Sons & Daughters

Miesha Tate won the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in 2016 by beating Holly Holm, and within two weeks she realized it hadn’t fixed anything. By the end of that year she had lost the belt, fought one last time at Madison Square Garden and walked away from the sport, depressed and still tied to a controlling relationship she’d been in for nine years. On this episode of Sons and Daughters, Sh...

Kenny Wallace has spent his life around race cars, but his story is about a whole lot more than racing. On this episode of Sons and Daughters , Shannon Spake sits down with Kenny for a wide-ranging conversation about growing up in Arnold, Missouri, in the Wallace racing family, working as a mechanic and crew chief, the day he found himself back home fixing vacuum cleaners, and the moment he decide...

Lucy Charles-Barclay thought her swimming career was over at 18. She had been next in line for a spot on Great Britain’s Olympic team for London 2012, but only one swimmer was selected. After finishing fourth in Britain and realizing she felt almost nothing about it, Lucy walked away from swimming and stayed away from the Olympic pool for five years. Then she signed up for a full Ironman despite b...

You've heard the phrase "off the beaten path" before, but our guest has made it his life motto. With 5 Guinness World Records under his belt and a handful of near-death experiences, Ash Dykes is no stranger to taking the scenic route around the world. He's spent time in the Amazon Rainforest, walked 4,000 miles along the Yangtze River in China, and his next adventure is only just about to begin. P...

Brian Patrick Flynn spent years working in TV before HGTV ever knew his name. There was a stretch when he was making $6 an hour, had his car repossessed and eventually moved back into his parents’ guest bedroom in Fort Lauderdale because he couldn’t afford rent. Meanwhile, old high school classmates were finishing grad school and years into their careers. It was a pretty humbling place to be, but...

Scott Hanson has hosted NFL RedZone for almost two decades, 17 seasons in and about to start his 18th. But before he became the guy narrating chaos on your TV every Sunday, he got rejected from his dream school twice, made $15,000 a year at his first TV job, and hit a breaking point at 25 that changed the entire direction of his life. In this episode of Sons and Daughters, Scott opens up about get...

Six months before the crash that would end his driving career, Darrell Gwynn chose a charity for his sponsor to support and personally put the decal on his race car. He had no idea that, less than a year later, that same organization would help save his life. A Top Fuel legend with 18 Top Fuel wins, 28 NHRA national event victories, nine Top Fuel records and a place among the 50 greatest drivers i...

Colin Cowherd knew he wanted to be a sportscaster at 7 years old. Growing up in Grayland, Washington, population 847, Colin’s mom gave him a tape recorder, and he started taking it to Mariners, Seahawks and Washington Huskies games to practice calling the action. That childhood obsession eventually became a career that took him from an AMC Pacer and a baseball convention in San Diego to the Radio...

Leah Pruett’s racing career is full of moments that started with a little bit of fear, a lot of uncertainty, and a decision to say yes anyway. When Leah posted that she was stepping away from racing to finish school, someone commented and offered her a ride in a Pro Mod. She was terrified, but said yes. That one unexpected opportunity helped put her on a path to the NHRA’s Top Fuel ranks. Years la...

Some names are synonymous with generational talent all across sports — Griffey, Earnhardt, Curry — and there's no denying that our guest today belongs in that elite list. Brittany Force comes from a line of racers and continues to blaze paths throughout her career, following in the footsteps of her father, John Force.   Recently, the first female to break the 340mph barrier has stepped away from r...

In sports, we often see the athletes as heroes, titans, and giants amongst regular people -- especially in the case of 7'0" Kentucky Basketball standout and former NBA player, Willie Cauley-Stein. But what we don't often see is the adversity that all these men and women face off the court, field, or track. And Willie's story is no different. The path that brought Willie from high school football s...

Mitch Covington’s path to Monster Energy was anything but traditional. Before becoming the Chief Partnership Officer behind deals with athletes like Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton, Rob Gronkowski, Ronda Rousey, and Kurt Busch, Mitch was chasing a dream of becoming an Air Force fighter pilot, rebuilding after failure, and eventually finding his way into the world of motorsports. On this episode of Son...

Before Maddi Gordon became one of NHRA's fastest-rising stars, she watched her dad survive one of the scariest crashes of his career. That moment changed everything. Maddi joins Shannon Spake to share the story behind her journey from working on her family's Funny Car as a crew member to winning in Top Fuel. She talks about the crash that delayed her own racing career, how her family discovered wh...

From a small-town kid in Kannapolis, North Carolina, dreaming of becoming a pilot to a country artist chasing his dreams in Nashville, Kameron Marlowe’s journey is filled with hard work, heartbreak, and a few life-changing “small miracles.” On this episode of Sons & Daughters, Shannon Spake sits down with Kameron to talk about the moments that shaped him, from growing up in a hardworking family an...

Sophie Cunningham has always been someone who embraces exactly who she is. In this episode of Sons & Daughters , Shannon Spake sits down with the Indiana Fever guard to talk about the journey that brought her from growing up on a Missouri farm to becoming one of the WNBA’s most recognizable personalities. Sophie opens up about the viral finger-pointing moment that recently took over social media,...

Darius Slay joins Shannon Spake for one of his most honest and emotional conversations yet. Before he became a Super Bowl champion, six-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro, and one of the NFL's most respected cornerbacks, Slay was a kid from Brunswick, Georgia, trying to beat the odds. In this episode, he opens up about growing up surrounded by violence, being raised by his grandmother, the reality...

Rutledge Wood joins Shannon Spake on Sons & Daughters for a conversation about the road that took him from a kid in Birmingham and Peachtree City to NASCAR, Speed Channel, Top Gear, NBC, the Olympics, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, American Barbecue Showdown, and more. Rutledge opens up about growing up as the “weird kid,” getting made fun of, finding his sense of humor, and learning from paren...

Kendall Toole joins Shannon Spake on Sons and Daughters for a raw and emotional conversation about mental health, leaving Peloton, rebuilding her life, and finding her voice outside of the brand that made her a household name. Kendall opens up about her rise as one of Peloton’s most beloved instructors, the mental health rides that connected deeply with millions of riders, and what it felt like to...

Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East joins Shannon Spake on Sons and Daughters for a powerful conversation about perfection, pressure, commitment, motherhood, and life after the Olympic spotlight. Shawn opens up about becoming “America’s girl” during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the pressure of being seen as perfect, and the reality behind the polished Olympic stories fans saw on television. She...

Joey Fatone joins Shannon Spake on  Sons and Daughters  for a candid conversation about life before, during, and after NSYNC. Joey opens up about growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, moving to Orlando, discovering theater, working at Universal Studios, and the early moments that shaped him long before he became part of one of the biggest boy bands of all time.   Shannon and Joey also discuss the r...

This week on Sons and Daughters, Shannon Spake sits down with one of motorsports broadcasting's most recognized voices, Fox Sports reporter and play-by-play trailblazer Jamie Little. The episode opens with Shannon and Jamie taking a moment to honor Kyle Busch's life, sharing personal memories, behind-the-scenes stories, and heartfelt reflections on what his sudden passing means to everyone in the...

Joe Tessitore joins Shannon Spake on Sons & Daughters for a deeply personal conversation about the moments that shaped him long before ESPN, Monday Night Football, WWE, boxing, horse racing, and college football made him one of the most recognizable voices in sports. In this episode, Joe reflects on his childhood, the loss of his sister Dana, the survivor’s guilt that followed, and the serious foo...

Kirby Smart joins Shannon Spake on Sons & Daughters for a personal conversation about the moments, people, and decisions that shaped his life long before he became the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs. Kirby opens up about growing up as the son of a high school football coach, the influence of his father, his late offer to play football at Georgia, meeting Peyton Manning on a recruiting visit, g...

Steve Wojciechowski joins Shannon Spake on Sons and Daughters for a powerful conversation about the origin story behind “Wojo.” Before he became a Duke basketball legend, National Defensive Player of the Year, longtime assistant under Coach K, Marquette head coach, and Olympic gold medal-winning coach, Wojciechowski was a kid from Severna Park, Maryland, trying to figure out where he belonged. In...

Brett Raymer from Animal Planet's TANKED Opens Up About Prison, Losing Everything, and Why He Wouldn't Change a Thing | Sons and Daughters with Shannon Spake. Brett Raymer, the man behind one of Animal Planet's longest-running reality TV shows, sits down with Shannon Spake for one of the most honest conversations you'll hear from a TV personality. Before the celebrity fish tanks, before building c...