When Mark Philpott invited me onto the Humaneity podcast to discuss my #500lunches journey, I thought it was going to be just another interview with just another interviewer.

But as we were chatting before the interview, I discovered Mark is a remarkable person.

Mark’s journey includes being a senior executive with a multinational company, founding his own charity, living as a homeless person for 18 months as a social experiment, giving a TED talk and, now, publishing not one but three podcasts.

During his days as a nomadic businessman, and then as a nomadic homeless person, Mark made a point of talking to strangers, and realised that people who seem ordinary can actually have extraordinary qualities and stories.

Mark lives in Brisbane (actually on a boat off Brisbane), while I’m in Sydney, so we aren’t able to meet in person for the foreseeable future.

But I look forward to the day when we get to have lunch together, whether in his town or mine.

In the meantime, I loved my podcast discussion with Mark.

I was really impressed by the quality of Mark’s questions, his listening skills and his ability to build rapport with a complete stranger.

You can watch the video interview or download the podcast.