Carrie Fowler, Joshua Malina, Roger Snipes

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The following is a paid podcast.iHeartRadio's hosting of this podcast constitutes neither in
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(00:20):
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Hello, my beautiful Tristate area.Welcome to our one hundred and twenty
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(01:02):
Sam's. We have such a greatshow lined up for you today, very
exciting stuff. In our disability awarenesssegment brought to you by ogpa dot Com.
Today, we're featuring influencer, advocate, medical mama and author Carrie Fowler,
advocating for her daughter Hayden, currentlydiagnosed with the terminal genetic disorder San
Filipo syndrome. With over half amillion followers on social media, Carrie wants

(01:26):
to give her daughter a voice andleave a legacy. Today she's here to
chat disability awareness, temistifying the stigmassurrounding Santa Filipo syndrome and raise awareness for
research and funding. In our Entertainmentand pop culture segment, brought to you
by b Chakucina and Metropolitan Lifestyles,we're featuring actor Joshua Molina, a co

(01:46):
star and NBC's The West Wing andABC's Sports Night. Joshua also appeared in
Aaron Sorkin's The American President Malice andBroadway production of a Few Good Men.
He recently finished a Broadway run andTom Stopford's Tony winning play leopoldstat Today,
he joins me to chat career,the current industry, Hollywood strike, and

(02:07):
what he's currently working on next inour Healthy Minutes segment, brought to you
by Once Upon a Coconut. We'rejoined by UK fitness influencer Roger Snipes,
author, podcaster and UK's most estheticbiohacker. He's motivated over one point five
million followers around the world today.He joins me to chat fitness, biohacking,

(02:28):
health and wellness trans He endorses Staytuned for influencer advocate and supermama Carrie
Fowler, advocating for her daughter Hayden, currently diagnosed with a terminal genetic disorder
San Filippo syndrome. You're listening toa Moment of Zen right here on seven
ten. WO are the voice ofNew York iHeartRadio. We'll be right back
after this. A Moment of Zenis brought to you by Caldwell Solmes Incorporated,

(02:51):
Investing globally in transformative businesses like OriginalDigital Corporation or ODC. ODC develops
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(03:15):
and your information is secured. Checkout ogpay dot com. Welcome back,
beautiful Tri State area. You're listeningto a moment of Zen right here on
seven ten wore the voice of NewYork iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Zen.
Sam's coming up in our disability awarenesssegment brought to you by ogpay dot
com. Today, we're featuring influencerSam Felippo Syndrome advocate in medical Mama Carrie

(03:38):
Fowler. She's also an author.She's currently advocating for her daughter, Hayden,
who has been diagnosed with a terminalgenetic disorder, Sam Felippo syndrome.
Now with over a half million followerson social media, Carrie wants to give
her daughter a voice and leave alegacy. She's here today to chat disability
awareness, demystifying the stigmas surrounding SamFilio syndrome and raise awareness for research and

(04:01):
funding. Also called MPs muco polysacarodosis type three Sante LiPo syndrome is a
genetically inherited metabolic disorder that causes nervoussystem issues and a range of other symptoms.
In children. This syndrome is alsosometimes referred to as childhood Alzheimer's because
it ultimately causes the loss of physicaland mental development over time. Researchers estimate

(04:28):
fewer than five thousand people in theUnited States have San Filipo syndrome. There
is no care yet, but doctorsand researchers are working hard to find better
treatments for it. San Filipo syndromedoes affect life expectancy, although it varies.
Most children reach only their teenage years, but some do live longer into
their twenties and thirties. Welcoming downto the show is the amazing Carrie Fowler.

(04:50):
Welcome, super Mama. Hi,thank you for having me, absolutely,
thank you so much for coming on. Wow, you have such a
story to tell, my dear,So I'm going to start from the beginning.
So I'm just going to educate ourlisteners here and viewers. But a
family history increases the risk, whichaffects about one and seventy thousand births,

(05:11):
and kids who have the condition areborn with it, but most won't have
symptoms until the preschool years, whenthey're between two and six years old.
Then they start to show developmental delaysand behavioral issues. Were you aware of
this throughout your pregnancy? And whendid Hayden receive a formal diagnosis? So?
No, I had a completely normalpregnancy, I mean as normal as

(05:34):
it can be. You know,we did start to have an idea that
Hayden had some delays between ages twoto three. She was actually first diagnosed
with autism, sensory processing disorder,and global developmental delay at age three,

(05:56):
and we received the correct diagnosis ofsan Felipo syndrome at age five. As
she continued to regress, so atage three, we started early interventions and
multiple therapies, and she continued tolose skills and abilities and speech, and
she was very, very fearful ofthings that she didn't used to be afraid

(06:18):
of. And so I started searchingfor more answers, and I was able
to get a referral to genetics.Somehow, some way, I say it's
mom intuition. I came across alot about genetic testing, and I just
pushed for testing. I didn't knowwhat I was looking for, but through
that we were able to find outthe correct diagnosis of san Felipo syndrome.

(06:42):
Wow, what a journey. Imean it often takes years I know that
to receive a correct diagnosis of sandflip because, of course, due to
its rarity and lack of physician awareness, a child symptoms, to your point,
are often classified as developmental delay inor autism until, like you said,
a thorough medical workup is done toidentify the underlying issues. So good

(07:03):
job for pushing on that, mama. Now there are four types of sad
foleopal syndrome ABC and D, andtype AS the most common and most severe
in most of the world. TypeAS the most common subtype, making up
more than half of the cases.Types B and C are less common,
and type D is the rarest.So we know that Type A is typically

(07:24):
considered the most severe subtype. Thismeans that most people with Type A have
a rapidly progressing form with earlier lossof abilities such as talking and walking.
What type does Hayden have and whatwere and what were some of her more
telling symptoms and when did they reallystart to ramp up? Hayden does have
Type A, and I would considerher a very severe case for how progressed

(07:50):
she is at only eight years old, because she can no longer talk,
she can no longer walk, shecan eat very little by mouth, but
is ninety nine percent Tube said,and you know she has just progressed really
quickly to be only eight. ButHayden lost all speech. I remember at

(08:11):
five when she was diagnosed and wefirst partnered with the Kure San Felippo Foundation.
Glenn which is one of the foundersof the Kure San Felippa Foundation and
also another San Felippo syndrome parent,he said that their daughter lost all speech
by age six, and I rememberthinking, like, there's no way I'm

(08:33):
not going to hear her talking anymorein a year. I mean, she
still she couldn't say as much asshe once could, but she was still
saying a bunch of words, evenif they were all over the place.
And by age six, Haydn nolonger talked. I mean for about another
year. We would occasionally hear aword or what we thought was a word,
you know, every few months,but that was it. And she

(08:56):
was very clumsy as a todd Ialways thought it was just because I laugh.
When she was little, she wasthick, I mean, she was
just solid. We called her abull in a china shop all the time.
Because she was just thick and sheran into everything and she didn't watch
where she was going. But nowI think that was also a part of
just the start of brain damage thatwe didn't know what was happening, which

(09:20):
was you know, she looks likea cute, silly toddler that's very hyperactive,
but it was very much assigned thebrain damage. I'm so sorry to
hear that. Now. It's truethat San Filippo can be genetically passed from
parents to children during conception. Soif both genetic parents of a child are
carriers of the syndrome, with eachpregnancy, they have a twenty five percent

(09:43):
chance of having a child with SanFilipo syndrome, a fifty percent chance of
having a child who is not affectedbut as a carrier, and a twenty
five percent chance of having a childwho is neither affected nor a carrier.
So it's really a toss up.Now, interestingly, you have an older
daughter with no disability. Is shea carrier? And are you and your

(10:03):
husband both carriers? So my husbandand I are both carriers, and my
oldest daughter we do not know yet. We have not had her tested,
but we will. Insurance did notwant to cover it when she was younger,
So for Hayden, they also didn'tcover it and we paid like six

(10:24):
thousand dollars too. Yeah, becausethey deemed it unnecessary. And that's not
even trying to talk bad about insurance, but it is frustrating for parents when
for us it was deemed unnecessary.So we had to pay cash to choose
the cheapest option, and it wasvery much necessary because we found out she

(10:46):
has, you know, a fatalgenetically inherited disease. So we are waiting
on my oldest but we do wantto have her tested so she can know
for her future if there's a chanceshe could pass it to her children,
if she has children. So manythings to consider, so many things.
You are one warrior now, physicalcharacteristics, nervous system symptoms, gastul intestinal

(11:13):
symptoms. Must you little skeletal symptoms, your nose and throat symptoms. Your
expenses must be through the roof,all while fundraising to find the cure.
What is your biggest stress at themoment and do you worry about your older
daughter being emotionally affected? So biggeststress at the moment, that's a funny

(11:37):
one. I don't know. Ifeel like I have a big jar full
of stress and it just depends onwhich, you know, piece of candy
I pull out every day to seewhat it is stressing me out more.
Medical bills are always stressful because Haydensees almost every kind of specialist it feels,
like you know, and she's gotroutine procedures. And while we do

(11:58):
have insurance, we make too muchon paper to be approved for like government
assistance of any kind through the state. So we are thankful for our insurance,
but it's still very expensive every year, and I would say, you

(12:18):
know, financially is stressful. Justbeing able to prioritize time, like you
stated, between having a child thatis sick and that has a disability and
all of her needs, and thenhaving an older child and trying to give
her a normal childhood and trying toallow or not allow, but keep all

(12:41):
of this from traumatizing her the bestway that we can, because she does
have a sister with a terminal illness, and she handles it very very well.
I mean, from what I seeon the outside, she's very strong,
and I don't want to speak forher too much, but just as
her mother, I think sometimes shepours that anxiety and that stress and that

(13:07):
grief into everything else she does.She's very much a perfectionist and I'm so
proud of her. I mean,she works so hard at everything she does,
but she's also I know no onethat is harder on herself than my
oldest child. I'm always like,you don't have this much pressure on you
from us, you know that,right, Like we just want you to

(13:28):
do stuff because you enjoy it andyou're doing your best. And so yeah,
I think she does struggle, butI just think that, you know,
other people may not notice how itaffects her, because well I'm sure,
I'm sure it does affect her.But like, even as a teenager,
seeing her little sister go through this, seeing her mom struggle, seeing

(13:54):
you know, the ecosystem, it'sit definitely takes a toll. But she
puts on a brave, big smileand I see you on social media and
she's just an incredible soul. Sobig shout out to Sissy. Now,
you deal with a ton of nastycomments on social media. I've personally read
them from people who are just ignorantand uneducated and lack empathy. What stigmas
do you wish to demystify when itcomes to San Filippo syndrome. Oh,

(14:18):
there's a lot, I guess,you know. I one thing that I
have a I have struggled explaining toother people is like talking about my oldest
daughter that by her caring for hersister does not mean that she is forced
to or that she is playing acaregiver role to her disabled sibling, or

(14:43):
that we don't have a healthy familydynamic. And I don't say that to
brag or to boast or to lookgood on camera. I am extremely thankful
that my husband, my oldest andHay and we all have a very healthy,
very open and loving family dynamic.And we are super fortunate because I

(15:07):
know how rare that is, especiallyin families that have children with disabilities or
terminal illnesses. A lot of mayorjust don't make it, let alone how
that affects the children in the process. So I would say that's one stigma,
is that you can have a healthyfamily and have a teenager that's gifted

(15:28):
and does all the things, andyou can have a child on the complete
opposite end that is disabled and verysick and requires a lot of care.
And I'm just lucky that my oldestunderstands all of that, you know,
and we do our best to maketime. My husband and I are constantly
doing different things for both girls andtaking turns staying home with one so the

(15:48):
other can be with my oldest,and we take Hayden to everything that we
can for her. Sister. Isee that, I see you on social
media with the dogs and her serviceand wolf, and you're camping or glamping
or dad's taking her, you know, in the water. Now talk to
me about Hayden's Extraordinary Garden book.You are now an author, and what

(16:11):
is your mission with the book?Congratulations? Thank you. I decided to
write the book because I've had severalpeople ask me, well more than several.
I've had people in my personal lifeand as well as followers and friends
on social media asking about how totalk to their children about something like San

(16:33):
Philipo syndrome. And I've even hadlike my sister or my sister in law
that have my nieces and nephews talkingto me about, you know, how
they talk to their kids about theircousin Hayden and how she's sick. And
it's just a really difficult conversation thatusually ends pretty quickly because the kids begin

(16:55):
to ask really difficult questions that canmake you emotional as a parent. And
I just decided to write a children'sbook because I figured if I could come
up with a way that wasn't tooinformative, you know, to scare the
children, because you don't really wantto talk about anything too terminal, you

(17:17):
know, to a little kid,because it can be scary. So I
just tried to think of ways toexplain how Hayden's body works differently and how
she lacks certain things that most ofus have and that's what causes her to
lose these skills. But it doesn'tmean that you can't be her friend,
or that you have to be scaredof her, or that this is going
to happen to you. It's justher body works differently. Oh, you

(17:41):
are one strong lady, My dear, one strong lady. We are out
of time, but you are amazing. Thank you so much, Thank you
so much for having me. Absolutelythat was her disability awareness segment, brought
to you by OGPA dot com.That was the incredible Carrie Fowler, medical
mama, author and influence you're advocatingfor her daughter, Hayden, currently diagnosed

(18:02):
with the terminal genetic disorder san Felipposyndrome. You can check her out on
the gram at Hayden's Hope and that'sHayden with the Y they're currently actively fundraising.
Please make sure that you're being empatheticwhen you're checking out her page,
and keep all negative comments to yourself. If you have nothing nice to say,
don't say it at all. You'relistening to a Moment of Zen right
here on seven ten wore the voiceof New York iHeartRadio. We'll be right

(18:26):
back after this. A Moment ofZen is brought to you by your home
TV. Hi, this is KathyIreland here on a Moment of Zen brought
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(18:47):
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Please check out your hometv dot tunein to a Moment of Zen Saturday nights
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(19:07):
Welcome back, beautiful Tri State area. You're listening to a moment of
Zen right here on seven ten wR, the voice of New york iHeartRadio.
I'm your host, Zen. Sam'sup next. In our Entertainment and
pop culture segment brought to you byb J. Kuccina and Metropolitan Lifestyles were
featuring Hollywood actor josh Molina, aco star on NBC's The West Wing and

(19:29):
ABC's Sports Night. Joshua also appearedin Aaron Sorkin's The American President, Malice
and the Broadway production of A FewGood Men. More recently, he played
David Rawson in Sanda Himes's Scandal.His four hundred episodes of television include Inventing
Anna, American Horror Story, AmericanAuto, Shameless, and The Larry Sanders

(19:49):
Show. Joshua's film appearances include Bulworthin the Line of Fire and A Few
Good Men. Recently, he finisheda Broadway run in Tom Stopford's Tony winning
play leopol stat Today, he joinsme to chat career, the current industry
strikes, and what he's currently workingon next. Welcome to the show.
Superstar. Thanks for having me.Boy, your intro makes it sound better

(20:11):
than it has been. You mademy career sound really good condensed like that.
You are a very very important personin the entertainment industry. What are
you talking about? So? Firstof all, I saw Leopold chat congratulations
on what an amazing run. Thankyou. That was a dream job,
truly a dream job. Well,what a perfect, perfectly cast part for

(20:32):
you. Now, I'm going togive some exposition here for those who didn't
see it or actually want to logon online and find the digital version of
it. But the play, whichran on Broadway until July, followed the
extended Murrs family for three generations fromeighteen ninety to the nineteen fifties, basically
and from Glory to Destruction. Youplayed Herman Murrs, the patriarch of this

(20:52):
Viennese Jewish family. And when wefirst meet Herman, he's an extravagantly wealthy
textile factory on desperate to be acceptedinto high society. But he's also trying
to shed his identity by converting toChristianity, which actually was common practice during
this period. How did you preparefor this role, especially for this role,
and why was this story so importantto retell great questions. Well,

(21:18):
I actually replaced an actor, DavidKrumholtz, who originated the role on Broadway,
so I had less time to preparethan the original cast, which had
a longer rehearsal period and more ofa lead up to doing the play.
So I felt like I was sortof thrown onto a steam locomotive that was
already running. I did have sometime. I had time to prep The
director, Patrick Marbor, who wontedTony for his direction of the play,

(21:41):
and he's just a brilliant, fabulousguy, gave me some good recommendations of
books to read, a research todo. The associate director Dana Weiner and
others compiled and incredible what they calledthe Bible of the play, which was
a tremendous amount of information about everythingdiscussed in the play. Because this is

(22:03):
very dense, information heavy play byTom Stoppart. I mean, it's beautiful,
but there's also there's a lot ofhistory. As you say, it
covers almost six decades. And thenreally, first and foremost, I'm a
text first guy, so really divingdeep into the brilliant play by Tom Stoppard
and reading the play and preparing therole and showing up with my lines memorized.

(22:25):
Because I had a condensed and compressedrehearsal period, and then seeing the
play, I had an advantage thatmost actors don't have. If you're in
the original cast of the play,you don't get to see the play.
I got to sit there and Isaw five performances of the play during my
rehearsal period, and I was ableto see the scope and the breath of
the piece, and what it lookedlike when it sounded like, and all

(22:48):
the movement. And watching the incredibleoriginal cast was a big part of my
preparation. That's amazing that you hadthat fortunate opportunity because to your point,
most actors they don't get that.Yeah, And you also asked I didn't
answer, but you asked, whyis it important that the play was done?
Now? I think that's I thinkthat is a beautiful question. And
I was about to say everybody knowsthe history of the Holocaust. That's not

(23:11):
even true. The fact is,these days when they do polls, are
young people know less and less aboutwhat happened during those years. So purely
on an informational place, it's importantthat people and young people particularly heard and
learned a little bit history with theplay. But more so, I think
we are, unbelievably or maybe believablyin a situation where some of the seeds

(23:33):
of what happened in the Holocaust arestill around. Anti Semitism is rife.
I think last year fifty percent ofhate related crimes were anti Semitic, anti
Jewish crimes. So it's a playwhere you it's easy to sit if you
do know your history and sort ofjudge in particularly my character who feels that,
hey, things are great. I'veconverted to Catholicism, I'm rich,

(23:59):
I'm doing Oh, I'm upwardly mobile. I'm towards the top of cultural Vienna
in eighteen ninety nine, and thingslook pretty good for the Jews, And
it's easy to sit there and go, well, I know where this is
headed. But I think it's alsoincumbent on the audience who watches the play
to think, well, maybe I'mfeeling pretty good as a Jew or a
member of another minority group in Americatoday, But maybe someone's going to point
at met ten twenty years from nowand say, oh, that person didn't

(24:22):
see the seeds of hate that arethat have been planned. Yeah, that's
very true, very true. Now, what's the parallel that actually, when
I was doing research about your childhoodthat you grew up in you Rochelle outside
in New York City and your parentswere founding members of the Young Israel of
Scarsille Synagogue and conservative and but theysent you to modern Orthodox Westchester Day School

(24:44):
and after high school at Horseman,very well known college prep private school located
right here in the Bronx. Youstudied theater at Yale. Congratulations, this
is an amazing run. I'm goingsomewhere with this I'll not experience and your
research, yeah, I have now. Although not explicit throughout the play,
Herman is fighting against the stereotypical tropeof the weak Jew. He does this
by leaning away, like you said, from his Jewish identity and converting.

(25:08):
Why was he so misunderstood? Whywas he dissentsished by by by by by
society because people obviously were not verythrilled with his choices. Yeah, well
he was able as a Jew inuh, you know, in Turn of
the century Vienna, to rise toa certain place of power. He's rich,

(25:30):
he owns a textile factory. Atbeginning in the business, and he
is under the illusion that, havingconverted to Catholicism, that he has remade
himself. There are elements, thereare scenes in the play where it's quite
clear that whatever his self identity is, and I would say he is leaning

(25:51):
away from his Jewish identity, clearlyhe's converted, but he's also really struggling
with it, and you see thatin the play too. But it's made
clear to him by certain non Jewishelements of society that whatever he may consider
himself, he will be in theireyes a Jew. And there's only so
far he can rise. And hemay be rising in cultural Vienna, but

(26:11):
as far as political power, that'snever going to happen. And so I
think part of the story, atleast my character story, and there are
I think they're thirty eight actors inthe piece, so it's a big ensemble
show. A part of my storyis Hermann's realization that it's not just a
question of how you see yourself orhow you would present yourself. Certain people

(26:33):
and certain elements of society are goingto put you in your place and try
to keep control of you, regardlessof how you think you've remade yourself.
Yeah, so many interesting parallels werewith where we are as a society today.
This is true. Interesting. Nowlet's shift away from Leopol Schatton.
Let's talk current strikes. The strikesinvolving Hollywood actors in writers entail many distinct

(26:56):
issues, but one of the mostcontroversial concerns is the artificial intelligence likeness by
individual human beings. And the studiosare requesting the right to offer contracts that
allow them to scan our bodies,our voices, and other features of actors,
including extras, and then hold therights to the AI likeness in perpetuity.

(27:18):
The actors are upset for good reason. What do you say to all
of this? Yeah, I saythere are many issues that have brought on
this strike. One of the foremostones is AI. The people who have
created AI are saying, hey,we got to slowdown. We're not sure
exactly the power of the ability ofAI and where that's going to go.
That's true here too. I meanfor us, it's an existential threat.

(27:42):
Where as actors, dancers, singers, stunt performers, we're worrying that we're
going to be replaced by AI.There are already things where background actors their
work is threatened by there's something calledtiling, which is an effect where they
can take your image. Instead theythey need a crowd scene of five hundred
people, they can do it withtwenty people. So we can see a

(28:04):
future with AI and the AMPTP isoffering us nothing, any, no kinds
of guarantees that this isn't going tohappen where you can scan an act or
one person man or a woman andthen use his or her likeness, as
you say, in perpetuity. Somaybe you get one hundred bucks for the
day and then you never work again. I mean, this is an existential

(28:26):
threat where actors are worried we're goingto be replaced by zeros and ones,
and strangely, or maybe not strangely, the people were supposedly bargaining with have
nothing to say in this year.They don't want to make any guarantees because
they see an upside to scanning youonce and using you forever or you know,
and it doesn't just affect background actors. Maybe you play a small role

(28:48):
in a Marvel movie and next thingyou know, you're in twenty other Marvel
movies that you haven't consented to orgotten compensated for me. It's terrible.
I mean listen. I suggest thatthe control strike settlement forbid studios from buying
the rights to AI likeness for morethan a single film or project, or
as a compromise, the contract couldbe for some limited number of projects,

(29:11):
but not in perpetuity. Right.Actors thus would remain in long term control
of their AI likeness. Yet,if they wanted to keep selling those likenesses
project by project, they could doso. And interestingly, Nielsen Media already
releases how many billions of minutes eachstreamer gets in views, as well as
the top twenty shows by billions ofminutes watched, and the streamers get paid

(29:32):
from subscribers regardless of how many peoplewatch per month or year. It's a
subscriber model, not an ad basedmodel. And the reason they're not being
transparent right now is because they don'twant to disclose how profitable many of these
shows have been, thereby owing thecreators their fair share. So this is
going to go on for a while. Now, we have four minutes left.

(29:52):
How do you balance Hollywood and family. You have a very fast paced
career. Yeah, well, yeah, I've been very lucky. I have
worked a lot, and primarily inTV over the last thirty years, and
I've just been very fortunate, firstof all to get the work, second
of all, to have work thathas been primarily in Los Angeles, near
my home, and so I've beenable to be a dad who's around.

(30:15):
I'm now starting, yeah, andthat was always very important to me.
But I'm sure there could have beensituations where I was offered a job out
of town that I would have hadto take. And I have occasionally worked
out of town, but it's beentwo days here, three days there.
I haven't been away for weeks andweeks, and I know friends who have
families who have been away for months, and it's it is a difficult profession
in that sense. So I've justbeen lucky. I've also made decisions.

(30:36):
I haven't done theater, even thoughit's my first love for decades now,
because it meant if it was intown, then it meant that daddy was
working whenever the kids were going tobed, because you know, the show's
at eight pm every night and ifand a lot of theater takes the actor
out of town. So I avoidedthat for a long time. My kids
are now adults. My daughter istwenty five, my son is twenty one

(30:57):
young Oh, you're very kind.They don't they don't need daddy at bedtime
anymore. They don't want me,they don't want you there. So so
now I feel I can go alittle bit further afield. I was able
to go to New York for fivemonths and do this play. That was
a dream of mine, but Ijust prioritized my family when the kids were

(31:17):
younger. It's clear and it showsnow you've acted in so many scenes.
We have about two and a halfminutes left. I want to get two
more questions if we can some someintense scenes. What's the what's the strangest
thing you've caught yourself thinking about whiletrying to portray a serious character. Ah,
that's very funny. Yeah, ohyeah, my mind strays a lot.
Well. The hard part I havefound, uh is theater. In

(31:41):
theater, I don't like to knowwho's in the audience because occasionally I find
myself thinking about who's in the audience. So my very first I almost an
episode because I'm a TV actor.My very performance of leopolg dot Uh.
Tom Stopper, the playwright himself wasthere, which I wish I hadn't known
because I spent a lot of timeon stage thinking, oh, here I
am. I'm doing Tom Stofford's playingin front of Tom Stofford. Wait a

(32:04):
minute, I'm thinking about Tom Stopfordas I do his play in front of
him. That must mean I'm notconcentrating on concent This is not good.
Okay. So Tom Stofford is thestrangest thing you've acted about. You've got
thinking about the playwright as I'm performinghis work and maybe not folksing the way
I shouldn't. He should be soflattered. Okay. And lastly, what
are you currently working on? Iam a co host with Stephanie Buttnick and

(32:29):
Leah Leebovitz of a wonderful podcast calledUnorthodox. It is the most popular Jewish
themed podcast in the universe. AndI'm having a great time doing it,
and I'm allowed to do it duringthe strike. So it's nice to have
a creative and intellectual outlet when I'mnot working on other things. I love
it. Well, we are outof time, My dear friend, you
were so fun to chat with.I would love to have you come back.

(32:51):
You are just to talk to.Thanks so much, great guys,
You definitely have to check out Joshgo directly to his Twitter at josh Molina
or his Instagram. A little bitcomplicated, but you'll definitely find him.
Josh Molina's Josh Molina, and youcould head directly to the Unorthodox podcast again
on the ground, you could findthem. That was our entertainment and pop
culture segment, brought to you byb Chi Kuchina and Metropolitan Lifestyles. You're

(33:15):
listening to a Moment of Zen righthere on seven two are the voice of
New york iHeartRadio. We'll be rightback after this. A Moment of Zen
is brought to you by Nova,a member's only travel portal exclusively available through
Organo, offering members steep discounts onnightly or weekly hotel stays, cruises,
auto rentals, excursions, and somuch more. With its travel Getaway portal,

(33:37):
Navy makes the days of surfing multipletravel sites and spending hours evaluating the
best deals done with That's because withNavai you are guaranteed the best prices,
plus to gain access to an evenmore expansive collection of condos, hotels,
cruises, vacation villas, fantasy getaways, and concierge service. There's fever weeks.

(33:57):
Simply purchase a Nava Forever Week packageone time and enjoy the benefits many
times with Forever Weeks Forever means Forever. Not only does Navai guarantee you the
best prices, but it is alsoone of the few travel portals that pays
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(34:20):
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For more information, go to Navadot Travel. That's Nava nave dot
Travel. Welcome back, beautiful TriState Area. You're listening to a moment
of Zen right here on seven tenwore the voice of New york iHeartRadio.
I'm your host, Zen. Sam'sup next in our Healthy Minutes segment,

(34:43):
brought you by Once Upon a Coconut. We're joined by UK fitness influencer Roger
Snipes. He's an author, apodcaster and Yuki's most esthetic biohacker. He's
also a fitness coach. Roger hasmotivated over one and a half million followers
around the world with his social mediaplatforms. He interviews some of the world's
leading experts from naturopathic medicine to entrepreneurshipson his weekly podcast, The Roger Snipes

(35:08):
Show. He's physically perfect. Hisbody is his temple, and boy does
he show it. After relentless lockdowns, numerous COVID variants, and travel restrictions,
the world finally opened up again intwenty twenty three with in person classes,
holidays, and life as we knewit pre pandemic back with a bang.

(35:28):
It returned at what felt like onehundred miles an hour. Jim classes
sword in popularity, as did runningevents like the London Marathon in the UK
and the Boston Marathon here in America. Tracked by the app Strava. We
saw a one hundred and twenty twopercent increase in users competing marathons last year,
Seems trended on TikTok. Menopause finallybecame mainstream, and collagen continued to

(35:52):
soar. Of course, it continuesto soar in popularity. It took the
top spot at Sephora and Alta's mostsearch term of the year, with sales
increasing by close to sixty percent.Today, Roger joins me to chat fitness
biohacking, health and wellness and thetrends he endorses. Welcoming down to the
show is the amazing Roger Snipes.Welcome to the show's superstar. Oh God,

(36:15):
bless you, thank you so much. That was a beautiful introduction.
Absolutely, So let's start with mushroomsas the new CBD. So mushrooms are
likely already on most of our raidersas a next generation nutrition powerhouse, and
of course, without a doubt we'regoing to see them become as mainstream as
CBD. I'm predicting a shroom boom. That's supplements, extracts and mushroom derived

(36:38):
beverages surging in popularity. Now.Under the new regulations which became official in
Australia back in July of this year, approved psychiatrists can now prescribe and the
DMA, which is a molly ecstasycombo for post traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin
for depression that has resisted other treatments. Are you a fan and what do

(37:00):
you say to this? I'm definitelya fan. Yeah, for sure.
I've tried both psilocybin and MDMA andunfortunately it's not something which is legal in
UK. You'd have to go toother areas to get that other parts of
the world should, I say,But I think you know, at the

(37:21):
moment, we have lots of prescribedmedication for people who may be suffering from
depression, and I feel as thoughthings like psilocybin can come in very handy.
I've recently spoken about it on mysocial media to ask people whether they've
tried it before. But I definitelyreckon that it's something that needs to be

(37:42):
a bit more mainstream. It's notsomething which just targets depression itself, but
I reckon it opens up new avenues, helps you to think a bit more
deeper and just kind of explore yourselfas a whole. I think a lot
of medication which is available is toomuch of a shotgun approach, whereas it

(38:04):
should be more of a throwing anet out and dealing with health and fitness
on a holistic way. I couldn'tagree more. I mean, kudos to
Australia. I mean we have topoint out that Australia has become the first
country in the world to legalize theuse of psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
And while Australia is the first countryin the world to regulate these drugs

(38:25):
as medications. Clinical trials are definitelyunderway in the US, Canada and Israel,
so that's something to look out for. And interestingly enough, the Duchess
of Sussex she invested in a USbased mushroom company. It's a coffee company
called Clever, back in twenty twentyand the functional mushroom category is now predicted

(38:46):
to sore from twenty five billion lastyear to forty seven billion Roger by the
year twenty twenty eight. These numbersare staggering, so mushrooms definitely something to
look out for. Now I'm goingto shift a little bit. We've all
likely seen on our social media feedsthe flooding of women eating for hormone health.

(39:07):
That's something I want to talk about. So the goal is simple to
educate people on the effects food andmovement can have on both our hormone and
energy level, and specifically women's healthis finally getting the attention it deserves.
Health Tech which is a startup.It's a startup ultra human company. It's
called Ultra Human. They raised seventeenand a half million dollars in funding this

(39:28):
year with the aim of reinventing fitnesstech via its glucose tracking wearable to personalize
our diet and exercise. What advicedo you have to maintain proper hormone health
With hormones, it's a very tailoredapproach. Different lifestyles are going to affect
different people in different ways, andwomen in particular. Say, for instance,

(39:52):
if I was to do an intimatefast for twenty hours, it might
be k for a man, butfor a woman it's going to be very
different. She's got a different balancein hormones. I think a lot of
people need to understand that hormones petplays a key part in our lives,

(40:15):
and there's many different types. It'snot just about testosterone and estrogen. We've
got things like grellin and leptin.If we don't eat enough, then perhaps
grelling hunger hormone would let us knowthis, And there's ways in which we
can make sure that this is balancedby eating a nutritionally balanced diet. But

(40:39):
if hormones are irregular, then itwill force you to Hormones will speak to
you to tell you to do thingswhich you feel doesn't make any sense.
But there's loads of things that canaffect hormones such as maybe perfumes, maybe
microplastics. There's many different things.So I think it's important for each person

(41:05):
to have, like let's say,a hormone test or a blood test to
find out what their hormone profile isbefore you start to think, Okay,
let me try and increase my hormones, because I think a lot of there's
lots of practitioners out there that tryto advocate improving your hormones when you don't

(41:29):
really know where it's sitting. It's, as I said, it's a real
tailored approach where it's good to speakto maybe a functional medicine doctor or naturopathic
practitioner to get a real understanding ofwhere yours lie. It needs to be
balanced all the time. It does, and I love that you said that
that you need to consult with afunctional practitioner. And to your point,

(41:52):
if you're going to take on advisinga you know, a client of yours
on their hormone all health, Iwould assume that you would want to see
their hormone profile, work up,blood work before you start just giving them
a schedule. So it's good thatyou're taking the precautionary approach because most trainers.

(42:12):
They just go straight into a dietplan without even knowing where the deficiencies
are. So thank you for I'veseen that many times. Like even people
who might be let's say competing inbodybuilding, a guy who is twenty years
old competing on the stage, andsomeone someone else who is let's say forty
five years old competing, the dietsare going to be very different. I've

(42:37):
seen coaches advise extremely young guys who'sgoing on the stage to work on increasing
their testosterone, giving them testosterone supplements. But I would advise, like,
get that checked first. Most youngpeople, their testosterone levels are super high.
Why do they need to take supplementsqualler. Yeah. Now let's talk.

(43:00):
Let's talk sinking our circadian rhythm.So our circadian rhythm is essentially our
body's internal clock, which follows atwenty four hours cycle and constantly runs in
the background to carry out essential dayto day bodily functions. Now, one
of my favorite nutrition is Grace Kingswell. She raves about the importance of natural
light in the morning and light blockingglasses before bed to prevent interference with our

(43:23):
body's natural clock. Is this somethingthat you work into your list of priorities
absolutely, you know, it's paramount. In order for you to get deep,
restorative sleep, you need to makesure that you're getting the right type
of light and reducing the right typeof light as well. So let's say

(43:45):
the sun emits a different ray oflight throughout a day, so it's important
to go out and get some naturalsunlight when you can, and this helps
with producing the right hormones and ithelps to stimulates are atonin and then later
you want to have enough melatonin forwhen you get to sleep. Melatonin is

(44:07):
not just good for sleep, butit's like a detoxifier as well, so
it helps to remove any kind ofamyloid plaque which you have in the brain,
and when you go to sleep,something called the glymphatic system clears the
brain of all the plaque, soyou wake up and you feel refreshed and
a lot better. Those who don'tget enough melatonin might wake up feeling a

(44:32):
bit groggy with headaches, so ithasn't been able to do his job properly.
Before going to bed, it's importantto try to block out blue light
because that can affect your quality ofsleep. Blue light is what makes us
feel more alert and raises our betastate. We want to be more in

(44:54):
a theater delta state when we're goingto sleep. But if you block out
blue light, as far as yourbody is concerned, it's like two o'clock
in the afternoon, so it's notready to go to sleep. What tends
to happen as well is if youdon't block out blue light, you will
start to have cravings because as faras your body is concerned, it's during

(45:19):
the afternoon, so we should beeating. We are burning lots of energy,
so if you start to eat duringthe night, that's going to be
a problem. Your body is goingto be focusing on trying to digest food
and not focusing on sleep. Sotrue, it's all interconnected. Now we
have three minutes left, we're goingto go into extended segment with you because

(45:40):
we have so much to cover here. But yeah, definitely sinking our circadian
rhythm can help to regulate hunger anddigestions, stabilize body temperature, boost mood,
improve fluid balance, and maintain otherphysiological processes that are extremely important.
I expect to also see a boomin the popularity of sleep tracking apps because
that can how now, sadly,social media influencers are now the main source

(46:04):
of health and fitness information. Butin twenty twenty three we all started to
question why. So just because thecontent is free and relatable doesn't mean it's
credible, and so we've started seeinga shift away from prioritizing of style over
substance. How important is doing yourresearch as a fitness expert because many look

(46:25):
to you for advice and follow yourcontent. Yeah, it is really important.
I mean I give a lot ofinformation out all the time, but
I always ask people to just doublecheck for themselves. If I'm going to
talk about any supplements, I willshow them that I've been doing my own
background research before I look into it. So I think it's an important thing

(46:47):
to encourage others to do. Ithink a lot of people are looking for
others as a way of saving themtime. That's the only thing. So
there's a pro and a conto it. You've got the influences or content creators,
which help to piece everything together tomake it easier for the person who's

(47:08):
consuming the content to take it inmore easily digestible chunks. So, for
instance, I might have friends whoare doctors. They will give me information
and I will break it down andmake it easier for my viewers to take
in and use and understand. It'svery important. I love that you simplify

(47:30):
things. Now, we have abouta minute left and this is my last
question before extended segment. And forthose of you listening, our extended segment
is available on our YouTube channel.You can definitely check out the rest of
the interview there. Now, Intermittentfasting has landed on the dieting scene as
a way to cut calories without cuttingyour favorite foods. Now, the eating
style only limits the hours you're eatingrather than what you're eating, allowing you

(47:53):
more flexibility and your weight loss plan. So if you tend to backload your
calories late in the day, intermittentfast might be a solid option for you.
But then comes to the big question, how do you pick a schedule
that's right? So the sixteen eightschedule, the fourteen tenth schedule, whole
day fasting, alternate fasting. Talkto me, are you a fan and

(48:14):
if so, how do we selectthe right plan or how do you select
the right plan for those you train? Even but a minute? Yeah,
absolutely, I would suggest to startoff with a sixteen eight. I do
intimate and fasting myself, I generallygo by the way I feel like.
For instance, for me, it'stwenty minutes to five and I haven't eaten
yet, and I'll wait until afterthis before I eat. I would suggest

(48:36):
a sixteen eight because that's pretty easy, and it really depends on the goal.
If you're looking for weight loss,then start off with a sixteen eight,
see how you feel, and thenslowly reduce the hours to see how
you do. Skipping breakfast is probablythe easiest way. And if you don't
want to be having cravings, youcan have essential amino acids during that time

(48:58):
and that can help to protect yours. So you could also have things like
MCT which helped to break down fatduring that time and give you some more
sustainable energy during that time so youdon't have cravings. It really depends on
the goal though, and also theindividual. As I said, men and
women are very different in how theyshould be doing their intimate and fasting.

(49:19):
I love it. Yeah. Well, the idea stems from our hunter gatherer
roots. It's thought that our bodiesare much more adapted to fasting than we
are to our esteemed three meals aday, and the theory suggests that our
ancestors fasted often when food was scarce, causing ourselves to learn how to function
in a fasted state. And thisis not just stuff we're making up.
This is according to a twenty nineteenstudy published in the New England Journal of

(49:43):
Medicine. And thus intermittent fasting wasborn. And you know, though research
has shown improvements in insulin resistance,blood pressure levels, and more importantly,
inflammation, intermittent fasting is famed forits potential effects on weight loss. To
your point, we've actually been ableto see that it has helped people lose
seven to ten pounds on average overten weeks, and this is according to

(50:06):
the Harvard School of Public Health.We are out of time. I will
urge everybody to check out our extendedsegment. Thank you so much for coming
on. Roger. You are amazing, God bless you. Thank you very
much for the invine. I wouldlove to come back again. Absolutely,
guys, do check out Roger Snipes, author Podcaster UK's number one fitness coach.

(50:27):
You can check them out on theGraham at Roger Snipes. That was
our Healthy Minute segment, brought toyou by Once Upon a Coconut. You're
listening to a moment of Zen righthere on seven ten w R, the
voice of New york iHeartRadio. We'llbe right back after this a moment of
Zen. It's brought to you byNovai, a member's only travel portal exclusively
available through organo, offering members steepdiscounts on nightly or weekly hotels, days,

(50:50):
cruises, auto rentals, excursions,and so much more with its travel
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hours evaluating the best deals done withThat's because with Navai you are guaranteed the
best prices. Plus to gain accessto an even more expansive collection of condos,
hotels, cruises, vacation villas,fantasy getaways and concierge service, there's

(51:14):
Forever Weeks. Simply purchase a NavaForever Week's package one time and enjoy the
benefits many times with Forever Weeks Forevermeans Forever. Not only does Navai guarantee
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redeemed on the travel Getaway Portal forfurther discounted hotel room rates. Become a

(51:37):
member today and Navagate the World ofTravel. Navai the world for you to
experience. For more information, goto Nava dot Travel. That's Nava Nave
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(51:57):
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(52:17):
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