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Rachel Thexton Connects — Season 7, September 2026
Kind words
Troylana Manson with her son

“As a guest on her podcast, where I shared the heartbreaking story of losing my son to overdose, Rachel created a respectful, compassionate space that allowed me to speak openly. Her empathy and professionalism are unmatched. She regularly highlights difficult but necessary topics.”

Troylana Manson Advocate and mother of Aaron Manson, who died due to drugs
Kareem Allam

“If you are looking for a podcast that pushes your humanity and uplifts you… a podcast that’s entertaining and educational… This is where Vancouver’s heart and podcast soul lives.”

Kareem Allam Vancouver Liberal candidate for mayor
Season 7 — now streaming

Conversations that truly connect.

Rachel Thexton welcomes media voices, leading experts, and diverse Canadians for conversations on mental health, substance use, culture and community.

Rachel Thexton Connects Season 7, episode 4 — Saving Children's Hearts with Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi
Season 7 — EP 04 · Sanjiv Gandhi Play the full episode →

Pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, clinical professor of surgery at UBC and former head of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at BC Children's Hospital, joins Rachel to talk about his memoir Brave Cuts, the joys and realities of life-saving surgery, and why he stepped away from the operating room. They talk about operating on tiny hearts, congenital heart defects and infant heart transplantation, Canadian versus American healthcare, grief and patient loss, physician mental health and work-life balance. The conversation closes with Dr. Gandhi reading a letter from a patient's mother addressed to his children.

Latest episodes — Season #07

Fresh from the mic.

Suzanne St. John Smith on Rachel Thexton Connects
Season 7, EP 03 — Childhood beliefs

Suzanne St. John Smith

Psychotherapist and author Suzanne St. John Smith joins Rachel to explore how beliefs absorbed in childhood — "I'm not smart enough," "I don't matter" — can become a silent operating system shaping self-esteem, relationships and decisions. She shares how questioning one of her own led her to start university at 40 as a single mother, and they talk about people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, what makes couples therapy productive, and how to start challenging the stories you carry about yourself.

Play the full episode →
Muhammad Ahmad on Rachel Thexton Connects
Season 7, EP 02 — Vancouver's 2026 election

Muhammad Ahmad

Vancouver mayoral candidate Muhammad Ahmad joins Rachel to talk about the city's future ahead of the 2026 municipal election. He shares his journey from Lahore, Pakistan to British Columbia and what drew him into politics, and they dig into housing affordability, cost of living, public safety, homelessness, and mental-health and addiction response.

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Linda Steele on Rachel Thexton Connects
Season 7 premiere — media & trust

Linda Steele

Veteran broadcaster, podcaster and media trainer Linda Steele opens Season 7 with a conversation about how journalism is changing and why trust between audiences and newsrooms matters. She shares her unexpected pivot from banking to broadcast news, her years at CKNW, stepping away to care for her parents with dementia, and launching her independent podcast Change My Mind with former colleague Melanie Nagy. Along the way she offers practical media-training tips on authenticity and body language, and a reminder that real conversation is what builds connection.

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Pastor Emerson Mendoza on Rachel Thexton Connects
Season 6 finale — faith & second chances

Pastor Emerson Mendoza

Emerson Mendoza went from living a dangerous double life to leading a prison ministry in Surrey. In the Season 6 finale, Rachel sits down with the Village Church pastor for an honest conversation about faith, accountability, mental health, forgiveness and second chances. After his hidden life was exposed, Emerson fell into shame and depression, praying the same prayer every night: "God, if You're real, show up." He eventually accepted responsibility for his past and received an unexpected prison sentence — and behind bars he found peace, purpose and a Sunday service of his own making. Today he supports people at Surrey Pretrial and equips churches to bring hope into correctional institutions across Canada.

Play the full episode →
Dr. Fred Moss on Rachel Thexton Connects
Mental health & the "un-doctor"

Dr. Fred Moss

A psychiatrist who has written hundreds of prescriptions says he will never write another one. Dr. Fred Moss — the "un-doctor" — traces his path from engineering dropout to psychiatrist to outspoken critic of the system he trained in, and argues that communication, not medication, sits at the heart of human healing. He breaks down his Undoctored Reset framework, challenges the chemical imbalance myth, and tells the full-circle story of a patient whose life turned out to be entangled with his own. Rachel also opens up about her own lived experience with opioid and benzodiazepine addiction that began with a prescription pad.

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Author Erin Steele on Rachel Thexton Connects
Memoir, identity & honesty

Erin Steele

Writing a memoir takes courage. Writing an honest one takes something more. Rachel sits down with Canadian author and self-described low-key philosopher Erin Steele to talk about her debut memoir Sunrise Over Half-Built Houses: Love, Longing and Addiction in Suburbia. Set in Surrey, BC, the book is a deeply personal reckoning with compulsive behaviour and the search for identity — a meditation on what it means to fill the space inside yourself with honesty rather than escape. They talk about writing truthfully about people still in your life, stillness and self-compassion, a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis, a path to wellness that didn't follow traditional program models, and the call for more compassion in how we treat one another.

Play the full episode →
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Be kind — no, really, be kind.

Under-represented voices, and those Rachel disagrees with, are critical conversations. Building bridges, and finding common ground, is a journey we take together.

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