutional-populism/when-bolsonaro-and-the-judges-go-shopping-how-brazils-legal-elites-opened-the-door-for-bolsonaros-bad-populism/D520A6C9D7582479FE94CDB41E2A003F Zeynep Tufekci - https://www.nytimes.com/column/zeynep-tufekci Toby is currently reading "In the shadow of the Sword" By Tom Holland - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/12376830 Time Stamps 0:00 - 15:37 Introduction with Matt and Toby 15:38 - 38:57 Part 1 with Alex Fleck 38:58 - 80:14 Part 2 with Alex Fleck 80:15 - 81:29 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our website at www.moc-pod.com.

Today's guest on Moments of Clarity is Damon Barrett. Damon has been working on issues related to health and human rights for over 15 years, focusing mostly on drugs and harm reduction. He is a senior lecturer at the School of Global Studies, and a researcher at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is also a co-Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, which he co-founded in 2009. Prior to entering academia Damon was Deputy Director of Harm Reduction International, based in London. His most recent book, Child Rights and Drug Control in International Law was published by Brill/Martinus Nijhoff in 2020. Since 2016 Damon has been part of the core drafting team for the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy. The project has aimed to apply decades of developments in human rights law to global drug control. Links: https://brill.com/display/title/55876 www.humanrights-drugpolicy.org https://www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/damonbarrett Damon Barrett: Child rights in global drug policy: From justification to accountability - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibwDHhFcoxE LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/damon-barrett/ Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy - https://twitter.com/hrdp2 Time Stamps 0:00 - 23:51 Introduction with Matt and Toby 23:52 - 48:30 Part 1 with Damon Barrett 48:31 - 82:35 Part 2 with Damon Barrett 82:36 - 83:49 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/momentsofclaritypodcast/?hl=en or our website at www.moc-pod.com.

Our guest today on Moments of Clarity is Malcolm Preston. Malcolm Preston is an Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management, teaching sustainability on their MBA and Executive Education programmes and visiting Faculty at Harvard Business School. He is also the Sustainability Adviser to a number of large international businesses and one small sustainability start-up. Malcolm recently retired as the Global Head of Sustainability Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), leading a team of some 700 sustainability and climate change experts. Malcolm lead PwC’s thought leadership on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and, in particular, the role of the private sector in their achievement. An accomplished speaker, Malcolm has spoken at numerous events including as a keynote speaker at the Rio +20 Summit, the World Bank, the New York Stock Exchange, and the United Nations. During the podcast we discuss Malcolm's career with PwC, the art of public speaking, his love of teaching, his love of travel, situational deprivation as a tool to living a good life, pivoting from a life of audits to climate change, reimagining our societal structures to adequately deal with the climate crisis, challenging the system within 'the brand boundary' and a moment of clarity. Linkshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmpreston/ https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/preston_malcolm.aspx https://twitter.com/malcolmhpreston Time Stamps 0:00 - 17:06 Introduction with Matt and Toby 17:07 - 44:10 Part 1 with Malcolm Preston 44:11 - 68:02 Part 2 with Malcolm Preston 68:03 - 69:17 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our Instagram page @momentsofclaritypodcast or our website at www.moc-pod.com.

Welcome to the 10th installment for Season 3 of Moments of Clarity with Matthew Sortino and Toby Kent. We have something a little different for you in this episode - 2 guests! And not just any guests, Matt and Toby are joined by Toby's former business partner and good friend Brett Ellis ESM and Toby's dad, Dr Randolph Kent. Brett has a stellar record of achievement as a senior executive in state and local government, community organisations and small business in areas as diverse as emergency management, public safety, environmental management, risk management and societal resilience. During a 30-year career Brett has held senior strategic planning, culture change and operational roles in organisations tasked with supporting communities and implementing major change management programs. As a result of his expertise and experience, a number of initiatives he led inform state, national and international disaster and resilience policies and frameworks. His expertise has seen him perform senior government operational roles during significant emergency events and disasters including the State Consequence Manager, State Relief and Recovery Manager and Municipal Emergency Manager. Brett has been awarded the Emergency Services Medal (ESM) for distinguished services to the community for improvements to Public Safety and the National Emergency Medal for sustained service during the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires. Dr Randolph Kent is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a Visiting Professor at the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London, Honorary Professor at University College London’s Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, as well as a member of the Global Science Forum of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Previously he has directed the Humanitarian Futures Programme at King’s College London, where he and his staff worked from 2004 to 2016 with a wide range of multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organisations to strengthen their strategic and planning capacities for dealing with longer-term disaster threats. Prior to this Dr Kent was assigned as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia (2003), UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Kosovo (1999), UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Rwanda [1994-1995], Chief of the UN Emergency Unit in Sudan [1989-1991] and Chief of Emergency Prevention and Preparedness in Ethiopia [1987-1989]. Since leaving the United Nations, much of Dr Kent’s attention has been focused on projects dealing with organisational and systems behaviour. These interests had led to appointments on a range of governmental and non-governmental committees in Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the private sector, he had served on the policy committees of DHL Deutsche Post Sustainability Advisory Council and Deloitte’s Humanitarian Innovation Panel. Dr Kent's publications include include 'Anatomy of Disaster: The Relief Network in Action' as well as 57 book chapters and journal articles and co-edited, 'The Study and Teaching of International Relations'. He is also currently writing a book – Planning from the Future: Why it Matters - intended to guide governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations on ways to address new types and ever more complex disaster threats. Links https://www.firesticks.org.au/ https://www.resilientco.au/ www.linkedin.com/in/brett-ellis-esm https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/randolph-kent Humanitarianism InFocus with Randolph Kent - A New Debate Production https://youtu.be/cZmwtYkSy_A https://rusi.org/people/kent Time Stamps 0:00 - 4:57 Introduction with Matt and Toby 4:58 - 57:36 Part 1 with Brett and Randolph 57:37 - 90:25 Part 2 with Brett and Randolph 90:26 - 91:39 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clar

Gilbert Rochecouste is the Founder and Managing Director of Australia's premier placemaking consultancy group, Village Well. He is recognised locally and internationally as a leading voice in placemaking, regenerative practice and the creation of vibrant, resilient and loved places. Gilbert truly is the best in the business and has worked with over 2,000 cities, towns, main streets and communities over the past 25 years. Although, Gilbert has worked across Australia and the world, Melbourne has been the beneficiary of his projects with it's laneways, markets, suburban main streets and even the incredible Abbotsford Convent protected and revitalised by his work. Gilbert co-founded the EPOCH Foundation promoting the adoption of business ethics. He has been on the boards of Ross House, Donkey Wheel House Trust and Hub Australia. He is a sought after speaker and facilitator for community engagement activities and an agent provocateur of positive change and inspiration. Links https://www.gilbertrochecouste.com/ https://www.villagewell.org/ https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/art-and-design/article/curious-world-gilbert-rochecouste https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilbert-rochecouste-7a556325 https://www.epochinstitute.com.au/ Joanna Macy - https://www.joannamacy.net/main Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey https://www.jcf.org/works/titles/the-heros-journey-book/ Hugh Mackay - A Crisis of Meaning https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/author/hugh-mackay/ Viv’s Place https://www.launchhousing.org.au/vivs-place-safe-supported-housing https://www.rumi.org.uk/poetry/ Time Stamps 0:00 - 8:17 Introduction with Matt and Toby 8:18 - 38:02 Part 1 with Gilbert Rochecouste 38:03 - 63:39 Part 2 with Gilbert Rochecouste 63:40 - 64:53 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our Instagram page @momentsofclaritypodcast or our website at www.moc-pod.com.

Our guest today on Moments of Clarity is Darren Pereira.Darren is founder, director and master speaker at Success Integrated. He works with corporates and as a coach but his main game is with school students, staff and parents where he has inspired over 500,000 people across 7 countries for over 20 years. Darren is one of the most in-demand, charismatic & energetic speakers in the world. He is naturally engaging & humorous and his no-nonsense advice leaves his audience with a range of practical strategies they can implement immediately.In today's podcast we discuss Darren's early life, trauma, conditioning, winning and losing, failing, making it, getting out of the comfort zone, the importance of finding a mentor, dishonesty, the hope of our youth, celebrating diversity, finding your passion, shaping your destiny, spiritual thinking and more. Links https://successintegrated.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenpereiraofficial https://www.instagram.com/darrenpereiraofficial/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/DarrenPereiraOfficial/ Mentions https://www.matthewsyed.co.uk/resource/bounce-the-myth-of-talent-and-the-power-of-practice/ https://www.ziglar.com/ Time Stamps 0:00 - 11:53 Introduction with Matt and Toby 11:54 - 46:45 Part 1 with Darren Pereira 46:46 - 71:28 Part 2 with Darren Pereira 71:29 - 72:42 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero for our branding and design work and to Christian Prochilo for our music and sound editing. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our instagram page @momentsofclaritypodcast or our website at www.moc-pod.com.

Ash Rosshandler is the CEO of GoodCompany and his purpose is to connect businesses with charities, to work together for a better world. The GoodCompany platform empowers volunteering, donating, fundraising, matched donations and charity gift card rewards. Their clients include Optus, AGL, IAG, CSL, NBN, MYOB, Medibank and many more. In this podcast, Ash opens up about his childhood, his love of problem solving, his journey and his Meatloaf impression. Listen in. You will be in good company. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends, family, colleagues and social networks. You can also check out our instagram page @momentsofclaritypodcast or our website at www.moc-pod.com. We would also love to hear from you so reach out on our website, socials or via email hello@moc-pod.com. Links and Recommendations https://www.goodcompany.org/ https://www.goodcompany.com.au/au https://www.goodcompany.org/goodcompany-volunteer-mystery-bus https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_the_actual_cost_of_preventing_climate_breakdown https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_the_war_in_ukraine_could_change_everything?language=en Long Walk to Freedom By Nelson Mandela https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318431.Long_Walk_to_Freedom Time Stamps 0:00 - 15:02 Introduction with Matt and Toby 15:02 - 62:45 Conversation with Ash Rosshandler 62:46 - 63:59 Outro Thank you to the team at Ex-Zero and to Christian Prochilo for helping make this podcast possible.

In today's episode of Moments of Clarity, Matt and Toby talk to Patchouli Paterson. Patch is the Greens candidate for the Labor-held seat of Scullin in Melbourne’s North. She is a mentor and educator in a national early-years education program and an experienced project officer with a history of working in the environmental and community services sectors. She has also worked in federal politics, primarily in campaigning and constituent outreach. In our conversation today we talk about sport as a vehicle for self-change and personal growth, Patch’s early life, how the poorest in our society have such little access to both green space and the stress-free time to make positive decisions for their future, the leadership crisis in Australia and our attention crisis. We also discuss a potential future for Australia, optimism and hope being the only solution, putting it all on the line as a political candidate and a moment of clarity. Thank you so much for listening to Moments of Clarity. Remember to subscribe, review and share episodes with your friends and family. You can also check out our instagram page @momentsofclaritypodcast or our website at www.moc-pod.com. More from Patch https://greens.org.au/vic/person/patchouli-paterson https://womensagenda.com.au/female-candidate/patchouli-paterson/ Facebook: @Patch4Scullin Instagram: @Patch4Scullin Time Stamps Introduction with Matt & Toby: 0:00 - 12:57 Patch Interview Part 1: 12:58 - 41:45 Patch Interview Part 2: 41:46 - 69:33

Moments of Clarity returns for a brand new season and listeners will no doubt notice some changes to our podcast. Before we release our first episode of Season 3, enjoy a little bonus episode introducing Matt's friend and new co-host, Toby Kent. Toby Kent is an expert in sustainable development and resilience. Before moving to Australia, Toby spent two decades working across five continents to help major corporate, government, and non-government organisations achieve their commercial and operational objectives in more sustainable ways. He has the distinction of being the first person in Australia to hold the title of Chief Resilience Officer, a position he performed for metropolitan Melbourne for over five years. Moments of Clarity is a way for Toby to explore his passions, challenge his own preconceptions, and make bad jokes.Podcast by Matthew Sortino and Toby Kent Graphic Design by Giosuè Prochilo Music by Christian Prochilo

Today on Moments of Clarity, I speak to Professor Julie Leask. Julie is professor at the University of Sydney’s Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery. Her research over 24 years has focused on the social and behavioural aspects of immunisation. She has a PhD, a Master of Public Health and nursing and midwifery qualifications. Julie is visiting fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance where she previously worked for 12 years and set up the social science unit. She currently chairs the World Health Organization’s Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination working group. She serves on several advisory committees, including for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. In 2019, Julie was the overall winner of the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence award. Thank you for listening. Links Email: julie.leask@sydney.edu.au Twitter: @julieleask https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/julie-leask.html https://julieleask.wordpress.com/ https://www.ncirs.org.au/public https://talkingaboutimmunisation.org.au/ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorian-government-s-lengthy-lockout-of-unvaccinated-is-an-overreach-20211123-p59bdj.html Time Stamps Introduction: 0:00 - 3:11 Part 1: 3:12 - 33:35 Part 2: 33:36 - 59:23 Conclusion: 59:24 - 59:56 Moments of Clarity Instagram: @momentsofclaritypodcast Facebook: @momentsofclaritypodcast Twitter: @BarneyMOC Email: momentsofclaritypodcast@gmail.com Podcast by Matthew Sortino Music by Christian Prochilo Artwork by Michael Chrisanthopoulos

Today on Moments of Clarity, I speak to Joseph Merz. Joseph is a conservationist and entrepreneur based in Auckland, New Zealand. He is the CEO and founder of Merz Institute, a charity that has a broad mission to ensure continued relevance in a world where the only constant is change. Through the use of holistic data collection, networking and creative novel solutions, the institute is tackling a number of things from global insect biomass decline through to resilience issues relating to our species. Joseph is also Founder and CEO of Sterning Group, an ethical recruitment company, and is an advisor at Triiyo, an industry-first HR automation tool. Joseph is also Co-founder and Director of Commercial Strategy at BH Pharma. Combined with a wide range of life changing career and personal choices, Joseph is a wealth of experience and knowledge. Although Joseph obviously has a passion for business, you are more likely to find him hiking the hills of New Zealand with his young family. In today’s conversation, we talk about Joseph’s upbringing and family, his early career and how it changed his moral purpose, the Merz Institute and some of the key issues it is working through, how data has helped Joseph see through the false narrative that deceive many of us, the importance of mitigation and adaptation in the face of an uncertain future and much more. Thank you for listening. Links https://merzinstitute.org/ https://bhpharma.com.au/joseph-merz.php https://www.sterning.com.au/people/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmerz/ Time Stamps Introduction: 0:00 - 4:12 Part 1: 4:13 - 54:40 Part 2: 54:41 - 93:54 Conclusion: 93:55 - 94:35 Moments of Clarity Instagram: @momentsofclaritypodcast Facebook: @momentsofclaritypodcast Twitter: @BarneyMOC Email: momentsofclaritypodcast@gmail.com Podcast by Matthew Sortino Music by Christian Prochilo Artwork by Michael Chrisanthopoulos

Today on Moments of Clarity, I speak to Dr Anika Molesworth. Anika is a farmer, scientist, storyteller and the author of an incredible new book “Our Sunburnt Country”. She is a passionate advocate for courageous action to save our land, food and world from the climate crisis at our doorstep. Anika is making her voice heard across Australia and the world as she works to save her family farm in the semi-arid far west of New South Wales and in turn Australia’s rural places. Anika is in touch with the land and understands its necessity. Anika understands the interconnection between the actions we take, the climate and in turn our food security. This is why she is dedicated to acting on and communicating the need for sustainable farming, environmental conservation and climate change action. Anika completed a Bachelor of Science specialising in Agribusiness, a Masters of Sustainable Agriculture, and a PhD in Agricultural Science. She has been working in international agricultural development for the past six years, giving her a holistic perspective of agricultural issues at global scale. Anika is a founding director of Farmers for Climate Action, a movement that puts farmers on the frontlines of climate change at the centre of climate solutions. She also founded Climate Wise Agriculture as a knowledge sharing platform for climate change as it relates to food systems around the world. https://twitter.com/AnikaMolesworth https://www.instagram.com/anikamolesworth/ https://www.anikamolesworth.com/ In Part 1 of the podcast, Anika and I discuss her new book ‘Our Sunburnt Country’, what inspired her to write it and how she bridged the gap of scientist and storyteller. We explore Anika’s move with her family from urban Melbourne to a farm near Broken Hill in Far Western NSW and the perspective shift that followed - that is the obvious interconnection between nature, food and people. Anika explains how her ‘connection to place’ became the basis for getting involved in climate solutions. In Part 2, we discuss the necessary role of everyday people taking action and becoming community leaders, the groups on the ground working hard to find solutions, how we each have a unique capacity for positive change, why Anika is hopeful for our future, tackling climate in the way we tackled covid - with science, the expense of not acting on climate, how policy levers can improve agriculture and rural Australia, the solutions are in the hands of individuals, industry and policy makers together, a moment of clarity and more. Time Stamps Introduction: 0:00 - 5:00 Part 1: 5:01 - 31:50 Part 2: 31:51 - 69:18 Conclusion: 69:19 - 69.59 Moments of Clarity Instagram: @momentsofclaritypodcast Facebook: @momentsofclaritypodcast Twitter: @BarneyMOC Email: momentsofclaritypodcast@gmail.com Podcast by Matthew Sortino Music by Christian Prochilo Artwork by Michael Chrisanthopoulos