The Big Bears Podcast: A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach To Neurodiversity
Mission:
To explore the intersection of neurodiversity through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens, blending Indigenous and Western perspectives to share 30 minute stories of challenges, resilience, and growth.
The "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach is a concept originally developed by Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It refers to combining the strengths of both Indigenous knowledge (often holistic, relational, and interconnected) and Western scientific or academic knowledge (which tends to be more analytical, reductionist, and linear). In the context of neurodiversity, a Two-Eyed Seeing approach would involve integrating both traditional knowledge about neurodivergence (perhaps from Indigenous worldviews on differences in cognition, brain function, and personhood) and contemporary Western science-based understandings of conditions like ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities, and co-occurring mental health challenges.
Through the power of story telling, we will be exploring how neurodiversity impacts youth and adults through their lifespan, so there will be something that everyone can relate to:
High School Students
College/University Students
Trades People
Career
Entrepreneurship
Ageing
Parenting
Life
Episode format:
2.5 minute intro
10 minutes - Invite guest to talk about a challenge they have had in their life
10 minutes - Guest talk about how they have got through or are getting through that challenge and share strategies and stories of resilience that others can learn from.
10 minutes - Guest talk about their goals and dreams for the future
2.5 minutes - We summarize the nuggets of learning and close the show
Episodes
20 episodes
Facing ADHD, Fatherhood, And Forgiveness Scott MacLeans story part 1
Ever had your brain pitch a hundred worst-case scenarios before you even dial a number? We sit down with a comedian and construction equipment salesman who found out he had ADHD years into adulthood—and finally felt the volume drop on catastrop...
Healing Out Loud: Poetry, Trauma, And Growth joshes story
Two big guys on a couch talk about the soft parts most of us hide. Josh—nine years in the military and now a downtown bouncer—opens up about how childhood abuse stayed quiet until his twenties, then cracked open during COVID alongside a bad rol...
From Standby Flights To Sunday Sesh: A Musician’s Journey Of Grit And Growth Chad turners story
What if the hardest chapter in your life wasn’t yours at all, but the one you watched a parent shoulder with quiet force? We open with land and lineage, then trace a son’s gratitude to a single mom who juggled basements, night school, and grit ...
A Survivor Shares How Community, Parenthood, And Purpose Turned Pain Into Power Maggie's story
A bright neon streak in a grey room—that’s how Maggie describes herself, and it fits. From being adopted and cycling through foster and group homes across Nova Scotia to regaining full custody of her kids after the system took them, she’s walke...
Know The Difference: Grit, Gratitude, And Growth Jason's story part 2
The conversation starts where so many secrets live: hiding use, chasing the next hit, and whispering with paranoia behind a bathroom door. Jason lays it bare— how porn corroded trust and warped intimacy, and how the endless scroll dulled imagin...
What If Healing Starts When You Stop Hiding Jason's story part 1
We sit with Jason to trace the path from masking pain and addiction to a grounded life shaped by service, spirituality, and neurodiversity-aware tools. The talk moves from childhood trauma and paranoia to honest boundaries, gratitude, and the h...
Fighting For Safety And Support nickies story part 4
Some stories grab your nervous system before your mind can catch up. This conversation charts a mother’s path from nightly fear and shattered doors to a hard-won version of safety for her autistic son, and it doesn’t flinch. We talk about what ...
When School, Systems, And Safety Nets Fail A Neurodivergent Child nickies story part 3
Start with the truth too many families hide: when a child’s nervous system is on fire, the world reads smoke as misbehaviour. We open with a land acknowledgement and a commitment to a two‑eyed seeing lens, then walk through a mother’s unvarnish...
From Closeted To Confident: C Style’s Journey Through Sobriety, ADHD, And Hip-Hop
What if the life you want is waiting on the other side of telling the truth about who you are? That’s the spark running through our conversation with C Style—rapper, gym regular, and unapologetic believer in authenticity—who opens up about comi...
Surviving Abuse, Addiction, And Starting Over nickies story part 2
The story opens with gratitude and purpose, then drops you into the messy middle of a life lived at full volume. We talk candidly about toxic love, gaslighting, and the kind of chaos that can feel like romance when you’re starved for safety. Fr...
From Misunderstood Child To Healing Mother: A Story Of ADHD, Adoption Trauma, And Recovery nickies story part 1
Pain leaves fingerprints long before we can name it. Nikki joins us to share how adoption, ADHD, and small-town stigma shaped a childhood of big feelings and constant misunderstandings—and how those early imprints led to teen marriage, addictio...
We Share Upcoming Guests, Tech Lessons, And Why Joy And Grit Belong Together
Start here if you want a grounded, human look at neurodiversity that honours where we live and how we learn. We root the conversation on Mi’kmaq territory and carry that respect into a two-eyed seeing approach, weaving Indigenous and Western pe...
Santa On Argyle
A red suit, a pocketful of candy, and a promise to show up—sometimes the simplest rituals change everything. We trace Chad’s journey from a childhood glimpse of “Santa” to stepping into the role himself, guided by a grandfather who turned music...
From Depression To Diagnosis: Autistic Self-Discovery And Community Building
We trace Daye’s path from misdiagnosis and heavy depression to an autism diagnosis that reframed struggle as difference, not defect. She shares how creativity, AI, and community-building became tools for agency, culminating in the launch of the...
A Former Gang Member Shares How Accountability And Community Changed His Life
We sit with Marlon Whitehawk as he traces a path from childhood trauma and gangs to accountability, culture, and healing. The story is raw, grounded by Mi’kmaq community supports, and anchored by a message: there is a way out and it starts with...
From Rock Bottom To Recovery - Part 2 of Chad "Grizzly Bear" Bunker's Story
What if the person you needed most wasn’t a guru or a hack, but a community that refused to give up on you? Chad "Grizzly Bear" Bunker shares an unfiltered journey from teenage depression and addiction to relapse, recovery, and the ...
Growing Up Between Homes And Hope part 1 of chad grizzly bear bunkers story
A smudge to clear the air, then straight into the truth: Chad’s boyhood was loud with conflict and even louder with silence. He grew up between homes and expectations, carrying the weight of abuse he didn’t have words for until he finally told ...
Two Friends Turn Setbacks Into A Social Enterprise To Lift Neurodivergent Indigenous And Marginalized Youth
A freezing February night, a band with a name you can’t forget, and a conversation between two big guys changed our direction in life. That’s how Big Bears Podcast began—an origin story rooted in a chance meeting, ADHD, sobriety, Indigenous tea...
Travis Kennedy - From Welfare to World Stage - How A Military Sergeant Found Strength, Mentors, And A Mindset That Won Him Canada's Strongman In 2024. Next Stop, Strongman Corporation Nationals In Texas, November 20 - 23 2025
What if your last name didn’t define you, but your habits did? We sit down with a military sergeant turned Canadian Strongman National Champion to unpack how a hard start, a mentor’s belief, and a broken foot led to a new identity built on disc...
In this powerful, must-listen premiere episode of The Big Bears Podcast, hosts Chad Bunker and Keith Gelhorn (Halifax, NS) sit down for a vital conversation on the history, meaning, and future of National Truth and Reconciliation Day (September 30th).
Our first-ever guest is the incredible Linda Peters, daughter of Elder Emmet Peters, originally from Lennox Island First Nation, PEI, and residing in Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation, NS. Linda generously shares her family's firsthand stor...