jpcullen-us

Common Knowledge

Society EN ↓ 4 episodes

This is Common Knowledge. My name is James Cullen. I am the host and creator of Common Knowledge, a podcast focused on culture, adventure, language, and the extraordinary experiences of people I have met. I hope to both inform and entertain you through unusual stories of adventure and people's lives. While the primary focus of each episode is the guest interview. I also want to illuminate some unusual parts of life. I consider common knowledge, but you may not be aware of. For example, did you know that to avoid having their ships run aground sailors? Ancient sailors made recordings of water

Author

jpcullen-us

Episodes

Voices from Iran - War, Life, Democracy 31.05.2026 1:10:04

In today's episode, Iranian native and Ohio resident, AliMakarachi, discusses his experience growing up in Iran, protesting the Shah, entering the Iranian army to fight Iraq in 1980, and his perspective on the current conflict between Iran and the United States. The Iraqi invasion of Iran unified andmobilized the country in 1980. A similar invasion in 2026 could easily do the same. Being fro...

The Odyssey of Omar - From the Congo to Cleveland 02.02.2026 31:00

This is the story of Omar Kasalo who was born in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999. When war broke out with Rwanda, he and his family fled as a 10-year-old to the nearby country of Burundi. He discovered tennis in Burundi and participated in international tennis tournaments as a young boy. But he also lived for several years inrefugee camps in eastern Africa, dealing w...

WW II and meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy – A conversation with Attorney Karl Kammer 20.10.2025 35:31

A special interview on this second episode. Attorney Karl Kammer shares some of his wartime experiences serving in General George Patton's Third Army in Czechoslovakia, guarding the prison for the Nuremberg war crimes trial, practicing law for 70 years and meeting Ukranian President Zelenskyy at the 80th D-Day celebration in France.

So you want to buy a Coast Guard boat?! 12.10.2025 23:35

On this episode of Common Knowledge, former Coast Guardsman Joe Bercik describes life in the Coast Guard, rescuing boaters on Long Island Sound and buying and transporting a 44 foot Coast Guard boat from Seattle to Ohio.