BeTempered

At 1,314 days sober, Kevin Shook still has good days and bad days. What’s changed is how he handles them. In Episode 130 of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with the show’s executive producer for an honest conversation about sobriety, faith, loneliness, and learning to be present for a life he once used alcohol to get through. Kevin shares what recovery has given him, including...

At 25 years old, Dan Schmidt was engaged and trying to buy a glass company he barely understood. He knew how to work and was willing to take the risk. Then the bank told him no. Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down for a closer look at the experiences that shaped Dan, from growing up on a farm in rural Ohio to the coaches, painful losses, and uncomfortable lessons that followed him into adulthood. D...

She kept working. She stayed involved in her community. From the outside, Amy Hicks looked like she was doing fine. In private, she was hiding a meth addiction that stretched across decades. In BeTempered Episode 128, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr talk with Amy about the life people saw, the addiction they didn’t, and what happened when she could no longer keep the two separate. Growing up on a...

One bad decision at 12. Eight rehabs during a marriage. A Christmas night that left children crying in the corner. Sharon Cranfill shares the experiences that shaped her recovery and eventually led her to create a place where other women could begin again. Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt welcome Sharon, founder and executive director of House of Ruth in Connersville, Indiana, for an honest conversation...

Brandon Van Matre thought he had a lingering cough. Then he woke up in the middle of the night spitting up blood. What followed was a diagnosis that changed everything: stage 3 classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Brandon joins Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt to share his journey from small-town Indiana sports kid to husband, father, and strength and conditioning coach, and what happened when cancer became part of...

“Why don’t they just stop?” It’s an easy question to ask when you don’t know someone’s story. Mike Horning joins hosts Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt for an honest conversation about childhood trauma, addiction, prison, and the faith that helped him begin rebuilding his life. Growing up in Connersville, Indiana, Mike experienced abuse, tried to protect his younger siblings, and encountered drugs far to...

Three children. One rare disease. A mother left asking how she could keep living, and what she could still believe. Author Holly Jordan Trevillion joins hosts Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt to share the story behind her memoir, This High Mountain. Her son Jamie and daughters Hillary and Hannah were all diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy, known as MLD. Holly takes us from the first signs that s...

What happens when you finally talk about something you’ve carried in silence for decades? Hosts Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt welcome Angie Turner for an honest conversation about teenage pregnancy, abortion, faith, and healing. Angie shares what it was like to become pregnant at 16, feel pressure from those around her, and carry the emotional and spiritual weight of that experience into adulthood. As...

Who are you when the uniform comes off and the life you planned falls apart? Cody Munn spent nearly six years in the United States Air Force. But coming home meant facing questions his military training couldn’t answer. Without the structure, responsibility, and identity he had known, what came next? Cody joins BeTempered hosts Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt for an honest conversation about military se...

A principal told us something we couldn’t unhear: “These kids don’t have any grit.” Not as an insult, but as a reality check. In this episode, Ben Spahr, Dan Schmidt, and Shawn Ruebush break down the BeTempered Standard, a new character-based development program designed to help students build resilience, self-awareness, confidence, discipline, empathy, and real connection. The program is built ar...

What does it look like to inherit a four-generation legacy and realize your job isn’t just to preserve it, but to make sure it survives for the next generation? Steve Hayes Jr., executive director of Hayes Arboretum in Richmond, Indiana, joins Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt for a conversation about family legacy, conservation, nonprofit leadership, and the responsibility that comes with caring for some...

He walked into church to impress a girl. He left with a decision that would change the direction of his life. On BeTempered Episode 119, Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt are joined by Rondale Broome, Student Pastor at Salem Church of God in Clayton, Ohio. Rondale grew up in Muncie, Indiana in a single-parent home with eight kids, surrounded by an environment where drugs, violence and jail could easily be...

What starts as a lighter day in the studio quickly turns into a conversation about the things that shape who we are when nobody’s keeping score. This episode of BeTempered is a little different. No guest. No single story driving the conversation. Ben, Dan, and Shawn work through rapid-fire questions that start with some friendly roasting and eventually lead into grace, imposter syndrome, parenting...

A cancer diagnosis changes more than your health. It changes the way you see your future, your family, your faith, and the role you've always played for everyone else. On this episode of BeTempered, Ben Spahr and Dan Schmidt are joined by Jeremy Duncan, superintendent of Fayette County School Corporation in Connersville, Indiana, to talk about leading a school district while facing one of the...

Some moments divide your life into before and after. For Amy Cullum, that moment came on a dark roadside after a late-night crash involving her son, Alex. In the middle of fear and uncertainty, she heard four words she believes came from God: "Don't turn him over." She didn't know it then, but those words would carry a meaning she wouldn't fully understand until a phone ca...

Some stories remind you that addiction isn’t a lack of willpower. It’s a battle that slowly steals your identity until you no longer recognize the person staring back at you. On BeTempered Episode 115, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr welcome Kara Harris for one of the most honest conversations we've had about addiction, trauma, recovery, and what it really takes to rebuild a life. Kara shares...

Some battles don't end when the mission is over. They begin when the uniform comes off. BeTempered Episode 114 brings back Colonel George Glaze for a conversation that is noticeably different from the first time he joined hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr. The confidence is still there, but so is a level of honesty that only comes from doing the hard work. George shares how losing more than 50...

Five pregnancy losses will either pull you apart or force you to discover a strength you never knew you had. For Mark Broeker, that journey became one of faith, perseverance, and learning how to keep moving forward when life refuses to make sense. With Ben out this week, it's just me, Dan Schmidt, talking with Mark about a life that has been shaped by both incredible hardship and incredible r...

A kid tries to play basketball while limping, then pulls off his shoes and reveals socks soaked in blood. That single moment became the catalyst for everything Kris Horlacher would build through Shoes 4 The Shoeless. What started as one heartbreaking realization has grown into a nonprofit that has provided properly fitting shoes and socks to well over 200,000 children across Southwest Ohio, restor...

There are coaches who win games, and there are coaches who change lives. Mark Hoffman spent 46 years doing both, but ask the people who know him best and they’ll tell you the scoreboard was never the point. From small-town football fields to classrooms and communities across Ohio, Coach Hoff built a reputation for demanding excellence while never losing sight of the person behind the player. Hosts...

A lot of people can tell you what combat looks like. Fewer can tell you what happens when the war follows you home. Caleb Hutcheson spent his deployment in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, conducting route clearance missions as a combat engineer. Every day meant searching for hidden IEDs where a single mistake could cost lives. He shares what it was like driving the Buffalo, surviving an explosion b...

What happens when the thing you've built your identity around gets taken away? Carson Brower shares a story that goes far beyond baseball. Born with VATER syndrome affecting his right arm, Carson grew up learning how to adapt, solve problems differently, and push through obstacles most people never have to face. Those lessons eventually helped him achieve his dream of becoming a Division I pi...

At five years old, Mason Shrout made a decision that most kids only dream about. He was going to play Division I basketball. What followed was years of sacrifice, long drives, early mornings, pressure, criticism, and expectations that most people never see. Mason grew from a kid in rural Ohio into Preble County's all-time leading scorer, a historic Final Four participant, and eventually a Div...

A fighter jet drops out of the clouds at 300 miles an hour, the controls stop responding, and the pilot has seconds left to decide what to do. David Wheeler lived through that moment and what happened next still challenges everything he thought he knew about life, purpose, and survival. In this episode of BeTempered with Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr, David takes us from his 1950s Cincinnati childhood...

A single decision at 100 miles per hour can ripple through families, friendships, faith, and the rest of your life. In Episode 106 of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Tony Talbert to unpack the night a drunk driver changed everything. What started as a celebration of his friend David’s recovery journey through addiction and service ended in tragedy just minutes from home,...