Listen Beyond the Label
People are more than diagnoses, headlines, mistakes, status, nationality, or circumstance. The real story begins where the easy label ends.
The World's Mayor Experience
Joshua T. Berglan The World's Mayor
I listen for the story beneath the headline, give it a voice, and build media people can own.
Investigative journalist, broadcaster and author. Reporting from Cameroon.
4× #1 international bestselling author · One film, seven festival awards · Award-winning voice artist · 126+ IMDb credits · UN speaker
For two decades I lived on the other side of this work — addiction, mental illness, and a disability that took me off the air. Every framework I teach was built because I needed it first. That's the short version.
The Persona
The World Is My Constituency.
The name is a responsibility: go where the stories are, listen without superiority, ask better questions, and use media to return dignity, voice, and ownership.
The World's Mayor is not a political office. It is Joshua T. Berglan's public identity as a listener, connector, advocate, storyteller, and builder across borders.
Tell What Systems Hide
I follow the evidence, the money, the ownership, and the human consequences—while protecting the complexity that makes truth worth hearing.
Build What People Own
A story should create more than attention. It can become a book, broadcast, body of knowledge, platform, opportunity, and legacy.
Watch · Listen · Investigate
Follow the Stories. Follow the Evidence.
Begin with the current investigative series, then enter the complete broadcast collection for eight original shows spanning evidence, interviews, justice, spoken word, memoir, and transformation.
Featured Investigative Series
The Shadow Files
Evidence-led investigations following documents, data, money, ownership, resources, technology, and human consequences from Cameroon across Africa and the world.
Award-winning podcast host · Best Podcast, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival Read · Memoir · Transformation
The Stories Behind the Work.
The broadcasts reveal what I investigate. The books reveal what I have survived, learned, questioned, and built. Together, they explain the voice behind The World's Mayor.
Featured Book · Second Edition
The Devil Inside Me
A revised, expanded, and unfiltered memoir of trauma, addiction, identity, abuse, accountability, survival, faith, and the long fight to reclaim a life. This is not separate from the public work—it is the human story beneath it.
#1 bestseller in four countries · Eight festival awards for the screen adaptation“Joshua is not simply a broadcaster; he is a Cultural Alchemist. He takes the leaden weight of broken narratives and refines them into the gold of advocacy. He creates a safe space by embracing his vulnerability and makes you feel seen and heard.”
Selected Recognition
Named. Dated. Verifiable.
One Film. Seven Festival Awards.
The Devil Inside Me won seven awards in 2021 from seven independent juries — for documentary, narrative documentary, web series pilot, voice work, and in the Christian category. An eighth, Best Podcast, went to a separate conversation series.
Four #1 International Bestselling Books
Published work rooted in testimony, identity, transformation, and media ownership.
126+ IMDb Credits
Professional screen, voice, production, and media experience that can be independently reviewed.
UN Speaker · SCORE Certified Mentor
Public leadership, professional mentorship, and global teaching grounded in practical application.
Nine Books Written in One Year
Written in 2024, after a physical disability ended the ability to broadcast — using AI as an accessibility tool, not a shortcut.
View all eight festival awards
- Accolade Global Film Competition 2021 Award of Recognition — Christian · The Devil Inside Me
- Impact Docs Awards 2021 Award of Recognition — Best Voice Over · The Devil Inside Me
- Virgin Spring Cinefest 2021 Silver Award — Best Documentary · The Devil Inside Me
- Vegas Movie Awards 2021 Award of Prestige — Best Voice Over · The Devil Inside Me
- Lonely Wolf International Film Festival 2021 Festival Award — Best Podcast · A Conversation with Joshua T Berglan & Joe Schirmer
- Beyond the Curve International Film Festival 2021 April Award — Best Web Series Pilot (Main Category) · The Devil Inside Me
- Beyond the Curve International Film Festival 2021 BCIFF Award of Excellence — Best Web Series Pilot · The Devil Inside Me
- Bright International Film Festival 2021 Winner — Best Narrative Documentary · The Devil Inside Me
The full record also includes three 2021 nominations and eleven professional certifications. Every award can be reviewed through IMDb or the complete credentials portfolio.
Current Chapter · Cameroon
The World's Mayor Is a Field Role.
Cameroon is where this chapter is being lived: reporting, teaching, listening, distributing books, documenting human stories, and helping people build media with the tools already in their hands. I have taught in person in Limbe, Tiko, Souza, Bafut, Bamenda and Yaoundé.
The field keeps the work honest. It forces every idea about dignity, storytelling, technology, ownership, and opportunity to meet real people and real conditions.
Tah-Lah · Father of the Land In Bafut, the Fon conferred this title on me. It is not a credential I claim. It is a recognition given by a community I work in, and I hold it that way.
Je vis et je travaille au Cameroun. J'ai enseigné à Limbé, Tiko, Souza, Bafut, Bamenda et Yaoundé — et le Fon de Bafut m'a donné le titre de Tah-Lah, « Père de la Terre ». Une version française complète de ce site est en préparation.
Cameroon is the reporting base. Africa is the field. The world is the beat.
Before the Field
The Systems Came Later. First There Was the Wreckage.
Everything above this line — the investigations, the eight shows, the books, the work in Cameroon — was built by someone who spent more than twenty years on the other side of it. Addiction. Mental illness. Disability. The loss of very nearly everything, and then a moment of surrender that changed the direction of a life.
That is not a disclaimer at the bottom of a bio. It is the reason the method works. You cannot design media systems for people the world stopped listening to unless you have been one of them.
The origin story is the full account — how a man who lost almost everything became Tah-Lah, Father of the Land, in the Bafut Kingdom of Cameroon.
Read the Origin Story“Sell the scar, not the wound. Pain has to be processed before it can be published — a scar is healed material that can teach, and a wound can only bleed on other people.”
The Range
One Voice. Four Ways to Hire It.
The distinction is not that I do many unrelated things. It is that the same gift—finding meaning inside complex human experience—moves through four connected forms. Each one can be commissioned.
Investigative Journalist & Broadcaster
I connect evidence to lived experience, making complex systems understandable without turning people into spectacle.
Eight original shows · Reported from the ground in CameroonAuthor & Storyteller
I turn testimony, trauma, recovery, identity, faith, and possibility into stories that invite honesty and transformation.
Four #1 international bestsellers · Nine books written in 2024Voice Artist & Host
Narration, interviews, podcasting, speaking and spoken word — for documentary, brand, audiobook and broadcast.
Award-winning voiceover · Best Podcast, Lonely Wolf · 126+ IMDb creditsOmni-Media Architect
I connect story, content, publishing, broadcasting, offers, and owned platforms into systems that do not depend on borrowed attention.
SCORE Certified Mentor · UN speaker · Taught in six Cameroon cities and four more African countries Selective Professional Engagements
Five-Day Entry Point
Common Starting Point
90-Day Direction
The $500 Audit fee is credited toward the Blueprint if you upgrade within 30 days.
When the Story Needs More Than Attention.
I accept a limited number of aligned professional engagements where listening, voice, storytelling, production experience, or independent-media thinking can materially change the outcome.
I design media systems; I do not build them for clients. I am the architect who tells your team exactly what to build, in what order, and why.
The Media Audit
$500Review of your platform, content, and search/AI visibility. A 30–45 minute screen-recorded walkthrough plus a written priority list. Five business days.
The Blueprint
$2,500Two 90-minute sessions and a written build specification your developer executes: sitemap, content system, revenue paths, publishing rhythm, AI visibility spec, safety plan. Three weeks.
The Architect
$7,500Ninety days of direction. Biweekly calls, review of everything your team ships, direct access, one revenue path launched.
Speaking · Hosting · Voice Work · Story Development · Production · Workshops · Owned Media Strategy · Speaking $3,500–$7,500 + travel · Workshops $2,500/day · Voice work $350–$1,500/project · Consulting hour $350
Media & Library
Want Everything?
The complete directory organizes every broadcast, book, article, longform archive, credential, newsletter, field dispatch, resource and creator framework in one place — for when you have decided you want more than the highlights.
Direct Answers
Frequently Asked Questions.
Who is Joshua T. Berglan?
An investigative journalist, broadcaster, four-time #1 international bestselling author, award-winning voice artist and omni-media architect, reporting from Cameroon. He is known publicly as The World's Mayor, a servant-leadership name he chose in San Diego in 2018 — not a political office.
What does Tah-Lah mean?
Tah-Lah is a Bafut royal title meaning Father of the Land. It was conferred on Joshua T. Berglan by the Fon of Bafut in Cameroon. Unlike The World's Mayor, it was given, not chosen.
Where should a first-time visitor begin?
Begin with The Shadow Files for current investigations, the Broadcast Hub
for eight original shows, The Devil Inside Me
for the memoir, or the Origin Story
if you want to understand where all of it came from.
What is Joshua's origin story?
More than twenty years on the other side of this work — addiction, mental illness, disability, and the loss of very nearly everything — followed by a moment of surrender that changed the direction of his life. The full account is on the Origin Story page and in the memoir The Devil Inside Me. It is the reason the method works: the frameworks were built by someone who needed them first.
What will I find inside the Broadcast Hub?
The Broadcast Hub organizes eight original shows spanning investigations, interviews, justice, spoken word, memoir, human transformation, flagship broadcasts, and unfiltered conversation. It is the central broadcast library for The World's Mayor Experience.
How can I verify Joshua T. Berglan's awards and media credits?
Open the complete award record on this page, review my IMDb profile, or visit the official Awards & Credentials portfolio. The homepage names all eight festival awards and links directly to the supporting records.
How can I follow the newest broadcasts and field stories?
Visit The Broadcast Hub, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and join News From The World's Mayor
for new investigations, interviews, broadcasts, books, and field reporting from Cameroon.
Can people sponsor books, workshops, or field work in Cameroon?
Yes. Support through the Cameroon mission helps underwrite books, workshops, training, transportation, materials, and field delivery for people and communities that could not otherwise access the work.
Does Joshua T. Berglan accept professional engagements?
Yes. I accept a limited number of aligned engagements involving speaking, hosting, voice work, story development, production, workshops, and owned media strategy. The three fixed packages are the Media Audit at $500, the Blueprint at $2,500, and the Architect at $7,500.