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. 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/

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. May 1

    Christophe Lewis: The Reality of Life Sentences in Canada

    Christophe Lewis was 20 years old when he made a decision that cost him the next decade of his life. Convicted of second-degree murder in 2011, he was handed a life sentence with a 12-year parole ineligibility period and sent to Millhaven Institution. In November 2012, he refused a strip search being conducted by a female guard — illegal under CSC protocol. Thirty guards responded. What followed was caught on CCTV. Then CSC said the footage was lost. Years of grievances were dismissed at every level. When his case finally reached the national level, CSC upheld the complaint for excessive force — and in the same breath said his behaviour contributed to the assault. He fought for nearly a decade to get the footage, get charges laid, and get to trial. One guard was convicted of assault with a weapon. The sentence: 12 months probation and 60 hours community service. Lewis was released on parole in November 2021 and still technically serves a life sentence. He's also the founder of Freedom Is A Must Foundation, a youth mentor working across Canada, a real estate investor, and a Concordia University student. A broken crayon can still colour.

  6. Apr 17

    Audrey Hyams Romoff: How Childhood Trauma Changes DNA

    Audrey Hyams Romoff's mother was one of the youngest children to survive the Auschwitz concentration camp, liberated at just 8 years old — and that childhood trauma shaped four generations of women in ways Audrey never fully understood until decades later. Audrey Hyams Romoff is the founder of Overcat PR and author of The Ripple Eclipse, a memoir tracing four generations of women in her family and the inherited trauma that runs through all of them. She recently traveled to Auschwitz with PBS NewsHour for the 80th anniversary of its liberation. She explains: - How profound childhood trauma can physically alter your DNA — and be passed to your children and grandchildren (epigenetics) - Why her mother's Holocaust survival made Audrey's most ordinary life decisions feel like abandonment to her - What Audrey found when she opened boxes of her parents' belongings years after their deaths — and the 127-page unedited interview transcript that changed how she understood her mother - Why she doesn't believe in closure — and why "livable" might be the most honest goal anyone can have after profound loss - How compartmentalization can be both a survival tool and a trap that prevents healing 📍 FOLLOW JORDANA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/ Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/ 📍 FOLLOW AUDREY: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreyhyamsromoff/ Website: https://www.instagram.com/audreyhyamsromoff/ 📍 THE RIPPLE ECLIPSE: Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Ripple-Eclipse-Turning-Inherited-Trauma/dp/1998206491 Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-ripple-eclipse-turning-the-tide-of-inherited-trauma/61b10bc2-2995-3b17-b869-cecd03246f95.html Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ripple-eclipse-audrey-hyams-romoff/1148428319

  7. Apr 3

    Shana McCalla: Finding Ontario's Missing Black Boys

    Shana McCalla, founder of Find Ontario's Missing Boys, discusses the crisis of Black boys aged 12 to 16 disappearing across Ontario and being found in trap houses as far as Thunder Bay and Saskatchewan. She explains how boys from two-parent, high-income households are being lured with job opportunities, gifts, and mentorship, then forced to work 24/7 in drug houses under threat of violence. Shana shares how she traveled to Thunder Bay to rescue a 15-year-old who hadn't eaten or slept in a month, what the inside of these trap houses actually look like, and why a 14-year-old missing for 10 months was found living with a 48-year-old woman eight hours from home. She breaks down the sophisticated trafficking networks moving boys from Brampton to remote Saskatchewan, why parents are being refused the right to file missing person reports, and how stereotypes about single-parent homes are preventing people from seeing this as human trafficking.

  8. Mar 20

    Melissa Lantsman: Crime, Addiction, and Canada's Future

    Melissa Lantsman, Conservative MP for Thornhill and Co-Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party, discusses Canada's crime crisis, bail reform, addiction policy, and why young Canadians are losing hope. She explains the Conservative position on repeat violent offenders, why safe injection sites aren't working, and the $360 million spent annually on programs that keep addicts sick instead of funding recovery. Melissa shares her journey from immigrant family to Parliament Hill, why her father shaped her political worldview, and what needs to change for skilled immigrants arriving in Canada today. She also breaks down the Stand Your Ground bill, the legal gun owner debate, and why protecting the status quo is failing workers and young people across the country.

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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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