Army of Normal Folks

What if the most radical thing you could do was just show up? In this Shop Talk, Bill and Alex dive into Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution - and the idea that changing the world has never required extraordinary people. Just ordinary ones who refuse to look away. They talk about what it really means to let your life answer the question, why the most important move you can make is t...

Frank Schwartz is the CEO of F3 Nation, a 100,000-man volunteer led movement built around fitness, fellowship, and faith. Men at 5,000+ locations worldwide show up at 5:30am - no matter if it’s raining, snowing, or freezing - for free peer-led workouts. But the workout is just the entry point. What F3 is really doing is cultivating a brotherhood and teaching men how to lead, so they can take...

Frank Schwartz is the CEO of F3 Nation, a 100,000-man volunteer led movement built around fitness, fellowship, and faith. Men at 5,000+ locations worldwide show up at 5:30am - no matter if it’s raining, snowing, or freezing - for free peer-led workouts. But the workout is just the entry point. What F3 is really doing is cultivating a brotherhood and teaching men how to lead, so they can take...

Researchers at Harvard analyzed the tax records of 40 million Americans to answer one of the most debated questions in the country: does the American Dream still exist? The good news is that the dream is alive, but where you grow up dramatically shapes your odds of reaching it. In this Shop Talk, Bill breaks down the 4 factors researchers found that consistently predict whether children will flour...

This is the shorter "highlights" version of the episode.  Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Oklahoma's 111 Project, to unpack how Oklahoma has cut the number of children in foster care nearly in half—from 11,500 to 6,000—and what communities across America can learn from their success. Rather than pointing fingers at government, Chris shares...

Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Oklahoma's 111 Project, to unpack how Oklahoma has cut the number of children in foster care nearly in half—from 11,500 to 6,000—and what communities across America can learn from their success. Rather than pointing fingers at government, Chris shares how churches, nonprofits, everyday citizens, and public agencie...

The number of Americans with no close friends has increased fivefold since 1990. But this isn't just a loneliness crisis. It's a community crisis. And the data suggests we may be further from fixing it than we think. In this Shop Talk, Bill dives into a striking report on the collapse of American friendship and reflects on what it reveals about the way we live today. Fewer close friends, shrinking...

More than half of Americans are socially disconnected. But what if the problem isn't so much that we've forgotten  how to connect—it's that we've stopped building the kinds of communities where connection naturally happens? In this thought-provoking conversation, Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Aaron Hurst, founder of the U.S. Chamber of Connection, to explore one of the largest chal...

More than half of Americans are socially disconnected. But what if the problem isn't so much that we've forgotten  how to connect—it's that we've stopped building the kinds of communities where connection naturally happens? In this thought-provoking conversation, Coach Bill Courtney sits down with Aaron Hurst, founder of the U.S. Chamber of Connection, to explore one of the largest chal...

In this Shop Talk, Coach Bill dives into one of his favorite topics, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs! An Army of Normal Folks diving into Maslow's pyramid is one of the most important things you can do too, as it reveals how people truly flourish and how you can help empower the most vulnerable Americans to do so at increasingly higher levels.  ARMY ACTIONS Subscribe to the podcast and rate &...

At 25 years old, while many young people are still trying to way their way in life, MK Hill made one of the most mature decisions you can make—to foster a child. Today, at just 36 years old, the single woman has fostered 67 children, adopted six, and has built a home where kids who have experienced unimaginable trauma can find safety, love, and belonging. Even if we never reach MK&rsquo...

At 25 years old, while many young people are still trying to way their way in life, MK Hill made one of the most mature decisions you can make—to foster a child. Today, at just 36 years old, the single woman has fostered 67 children, adopted six, and has built a home where kids who have experienced unimaginable trauma can find safety, love, and belonging. Even if we never reach MK&rsquo...

The Hero's Journey isn't just the formula behind Star Wars , Rocky , Pixar classics, and countless Hollywood blockbusters. It's the oldest pattern found in real-life heroic action—and true across cultures, centuries, and civilizations. And it always begins the same way: with an ordinary person. Someone like you. In this episode, Bill and Alex unpack why the timeless archetype matters and int...

What if one of the biggest solutions to loneliness, toxic division, and disconnection isn't another app or social media platform—but a simple cup of coffee? Ron Sparks and his friend Adam Foster started inviting small groups of people to semi-secret coffee gatherings in beautiful outdoor spaces. There was no agenda. No networking. No politics. Just coffee, conversation, and community. What b...

What if one of the biggest solutions to loneliness, toxic division, and disconnection isn't another app or social media platform—but a simple cup of coffee? Ron Sparks and his friend Adam Foster started inviting small groups of people to semi-secret coffee gatherings in beautiful outdoor spaces. There was no agenda. No networking. No politics. Just coffee, conversation, and community. What b...

We're bringing back Shop Talk #3. Because it's been years and it's beautiful! What would make someone work an entire weekend without pay? When Coach Bill Courtney's lumber company was on the brink of collapse after 9/11, one employee refused to go home. For 72 straight hours, Sam Quinn—a former Marine living in a halfway house—worked alongside Bill to save the business, asking for noth...

Dan Jarvis came home from Afghanistan carrying wounds that didn't show up on any medical chart. In this episode, he breaks down what trauma actually does to the brain - why it hijacks your responses, why willpower alone can't fix it, and how understanding the neuroscience behind your pain is the first step to healing it. Dan built Healing the Hero, a nonprofit that has helped over 18,000 people re...

Dan Jarvis came home from Afghanistan carrying wounds that didn't show up on any medical chart. In this episode, he breaks down what trauma actually does to the brain - why it hijacks your responses, why willpower alone can't fix it, and how understanding the neuroscience behind your pain is the first step to healing it. Dan built Healing the Hero, a nonprofit that has helped over 18,000 people re...

In this Shop Talk, we reflect on a simple question that can haunt all of this: What do we need to quit so our best work can truly live? Featuring Erik Løkkesmoe's powerful essay "I Quit,"  Coach Bill explores the things that quietly pull us away from meaningful work—chasing applause, feeding the algorithm, climbing ladders, waiting for permission, and letting urgency replace purp...

Contrary to popular belief, hope isn't a feeling. It's a formula that Dr. Ashley Cross is about to teach you about. And according to research, it's the single best predictor of wellbeing. More than grit, resilience, confidence, and it’s needed to unlock all of them.  Dr. Cross is one of the nation's leading practitioners of the "Science of Hope” through the incredible work of her...

Contrary to popular belief, hope isn't a feeling. It's a formula that Dr. Ashley Cross is about to teach you about. And according to research, it's the single best predictor of wellbeing. More than grit, resilience, confidence, and it’s needed to unlock all of them.  Dr. Cross is one of the nation's leading practitioners of the "Science of Hope” through the incredible work of her...

In today's Shop Talk, Bill and Alex discuss the Asoh Defense — the forgotten leadership principle that says admitting your mistake honestly and immediately is more powerful than any excuse you could make. This one's for anyone who's ever been wrong about something. So, everyone.  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#join See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nate Larkin spent 20 years hiding a sex addiction. For 5 of those years, he was a pastor. When it was exposed and everything collapsed, it could have been the end of his story. It turned out to be the beginning. In this conversation, Nate shares what it took to rebuild and how that journey led him and a dozen guys to start the Samson Society, a community built on radical transparency, vulnerabilit...

Nate Larkin spent 20 years hiding a sex addiction. For 5 of those years, he was a pastor. When it was exposed and everything collapsed, it could have been the end of his story. It turned out to be the beginning. In this conversation, Nate shares what it took to rebuild and how that journey led him and a dozen guys to start the Samson Society, a community built on radical transparency, vulnerabilit...

Most commencement speeches are forgotten within days. But when country music star Eric Church compared life to a guitar with six strings that must stay in tune—faith, family, relationships, ambition, community, and identity—the message struck a chord with millions. In this Shop Talk, Bill and Alex unpack the viral speech and explore what it means to keep your own life in tune when the...