Back to the People with Nicole Shanahan

Richard Ryan is a software developer and media executive with more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry. He has generated billions of views and millions of followers across social media platforms, leveraging his deep understanding of algorithms and digital marketing. As a co-founder of Black Rifle Coffee Company, he helped grow the brand to a publicly traded powerhouse with a $1.7 bill...

Max McLean is an American stage actor, writer, producer, and founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA), a New York-based company producing theater and film from a Christian worldview. He is renowned for his acclaimed stage adaptations of C.S. Lewis’s works, including The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert—the last of which he also sta...

Virginia Robinson and her family moved to Camp Lejeune in 1959, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. She raised her children there and dedicated 25 years of her life working on base, never knowing that the very place where she lived, worked, and built her family was slowly poisoning them. For decades, toxic chemicals such as PCE and TCE contaminated the water and air at Camp Lejeune. No one warn...

John Rich is an American country singer-songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur known for his outspoken conservative views and community advocacy. After rising to fame with the band Lonestar and as half of the duo Big & Rich, Rich earned acclaim both as a performer and the songwriter behind numerous country hits for major artists. He is a three-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year and has built succes...

Annelise E. Barron is the W.M. Keck Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Her lab focuses on human host defense peptides (antimicrobial peptides), particularly LL-37, studying their biophysics, mechanisms of infection defense, and roles in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The group also develops biostable peptoid mimics of LL-37 as potential therapeutics for antibiotic-...

Chandler Crump is a 20-year-old Gen Z commentator, artist, and activist whose political journey began at age 14 when he attended Turning Point USA’s Young Black Leadership Summit. At that event, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk told him that he was his “No. 1 fan,” and that it didn’t matter how young he was, that he could still stand and fight for his beliefs. That moment of encouragement inspired Chand...

Alex Lee Moyer is a filmmaker, director, and editor best known for probing contemporary subcultures and difficult cultural topics. She started her creative career editing music videos and documentaries, including The New Radical (2017), and gained acclaim for her directorial debut TFW NO GF (2020), a documentary examining the lives of young men immersed in online subcultures. Her second feature, A...

Kaizen Asiedu is a Harvard Philosophy graduate, Emmy Award winner, and cultural commentator with 800,000+ followers across social platforms. Publicly endorsed by Elon Musk as a “clear thinker,” Kaizen walked away from his Emmy-winning career at Riot Games—where he helped architect League of Legends’ competitive formats and global esports policies—to pursue truth and elevate public discourse. As th...

Deborah A. Conrad is a physician assistant from Rochester, NY, who was dismissed from United Memorial Medical Center (Rochester Regional Health) in October 2021 after fulfilling her legal duty to report COVID-19 vaccine adverse events to VAERS. She has filed a landmark False Claims Act lawsuit against her former employer, challenging institutional suppression of reporting. As of March 2025, her ca...

Miles Wallace is a first-generation fisherman who has dedicated his life to sustainably diving and fishing off the California coast. The ocean is more than his livelihood — it is where he now raises his family and where he finds his deepest sense of purpose. From the kelp forests of the Channel Islands to the rugged drop-offs of the Pacific, Miles works with care and respect, knowing the future of...

Leslie Manookian is the president and founder of Health Freedom Defense Fund, a nonprofit which seeks to rectify health injustice through education, advocacy, and legal challenges to unjust mandates, laws, and policies that undermine our health freedoms and human rights. She is a former successful Wall Street business executive and award-winning documentary film producer and writer. She writes and...

A few of my favorite conversations from the first half of 2025. Featured guests include Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Dane Wigington, Joe Allen, Wesley Huff, Chloe Cole, and the Flynn Family.-----With gratitude to our sponsors:RA Optics⁠⁠https://raoptics.com/bttp⁠⁠Use Code: Nicole-----Backyard ButchersGo to ⁠⁠https://www.backyardbutchers.com/pages/nicole⁠⁠ and use code “Nicole” for 20% off your steaks and ta...

Cynthia Daley is a professor within the College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico, and serves as the Director for the Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems. Cynthia is originally from Illinois, where her family has been actively engaged in the farming profession for more than four generations. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois...

Charles “Chuck” Benbrook is an agricultural economist known for advocating organic farming and researching the health and environmental impacts of agriculture. He holds degrees from Harvard and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked in government, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Formerly a research professor at Washington State University, he now leads the Heartland Health Resea...

Susan Perlman is one of the founders of Jews for Jesus. She came to faith in Jesus in 1971, initially believing she was the only Jew in the world with such a belief. In 1973, she joined the newly formed Jews for Jesus group in California. Susan currently serves as Chief Partnership Officer, leading the organization’s partnerships with mission agencies, Messianic congregations, churches, and theolo...

Patrick James is a documentary filmmaker, content creator, and host of the YouTube channel "So Weird with Patrick James," where he explores and analyzes conspiracy theories, ancient mysteries, and unexplained phenomena. His channel has garnered millions of views, with popular videos focusing on topics such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Sphinx, UFOs, secret government projects, and alternative...

Michael Kane is a former New York City public school special education teacher with over 13 years of experience. He is the founder of Teachers for Choice, a group of educators that opposes forced medical mandates—such as vaccine requirements—for employment, school attendance, or access to public life. He has worked as a New York City public school teacher for over 13 years. He is a leading advocat...

Joel Salatin is a farmer, author, and outspoken advocate for regenerative agriculture. His first exposure to farming came on his father’s 1,000-acre chicken and dairy farm in Venezuela. In 1959, following the election of President Rómulo Betancourt—who implemented a land redistribution program—the Salatin family relocated to Virginia. There, they purchased Polyface Farm in Swoope, nestled in the S...

Dane Wigington is the lead researcher and founder of GeoengineeringWatch, dedicated to exposing and halting covert climate engineering operations. With a professional background in solar energy, including work with Bechtel Power Corporation and licensure as a contractor in California and Arizona, Wigington's interest in geoengineering intensified after observing significant declines in solar energ...

Harmeet K. Dhillon is a nationally recognized civil rights and constitutional law attorney, founder of the Dhillon Law Group, and founder of the Center for American Liberty. Born in Chandigarh, India in 1969, she moved to the U.S. as a child and has become a prominent Republican Party official and legal commentator. From 2016 until April 2025, she served as a Republican National Committee official...

Joe Allen has written for Chronicles, The Federalist, Human Events, The National Pulse, Parabola, Salvo, and Protocol: The Journal of the Entertainment Technology Industry. He holds a master’s degree from Boston University, where he studied cognitive science and human evolution as they pertain to religion. As an arena rigger, he’s toured the world for rock n’ roll, country, rap, classical, and cag...

Dr. Joseph Ladapo is a Nigerian-American physician and health policy researcher currently serving as the Surgeon General of Florida since 2021. Born in Nigeria, he immigrated to the United States at the age of 5 with his family when his father, a microbiologist, came to continue his studies. Dr. Ladapo completed his undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University, where he was a decathlete and cap...

Pete Kennedy is an attorney based in Sarasota, Florida, with decades of experience defending food freedom and small-scale farming. From 2008 to 2016, he served as President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, where he championed the rights of farmers and consumers against overreach by state and federal regulators. Pete has represented or supported dairy farmers facing enforcement actions i...

Dr. Mollie James is a board-certified critical care physician and trauma surgeon with frontline experience treating COVID-19 patients in both New York City and the Midwest. A vocal advocate for medical freedom and informed consent, she founded the James Clinic to provide patient-centered care without insurance or government interference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Wesley “Wes” Huff is a Canadian Christian apologist, theologian, and scholar specializing in biblical manuscripts and Christian theology. Born in Multan, Pakistan, he spent his early years in the Middle East, significantly influencing his interest in cultural and theological studies. At the age of 11, Huff was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition, acute transverse myelitis, that left him p...