Familiar Strangers: The Class of 2006 Podcast

It's official. May 20, 2026 marks exactly 20 years since we graduated high school. To celebrate, we thought we'd remix some highlights of the moments from the podcast that have really made an impression on us. For those of you who have listened to those episodes, it'll be a fun recap. For those who haven't, maybe it'll entice you to press play!  As always, a special thanks to Steve Miller for our...

Hey all! We're back with the first of a two new episodes THIS WEEK!  We catch up with Edward Longo! He fills us in on life in Nashville, what it's like to tour as a musician and about a few formative friendships that have fostered and influenced his life since childhood. As always, a huge thank you goes out to Steve Miller for the tunes and James Evanson for our logo! 

A goofy start to this one as we attempt to update everyone on reunion planning to various degrees of success.  Things get back on track when we bring on our guest, the one and only Meg Whittenberger!  You'll be entertained by this free-flowing discussion covering life, love and work that has taken Meg around the globe!  As always, we'd like to thank Steve Miller for the tunes and James Evanson for...

Well, it sure has been a stretch since we posted. Or, at least it feels that way! Hopefully you've been able to catch up on our catalogue of episodes!    This week, we're visiting with Gehrig Dye about family life, a career that keeps him on the move and playing a pivotal role in a wide variety of building projects and how he does such a great job staying in touch with so many of our classmates. ...

Emoji's go wild! We break down an unexpected text message Drew received from David before diving into this week's fabulous guest-- Brittany Lacock! Brittany shares about finding community and life on a ranch! But there's a lot more to her story. You'll enjoy this one! We're going on a bit of a hiatus after this episode. New episodes will be coming in a few weeks. Thanks for listening and, as alway...

We're back at it post-Olympics with a breakdown of our takeaways from the Milan-Cortina games (interesting sidenote, you may recall the games were in Italy in 2006 as well).    Then, we get down to business with our guest, Connor McGillvray. You're sure to be impressed by what Connor considers to be a hard day's work (spoiler: it's a lot harder than ours).  As always, a thank you to Steve Miller f...

We have a date for the reunion! It's on lock with details to follow!  Then, we dive into our interview with Emily Hallock (Schwarz) and learn about the world of web design and life in Bigfork, MT.  Self-discipline seemed to be the theme of this one! We think you'll enjoy it! As always, thanks to Steve Miller for the tunes and James Evanson for the logo! 

We start off the episode by recapping Super Bowl LX, a joyous moment in the Trafton household. Plus, could this be a good omen for David's Bears?   Then, we get to know our guest this week-- the one and only Ali Pekovich. From school in L.A. to adventures on Bumble and finding belonging back home, you're sure to enjoy catching up with her.  A sincere thank you to Steve Miller for the music and Jam...

We start this episode off by chatting about the winter Olympics which are now underway. Then, we get down to business with another standout athlete from our class! Shannon Spence joins us to share how she took her talents on the road for college before working her way into a major job at a hospital. And it would appear we have some competition brewing over who might be the best bow hunter in the c...

The voting is underway for the class reunion weekend and we have an update on the dates that seem to be the early frontrunners! Then, we get into an abridged (darn technology) interview with our wonderful guest: Rachel Cole. If you haven't heard Rachel's story of globetrotting, teaching and finding Mr. Right from County Cork... well, you're in for a real treat.    A special thank you to Steve Mill...

Survey says?! We need you to help pick dates for the reunion. Here's a link .    In this episode, we take the pod on the road to the kitchen of Amy Millikan-- where we get our spatulas out and help make major decisions about the future of birthday Rice Krispee Treats that we presume ended up in the bellies of many a happy preschooler. Oh, and we also caught up on what's been going on in Amy's life...

The time has finally arrived! We have ourselves a survey to pick a date for our 20th reunion. We go over how to fill out out.  But back on our normal programming-- this week's guest is hardly ever at home despite (sometimes/rarely) being a stay at home mom. Between running a small business and substitute teaching, Malaree Wiltgen is on the go! You'll have a great time catching up with her.  A spec...

We're back! Welcome to 2026, everyone! 20 years since we graduated high school.  This week, we check in with Rob Fust! He joins us during his downtime in the Big Easy. We chat work, golf and much more! As always, thanks to Steve Miller for the tunes and James Evanson for our logo!!

This is our last episode of 2025! We'll be taking a short hiatus (one week) before we start the back half of our episodes in 2026 leading up to our 20th!   This week, we get to connect the dots with our co-host. The one and only David Leslie is joined in the hot seat by his wife Bri. They share a remarkable love story that they were kind enough to retell on the pod! Plus, we get to learn about som...

This episode starts typically, with a chat. Since it's Christmas we dove into our favorite holiday movies.  Then, we have a great catch up with one of our favorite teachers (and classmate sibling), Nick Contreraz.  Nick was kind enough to join us and share Vanessa's story with us and to reminisce on a truly lovely person.  As always, a thank you to James Evanson for the logo and Steve Miller for t...

If ever a class superlative fit... Moriah Michels is our guest and, no shock, well on her way to sainthood. From opening her heart (and home) to many children in need to confessing a long held secret about her attendance record, you will find this episode both extremely touching and surprising. She even makes one of our hosts cry!   As always, thanks to James Evanson for our logo and Steve Miller...

After many requests by our fellow classmates and many a spin of the randomizer wheel, we have finally delivered! We all had very high expectations for Tony Klee coming out of high school. Well, folks, he kind of blew them out of the water... with a freakin' laser beam (you'll get it after listening). As always, thanks to Steve Miller and James Evanson for the perfect tunes and logo for this podcas...

We discuss the contenders for "best day of the week" before capping off our Tuesday night with an excellent conversation with an excellent classmate: Leslie Diedrich.  From cookie cabins in Colorado to enjoying authentic Hungarian goulash in northern India (as one does), Leslie gave us quite a lot to discuss! You're going to enjoy this one! As always, thanks to Steve Miller for the great tunes and...

The sky was aglow with a show put on by aurora borealis on the evening we recorded this introduction. But it was an altogether different guiding light who stole the show-- our guest Megan Fallon!   We had a great time hearing about Megan's life in Cody (especially her Tuesday night tradition). We think it'll have you considering some renovations as well!   As always, a thank you to James Evanson f...

At the start of the holiday season, we recap Halloween before diving straight into the good stuff-- as the decorations come out in full force.  Then, it's on to our guest, Chip Hammer!  We caught up with Chip during a time of transition in his life including a new job in a new (yet very familiar) city! He entertained us with his tales as an architect-- including a rather interesting client he star...

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the consequences of my own actions!"   After much debate over whether David and Drew would include their own episodes, an opportunity with an open week in the recording schedule presented the space for one of them to step into the hot seat. In keeping with our desire to have a blend of voices, we invited Drew's wife Annie to keep him hon... we mean, participate... in...

This episode starts off the rails with a fairly unfocused introduction. However, "off the rails" is just how our guest this week prefers to play when it comes to keeping active and enjoying the world around him.  From ice climbing to cycling, your head will be spinning as well with all that Chris Guyer keeps himself occupied with in life.  As always, a sincere thank you to Steve Miller for the tun...

In this episode, the pod goes international once again! We start off with a circus (tent). You'll see. Then we quickly try to list off the favorite pro sports teams for several of our classmates.  But our guest this week is Renato Coronel! He joins us from his home in Ecuador. From public service work to owning businesses and taking care of his legal clients, you'll likely be as amazed as we were...

Apologies-- this is a repost. The AI monster gobbled up our audio quality on the first export. We're hoping this one goes better.  In this week's episode, things start with a recap and preview of some kiddo birthday celebrations in the Leslie and Trafton households. Then, we dive into our talk with this week's guest: Jimmy Salyer. We cover all the hits you'd expect with a heavy dose of Jimmy's aff...

In this episode, David and Drew go WAY too long on the intro. But it's well worth the wait to hear from this week's guest!  Sara Diedrich catches us up on her life in the Mile High City and the globetrotting adventures she has been on over the past 20 years. Plus, we find out why this 'Survivor' superfan has no interest in applying to become a castaway on a future season of her favorite reality TV...