Episode 1: Globe Trekker fans unite! Megan McCormick is back
October 16, 2025
In Episode 1, the longtime hosts of the TV travel series Globe Trekker / Lonely Planet reunite. Ian, Justine, and Megan meet after 20 years to talk about what it was like to have the most amazing job in the world. Their conversation ranges from how they got the job that changed their lives, to monkey bites, near-death experiences, unexpectedly spicy chili, and the Bollywood star Jackie Shroff.
0:00 - Megan’s back!
7:29 - West India: Megan’s first show
15:05 - “Who goes to a Rat Temple?”
20:20 - Street food: “Definitely don’t go for the chili!”
27:26 - Megan in the market: mob justice and haggling
33:44 - Ian Cross kept us on (miraculously)
40:05 - Perilous moments: “Bit up the ass by a monkey”
49:13 - The cinematographers: “They were psychos, really.”
53:17 - Ian Wright or Ian McKellen?
58:00 - “Pathologically friendly”
01:00:49 - Prepare in advance…? Nah.
01:03:55 - “I’m with Jackie.” Jackie Shroff then and now.
01:11:03 - Death doula: What’s Megan doing now?
01:19:25 - Farewell, there’s more coming…
Listen on your favorite platform
Episode Cast & Crew
Hosts: Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro
Guest: Megan McCormick
Producer: Fuwad Ahamad
Editor: Gregory Scharpen
Sound Mix: Dan Olmsted
Kuku Studios, Berkeley, California USA
Haverhill Music Hub, Haverhill UK
Major Funding
Season 1 was made possible thanks to a grant from The Khosravi Family Trust.
Our Loonies
Mrugesh Thaker
Joseph Tindle
Prateek Shrivastava
Raveev
Mike Matera
John Miles
Nikhil Patel
Saurabh Chaudhary
Heather Munro
Craig Richardson
Joe Guzman
Robert Paul
Bhavika Gadhvi
Richard Logan
Ignacio Gil
Abigail
Era Orozco
About the Guest
Megan McCormick
As one of the main hosts of the award-winning series Globe Trekker, Megan McCormick spent years exploring cultures around the world and witnessing how people everywhere find meaning in both life and death. From funerals in Ghana to rituals in India, her travels revealed that there is no single way to understand mortality—only the shared human longing to make sense of it. That realization became the heart of her work today.
As a trained death doula, hospice volunteer, and founder of Hurley House in the Catskills, Megan is devoted to helping people face the often-avoided but inevitable topic of death. Through her forthcoming documentary series Dead Serious, she invites honest conversations about dying, grief, and care—believing that when we confront death with open eyes, we remember how to live and love one another more fully.
Megan credits Ian Cross and Pilot Productions for shaping her storytelling journey, her mother for the map on the wall and the National Geographic subscription that sparked her wonder, and the countless people she met while traveling whose stories opened her heart. She’s grateful to Ian and Justine for once again leading with honesty, curiosity, and humor that makes even difficult conversations feel like an adventure.
With love to her daughter, filmmaker Rie Aldous, for their unforgettable journey to India and for carrying the generational torch with courage and vision—and to her son, Laszlo, for his grounded wisdom, humor, and reminder that every good story begins and ends with love.
Season 1 Credits
With gratitude to those from Pilot Films and Television, UK who helped create Our Looney Planet
Ian Cross, founder of Pilot Productions and creator of the Lonely Planet / Globe Trekker TV series.
Deb Marrow Cox
Anne Bogart
Sarah Blinco
Sanyukta Shrestha
Helen Roberts
Richard Howard
Chris Hampson
Amanda Kramer
Ian Ritchie
Neville Farmer
Megan McCormick
Emma Cahusac
Angela Gourley
Rachael Heaton-Armstrong
Andy Margetson
Lucy Cooke
Bini Adams
David Tibballs
Saami Sabiti
Nick Robbins
Nigel Kinnings
Lynn Mitchell
Georgie Burrell
Neil Harvey
Simon Niblett
Ian sciacaluga
Rik Lander
Peter Boyd Maclean
Tim Knight
With gratitude
Rachel Mercy Simpson, Berkeley Community College
Interns: Seungjun Kim, Martin Mercy, Matan Ziv, Manny Cox
Betsy Rate, UC Berkeley School of Journalism
Interns: Negar Ajayebi, Alicia Chang, Zane Karram and Fuwad Ahamad
Rob Burchell, The Hall Media Facilities, UK
Honorbarre.com
Cardiowithcarah.com
The Center for Creative Exploration
Jeanette McDonald-Wright
Rie Aldous
Jackie Shroff
Tony & Chesney Mumford
Marvin and Mr. Monk
Paul Mourey & Karim Crippa
David Orelowitz & Lauren Heymann
Vicente Franco
Jim Capobianco
Lucy Kaplan
Mateo Evaristo Shapiro Bolado
y Carlos Bolado
Tony Cataldo
Carah Herring
Année Kim
Stephanie Mackley
Marcia and Paul Masse
Paul Zaentz
Chaz Blanc
Michael Wilson
Mick Erausquin
Elizabeth Gray
Catherine Girardeau
Jason Reinier
Roopa Ramamoorthi
Laura O'Brien Crisp
Guy Reingold
Esme Agilar
Sonia Mistry
Sherry Sly
Claudia Erzinger
With Gratitude To Those We’ve Lost
Jonathan Leffman, Sound Recordist
Stephen Luscombe, Composer
Paul Pierre Standifer, Fixer/Producer
Leslie Weiner, Producer
Roger Whitby, Sound Recordist
Nick Corey Wright, Director
Arno
For MATLANA
Executive Producer: Justine Shapiro
Series Producer: Liliana Cortés
Producer & Editor: Gregory Scharpen
Producer & Editor: Thomas Lorne
Producer: Stephen Lennhoff
Title Animation - Zazie Capobianco, Aerial Contrivance Workshop
Media Management & Website: Sage Brucia
Bookkeeper: Craig Paull
Fundraising Strategist: Bri Castellini
Grant Research and Development: Heather Munro
Legal: Richard J. Lee Law Group and Madison Karsenty, DCP Law
Produced by MATLANA a 501(c)3 organization
MATLANA Board Members
Deirdre English
Jocelyn Leroux
Jena Resner
Justine Shapiro