Making Movies That Last with Producer Sam Pressman

Near Death Experience, the Afterlife & Meeting God: A Top Neurosurgeon's Story with Dr Eben Alexander

What if everything you believed about death, consciousness, and the meaning of life was wrong — and a brain surgeon could prove it? Dr Eben Alexander is one of the world's most credentialled neurosurgeons who spent over two decades training and practising at some of the world's top academic medical centres, including Harvard Medical School. In 2008, he fell into a seven-day coma caused by bacterial meningitis — a condition so severe his doctors gave him little chance of survival. What happened during those seven days didn't just change his life. It dismantled everything he thought he knew about the brain, the mind, and what comes after death. His book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife has sold over 2 million copies. After his recovery, Dr Alexander dedicated himself to bridging science and spirituality — exploring near-death experiences, consciousness, meditation, quantum physics, and the nature of the soul. He has since co-authored Map of Heaven and Living in a Mindful Universe with his wife Karen Newell, and runs workshops through Sacred Acoustics helping thousands access deeper states of awareness through binaural beats. In this episode we cover: 🧠 What Dr Alexander experienced during his seven-day coma — the three phases of his near-death experience and what he encountered beyond the brain ☀️ Why materialism is dead — and how the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics (quantum entanglement) proves consciousness cannot be reduced to brain activity 🌌 Millions of people have had near-death experiences — what the science really says about the afterlife and reincarnation 🧘 How meditation and binaural beats can connect you to the universe — and why your ego is the biggest obstacle to your own soul 💡 The hypnagogic state used by Einstein, Edison, Salvador Dali and Robert Louis Stevenson to access their greatest breakthroughs 🍄 Psychedelics, psilocybin and what happens to the brain under magic mushrooms — and why meditation is still the better path 🤖 AI, consciousness and why no digital computer can ever be truly self-aware ❤️ The purpose of life, the life review, and why love is written into the very fabric of the universe 🎧🔥❤️‍🔥LISTEN VIA LINK IN BIO & -❤️‍🔥🔥🎧 https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion [https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion] Those little moments that lift your day — a smile, the sun coming out, or a piece of chocolate? Audrey's Chocolates have been handcrafting chocolate for over 70 years. Chocolate to die for, in beautiful boxes that make the perfect gift. Discover your moment of joy at audreysChocolates.co.uk and treat yourself to 10% off using the code thekollective10 If this episode moved you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. Leave us a review — it genuinely helps more people find the show. And subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Join our community on Patreon for exclusive content, early access and behind-the-scenes access 🙏 patreon.com/TheKollective828 ☕ Want to make a one off donation to support the show 🙏 : https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion [https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion] Support the Show Mentions: Dr Eben Alexander, Karen Newell, Oprah Winfrey, Guy Lyon Playfair, Robin Carhart-Harris, Dr Roland Griffiths, Dr Anna Yusim, Dr Wilder Penfield, William James, Gerald Oster, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Robert Louis Stevenson, Salvador Dali, John Clauser, Alain Aspect, Anton Zeilinger, University of Virginia Division of Perceptual Studies, Bigelow Institute, Sacred Acoustics, Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, General Electric, Scientific American, Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Proof of Heaven, Map of Heaven, Living in a Mindful Universe, Twin Telepathy, The Mystery of the Mind

Mental Health, OCD and Letting Go with Hurt to Healing Podcast Founder Pandora Morris

We sit down with Pandora Morris — former lawyer turned mental health expert, and founder of the Hurt to Healing podcast, which she launched in 2022 after realising there was nowhere she could turn to hear people talk honestly about what was going on in their heads. Since then she's built a community around exactly that, interviewing everyone from Ruby Wax and Joanna Lumley to neuroscientists and mental health advocates — and turning her own struggle with OCD into one of the most direct, unguarded conversations you'll hear on the subject. Reaching Millions!  Pandora has spent years living with and studying OCD, and in this conversation she pulls apart what it actually is versus the checking-the-lock-five-times caricature most people carry around. But the real argument she's building is bigger than one diagnosis: she thinks the exploding number of labels we now put on ourselves — ADHD, neurodivergence, an ever-expanding DSM — might be diluting support for the people who need it most. We also get into her theory of control (holding the handlebars too tight vs. letting go), why the people you admire most are probably hiding their own version of your worst thoughts, and what it's taught her to interview guests going through the exact struggles she's lived. We cover: 🧠 What OCD actually is — and why it "metastasises" around whatever you care about most🏷️ Her real argument: why more diagnostic labels might mean less help for the people who need it🚲 The handlebars theory — why holding on too tight drains the colour out of life🔥 Turning private pain into purpose, and why the most admired people are often the most self-critical🎭 The masks we all wear, and why real connection means dropping them🎙️ Lessons from her own guests — James Haskell, Alex George, Gabor Maté and more💔 Dating, self-comparison, and learning to stop measuring your life against everyone else's🔦 Reframing the brain's negativity bias to actually notice what's going right 🎧🔥❤️‍🔥LISTEN VIA LINK IN BIO & -❤️‍🔥🔥🎧 https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion [https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion] 📢 Listeners get 10% off using the code thekollective10 at audreyschocolates.co.uk [https://audreyschocolates.co.uk/] 🍫❤️‍🔥 Loved this episode? ✨ Like, Share, and Subscribe to support bold, heart-led conversations. WANT MORE OR TO SUPPORT? 🙏 Become a patron and get exclusive access & behind-the-scenes perks:www.patreon.com/TheKollective828 [https://www.patreon.com/TheKollective828] ☕ Want to make a one off donation to support the show 🙏 : https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion [https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion] Mentions: Pandora Morris · Hurt to Healing · Ruby Wax · Professor Ian Hickie · Spencer Matthews · Joanna Lumley · James Haskell · Jessamy Hibbard · Ellie Middleton · Dr. Alex George · Kimberly Nixon · Bryony Gordon · Gabor Maté · Emma Louise Boynton · Oscar Wilde · Chris Williamson · Steven Bartlett · Mel Robbins · Brené Brown · Professor David Nutt · Dr. Mark Horowitz · DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)

Wedding Planner to the Stars Sarah Haywood on 20 Years of Planning the World's Most Extraordinary Weddings

What does it actually cost to plan a wedding for people who already own five homes — and why is the best wedding she's ever been to a paper-tablecloth ceilidh at a cricket club? 💍✨ We sit down with Sarah Haywood — Britain's premier wedding planner, author of The Wedding Bible, and the woman CNN turned to as their bridal expert for the royal wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales. This year marks 20 years since she incorporated her business, Sarah Haywood Exceptional Celebrations — and its transition into the UK's first employee-owned wedding and events company. In this episode she pulls back the curtain on planning multi-million-pound productions for ultra-high-net-worth families including stories of consulting on HBO's Succession, £40k cakes, thoughtful gifts and the things that truly make a wedding great.  🥂 Sarah started her business alone on a landing in Oxfordshire — pre-social media, pre-broadband — after a first career as an ITN journalist. Six or seven years in, she planned her first millionaire wedding; a decade later, her business went exclusive to ultra-high-net-worth families. Vogue named her business the UK's top luxury wedding planner, she's been featured in Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Tatler, and she was a wedding consultant for HBO's Succession. Twenty years and one pandemic later, she's handed the business to her team as its first employee-owned wedding company. We cover: 📱 Why phones have can quietly disrupt weddings — and the low-budget cricket-club wedding she still calls the most joyful she's ever attended🏰 What it actually takes to plan for families who already live a "stratospheric" life — private jets, five homes, and all🎂 The £40,000 cake and the cake-on-a-private-jet disaster that ended with the loo blocked off for the flight🌸 Flower budgets running past a million pounds, and why hand-painted tables are replacing tablecloths this year🎤 Negotiating riders with headline DJs and A-list acts booked for a 20-minute set💰 Her "big five" — the five things every couple needs to agree on before spending a penny on a wedding🎬 Consulting on HBO's Succession and commentating for CNN at the royal wedding🏛️ The economics of weddings — 267,000 a year in the UK, injecting £6.6 billion into the economy before the couple spends a cent💬 Her advice to her younger self: stop getting bogged down in the weeds — your own life matters more than someone else's special day 🎧🔥❤️‍🔥LISTEN VIA LINK IN BIO & -❤️‍🔥🔥🎧 https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion [https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion] 🍫 Listeners get 10% off using the code thekollective10 at audreyschocolates.co.uk 🍫️ 🔥 Fireside Chat 🔥 🎯 The message I'd give my younger self: Don't get so bogged down in the weeds and worry of it all — your own life and your own family are more important. 🌙 One thing I want young listeners to take from this: Try to live in the moment a bit more. That's what I'd like to have learned earlier. 🙏 What I'm most grateful for in this career: It's given me a window into a world I'd never otherwise have known, let me be creative, build a business, and meet a whole community of people doing what I do. It's opened my eyes to how the world really works. ❤️‍🔥 Loved this episode? ✨ Like, Share, and Subscribe to support bold, heart-led conversations. WANT MORE OR TO SUPPORT? 🎁 Become a patron and get exclusive access & behind-the-scenes perks: www.patreon.com/TheKollective828 [http://www.patreon.com/TheKollective828] 🎁 ☕ Want to make a one off donation to support the show 🙏: https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion [https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion] Mentions: Sarah Haywood · The Wedding Bible · Vogue · Elle · Harper's Bazaar · Tatler · The Times · CNN · Prince and Princess of Wales · HBO · Succession · Eastnor Castle · Matthew Macfadyen · ITN · Castiglion Del Bosco · Rosewood · Peggy Porschen · Cartusia · Adele · Elton John · Jeff Bezos · Taylor Swift · Donald Trump · Office for National Statistics · Tesco · Pizza Express · Starbucks · BMW · Jaguar · Rolls-Royce · Ford · Oxfordshire · Sicily · Nice · Scotland · New York ·

Hair Stylist to the Stars Greg Hill on the World of Hair and How to Make the Most of Yours

What would it mean to finally understand your hair — and know exactly what it can do? 💇✨ We sit down with Greg Hill — master stylist at the renowned Josh Wood Colour salon in London, and the man trusted with the hair of some of the most photographed women in the world. Greg has spent decades helping people discover what their hair is truly capable of, and in this episode he opens up about the craft, the psychology, and the surprisingly profound relationship between how your hair looks and how you feel about yourself. This isn't a conversation about trends. It's a conversation about understanding your hair type, working with what you have, and why a little know-how can go further than you'd ever expect. ✂️ Greg trained at the legendary Nicky Clarke salon, later styling hair for the likes of entrepreneur and icon Trinny Woodall for over a decade — helping to define one of the most admired hair looks in British media. An influencer of what Good Housekeeping has called the ghost wave, Greg built a loyal following through a social media channel that started as self-promotion and became something far more useful: a genuine education in hair. He visits clients at home, works from Josh Wood Colour, and has a reputation built entirely on results. We cover: 💇 Why understanding your hair type is the single most important thing you can do 🌊 The ghost wave — how Greg and Trinny accidentally created one of the most imitated looks around 🧠 Why hairdressers are amateur psychologists and what the chair reveals about people 🎤 From opera singer to master stylist — and why hairdressing was always the thing 🪞 The difference between a haircut that frames you and one that drags you down 📱 Why Greg's social media became an education channel — and what he's teaching people to do themselves 💡 Practical tips on volume, blow-drying technique, product, and protecting your hair from heat ❤️ What it means to truly see someone — and why a great stylist does far more than cut hair 🎧🔥❤️‍🔥LISTEN VIA LINK IN BIO & -❤️‍🔥🔥🎧 https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion [https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion] 🎁 Listeners get 10% off using the code thekollective10 at audreyschocolates.co.uk [https://audreyschocolates.co.uk/] 🛍️ 🔥 Fireside Chat 🔥 [TO BE ADDED] ❤️‍🔥 Loved this episode? ✨ Like, Share, and Subscribe to support bold, heart-led conversations. WANT MORE OR TO SUPPORT? 👉 Become a patron and get exclusive access & behind-the-scenes perks:www.patreon.com/TheKollective828 [https://www.patreon.com/TheKollective828] 💎 WANT MORE OR TO SUPPORT? 👉 Become a patron and get exclusive access & behind-the-scenes perks:www.patreon.com/TheKollective828 [https://www.patreon.com/TheKollective828] 💎 ☕ Want to make a one off donation to support the show 🙏 : https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion [https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion] Mentions: Greg Hill · Josh Wood Colour · Trinny Woodall · Nicky Clarke · Sam McKnight · Good Housekeeping · Diana · Christy Turlington · Naomi Campbell · Claudia Schiffer · Cindy Crawford · Iris Murdoch · Judi Dench · Instagram · YouTube

Making Movies That Last with Producer Sam Pressman

What does it truly take to keep a story alive — from the first spark of an idea all the way to an audience's memory? Sammy Pressman is a producer and the head of Pressman Film — one of independent cinema's most storied production companies. Founded in 1969 by his father, the legendary Edward R. Pressman, the company has produced over 100 films, including American Psycho, Wall Street, Badlands and The Crow, accumulating over two billion dollars in global box office revenue. Sammy now leads the company, continuing its tradition of bold, director-driven storytelling. Pressman Film was founded in 1969 by Edward R. Pressman — widely regarded as one of the great independent producers of his generation — after he made his first short film in London to a Beatles track and walked away with a three-picture deal. Sammy grew up in and around that world, went on to shoot behind-the-scenes footage on Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant and The Man Who Knew Infinity, and now runs the company his father built. Their latest film, Dead Man's Wire, directed by Gus Van Sant, premiered at Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and is coming to Netflix. Learn more at pressman.com [https://www.pressman.com/] We cover: 🎬 How film serves as a collective dream machine — and why it matters more than ever 🔥 Growing up with Edward Pressman and what he meant when he said "films always matter" 💸 The reality of producing — raising money, burning it, and building something out of light 🌍 Why every movie is a miracle — and why you never really know what will connect 📱 Attention spans, the iPhone, and what independent film is up against 🤝 The future of fandom — blockchain, fan credits, and building real community around film 🎥 Behind the scenes of Dead Man's Wire with Gus Van Sant ❤️ The messages Sammy wants film to carry into the world right now 🎧🔥❤️‍🔥LISTEN VIA LINK IN BIO & -❤️‍🔥🔥🎧 __ https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion [https://linktr.ee/pitchingpassion] __ 🎁 Listeners get 10% off using the code thekollective10 at audreyschocolates.co.uk [https://audreyschocolates.co.uk/] 🔥 Fireside Chat with Sammy Pressman 🔥 🎬 Favourite scene in any film: Singin' in the Rain. Gene Kelly's dance. Just so joyful. 🎭 A character from a film you'd want to meet: Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange. To box him. 🌟 One thing you'd add to your bucket list: Having a child. Or winning something marvellous. Torn between the selfless and the purely egoic. ✅ One thing IN right now: Being a married man — and everything that holds. 🚫 One thing OUT: Unkindness. Very little patience for people who can't bring themselves to understand someone else. 🙏 Something to bring more gratitude to yourself for: How hard I work. The work that isn't complete is always louder than the work that is. I need to allow myself to not always be productive. ❤️‍🔥 Loved this episode? ✨ Like, Share, and Subscribe to support bold, heart-led conversations. WANT MORE OR TO SUPPORT? 👉 Become a patron and get exclusive access & behind-the-scenes perks:patreon.com/TheKollective828 [https://www.patreon.com/TheKollective828] 💎 ☕ Want to make a one off donation to support the show 🙏 : https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion [https://buymeacoffee.com/pitchingpassion] Mentions: Sammy Pressman · Edward R. Pressman · Pressman Film · Gus Van Sant · Werner Herzog · Colman Domingo · Bill Skarsgård · Dacre Montgomery · Saar Klein · John Robinson · Oliver Stone · Terrence Malick · Wim Wenders · Dziga Vertov · Gene Kelly · Ben Affleck · River Phoenix · Matt Damon · Paul Williams · Neil Young · Roger Ebert · Edward Abbey · G.H. Hardy · Ramanujan · American Psycho · Wall Street · Badlands · The Crow · Bad Lieutenant · Dead Man's Wire · The Man Who Knew Infinity · Good Will Hunting · Elephant · Milk · True Romance · Wings of Desire · Tree of Life · The Sweet Smell of Success · A Clockwork Orange · Singin' in the Rain · The Man with a Movie Camera · The Monkey Wrench Gang · A24 · London School of Economics · Venice Film Festival · Toronto Film Festival · Netflix · Hollywood Forever