BETTER with Mark Brand

This week, Mark's guest is Heather Plett, an international speaker, facilitator, writer, and life-long learner. She's the author of the book The Art of Holding Space: A Practice of Love, Liberation, and Leadership and the soon-to-be-released book, Where Tenderness Lives: On Healing, Liberation, and Holding Space for Oneself. She is also the co-founder of the Centre for Holding Space. Mark and Heather talk about their respective jou...

This week's guest is award-winning broadcaster Ziya Tong. She is best known as the anchor of Daily Planet, Discovery Channel’s flagship science program. Her book The Reality Bubble won the Lane Anderson Prize for best science writing in Canada and was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize. The book has been translated into multiple languages, and has earned praise from luminaries including Naomi Klein and David Suzuki who calls Tong...

This week's guest is a legend, especially in the projects on the south side of Chicago, where every unhoused human he looks in the face feels acceptance, love and dignity. He is the CEO and Founder of Taste For Thee Homeless. In this episode, you'll hear him talk about discovering his purpose, making people of influence like Chance the Rapper support his cause, and what he's planning next. Follow along with Mike on his Instagram fo...

Host Mark Brand has a conversation with entrepreneur, social innovator, and activist, James Anderson. *DISCLAIMER* This episode will touch on suicide; please find some resources below if you are struggling. After overcoming a childhood riddled with great challenges, James’ story is one filled with hope and redemption. James graduated from UCLA with double honors while simultaneously helping to create one of the world’s leading crim...

Anthony Demby has worn many entertainment-industry hats for more than two decades. From managing the careers of artists such as Childish Gambino and John Legend to advising global brands, his journey has been diverse and expansive. In 2010, Demby combined his recording label, artist management knowledge, and cultural curiosity to found Humbleriot, a New York-based intentional idea shop that utilizes music, culture, and social impac...

“Hawaii” Mike is a branding maestro and founder of Chef for HigherTM, a pioneering culinary and culture brand leading the exciting new era of Cannabis legalization. Chef for HigherTM specializes in creating exemplary Cannabis-infused sweet & savory foods and hosting popular tastemaker dining events, and check out the New York line which just launched HERE.

For over 25 years, Hawaii’s been on the frontlines of music, media, and ...

Host Mark Brand welcomes Harold O'Neal to Better for a conversation about embracing conflict and creative storytelling through impact by turning inside. Don't miss a little performance on his keyboard at the end of the episode!

Harold O'Neal is a musician and social entrepreneur, known for his work as a producer, pianist, composer, public speaker, and storyteller. He is widely recognized for his association with the legacy of jazz ...

Holley M. Kholi-Murchison is an artist and cultural geographer exploring work as a portal to self and communal actualization. They study the human condition, desire, and potential within and outside of evolving definitions of work and workplace. From their research, they tell love stories, make artifacts and resources, and design and program spaces that open pathways for creators to nurture their gifts, talents, and growing edges f...

BETTER is back for season two with Mark Brand. Today, he welcomes friend and fellow DJ Kirk St. Cyr, better known by his stage name as 4 Korners. He’s the official DJ for the Toronto Raptors and an international musician – he’s played the top nightclubs in more than 20 countries across the world while collecting awards and accolades, AND an NBA championship ring! Find out more about 4Korners and listen to his debut album 4Korners o...

Tara McGuire is a mother, a steep advocate for change in the fight against overdoses, a former broadcaster, and a powerfully potent writer. Her book “Holden After and Before," gives us an honest insight into her grief, carried from the loss of her son, Holden to the opioid crisis, which Tara points out is better viewed as what it truly is: an overdose crisis.

"He died because he made a mistake that day,” she says with heavy compass...

Rick Doblin is a a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist and the visionary behind MAPS—the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), a non-profit dedicated to “delivering global healing through psychedelic research.” 

His research proves how psychedelics heal trauma. 

Rick started studying the power of psychedelics as medicine just one year before the US government scheduled an em...

Rachel Sumekh was in college when she noticed the problem: her peers are hungry. Then she spotted the solution and moved instantly into action. No flinching here. (You can see why we’re friends.) 

It didn’t take long for the administration to see her impact before they tried to shut it down. While they moved to block progress, the Obama White House named her organization a “Champion for Change.”

What one authority called rebellion,...

Eamonn Store is IN boardrooms changing the hearts, minds, and actions of some of the world's biggest companies. He’s the former CEO of The Guardian and current Founder & CEO of FairShare—an impact consultancy driven by the belief that “making a contribution to the World is no longer just a 'nice to have.'”

I call him a board whisper because he has the critical ability to get people in powerful seats to see past greed’s inherent...

Brother Ernie Paniccioli is a legendary hip hop & culture historian, humanitarian, and self-taught photographer who has been ‘documenting the culture since the start.' 

My first meeting with Brother Ernie was in Vancouver where he said the feeling of being seen—truly seen and known—was more alive because Indigenous people are "everywhere." Unlike in Brooklyn where he grew up eight blocks away from Biggie Smalls.

In this convers...

Zach Sciacca, aka DJ Z-Trip is a conduit for the power of music AND the love of music.

He has a history of working alongside the world’s greatest artists including Chuck D & Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie and the list of legends goes on (check the list of WORKS below*)

His work showcases the connectivity that music brings us across lifetimes, friendships, memories… 

Music is one of—if not THE most—transformat...

Jennifer Crawford is a gender creative queer who I could happily gush about for the entirety of this episode. 

We first met cooking for an organization called Sistering in Toronto, which does critical work with women and trans people who are predominantly street entrenched and fleeing violence.

You’ll hear that story upfront. (I promise, it’s a warm one.)

Jennifer is also the first queer winner of MasterChef Canada, and—wait for it...

Yarrow Kraner is the founder of HATCH—a global network of innovators and co-conspirators actively doing the work to create a more beautiful, sustainable, and just world (people who Yarrow refers to as “real-life superheroes”).

HATCH'S mission is to accelerate solutions to global challenges. The how: by fueling extraordinary humans. The why: to HATCH a better world. 

Yarrow is a creative alchemist whose heart has the distinct abilit...

Loren Cardeli is a food sovereignty activist confronting the unjust power in our global food systems—systems that are crippling the well-being of people who grow our food. He asks us to look at the frameworks of our minds and says "To learn, we must unlearn."

He is the Founder and President of A Growing Culture—an activist collective and nonprofit you must catch on IG (Run. Don’t walk)

I’ll wait…

@agrowingculture’s posts center far...

Samantha Ramirez-Herrera is a radical creator and a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Born in Mexico with a legacy lived, made, and growing in the US, she has become “her ancestor’s wildest dreams”—something I heard her describe from stage in the mountains of Montana.


Sam is who I go to—as my North Star—to track the narratives being created in media that support the movements that support the people. Her work is provocative ...