This Show is All About You

Episode 128: Transitions: Episode 7- Going On Hiatus, Never Goodbye"   In this final episode of This Show Is All About You before an open-ended hiatus, JDK reflects on the roots of the show, its progress over the past few years, what he learned along the way, and what he is doing next. Throughout it all, it is the importance of other people in his life - and around the world - who have inspired hi...

Episode 127: "Transitions, Chapter 6: Standing Our Ground"   JDK takes an episode to discuss the feedback - and occasional blowback - he received after his previous episode discussing the crisis in Israel. Did the responses he received change any of his thinking? What does he think about the dominant narratives emerging about the situation that seek to assign blame on one side or the other? In the...

Episode 126: "Transitions, Chapter 5: The Urgency of Israel and Palestine"    JDK dedicates this episode to providing some historical context for the current crisis in the Middle East, in an effort to highlight all the problematic elements of history, myth, bigotry, and fear-based beliefs that exist on many sides of the seemingly perpetual conflict. What can be done to shift away from the crisis,...

Episode 125: "Transitions, Chapter Four: From Old to New Seasons"   In honor of his favorite baseball team's season ending without making the playoffs, JDK discusses how we frame and respond to things ending - these go a long way to helping us better start our new season. How much say do we have in how we feel about things ending? What do we need to have better new seasons? What do we often put in...

Episode 124: "Transitions, Chapter Three: Oh, Canada!"   Just back from his annual sports-week trip with his buddy, Seth, JDK shares about the lessons he learned from the people he met in places like Detroit, Michigan and Toronto, Canada. These got him thinking - why do we choose to be as we are? Why do some of us choose kindness and courtesy and others the opposite? What is it about our friendshi...

Episode 123: “Transitions, Chapter Two - The Big 5-0”   This week, JDK turns 50 and takes a look back at all the reasons why he is grateful fire all he’s learned and experienced so far in life, and why he’s excited for what’s next! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Episode 122: "Transitions, Chapter One"    With so many autumn transitions underway or approaching, JDK asks listeners to step back for a minute and examine two things - how they respond to the changes that are constant, and what values they identify as key to holding onto as navigation through change. We can learn alot about ourselves - and others - in such self-examination. In the end, isn't thi...

Episode 121: "Projecting about 'Socialism' - Just Stop It Already"   Following up on the feedback he received from last week, JDK digs into all the ways in which commentators on all sides of the political spectrum misunderstand the idea of Socialism, and how they erroneously use the term as both a slur and as a target for emulation or condemnation. Bringing us back to the core focus of respecting...

Episode 120: "Methinks Doth Projects Too Much"   In a hard hitting episode about history, JDK lays out an energetic defense of why and how the recent indictments of former president Trump are not anywhere close to resembling the judiciary systems in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Along the way, he also lays out why using such comparisons is corrosive and harmful to our individual and collective...

Episode 119: "Reframing Wellness - A Conversation with Jill Beck"   JDK welcomes a special guest to this week's show - Jill Beck, founder and CEO of "Go Long", a Wellness Concierge service. Jill focuses on the "Sandwich Generation" of people (40s / 50s), who often are taking care of kids and parents and putting their own health last in their lists of "to do's" Jill helps cut through that by helpin...

Episode 118: "Whose Side Are You On, Anyway?"   JDK focuses this week on a story about Nancy Cunard, an early-twentieth century European intellectual and writer who challenged her fellow writers to take a stand by openly stating their "side" in the Spanish Civil War (1937-39), which pitted a democratically elected left-wing government against the fascist-driven Nationalist movement led by Francisc...

Episode 117: "When Square Scrubbers Don't Work"    This week, JDK asks us to consider why we tend to unify with one another over news-breaking tragedies rather than over the day-in-day-out gifts and commonalities of life. Why do we lose our sense of unity with others so quickly after a tragedy? What would it look like if we recalibrated our perceptions of - and approaches to - those with whom we d...

JDK relays a story about his recent road trip through rural America, where he found himself in conversations and situations that illuminated a lot about how some define freedom, how others practice it, and how we all understand it for ourselves and for others. In light of the recent Supreme Court rulings, such an examination of what we all mean by "freedom" can tell us a lot about ourselves and, p...

Episode 115: "A Future Needs a Past"    On this Juneteenth, JDK explores the story of Opal Lee, an activist who led the charge to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Her story is one of overcoming racism and violence, and one of patient - if urgent - advocacy and perseverance. In short, it is a decidedly human story that we can all connect with, should we so choose.    Remember to visit and contrib...

Episode 114: "One Man in a Great Crusade"   With the anniversary of D-Day this week, JDK tells the unique story of one man - Norwood Thomas - who fought that day and went on to live a remarkably "normal" life, punctuated by a number of memorable moments later in life. It's a very human story from start to finish, and a way to connect with the humanity of those who lived - and fought - in circumsta...

Episode 113: "Four of a Kind" For the week preceding Memorial Day, JDK tells the story of four young men who served with distinction as fighter pilots in World War II. Each of them achieved the distinction of "Ace" - meaning they shot down at least five enemy aircraft in combat. While each of these men survived the war, their comrades who did not survive remained close to their hearts and minds fo...

Episode 112: "Friends For Fifty"   This week, JDK tells the story of three lifelong friends - Matt, Sean, and Jay - whose lives have taken them all in very different directions, yet somehow have nevertheless remained connected across time, space, and life circumstances. It is a story about childhood, growing up, and reflecting back on all facets of life with gratitude first, and everything else se...

How many profound changes in our individual and community lives happen without anyone knowing about them? Or are we so besotted with being noticed that no positive change can go unseen or unpunished by someone? Have we moved away permanently from seeing the positive potential in others - particularly our leaders? In this episode, JDK tells a true story from history that offers the possibility of a...

Episode 110: "The Power of Potential: A Story About Beth and Ben" JDK provides some exciting updates on the future of the show, then tells a story of someone quite famous that illustrates something we all have in common - working towards whatever we each define as our potential. Illustrating that Potential is something we can all connect within ourselves and with each other, JDK begins anew his sh...

Episode 109: "Parallel Lives to Wartime China and Back"  JDK recounts the stories of two men who fought in World War II, who at the time had no idea that their lives ran on parallel tracks that would take them across the Pacific and back as part of one of the most daring missions of the entire war. But their remarkable lives were not defined by that event, but how they applied it to their perspect...

Episode 108: "My Body of Work, Play, and Everything In Between" Fresh off an epic spin class over the holiday weekend, JDK reflects back on his athletic experiences in life, focusing on the learning experience of what these provided him in terms of his integrated awareness today. Along the way, he asks us to consider and identify the activities we each have that bring together our minds, bodies, a...

Episode 107: "Every Day Can Be Opening Day" JDK welcomes his longtime friend, Seth Moorman, back to the show to talk about the challenges involved in the "expectations" we mistakenly put on ourselves and others. Using the lens of the new baseball season as a starting point, they discuss and reflect on stories of connection, loss, magical memories, and what it means to be truly human living among o...

Episode 106: The Four Eric/ks  In what he calls "a story of common threads", JDK focuses on what he learned about himself from four people with one common name - Eric (or with a 'k'), from early childhood through to today. Four different people, four different experiences (and a couple of them not-so-good) that ended up being uncommon sources of inspiration, humility, and growth. See Privacy Polic...

Episode 105: "The True Legend of 'Goat Butt'" JDK relays a deeply personal story about one of the most important experiences in his life, one that - unbeknownst to him at the time - prepared him to face the biggest crises he's ever faced. Yet, it also prepared him to accept so much more good in his life than he once thought possible. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California P...

Episode 104: "Painting A Larger Historical Picture" With March being Women's History month, JDK takes a look at the "democratization" of historical narratives over the past half-century, and why these efforts are still necessary and why they need not be seen as threatening to anyone. He also explores why these stories receive so much pushback from some quarters, and how they can push each of us -...