I AM HERETIC PODCAST

Meet Monica Brand: artist, creative director, and astrologer. She breaks astrology down for us in this podcast, explaining how the stars and planets can influence your personality, career journey, love and sex life. They can also impact which fragrances you gravitate towards and those aromas that could be particularly useful at certain times. Discover how to harness the cosmos' exquisite power in this intimate and illuminating conversation.Follow Monica on IG @bymonicabrand

We discuss the topic of sexual wellness with Betony Vernon, a Paris-based erotic jewelry designer, sexual anthropologist, author, and visionary whose ultimate goal is to 'dismantle the pleasure taboo'. Her book The Boudoir Bible is a sex-positive guide to the new sexual landscape, covering erotic topics such as bondage, role playing, sex toys, and new erogenous zones. 

We talk with author and functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole, whose philosophy and mission aligns with Heretic's beliefs regarding the importance of clean beauty and non-toxic products. He points out that although human genetics haven't changed in about 10,000 years, auto-immune conditions, diabetes, and chronic disease are growing like never before. Dr. Cole works to examine the lifestyle choices and environmental toxins that are awakening genetic predispositions and causing a slew of health problems for millions of people. His book 'Ketotarian' outlines his plan for optimal health that combines the keto diet with a vegetarian one. In this podcast Dr. Will digs into how you can start the new year off living your best life.

Meet Barbara Paldus, a brilliant scientist, entrepreneur, inventor, engineer, and mother, who ventured into clean beauty after having frustrating experiences finding truthful products for her son's skin condition. Barbara has founded CODEX BEAUTY and invested in like minded brands within the beauty & wellness realm. In this podcast Heretic's founder/perfumer Douglas Little chats with her about her plans to redefine clean beauty with honesty, efficacy, and scientific innovation. 

Violet Chachki is the very embodiment of the Heretic ethos—a modern-day provocateur and wellspring of glamour, transgression, seduction, and fetishistic desire. Gliding effortlessly between the once segregated spheres of masculine and feminine, Violet represents the essence of modern celebrity, a luminous Lady Liberty unshackled from antiquated conventions and stereotypes. To celebrate the release of our fragrance collaboration 'Dirty Violet', we talk with Violet about scent and of course their journey to becoming the Empress of drag performance.

Jemma is a chef, mixologist, forager, practitioner of plant and vibrational medicine and the founder of Mama Xanadu, a multi-disciplinary botanical studio based in London that offers a Wild Alchemy Bar, supper clubs, creative workshops and consultancy. We chat with her about the connection between mixology and perfuming, and how the use of real botanical materials allows us to express deeper alchemic, mystical, and healing properties through our creations.

MANDY AFTEL is the Berkeley based perfumer behind the natural fragrance line Aftelier, in addition to being a teacher and the author of nine books on the topics of natural perfumery and essential oils. She's considered an authority and leader within the field of natural fragrance, which is why Heretic's founder/perfumer looked to her early on as a mentor when starting his brand. The fragrances Mandy creates are entirely different from the standard synthetic-based fragrances commonly found on the market, so her work has been a major inspiration for Heretic. Not to mention, she's an incredible, funny, and extremely interesting human. 

Dr. Ash Ranpura is a neuroscientist and clinical neurologist who has been active in brain research for over 25 years. He has recently co-authored a book on mindfulness and neuroscience entitled How To Be Human: The Manual. We spoke with Ash about all of the intricacies of the brain when it comes to how we process scent.

For this Halloween edition of our podcast we talk with Armen Ra, master of the theremin, to explore the power of scent & sound and what happens when the two worlds collide. Listen to find out about this mysterious instrument and hear how Armen intreprets two of Heretic's fragrances through music. 

The scintillating Dita Von Teese joins Douglas for the premier episode of I Am Heretic!  Join Dita in a conversation about her career and journey to becoming the queen of burlesque. Learn about their Scandalwood collaboration, its formulation and Dita's most erotic fragrance memory....