Inspiring conversations with engaging storytellers.

“You don’t need to find your ikigai—you already have it. You just need to notice it.” — Nick Kemp


What if purpose isn’t something you chase—but something you already have? In this episode, Mike sits down with Nick Kemp, founder of Ikigai Tribe and author of A Year of Ikigai, to explore a more grounded, human take on purpose. Nick shares how a guy who once hated writing ended up publishing books, building a global community, and helping others reconnect with meaning—through small, everyday moments. This conversation challenges the Western obsession with “big purpose” and offers a simpler, more sustainable way to live a meaningful life.

Key Takeaways:
1. You already have purpose. Ikigai isn’t a destination—it’s found in everyday experiences, relationships, and roles.
2. Western culture overcomplicates purpose. We chase the “perfect job” or passion, while overlooking meaning in ordinary moments.
3. Curiosity can change your life. Nick’s journey—from podcast to books—started with simply asking better questions.
4. Small moments are the big moments. A cup of coffee, a conversation, or a quiet walk can carry more meaning than major achievements.
5. Writing doesn’t require perfection—just honesty. Nick went from struggling with English to writing from lived experience and the heart.
6. Technology is pulling us away from meaning. The more distracted we become, the harder it is to notice what actually matters.
7. Be present, not perfect. Life satisfaction comes from awareness and gratitude—not chasing an ideal version of success.


Buy A Year of Ikigai: Finding Everyday Purpose Through Japanese Wisdom
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uP5m3O
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781577155485

Connect with Nicholas
Website: https://ikigaitribe.com/
Podcast: https://ikigaitribe.com/podcasts/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kemp-author/

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#Ikigai #WritersOfInstagram #AmWriting #AuthorLife #WritingCommunity #PurposeDrivenLife #MindfulLiving #PodcastLife #UncorkingAStory #CreativeJourney

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“We suffer as humans—and writing gives us a place to put that pain, to understand it, and maybe even transform it.”— Priya Hutner

What happens when the life you’ve built—your beliefs, your community, your identity—suddenly falls apart? In this episode of Uncorking a Story, Priya Hutner shares her extraordinary journey from growing up and leading within a spiritual ashram to rebuilding her life in Lake Tahoe. Her memoir, Chasing Nirvana, is part spiritual adventure, part cautionary tale, and deeply human at its core. We explore identity, reinvention, the healing power of writing, and what it really means to come back to yourself after everything you thought you knew no longer fits.

Key Takeaways:
1. When belief systems break: Priya opens up about leaving a decades-long life inside a spiritual community and the emotional fallout that followed.
2. Rebuilding identity from scratch: After leaving the ashram, she spent years rediscovering who she was outside of that structure.
3. Memoir as catharsis: Writing Chasing Nirvana became both a healing process and a way to make sense of her past.
4. The power of storytelling: Priya discusses how writing helps us process pain, reframe our experiences, and find resilience.
5. Spirituality vs. self-discovery: The conversation explores the fine line between seeking enlightenment and losing oneself in the process.
6. Alternative paths to healing: From therapy to plant medicine, Priya shares the unconventional tools that helped her reconnect with herself.
7. Creativity as a way forward: Whether through writing, cooking, or teaching, Priya continues to channel her experiences into meaningful work and community.

Buy Chasing Nirvana
Amazon: https://amzn.to/40D4P7e
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9798896360889

Connect with Priya
Website: https://www.priyahutner.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/priya.hutner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priyahutner/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@priyahutner?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

#UncorkingAStory #MemoirWriting #WritingCommunity #AuthorInterview #CreativeJourney #HealingThroughWriting #SpiritualJourney #SelfDiscovery #AmWriting #writerslife
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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“If you want to be a writer for money, you’re in the wrong place. The authors who last are the ones who truly love the craft.” — Christian Toms-Arbel

Christian Toms-Arbel has been telling stories since childhood. Born with a disability that required multiple surgeries, he spent long stretches in hospital wards immersed in books—and eventually began writing his own stories. Years later, after earning a degree and master’s in creative writing, he published his debut psychological thriller The Mannequins.
In this episode of Uncorking a Story, Christian shares the personal experiences that shaped his writing, how trauma can fuel storytelling, and the unconventional path that led him to publish his first novel.


Key Takeaways:
1. Early hardship sparked a love of storytelling. Spending time in hospitals as a child introduced Christian to books and ultimately inspired him to begin writing horror stories at just eight years old.
2. A teacher’s encouragement can change everything. One supportive teacher’s feedback convinced him he had real potential as a writer—helping set him on the path to studying creative writing.
3. Trauma can become creative fuel. Christian believes writing dark fiction is partly a way of processing personal trauma and exploring difficult emotions in a safe creative space.
4. The Mannequins takes a different approach to crime fiction. Rather than focusing only on the investigation, the novel explores how a killer is made, weaving the murderer’s upbringing into the narrative.
5. Indie publishing requires entrepreneurial thinking. Christian built an ARC reader team, generated early reviews, and treated publishing like running a small business.
6. Writing outside your identity can build empathy. His novel features a mixed-heritage female detective—a perspective he carefully developed with help from his wife as editor and advisor.
7. Persistence matters more than perfection. Even after being caught in a publishing scam, Christian continued forward and successfully launched his book independently.

Buy The Mannequins
Amazon: https://amzn.to/46QmsE4
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781919216201

Connect with Christian
Website: https://www.ctomsarbel.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.tomsarbel/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@c.tomsarbel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580209287042

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

#WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #CrimeThriller #PsychologicalThriller #AmWriting #AuthorInterview #UncorkingAStory

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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“The story came out of me when it was supposed to come out of me—after living a whole life.” – Leigh Shalloway

In this episode of Uncorking a Story, Mike Carlon sits down with novelist and holistic care practitioner Leigh Shalloway to explore the long, winding journey behind her debut novel, Journey Back to You. From a third‑grade writing setback to decades of professional work in psychology, hospice care, and healing touch, Leigh shares how lived experience, perseverance, and compassion shaped both her voice as a writer and the emotional depth of her story. Together, they discuss class divides, family systems, grief, love, and what it truly means to come home to yourself.

Key Takeaways:
1. Stories sometimes wait for us to be ready. Leigh’s novel emerged decades after its first seed was planted—only after life experience gave her the depth it required.
2. Resilience is one of a writer’s greatest characteristics. From harsh editorial feedback to vision loss and countless rewrites, perseverance made publication possible.
3. Fiction and psychology are deeply intertwined. Leigh’s background in counseling and school psychology informs her nuanced portrayal of family systems, trauma, and growth.
4. Class divides still shape American communities. Journey Back to You uses a Pennsylvania steel town to explore “haves” and “have-nots” with empathy and realism.
5. Hospice work teaches us how to live. Bearing witness at the end of life deepened Leigh’s understanding of humanity, grief, and connection.
6. Publishing doesn’t have one right path. Leigh chose a hybrid publishing model to get her story into the world—and keep writing the next ones.
7. Healing is both personal and communal. The novel’s central journey mirrors Leigh’s belief that growth happens through relationships, not in isolation.


Buy Journey Back to You
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4rJ6sMr
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9798897470181

Connect with Leigh
Website: https://www.hilltownseries.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighshalloway/

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#JourneyBackToYou #AuthorInterview #WomenWriters #HealingThroughStory #RomancePlus #WritingLife #DebutNovel #ClassAndCommunity

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“Maybe what Jesus really wanted was to show us what we’re all capable of—and that we’ve simply forgotten our own power.” — Kris Land

In this mind‑expanding conversation, Mike sits down with author, spiritual thinker, and serial entrepreneur Kris Land to explore the provocative ideas behind his book The Infinity Within. Kris shares his extraordinary lifelong experiences—from childhood out‑of‑body moments to a near‑death incident that shattered his assumptions about reality. Along the way, he offers a bold framework for understanding the soul, reincarnation, emotion as the driver of existence, and life as a multidimensional game designed for growth. Whether you're spiritually curious or simply love a conversation that stretches the imagination, this one is a ride.


Key Takeaways:
1. A lifetime of unusual experiences shaped Kris’s worldview—including early out‑of‑body events and a near‑death experience that provided “physical proof” something deeper was happening.
2. Kris sees life as a game that souls choose to play—complete with rules, turns, and the challenge of experiencing emotion within time.
3. Forgetfulness is part of the design: In Kris’s model, souls agree to “forget” their abilities so they can meaningfully experience joy, loss, fear, and growth.
4. Synchronicities aren’t coincidences—he believes we orchestrate encounters for mutual learning, often without conscious awareness.
5. Writing The Infinity Within shifted his entire understanding of spirituality, especially the possibility that Jesus acted more as teacher than pedestal.
6. The book blends fiction and memoir through the character Gabe and mentor Elias, inviting readers to question their beliefs rather than adopt his.
7. The audiobook narrator story is wild—a renowned voice actor paused all other projects to record Kris’s book after reading just 15 minutes.

Buy The Infinity Within
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tO4fRj
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9798765262016

Connect with Kris
Website: https://krisland.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheInfinityWithin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theinfinitywithin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_infinity_within_me/

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#TheInfinityWithin #KrisLand #SpiritualAwakening #AuthorInterview #UncorkingAStory #Consciousness #SoulJourney #PersonalTransformation #worldreligions #jesus #christianity

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When Jane Loeb Rubin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she started writing at 3 a.m. While the steroids kept her awake and fear kept her thinking, writing kept her grounded.

What began as a memoir for her future grandchildren grew into an award-winning historical fiction series, and a powerful reminder that storytelling can be both medicine and legacy.

Sometimes the stories we write are the ones that keep us going.

#UncorkingAStory #ThePowerOfWriting #AuthorInterview #HealingThroughWriting #CancerSurvivor

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"Writing made me feel like I mattered, like I was taking up space in the universe that could be shared..”

In this episode, Mike uncorks the story of historical fiction author Jane Loeb Rubin, whose career as a writer began with an unexpected catalyst: an ovarian cancer diagnosis. What started as a therapeutic memoir evolved into a multi‑book, award‑winning series exploring immigrant life, women’s rights, early medical practices, and the tumultuous decades that shaped modern America. Jane shares how uncovering her great‑grandmother Tilly’s forgotten story led her deep into history — from 19th‑century New York tenements to the battlefields and hospitals of World War I, and forward into Prohibition‑era Catskills and the cultural revolution of the 1960s. This episode is perfect for fans of historical fiction, family‑rooted storytelling, and the intersection of medicine, resilience, and creativity.


Key Takeaways:
1. How a cancer diagnosis launched Jane’s writing journey, beginning with a memoir that helped her process trauma and preserve her legacy for future generations.
2. The rediscovery of her great‑grandmother Tilly, whose lost history inspired a trilogy exploring immigrant life, women’s health, and societal constraints in the late 1800s.
3. An inside look at Jane’s meticulous world‑building, from New York’s tenements to WWI medical units, blending her healthcare background with her passion for history.
4. The surprising role of WWI in America’s “melting pot,” including Jane’s research into immigrant soldiers and real letters that shaped her storytelling.
5. A preview of Mayhem in the Mountains, a Prohibition‑era story featuring runaway children, Catskills farmland, gangsters, and local clashes with the KKK.
6. Why writing remains therapeutic for Jane, keeping her grounded, purposeful, and creatively energized as she continues work on book five.
7. The cultural and personal forces driving her next novel, which journeys into the 1960s–70s to explore women’s changing roles amid seismic social shifts.

Explore Jane’s Books
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4stLy4b

Connect with Jane
Website: https://www.janeloebrubin.com/
X: twitter.com/LoebRubin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janeloebrubinauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeloebrubin/

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
#HistoricalFiction #AuthorInterview #WomensHistory #OvarianCancerAwareness #ImmigrantStories #WWIHistory #ProhibitionEra #BookPodcast #WritingJourney #CreativeHealing

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“The more you unpack something—or uncork it—the less power it holds over you.”

In this powerful episode of Uncorking a Story, host Mike Carlon sits down with cultural and medical anthropologist Mimi Nichter, whose new memoir Hostage revisits the harrowing 1970 hijacking that changed her life forever. Now a professor emerita and award‑winning anthropologist, Mimi opens up about the 21 days she spent as a hostage in Jordan, how decades of silence shaped her identity, and why she finally chose to share her story more than 50 years later.

This conversation dives deep into trauma, resilience, memory, and the healing power of storytelling—making it a must‑listen for memoir lovers, history buffs, and anyone fascinated by the inner mechanics of survival.

Key Takeaways:
1. How a 1970 hijacking led to the first use of airport metal detectors and reshaped air travel safety worldwide.
2. Why Mimi kept the trauma silent for decades—and how cultural expectations around women’s stories contributed to that silence.
3. What it means to remember: Mimi’s process of uncovering a long‑hidden box of artifacts and confronting the depth of her own memories.
4. The surprising role of children in her survival during the hostage crisis, and how caring for them helped her manage fear.
5. Trauma, resilience, and healing: why writing Hostage became an emotional but liberating journey.
6. How reconnecting with fellow hostages 50 years later reopened conversations and fostered communal healing.
7. Why her memoir matters now, in a world where hostage‑taking remains tragically relevant.

Buy HOSTAGE: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NT2P7Q
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781640126848

Connect with Mimi
Website: https://www.miminichter.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miminichter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-nichter-30673313/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/MimiNichter

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#MimiNichter #HostageMemoir #UncorkingAStory #Hijacking1970 #TraumaHealing #MemoirWriting #AuthorInterview #ResilienceStories #Anthropology #SurvivingTrauma #TrueStoryBooks

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Let help uncork your memoir through a 12 week memoir mentorship program: https://mikecarlon.com/memoir-cohorts/

"Medicine knows a patient’s disease, but it does not know the patient — and that is where the real crisis lies." — Dr. Robert Smith
In this powerful episode of Uncorking a Story, Mike sits down with Dr. Robert Smith, a nationally recognized pioneer in evidence‑based mental health care and physician‑patient communication. Drawing from his new book Has Medicine Lost Its Mind?, Dr. Smith reveals how our current medical system inadequately prepares doctors for the most common health issues in America — mental health conditions — and why this failure is costing lives, families, and entire communities.

From formative early-career mistakes to the creation of the first patient‑centered interviewing method, Dr. Smith shares a compelling journey of awakening, reform, and hope. If you've ever wondered why navigating mental health care feels so broken — or what it would take to fix it — this conversation is essential listening.

Key Takeaways:

1. The mental health crisis is rooted in medical education. Doctors receive only 2% of training in mental health, despite mental illness being the most common health condition in the U.S.
2. A powerful personal failure reshaped Dr. Smith’s career. A patient's diary — detailing how unheard she felt — sparked his lifelong mission to reform how physicians communicate and treat mental health.
3. Primary care doctors handle most mental health cases — untrained. Psychiatrists see only about 12% of mental health patients; primary care sees the rest, often without adequate preparation.
4. The mind–body split dates back to the 1500s. Deep historical roots shape modern medicine’s exclusion of psychological and social factors, to the detriment of today’s patients.
5. Untreated mental illness drives society-wide consequences. Divorce, addictions, homelessness, incarceration, and even suicide can often be traced back to missed diagnoses in primary care.
6. Dr. Smith proposes a Second Flexner Report. A federally led investigation could expose systemic failures and force medical education to modernize.
7. Listeners can take action today. Dr. Smith provides tools on his website — robertcsmithmd.com — for contacting political leaders and advocating reform.

Buy Has Medicine Lost Its Mind
Amazon: https://amzn.to/46Iaw7a
Bookshop:https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781493087655

Connect with Dr. Smith
Website https://www.robertcsmithmd.com/
X: https://x.com/RobertCSmithMD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertCSmithMD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcsmithmd/

Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncorkingastory
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#MentalHealthCrisis #HealthcareReform #PatientCenteredCare #MedicalEducation #UncorkingAStory #DrRobertSmith #HasMedicineLostItsMind #PrimaryCareMentalHealth

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