Melanie Marshall spent over 20 years as a BBC foreign news journalist and war correspondent, covering the most volatile conflict zones on the planet. This is part two of her conversation on No Ordinary Monday, and this is where she shares her No Ordinary Monday story.

Afghanistan. 2012. Melanie and her team are unembedded, crisscrossing the country in low profile vehicles, operating in 10-minute windows on the streets of Kandahar before the Taliban can mark their position. They have access most journalists never get. A general who writes poetry. A warlord who lets them join his morning workout.

But at the end of three weeks, the roads back to Kabul are so dangerous that even the NGOs won't travel them. What Melanie decides that day is something that still gives her a pit in her stomach.

After the story, the conversation goes somewhere just as compelling. Melanie talks about what two decades of witnessing war up close actually does to a person, why she still believes humanity is not doomed to its darkest impulses, and what she saw at a car bomb site in Syria that she will never forget. She also shares her practical advice for anyone who wants to break into foreign news today, including why a degree is not what you think it is, why your biggest competition is not who you think it is, and why an ethos matters more than a CV.

This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, start there.

Connect with Melanie:

WEBSITE: melaniemarshall.com

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/in/melanie-marshall-237a641

YOUTUBE: ⁠youtube.com/@MDMarshall⁠

TIKTOK: @melaniemspeaks

X/Twitter: @mdmarshall

SUBSTACK: substack.com/@imrama

CREDITS

Guest: Melanie Marshall. Former BBC Foreign News Journalist and Producer, Hostile Environment Specialist, 20+ years covering conflict zones across Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia and beyond.

Host, Producer and Editor: Chris Baron

Music: Music_Unlimited and Saavane

Sound effects: Pixabay and FreeSound

Podcast Access: ⁠https://pods.link/noordinarymonday⁠

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday⁠. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW US SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at ⁠www.noordinarymonday.com⁠, or email us at ⁠hello@noordinarymonday.com⁠.

Topics: foreign news journalism, BBC, war zone reporting, hostile environment journalism, conflict reporting, Afghanistan, Taliban, unembedded journalism, Kandahar, Kabul, buskashi, risk assessment, decision making under pressure, storytelling, press freedom, resilience, hope

Melanie Marshall spent over 20 years as a BBC foreign news journalist and war correspondent, covering the most volatile conflict zones on the planet. Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Honduras. Her job was to get the team in, get the story out, and get everyone home safely. No playbook. Just problem solving under pressure, sometimes under fire.

What most people don't see when they turn on the news is everything that happened before those two minutes of footage aired. The permissions that were never granted. The checkpoints that wouldn't budge. The moments where the only way through was to outlast whoever was standing in your way.

In this episode Melanie pulls back the curtain on what war zone journalism and foreign news production actually looks like from the inside. She talks about negotiating access to an MS-13-controlled prison in Honduras, staring down the black flag of Islamic State in northern Iraq, and what two decades of conflict reporting taught her about staying present when everything around you is falling apart.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with a BBC war correspondent. Part 2 is where she shares her No Ordinary Monday story.

Connect with Melanie:

WEBSITE: melanieamarshall.com

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/in/melanie-marshall-237a641

YOUTUBE: youtube.com/@MDMarshall

TIKTOK: @melaniemspeaks

X/Twitter: @mdmarshall

SUBSTACK: substack.com/@imrama

CREDITS

Guest: Melanie Marshall. Former BBC Foreign News Journalist and Producer, Hostile Environment Specialist, 20+ years covering conflict zones across Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia and beyond.

Host, Producer and Editor: Chris Baron

Music: Paulyudin, Music_Unlimited and Saavane

Sound effects: Pixabay and FreeSound

Podcast Access: https://pods.link/noordinarymonday

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday.

We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW US SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show. WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

Topics: foreign news journalism, BBC, war zone reporting, hostile environment journalism, conflict reporting, news production, Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, MS-13, Islamic State, media industry, storytelling, press freedom, resilience

What does it take to get a foreign spy to help another country? According to Robin Dreeke, it has nothing to do with pressure, leverage or manipulation. It comes down to one thing, making the other person feel genuinely understood.

Robin spent 22 years inside the FBI, eventually leading theBureau's elite Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. His primary mission was recruiting foreign intelligence officers to work as assets for the United States. Russian military intelligence. Diplomats at the UN. Sources buried so deep inside foreign networks that their existence will likely neverbe publicly acknowledged.

Then came September 11th 2001. Robin was blocks away fromthe towers when they were hit. What he witnessed that morning, and what he was asked to do in the weeks and months that followed, changed the trajectory of his entire career.

Within 24 hours of the attacks, Robin had pivoted his entire source network away from Cold War targets and toward a crisis no one had a playbook for. What came out of that pivot was a series of operations that Robin believes contributed to preventing conflict between nuclear powers, all builton the same foundation he had been quietly developing his entire career, the ability to make someone trust him with their life.

In this episode Robin breaks down the human psychologybehind why people cooperate, what Russian intelligence officers and foreign diplomats actually wanted when they agreed to risk everything, and why the FBI agents who recruited the most valuable sources were almost never the ones you'dexpect.

WEBSITE: robindreeke.com

BOOKS: It's Not All About Me | The Code of Trust | SizingPeople Up | Unbreakable Alliances

SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube | X/Twitter: @rdreeke, Facebook: @PeopleFormula

PODCAST: Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski (co-host)

CREDITS:

Guest - Robin Dreeke. Retired FBI Special Agent & Chiefof the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, US Marine Corps Veteran, Bestselling Author & Human Behaviour Expert

Host, Producer and Editor - Chris Baron

Music - OpenMindAudio, Music_Unlimited and Saavane

Sound effects - Pixabay and FreeSound

Podcast Access - https://pods.link/noordinarymonday

TOPICS: FBI counterintelligence, spy recruitment, 9/11eyewitness, building trust without manipulation, behavioral analysis, human motivation, national security, rapport building, active listening, confidential human sources, Cold War intelligence

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

VISIT THE WEBSITE - Noordinarymonday.com

SOCIALS - https://linktr.ee/Noordinarymonday

From elite special operations soldier and Iraq War veteran to one of Africa's most respected voices in wildlife conservation, Damien Mander's story is not what you'd expect, and that's exactly what makes it worth hearing.

Damien spent a decade in Australia's special operations units, including clearance diver selection, sniper training, and three years on active deployment in Iraq. When he left the military, the mission disappeared and so did his identity. What followed was a spiral, and eventually a rumour in a bar about going to Africa to protect animals.

He went looking for a fight. What he found changed everything.

In this episode we cover the full arc of Damien's journey, from the mindset forged in military selection through to the realities of anti-poaching operations on the ground in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and across Southern Africa. We get into the true scale of illegal wildlife trafficking, one of the world's largest criminal industries, and how elephant ivory and rhino horn make wild animals walking targets for transnational organised crime networks.

We talk about the moment that made it personal. A Cape buffalo trapped in a wire snare, euthanised, giving birth to a stillborn calf, and the decision it triggered. Sell everything, commit fully, figure it out from there.

We also dig into Akashinga, the groundbreaking all-female anti-poaching unit Damien founded in Zimbabwe, and the Abundant Village model of community-led conservation, linking biodiversity outcomes to jobs, healthcare, education and trust across nearly 10 million acres in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania.

Connect With Damien & Abundant Village:

https://abundantvillage.world/

https://www.akashinga.org/

Instagram: @abundant_village.mm | @damien_mander

YouTube: ‪@AbundantVillage | @WeAreAkashinga

Donate: abundantvillage.world/donate

Watch:

Akashinga: The Brave Ones | National Geographic -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYQS40I9mw

Credits:

Guest - Damien Mander. Founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF), Creator of Akashinga, Co-founder of Abundant Village, Former Special Operations Soldier & Conservation Advocate

Host, Producer and Editor - Chris Baron

Music - Guilherme Bernardes William, Music_Unlimited and Saavane

Sounds effects - Pixabay and FreeSound

Podcast Access - https://pods.link/noordinarymonday

KEYWORDS:

Damien Mander, anti-poaching, wildlife conservation, Akashinga, IAPF, International Anti-Poaching Foundation, Abundant Village, Zimbabwe conservation, rhino poaching, elephant poaching, illegal wildlife trafficking, women rangers, community conservation, special forces soldier, Iraq War veteran, Australian military, navy clearance diver, wildlife ranger training, Kruger National Park, Southern Africa conservation, life purpose, military transition, conservation documentary, No Ordinary Monday podcast

Send us Fan Mail

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

Guest: Briana Evigan. Actress (Step Up 2, Step Up 3D, S. Darko), Founder of Abundant Village, Humanitarian & Conservation Advocate

Briana Evigan spent years doing what most actors only dream of. The Step Up franchise, billboards across LA, film after film. But the pace caught up with her, and behind the success was burnout, loneliness, and the creeping feeling that none of it was enough.

A trip to Bali started shifting things. Riding an elephant in Indonesia and learning what happens behind the scenes in tourist camps lit something she couldn't ignore. That led her to the poaching crisis, two months trekking with mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda, and eventually Southern Africa. A baby elephant named Selma, caught in a poacher's snare, became one of the most important teachers of her life. The lesson: if we don't heal humans first, we'll never protect animals or the planet.

During the pandemic, a night of powerful reflection in Beverly Hills made the decision for her. She sold her house, sold her car, packed up her dog, and booked a one-way ticket. Five years on, she's living in Zimbabwe and co-leading Abundant Village.

We talk about how that model works, what she learned from sitting down with poachers, and why conservation without community is fighting a losing battle.

If you've ever thought about doing something completely different with your life, this one is worth your time. Leave a review if you enjoy it and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Connect With Briana & Abundant Village

🌍 Website: abundantvillage.world

📸 Instagram: @abundantvillage | @brianaevigan

▶️ YouTube: Briana Evigan — including the short documentaries The Land Remembers and Circles of Connection

💼 LinkedIn: @brianaevigan

💛 Donate: abundantvillage

Watch / Read

🎬 The Land Remembers — Short documentary by Abundant Village (YouTube)

🎬 Circles of Connection — Short documentary by Abundant Village (YouTube)

🎬 “Coming To South Aftica” — Briana's personal video documenting her move to Southern Africa (YouTube)

Credits

Host, Producer and Editor: Chris Baron

Guest: Briana Evigan

Music: Music_Unlimited and Saavane

Sounds effects: Pixabay and FreeSound

Topics & Keywords

wildlife conservation, community conservation, Abundant Village Zimbabwe, Briana Evigan, Step Up actress, Hollywood burnout, humanitarian work Africa, anti-poaching, elephant poaching, pangolin, mountain gorillas Uganda, Zimbabwe conservation, Chisarira Zimbabwe, Kruger National Park conservation, plant medicine spiritual awakening, life reinvention, purpose-driven life, leaving fame behind, conservation documentary, actress turned conservationist, illegal wildlife trade, poaching supply chain, Bali spiritual experience, Uluwatu Temple, burnout recovery, podcast about conservation, humanitarian podcast,

Send us Fan Mail

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

A theme park owner in Stockholm points to a cramped patch of land, boxed in by towers, tracks, and buildings, and asks an almost impossible question: could you build a roller coaster here?

Wooden roller coaster designer Korey Kiepert says yes. That single decision sets off a chain of engineering, creativity, and careful risk management, leading to a ride that weaves over, under, and through an already packed park.

Chris Baron sits down with Korey to unpack what it really takes to design and build modern roller coasters. From site walks and layout compromises to moments of instinct and the safety culture behind every decision, this is a rare look at how these rides actually come to life. Korey also shares how improv training shaped his mindset, why tight spaces can lead to the most memorable designs, and how new technology is pushing what’s possible.

The conversation explores why wooden roller coasters still matter in a world of steel giants and record-breaking attractions. From the raw, physical feel of timber structures to sustainability conversations and “small but mighty” design, Korey explains why these rides continue to resonate with both parks and riders.

If you’re interested in engineering, design thinking, creativity under pressure, or the hidden work behind theme park experiences, this episode gives you a behind-the-scenes look at an industry most people never see.

Follow the show, share it with someone who’d enjoy it, and leave a rating or review to help more people discover No Ordinary Monday.

Links:

https://thegravitygroup.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/koreykiepert/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAv7DaGiF-Q

https://thegravitygroup.com/roller-coaster-projects/

Credits:

Produced, Hosted and Edited by - Chris Baron

Images and Video Clips - Korey Kiepert, Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Dan Prout, Kings Island, and Olov Lundell.

Intro Music - Music_Unlimited

Outro Music - Saavane

Topics Covered:

roller coaster design, wooden roller coasters, theme park engineering, tight build sites, constrained spaces, impossible builds, creative problem solving, improv mindset, yes and thinking, design under pressure, ride layout challenges, safety culture, risk management, engineering decisions, ride testing, g-forces, rider experience, wood vs steel coasters, nostalgia in theme parks, sustainability, compact ride design, innovation in coaster technology, behind the scenes of theme parks

Send us Fan Mail

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

What happens when a scientific expedition in the Red Sea is suddenly boarded by an unidentified, armed group?

In this episode, adventurer, photographer and documentary producer Ulrika Larsson shares her experience working on a marine science expedition near the Yemeni coast. She relives the moment the encounter escalated into a tense, hours-long ordeal, with passports confiscated and crew members taken away for questioning.

Ulrika has built a career that spans outdoor guiding, adventure leadership, documentary production, and underwater photography — and more recently, firefighting in Sweden.

We explore what drives that kind of career path, what it’s really like working in remote and high-risk environments, and why staying calm under pressure is often the most important skill you can have.

We then dive into her Red Sea expedition in 2023, documenting coral reef research near Djibouti and the Seven Brothers Islands.

With regional tensions rising, the situation quickly escalated when an unidentified group boarded the vessel.

Ulrika shares what happened in real time — the uncertainty, the decisions she had to make under pressure, and what it taught her about risk, responsibility, and working in unpredictable environments.

The same trip also led to a breakthrough moment in her photography — with one of her images later selected for a major ocean photography competition and displayed in Piccadilly Circus.

If you’re interested in documentary filmmaking, underwater photography, scientific expeditions, or careers in extreme environments, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what the work is really like.

Links:

https://www.lwimages.com/

Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/lwimages_studio/

https://www.instagram.com/greenulrika/

Credits:

Produced, Hosted and Edited by - Chris Baron

Images and Video Clips - Ulrika Larsson & Lukasz Larsson Warzecha

Intro Music - Music_Unlimited

Outro Music - VibeHorn

Topics covered:

Underwater photography, documentary filmmaking, Red Sea expedition, Djibouti, Yemen coast, armed boarding at sea, conflict zones, high-risk environments, interrogation, passports confiscated, firefighting.

Send us Fan Mail

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.

Bomb disposal expert and former British Army engineer Ben Remfrey joins No Ordinary Monday to share what it is really like working in landmine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal in war zones around the world.

During the first Gulf War, Ben was deployed to Kuwait to deal with the deadly aftermath of the conflict. Oil fields burned for months, unexploded munitions littered the ground, and anti personnel landmines were scattered across the desert. In one moment he still remembers vividly, Ben looked down and realised an anti personnel mine was sitting directly in his own footprint.

Today Ben runs an IMAS compliant explosive ordnance disposal training school in Kosovo, training the next generation of humanitarian deminers. In this conversation he explains how modern mine action and bomb disposal work behind the scenes, from equipment and safety standards to the discipline required to survive around explosives.

We also discuss the challenge of clearing landmines while war is still ongoing, and why Ukraine now faces one of the most complex mine clearance operations in modern history. Ben also shares the story of the “Great Eight”, the first group of Ukrainian women he helped train in humanitarian demining. If you are interested in bomb disposal, explosive ordnance disposal, humanitarian demining, and landmine clearance, this episode offers a rare look inside one of the most dangerous professions in the world.

Links:

https://www.pcm-erw.com/about-mk/

https://www.instagram.com/matkosovo_eod_erw_training/

https://www.youtube.com/@pcmerw8387

Credits:

Produced, hosted and edited by Chris Baron

Images and Videos:

MAT Kosovo, Neil Gibson, U.S Army, National Science Foundation, U.S. Navy, EdJF, Jonas Jordan, NASA

Topics covered:

Bomb disposal, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), landmine clearance, humanitarian demining, war zones, Ukraine mine clearance, Gulf War, unexploded ordnance, mine action.

Send us Fan Mail

SUPPORT US - NOM is a 100% independent show. Help us keep the lights on by buying us a coffee (or a beer) - https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarymonday. We're deeply grateful for any level of support.

SHOW SOME LOVE - click five-stars on whatever platform you're on, and leave us a review, or tell a friend about the show.

WANT TO BE A GUEST? You can submit your own career story through our website at www.noordinarymonday.com, or email us at hello@noordinarymonday.com.