A Fiercer Delight with Matt Gordon

What do you do when the thing you have chased for four years keeps coming back as a bunch of nothing? For Matt Landis, the answer found him on a bluff in the fall of 2022, mid run, worn down and crying, finally praying. He and his wife, Ashley, had spent four years trying to have a child, and within about a week of that prayer she was pregnant. Their son Truman, now turning three, goes by True, wh...

What if the happiest people aren't the lucky ones, but the ones who choose it on purpose? Jess greets the hallway with hey, hi, hi while everyone else ducks eye contact, and she means it. She and her husband Eddie met over a Memorial Day weekend at the pool, where she woke him from a nap to spray sunscreen on a stranger getting sunburned. Now they're raising three daughters whose names a...

What happens when the extrovert who lights up every room realizes her battery is empty halfway through a service trip in Jamaica? Rachel Douglas grew up floating rivers in St. James, Missouri, and now trains people at Veterans United in Columbia. She talks about being the youngest child who learned to lighten the mood, the mid-week moment in Jamaica's Harmony House when she finally let people...

What do you do when you watch a 19-year-old die in a wreck, drive away thinking you failed, and learn months later he's alive? On Halloween 2025, Levi was taking his daughter to a soccer game when he came up on a vehicle ripped in half. He pulled 19-year-old Adin Smith out before the gas could ignite. Aiden had a pulse in his arms, but by the time the ambulance loaded him, it was gone. Weeks...

What does it look like to chase joy when you're wired to compete, perform, and be the funniest person in the room? Sierra Michaelis joins Matt to talk about running marathons (with and without training), growing up on a cattle farm in Jackson, Missouri, and the relentless pull toward winning that's followed her since childhood. We get into the costumes she wore to embarrass her friend&ap...

What do you do when the wind picks up? Heather Cox joins the show in a literal windbreaker on a rainy day to talk about fighting for joy through memory care, bonus kids, and a faith that doesn't always break the wind but does something quieter and more useful. We get into how she "collects people" (her bonus daughter Sierra came over to train Hannah for basketball and never quite le...

Where do you go to remember who you are? Brandon Hoops joins the show to talk about mentors, mud-built memories, and a piece of family wisdom called the wilderness garden. We get into how Brandon picked up his nickname, why he flips garage sale golf clubs for fun, what it was like to mail Wendell Berry a book and get one back signed "Professor Hoops," and the spring break ski trip that n...

What does it take to break a generational chain? Walt Walton joins the show to talk about the spinout that almost killed him, the verses that turned him around, and the song he wrote for the mom he lost. We get into how Alex became Walt for life, what it's like to homeschool three boys (Noah, Zeke, and Hesi) who build mud colosseums in the backyard, and the basketball scouting report on numbe...

What if joy is just a thing you have to walk to the creek for? Kelley Frink joins the show to talk about big medicine in the Wyoming wilderness, the lemonade truck that's worth pausing a meeting for, and the parents who named her Kelley because Kelly could also be a boy's name. We get into the family camping trips that started when her oldest was nine months old (including the Ford Explo...

What does it look like to live up to your middle name? Larissa Wollard joins the show to talk about the dad who named her Joy, the unrealistic expectations she puts on herself, and the laundry she absolutely does not need to fold tonight. We get into the way her dad explained her middle name (there is so little joy in the world, we wanted you to bring it), the documentary moment when Tom Brady&apo...

What does it cost to slow down? Stephon Austin joins the show to talk about Buc-ee's pilgrimages, why his cousins are still his weekend plans at 37, and the dad wisdom he drops every Friday: just let the weekend come to you. We get into Stephon being born and raised in Columbia (with a strict mom whose wrath put fear in the neighborhood kids), the cousin he ran wild with on bikes who's s...

Lauren Steinhoff joins Matt for a wide-ranging, funny conversation about chasing joy in everyday life, even when your palms are sweaty and the microphone is on. They get into what actually fills Lauren’s cup: deep friendships over shallow small talk, paying attention to the details people share (yes, she keeps notes), and finding small rituals that make an ordinary day feel lighter. You’ll hear ab...

In this episode of A Fiercer Delight , Damon sits down with Brock Bondurant to talk about chasing joy in real life and real coffee. From walking on at Mizzou as a quarterback to life as a husband and dad of two girls, this conversation is about more than coffee. It is about presence, ritual, and authentic connection in a fast, distracted culture. Brock shares what truly fills his cup today. They e...

Hannah Mayse is the kind of person who keeps joy on the calendar. In this episode, Matt and Hannah talk about why she needs something to look forward to, and how that “why not?” mindset has shaped the way she lives. They hit the fun stuff, her two cats (Stormy and Luna), getting into golf during COVID after hating it as a kid, baking bagels and chocolate chip bread on a whim, and being the person...

Matt runs into our old friend Zach Mast at a coffee shop and turns it into an unplanned episode. The result is a funny, surprisingly honest conversation about where joy actually comes from when you are wired for connection. Zach shares why being around people is his fuel, and why isolation can mess with him fast. They talk about the double edge of that wiring. Zach opens up about how faith gives h...

In this episode of A Fiercer Delight , Matt sits down with Craig Brumfield for a wide-ranging conversation about the quiet, repeatable practices that keep joy and hope within reach. They talk about Craig’s deep love of home (a true Columbodian), how travel can be great but coming back is the real reset, and why daily rhythms matter when life starts feeling chaotic. Craig shares his “golden hour” r...

Licensed professional counselor Kelly Wright sits down to talk about what it means to carry other people’s pain without losing your own joy. From early days drowning in secondhand trauma to a pivotal moment at a Dan Allender conference, Kelly explains how she learned to set boundaries, do her own work, and stay grounded while walking with others through emotional and spiritual “death and resurrect...

Matt sits down with Adam Canote for a spontaneous, joy-chasing hang that starts with a brand-new jingle and wanders into music, family, and everyday delight. Adam shares what growing up second of ten in a traveling bluegrass family taught him, why sibling voices blend the way they do, and how harmony and counterpoint make songs (and relationships) work. They swap Green Day and Pizza Hut nostalgia,...

What's the difference between a foundational joy and a fun side joy?  Damon Fontinel joins the show to talk about WNBA road trips, the year he got tired of paying somebody else to fix his brakes, and the night his wife paid 90 dollars to watch one quarter of basketball. We get into Damon's farm-boy upbringing in Iowa, his 37-year marriage to Paula, the 27-year-old son who lives two block...

Matt sits down with storyteller and Civil War–reenactor Drew Alexander to trace a surprisingly hopeful arc, from small-town ’90s roots and church community, through drifting in college, to getting sober and finding his way back to faith, purpose, and family. Drew talks about trading bar nights for books, how group counseling and a real community (“The Underground”) reshaped his days, and what it t...

What if the worst chapter of your life is the one that teaches you how to memorize the next one? Madi Carey joins the show to talk about the freshman-year car accident that nearly kept her from college, the high school theater teacher who taught her to remember through movement, and the blind date she knew within seconds was the one. We get into Madi growing up in a blended family of five sisters...

How do you hold on to delight when your days hurt and your kids are grown?  Matt sits down with Francie Green to talk about the quiet contentment of watching her daughters, Taylor and Brooke, step into adult life, the “pull up a chair” moments she doesn’t want to miss, and the honest work of choosing joy while managing chronic pain. You’ll hear: Why adult kids still need you, just in different way...

On the first episode of A Fiercer Delight , Matt Gordon sits down with his friend and coworker Zach Nelson , whose story travels from a “good childhood” into addiction, treatment, and hard-won recovery. Zach shares the moment that changed everything, the unexpected joys tucked inside dark seasons, and how his life now is filled with faith, family, small acts of service and yes, pickleball and Andy...