Podcasts about SEAL Team Six

The lessons I carried away from September 11 did not begin that day, and they certainly did not end there. In this solo episode, I reflect on how my parents taught me not to accept the limits others placed on blindness, how my guide dogs taught me about trust and teamwork, and how September 11 confirmed so much of what I already believed about fear, leadership, change, and possibility. I share why I work hard not to worry about things I cannot control, why I believe we can never truly go back to “normal,” and why strong teams are built through trust rather than control. I also challenge some of the ways we think about blindness and disability, because different does not mean less capable. I hope these lessons help you think differently about fear, change, leadership, and what it really means to live with an unstoppable mindset. Highlights: 00:46 – Why the lessons of September 11 began long before that day. 08:56 – How Michael learned that blindness is not the real barrier. 17:13 – Why focusing on what you can control can reduce fear. 24:28 – Why getting back to “normal” is not always the answer. 32:30 – What guide dogs taught Michael about trust and teamwork. 1:01:37 – Why disability does not mean a lack of ability. About the Host: Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind  and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. He held this position through June of 2026. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2013 Mr. Hingson published his 2 book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson's third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. In June, 2024 Mike was inducted as an alumni member into the honors Fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. Currently Michael lives in Victorville, California with Alamo, Michael's eighth guide dog and his rescue feline, Stitch. More information on Mr. Hingson is available on his website. Here also is a link to Mr. Hingson's press kit: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/q8uxu9u7pap4puj5de7rg/h?rlkey=22bziy0wmghf8111kad73685y&dl=0 http://www.michaelhingson.com/live-like-a-guide-dog www.michaelhingson.com www.michaelhingson.com/podcast Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mhingson https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568642850718948 https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr Twitter, https://twitter.com/mhingson LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! 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Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hello, everyone. I am Michael Hingson. I am your host on Unstoppable Mindset, and this happens to be episode 475. Yeah, we've done a lot of these, and most all of them have been conversations with people who said that they wanted to come on the podcast and talk about one thing or another. And I was really pleased to have them. This episode is going to be a little bit different, as the last few have been. Episode 472, which we published on September 4, was a talk I gave in April of 2024, which told my story of being in the World Trade Center on september 11, on episode 473 on the eighth of September, Michelle Abraham interviewed me, and we talked about a number of things around september 11 and so on. Episode 474, which was published on the 11th of September, 2026. was a conversation with Bob Ellis, who was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, an escape, and we hear his story, and we got to chat and kind of talked about notes from both of us. Now it's episode 475, and it was suggested that I ought to talk about things that I learned from September 11th and how my life has changed, and I'm going to do the best I can to talk about all that. So you're just going to be hearing me today. I hope you won't go away. I hope that you'll enjoy it. I just returned from speaking all week from September 9th through September 11th in Kilgore, Texas, at Kilgore College, they did an incredible job of doing some things to help people become aware of September 11th. They actually had in the library and around the library at Kilgore College a monument to September 11th. They had some columns or portions of columns from the World Trade Center. They had a list of all of the names. They had flags in a in a in several rows with the names of all of the people who were lost on September 11th. They had a timeline from my book Thunderdog: The Story of a Blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero-a timeline of what I experienced, and they also had, I think, a timeline of just the World Trade Center events in in general. Well, okay, so all of that happened. I got back last night, and now here it is, Sunday. It is the 13th of September, and I'm recording this so that we can publish it on Tuesday, september 15. So that's a little bit of a long way to get to where we are. But as I said, people asked me to talk about what I learned that day, and how I proceeded and progressed from that day, but I have to go back to long before September 11th to really do everything justice and to put it all in context. So let me start this way. I believe that I have said a few times on this podcast, and certainly in some of the speeches that I've given, that I was born two months premature, and I was given a pure oxygen environment when I was born, because I was born early. Medical science had started to hear that even too much oxygen might not necessarily be a good thing, but the doctors in Chicago where I was born didn't buy into that concept yet, and so the result was I was given a pre-oxygen environment, and my retinas didn't develop as they should, and I became blind. So was I born blind? If you're very technical, no. But for all intents and purposes, yes. The doctors told my parents to send me to a home, to send me away, because no blind child could ever. Michael Hingson  04:59 Grow up to amount to anything, and all I would be would would end up being a drain on my family, sucking up all the love that my parents might have had for their older son, two years older than I, my brother Ellery. But the reality is, my parents said you're wrong. He can grow up to do whatever he chooses, and we're going to give him that opportunity. And I grew up with that idea. I grew up with that concept. My parents told me at some point when I was still fairly young about what the doctors had said, and they said, "You know, we think that you can do whatever you want. We want you to have that opportunity. Well, they did a number of things to help the process along. For example, we lived in Chicago until I was five, but at the age of four, typically children in in Illinois start or in Chicago start kindergarten, and I did as well. My parents worked with other parents and the school district to start a kindergarten class for children who were blind, and there were a number of preemies in the Chicago area. In that class, Miss Lapree, my teacher, taught me Braille. See, I remember her name. Taught me Braille. Taught me other skills. Taught the other blind kids because it was a kindergarten class for blind children. Taught us all a variety of different things that we could use, and then unfortunately, in a sense, I guess after kindergarten at the age of four, and it was over, my father had gotten an offer and took a job out in California, and we moved to California. Well, in California, kindergarten starts at five, and even though I had had a course in kindergarten already, I had to go through a second year of it, but we didn't have any kind of facilities to teach us or teach me about Braille going forward, getting me Braille books and so on. So kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, I didn't have access directly to textbook material. My parents helped me though. My father taught me math. He was an electronics and electrical engineer. I was doing algebra in my head by the time I was six. My mother read other assignments to me, taught me the spelling words because in first, second, and third grade you learned to spell, and in theory beyond third grade as well, of course. But what happened for me was that I learned about spelling by my mother teaching me how to spell the words, and then she would say the words, and then I would spell them. Well, that ended up going even further because typically in classrooms, what happened was that when it came time to take the actual spelling test, which happened on Fridays, the teacher would say the words. All of us or all the children in the class would write down the answers. Then we would exchange papers, and the teacher would then write the correct spellings on the board. Not in my class. I had to. Well, I got to get up. I. I don't want to say I had to. That's a lesson that I want to get to. wasn't that I had to get up. I got to get up, and actually spell the words out loud. I remember once missing a word, at least starting to miss a word, and somebody made a noise, and I realized, oh, that must be wrong, and I corrected it. But I learned how to spell words, and I learned to spell them out loud for the whole class, and not be afraid of them, and that way students could grade each other's papers. And so, in a sense, I could say that's where I started to learn how to be involved in doing public speaking, and I learned not to be afraid of standing up and and saying things as long as they were the right kinds of things. Well, between third and fourth grade, I got access to Braille books. Cora Hershberger was hired by the school district to come in. She was a resource teacher with training in dealing with blindness and blind kids and so on. Michael Hingson  08:56 And there were a number of us, and she she was able to get us books, she was able to work with each of us and prove our Braille skills and my Braille skills especially, and so on. So I tell you all of that because I want to put things in perspective, and I think that the most important thing is the doctors told my parents that I couldn't do anything. My parents said, "Of course he can, and they brought me up believing that I could. So I rode a bicycle to school. Everybody still thinks that's amazing. One of the important things that I have learned over the years, and I've learned to articulate it even more effectively. I hope, certainly, I believe better since the World Trade Center, and I became a full-time keynote public speaker, which I've been doing for 25 years, I have learned to discuss this whole concept of blindness and accept the fact that there are going to be a lot of people who have eyesight who get it wrong. They think that, like the doctor said, blind people really can't do anything. You can't absorb the same material, or at least you don't get the same. As sighted people do, so you really aren't going to be able to do the things that we can do. And I have learned that I can't be angry at that. I've learned that in reality, I need to articulate the fact that blindness isn't the problem. The problem happens to be the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness. It would be so easy just to be upset every time I hear some comment that talks about what I can do and what I can't do. You can't really ride a bicycle. That's amazing that you could do that. I can't imagine anybody else doing it. I know lots of blind kids who rode bikes, and I'm sure that they still do. Blindness isn't the problem. The reality is the problem consists of the misconceptions and poor attitudes that sighted people have about blindness. Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is. Blindness isn't the problem. We can learn to do the same things pretty much that you can do, and we can learn to do things that you can't do, and we learn all of that and use that knowledge to help us move forward and be more effective. What can I do that you can't do? Try walking around in the dark. You can't do it. You don't know how to do it. You don't have the techniques to do it. One of the things that has cropped up over the past significant number of years is restaurants do something called dining in the dark. Dining in the dark, and there are organizations that promote that, and they say, "Oh, you get to learn how blind people eat and how much of a challenge it is. That is so disgusting that people do that because dying in the dark isn't going to teach you anything about blindness. You don't get the training that you need in order to function as a blind person. Just like I don't get the training to learn how to function as a sighted person. Although I've spent a lot of time observing sighted people, and I understand a lot about eyesight, and I understand what you can do, and I accept that. But I expect, and I think it is reasonable for you to understand and accept that I can do lots of things. That it's not about eyesight. I wrote a book in 20, and it was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2011. I and Susie Florey wrote the book. It's called Thunderdog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dogs, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero. And there is a section near the end of the book called Guide Dog Wisdom. And number two in Guide Dog Wisdom includes a sentence that says, "Don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. You all strictly deal with eyesight, and if it's not something that you can see with your eyes, or you don't really separate eyesight from vision, you tend to really misunderstand so many things. But the reality is, don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. Recognize there's a whole lot more to life than eyesight. Michael Hingson  13:01 SEAL Team Six, other military teams, so many other people learn how to use those other senses, and that's the same thing that we as blind people do. We learn to use our other senses. They're not magically enhanced simply because we go blind, but rather we learn how to use those senses? I hope, or we try to, and by doing so, we improve them and we develop them. And those of us who truly do that are a lot more better off, and we're able to do so many things that people think are amazing, but they're not. They're not really amazing. They're certainly not amazing to me. Anyway, I grew up believing all of that, and of course, I was also very fortunate to have a number of jobs throughout my career. And the final result of all of that was I ended up getting the opportunity to open an office in the World Trade Center for Quantum ATL, the company that hired me to open an office in New York, and there we were on September 11th when everything happened. The night, as September 11th ended, was spent by me and my wife Karen. By the way, Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. We got married in November of 1982, and we were married through into November of 2022. We were married 40 years. Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. It was a great marriage, as I love to tell people. She read, I pushed, worked out well. How do I push a person in a wheelchair? Well, she used a manual chair, and when we got to curbs and so on, she would stop, and she would hold the wheels, and and I knew that she had stopped. And I would tip the chair back. She might say, "There's a curb. I would tip the chair back onto its back wheels. We'd roll down off the curb, put the chair down. We'd cross the street, tip the chair up. Front wheels go up on the curb on the other side, unless there was a ramp to go up. And we continued on our way. It's not that magical. It is just what I learned to do, and I enjoyed it. and And I enjoyed Karen's company and so on for 40 years. We were locked down during the pandemic and so on. We'll get to some of that in a bit. But I learned overall that in reality, what my parents taught me was true. Blindness wasn't going to be the problem; eyesight was going to be the problem. And that night after September 11th, we kind of tried to make sense of it. It was me and Karen and a friend of Karen's who I also got to know, and who became a friend of mine. Tom Painter had come down. Tom and Karen went to the same high school, but we all ended up in New Jersey. And Tom came to visit us, actually visit Karen after September 11th started. When he heard about the terrorist attacks, he just came down, not knowing whether I was in the office or not. But I was, and Karen and Tom, well, Tom stayed with Karen and and drove her to pick me up at the Westfield, New Jersey train station at about 7p.m. on september 11. We went home with my guide dog Roselle. When we got home, I took Roselle's harness off because I was going to take her outside. She would have none of it. She ran off. She grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog Linnie. Well, that was kind of fun, and I didn't think a lot about it. But I went. That was interesting. The next day, I contacted Guide Dogs for the Blind because several people from there had visited us in the World Trade Center, and among others, I spoke to the head of the veterinary department, and I said, "So, tell me, how is all this going to affect Roselle? Because everybody's talking about how it's going to affect everyone and all that, and and he asked me, "Did anything threaten directly Roselle? Did anything really threaten her? And I said, No, not really. Nothing directly affected her. And he said, Well, there you go. Dogs don't do what if. They live in the moment. Michael Hingson  17:13 And when you took the harness off, it was over for her, and she was ready to go play. She wanted to relax. She wanted to play, and she did. Oh, and yes, we did eventually get her outside. But the bottom line is, I think that's one of the most important things that I learned coming out of September 11th, and I, I kind of knew it beforehand, but I really got to understand it afterward. We what if everything to death? We what if anything that comes into our lives, well, we're we're in a war with Iran. Well, what if Iran bombs us? What if Iran does this? What if the Hooties do that? What are we going to do? What if our government takes us to war in the first place? Well, they have. The bottom line is, though, we don't have control over all of that. We do have control over some things in our lives, and those are the things that we should worry about. We should stop worrying about everything else. And people say, "Well, it's natural to worry. No, it's not. Not any more natural to worry than it is not to worry. We learn to worry because we're taught that. But the bottom line is, if we learn only to focus on the things over which we truly have control, and be aware of the other things, but don't let them worry us. Don't let them cause fear in our lives. We will live much less fearful and much more stress-free lives than in any other way. If you want another example of why I believe this, on September 11th, David Frank, my colleague who had come in to be involved with the seminars, David had come in the night before, and he came to our office about 8o'clock in the morning on the 11th of September. When we were escaping from the towers, we ended up downstairs and outside. David saw fire in Tower Two, and the way we happened to walk took us very close to Tower Two. We were at Broadway and Vessi Street, maybe 100 yards away from Tower Two. And when David stopped, he said, "You know, there's fire in Tower Two. I want to take pictures of it. And and I also wanted to try to call my wife Karen to let her know that we had gotten out of the towers, I couldn't get through. The circuits were busy because, as we later learned, people were calling and talking to loved ones. But anyway, David had just started putting his camera away. I had put my phone away, and a police officer yelled, "Get out of here! It's coming down right now! And we heard this sound I describe as kind of a combination of a freight train and a waterfall. I could hear glass breaking, metal clattering, and then just the building collapsing straight down. We didn't necessarily know that it was going to do that, but it did. It did exactly what it was designed to do. Anyway, everyone turned and ran. David ran. I turned 180 degrees. With Roselle, and started running back the other way. And as soon as I started to run, I thought to myself, "God, I can't believe that you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us. And I heard in my head a voice as clearly as you hear me right now-a voice that said, "Don't worry about what you can't control, focus on running with Roselle, and the rest will take care of itself. And I had this absolute sense of conviction that if we worked together, we would be fine. Well, we were. Where'd that voice come from? It was God talking to me. I grew up with my father very seriously believing in the concept of God. If you don't, that's fine. That is your choice. I've had people on my podcast who don't necessarily have strong beliefs and convictions about God. I do, but it's not my job to force people or compel people to believe in God. I will tell my story, and people can accept it or reject it as they choose. But that's what happened to me, and I've realized from that time on: don't worry about what you can't control. And I really, truly work very hard to focus on not worrying about the things that I don't have any influence over. Michael Hingson  21:16 I like to be aware of them. I hear from people all the time today about don't watch the news. I don't like to watch the news because it just makes me so angry and so fearful. And my response is, I'm going to watch the news because I want to know what's going on. And sometimes I'll yell at politicians through the TV, but I won't really overall get angry at them. I will hear it. I will either accept it or decide I don't have any influence over it, so I'm not going to worry about it, and I don't because it isn't going to help me to worry about it. It isn't going to help anyone else to worry about any of those kinds of things. Don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can and leave the rest alone, and that's one of the basic premises of the third book that I wrote, which was published in 2024, entitled "Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs About Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith. And that book was written by me and Carrie Wyatt Kent. The book was published by Tyndale House, and is out there for people to to read. The first book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing, which is now part of Harper Collins, and a lady, Jeanette Hanscom, and I wrote the second book, which is called Running with Roselle, which is really a book more for children, teaching them about me growing up, Roselle growing up, and how we met. A little bit about the World Trade Center. That one was self-published, but all three books are available wherever you can find books, so you can get them always from Amazon, of course. And so I hope that that you'll get them and read them. They will help. Live Like a Guide Dog probably is the best book for me to talk about in terms of things that I learned over the years, but if I really summarize mostly what happened for me after September 11th, it is that what happened on that day validated everything that I've believed about me. Certainly, what I believe about God, but it validates everything that I've ever thought about blindness, blind people, what we can do, the challenges we face, some of the issues that other people have, and the validation is certainly something that helped what I learned. But I learned other things along the way, and you know I want to talk about some of those things. The first, as I said, is don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can, and let the rest take care of itself. Speaker 1  23:56 If you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes, thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset Community. One Michael Hingson  24:28 of the things that happened to me almost immediately after September 11th is I started hearing people say, "We got to get back to normal. If we don't get back to normal, that's a problem. We got to get back to normal. And I always reacted internally, at least pretty negatively to that. And I finally realized why I reacted to that statement about we got to get back to normal. The reason I reacted to that statement, and I still react to to myself to that statement, is normal will never be the same again. We can't get back to normal. If we get back to normal the way it was prior to September 11th, the same thing will happen again. We can't do that. We have to get back to a different normal, and and in fact, normal is probably going to be an ongoing, constant process of change. We ought to learn not to fear that either. Change is all around us. We always say that, but then we don't like change. It's kind of a paradox. But the reality is, change is all around us. And what we really need to do is to learn how to focus in change. And we need to learn that in reality, we can deal with change. And if we have any influence over it, then we should do something about that too. But the bottom line is, getting back to normal prior to September 11th isn't going to help any of us, and and it isn't going to happen. So that is an one thing that I will say definitely. I learned from September 11th: normal will never be the same again. As I said a lot earlier, I think I probably learned about public speaking at least the beginning of it by doing the spelling tests and so on. But after September 11th, the media got my story, and that happened because Joanne Ritter, the public and information services person at the time at Guide Dogs wanted to write a story, and I kind of agreed. And I said, "That's fine. And then she said, "I'll bet you'll be on TV. What television show do you want to be on first? So I kind of just sort of flippantly said, "Larry King Live. That was on the 12th of September when I talked with her. On the 13th, she called back and she said, "Larry King wants you on his show on september 14, which was a Friday, and they sent a car to pick me up, and and I recall Karen and and Tom one as well, and anyway, we went into the World Trade Center, not to the World Trade Center, but we went into New York, and I appeared on CNN, which was the first of five interviews with Larry. Larry also, by the way, at my request, wrote the foreword for Thunderdog. So when you read Thunderdog, you'll get to read Larry's words as well. But after being on Larry King, the media really got my story, and a lot of things happened after that. I started getting literally calls every day for interviews. People wanted to talk to me about September 11th and ask questions and so on. And one of the things that I learned was that talking to reporters could be a great therapy because they would ask virtually any kind of question you can imagine. And of course, a lot of people said things like, "Well, did you know what happened on September 11th when it was happening? And I said no. And they said, well, of course you didn't. You're blind, you know. And my response is, anybody who says that really needs to not let their sight get in their way or their vision to be polite about it. The fact of the matter is, as we were going down the stairs, no one knew anything about what was going on. When I got into the stairwell, I began smelling an odor, and it took me four floors to realize I was smelling the fumes from burning jet fuel. I did a lot of travel for my company, and so I was in airports a lot. So I recognized that smell. People were speculating about what they were smelling. People were speculating about what was going on. Nobody had a clue. Michael Hingson  28:20 When I realized I was smelling jet fuel, I observed it to everyone around me, and they said, "You're right. That's what we're smelling. It's burning jet fuel. We must have been hit by an airplane. You see, no one knew. We had no clue. Superman and X-ray vision just aren't real. And the bottom line is, nobody knew what was actually happening on September 11th. Blindness have nothing to do with it. People want to feel more comfortable by saying, "Well, most people probably did know, but you're blind. You didn't know. We've got to get away from these habits of thinking that just because somebody is different than we are, that they're less than we are. That's just not true. In any case, the bottom line is that we we really deal with those kinds of things, and that helped me as as time went by recognize and realize that normal would never be the same again, and it validated more my belief that blindness isn't the problem; it's the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness that tends to truly be the problem that we face. So, as I began to talk with reporters, I didn't think about what was actually happening. But later, I realized when people started saying, "Well, did you ever get counseling or therapy, and I said no. And then it just popped into my head to say I probably had the best therapy around. I got interviewed by hundreds of reporters that asked basically any question that you can imagine, and I learned to answer those questions without being upset, especially when they were asking pretty derogatory questions or making derogatory comments. Your dog led you down the stairs. No, my dog did not lead me down the stairs. Guide dogs do not lead; they guide. And I understand the definition of lead, but it's a little bit different than what people were truly saying. What they were saying is you didn't know anything, and the dog took you all the way down the stairs because the dog could see. No, in fact, Roselle didn't lead me. Roselle's job wasn't, and no guide dog's job is to lead a person or to take charge. The dog's job is to make sure that we walk safely. I also have a job on the team. My job is to make sure that I know where we're going and how to get there. A lot easier now than it was 25 years ago, but the bottom line is that I'm the one that has to direct the dog and give the dog commands, and the dog needs to make sure that we carry out those commands safely. We are a team; we work together. I've always kind of known that guide dog schools didn't necessarily early in my guide dog career, express it that way, but it's it's a much stronger statement now. They recognize that truly we're a team. We each have a job to do on the team, and we have to work together to make the team work, which is true of any team. I've mentioned Seal Team Six earlier. They're a team. They work together. The firefighters in the World Trade Center and the other people who who were around there worked as a team, and they had to work as a team in order to develop a level of trust and a relationship where essentially each person knew what the others on their team were going to do, and it gave them more of a confidence to be able to function. Teamwork is so crucial in our world, and I learned, and and again on September 11th, it was totally validated how teamwork is so important. Roselle and I worked together well. The firefighters worked together well. Yes, we lost people, but the team really is so important, and we need to recognize that anyone listening to this ought to work in any of the things that they do to develop teams. Being alone makes no sense; it isn't going to work. You're going to have to and should learn to work with other people to make teams work better. I've seen companies where when they have award ceremonies, the leader of a team or the boss of a team gets an award, but the rest of the team doesn't really get the same recognition. Michael Hingson  32:30 If a leader is truly doing a good job at creating a team and being a part of a team, then that leader is really enhancing everyone else on the team, and that leader is the person who should help to make sure that when awards are given, that everyone on a team is recognized. We need to to learn and realize that a team is a bunch of people. It's not just one people, but they learn to work together, and that is also so important. And as I learned more and more about the events of the World Trade Center, I learned and realized more about the whole understanding of teamwork and trust and the value of it. I knew about it with me and Roselle, and I recognized the concept of teamwork. But certainly, September 11th again validated that a whole lot more effectively than anything else that I could think of, but I worked with eight dogs over the years, and working with eight dogs from my first guide dog Squire, who was a golden retriever, up through my current guide dog Alamo, I've learned probably I think more than I ever learned from experts and teamwork and sales and so on and motivation. I learned more from those dogs than I ever learned from the human experts because of the fact that one, I had to build a team with a creature who didn't think the same way I did, who didn't talk the same language that I did, and that expected things from me, and and as one of the things that I've learned is that dogs who are guide dogs really want the human to be the pack leader because it is the pack leader, it is the human who's supposed to tell the dog what they want the dog to do, and dogs take that so incredibly seriously. I mentioned Linny. Well, I didn't mention her, I think, by name. But Lenny was my fourth guide dog, and we were out in in San Diego at a company meeting one Friday in May of 1999, and we came home. It was a Saturday morning that we got home. I flew a red eye home, fed Lenny, and then rested and and all that. But Saturday night, when it came time to feed Linny, I called her. She wouldn't come. Karen even called her. She wouldn't come. We went. Upstairs and found her lying on her bed, kind of really not very responsive. We got her to a veterinarian, and it took a few days for the veterinarian to diagnose what she had as something called glomerular nephritis, which is a disease where the kidneys, the glomeria of the kidneys, which would normally pass out bad stuff from the kidneys but not the good stuff. They were passing out the good stuff as well, and Lenny was was not doing well. We were able to reverse that, but she had to retire from being a guide dog. In fact, we thought in late June of 1999 that we were going to lose her. We went off to a a meeting, not a meeting, but we went off to a hotel to say goodbye to Linny, if you will, on like the second of July. But Linny didn't pass away then, and she did get better. And then Roselle came into our lives, and Roselle and Linny became really good friends, but I mention all of it because I had no clue what was happening to Linny. Guide dogs love their jobs; they take them very seriously. And the fact of the matter is, as I learned, and especially after September 11th, I learned that these dogs will work till they drop. They will. They will do everything they can to please us, because they love what we do. They love us, and we need to bestow the same kind of love on them, which is all part of what teamwork is all about. Well, the bottom line was with Linny. She was with us for three more years, and she got to play with Roselle a lot, and so on. Michael Hingson  36:41 Of course, as I also mentioned after September 11th, but I again, especially because of what happened to Linny, but then afterward on September 11th, I realized how much it was important for me to do all I could to keep the team relationship a positive, strong one, to recognize that in reality these dogs work so hard on their own part to make the team's relationships work. They they deal with what they have to deal with. They get very stressed if we're upset. They take it very personally if we get upset, even if we're not necessarily upset at them; they still take it very personally. The more stress that a guide dog faces in their lives, the harder it's going to be for them, and frankly, the shorter their lives are going to be. So I learned, even before September 11th, but especially after September 11th, to do all I could to keep the stress away from the dog. As we were going down the stairs on September 11th, I constantly encouraged and praised Roselle. What a good dog! Keep going. What a good job! Good girl, Roselle. Even if I wasn't able to hold the harness because the stairs were so crowded that Roselle couldn't walk next to me and had to walk behind me at heel, and I would just hold the leash. I kept praising her because I wanted her to know for her I was okay, and I had to focus on not being afraid and letting that fear come out. Well, I was fearful like anyone was, and in fact, I love to tell people. Being a great fan of science fiction, I have a great imagination, and I was listening for the building to make creaks and groans, and you never knew what was going to happen. Fortunately, it didn't all the way down. But the bottom line for me was that doing so kept me focused. And I and I learned later that while I might have been afraid on September 11th, partly because I was encouraging Roselle and working to sound very calm and confident, I was able to also help other people, but help Roselle and keep Roselle from being afraid and and being stressed. And I work very hard to do that with my guide dogs that I've had since even more than prior to September 11th. My current guide dog Alamo and I travel the world speaking all over the place, if you will. We've been to Israel. We've been well, actually, Alamo didn't get to go to London, but we've been to Israel with my seventh guide dog, Africa. We went to the Netherlands, Alamo and I have been to Wisconsin. I've been to a variety of places, and of course, all around the the world, all around the United States, to Canada, everywhere. And again, I don't necessarily know a lot about where we're going in advance, but I ask a lot of questions so that I can learn where we're going to go, so that I can give the dogs the appropriate commands. I mentioned Wisconsin's. I've been all over the United States. It's been an honor, and I'm going to continue to do that. If anybody wants a public speaker to come and talk to their organization, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you. My email address is really simple. It's speaker@michaelhinkson.com. We'll put that in the show notes, and love to hear from you. So anyway, I learned a lot about teamwork from working with eight guide dogs, and I continue to learn every day. I think it's very important for me to learn and to focus all that I can to make sure that I do what it is that's necessary to make a team work, and I believe it is all about the team. I've mentioned that I've written three books, and each one was a collaboration with someone else: Susie Florey with Thunderdog, Jeanette Hanscom with Running with Roselle and Carrie Wyatt Kent with Live Like a Guide Dog, and and the fact of the matter is those collaborations I think were very important. Michael Hingson  40:49 They made the books come out a lot different than I might have imagined them coming out by themselves and the way I would have written them without having collaboration, and probably Live Like a guide dog more than more than the other two, just because of the way it all went. But with live like a guide dog, we focused on each of my my guide dogs and the lessons that we learned. So I mentioned Squire, who I worked with in high school and then went to college with Squire, and Squire was was all around where wherever I was. One night in a dorm, I was with a roommate. Well, actually, a person who lived in a room next door to mine, and I was in his room. We were dealing with a physics problem. By the way, my master's degree is in physics. I have a secondary teaching credential, but I was in with Richard dealing with a physics problem. When I went back into my room, there was no Squire. I didn't realize that a couple of the students decided to play a trick and kidnap him. I went looking around the dorm. I even went into the bathroom and opened the shower door and called Squire, and nothing was totally quiet, and finally, I was getting a little bit concerned. And one of the people said, "Oh well, look, we took the dog. We'll show you. They went into the bathroom, opened the shower door, and out comes Squire. He was in on it. He didn't do a thing when I opened the door, but when the other people did, then then he came out. I wasn't mad at him. Sneaky dog that he is, he had a great sense of humor. But I got vengeance because that that person didn't tell the other people that they showed him where showed me where Squire was. I went and hit Squire somewhere, and then I went back out into the main part of the dorm and I started going, "Who took my dog? What's going on? Where is he? And all the other people said, "Oh, come on, he's in the bathroom. And they went in and opened the door to the shower. No Squire, and they were starting to worry about what happened to him. And Squire, of course, was again not making noise. But eventually, I brought him out and I said, "Okay, I found him. I knew where he was. We're playing a trick on you just like you played a trick on me. That'll teach you. I learned that dogs have a sense of humor that day, but I also learned how much I valued having Squire around, and so Squire worked with me up until and through my first graduate year in physics at UC Irvine, and then Squire retired and went to live with my parents. And in 1973, I got my second guide dog, Holland. Holland was with me through 1986. He worked for almost 13 years, and in fact, was two weeks from retiring when he collapsed in our backyard one day, and we took him to the vet. And the vet said, "I could probably bring him out of whatever he's got, maybe a stroke or a heart attack or both, but he won't have a good quality of life. And so we said goodbye to to Holland. Holland and Squire were both golden retrievers, but again, Holland so strongly reinforced all the things that that I had felt about teamwork, and I learned so much more from him about what I needed to do in order to to function well, not just with a dog, but in my whole life. Then I got Klondike, who was my third guide dog, who was also a golden retriever. Soon after I got Klondike, well, about a year after I got Klondike, suddenly one day he had a very strong grand mal epileptic seizure, and we took him to the vet, and they put him on some medication that wasn't really helping that. And we then kept trying to to deal with it, and finally, and during that same time, I was looking for a job. I had owned my own company for four years, but decided I wanted to go back into the workforce, and and I finally got a job with a company. Michael Hingson  44:52 And on one of the first days that I worked there, Klondike had four grand mal seizures in the. Period of time, and we thought we were going to have to say goodbye to Klondike. But I talked to our veterinarian, and he said, "You know, before we do that, I want to send him to a neurologist who did an electroencephalograph. And he said, "I didn't see much, but he said one thing he did was to take some blood tests, and he said I noticed that his Klondike's thyroid level is low, and low thyroid levels in dogs like Klondike can make them more susceptible to have seizures, just like it can for children. Well, we put Klondike on synthroid, synthetic thyroid, as well as on phenobarbital to control the seizures. The synthroid had much more of an effect than the phenobarb did, Klondike actually became a much more active and playful and interactive dog, and did not have from that time on for the next seven years that he worked for me as a guide dog never had a single seizure. So the thyroid theory was a good one. Again, with with Klondike, it was about developing a team and recognizing that we had to work together. Well, then I got Linny, and again I mentioned Linny only worked for three years. Linny had glomerular nephritis that was really probably from a tick bite where the tick had Lyme's disease, and we didn't know any of that was happening until that night that Linny didn't wake up at all or didn't get up from her bed, and we finally got it diagnosed. And then I got Roselle. Now Roselle was a a wonderful dog. One of the things that I've always said is that when I get a new guide dog and I tell the trainers I want a dog with an on-off switch. That is, I want a dog that knows when the harness is on, it's time to work, and when the harness is off, then they can play. Clearly, Roselle had that when she was in harness. She was very focused. She did develop a phobia of thunderstorms, but there were a few times that we had thunderstorms, and she was able to continue to guide, even though she would shake and she would shiver a little bit. But she continued to guide. She focused. In fact, there was a thunderstorm the morning of September 11th, about 12:30 in the morning. But there was no thunder when we were going through what we did in the World Trade Center, so none of that caused her to be fearful. But again, Roselle was a dog that that taught me a lot about observation, learning what the dogs do, what what they fear, and how to help keep them focused and calm. And so I did that. My sixth guide dog was Meryl. Meryl only worked for about a year. Roselle retired in 2007. Merrill worked from 2007 to 2008, but Merrill became very fearful of guiding, and so ended up not being a guide dog very long. And I I'd never experienced that, although I had heard other people who had issues where dogs didn't work very long. Lenny only worked for three years, but a dog that didn't work for more than a year-that was unusual for me. However, poor Meryl wasn't able to do well as a guide, and so she retired. And then we got Africa. Now Africa was my seventh guide dog. Africa's mother was Fantasia. In January of 2006, we were working. I was working at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and we applied to be what were called breeder keepers. That is, they were the the people who would keep a breeder dog in their home because the guide dogs for the blind bred their own guide dogs and so on. And breeder keepers would keep dogs in their homes so that the dogs weren't just cooped up in kennels all day, and we volunteered to do that. And the director of breeding, Marina Hall, called us and said, "I've got four dogs for you to look at. I think one's better than the others for you, but I want you to come and meet these dogs. So we went down, and and she made the comment again. I think one dog is going to be better than the others. Michael Hingson  49:02 And and I said, well, if you think so strongly, but which one is it? Well, she finally sort of told us. She said, I didn't want to tell you, but I'll tell you. So she did. But anyway, the first dog who came in was a dog named Fantasia, and it works sort of the same way that when people get guide dogs, you're in a room. The dog is allowed to come in, and you see how the dog reacts to you. When I met Squire for the first time, I was sitting in a chair. They let Squire in. He came over and started sniffing me all over. Didn't leave me. He just started sniffing. And Bruce Benzler, who was the apprentice instructor at the time, later became director of Guide Dogs for the Blind, CEO anyway, anyway. Bruce then said, "Looks like you found a friend already, and we became friends. But anyway, when when Fantasia came into the room, she took one look at Karen and leaped into Karen's lap. She had no fear of the power wheelchair that Karen was using by that time. The other three dogs, we still looked at them, and they all expressed one level of fear or concern about being around this wheelchair. But Marina said Fantasia was the one that we thought you'd like best and would like you best, and she was. So anyway, in 2006, we got Fantasia in January, and later that year, she had a litter of puppies, and then in early or mid 2007, she Fantasia had her second litter. I guess it was late in 2006 she had the second litter, but anyway, by the middle of 2008, when we had to retire Meryl because she wasn't working out very well, we were notified that they found a dog that they thought would be a really good replacement for Meryl, and that's a dog named Africa. And Karen and I realized Africa was a name that we suggested as as breeder keepers that they could name one of their puppies if they had puppies who came from an A litter. And the way it works, by the way, is when a litter is born, they're assigned a letter of the alphabet, and they got a big book, and they go into that book and they get the next names that are available. They don't use names of current guide dogs, so when a dog retires, then they can start using that name again. But anyway, Africa was a name that we suggested, and as soon as we saw the email that said Africa, we knew Fantasia was Africa's mother. Well, Africa came and joined us, and mom and daughter did really well, and Roselle was still with us. So the three of them have a lot of fun together, but again with Africa, I learned about teamwork and doing the things that I needed to do. Every dog is different, and one of the things that I developed over the years was an understanding that to truly develop a relationship with a dog takes probably close to a year by the time we really are totally comfortable with each other, but I worked with Africa. We became good friends. Africa became good friends with Roselle. Of course, Africa liked her mom, and all worked out really well. Developing those teeming relationships is so important, and you can learn a lot more about them if you get live like a guide dog. I think you'll find them all very interesting to to read about. So in 2017, I noticed that Africa was starting to slow down and not do as well. She wasn't able to see as well at night. Sort of typical signs of a dog getting older, even though I work to to keep stress out as much as possible, but I applied and in 2018 on the 9th of February, Africa's puppy raisers, Bill and Peggy Sproul from San Francisco or San Diego rather, came to visit us in Victorville, and we had offered them the opportunity to take Africa because we had Fantasia, and we had Africa. And if we kept Africa and Fantasia, and I got a new guide dog, Karen would have a hard time taking care of two dogs when I traveled, because I was doing a great deal of travel by then as a keynote speaker, and so the Sprouls came and got Africa. Michael Hingson  53:26 Left our house, Africa didn't even look back. She was gone. We had visited her several times since then, and and in in the Sprouls home, Africa died in 2020. But we we got to visit Africa several times and it was a lot of fun and and she she loved us and all that and remembered us anyway on the 11th of February two days later I went to Guide Dogs for the Blind and I met Alamo who was my first black Labrador and I met him we we met in the room and he kind of sniffed me a little bit and walked around the room. But then came back and sniffed me, and then I took him on leash back to our our dorm room at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and I decided I'd sit on the floor to to visit with him. And the next thing I know, this big, huge, 60 pound Labrador is in my lap. Alamo was and is a lapdog, but he doesn't know a stranger, which is great. I mentioned earlier that I always said that when I get a guide dog, I want a guide dog that has an on and off switch. Another thing that I require is that guide dogs that I get be raised by cats. I have known of animals who of guide dogs who don't like cats, and I would not want that because we always have had cats. And by that time, when we got Alamo, we had Stitch, who we rescued in January of 2015. So now here it is, February of 2018. So I knew that we needed to have a dog that wasn't going to be. Be afraid of cats. Well, so Stitch and Alamo kind of walked around each other a little bit when we first went home, but they got to like each other pretty well pretty quickly, and they have been together ever since. Alamo has been on a number of aircraft, as I've mentioned over the years, he went to Israel with me. He didn't go to England when I spoke in 2024, but he's been to other places and will continue to travel with me. I work really hard to keep the stress out of his life. I don't want him to become any more stressed than he ever has to be, and he feeds off of how I behave, as as I've learned guide dogs do. So that's one of the most important things that I've learned is to keep that stress out of his life. I would point out that is just as much true for human teams. Don't stress out your team. If you are a leader, your job is to enhance what those leaders, what the team does. Your job isn't to boss them around. If you're doing that, you're only causing more stress, and you're going to find you're going to have a big job turnover, much more than you really should. I've always felt that my job isn't to boss people around when I hire them, my job is to enhance their abilities by using the skills that I have and learning to work with them to give them the benefit of what I know and to use the benefits of what they know to learn myself as well, so that we become more effective. And the people who really get that do very well. The people who didn't get that tend not to last very long at the company because they don't perform very well. Because I know that in reality, I add value to the team by working to add value, not bossing the team around. I think there's a big difference between leaders and bosses, and I've learned that over the years. That leaders are people who can enhance what other people do, who work to make the whole team effective and not just try to boss people around. In late 2020, I discovered a company called Accessibe, A C C E S S I capital B E. Website is accessibee.com. Was a company that made products to help make internet websites more inclusive, and at first, they had some challenges because they were using a lot of AI stuff to make their products work, and they sort of did. But there were there were challenges. But one day in January of 2021, the founder of the company, Sheer Eckerling. Michael Hingson  57:41 contacted me and said we're interested in you joining the company. I had been looking at possibly selling their products because the pandemic had hit, and I thought I could sell them from home because we were locked down. And and he said, well, you know, we we'd like you to not sell as a partner, just on your own, we'd like you to join the company. Well, he asked what I was doing, and by that time I had started to learn about podcasting because I couldn't travel and speak all over the world. So what I decided to do was to look at using podcast as a revenue source. And Shear said, "Well, you know, we we're really interested in having somebody do a podcast for us. And I said, "What do you want? And he said, "I want to just get somebody who will do a podcast to show that we're part of the world. And you join the company; you could do that in part. I joined the company, and he didn't have any specific agenda for the podcast. So, in August of 2021, I began Unstoppable Mindset, and soon it became unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. And I'll explain all of that in a moment. But the point is that we started the podcast. I created the title. I recreated the description, and I wanted the podcast to be conversations. And as anyone who has been on the podcast knows, we don't do interviews as such. We do conversations, and I ask people to send me materials to help me prepare to be able to do the conversation. And so a number of times we've had diversity experts on people from the DEI world, and when I ask them what they do, they say, you know, we focus a lot on diversity, and I say, what does that mean? And they say, well, we deal with race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on. And we chat for a little while, and then I say, but you haven't talked about disabilities. And they say, oh, disability is not a minority. And I say, what do you mean? He said, well, disability is a social justice thing. It's not like race, gender, or sexual orientation. And my response to that is balderdash. I like to use balderdash. I could go back and use what Colonel Sherman Potter did on Mash and say monkey muffins. But anyway, balderdash because diversity should include disability because it is a minority. Even the Center for Disease Control says that. Adversity, or that that people with disabilities are a minority of about 25% of people in the United States. Well, so the bottom line for me is that I would say to them, "What do you mean you're you're not including it? And they say, "Well, it's a it's a disability, but it's social justice. It's always about being a lack of ability, and as I have learned, especially since September 11th and and beyond, disability does not mean a lack of ability. You might want to think it does. You might want to try to make that fit, but it doesn't. And I learned that most effectively in March of 2023 when I went to something, by that time Karen had passed, and I was working with a person who had been Karen's caregiver, who decided to work for me. Very grateful for Josie doing that. Josie entered my name in the contest to be a guest at the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, which was going to be held the Monday after the Oscars at the Dolby Theater, well, I didn't even know she entered me, but I got a call the Tuesday before the Oscar after party and the Oscars, and I was and I picked up the phone and they said congratulations, and I said for what? Oh, you won an invitation to come to the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, and I went really well. Anyway, I went down with my niece and nephew, Tracy and Charlie Green. The there wasn't room for taking Josie, her husband, and her mother and her five kids. So it was just me, Tracy, and Charlie. Michael Hingson  1:01:37 We got up to our room about 3o'clock in the afternoon on the Saturday before the Oscars, the day before the Oscars, we put our luggage in our room and we were coming back down the main stairwell staircase actually from the third to the first floor in the Hollywood Roosevelt. It's a very open staircase, and all of a sudden I heard people screaming, and it took me a while to to try to understand what's going on, and finally I couldn't figure it out. I said, Tracy, what's going on? And she said, Oh, we just lost power and lighting on the stairs, and and power and lighting in and around the entire hotel. Now it didn't bother Tracy. Tracy had known me for a long time, but people were panicky because they weren't getting all the light they expected, even though the windows were open, the the shades were up on the first floor in the lobby, and so on. Lots of light, but it wasn't all that people expected. And I thought about that, and what I learned from that was, it proves that disability isn't a lack of ability; it proves that disability is a characteristic that we all have. Thomas Edison and others worked on the light bulb, and Thomas Edison is credited with developing the electric light bulb back in 1878. But in the 148 years since the light bulb was developed, all society has done in that regard is worked very hard on coming up with better ways of providing light on demand, so that you sighted people could have all the light you want when you want it. Nowadays, we have smartphones, we have flashlights, we have other ways of getting light on demand. But as the Americans with Disabilities Act would describe it. The light bulb is simply, or any piece of technology that produces light on demand, is simply a piece of technology that provides light on demand to light-dependent people who otherwise don't function well without it. The bottom line is, disability is not a lack of ability. We got words like discrete, discern, disciple. What is discern? Is it a lack of discern? What is it? What is disciple? A lack of viple? No. Disability is not a lack of ability. Disability is a character

On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Michael Smerconish presents an expanded companion podcast episode to his three-hour SiriusXM POTUS tribute — featuring the remarkable archival interviews and full, unedited conversations that couldn't fit on the radio.Hear James Meigs from Popular Mechanics debunk 9/11 conspiracy theories; journalists Michael Scherer and Peter Baker revisit the mission that killed Osama bin Laden; and SEAL Team Six members Mark Owen/Matt Bissonnette and Rob O'Neill give their firsthand accounts of the Abbottabad raid. Jennifer Senior discusses her Pulitzer Prize-winning story of one family's enduring grief after 9/11.Plus, hear Michael's complete new conversations with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg on Guantánamo Bay, and Gerald Posner on longtime detainee Abu Zubaydah. Twenty-five years later, the stories — and some of the questions — remain. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Andy Stumpf knows what it takes to operate when everything goes wrong. A former Navy SEAL who served with SEAL Team Six, Stumpf spent 17 years in the military, including a tour as a BUD/S instructor responsible for training hundreds of aspiring SEALs. He was also shot at close range by an Iraqi insurgent with an AK-47—and somehow came back to serve again. In this episode, Andy pulls back the curtain on the world of special operations and the psychology of becoming a SEAL. He reveals what he learned about the candidates who ring the bell, the methods he used as an instructor to get them to keep going—or make them quit—and what it really feels like when an AK-47 fragment shatters your sciatic nerve. It's a conversation about fear, pain, endurance, and the strange things that happen in your head when the stakes couldn't be higher. Andy is the host of Cleared Hot, one of the most popular podcasts devoted to military life, special operations, and the people who have lived it. Big thanks to our terrific sponsors American-Giant.com/Mike—American Giant makes clothes that last, and they make them 100% in America.Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. American Giant—American Made. K12.com/Rowe—Find a K12-powered school near you and see what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep. Digs.com/MIKE—Less rework. Less confusion. And a much smoother build experience for homeowners. Get 40% offyour first 3 months

Andy Stumpf's BUD/S class started with 180 students. 18 graduated. As a BUD/S instructor years later, he got to do something most SEALs never do: sit down with the hundreds who quit and ask them why. The answer was almost always the same.   Joe De Sena talks with Andy, a retired SEAL Team Six operator who was shot during a 2005 deployment, spent eighteen months rehabbing neuropathic nerve damage, and went on to fly charter jets, jump professionally, open a Black Rifle Coffee outpost in Montana, and write the book Drown Proof.   This episode breaks down why the students who quit SEAL training all collapsed the same way, what the difference is between telling someone a run is four miles and telling them to run until you say stop, and why momentum matters more than knowing exactly where you are headed.   Things You Will Learn: The single pattern that appeared in nearly every SEAL training dropout, and why it applies to any goal you have set and abandoned. Why starting to move matters more than knowing exactly where you are going. What changes when you shift from macro goals to micro execution under pressure. Tools & Frameworks Covered: Momentum Over Azimuth: Start moving before you have a perfect plan. Paralysis comes from needing the destination to be clear before taking the first step. Movement creates clarity. Stillness creates doubt. Macro Goal, Micro Living: Set the big target, then forget it. Shrink your world to the next step, the next hill, the next rep. The students who quit SEAL training all failed the same way: their view of time expanded until the distance between where they stood and the finish overwhelmed them. Ask for Help as Strength: The toughest people Stumpf has known all share one trait: when they hit the limit of their knowledge, they find an expert. When they are struggling, they ask. Nobody can read your mind. Until you ask, the people who care about you cannot help you.   'Heads up! I'll be a judge at The Baker House Challenge - A live entrepreneurship and real estate pitch competition where founders put real deals in front of Myself, Richard Baker, Adam Weitsman for a shot at $20,000 in prizes.   Watch the full competition live here on YouTube August 29.   Or Go to https://www.bakerhouse1921.com/challenge to tune in.   Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Andy Stumpf, retired SEAL Team Six, now owns a coffee shop 4:23 A mason father and the lessons that carried forward 6:09 Joined the military at 17, barely graduated high school, never looked back 8:52 Why he has never once wished he went to college 11:19 Post-military life: aviation, skydiving, base jumping, coffee, and figuring it out 13:07 The book Drownproof 14:35 When did the loneliness epidemic start, and what phones have to do with it 21:59 Camaraderie is suffering plus laughter 24:24 Getting shot in 2005 26:54 Why the worst thing that happened became the best thing twenty years later 28:58 Three tools for anyone who feels stuck: momentum, shrink your world, ask for help 33:08 The job of a BUD/S instructor is to remove hope 39:53 The four-mile run experiment: same distance, different framing, different quit rates 41:18 Nobody can make you quit except yourself   Andy Stumpf grew up in Santa Cruz, California, the son of a brick mason whose family had laid stone for three generations. At eleven, his father mentioned the Navy SEALs once, and the idea absorbed every decision that followed. He enlisted at seventeen, barely graduated high school, and never looked back.   Andy served ten deployments as a SEAL Team Six operator. In 2005, he was shot during a mission, suffered neuropathic nerve damage, and spent eighteen months rehabbing as a BUD/S instructor, where he studied why the vast majority of candidates quit on their lifelong goals.   Andy got commissioned as an officer without a college degree, finished his career on a West Coast team, and went on to fly charter jets, jump professionally, teach skydiving, launch a nine-year podcast, and open a Black Rifle Coffee outpost in Kalispell, Montana. His book, Drown Proof, was published in April 2025.   Connect to Andy: Website: https://thestringbean.co/about/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestring.bean/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ClearedHotPodcast X: https://x.com/AndyStumpf77

Dr. Dilip Joseph traveled to Afghanistan to serve others as a medical doctor. On December 5, 2012, everything changed when armed men surrounded his vehicle and kidnapped him.For four days, Dilip was held captive by the Taliban, uncertain whether he would ever see his family again. In the middle of fear, exhaustion, and the possibility of death, he began asking a different question: What is God doing here?That question changed the way he saw his captors, his circumstances, and his own faith.Then, on the fifth day, SEAL Team Six launched a daring rescue mission. Navy SEAL Nicholas Checque gave his life during the operation that brought Dilip home.In this powerful conversation, Dilip shares what happened during his captivity, the unexpected relationship he developed with one of his captors, the weight of knowing someone sacrificed his life to save him, and what the experience taught him about following Jesus when obedience is anything but comfortable.Obedience does not guarantee comfort. But even in the middle of our messiness, we can count on the presence of God.

View This Week's Show NotesStart Your 7-Day Trial to Mobility CoachJoin Our Free Weekly Newsletter: The AmbushAndy Stumpf spent years navigating some of the most extreme environments imaginable as a Navy SEAL, but he says the hardest lessons he learned had nothing to do with combat. In this episode of the Ready State Podcast, Kelly and Juliet Starrett sit down with the retired SEAL Team Six operator, pilot, skydiver, and author of Drownproof to explore the mindset that helps people stay steady when life feels anything but that.From a chaotic military skydive gone spectacularly wrong to the emotional toll of divorce, Andy shares why the ability to "chunk" overwhelming challenges into the next manageable step has become one of the most valuable skills he's ever developed. Along the way, the conversation dives into self-talk, asking for help, ownership, leadership, flow state, and why resilience isn't about being fearless – but about learning to focus on what you can control when everything else feels out of control.Whether you're navigating a personal setback, leading a team, raising kids, or simply trying to build a more resilient mindset, this episode offers practical lessons for staying grounded, making better decisions, and keeping your head above water when the inevitable storms of life arrive.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy resilience is less about toughness and more about controlling what you can controlHow breaking overwhelming challenges into small, manageable steps can help you navigate almost any crisisThe surprising role that self-talk plays in performance, confidence, and decision-making under pressureWhy asking for help is one of the strongest leadership skills, not a sign of weaknessHow finding a healthy "flow state" can improve focus, reduce stress, and build long-term resilience through work, sport, or everyday lifeKey Highlights: (00:00) Intro & Andy's Background(05:15) Origin of "Becoming a Supple Leopard"(11:00) Backstory of "Drownproof" Title(17:49) Where We Learn Resilience & Life Skills(20:22) Breaking Tasks Into Small Chunks(23:12) Andy's Wild HAHO Jump Story(30:43) Everything Goes Wrong Mid-Air(37:52) Getting to Safety & Lesson From the Jump(43:04) How Divorce Was Harder Than SEAL Training(47:38) The Power of Self-Talk(49:11) Asking for Help as a Sign of Strength(54:32) After-Action Reviews, Accountability, & Leadership(54:34) Why 85% Quit BUD/S(58:14) The Chunking vs. Overwhelm Theory(1:00:00) Hell Week & the Psychology of Time(1:09:57) "It Takes Longer to Do It Wrong"(1:17:32) Writing Drownproof(1:20:38) BASE Jumping, Wingsuits, & Risk(1:23:44) Flow State, Not Adrenaline(1:31:23) The Sphere of Influence Exercise(1:33:32) Redirecting Negative Self-Talk(1:34:47) The Infinite Shelf: Money & MeaningHuge thanks to our sponsors, LMNT and Momentous.

As You Wish Talk Radio ECETI, Contact, and the Battle Between Control and Awakening James Gilliland welcomes Michael Jaco for a wide-ranging conversation about ECETI Ranch, UFO sightings, alleged targeting, spiritual protection, multidimensional beings, geopolitical collapse, ascension, timelines, inner-earth civilizations, and the shift from systems of control toward a higher-consciousness future. Guest Spotlight: Michael Jaco Michael Jaco returns to As You Wish Talk Radio after visiting ECETI Ranch with his wife. In the episode, he discusses his stated background in military and intelligence work, his experiences at the ranch, UFO and contact phenomena, remote viewing, alleged targeting, multidimensional themes, spiritual protection, geopolitical concerns, and his belief that humanity is moving through a major awakening process. The transcript notes that claims made during the program are preserved as speaker statements and should not be treated as independently verified facts. Michael Jaco's Visit to ECETI Ranch James Gilliland opens the episode by welcoming Michael Jaco and describing the time Jaco and his wife spent at ECETI Ranch, including skywatching and what Gilliland describes as ships interacting with people. Jaco briefly summarizes his stated biography, including his Navy SEAL, SEAL Team Six, CIA, remote viewing, and “secret space program” references, before praising ECETI as a place where direct experience removes doubt about UFO activity. Gilliland emphasizes his long-standing invitation for people to come see for themselves rather than simply accept anyone else's claims. UFO Community Politics, Targeting, and Controlled Narratives The early discussion turns toward the UFO community itself, with both Gilliland and Jaco criticizing what they describe as deception, competition, controlled narratives, and compromised figures within disclosure circles. They discuss claims about black helicopters, white helicopters, interference around events, and alleged efforts to disrupt authentic contact work. Gilliland says ECETI has decades of contact history and evidence, while Jaco argues that people who reveal uncomfortable truths are targeted, whereas “posers” or controlled opposition are promoted. COVID, Power Structures, and Corruption Claims The conversation then broadens into political, medical, and institutional claims, including discussion of COVID-19, vaccines, hospitals, Dr. Fauci, government agencies, and what the speakers describe as systems of control. Jaco and Gilliland frame these topics as part of a larger struggle involving elites, hidden influences, medical and military systems, and spiritual warfare. Because the transcript specifically flags medical, political, COVID-19, vaccine, hospital, and Dr. Fauci-related claims for verification, these portions should be summarized only as speaker statements rather than established fact. Multidimensional Beings, Anunnaki, Draco, and Galactic Councils Gilliland and Jaco move into metaphysical and galactic material, discussing Anunnaki, Draco, Pleiadians, Orion, Sirians, Andromedans, inner-earth beings, angelics, archangels, and councils of higher-dimensional beings. They describe a long-running cosmic conflict between service-to-self forces and service-to-others beings, comparing it to a dark-side/light-side struggle. Jaco suggests that understanding positive extraterrestrials and galactic councils is important for humanity, while Gilliland describes ancient lineages, multidimensional worlds, benevolent beings, and higher councils assisting Earth through its current transition. ECETI Guardians, Divine Feminine, and Spiritual Protection The episode also explores spiritual protection at ECETI Ranch. Jaco describes sensing Sasquatch, elementals, and protective energy around the property, while Gilliland speaks about guardian beings, elven beings, Bigfoot activity, and what he sees as the protection of high-integrity spiritual people. They also discuss the divine feminine, weather work, meditation, Qigong, and stories of allegedly redirecting fires, winds, and storms. Gilliland presents these experiences as part of the ranch's spiritual environment and its connection to nature, feminine energy, and higher guidance. Ascension, Timelines, and the Bifurcation of Worlds A central theme of the second half is the idea that Earth is undergoing an ascension process. Gilliland says Pleiadians have described “folding time” to help humanity move through crises, while Jaco says he has felt looming events dissolve before manifesting. The conversation covers solar flares, consciousness light, timeline shifts, the collapse of political and medical systems, and a possible bifurcation of worlds in which one reality collapses into self-service and control while another expands into harmony, abundance, and higher consciousness. Lion Beings, Forgiveness, and Closing Skywatch Invitation Near the end, Jaco asks about lion energy at ECETI, and Gilliland describes humanoid cat beings, panther beings, and seventh-dimensional lion beings connected to protection, healing, ancient guardianship, and the return of benevolent forces. They also discuss karma, universal law, forgiveness, restitution, and the idea that people can still shift toward the awakening and healing side if they sincerely change direction. The episode closes with Gilliland encouraging listeners to keep an open mind, loving heart, and pure intent, followed by skywatch audio describing ships, power-ups, and promotional material inviting listeners to join ECETI's programs, podcasts, skywatch videos, workshops, and store.

As You Wish Talk Radio ECETI, Contact, and the Battle Between Control and Awakening James Gilliland welcomes Michael Jaco for a wide-ranging conversation about ECETI Ranch, UFO sightings, alleged targeting, spiritual protection, multidimensional beings, geopolitical collapse, ascension, timelines, inner-earth civilizations, and the shift from systems of control toward a higher-consciousness future. Guest Spotlight: Michael Jaco Michael Jaco returns to As You Wish Talk Radio after visiting ECETI Ranch with his wife. In the episode, he discusses his stated background in military and intelligence work, his experiences at the ranch, UFO and contact phenomena, remote viewing, alleged targeting, multidimensional themes, spiritual protection, geopolitical concerns, and his belief that humanity is moving through a major awakening process. The transcript notes that claims made during the program are preserved as speaker statements and should not be treated as independently verified facts. Michael Jaco's Visit to ECETI Ranch James Gilliland opens the episode by welcoming Michael Jaco and describing the time Jaco and his wife spent at ECETI Ranch, including skywatching and what Gilliland describes as ships interacting with people. Jaco briefly summarizes his stated biography, including his Navy SEAL, SEAL Team Six, CIA, remote viewing, and “secret space program” references, before praising ECETI as a place where direct experience removes doubt about UFO activity. Gilliland emphasizes his long-standing invitation for people to come see for themselves rather than simply accept anyone else's claims. UFO Community Politics, Targeting, and Controlled Narratives The early discussion turns toward the UFO community itself, with both Gilliland and Jaco criticizing what they describe as deception, competition, controlled narratives, and compromised figures within disclosure circles. They discuss claims about black helicopters, white helicopters, interference around events, and alleged efforts to disrupt authentic contact work. Gilliland says ECETI has decades of contact history and evidence, while Jaco argues that people who reveal uncomfortable truths are targeted, whereas “posers” or controlled opposition are promoted. COVID, Power Structures, and Corruption Claims The conversation then broadens into political, medical, and institutional claims, including discussion of COVID-19, vaccines, hospitals, Dr. Fauci, government agencies, and what the speakers describe as systems of control. Jaco and Gilliland frame these topics as part of a larger struggle involving elites, hidden influences, medical and military systems, and spiritual warfare. Because the transcript specifically flags medical, political, COVID-19, vaccine, hospital, and Dr. Fauci-related claims for verification, these portions should be summarized only as speaker statements rather than established fact. Multidimensional Beings, Anunnaki, Draco, and Galactic Councils Gilliland and Jaco move into metaphysical and galactic material, discussing Anunnaki, Draco, Pleiadians, Orion, Sirians, Andromedans, inner-earth beings, angelics, archangels, and councils of higher-dimensional beings. They describe a long-running cosmic conflict between service-to-self forces and service-to-others beings, comparing it to a dark-side/light-side struggle. Jaco suggests that understanding positive extraterrestrials and galactic councils is important for humanity, while Gilliland describes ancient lineages, multidimensional worlds, benevolent beings, and higher councils assisting Earth through its current transition. ECETI Guardians, Divine Feminine, and Spiritual Protection The episode also explores spiritual protection at ECETI Ranch. Jaco describes sensing Sasquatch, elementals, and protective energy around the property, while Gilliland speaks about guardian beings, elven beings, Bigfoot activity, and what he sees as the protection of high-integrity spiritual people. They also discuss the divine feminine, weather work, meditation, Qigong, and stories of allegedly redirecting fires, winds, and storms. Gilliland presents these experiences as part of the ranch's spiritual environment and its connection to nature, feminine energy, and higher guidance. Ascension, Timelines, and the Bifurcation of Worlds A central theme of the second half is the idea that Earth is undergoing an ascension process. Gilliland says Pleiadians have described “folding time” to help humanity move through crises, while Jaco says he has felt looming events dissolve before manifesting. The conversation covers solar flares, consciousness light, timeline shifts, the collapse of political and medical systems, and a possible bifurcation of worlds in which one reality collapses into self-service and control while another expands into harmony, abundance, and higher consciousness. Lion Beings, Forgiveness, and Closing Skywatch Invitation Near the end, Jaco asks about lion energy at ECETI, and Gilliland describes humanoid cat beings, panther beings, and seventh-dimensional lion beings connected to protection, healing, ancient guardianship, and the return of benevolent forces. They also discuss karma, universal law, forgiveness, restitution, and the idea that people can still shift toward the awakening and healing side if they sincerely change direction. The episode closes with Gilliland encouraging listeners to keep an open mind, loving heart, and pure intent, followed by skywatch audio describing ships, power-ups, and promotional material inviting listeners to join ECETI's programs, podcasts, skywatch videos, workshops, and store.

Retired Navy SEAL Cory Zillig returns to talk about his new book and reinvigorating The Site, a large Midwest firearms training center. Cory served twenty years as a SEAL and thirteen of those specifically on SEAL Team SIX.   To learn more about Cory Zillig's book visit CoryZillig.com or follow him @CoryZillig on Instagram. BOOK: https://coryzillig.com THE SITE: https://thesitetraining.com FIRST ZILLIG PODCAST: https://higherline.libsyn.com/dad-the-killing-season-is-over-higher-line-podcast-102   RELATED PODCASTS: Manners from a SEAL | Higher Line Podcast #98 SEAL Author | Higher Line Podcast #77 SEAL TURNED Director of Training | Higher Line Podcast #85   --- Music Attributions: Intro - "3rd Eye Blimp" by Otis McDonald Outro - "I Want More" by Silent Partner   The Carry Trainer Higher Line Podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Stitcher and most importantly CarryTrainer.com.

In this episode of the Try That In A Small Town podcast, the guys sit down with hitmaker George Birge to unpack his long road to “overnight success” in Nashville. George talks about grinding for a decade before his first number one, the moment Luke Bryan said “Play that motherfucker” about his song, and how TikTok flipped his career with Beer Beer Truck Truck.He shares how Clay Walker pushed him back into being an artist, how a Bobby Bones performance turned Mind On You into a life-changing hit, and why Jason Aldean giving that song back was a defining act of class. Along the way you'll hear wild road stories with SEAL Team Six and Post Malone, getting wrecked by Gary Allan's weed, the art of building a live set, and how country music's community creates careers that last decades. They close it out with golf at Augusta, Idiots of the Week, HVAC disasters, fan etiquette and plenty of laughs.Timed Highlights: 0:03:12 – Four number ones in a row, why Nashville is a “10-year town” and how hard it really is to break 0:04:35 – Building relationships with radio and listeners, and the pressure of chasing every hit 0:05:04 – Luke Bryan mentor story, Chesney's jet and the “Play that motherfucker” cowboy song moment 0:07:40 – Why country music is a “big happy family” and how fan relationships create 20–40 year careers 0:08:53 – Shouting out Kurt and Tully on a surprise Jason Aldean number one and how labels plan chart runs 0:10:00 – Original Glory beer spot and investing in America's small towns 0:11:14 – The magic and misery of the grind: why it's good that success doesn't come easy 0:12:20 – First number one, confidence, and how belief changes the way you write and perform 0:13:20 – Mike Eli's tough-love advice: “You just need to go get your ass kicked” 0:15:30 – Sprinter van nightmare in Kentucky, the meth'd-out “mechanic” and character-building on the road 0:17:49 – Moving from one recognizable song to multiple hits and the freedom of building a real setlist 0:18:38 – Covers as a “cheat code,” winning crowds in clubs and finding the sweet spot with 90s country medleys 0:20:19 – Club days: Dwight Yoakam medleys, Sweet Child O' Mine into Paradise City, and stretching 90 minutes 0:22:40 – Teaching an audience how to listen to your ballad and earning the right to play the slow songs 0:25:26 – Lessons from touring with Toby Keith: zero ego, human jukebox and knowing when to turn it into a honky-tonk cover set 0:28:19 – Tailgating with Toby Keith, SEAL Team Six and Post Malone on the bus in Virginia Beach 0:29:48 – Post Malone's country roots, respect for the genre and doing it the right way 0:30:09 – Pivoting to “just” being a songwriter, asking out of the duo deal and heading to Clay Walker's beach house 0:33:33 – Writing Clay Walker's We All Need A Bar Sometimes and Catching Up With An Old Memory and hearing the band's take from the studio side 0:36:35 – Refusing to quit, irrational optimism and how things fall into place when you keep showing up 0:37:38 – Clay Walker says “Get on TikTok” and the birth of Beer Beer Truck Truck from a country-music hater's video 0:39:41 – Going viral overnight, crediting the original TikTok creator and landing on The Bobby Bones Show 0:39:47 – Playing Mind On You live on Bobby Bones, getting a record deal and watching it go number one 0:41:03 – Jason Aldean had Mind On You on hold – and gave it back so George could release it as his debut single 0:45:08 – George's Mount Rushmore: Aldean, Gary Allan, George Strait and Tracy Lawrence, and how that shaped his sound 0:46:47 – First-hand weed disasters: Gary Allan's tackle box, the volcano, numb legs and the best pineapple ever 0:52:23 – Willie's Remedy, tequila pairings and trying to “just sleep” through a THC drink gone wrong 0:54:08 – Tequila on the road, giving up whiskey in the summer and survival strategies under 100-degree stage lights 0:55:16 – Golf talk: college golf background, shooting 75 at Augusta and winning the BMW Celebrity Pro-Am 0:57:31 – John Daly, a 27-minute Knocking on Heaven's Door and golf-country crossovers 0:58:08 – Weekly segment: Idiots of the Week – ducks on dashboards and Jeep duck culture 0:59:35 – People touching injured shoulders, hugging the sling side and unintentional pain 1:01:16 – HVAC conspiracy: the AC “just happens” to die right after the service check and buying a new unit 1:06:42 – Language rant: the word “literally,” dictionaries caving and when words stop meaning what they mean 1:08:37 – Fan behavior: phones in faces, reading the screen mid-song and completely losing the lyrics 1:10:19 – Fist bumps, picks, Sharpies mid-solo and why some fans think they're on stage with you 1:12:00 – World Cup tangent, flops, drama and sports rants 1:13:40 – Peacemaker Coffee plug and sending George beans for the bus 1:14:23 – The hosts on why George is great for country music, closing thanks and merch reminders______________________________________________________________________________________________SPONSORS: The Try That in a Small Town Podcast is powered by e|spaces!Redefining Coworking - Exceptional Office Space for Every BusinessBook a tour today at espaces.comFrom the Patriot Mobile studios:Don't get fooled by other cellular providers pretending to share your values or have the same coverage. They don't and they can't!Go to PATRIOTMOBILE.COM/SMALLTOWN or call 972-PATRIOTRight now, get a FREE MONTH when you use the offer code SMALLTOWN.Original Brands - Our original sponsor since the beginning!!Original brands is starting a new era and American domestic premium beer, American made, American owned, Original glory.Join the movement at www.drinkoriginalbrands.comPeacemaker Coffee CompanyFounded by retired police officer/chief Chris Morris, Peacemaker delivers clean, low-acidity coffee while supporting police, firefighters, EMS, military, veterans, teachers, dispatchers, and medical personnel through donations and programs.www.trythatinasmalltowncoffee.com________________________________________________________________________________________________Follow/Rate/Share at www.trythatinasmalltown.com -For advertising inquiries, email info@trythatinasmalltown.comProduced by Jim McCarthy and www.ItsYourShow.coSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of The Jess Larsen Show on Innovation & Leadership, Jess sits down with Rich Diviney, retired Navy SEAL, former SEAL Team Six operator, founder of The Attributes Training Company, and author of The Attributes and Masters of Uncertainty. Rich breaks down the difference between skills and attributes, and why elite performance is not just about what someone knows how to do, but whether they have the internal wiring to perform when pressure, chaos, and uncertainty hit. Drawing from his experience running selection at SEAL Team Six, Rich explains why some of the most talented operators still do not make it through, and what separates those who can adapt, recover, learn, and execute under extreme conditions. Jess and Rich also explore the psychology of high-performing teams, the difference between elite and special, how SEAL Team Six and Delta Force approach selection differently, and why attributes like learnability, resilience, compartmentalization, empathy, caring, discipline, and task switching shape performance in every field, not just the military. This is a fascinating conversation about leadership, human potential, uncertainty, and how to understand yourself and your team at the deepest level. Whether you are building a company, leading people, developing talent, or trying to perform better under pressure, Rich offers a powerful framework for knowing where you are a rock star, where you are a doofus, and how to build the right team around you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk www.LearningLeader.com Book - The Price of Becoming -- www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My guest: Andy Stumpf is a retired Navy SEAL who spent 17 years on active duty, including assignments with one of the most elite special operations units in the U.S. military. He's a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book is Drownproof: Eight Life Lessons to Keep Your Head Above Water. Key Learnings "What you allow in your presence is your standard." It doesn't matter what your corporate ethos is. It doesn't matter what's tattooed on the wall behind you. If your actions don't align with your speech, it means nothing. Speech is debatable. Actions have impact. You can control almost nothing in your life, but you can control the boundaries you set and your willingness to maintain them. There's a difference between a SEAL and a team guy. A SEAL is there for the title and the individual journey. A team guy is there for the mission and the team. They wear the same uniform. From the outside, you can't tell them apart. Internally, everyone knows. Andy would rather have a group of team guys than a group of SEALs. Your ability to accomplish unbelievable things is 100% aligned with what group of people you bring into your organization. You'll get fooled in the interview process. People wear masks. That's just how it works. The reps come after. Set up consistent feedback. Bi-annual after-action reviews on performance and how they're showing up as a person. 80/20 the interview. Talk 20%. Make them talk 80%. The more they speak, the harder it is to keep the mask on. Let people go faster, not slower. It's way easier to solve this problem six months in than six years in, when they've already catastrophically impacted the culture. Drown-proofing is not an exercise in being drown-proof. It's an exercise in self-control. You bob up and down in a pool for an hour with your hands tied behind your back and your feet bound. If you panic, you sink. If you stay calm and control your breathing, you can do it indefinitely. The test occurs in the water, but it has almost nothing to do with the water itself. The world is chaotic. That doesn't mean you have to be. When everything around you is going sideways, walk yourself back. What can I actually control? My breathing. My self-talk. My priorities. My next move. The circle of influence vs. the circle of concern. Draw a line down the middle of a legal pad. On the left, write everything you're worried about, working on, occupied by. That column will be huge. On the right, write what you actually have direct control over. You'll only be able to write one thing: yourself. The most effective leadership tool is mentorship. Andy's mentor Dave Hall gave him "just the perfect amount of rope to hang myself, and then maybe he'd help me get it around my neck just a little bit." Dave would let him fall short, then crush him, then sit there and facilitate what he needed to fill the gap. A high standard is a finely sharpened blade. It can cut in both directions. Andy's mentor, Dave Hall, ultimately died by suicide. One reason Andy believes it happened is Dave couldn't hold himself to the same standard anymore, and it destroyed him. Have grace for yourself. Not every goal is worth your life. Focus on post-traumatic growth, not post-traumatic stress. Trauma doesn't have to destroy you. If you take the time and energy to work your way through it, it can turn you into a better version of yourself. Motivation can be outsourced. Discipline cannot. Motivation is like the tide. It comes in and out. Discipline is doing the things you need to do regardless of how you feel. Win the micro-battles, not the war, in one fell swoop. If you try to attack 10 bad habits overnight, you'll fail. Pick one for a week. Build momentum. Stack days. You win the war via the micro-battles. If you don't think of yourself as a leader, you'll never step into a leadership void. You'll tell yourself you're not the person. Not qualified. Not capable. Stop treating leadership like the DMV. You don't show up at the window and challenge the test with no preparation. You crawl, walk, run. You practice. Every interaction is either a micro-deposit or a micro-withdrawal of leadership capital. Sustained high performers master the basics. They make no attempt to be flashy. They make no attempt to gain 50 yards at a time. They'll do one yard 50 times in a row. If they see a real opportunity with managed risk, they'll go big. Otherwise, one yard. Over and over. Andy's champagne moment a year from now: being there with the people he loves. "Would you rather have all the things you think you want in life and enjoy them by yourself? Or be surrounded by people who truly love you for who you are? I'm taking the latter every time." Reflection Questions What are you allowing in your presence right now that contradicts the standard you say you hold? What's the cost of letting it continue? If you drew the line down the legal pad today, what would be in your concern column that shouldn't be? Where is your energy going to things you cannot control? More Learning #234: Jocko Willink - Why Discipline Equals Freedom #363: Admiral William McRaven - The Bin Laden Raid, Saving Captain Phillips, & Leadership Lessons for Life #633: General Stanley McChrystal - On Standard: Choices That Define a Life Podcast Chapters 00:00 The Price of Becoming - Pre-Order Now!  01:13 Meet Andy Stumpf  02:45 "What You Allow in Your Presence Is Your Standard"  04:30 What You Walk Past in Your Personal Life  05:59 Why He Wanted to Be a Navy SEAL at 11 Years Old  08:54 The Difference Between a SEAL and a Team Guy  11:38 How to Hire Team Guys, Not SEALs  16:34 The Story Behind Drownproof  18:23 What Drownproofing Actually Is  22:09 The Real Lesson Is Self-Control  25:55 Getting Shot in Iraq  30:38 Two Years of Rehab and the Return to Combat  33:58 Learning to Be a SEAL from Dave Hall  37:31 High Standards Are a Double-Edged Sword  40:05 Post-Traumatic Growth, Not Just Post-Traumatic Stress  42:45 Motivation Can Be Outsourced. Discipline Cannot.  47:20 Win Small Battles, Not the War Overnight  48:33 If You Don't See Yourself as a Leader, You Never Will  51:29 How to Practice Leadership Every Day  54:15 Getting Tricked Into Writing the Book  55:48 The Joe Rogan Blurb on the Front Cover  57:38 What the Best Leaders Have in Common  59:03 The Champagne Question: Being With the People You Love  01:03:53 EOPC

Don Mann: Leadership, Resilience, and The Navy SEAL PlaybookDon Mann is quite simply the toughest and most humble man I have ever met. A former U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six (DEVGRU) operator, endurance athlete, bestselling author, television host, and one of the world's most accomplished adventure racers, Don returns to the show to discuss his outstanding new book, The Navy SEAL Playbook—the sequel to his highly acclaimed memoir, Inside SEAL Team Six. It's not another “ look at me” war story, this new book distils decades of leadership, resilience, teamwork, and performance into practical lessons that anyone can apply, whether in business, sport, or everyday life. While serving with Devgru- he raced in and became team captain in some of the toughest endurance races on the planet, competing in events such as the Raid Gauloises, Eco Challenge, in fact- over a thousand multisport races. After this amazing chapter- he has authored many books, hosted the television series Surviving Mann, and continues to inspire others through his writing, teaching, and example.Throughout our conversation, Don shares the experiences that shaped his philosophy of relentless self-improvement and service to others. He reflects on the four daily habits he taught his grandson—becoming stronger, faster, smarter, and doing something good for someone else every day—as the foundation for building character. We discuss the leadership lessons he learned inside SEAL Team Six, the influence of Richard Marcinko in establishing the unit, and why the greatest leaders make everyone around them better. Don also recounts pushing himself beyond human limits, cheating death on at least 3 occasions, during years of triathlon and adventure racing, the dangers of overtraining, and his near-fatal battle with high altitude cerebral and pulmonary oedema while attempting Mount Everest. His story illustrates that true resilience is not simply enduring hardship, but learning where the limits lie, adapting, and continuing to move forward with purpose.Today, Don continues to mentor others through writing, public speaking, television, and leadership education, helping translate elite military principles into lessons for everyday life. We explore why communication often outweighs confrontation, how humility and self-reflection become more valuable with age, the sacrifices required during elite military service, and the responsibility experienced operators have to pass their knowledge on to the next generation. From SEAL Team Six and endurance racing to Everest, leadership, and family, Don's message remains remarkably consistent: excellence is earned through daily discipline, growth comes from stretching beyond your comfort zone, and the greatest legacy isn't what you achieve yourself—it's what you leave behind in others.

SPONSORS: 1) DOSE: Head to dosedaily.co/JULIAN or enter JULIAN to get 35% off your first subscription. 2) AMENTARA: Go to amentara.com/go/julian and use Code: JDP22 for 22% off your first purchase. JOIN PATREON FOR EARLY UNCENSORED EPISODE RELEASES: https://www.patreon.com/JulianDorey CLIPPERS DISCORD: https://discord.gg/8QmWEKJ3BT (***TIMESTAMPS in Description Below) ~ Robert J. O'Neill is a former U.S. Navy SEAL (1996–2012) and SEAL Team Six leader, widely recognized for his role in clandestine military operations. During his career, he participated in over 400 combat missions across four theaters of war, including the rescue of Captain Phillips and the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. ROBERT'S LINKS: IG: https://www.instagram.com/mchooyah/ BUY HIS BOOK: https://rjoapparel.com/ X: https://x.com/mchooyah?lang=en PODCAST: https://www.instagram.com/theoperatorpodcast/ FOLLOW JULIAN DOREY INSTAGRAM (Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/juliandoreypodcast/ INSTAGRAM (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/julianddorey/ X: https://twitter.com/julianddorey JULIAN YT CHANNELS - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Clips YT: https://www.youtube.com/@juliandoreyclips - SUBSCRIBE to Julian Dorey Daily YT: https://www.youtube.com/@JulianDoreyDaily - SUBSCRIBE to Best of JDP: https://www.youtube.com/@bestofJDP ****TIMESTAMPS**** 0:00 - Bin Laden Raid, Body Cam, Pakistan 20:08 - Pakistan Both Sides, Why Rob Became Marine, Charlie Sheen Script 30:26 - Hell Week Quitter, Woman Found Bin Laden, Last Call Before Mission 44:15 - Secret Helicopters, Delta Force is Legit, Maduro Capture, China Lying 58:48 - Drones Are Horrifying, Forgotten War Kosovo, Back to Church 1:07:57 - Panic Contagious, Ibogaine Treatments, PT5D, Entering Bin Laden's House 1:28:31 - I K*lled Osama, Pakistani Live Tweeting, Arriving w/ Body Story 1:38:10 - Bin Laden Location, Gaddafi fake out, 1 Thing Rob loves about Hillary 1:51:07 - Bohemian Grove Declined, Nothing Created in DC, We Are Burning Books 1:57:40 - How Rob Sees War, The Awakening Iraq, When Rob Knew They'd Lose 2:08:21 - Rescued Marcus Luttrell, CIA Saves Sources, Can't Conquer Afghanistan 2:19:55 - Joining Navy SEAL Team 6, Military Officers Can't Win, Red Tape Everywhere 2:28:06 - Joined Six on Whim, Combat Like Skydiving 2:40:23 - Kids Changed Everything, Goodbye Before Mission, Humanity Ruins Everything 2:46:53 - How Rob went Public, Writing The Operator, Germany on 9/11 3:01:11 - Bin Laden Detractor Discrepancies, Life After the Fact 3:13:42 - Brent Tucker Litigation False Claims 3:19:04 - Rob's Work CREDITS: - Host, Editor & Producer: Julian Dorey - COO, Producer & Editor: Alessi Allaman - https://www.youtube.com/@UCyLKzv5fKxGmVQg3cMJJzyQ - In-Studio Producer: Joey Deef Julian Dorey Podcast Episode 439 - Robert O'Neill Music by Artlist.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Pushing Forward with Alycia, host Alycia Anderson welcomes guest Jessica Buchanan, a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, podcast host, and kidnapping survivor, to discuss resilience, mental health, and purpose after trauma. Buchanan recounts how a teacher from Ohio came to work in Somalia in mine risk education for the Danish Demining Group, ignored her intuition after feeling pressured to travel, and was kidnapped at gunpoint with a Danish colleague, held hostage outdoors for 93 days, threatened with being sold to Al-Shabaab, starved, isolated, and fearful of losing her mind. She describes the January 25, 2012 rescue by SEAL Team Six ordered by President Obama and the call Obama made to her father. Buchanan shares her PTSD recovery, therapy and medication, her concept of “surviving survival,” how writing and speaking evolved from her first book Impossible Odds to How to Survive Survival, and her mission to help others turn pain into purpose. Moment by Moment Through Survival  00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:25 Meet Jessica Buchanan 03:13 From Ohio to Somalia 05:47 The Kidnapping 09:18 93 Days Captive 12:55 SEAL Team Rescue 17:09 Accessibility Check Break 20:15 Aftermath and PTSD 24:15 Reclaiming Her Story 30:39 Building a Platform 34:46 Mission and Legacy 36:25 Pushing Forward Mantra  Quotes from Jessica “Listen to my intuition, trust my intuition, and stop deferring to other people to make decisions about my safety and my life.” ~ Jessica Buchanan “The rescue was only part of it. There's a second survival phase that comes in the aftermath of your trauma experience.” ~ Jessica Buchanan “There can be more than one hero in a story.” ~ Jessica Buchanan The Heartbeats of This Conversation 

Some people excel in prayer. They are the SEAL Team Six of intercession. They'd rather pray than sleep. Why is...

Stew breaks down the news of the day, including how Dan Bilzerian is forcing Randy Fine to pretend he suddenly wants to end foreign aid to Israel and ban dual-citizens from holding a seat in congress. Total lie. I'm joined by former SEAL Team 6 Senior Chief Petty Officer Rob O'Neill — the legendary Navy veteran who killed Osama bin Laden — for a hard-hitting expert breakdown of Charlie Kirk's murder, exposing why the official "lone wolf with a 30-06" story doesn't add up and what the shocking video truly reveals.

In this conversation, Palm's Up Leadership with Rich Plumery, Rich Plumery shares his journey from being a lost kid to becoming a successful leader. He discusses the importance of mentorship, the principles of servant leadership, and how to engage teams effectively. Rich emphasizes the need for humility in leadership and the significance of transferring wisdom to future leaders. He also highlights the role of parents in fostering servant leadership in their children, advocating for a collaborative and supportive approach in both professional and personal settings. Rich Plumery bio: As the Senior Vice President of Project Delivery for AECOM, the world's largest and most admired architecture, engineering, and design firm, Rich leads project delivery for AECOM's most significant and critical business—their Americas business with over 50,00 projects delivered per year. Rich Plumery is now the author of Palms Up Leadership: Developing Our Future Leaders, which discusses how his unique experiences have shaped his new approach to servant leadership. His Enable, Engage, and Embrace approach offers methods for addressing many of the current challenges in today's workplace, including dealing with the loss of wisdom due to a rapidly retiring workforce and the disruption caused by emerging AI technologies. Rich's journey included growing and selling multiple businesses, including a successful tactical supply company in partnership with elite members of SEAL Team Six and Red Cell, as well as a sports performance coaching business that served hundreds of professional athletes across the NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS. His center accommodated the world-famous Greg Roskopf's first Muscle Activation Techniques clinic. www.muscleactivation.com Connect with Rich Plumery: website: www.palmsupleader.com Book: https://a.co/d/hsKlvMZ Tim Staton hosts conversations on leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical decision-making, and practical wisdom leaders can apply every day. Website: timstatingtheobvious.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timstatingtheobvious YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHfDcITKUdniO8R3RP0lvdw Instagram: @TimStating TikTok: @timstatingtheobvious LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-staton-04b41a271/ SKOOL Community: https://www.skool.com/timstatingtheobvious-9537/about?ref=de9c7e65d8ba4eeabc1a8eea413c125b

Born and raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Rick joined the U.S. Navy at age 17. He attended Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) training Class 109 in Coronado, CA. Rick was assigned to SEAL Team TWO in Little Creek, VA in 1980. He served at SEAL Team TWO from 1980 until 1985, specializing in winter warfare, combat diving, and sniping until he was selected for duty at SEAL Team SIX in 1985. In 1993, Rick received the Silver Star Medal for Valor during the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down). He served at ST-6 from 1985 through October of 2012. During his time at ST-6, Rick acted as sniper, explosives expert, lead training Chief, sniper team leader, and Deputy Operations Officer. Rick continues to serve his country and fellow SEALs by helping to educate others about this unique special operations force and further the Frogman heritage as the Executive Director of Navy SEAL Museum Fort Pierce. Rick is married to Barbara Kaiser and has two children, Emily and Eric. Rick and Barbara currently reside in Vero Beach, Florida.Support the show

What does it take to go from a surf shop dropout to one of Britain's most elite Special Forces operators, then reinvent yourself all over again?Dean Stott MBE spent 16 years in the military, including time in the Special Boat Service (SBS), the UK's equivalent of SEAL Team Six. After a catastrophic parachuting accident at 15,000 feet ended his career, he refused to stop. He built a private security company from scratch, single-handedly evacuated the Canadian Embassy from war-torn Libya, rescued 220 people from Israel within 96 hours of the October 7th Hamas attacks, and, oh yeah, broke the world record for cycling the 14,000-mile Pan-American Highway in just 99 days, raising over $1.4 million for mental health charities along the way.In this conversation, Dean opens up about:— The parachuting accident that tore every ligament in his knee and ended his military career— Dressing as Taliban to run double agents in Kandahar, and the moment he nearly fired his weapon by mistake— How he buried 30 weapons in the Libyan desert and built a security empire from nothing— Why he believes anticipation is worse than participation— The raw "dead or divorce" conversation that changed everything in his marriage— Cycling 14,000 miles having barely ridden a bike — and smashing the world record by 17 days— How breathwork kept him calm in a boxing ring at age 49— His friendship with Prince Harry and the Heads Together mental health campaign— The Race Across America he's planning next, and why it's going to be specialDean is one of those rare humans who makes you rethink what's actually possible. This one will stay with you.

It's Monday Night Great Night: Brian gets Judas'd over IHOP on Spy Wednesday, Jesus runs Seal Team Six into hell, Texas threatens to split into four states, and the guys end up whispering Great Night ASMR until a tab goes Don Knotts. Get an extra episode every week only at https://www.patreon.com/greatnight!

It's Monday Night Great Night: Brian gets Judas'd over IHOP on Spy Wednesday, Jesus runs Seal Team Six into hell, Texas threatens to split into four states, and the guys end up whispering Great Night ASMR until a tab goes Don Knotts. Get an extra episode every week only at https://www.patreon.com/greatnight!

Um F-15E Strike Eagle abatido nas montanhas do Irã. Dois tripulantes ejetados em território inimigo. Um coronel americano escondido numa fenda de rocha a 2.100 metros de altitude, enquanto a Guarda Revolucionária oferece 60 mil dólares pela sua cabeça e vasculha cada vale das montanhas Zagros.O que aconteceu nas 48 horas seguintes é uma das operações de busca e resgate mais complexas já conduzidas pelos Estados Unidos — e envolveu CIA, SEAL Team Six, uma pista agrícola abandonada transformada em base avançada, aviões destruídos de propósito, ataques aéreos israelenses coordenados e uma campanha de desinformação para enganar o comando iraniano em tempo real.Neste vídeo, reconstruímos passo a passo como o piloto foi localizado, como os operadores entraram no Irã, por que dois MC-130J e quatro MH-6 Little Bird tiveram que ser destruídos dentro do território inimigo, e o que essa operação revela sobre o verdadeiro estado da guerra entre Estados Unidos, Israel e Irã.Porque por trás do "WE GOT HIM!" postado por Trump, existe uma história que expõe tanto a sofisticação das forças especiais americanas quanto as rachaduras na narrativa de domínio aéreo absoluto que a Casa Branca vinha vendendo desde o início do conflito.

In today's episode, Nick talks about Trump's New Bomb, Seal Team Rescue, The Beautiful Blue Marble, Con Man in New England, MLB Player Guilty of Robber and Water Torture! The FULL SHOW is live streaming & FREE-ONLY on Rumble! Join our LIVE CHAT at 6pm ET every Mon-Thu or watch the FULL EPISODE anytime on demand after 7pm ET. Follow my Channel and get notified! https://rumble.com/c/TheNickDiPaoloShow MERCH - Grab some mugs, hats, hoodies, shirts, stickers etc… https://shop.nickdip.com/ PERSONAL VIDEO FROM ME – Send someone a personal video from me! Go to https://shoutout.us/nickdipaolo  or www.cameo.com/nickdipaolo SOCIALS/COMEDY- Follow me on Socials or Stream some of my Comedy!  https://nickdipaolo.komi.io/

The war in Iran has yielded its most dramatic survival story yet, with the United States pulling off a high-stakes rescue mission for a fighter jet crew member who was shot down by Iranian forces. Read more: US aviator has been rescued How elite US forces survive behind enemy lines Trump’s foul-mouthed threat to IranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Nichols is a former U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six operator and exercisephysiologist who brings real-world combat and human-performance sciencetogether to prepare the next generation of Navy SEAL, BUD/S, and SpecialForces candidates.As the Department Head of Human Performance at SEAL Team Six, Jeff spentnearly a decade designing and implementing strength, conditioning, and recovery programs for the military's most elite operators. His approach is not theory-based - it's built on years of firsthand experienceperforming at, and coaching others to reach, the absolute peak of tactical and athletic capability.After leaving active duty, Jeff founded Performance First. In Banks,Alabama, the 28-acre training facility and 10,000-square-foot performancecenter is dedicated to special-operations preparation, BUD/S physical andmental readiness, and elite human performance.Jeff's mission is to develop complete warriors - men and women capable ofexcelling under pressure, mastering stress, and performing with discipline and confidence in any environment. His programs combine tactical fitness, mental-toughness development, and evidence-basedperformance physiology to produce measurable results.From his years as a SEAL Team Six operator to his expertise in exercise physiology, Jeff Nichols stands apart as the only active BUD/S and Special Operations trainer with direct experience at the highest level of Naval Special Warfare. His work continues to influence the future of Navy SEAL preparation, tactical human performance, and elite-operatortraining worldwide.https://www.performancefirstus.comSend a textFirecracker Farm Small-batch Spicy Salt Family farm with a secret blend of Carolina Reaper, Ghost, and Trinidad Scorpion peppers.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

War Room Shocking Email From Epstein Files Implicates Former US Ambassador, Clintons, Bidens, The First Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Six, 

IntroductionThe Book of Esther presents characters driven by passion rather than clear devotion to God, much like Samson. The narrative tension goes deeper than simply replacing Queen Vashti. The real challenge is whether God can fulfill his redemptive promise. God promised in Genesis 15, "I am your shield and defender." Abram is to have his confidence in God alone. Now the book of Esther recalls for us that God's people face potential annihilation in a foreign land where He seems silent. The central question emerges: Has God forsaken His redemptive promise? Can the Lord truly defend His people when everything appears lost and in turmoil?Potential Promotion (Esther 2:19-23)The Persian king parades young maidens through the city as a brutal reminder of his absolute power. He owns everything, and no one owns anything, not even their own children. Esther maintains her secret Jewish identity, remaining silent and compliant by Mordecai's request. When Mordecai discovers and reports a plot to assassinate the king he reports it through Esther. He expects a handsome reward, as was customary in Persian culture. Instead, he receives nothing. The conspirators face brutal execution, demonstrating the king's harsh rule. This happens while Mordecai is left unrewarded despite saving the king's life. Act One concludes with a sobering reality: the empire is in the king's control. The question still lingers, “Who is the King of kings and Lord of lords?” Is it God who claims to be a shield and defender, or is it Xerxes?An Old Grudge Manifests (Esther 3:1-6)A new character enters the scene: Haman the Agagite, descendant of Agag, the Amalekite king whom Saul failed to destroy in 1 Samuel 15. This represents an ancient enmity stretching back to Exodus 17, where God decreed that the Amalekites would be put down as the serpent seed. Haman's very existence challenges God's credibility and promises because it testifies that this line is thriving. When Haman is promoted, it is the king's order that all must bow to him. Mordecai refuses, and he eventually reveals his Jewish identity. He does not identify as Saul's descendant, but a Jew. Now we are seeing that this man is not Marduk's follower, but he is bearing the fruit of following our Lord. Hamaan is upset by Mordecai failing to bow to him. Rather than simply killing Mordecai, which would appear petty, Haman devises a more sinister plan: genocide against all the Jews. This sets up the book's central tension. This is the real tension. Can God really trample the serpent seed? It appears to the human eye that God has failed. History's Tragic Reversal (Esther 3:7-15)Haman casts lots (pur) to determine the timing of his genocide. This sets up a tension in the narrative. Now, there is a deadline. Hamaan will destroy the Jews in 11 months. This means that God has less than a year to act on His promises. The tension increases. Hamaan is a master manipulator. He starts with the truth that there are people who are scattered. He then waters down the truth to a half-truth that they have their own laws. Then he drops the ultimate lie by telling the king they will not comply. Xerxes does not like self-willed people. Mordacai knows that this king likes wealth. We have seen the king parade. He even offers to compensate the kingdom for lost tax revenue. He offers about 60% of the kingdom's revenue with 10,000 talents of silver. The king gives Haman his signet ring, granting him complete authority to issue royal decrees. The decree goes out: all Jews will be destroyed, with plunder offered as motivation for neighbors to betray neighbors. While the city itself is confused by this decision, the decree stands as imperial law. The central question crystallizes: Can God protect His people? Will man's decree override God's decree? The serpent appears to have triumphed.CONCLUSIONDespite the dire circumstances, the conclusion offers profound hope. God remains a "shield and defender" even when silent. Mordecai's identification as a Jew. He is not merely as a descendant of Saul. This suggests that God is still at work in the midst of his people. The Lord has 11 months to act, and His promises do not fall flat.The book of Esther encourages us with a powerful truth: if God can work through His "B team,' We think of imperfect people like Esther and Mordecai, and still be triumphant, how much more will God work in the midst of us as we cling to Him? We don't need SEAL Team Six; God accomplishes His purposes through unlikely means. The great irony: Haman will not carry out his genocide, but the Lord will carry out what He said He would do, triumphing over the serpent's seed despite all opposition. Just as Christ's greatest victory came through the apparent defeat of the cross, ending in resurrection and ascension, God's eternal decrees will never be annulled. Let us find our identity in Christ and trust that the Lord is at work even when He seems silent.

Rob O'Neill is a retired Navy SEAL with more than 400 combat missions, deployments with SEAL Team Two and SEAL Team Six, and participation in some of the most high-profile special operations of the last two decades. He served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has spent years navigating the complicated transition from service to public life. In this conversation, Rob joins me for an unfiltered, long-form discussion about his career, the brotherhood of the teams, and the personal cost that comes with telling parts of his story publicly. We talk at length about Operation Neptune Spear, the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, and Rob's perspective on how the official debrief differs from his lived experience. Rob explains why he believes portions of the record are incomplete, discusses actions taken by members of the assault force after bin Laden was already dead, and why those details matter to him years later. These are Rob's firsthand accounts and interpretations, shared in full context and without editing for sound bites. We also dig into Rob's ongoing $25 million defamation lawsuit, how it came about, and what it's like to defend your name after a lifetime spent operating in silence. This isn't a hit piece or a hero narrative—it's a three-hour conversation about memory, loyalty, accountability, and what happens when the story doesn't match the mission. Today's Sponsors: Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com David: Buy 4 cartons and get the 5th free when you go to https://davidprotein.com/CLEAREDHOT  

Jessica Buchanan was a schoolteacher from Ohio who followed a calling to serve overseas. That calling led her to East Africa, meaningful humanitarian work, and eventually into one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. Jessica shares the full story of how she was kidnapped in Somalia, held hostage in the desert for 93 days, and ultimately rescued by SEAL Team Six. She opens up about the moments leading up to her capture, the role intuition tried to play, what captivity was really like, and how she survived mentally when survival felt impossible. We also talk about the aftermath from PTSD, rebuilding identity, motherhood, faith, and what it means to “survive survival.”

Mike Ritland sits down once again with legendary SEAL Team Six operator Rob O'Neill — the man who fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden. In this raw, no-filter return appearance, they cover everything from the renewed Bin Laden raid controversy and recent defamation lawsuit, to psychedelics for PTSD, family life, geopolitics, Greenland, cannabis ventures, and life after the Teams. Buckle up — it's classic Mike Drop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Memento OP and Snorlax Legbeard saga: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Welcome to r/LegbeardStories, where the cringe is real and the stories are even realer. Today's saga? Strap in for a wild ride through brain fog, broken memories, and one of the most aggressive legbeards ever documented. This isn't your average neckbeard cringe—this is next-level gaslighting, obsessive stalking, and a survivor story that rivals Memento for sheer mind-bending chaos. Meet TC: a promising lacrosse star turned amnesiac after a brutal on-field accident. While struggling to rebuild his life through occupational therapy, he stumbles into the crosshairs of “AD”—an unhinged, manipulative legbeard with a passion for bright clothing, unsolicited anime fan art, and rewriting reality to fit her own deranged narrative. This is not a drill: she stalks, she gaslights, she tries to rewrite his memories… and she's NOT taking “no” for an answer. What starts as a simple therapy story quickly turns into a psychological thriller, with AD escalating from awkward texts to full-on kidnapping attempts in a Mazda covered with anime bumper stickers. When the main character literally has to write “DON'T TRUST HER” on his hand just to keep his story straight, you know you're in deep internet legend territory. This is the kind of neckbeard story you just can't make up. ------------------------------------------------------------ #LegbeardStories #TrueStory #GaslightingSurvivor #TherapyHorror #NeckbeardSaga Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReddX... Amazon link to my mic: https://amzn.to/3lInsRR ReddX merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall.... Character art: https://twitter.com/DarkleyDoe... Creepypasta channel: https://www.youtube.com/Dayton... Gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/dayton... Wifey's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MrsReddX ------------------------------------------------------------ Playlists: Full neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All legbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... RPG Horror Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Weeaboo tales: https://www.youtube.com/playli... ------------------------------------------------------------ Podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/... iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/... Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/... Also on Castbox, Audible, and iHeartRadio! it's not all doom and gloom. Enter the Bro Squad—Brick, Bro-Bro, Tiny, and Kahuna—who roll up like SEAL Team Six every time AD makes her move. These aren't just gym bros, they're the support system every brain injury survivor wishes they had. Together, they stand between our protagonist and a world that suddenly makes even less sense than before. If you've ever wondered how gaslighting really works, how survivors cope after memory loss, or what happens when a manipulative stalker meets a determined group of friends, this is your must-watch. We'll break down the tactics, the psychology, and the sheer absurdity of it all, all while paying tribute to the Memento vibe—sticky notes, missing memories, and all. We dive deep into the world of therapy horror stories, amnesia recovery, and internet stalker drama. You'll see how online communities like Reddit's r/LegbeardStories become lifelines for people surviving the worst kind of cringe—and why it's so important to talk about male victims, survivor support, and hidden disabilities in our meme-obsessed age. Stick around for the Gubbinses' savage breakdown, where nothing and no one is safe from roast. By the end of this saga, you'll never look at group therapy, lacrosse, or neon leggings the same way again. Want more wild true stories? Check out the full playlist below for the best/worst of r/LegbeardStories and beyond. Subscribe for weekly Reddit drama, deep-dive survivor stories, internet lore, and roast-heavy commentary you won't find anywhere else. Drop your own tales of gaslighting, therapy fails, or neckbeard encounters in the comments below—your story could be next! And don't forget to hit the bell so you never miss a cringe classic. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channe... Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall....

Jessica Buchanan was a schoolteacher from Ohio who followed a calling to serve overseas. That calling led her to East Africa, meaningful humanitarian work, and eventually into one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. Jessica shares the full story of how she was kidnapped in Somalia, held hostage in the desert for 93 days, and ultimately rescued by SEAL Team Six. She opens up about the moments leading up to her capture, the role intuition tried to play, what captivity was really like, and how she survived mentally when survival felt impossible. We also talk about the aftermath from PTSD, rebuilding identity, motherhood, faith, and what it means to “survive survival.”

Memento OP and Snorlax Legbeard saga: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Welcome to r/LegbeardStories, where the cringe is real and the stories are even realer. Today's saga? Strap in for a wild ride through brain fog, broken memories, and one of the most aggressive legbeards ever documented. This isn't your average neckbeard cringe—this is next-level gaslighting, obsessive stalking, and a survivor story that rivals Memento for sheer mind-bending chaos. Meet TC: a promising lacrosse star turned amnesiac after a brutal on-field accident. While struggling to rebuild his life through occupational therapy, he stumbles into the crosshairs of “AD”—an unhinged, manipulative legbeard with a passion for bright clothing, unsolicited anime fan art, and rewriting reality to fit her own deranged narrative. This is not a drill: she stalks, she gaslights, she tries to rewrite his memories… and she's NOT taking “no” for an answer. What starts as a simple therapy story quickly turns into a psychological thriller, with AD escalating from awkward texts to full-on kidnapping attempts in a Mazda covered with anime bumper stickers. When the main character literally has to write “DON'T TRUST HER” on his hand just to keep his story straight, you know you're in deep internet legend territory. This is the kind of neckbeard story you just can't make up. ------------------------------------------------------------ #LegbeardStories #TrueStory #GaslightingSurvivor #TherapyHorror #NeckbeardSaga Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReddX... Amazon link to my mic: https://amzn.to/3lInsRR ReddX merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall.... Character art: https://twitter.com/DarkleyDoe... Creepypasta channel: https://www.youtube.com/Dayton... Gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/dayton... Wifey's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MrsReddX ------------------------------------------------------------ Playlists: Full neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All legbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... RPG Horror Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Weeaboo tales: https://www.youtube.com/playli... ------------------------------------------------------------ Podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/... iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/... Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/... Also on Castbox, Audible, and iHeartRadio! it's not all doom and gloom. Enter the Bro Squad—Brick, Bro-Bro, Tiny, and Kahuna—who roll up like SEAL Team Six every time AD makes her move. These aren't just gym bros, they're the support system every brain injury survivor wishes they had. Together, they stand between our protagonist and a world that suddenly makes even less sense than before. If you've ever wondered how gaslighting really works, how survivors cope after memory loss, or what happens when a manipulative stalker meets a determined group of friends, this is your must-watch. We'll break down the tactics, the psychology, and the sheer absurdity of it all, all while paying tribute to the Memento vibe—sticky notes, missing memories, and all. We dive deep into the world of therapy horror stories, amnesia recovery, and internet stalker drama. You'll see how online communities like Reddit's r/LegbeardStories become lifelines for people surviving the worst kind of cringe—and why it's so important to talk about male victims, survivor support, and hidden disabilities in our meme-obsessed age. Stick around for the Gubbinses' savage breakdown, where nothing and no one is safe from roast. By the end of this saga, you'll never look at group therapy, lacrosse, or neon leggings the same way again. Want more wild true stories? Check out the full playlist below for the best/worst of r/LegbeardStories and beyond. Subscribe for weekly Reddit drama, deep-dive survivor stories, internet lore, and roast-heavy commentary you won't find anywhere else. Drop your own tales of gaslighting, therapy fails, or neckbeard encounters in the comments below—your story could be next! And don't forget to hit the bell so you never miss a cringe classic. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channe... Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall....

Memento OP and Snorlax Legbeard saga: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Welcome to r/LegbeardStories, where the cringe is real and the stories are even realer. Today's saga? Strap in for a wild ride through brain fog, broken memories, and one of the most aggressive legbeards ever documented. This isn't your average neckbeard cringe—this is next-level gaslighting, obsessive stalking, and a survivor story that rivals Memento for sheer mind-bending chaos. Meet TC: a promising lacrosse star turned amnesiac after a brutal on-field accident. While struggling to rebuild his life through occupational therapy, he stumbles into the crosshairs of “AD”—an unhinged, manipulative legbeard with a passion for bright clothing, unsolicited anime fan art, and rewriting reality to fit her own deranged narrative. This is not a drill: she stalks, she gaslights, she tries to rewrite his memories… and she's NOT taking “no” for an answer. What starts as a simple therapy story quickly turns into a psychological thriller, with AD escalating from awkward texts to full-on kidnapping attempts in a Mazda covered with anime bumper stickers. When the main character literally has to write “DON'T TRUST HER” on his hand just to keep his story straight, you know you're in deep internet legend territory. This is the kind of neckbeard story you just can't make up. ------------------------------------------------------------ #LegbeardStories #TrueStory #GaslightingSurvivor #TherapyHorror #NeckbeardSaga Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReddX... Amazon link to my mic: https://amzn.to/3lInsRR ReddX merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall.... Character art: https://twitter.com/DarkleyDoe... Creepypasta channel: https://www.youtube.com/Dayton... Gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/dayton... Wifey's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MrsReddX ------------------------------------------------------------ Playlists: Full neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All legbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... RPG Horror Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Weeaboo tales: https://www.youtube.com/playli... ------------------------------------------------------------ Podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/... iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/... Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/... Also on Castbox, Audible, and iHeartRadio! it's not all doom and gloom. Enter the Bro Squad—Brick, Bro-Bro, Tiny, and Kahuna—who roll up like SEAL Team Six every time AD makes her move. These aren't just gym bros, they're the support system every brain injury survivor wishes they had. Together, they stand between our protagonist and a world that suddenly makes even less sense than before. If you've ever wondered how gaslighting really works, how survivors cope after memory loss, or what happens when a manipulative stalker meets a determined group of friends, this is your must-watch. We'll break down the tactics, the psychology, and the sheer absurdity of it all, all while paying tribute to the Memento vibe—sticky notes, missing memories, and all. We dive deep into the world of therapy horror stories, amnesia recovery, and internet stalker drama. You'll see how online communities like Reddit's r/LegbeardStories become lifelines for people surviving the worst kind of cringe—and why it's so important to talk about male victims, survivor support, and hidden disabilities in our meme-obsessed age. Stick around for the Gubbinses' savage breakdown, where nothing and no one is safe from roast. By the end of this saga, you'll never look at group therapy, lacrosse, or neon leggings the same way again. Want more wild true stories? Check out the full playlist below for the best/worst of r/LegbeardStories and beyond. Subscribe for weekly Reddit drama, deep-dive survivor stories, internet lore, and roast-heavy commentary you won't find anywhere else. Drop your own tales of gaslighting, therapy fails, or neckbeard encounters in the comments below—your story could be next! And don't forget to hit the bell so you never miss a cringe classic. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channe... Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall....

Welcome, everyone, to a special Cops and Writers Podcast. Due to the nature and timing of our topic today, I released this episode early. Back in late October, retired DEA Agents (legends) Steve Murphy, Wes Tabor, and Chris Feistl predicted on the Cops and Writers Podcast episodes 250 and 251, that the U.S. would take the fight to Maduro and attack on land. On January 3, 2026, the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a military operation in Caracas, Venezuela. I have heard so many opinions on this from ‘experts’, I'm using air quotes, living in social media-fueled echo chambers, and I wanted to get the true story. So I brought back my experts in narco-terrorism, drug cartels, and international drug smuggling, Steve, Wes, and Chris.  Here’s an intro to my experts for today’s show. Retired DEA Special Agent Wes Tabor (episodes 235,236, & 237). Wes was embedded in Venezuela, battling the drug cartel and gangs for three years. He had a front-row seat to the prospering drug trade and threat to the United States and wrote the book, Infiltrate America: Blood Routes and the Rise of Latin American Gangs. So, of course, I asked him to be on the show again, and he graciously agreed. Of course, I would be remiss if I were going to be talking about drug cartels and smuggling, not to have two experts who took down some of the most notorious drug cartels and their leaders in modern times. Steve Murphy and Chris Feistl.  Retired DEA Special Agent Steve Murphy and his partner Javier Pena are best known for taking down the Medellin Cartel and its leader, Pablo Escobar. Steve is an expert in drug smuggling and cartels and is considered an expert in the world of narcoterrorism. Steve and Javier’s work was featured in many television documentaries and was featured in the Netflix special, DEA Narcos. Retired DEA Special Agent Chris Feistl and his partner Dave Mitchell are best known for taking down the Cali Cartel and its leaders Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. Chris’s work was featured in many television documentaries and was also featured in season three of the Netflix special DEA Narcos. After listening to these three experts explain recent operations in Venezuela, I have gained valuable insights into why we arrested Maduro and his wife. I hope this clears things up for you as well. Please enjoy my conversation with these DEA legends and experts.   In today’s episode, we discuss: ·      Back in October, the big talk was about the United States Navy taking out 36 drug boats. ·      Why and what gave us the authority to conduct these operations?  ·      Article 2, section 2, of the United States Constitution gives the current administration the authority to carry out operations in Venezuela. ·      The United States military, most likely Seal Team Six and Delta operators, performed a surgical strike, taking Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, without hurting them. Six of our servicemen were injured, and an aircraft was damaged. All U.S. personnel and equipment made it back to the sea vessels. ·      Is Mexico next? ·      Going back in time and giving us a brief background on what brought us to this point. How did Maduro gain power, and what led to his indictment in 2020? ·      The parallels with Operation Just Cause and the capture and arrest of Manuel Antonio Noriega. ·      What do you predict for the outcome of this arrest? Time in prison, etc.? ·      What’s next for the country of Venezuela? ·      There are many who say this has nothing to do with drugs and is motivated by President Trump going after oil. What do you all say? ·      Our views on socialism.        Visit Steve Murphy's website! Visit Wes Tabor's Website! Visit Chris Feistl's Website!        Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel! Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!! Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series. Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

Joe Pags calls out Chuck Schumer for a stunning reversal — opposing Trump for not getting Maduro years ago, then attacking him for doing exactly that now. Hypocrisy much? Pags breaks down why this isn't really about Venezuela at all — it's about hating Trump. He also highlights the heated UN hearing with Mike Walz on Venezuela and plays must-hear remarks from Mike Johnson, who publicly backs the president's decision. Then the show goes next-level as Rob O'Neill, former Navy SEAL Team Six operator who participated in the mission that took down Osama bin Laden, joins Pags. O'Neill delivers an inside-the-wire breakdown of how a high-risk operation like Maduro's capture can happen — how the U.S. gets in and out of hostile territory, minimizes casualties, and executes precision missions. He compares the complexities of this operation to past SEAL missions and explains what the public rarely understands about planning, intelligence, and execution. A thrilling, expert, must-hear interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Memento OP and Snorlax Legbeard saga: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Welcome to r/LegbeardStories, where the cringe is real and the stories are even realer. Today's saga? Strap in for a wild ride through brain fog, broken memories, and one of the most aggressive legbeards ever documented. This isn't your average neckbeard cringe—this is next-level gaslighting, obsessive stalking, and a survivor story that rivals Memento for sheer mind-bending chaos. Meet TC: a promising lacrosse star turned amnesiac after a brutal on-field accident. While struggling to rebuild his life through occupational therapy, he stumbles into the crosshairs of “AD”—an unhinged, manipulative legbeard with a passion for bright clothing, unsolicited anime fan art, and rewriting reality to fit her own deranged narrative. This is not a drill: she stalks, she gaslights, she tries to rewrite his memories… and she's NOT taking “no” for an answer. What starts as a simple therapy story quickly turns into a psychological thriller, with AD escalating from awkward texts to full-on kidnapping attempts in a Mazda covered with anime bumper stickers. When the main character literally has to write “DON'T TRUST HER” on his hand just to keep his story straight, you know you're in deep internet legend territory. This is the kind of neckbeard story you just can't make up. ------------------------------------------------------------ #LegbeardStories #TrueStory #GaslightingSurvivor #TherapyHorror #NeckbeardSaga Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReddX... Amazon link to my mic: https://amzn.to/3lInsRR ReddX merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall.... Character art: https://twitter.com/DarkleyDoe... Creepypasta channel: https://www.youtube.com/Dayton... Gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/dayton... Wifey's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MrsReddX ------------------------------------------------------------ Playlists: Full neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All legbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... RPG Horror Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... Weeaboo tales: https://www.youtube.com/playli... ------------------------------------------------------------ Podcasts: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/... iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/... Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/... Also on Castbox, Audible, and iHeartRadio! it's not all doom and gloom. Enter the Bro Squad—Brick, Bro-Bro, Tiny, and Kahuna—who roll up like SEAL Team Six every time AD makes her move. These aren't just gym bros, they're the support system every brain injury survivor wishes they had. Together, they stand between our protagonist and a world that suddenly makes even less sense than before. If you've ever wondered how gaslighting really works, how survivors cope after memory loss, or what happens when a manipulative stalker meets a determined group of friends, this is your must-watch. We'll break down the tactics, the psychology, and the sheer absurdity of it all, all while paying tribute to the Memento vibe—sticky notes, missing memories, and all. We dive deep into the world of therapy horror stories, amnesia recovery, and internet stalker drama. You'll see how online communities like Reddit's r/LegbeardStories become lifelines for people surviving the worst kind of cringe—and why it's so important to talk about male victims, survivor support, and hidden disabilities in our meme-obsessed age. Stick around for the Gubbinses' savage breakdown, where nothing and no one is safe from roast. By the end of this saga, you'll never look at group therapy, lacrosse, or neon leggings the same way again. Want more wild true stories? Check out the full playlist below for the best/worst of r/LegbeardStories and beyond. Subscribe for weekly Reddit drama, deep-dive survivor stories, internet lore, and roast-heavy commentary you won't find anywhere else. Drop your own tales of gaslighting, therapy fails, or neckbeard encounters in the comments below—your story could be next! And don't forget to hit the bell so you never miss a cringe classic. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channe... Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall....

Next week, Daniel Coyle will join us on the show to talk about his forthcoming book, Flourish. Today, we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with Dan about his last book, The Culture Playbook. Here's how we described the episode back then: The filmmakers at Pixar. The servers at Union Square Cafe. The badasses on SEAL Team Six. What do these super successful groups all have in common? Strong team culture. But what exactly is culture, and how do you build it? Daniel Coyle has spent the last few years searching for answers. In this episode, he shares what he's found. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“You want to fail fast, and you want to fail big, because that's how you get ultimately to your objective to accomplish your mission.” – Shaun L. Murphy Today's featured bestselling author is a father, husband, speaker, educator, entrepreneur, and US Army veteran, Shaun L. Murphy. Shaun and I had a fun on a bun chat about his book, “Unbreakable Valor: Triumph Through the Soul of Resilience”, his inspiring journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a motivational leader and college professor, and more!!Key Things You'll Learn:How Shaun made the transition from military life to civilian lifeWhat he learned from leading census operations during the pandemic and adapting under pressureHis 5 M formula for successHow to have your own Seal Team Six for generating success in your lifeHow small gestures can make a big difference for studentsHow he deals with his fear of successShaun's Site: https://mister-motivation.com/Shaun's Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CS1YXTDD/allbooksThe opening track is titled, “Unknown From M.E. | Sonic Adventure 2 ~ City Pop Remix” by Iridium Beats. To listen to and download the full track, click the following link. https://www.patreon.com/posts/sonic-adventure-136084016 Please support today's podcast to keep this content coming! CashApp: $DomBrightmonDonate on PayPal: @DBrightmonBuy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dombrightmonGet Going North T-Shirts, Stickers, and More: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/dom-brightmonThe Going North Advancement Compass: https://a.co/d/bA9awotYou May Also Like…#InspirationNuke – “The Impact of Influence” with Chip Baker, Charles Woods, Chris Holmes, Darius Bradley Sr., & Jeermal Sylvester: https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/inspirationnuke-the-impact-of-influence-with-chip-baker-charles-woods-chris-holmes-darius-bradley-sr-jeermal-sylvester/Ep. 877 – Full of Heart with J.R. Martinez (@iamjrmartinez): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-877-full-of-heart-with-jr-martinez-iamjrmartinez/283 – “The Winning Edge” with Shawn Harper (@shawnharper075): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/283-the-winning-edge-with-shawn-harper-shawnharper075/Ep. 450 – “From Orphan to Self-Made Millionaire” with Andre Henry (@DreamAgain_TL): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-450-from-orphan-to-self-made-millionaire-with-andre-henry-dreamagain_tl/Ep. 964 – From Espionage to Epic Narratives with Derrick M. Jackson: https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-964-from-espionage-to-epic-narratives-with-derrick-m-jackson/Ep. 904 – From The Bronx To The Navy And Back As A Cowboy with Dilgilio Rodriguez (@dilgilio): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-904-from-the-bronx-to-the-navy-and-back-as-a-cowboy-with-dilgilio-rodriguez-dilgilio/141 - "Thou Shall Be Successful" with William Winfield (@Willisblessed38): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/141-thou-shall-be-successful-with-william-winfield-willisblessed38/#GNPYear1 Bonus Episode 2 - "Building An Economic Legacy" with Antonio T. Smith Jr. (@TheATSJr): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/gnpyear1-bonus-episode-2-building-an-economic-legacy-with-antonio-t-smith-jr-theatsjr/#GNPYear3 Bonus Episode 1 – “Can My Child Play” with Marty McNair (@JMFoundation_): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/gnpyear3-bonus-episode-1-can-my-child-play-with-marty-mcnair-jmfoundation_/28 - The Wright Thought with Luke Wright (@Lukemotivates): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/28-the-wright-thought-with-luke-wright-lukemotivates/Ep. 468 – “The Power Of Mindset” with Hayk Tadevosyan (@hayktadevosyan): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-468-the-power-of-mindset-with-hayk-tadevosyan-hayktadevosyan/

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.comThis week on Angry Planet we have returning guest and former judge advocate Dan Maurer. The last time he was on the show, Maurer walked us through the consequences of a Supreme Court ruling that asked the question: is it illegal for the President to order SEAL Team Six to kill people? It was a surreal question that now feels more pressing.A US Carrier Strike Group is moving into South American waters to support America's highly kinetic War on Drugs. Military lawyers might have advised the Trump administration that extra-judiciously executing alleged criminals in international waters is, in fact, illegal. But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is no fan of military lawyers and fired the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of both the Army and the Air Force. The Pentagon plans to turn as many as 600 of the remaining military lawyers into immigration judges.The second Trump administration is perverting the law and sidelining anyone that might tell them it's a bad idea. Since he was last on the show, Maurer has retired from the Army and is now a professor at Ohio Northern University's college of law. He's here to tell us how bad things are and how much worse they might get.The terminal parent metaphorA story that only ends one wayWhat's a JAG?Hegseth's JAG hateLaw as perversionAre these strikes legal? “No.”“It can be lawful, but not moral.”Legally speaking, you can't be a combatant and a criminal.When Truman tried to take over the steel industry.Can state authorities arrest the feds?Life after Trump timeAre Military Lawyers Being Sidelined?Defining ‘Rebellion' in 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Insurrection ActOn Treason and Traitors“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful episode of "Acta Non Verba," host Marcus Aurelius Anderson interviews Jessica Buchanan, a teacher, author, and humanitarian whose harrowing experience of being kidnapped by Somali pirates and rescued by SEAL Team Six transformed her life. Jessica shares her journey of survival, resilience, and how she now empowers others through her writing and advocacy. Episode Highlights: Jessica’s Background and Work in Africa [00:49]Jessica describes her teaching career, humanitarian work, and what led her to Somalia. The Kidnapping and 93 Days in Captivity [06:31]Jessica recounts the day she was abducted, the conditions she endured, and her mindset during captivity. Rescue by SEAL Team Six [32:49]The dramatic rescue operation and the moment Jessica realized she was finally safe. Healing, Purpose, and Empowering Others [40:27]Jessica discusses her recovery, founding Soul Speak Press, and her mission to help others find meaning after trauma. Jessica Buchanan is a teacher, author, humanitarian, and inspirational speaker. After surviving a 93-day kidnapping ordeal by Somali pirates, she became a New York Times bestselling author with her memoir "Impossible Odds." Jessica is the founder of Soul Speak Press, a publishing company dedicated to empowering women to share their stories. She is a sought-after speaker, advocate for trauma survivors, and lives in the Washington, DC area with her family. Learn more about the gift of Adversity and my mission to help my fellow humans create a better world by heading to www.marcusaureliusanderson.com. There you can take action by joining my ANV inner circle to get exclusive content and information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert O'Neill compares SEAL Team Six and Delta Force—how Delta guards secrecy, why SEALs aren't truly “silent professionals,” and the tactical lessons both units shared. He explains evolving from speed and chaos in CQB to silent, night vision precision that saved lives.

Patrick Bet-David sits down with former Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill, the man who shot Osama Bin Laden, to tell all about the historic SEAL Team Six mission, the aftermath, and what really happened the night Bin Laden was killed.------Ⓜ️ CONNECT WITH ROBERT J. O'NEILL ON MINNECT: https://bit.ly/4nvGs4W

Robert O'Neill recounts the raid that killed Osama bin Laden: training, on-the-fly tactics, the moment of contact, and the aftermath. He credits the CIA targeter behind the lead, details Fort Campbell debriefs, and addresses Extortion 17 and conspiracy claims.

Robert O'Neill addresses conspiracies around Osama bin Laden's death, Pakistan's role, and the rapid Zero Dark Thirty movie release. He breaks down intel myths, kidney failure rumors, and what really happened after the SEAL raid in Abbottabad.

Robert O'Neill reveals why bin Laden photos remain classified, his view on releasing them, and what images were actually taken. He explains the risks of propaganda, Monday-morning quarterbacking, and how SEALs prioritized survival and mission success over evidence.

Lee and Eleanor discuss the secret and disastrously botched 2019 mission by SEAL Team Six into North Korea, personally approved by Donald Trump. Also, UN's potential to act on the Israel-Palestine conflict through the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism, which could circumvent the U.S. Security Council veto to impose measures protecting Palestinians and holding Israel accountable. Plus, Vienna's state-led social housing model as a global leader in providing affordable, high-quality housing.

Jessica Kirson joins the pod this week and nothing is off-limits—comedy bombs, sex clubs, Mardi Gras madness, and plane etiquette wars. Mark and Sam get into it with Jessica about hecklers, shady green rooms, wild Berlin stories, and what it really takes to kill at a comedy fest. Plus, they spiral into nepo baby gossip, SEAL Team Six conspiracies, and why teenagers might be the scariest people alive. Sponsored by:

Mission Accomplished: Rob O'Neill on SEAL Team Six, Leadership, and Life After the Battlefield.  In this week's episode, Marcus and Melanie Luttrell meet with one of the most highly decorated combat veterans of our time—Robert J. O'Neill. With an incredible 400+ combat missions under his belt, Rob's experiences span across Liberia, The Balkans, The Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. As a Navy SEAL, Rob served in SEAL Team Two, SEAL Team Four, and spent eight years with the legendary SEAL Team Six. Rob's heroic career is underscored by 53 decorations, including two Silver Stars for gallantry, four Bronze Stars with Valor for heroism, and a host of other prestigious commendations. His resume of skills includes elite qualifications like Military Free-Fall Jumpmaster, Naval Special Warfare Scout/Sniper, and Master Naval Parachutist, among many others. In this episode, we dive deep into Rob's role in some of the most significant military operations in recent history: Operation Red Wings, which saw the rescue of the Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell The lead jumper in the daring rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates Operation Neptune's Spear, the mission that brought down Osama bin Laden Beyond the battlefield, Rob is the co-founder of the Special Operators Transition Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping special operations veterans transition to successful careers in corporate America. He is also the author of the best-selling memoir, THE OPERATOR: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior. Throughout his post-military career, Rob has become a prominent public speaker, security consultant, and media contributor, sharing expert insights on military strategy and terrorism. Whether speaking to survivors of 9/11 or delivering keynote speeches to business leaders, Rob translates his elite training into actionable lessons on leadership, resilience, and success. Join us as we explore Rob O'Neill's incredible journey from the frontlines to the boardroom and hear his thoughts on leadership, transition, and how to thrive under pressure. Tune in to hear the untold stories and actionable advice from one of America's most decorated heroes! In This Episode You Will Hear: • I don't think I could beat Marcus at arm wrestling if I can't pick up a bowling ball. (1:58) • You do realize there's a thing called old man strength? (5:53) • [Rob O'Neil] I have a podcast as well, called “The Operator.” We're called The Operator because if you're doing anything, you're an operator. (6:18) • Having a big man to kick your ass and teach you wind a bobbin; you realize there is skill here. (9:59) • When people quit BUDS, it's not because “this is hard”. [It's because] I'm tired of the broken foot.; I'm tired of the shin splints; I'm tired of my dislocated shoulder; I'm tired. (21:20) • In BUDS, one of the biggest problems is eating too much. Like I want 5 cheeseburgers, but we have a 4-mile run afterwards. (26:35) • [Rob] and for everyone that doesn't know, can you explain what a SDV is? (39:20) [Marcus] Imagine a mini submarine and shrink it down. The difference is that a submarine is dry inside, and the SDV is completely full of water. (39:23) • Listen to Marcus discuss the details of being in an SDV for 8 hours. Talk about ultimate torture - If you have a deep freeze in your garage, fill that sucker full of water, crawl in there and sit down for 8 hours. (40:32) • The first time I got in there, I was terrified. (45:29) • [Marcus] There's stuff that happens to us out there. Sometimes safety gets in the way of it. (58:49) • [After falling down the mountain during Operation Red Wings] I could hear that stream running. I've got to get me water, but I kept thinking I can't drink out of it, because my buddies are in it. (81:07) • If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what your plan is. (92:04) • [Marcus] Bro, when you saw that son of a bitch's face [Osama Bin Laden], what was the first thing you saw? [Rob O'Neal] I saw his nose. He was skinny, wearing white – tall. (95:22 ) • My nickname was “Nisro” (Navy SEAL Rob O'Neal). When they asked “Who got him?” They go “Nisro,” and they said “Fuck! We're never gonna hear the end of it.” (97:30) Support Robert:   - IG: mchooyah - Host of The Operator Podcast Support TNQ   - IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13   -  https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit Sponsors:   - dripdrop.com/TNQ    -  cargurus.com/TNQ    - armslist.com/TNQ   - partnersinbuilding.com - Navyfederal.org        -    - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com    - WARFARE IN THEATERS APRIL 11th Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JER0Fkyy3tw First Look Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DWuqiAUKg&t=3s    -   - PXGapparel.com/TNQ   - bruntworkwear.com/TNQ    - Selectquote.com/TNQ    - Groundnews.com/TNQ    - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com    - shipsticks.com/TNQ    - Robinhood.com/gold    - strawberry.me/TNQ    - stopboxusa.com {TNQ}    - ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ]   -  kalshi.com/TNQ   -  joinbilt.com/TNQ    - Tonal.com [TNQ]   - greenlight.com/TNQ   - PDSDebt.com/TNQ   - drinkAG1.com/TNQ   - Shadyrays.com [TNQ]   - qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ]   - Hims.com/TNQ   - Shopify.com/TNQ   - Aura.com/TNQ   - Policygenius.com   - TAKELEAN.com [TNQ]   - usejoymode.com [TNQ]