Guests
Captain Herve Parage is the Master on Cruise Management International's polar expedition vessels in the Arctic and Antarctic. Previously he worked as the Master on cruise vessel NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (Croisieres et decouvertes), a Barge Manager on oil and gas rigs and a Captain on different ferries in Northern Africa and other parts of the world. Captain Herve is originally from Marseilles, France but he has resided in Iceland for the last few years. Captain Parage Herve decided to work on board when he was 12 years old. Little Parage was standing by the seaside of Marseille and watching vessels, disappearing beyond the horizon. He was wondering, what was going to happen next. Since that time his wish to become a seaman has never changed. Moreover, 40 years after he is still sailing. Captain Herve's entire sea career is closely linked to a passenger fleet. He started as a young watch officer on [...]
Johnny Welsh has worked as a professional bartender in Frisco, Colorado, for over twenty years. He did so well at Syracuse University that they kept him an extra year. After five years of university study, during which he earned a degree in Italian Language, Literature, and Culture which has been a great prerequisite of a lifelong career in the mixology arts. He can now dictate silly bar stories in two different languages. His latest hobby is twisting these topics into books. He is the author of Paper Maps, No Apps: An Unplugged Travel Adventure. His first book, Weedgalized in Colorado, about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, won two awards from Readers’ Favorite. Find more at www.JohnnyWelsh.com
Hailing from Mombasa, Kenya, Brennen Matthews began his professional career in 2000 with World Vision as a Food Security Officer in Nairobi, focusing on project proposal development and technical team capacity building. After obtaining his Masters of Arts degree in International Development Studies, a Bachelors of Sociology (minor in Creative Writing), and a Bachelors of Community Development Studies (minor in Literature), Brennen went on to work with some of the world's largest not-for-profit organizations (eg. World Vision, CARE, Red Cross, Tearfund UK), and has overseen communications and marketing strategies at the national level in Kenya, Uganda and Mali. An avid reader and writer, Brennen published his first article in a leading daily Canadian newspaper in 2001, focusing on Kenya's response to America's devastating attack on 9/11. Since then, his work has been published in a wide variety of well-respected newspapers and magazines from around the world. As the Editor-in-Chief with [...]
Matilde Simas is a photographer from Boston, MA. Interested in the intersection of art, audience engagement and social change, Matilde leverages the power of visual storytelling to inform, provoke discussions, and inspire action. Her work on human trafficking has been widely exhibited by various UN agencies. Beyond photography, Matilde is passionate about volunteering and traveling. When she doesn't have a camera in her hands, it's probably because she's planning her next journey. Matilde Simas is a documentary photographer based in Boston. She graduated from Suffolk University with a B.S. in Psychology and Women’s Study and attended Rhode Island School Design to study digital photography. As a photographer and filmmaker, she traveled to more than 50 countries and early on started to fully commit herself to human rights and the fight against violations of the rights of women and children. Since 2017, she has been a member of the organization “Capture [...]
Bijan C. Bayne is a sports historian who has researched, written for, & been interviewed in various films and television shows. He is the author of three acclaimed sports historical books: Martha's Vineyard Basketball: How a Resort League Defied Notions of Race and Class, Sky Kings: Black Pioneers of Professional Basketball and Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball. Bayne's screenplay "The Court" made the quarterfinals of BET's Color Creative "Script To Screen" competition in 2018. He appears in the 2017 movie "The First To Do It". In April 2014, Bayne appeared on TV One's "Unsung Hollywood"'s episode "The Harlem Globetrotters". The same year, he was interviewed and featured in Brian Culkin's documentary "The Mission". In 2015, he co-wrote, directed, and helped cast the pilot for the reality series "Team of Dreams". In August 2009, he served as moderator for the Filmmakers' Panel at the seventh annual Martha's Vineyard African [...]
Dr. Jeff Werber has dedicated his life to the care and protection of animals. A renowned veterinarian and pet parenting specialist, Dr. Jeff maintains that pets are more than just companions; they are part of the family and deserve to be treated that way. A top graduate of the University California Davis Veterinary School, Dr. Jeff established his Los Angeles-based private clinic, Century Veterinary Group, in 1988. Dr. Jeff cares for the pets of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Britney Spears, Julia Roberts, Ben Affleck, Eddie Murphy, Paula Abdul, Rod Stewart, Mark Wahlberg, Patrick Dempsey, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Love Hewitt and many more – along with those of everyday pet owners. He is a highly sought after and frequent guest speaker on a number of national news programs and has lent his expertise on Good Morning America, TODAY, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN as well as Fox & Friends. As [...]
Robert G. Rose is a media entrepreneur, travel journalist, producer and host best known as the creator of Raw Travel, the long-running television series focused on authentic, socially conscious and off-the-beaten-path travel. Through his company, AIM Tell-A-Vision Group, Rose has built a career around independent media, underserved audiences and stories that connect travel with culture, community and social impact. A Career Built Around Independent Media and Travel That Matters Before launching Raw Travel, Rose worked in television advertising sales and later joined Univision in New York, where he saw an opportunity to create English-language programming for U.S.-born Latino audiences. That insight led to American Latino Syndication and the nationally syndicated programs American Latino TV and LatiNation, which helped establish Rose as an early voice in culturally relevant media. After selling American Latino Syndication, Rose began traveling more extensively through Latin America. Those experiences shaped the idea for Raw Travel, a [...]
Cat Bigley did not have a typical American childhood. She spent most of her time hanging out in a teepee and exploring the Wasatch Mountains. One of her earliest childhood memories was of her grandfather, a contracted trapper, giving her a beaver trapping and skinning tutorial. Her father gave her a fire-making set and stone tools when she was in her teens. Her formative education allowed for her to disappear into the mountains behind her childhood home, pick up road-kill and build her own shack, with the only amenities being a hand-pumped well and coal stove. She later spent a portion of her college years in the shack she built in her youth, accompanied by chickens and a flood-irrigated garden. Rugged was the word, as she experienced winters that could serve up temperatures nearing -30°F. Her atypical background and love for the wilderness led her to Boulder Outdoor Survival School [...]
Phil Keoghan is a New Zealand-born television host, producer, writer, speaker and adventurer best known as the longtime host of the multi-Emmy Award-winning CBS series The Amazing Race. His career has taken him across more than 100 countries, giving him a rare perspective on travel, resilience, storytelling and the human desire to test personal limits. A Life Built Around Adventure, Purpose, and No Opportunity Wasted Keoghan’s philosophy was shaped by a near-death experience at age 19, which inspired him to create a life list and later develop the idea behind No Opportunity Wasted. That approach has guided much of his work on television, in books, on stage and through personal challenges that invite people to stop postponing the lives they want to live. His adventures have included cycling across the United States to raise funds and awareness for multiple sclerosis, retracing the 1928 Tour de France on a vintage bicycle [...]
JAMES ROLLINS is the New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers, translated into more than forty languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the “top crowd pleasers” (New York Times) and one of the “hottest summer reads” (People Magazine). In each novel, acclaimed for its originality, Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets--and he does it all at breakneck speed and with stunning insight. James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California to be a full-time author. Rollins attended Parkway South Junior High School and then graduated from Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri, in 1979. His undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology. He graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D. V. M). Soon afterward, he moved to Sacramento, California, where he established his [...]
Philippe, an Emmy-nominated TV personality, author, speaker, and social entrepreneur, has established himself as a prominent leader in the environmental movement. He co-founded the leading environmental education nonprofit EarthEcho International in 2004, which is dedicated to inspiring youth to take action for a sustainable planet. Currently, he's the host and executive producer of Awesome Planet, a weekly syndicated television series on Fox, now in its fourth season. As a special correspondent for CNN, he has hosted several award-winning shows including "Going Green" and "Expedition Sumatra." Philippe has testified before Congress and most recently presented at TEDx Pennsylvania Ave. He's also hosted and keynoted various events for the United Nations, Harvard University, USC, and the Society of Environmental Journalists, among others. Ashlan is a special correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and formerly reported for E! News. When she's not on the red carpet interviewing today's biggest celebrities, she's traveling the globe covering [...]
As a journalist, Mary Jo McConahay’s work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Ms., Salon, Sierra, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Parenting, The Progressive, National Catholic Reporter, and more than two dozen other magazines and periodicals. She began freelancing in Mexico; became a staff reporter for the Arab News, in Saudi Arabia; and reported for the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, and London-based economic magazines. Mary Jo covered the Central American insurgencies for a decade for Pacific News Service, and U.S. newspapers such as the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle.Most recently, Mary Jo wrote on emotional border issues for The Texas Observer, stories which one blog for professional reporters called “in the tradition of the Observer’s journalism legends such as Willie Morris and Molly Ivins.” She calls herself an accidental filmmaker and her documentaries follow individuals who pursue social justice with their lives. When Mary Jo was a child, her [...]
