Who Judges The Judge? Hosted By Jordana H. Goldlist

Jordana H. Goldlist

Jordana H. Goldlist spent her teens as a homeless, high school dropout; a junkie fully entrenched in street life by 17 years old.  Today, she runs a boutique criminal law firm, owns property, invests in the market, and travels the world.  She built the life she has today by recognizing and using skills she developed during the most trying times of her life, and she believes that some of the most successful people are those that find their strength through struggle and adversity.  In “Who Judges The Judge?”, named after her TEDx Talk, Jordana invites listeners to explore the untold stories and unexpected backgrounds of her guests, all successful and productive individuals who have overcome adversity and the stigmas that society attaches to those of us who side step the status quo.  From reformed criminals to the falsely accused, from former addicts to refugees escaping war and poverty, each episode will feature an individual who defies stereotypes and expectations and will navigate difficult conversations to highlight the personal journey of each guest.  Jordana’s unique perspective, grounded in her own tumultuous past but developed over a 15 year career in criminal justice, adds authenticity and depth to the conversation.  Please join Jordana on “Who Judges The Judge?” a podcast that challenges both guests and listeners to question the way we judge ourselves, others, and the world at large.

  1. 3d ago

    Quinton Jacobs: From Subsidized Housing to Building a Movement of Givers

    QUINTON JACOBS grew up in subsidized housing in Scarborough, raised by a single mom, and was suspended and nearly expelled as a teenager. Today, he works full time in the nuclear industry while running two community initiatives that cook thousands of meals a year and have taken him running across South Africa with a community of strangers who became family. Quinton Jacobs is the founder of Ubuntu, a Toronto not-for-profit that cooks and delivers hundreds of meals a month to organizations across the city, runs a major holiday initiative with over 200 volunteers, and recently launched Pathways, a youth mentorship program that has taken him into schools and a youth detention center in Ajax. He is also the founder of Escape, a global running community whose relay races have taken friends from Toronto to New York, Chicago, Boston, Paris, and across South Africa, a journey now told in Escape the Documentary, currently touring film festivals. By day, he works in the nuclear fuel industry, a career that started almost by accident. He explains: ◼ How Ubuntu started with him and one friend committing to cook 300 meals in his home kitchen, and clogging his sink for two weeks in the process ◼ Why he believes writing a check isn't enough, and how bringing volunteers into the kitchen and on deliveries changes the way they see their own city ◼ What it was like becoming a single dad to three kids during his divorce, and how he worked through the guilt that came with it ◼ How a group of running friends turned "let's run from Toronto to New York" into international relay races across three continents ◼ Why running across South Africa and finishing with a 5K alongside kids in a township became one of the highlights of the entire project ◼ What Ubuntu actually means, and how the philosophy behind it is reshaping how his volunteers see their role in the community 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/ 📍 FOLLOW QUINTON: Website: https://ubuntu.family/

  2. Sep 4

    Japji Anna Bas: She Says the System Failed Her, Then Sued Children's Aid Society

    JAPJI ANNA BAS says the systems meant to protect her failed her as a child. She says Children's Aid Society granted her father unsupervised access despite documented warnings, and the abuse continued for years. Decades later, she earned a PhD and sued the organization she says failed her. Japji Anna Bas is a researcher and founder of Flourish Energy, where she works with senior social-purpose leaders on nervous system regulation, thought patterns, and behaviour change. Her doctoral research focused on children's well-being, and she has shared her work with federal policymakers. She has also helped train frontline staff working in anti-human trafficking response. At 41, she began legal action against Children's Aid Society over its handling of her case decades earlier. She says the case was resolved in her favor, around the same time she was navigating a cancer diagnosis. She shares: ◼ Her account of how her father manipulated caseworkers and the court system to gain unsupervised access to her, despite what she says were documented red flags ◼ Why she didn't come forward again for years after visits resumed, in her words, because she'd learned the system could be outmaneuvered ◼ How she built her own support system as a teenager, balancing school, activities, therapy, and community ◼ Why she waited until she'd finished her PhD to begin deeper trauma therapy, and what her therapist told her that led to the lawsuit ◼ What she says it took to hold Children's Aid Society accountable, and why the acknowledgment mattered more to her than the money ◼ The three-part framework she now uses professionally: somatic practices, cognitive hygiene, and aligned actions If this episode raises anything for you personally, Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) offers free, confidential support. 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA: Instagram: /https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

  3. Aug 21

    Alejandro Vivar: Running the Drug Trade, Surviving Prison, and Starting Over

    Alejandro Vivar spent much of his youth and early adulthood involved in Toronto's drug trade, eventually serving the equivalent of 16 years in prison. Today, he works as a tourism and travel coach, helps others build online businesses, and hopes to begin mentoring at-risk youth in the community he grew up in. Alejandro grew up in Toronto's Christie Pitts neighbourhood in a stable, hardworking family, but was drawn into the drug trade as a teenager. He was acquitted of first-degree murder as a young man, tried briefly to leave the life behind, and ultimately built a large drug operation before an extended police investigation led to his arrest and sentencing. During his time in prison, he found therapy, public speaking, and fitness, later launching a community fitness program in his old neighbourhood. He speaks candidly about the choices that shaped his path, the toll those years took, and why he believes earlier support and mentorship could change outcomes for young people today. 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/ 📍 FOLLOW ALEJANDRO: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_alejandrovivar_/

  4. Aug 7

    Harvey Brownstone: The Retired Judge Breaking the Culture of Silence

    AT 19, HARVEY BROWNSTONE told his parents he was gay. They cut him off completely, financially and emotionally. He went from a comfortable home to stealing food from wedding receptions to survive. Nineteen years later, he became one of the youngest judges in Canadian history, and Canada's first openly gay judge. Harvey Brownstone practiced law for 12 years before being appointed to the bench at 38. He served as a judge for 26 years across Toronto and Niagara, including a stretch as senior administrative justice, before leaving to build a media career that now reaches 10 million viewers a week through Harvey Brownstone Interviews. He is the author of Without Prejudice, and his life story is now being adapted into a film starring David Arquette and David Mazuz. He explains:  ◼ How being cut off by his parents at 19 led to poverty, and what kept him from spiraling into addiction or hopelessness  ◼ Why he fought the Ontario Lottery Corporation after a man who owed $35,000 in child support won a $14 million jackpot and sent it overseas to avoid paying  ◼ Why he believes family court and the correctional system are fundamentally broken, and why almost no other judges will say so publicly  ◼ What happened when he tried to modernize his own courtroom, and why his Chief Justice personally ordered him to stop  ◼ Why he thinks judges are systematically discouraged from speaking out, even after retirement  ◼ His take on the Jordan decision, court scheduling failures, and why drug treatment courts are underused in Canada 📍 WITHOUT PREJUDICE:  Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Without-Prejudice-Life-Gay-Judge/dp/1770418784 Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/products/without-prejudice-my-life-as-a-gay-judge 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

  5. Jul 17

    Cassandra Harvey: A Trafficking Survivor on What She Didn't Know Was Happening to Her

    Cassandra Harvey is a survivor of human trafficking turned advocate and aspiring criminal defence lawyer. Raised by a mother who struggled with addiction from a young age, she entered the foster care system as a child and aged out of it as a teenager. She was trafficked by three different men over the following years before finally getting out with the help of a lawyer, a detective, and a support group. She now shares her story publicly and advocates for a side of the conversation that rarely gets airtime: addressing why men become traffickers in the first place. She explains: ◼ How she grew up caring for a mother struggling with addiction and entered the foster care system as a child ◼ How grooming can begin early, and why it can come from someone barely older than the person being targeted ◼ Why she didn't recognize what was happening to her as trafficking until years after it started ◼ What a trauma bond is and why it can keep someone tied to the person harming them ◼ Why she believes preventing trafficking requires addressing the exploitation that often shapes the men who become traffickers ◼ What finally got her out, and why she's now applying to law school to become a criminal defense lawyer If you or someone you know may be experiencing exploitation or trafficking, the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is available at 1-833-900-1010. 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

  6. Jul 3

    Orlando Da Silva: Surviving Depression and Using His Words to Help Others

    Orlando Da Silva is a lawyer of over 30 years, former president of the Ontario Bar Association, and one of the first people in the Canadian legal profession to publicly disclose his struggle with treatment-resistant depression and generalized anxiety. When he became OBA president in 2014, he spent two years working up the courage to go public, eventually sharing his story in a Law Times interview that was picked up by the Toronto Star. He is the author of Thank God I Failed, a memoir about depression, meaning, and what it took to build a life worth living after a childhood that gave him every reason not to. He explains: ◼ What it was like growing up in a home where violence was regular and unpredictable and why he still struggles to call it abuse ◼ How a grade eight teacher crossing out "basic" and writing "gifted" on his high school application changed the trajectory of his life ◼ Why he spent 20 years hiding his depression from colleagues, certain that disclosure would end his career ◼ Why he abandoned the pursuit of success and chose to pursue meaning instead FOLLOW JORDANA Instagram: jordanagoldlist GET THE BOOK - THANK GOD I FAILED Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Thank-God-Failed-Lawyers-Suicide/dp/1067369988 Indigo/Chapters: https://www.indigo.ca/products/thank-god-i-failed-a-lawyers-suicide-attempt-and-the-case-against-trying Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thank-god-i-failed-orlando-da-silva/1150201737

  7. Jun 5

    Sarah Turney: How Adversity Fueled Her Path to Becoming a Successful Lawyer

    SARAH TURNEY grew up in London, Ontario oscillating between working poor and just poor, using a food bank, navigating real instability at home, and never once imagining she would become a lawyer. Sarah Turney is a partner at Fasken, one of Canada's largest law firms, where she heads up the real estate and property litigation practice, a niche she built from the ground up. In 2024, she argued and won a 5-4 decision at the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of a Toronto family whose backyard the City of Toronto claimed was public parkland, a case that had been denied, appealed, and lost twice before she took it all the way to the country's highest court. She explains:  ◼ What it was like growing up with parents who struggled with addiction and how that instability became the fuel that drove her forward  ◼ Why she was so afraid of being rejected from law school that she did a master's degree first just to avoid applying  ◼ How she worked full-time at a community center while attending law school full-time, up at 5AM, working until 10PM, for three years straight  ◼ What the Supreme Court case was actually about, a Toronto family whose backyard sat on city parkland since 1971, and what a 5-4 decision really means for advocacy  ◼ Why coming from nothing gave her skills that no law firm could teach, and what she'd say to young women afraid to apply to law school  ◼ Why she still sometimes passes someone on the street and wonders: could that have been me? FOLLOW JORDANA INSTAGRAM: jordanagoldlist WEBSITE: www.jhgcriminallaw.com

  8. May 22

    Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe: From Struggle to Teaching Others How to Thrive

    DR. ROBYNE HANLEY-DAFOE is an educational behaviorist, bestselling author of I Hope So, and international speaker who teaches resilience and well-being. She shares her journey from struggling with undiagnosed ADHD as a child to dropping out of high school, being institutionalized at 16, and surviving a near-death car accident—and how her mother's question "how do you want to feel?" instead of "what are your goals?" changed everything. She explains: ◼ How undiagnosed ADHD in young girls can lead to rejection sensitivity, self-harm, and addiction ◼ The difference between hope and optimism—and why hope is what makes resilience possible ◼ Why high performers often succeed despite their habits, not because of them ◼ What "making yourself savable" means ◼ The cost of hopelessness in society today

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Jordana H. Goldlist spent her teens as a homeless, high school dropout; a junkie fully entrenched in street life by 17 years old.  Today, she runs a boutique criminal law firm, owns property, invests in the market, and travels the world.  She built the life she has today by recognizing and using skills she developed during the most trying times of her life, and she believes that some of the most successful people are those that find their strength through struggle and adversity.  In “Who Judges The Judge?”, named after her TEDx Talk, Jordana invites listeners to explore the untold stories and unexpected backgrounds of her guests, all successful and productive individuals who have overcome adversity and the stigmas that society attaches to those of us who side step the status quo.  From reformed criminals to the falsely accused, from former addicts to refugees escaping war and poverty, each episode will feature an individual who defies stereotypes and expectations and will navigate difficult conversations to highlight the personal journey of each guest.  Jordana’s unique perspective, grounded in her own tumultuous past but developed over a 15 year career in criminal justice, adds authenticity and depth to the conversation.  Please join Jordana on “Who Judges The Judge?” a podcast that challenges both guests and listeners to question the way we judge ourselves, others, and the world at large.

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