The Happiness Quotient
Thom Dharma Pollard hosts inspirational, intimate and unfiltered Stories That Inspire with guests and drawing from his own adventures around the world. The Happiness Quotient: connected, engaged, passionate people who inspire us.
- Update frequency
- every 9 days
- Average duration
- 35 minutes
- Episodes
- 151
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
#53 (S2 Ep 22) - Oliver Wood of The Wood Brothers, The Soul of This Town
HOW NOTES HERE
Oliver Wood has a touch of survivor's guilt. Many of his peers and even some mentors in the music business didn't stick with it. Finally, after years of sleeping on couches and sharing …
#52 (S2 Epi 21) - The Flying Canoe, Rainbow Flag & BLM Demonstration 300 Feet Over Cathedral Ledge, New Hampshire Episode
Canoeing the heights: rock climbers in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire in the USA performed a high profile, high wire, eye catching demonstration in New Hampshire's White Mountains at Ca…
#51 (S2 Ep 20) - On Being Ignorant, Lessons Learned In Pursuit Of Everest, Ernest Hemingway and My Father's Ghost
Herein is a revelation straight from Havana Cuba, where I witnessed a mirage of my father, who had passed more than a decade before. My father was a poet, an English literature major at Brown Univers…
#50 (S2 Ep 19) - Hollywood Entrepreneur Barry Katz PART 2 - TV-Film-Record Producer 'Whatever You Want To Do, You Can Do It'
Barry Katz does not disappoint with his unique and inspiring blend of life philosophy, Hollywood chutzpah, life coach and all 'round good guy. For a man that towers over me at, what, 6-foot-four, he …
#49 (S2 Ep 18) - Agent of Change, Growing Up the Son of Blues Legend Paul Butterfield, Interview with Gabriel Butterfield of Woodstock, NY
This is a story about a father's enduring legacy, about a man who left this world young. While any dad who leaves before his time is worthy of consideration, this dad was world famous. He was the leg…
#48 (S2 Ep 17) - Accidental Climber, Interview with Filmmaker Steven Oritt and Mountaineer Jim Geiger
On April 18, 2014 the silence of Everest was forever rocked by a devastating serac avalanche that took the lives of 16 souls. In an instant, all that was ever believed about Everest changed.
The giga…
#47 (S2 Ep 16) - Genesis of an Entertainer and The Myth of Sisyphus, Interview with the Incredible Barry Katz: Comedian, Filmmaker, Talent Manager and Podcaster
Barry Katz is a modern day renaissance man. He is also funny as hell. Smart. Successful. Humble beginnings. I met Barry in high school, where we competed on swim teams from neighboring towns, then we…
#46 (S2 Ep 15) - The Highpointers, Climbing the Highest Point in all 50 States with The Bargo Brothers
When I first started climbing back in my late 20’s I wanted to mix my newfound love of the mountains with my career…. It was my dream to bring the two together, so that I could make a living doing w…
#45 (S2 Ep 14) - Attacked by a 'Friend" on Social Media, Making the World a Better Place
I awoke today to news of an old college buddy, my first roommate, who is very sick. I had coincidentally had a dream about him last night, where I hugged him and told him that I was sorry I hadn't st…
#43 (S2 Ep 12) - Ripples in a Pond, Rising from the Ashes of Tragedy & the Trey Whitfield School
THIS IS A MUST LISTEN for all interested in current events, about how an elementary school in the most violent neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York has virtually transformed thousands of lives.
This is …
#42 (S2 Ep 11) - Mark Synnott: The Day Everest Broke, an Interview with NY Times Best Selling Author and Pro Climber
The 2019 expedition to solve the mystery of who climbed Everest first changed many lives, is now the subject of a new film called LOST ON EVEREST, is the cover article in the July issue of National G…
#41 (S2 Ep 10) - Bob Marley's War
This episode begins with the sounds of Barred owls calling in the New Hampshire night, as I muse about my sudden illness on Mount Everest in 2019. The wisdom of the owls is apt for Episode 10 as we r…
#39 (S2 Ep 8) - 46 Years & Counting as Willie Nelson's Harmonica Player, Mickey Raphael
(THESE NOTES WILL BE UPDATED)
Mickey Raphael was given his first harmonica by an uncle who said if you can play Oh, Suzanna I'll give you the harmonica. Mickey would go on to play a whole lot more tha…
#38 (S2 Ep 7) - Jochen Hemmleb: The Mystery of the Fate of Mallory & Irvine on Mount Everest and Discussion with Noted Everest Historian
On June 8, 1924, two British mountaineers by the name of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were seen at an altitude of over 28,000 feet 'headed toward the top' of Mount Everest by team member Noel Odel…
#37 (S2 Ep 6) - A New Perspective Gained Through Trauma, the Ritual of Maté and an Interview with Photographer Oscar Manguy of Finland
When we encounter tragedy or a traumatic event in life, it often times opens up a portal through which we can gain a new perspective of life. We actually learn through the experience and can become m…
#36 (S2 Ep 5) -From Bullied Kid to 3x World Record Holder, Interview with Adventurer Mike Reid
Ever look out the window at work or in school and wish you were out there doing something big, living out your dreams? That is what this episode is about. We meet a man who used to do that. Then deci…
#35 (S2 Ep 4) - The Meaning of Life is Coffee, an Interview with Coffee Roaster Austin Orth
During this time, when the world seems to be going insane, we can lose our minds or keep our act together, or PROSPER! I don’t know about you, but when this stuff happens and we look at the super mac…
#34 (S2 Ep 3) - Heroes of the Quarantine Culture with David Brancaccio of Marketplace Morning Report and Peter Dunn of Topdrawer Corp
This one is about the heroes...well, two at least. Both of them would say PHOOEY, I'm no hero... So, let's just say it’s about how people are getting by. Specifically, it's about the small business …
#33 (S2 Ep 2) - Dragon Tongue: The Tree Whisperer, Master Craftsman Tom Thiel and his Student in the Creation of Beauty/Rev Freakchild
There is a romance to uncertain times. In the undulations and valleys that we experience in life we are given an opportunity to learn new ways to do things. Much like the relationship between a maste…
#32 - (S2 Ep 1) - Reverend Freakchild: The Bodhisattva Blues with the Bluesman About Drugs, Sobriety, Buddhism, Meditation & The Grateful Dead
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, PEOPLE:
Today on Baker Street with Thom Pollard I welcome the ever talented bluesman and Buddhist practitioner Reverend Freakchild. We'll talk about everything under the sun,…