Germ theory has shaped every major public health achievement of the last century—from clean water systems to infection control—but it’s also become one of the most misunderstood and debated topics in today’s health landscape. In this episode of Rooted & Wild, we clarify what germ theory actually means, why it remains foundational to modern medicine and public health, and how to engage constructively with people who doubt or distort it. We explore how microbes interact with human behavior, environment, and community systems—offering listeners a grounded, scientific, and accessible framework for understanding disease in the modern world.

About Jay K. Varma, MD

Jay K. Varma, MD is a physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert who has spent more than two decades working to prevent and control infectious diseases around the world. From combating Ebola in Africa to controlling HIV in Asia and the U.S., his career has focused on understanding how invisible forces—microbes, systems, and human behavior—shape our health and communities. Through his writing and health practice, he works to help people see how science and everyday life intersect: how our bodies, environments, and choices are constantly in conversation with one another and how the communities we create, the way we interact with animals and the environment, and the systems we build together determine our collective well-being.

Learn more about Dr. Jay K. Varma:

https://drjayvarma.com

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

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fevered-mind

https://www.healthbeat.org/authors/dr-jay-k-varma/

Rooted & Wild provides general information for educational and informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of David Allen Tracy. The content shared on this podcast is not intended to replace individualized medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice, nor should it be used to diagnose or treat any health condition. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding any medical or mental health concerns.

What if the moments that feel like collapse are actually doorways into your deepest clarity? In this episode, I’m joined by Laurie Clemens, a Certified Life & Leadership Coach (ICF), Certified Meditation Instructor, Professional Clinical Herbalist (RH), Healer, Mother, Channeler, Super Creative, and unapologetic Corporate Renegade.

Laurie’s work is rooted in helping people spin “straw into gold” when life falls apart. She guides others to use everyday realities — even the messy, overwhelming, or painful ones — as catalysts for transformation, growth, renewal, and joy.

After a decades-long career leading marketing and branding for Fortune 500+ companies, Laurie shifted her entire life. She traded corporate life for a deeper calling: helping humans reconnect to the innate wisdom of their own hearts. Through her coaching and spiritual guidance, she provides empowering tools, grounded practices, and intuitive insight to help people thrive more easily in a complicated world.

Laurie works with individuals who want to move beyond stress, negativity, anxiety, and confusion, and instead step into inspired ways forward — creating positive habits, aligned success strategies, meaningful goals, action, and agency. She sees every situation as workable, and her presence invites insight, steadiness, and possibility.

This episode explores how to turn chaos into clarity, how to trust the alchemy within your own experiences, and how transformation becomes inevitable when you choose to meet life with openness and courage.

Connect with Laurie:

www.soulessent.com

https://linktr.ee/laurieclemans

Rooted & Wild provides general information for educational and informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of David Allen Tracy. The content shared on this podcast is not intended to replace individualized medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice, nor should it be used to diagnose or treat any health condition. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding any medical or mental health concerns.

In this session, you’re invited to journey beyond the surface of male identity into the realms of initiation, purpose and belonging. We’ll investigate how men who haven’t been initiated—who haven’t been guided through ritual, rite of passage or meaningful community—can leave significant voids not only within their own lives, but within families, workplaces and societies at large. We’ll ask questions like: What happens when a man never meets his deeper calling? How does that then shape the culture around him? And how might we — individually and collectively — facilitate a shift toward conscious masculine leadership and healthy contribution?

This talk is both diagnosis and invitation: we’ll identify the signs and consequences of uninitiated masculinity, and then step through the possibilities of what emerges when men embrace initiation, ritual, purpose and alignment with something larger than themselves. Our aim: to help ignite a new architecture of mature, embodied masculine presence that supports society, rather than erodes it.

About Mikaal Bates

Mikaal has dedicated his life to the conscious evolution of men, supporting them in stepping into the fullness of their potential and reclaiming healthy masculine presence.

His mission is two-fold:

• To ignite, celebrate and accelerate the conscious evolution of men and healthy masculinity across our planet.
  
  
• To help heal the divide between men and women by re-animating the lost arts of “Sacred Union” and the technology of tribe.
  
  

Mikaal draws from diverse embodied leadership traditions: ritual theatre, rites of passage, dialogic coaching methodologies and initiation frameworks.

Beyond his professional work, he lives out his message: lifting heavy objects, swimming with sharks, dancing, playing piano, talking to animals and curating ecstatic experiences in service to “Something Greater.”

In his coaching and facilitation practice, Mikaal serves men (and groups of men) through 1-on-1 services, group programs (such as THE KING’S CODE and KINGDOM), men’s circles and retreats.

Why You’ll Want to Listen:
Because if we’re honest, the absence of initiation in many men today shows up in systemic ways — in leadership vacuums, ungrounded drive, emotional detachment, relational breakdown, and a culture of disconnection. Mikaal helps us see the deeper architecture behind these patterns, and more importantly, offers a path forward: one marked by initiation, service, alignment and maturity.

What You’ll Gain:

• A clear understanding of what it means to be uninitiated and how that condition impacts individuals, families and systems.
• Insight into the key milestones of initiation — how a man is called, how he moves into purpose, how he operates within tribe and service.
• Practical frameworks to support men (and their loved ones) in shifting from uninitiated to initiated—so that the whole of society benefits.

Learn More: https://www.mikaalbates.com/

Rooted & Wild provides general information for educational and informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of David Allen Tracy. The content shared on this podcast is not intended to replace individualized medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice, nor should it be used to diagnose or treat any health condition. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified healthcare professionals regarding any medical or mental health concerns.