Pedram Shojai welcomes his friend Abel James to The Urban Monk. They discuss what Abel has been up to recently. Abel has been taking some time to play more music, but discusses how one passion can sometime overtake another. They also dive into topics of conscious capitalism and marketing in the current world.

Some of us might have images of gold medal athletes as being the ones who trained the hardest and that's what creates champions, but is there more to being an elite athlete besides physicality? Pedram Shojai welcomes Jeff Spencer who has trained not only athletes, but entrepreneurs and entertainers, on finding their best selves. Becoming a champion is more than just hard work and training; there's a mental component to be factored. Pedram and Jeff dive into how important this factor is in becoming a champion. What does it take to craft champions? How can we all become champions in our lives even if we're not competing on an Olympic level?

What happened to the goddess? Many early cultures worshiped female deities, but where did they all go? On this episode Pedram Shojai welcomes Kaia Van Zandt who has looked into the disappearance of the goddess. The take a look at history through the development of religion and also get into a discussion about how women are treated and viewed today. How does the disappearance of female deities affect the view of women in present society? Also in looking at the past how does the lens of the present affect how archeologists look back?

Pedram Shojai welcomes guest Nick Polizzi to The Urban Monk. Both are new fathers and while the change to becoming a father wasn't anything unexpected, the changes and effects in their lives as the result of having a child was beyond anything either of them could have imagined. The two discuss in depths the joys and pains of being a father and how all the advice from their friends could not have prepared them at all for the changes that resulted from having a kid.

Welcome to the pilot episode of Pedram Shojai's new podcast, The Urban Monk! You may know him from his other podcast, The Health Bridge, but here Pedram has started another podcast that will focus more on lifestyle rather than health directly. Health Bridge will still continue but another podcast was conceived to allow more of a discussion on a broad range of topics. On this first episode, David Wolfe joined Pedram in studio to discuss the challenges of trying to avoid toxins in the current world we live in. They discuss issues such as indoor air pollution, especially in commercial buildings where thousands of people work. How can you have any control over the air you breathe if you have to work in a building for eight hours? What other toxins might be hidden in unexpected areas.

As this is a new podcast and we're still messing around with the format, please comment and give us a review on iTunes and let us know what you like about the show and what you would like to see us do differently! We're very open to suggestions to make the show the best it can possibly be!