London Real

Ashley Walters is a man wise beyond his years.  Take a look at his CV and you will quickly understand why.  At age 19 he became part of the UK Hip Hop group So Solid Crew and scored with the #1 single "21 seconds" (performing it in front of 70,000 people) only to go to prison for gun possession one year later.  Upon release he starred with rapper 50 Cent in the movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" and most recently has taken on the lead role of "Top Boy", a street crime drama set right here in Hackney that many call "The Wire" of London. And he's only 31 years old. Ashley is the very first actor ever on London Real and if I was expecting a scripted, image conscious performance I was sadly mistaken.  A self-described introvert, Ashley walked me through the emotions he felt when he became a member of So Solid Crew and why that situation was ultimately untenable.  "When I got caught with the gun I was out of control" he explained, "My paranoia had gone through the roof." What I like most about Ashley is that he is a s

When you sit down to speak to the man known as the best media manipulator in the business, you start to wonder who is really going to be in control. Ryan Holiday is a man whose reputation precedes him in a huge way.  After doing business with the likes of Tucker Max, Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene (48 Laws of Power) and Dov Charney of American Apparel, you know he's a highly qualified marketer.  On top of that he's an accomplished author of the books "Trust Me, I'm Lying", "Growth Hacking", and his latest "The Obstacle is the Way."

When Jim Rogers shows up with that Southern drawl and Seersucker suit, you know some Investing science is about to be dropped on your dome. Jim Rogers has been there and done that.  He co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973 which later became one of the most successful funds ever created returning over $32 Billion to its investors over the decades.

Ivor Crotty is an Irishman living in Moscow working in social media for a news network funded by the Kremlin.  How's that for a bio! RT (formerly known as Russia Today) has made huge strides in the online media space in the past few years being the first television news station to reach 1 Billion views on YouTube.  In the USA their channel is available to 85 million people and they boast such personalities as Abby Martin, Julian Assange and our London Real regular Max Keiser.

Rick Doblin founded MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) in 1986 with the goal of making MDMA an FDA approved medicine and hasn't looked back since.  Today the organisation is involved in studying the uses of LSD, Ayahuasca, Ibogaine and Marijuana in such treatments as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and end of life issues.

Todd Pierce knows a lot about the Guantanamo Detention Camp.  As a Major with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corp his job was to defend three of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay and considers indefinite detention a form of torture.

I still remember the day in August 2012 when Futurist Jacque Fresco and his partner Roxanne Meadows of the Venus Project came to our studios for London Real episode #47.  After accepting my offer to pick them up I headed off to Waterloo station with camera crew in tow to record the arrival of one of our century's great thinkers.

Geoff Thompson is a former bouncer, self-defence instructor, BAFTA winning writer, playwright, author and teacher.  His first appearance on London Real causes people stop me on the street weekly to talk about the effect he has had on their lives.

Dan Peña is by far one of the most eccentric American businessmen I have ever met, and I've seen my fair share over the years.

Rou Reynolds is the lead singer of Enter Shikari, a British post-hardcore band known for their mix of music genres and bold political messages.  I hooked up with him the day he was giving the closing talk at Z-Day, the Zeitgeist Movement's global celebration of unity, activism, and education.

Biologist & Writer Rupert Sheldrake explains how each species of animal has a collective memory, his definition of the Science Delusion, how living in India helped develop his theories, why he particularly enjoys 3-way conversations, and how he's never met anyone as lively and fun to be with as Terence McKenna.

Jacob "Stitch" Duran is the most famous UFC and Boxing Cutman in the business.  Since 2002 he has been wrapping hands and closing cuts in the UFC Octagon and I personally can't remember an event without him.  In boxing the Klitschko Brothers always fly him to Europe to work their corners and Sylvester Stallone puts him in movies.  He's more likely to be recognised on the street than most fighters.

Every now and then I find myself in the middle of an interview on London Real and I think to myself, "Is this really happening?  Is this guy really sitting here in our studio?" That happened with Christo Brand, the man who at 18 years of age was charged with guarding "the biggest criminal terrorist in the history of South Africa" on Robben Island Prison.  That man was Nelson Mandela.

Jesselyn Radack  & Thomas Drake are a force to be reckoned with.  She is the legal adviser to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and the Director of National Security & Human Rights at the Government Accountability Project.  He is a former senior executive of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and a whistleblower.  In 2006, Thomas leaked information about the NSA's data-gathering Trailblazer Project and was prosecuted under the Espionage Act, but in 2010, but the case collapsed.

Stand Up Comedian Tom Rhodes has been there, done that, and sold the T-shirt.  He was the very first Spokesperson for Comedy Central when it debuted back in the 1990s and has been doing his podcast "Tom Rhodes Radio" way before the mainstream got into that broadcasting medium (check out his episode with Kim Dotcom from a year ago, classic!).

Neil deGrasse Tyson is...well, a dude!  Dressed in cowboy boots and an embroidered shirt he represents the essence of ultracool nerdiness.

I have been following the rise and rise of Mike Dolce for years.  Since first seeing him as a contestant on the UFC reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" to his subsequent rebirth as MMA's premiere diet and fitness expert, I have always admired his dedication, attitude, and work ethic.

Brad Burton is 100% Real.  Years ago two bullet holes through his window encouraged him to change his life completely and he set up 4Networking, the UK’s largest joined-up business network.

Mr. Alex Kjerulf is the Chief Happiness Officer and Founder of Woohoo inc.  He speaks and consults worldwide for businesses like IBM, Microsoft, Hilton, LEGO, IKEA, and HP.

Vinay Gupta is a Global Resilience Guru, the inventor of the Hexayurt (the potential solution to the housing crisis), an expert on the macro impact of Bitcoin, a historian and political scholar, and much, much more.