History, Healing, and Heroes: Teresa Knox, Amber Canavan, and Bazzelbaz on Music, Vegan Cheese, and Rescuing Children

This wide-ranging episode of The Neil Haley Show brings together three fascinating guests — Teresa Knox, Amber Canavan, and Bazzelbaz — each passionate about their unique fields and the communities they serve. From the storied halls of a century-old recording studio to the growing vegan food movement to the urgent fight against child trafficking, this episode covers remarkable ground with remarkable people.
Teresa Knox, founder and steward of The Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma, opens the episode with a deep dive into the building's rich history. Originally a Methodist church built in 1915, the space was transformed in 1972 by legendary musician Leon Russell into one of America's most iconic recording studios. Knox shares how she purchased the dilapidated building nearly a decade ago as a passionate music memorabilia collector, and has since spent years restoring it and documenting its history through interviews with nearly 400 people — ultimately resulting in a book celebrating the studio's full provenance.
Knox goes on to describe how The Church Studio has evolved into far more than a recording space. Today it operates as a music museum with a 6,000-piece archive, an audio engineering school, and a sought-after destination for artists from around the world. Recent recording artists including Taj Mahal, Kenny Loggins, Elle King, George Thorogood, and Tedeschi Trucks Band have all been drawn to what musicians simply call "the vibe" — that ineffable combination of analog warmth, sacred history, and the creative legacy left by legends like Tom Petty, JJ Cale, and Willie Nelson.
Amber Canavan of PETA then joins the conversation to discuss the booming vegan cheese market, currently valued at $3.5 billion and projected to reach $9.8 billion by 2033. Canavan makes a compelling case for plant-based cheeses on multiple fronts — animal welfare, environmental impact, cholesterol-free health benefits, and even the addictive casomorphins found in dairy cheese. She highlights popular brands like Violife, Kite Hill, and Tree Line, and encourages consumers to explore the rapidly expanding options now available in mainstream grocery stores.
Finally, Bazzelbaz, former CIA operative, Marine, actor on The Blacklist, and founder of the Association for the Recovery of Children, closes the episode with a powerful and sobering conversation about child sex trafficking in America. Drawing on over 30 years of frontline experience, Bazzelbaz recounts how a chance encounter with two young girls in 1993 Mogadishu, Somalia set him on a lifelong mission to rescue missing American children. With a 100% success rate over 34 years of operations and a robust volunteer-driven organization, El-Bas urges listeners to visit recoveryofchildren.com to learn more, donate, or enroll in their gold-standard six-day child trafficking awareness and rescue training course.