PODCAST · society
The Human Challenge
by Vanessa Ferlaino
The Human Challenge is an award-winning podcast that shares gripping, untold stories of underrepresented voices in society overcoming and even escaping systemic barriers. Each episode showcases a new deeply intimate story, using documentary-like storytelling, featuring incarcerated people, refugees, immigration, Indigenous voices, women’s issues, disabilities inclusion, climate justice, gender diversity, and more. With an aim to increase media representation, The Human Challenge is hosted and produced by award-winning artist, Vanessa Ferlaino, who has Hispanic and Italian-immigrant roots. Over 70% of our guests are diverse, and 90% identify as women. Past guests have included returning citizens, displaced people, astronauts, GRAMMY and JUNO nominees, and more. This is a space for underrepresented stories. This is a space for the stories that are not always told. This is The Human Challenge, challenging what it means to be human, one story
Episodes
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Indigenous Language: The Heart Of The Home
"It's this really complex feeling where you're feeling culture shock to what's supposed to be your own culture," says John-Paul Chalykoff, Indigenous performer and Assistant Professor of Anishinaabe Studies. Inspired by his mother and grandmother, the last relative in his bloodline fluent in...
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Finding My Voice: Embracing Palestinian Identity
With Palestinian parents, Noora Sharrab had to fight long and hard to push past their traditional “Walk By The Walls” mentality to embrace her Palestinian identity. Questioning her experiences crossing into Palestine at a young age and challenging what she learned in her early education, she was...
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Living OUTLoud: A Life In Two Halves
Despite what his parents told him, at the age of four, Seth Compton knew he was not a girl. But it wasn’t until the age of 43 that Seth made the biggest decision of his life — to transition from female to male. In this episode, Seth shares the personal, social, professional, and medical factors...
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Shirley: A Residential School Story
As we mark National Indigenous Languages Day on Turtle Island, Shirley Horn shares her residential school story, growing up in not one, but two residential schools. She would return years later to Shingwauk Hall after it became a university to pursue her education, become first chancellor, and…
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Eleven Years In The Making
“I just never felt safe,” says Jessica Compton, after running away from a young life of kidnapping, abuse, and sexual assault. Deciding it was best she take care of herself, she lived on her own at the age of 16, working and paying her bills. During this time, drugs and alcohol numbed the pain…
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Rebulding The House: Canada's Justice System
Since childhood, Sara developed maladaptive behaviours growing up in a tiny shack with no electricity and an abusive father who sold her to the sex trade at the age of three. In and out of foster care for much of her life, it was finding herself in prison where Sara finally decided it was time to...
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Dear God: Is Anyone There?
Cheri Chafin Norris was 16 years old when she became addicted to methamphetamine — and her father’s drug dealer. She wrote to God through her journals for 20 years, recently digging through them to put together her new book, The Purpose of Abundance, re-discovering her own connection to God…
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SPECIAL: The Making Of... Transform The Night
In this episode, I talk about headlining Transform The Night and how it all came to be with opening act, DJ Seith, and speaker, Karen Bird, Founder of Nakehndan. Transform The Night was a benefit concert held on Sunday, September 28th, 2025. With a contribution from Northern Credit Union, we were...
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SPECIAL: Transform The Night
On Sunday, September 28th, award-winning artist, Vanessa Ferlaino, headlined Transform The Night. With a contribution from Northern Credit Union, we were able to contribute $3,000 CAD to our community spotlight partner, Nakehndan, supporting Indigenous survivors of abuse across Northern Ontario....
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The Road To Liberation
Injustice comes in many forms in Hebron, the largest city in The West Bank, and the epicentre of The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Jehad has not forgotten the survival mechanisms, the suffocating permits, or the violence that fuel his social justice work in Canada, where he has led some of Ontario’s...
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Mother Of A Survivor
In 2012, Karen Bird’s life took a turn; her teenage daughter disclosed she had been sexually abused. "Mother Of A Survivor" shows the eleven-year healing journey of a mother and her family, leading to the creation of Nakehndan, a non-profit weaving Indigenous and modern healing modalities for...
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Empathy in Storytelling: Behind the Scenes with Vanessa Ferlaino
In this episode of The Human Challenge, host @vanessaferlaino reflects on her conversation with Bayan Khatib, co-founder of The Syrian Canadian Foundation. Vanessa shares insights into the art of storytelling, creating safe spaces for discussing traumatic experiences, and the importance of...
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From Silence to Activism: A Journey of Syrian Resilience
Join Vanessa Ferlaino on "The Human Challenge" as she sits down with Bayan Khatib, co-founder of The Syrian Canadian Foundation. Bayan recounts her journey from Aleppo, Syria to Canada, highlighting her pivotal role in activism and the fight for a free Syria. From translating a powerful memoir of...
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Ep 50 Connecting Inner and Outer Worlds: 50th Episode Celebration
We made it! There's so much to celebrate in this 50th milestone episode of The Human Challenge! Join host, Vanessa Ferlaino, who confirms our recent announcement that we are officially on Rogers TV! Vanessa also shares insights from her new book, recaps the launch party, and tells us some new...
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Ep 49 Small Town, Big Dreams ft. NCAA Champion Abigail Fogg
In this episode, we dive into the remarkable journey of professional basketball player, Abigail Fogg, who rose from the humble roots of smalltown Sault Ste Marie in Northern Ontario, and made her mark as a 5-year NCAA champion and 8-year international professional basketball player. Discover the...
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Ep 48 Healing Together: Chip's Path from Prison to Purpose
In this heartfelt episode, we hear from Chip Skowron, MD/PhD and former CEO of Prison Entrepreneurship Program, who takes us through the double life he lived since childhood and how he found peace with himself following the four years he spent in prison for insider trading. Emerging with a…
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Ep 47 Feed U With Trees ft Author Elspeth Hay
In this episode of The Human Challenge, Elspeth Hay, author of ""Feed Us With Trees" and host of the Local Food Report on Cape Cod's NPR station, joins us. We explore the fascinating world of acorns and their potential as a superfood, delving into the historical and ecological significance of nut...
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Ep 46 Emily O'Brien Makes A Comeback With Comeback Snacks!
It's been 10 years since Emily O'Brien found herself in prison. "A lot of people think in prison that you have nothing," she says, "but if you reframe it as a place where you have everything, you can kind of create anything you want." Following that mindset, Emily created the idea for Comeback...
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Ep 45 Sparrow in the Razor Wire ft Defy Ventures' Quan Huynh
Quan Huynh has been described as a mighty warrior, a magician, and a mountain of goodness. He spent 22 years of his life behind bars for murder. In the midst of a life sentence, he found his freedom from within and wishes to share that freedom with others. He is the bestselling author of Sparrow…
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Ep 44 Rewriting the History of The Americas: Decolonizing Archaeology
25 years after finding herself divorced, a single mom of three kids with a truck, 26 cents, and a grade education, Dr. Paulette Steeves, Cree Métis author of "The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere", walked across the stage receiving her PhD with honours. She had already been told…
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Ep 43 Returning Citizens ft Robert Gil Jr From Prison Entrepreneurship Program
In this episode of "The Human Challenge", an Amazon Music x ACAST Indie Podcast Amplifier, Vanessa sits down with Robert Gil Jr, Re-entry Manager at Prison Entrepreneurship Program in Houston, in this inspiring and vulnerable conversation to breakdown barriers for returning citizens. From drug...
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Ep 42 Repair Movement & Displacement ft Mathew Lubari
"Refugee is a title, given to someone who is a displaced person, but it does not change the right to [their] data", says Mathew Lubari, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Community Creativity for Development (CC4D). Mathew joined the show from Rhino Refugee Camp in Uganda. Mathew's passion for...
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Ep 41 Real Talk with Moroccan-Yemeni Singer AŸA
Moroccan-Yemeni artist, AŸA, is back on The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier", with new music, new live tracks on vinyl, and new stories! This music is deeply personal to AŸA, as she navigates grief from the loss of a dear friend of hers and the ongoing horrors…
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Ep 40 Pretty Boys ft Star Trek Actor Doug Jones & Actor/Producer/Writer Matt Edwards
You might know Matt Edwards as your jack-of-all-trades actor/producer/writer and Doug Jones from one of your favourite franchises like Hocus Pocus, Hellboy 1 & 2, Star Trek, and Fantastic Four -- but get to know them in a more human light in this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x...
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Ep 39 Feminism & Intersectionality At The Border: Judith Cabrera From Borderline Crisis Center
** Please be welcome to note sensitive content is discussed, including sexual violence in relation to corrective punishments experienced by trans peoples. ** "Solidarity is power," says activist, Judith Cabrera, Co-Director of Borderline Crisis Center, a shelter for migrant women and kids on the...
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Ep 38 Decriminalizing Poverty ft Jason Wang CEO / FreeWorld
In our new segment, New Beginnings, supported by The Being Human Foundation, Vanessa speaks to CEO/Founder of FreeWorld, Jason Wang, a tech non-profit that trains and places people with criminal histories into the trucking industry. At the age of 15, Jason was incarcerated for a 1st degree felony...
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Ep 37 Summoned by Earth With Honourary Lama Cynthia Jurs
Lama Cynthia Jurs' commitment to healing Mother Earth began in the 1990s in the Himalayas, visiting a a 106 year-old Tibetan Buddhist in the Himalayas where she was told to bury Earth Treasure Vases. Since then, Cynthia has buried almost 100 vases across the world, including Libya, Congo,...
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Ep 36 Cycling Across Canada in 30 Days ft Wings Of Survival Co-Founders
They're baaaaack! On this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023", Leanna Carriere and Timm Döbert are back to talk about their recent cycling trip across Canada to support the 30x30 initiative, a United Nations goal of protecting 30% of land and…
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Ep 35 Research Corner: From Incarceration To Entrepreneurship ft Kylie Hwang / Kellogg School of Business
With over 2.11 million people incarcerated as of 2018, almost 600,000 people per year reenter society from incarceration with little re-integration support, leading to over 66% of formerly incarcerated people rearrested within three years of reentry. Kylie Hwang saw this firsthand while working…
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Ep 34 The Walls Have Eyes: Border and Surveillance Technology ft Petra Molnar
It took 6 years for Petra Molnar to write "The Walls Have Eyes", a book showcasing the use of technology in immigration and migrant affairs. As a lawyer and anthropology specializing in human rights, the book documents both research and true stories of people on the move that she herself has...
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Ep 33 Earth & Soul ft Award-Winning Author Leah Rampy
On this episode of The Human Challenge, Leah Rampy, award-winning author of "Earth & Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos", talks about the story of separation and "otherness" we have a society have been living in a predominant Western culture. To her, the biggest human challenge is that "being...
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Ep 32 Building A "Reuse" Empire ft Jessica Gonzalez / Happen Ventures
Jessica Gonzalez is one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in New Jersey. Jessica was EY Entrepreneur of the year award runner up 2019 + 2021, 50 Best Women in Business NJ, Women, Minority, & Small Business Enterprise Certified, NGLCC® LGBTBE® Certified, and has been published over 100 times in...
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Ep 31 Research Corner: The Truth About Immigration ft Wharton Professor Zeke Hernandez
There are two main narratives we are told about welcoming immigrants into our countries: that they harm society by taking jobs or that it is our "moral responsibility" to support immigrants. But are these truly representative of the value immigrants offer our society? Is there a third narrative...
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Ep 30 Impact In Media ft Waterbear's Chief Impact Officer Poppy Mason-Watts
Have you ever felt so passionate about a cause that it made you swim the English channel? Well, Poppy Mason-Watts, Chief Growth and Impact Officer of WaterBear, has! What is WaterBear? It is more than a streaming platform; it is a community! WaterBear is the home of captivating films and...
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Ep 29 Free Palestine ft Activists Frank Barat, Yara Jamal, Paula Sahyoun
On this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier" 2023, Vanessa speaks with producer, author, activist, Frank Barat; Yara Jamal, co-founder of Free Palestine Halifax; and Paula Sahyoun, founder of the Palestine Impact Collective to learn about how we can…
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Ep 28 - From Olympian To EDTECH Company: Julia Rivard's Story
After witnessing her son's challenges with reading, Canadian Olympian-turned-entrepreneur, Julia Rivard, started Shoelace Learning to create engaging applications to improve reading. Julia shares about her upbringing from Northern Ontario, her journey to the Australian Olympics, and how she...
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Ep 27 Period Equity In Remote Communities ft Nicole White / Moontime Connections
Nicole White, founder of Moontime Connections, joined Vanessa on "The Human Challenge", an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023" to talk about period inequities in the remote communities. Moontime Connections, along with their partner True North Aid, collects and distributes period...
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Ep 26 JUNO Nominee Jah'Mila's Reggae Roots From Jamaica to Canada
This week on The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023", Vanessa Ferlaino sits down with JUNO nominee for "Reggae Recording of the Year 2024", Jah'Mila. In this episode, Jah'Mila shares her journey from Kingston, Jamaica to Halifax, Nova Scotia, touching on her...
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Ep 25 Society & Economics For Justice ft Victor Beausoleil / SETSI
Vanessa co-hosts episode 25 of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier" 2023, with Victor Beausoleil, Executive Director of SETSI, in their first co-branded episode. Vanessa and Victor talk about shining light cross-sectionally in society from capital flow, equitable...
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Ep 25 Purposeful Chocolate ft Kristyn Carriere / Seven Summit Snacks
In this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023", Vanessa speaks to Co-founder and Chocolate Scientist of Seven Summit Snacks, Kristyn Carriere. Getting ready for International Women's Month, Kristyn shares the 4 year journey of Seven Summit Snacks…
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Ep 24 Light Beams ft 3X Grammy Nominee Valerie June
"When you can live in the outer world, but also marry that with the inner world, than you're a new space, a new world." These are the wise words of Grammy-nominated artist, Valerie June, hailed by the New York Times as one of America's "most intriguing, fully formed new talents". Hailing from...
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Ep 23 90MIN SPECIAL FEATURE ft Moroccan/Yemeni singer AŸA
AŸA's story is one unlike any other. As a Moroccan/Yemeni "Arab&B" artist growing up in Israel-Palestine, AŸA, who describes her childhood like "being a nomad", faced family trauma, abuse, mandatory military service, and assault, all before the age of 20, when finally, she found herself the...
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Ep 22 Worldviews & Climate Justice ft Author/Activist Osprey Orielle Lake
In this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023", Vanessa speaks to author, speaker, and activist, Osprey Orielle Lake. Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). She sits on the...
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Ep 21 Human Nature ft Northern Ontario author J.L. Fizzell
J.L. Fizzell grew up in smalltown Timmins in Northern Ontario, and now currently resides in Sault Ste Marie. J.L. wrote her fourth book, Human. Nature., after three other books that were written with the intentionality of honouring her trauma. But now, Human. Nature. examines the…
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Ep 20 Wings of Survival ft Canadian Decathlete Leanna Carriere and ecologist Timm Dobert
In June 2024, ecologist Dr. Timm Döbert and endurance athlete Leanna Carriere (Canada's first female Decathlete and co-founder of 7 Summits Snacks) will embark on a pioneering 30,000km self-powered expedition across the Americas. Following the westernmost migratory bird flyway, their journey aims...
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Ep 19 A Panel Discussion: What Are We Missing In Accessibility?
We are locked and loaded in this big episode of The Human Challenge, an AmazonMusic x ACAST "Indie Podcast Amplifier" 2023, featuring four major players in the accessibility space: Lee Anne Reuber - CEO/Founder of Sekond Skin Society (accessible health and fitness app) Jolene MacDonald - Founder…
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Ep 18 Injustices in the Newsroom ft journalist Zahraa Al-Akhrass
"What happens in the newsrooms is only a reflection of how institutions work." - Zahraa Al-Akhrass, former journalist for Canadian national broadcaster, Global News Canadian immigrant from Jordan/fourth generation Palestinian, Zahraaa Al-Akhrass, who just received Canadian citizenship, shares her...
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Ep 17 Being Vulnerable Is Being Human ft CEO Batuo Inc.
"The only way we can truly connect with each other is if we're vulnerable with each other," - Robert, multidisciplinary artist, aspiring art therapist, and CEO of Batuo Inc. From Cameroon to Montreal, QC to Halifax, Nova Scotia, multidisciplinary artist, aspiring art therapist, and CEO of Batuo...
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Ep 16 Accessible Mental Health Services ft Jackie Lamoureux CEO of Summits for Serotonin
A deep and honest discussion with Jackie Lamoureux, CEO/Founder of Summits for Serotonin, founded after her own peace-making journey with the help of nature -- specifically the mountains. Realizing nature isn't always accessible with all of the equipment and gear needed, Jackie sought to change...
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Ep 15 Showing Up & Intentionality ft 3X Olympian Miranda Ayim
The big question for Miranda Ayim, 3X Olympian for Team Canada, was, "How do I want to show up in the world?' The answer? Cultivate Co In this episode of The Human Challenge, an Amazon Music x ACAST's Indie Podcast Amplifier 2023 feature, Miranda, recently inducted into London's Sports Hall of...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Human Challenge is an award-winning podcast that shares gripping, untold stories of underrepresented voices in society overcoming and even escaping systemic barriers. Each episode showcases a new deeply intimate story, using documentary-like storytelling, featuring incarcerated people, refugees, immigration, Indigenous voices, women’s issues, disabilities inclusion, climate justice, gender diversity, and more. With an aim to increase media representation, The Human Challenge is hosted and produced by award-winning artist, Vanessa Ferlaino, who has Hispanic and Italian-immigrant roots. Over 70% of our guests are diverse, and 90% identify as women. Past guests have included returning citizens, displaced people, astronauts, GRAMMY and JUNO nominees, and more.
This is a space for underrepresented stories. This is a space for the stories that are not always told. This is The Human Challenge, challenging what it means to be human, one story
HOSTED BY
Vanessa Ferlaino
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Human Challenge have?
The Human Challenge currently has 64 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Human Challenge about?
The Human Challenge is an award-winning podcast that shares gripping, untold stories of underrepresented voices in society overcoming and even escaping systemic barriers. Each episode showcases a new deeply intimate story, using documentary-like storytelling, featuring incarcerated people,...
How often does The Human Challenge release new episodes?
The Human Challenge has 64 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Human Challenge?
You can listen to The Human Challenge on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Human Challenge?
The Human Challenge is created and hosted by Vanessa Ferlaino.
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