Find the Good News with Oran Parker

EP. 62 - The Arrow of Life Ft. Shelley Johnson ========== There are people that change your life in profound ways, and yet many never really know they had such an impact. For me, former Executive Director of the Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shelley Johnson, is one of those people. This year, Shelley retired from her position after 30 years of service to our region, leaving beh...

HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Jengi Miller (of Louise E. Anna Creations by Jengi) In this episode of Find the Good News we went LIVE with Daniel Schumacher (Editorial Director, Louisiana Cookin' & Editor, Taste of the South) and Chef Lyle Broussard (Jack Daniel's® Bar & Grill at L'auberge). They talked about the upcoming Southern Cast Iron Cook-Off taking place November 1–2, 2019, in Lake Charles, Louis...

HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Mike Brignac (of the Feeling Twisty Podcast) In this episode of Find the Good News we go LIVE with Amanda Yellott & Reginal Larkins of the Whistle Stop & DanceSport. They talk about their youth dance programs and their upcoming fundraiser event, The 2nd Annual Monster Dash at the Grove/Heritage Square in Sulphur, Louisiana this Saturday, October 19, 2019. Amanda and Reginal...

EP. 61 - The Next Breath Ft. Jody Barrilleaux and Ted Thibodeaux of HALOS ========== So many lives in Calcasieu Parish have been touched by suicide, and when we look at the rising statistics we don’t really find many answers as to why. Those left behind are left to wonder what went wrong, or what they could have done to make a difference. Suicide leaves so many unanswered questions and feelings th...

Find the Good News Journal - Entry 4 - The Tea Kettle w/Oran Parker In this Find the Good News Journal Entry I talk about righteous anger, the passage of time, the law of impermanence, and using boiling feelings to make tea. ========== SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >>  www. Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews   ========== FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >>  www. Pa...

EP. 60 - The Free Fall Ft. Lydia Fruge and Kyle Mestayer ========== I never planned on producing podcasts for other people when I dreamed up Find the Good News, but when I met Lydia Fruge and Kyle Mestayer, both young lenders at bank FNBD, I could see that they had a particular passion for people’s stories and the gift needed to carry an ongoing podcat—the ability to move a conversation into excit...

Find the Good News Journal - Entry 3 - The Good Magnet w/Oran Parker In this Find the Good News Journal Entry I take on a Sunday morning reflection to Maplewood Commons in Sulphur, Louisiana. We all take vows in some form or fashion. We bind ourselves to things for many reasons. Today I talk about stickers, glue, magnets, adhesives, patches, thread, and how the evidence of those things often remai...

Find the Good News Journal - Entry 2 - The Nestea Plunge w/Oran Parker In this Find the Good News Journal Entry I take you on my morning reflection at Mimosa Pines Cemetery in Carlyss, Louisiana. I talk about the Feasts of Saint Francis and Saint Faustina (and I admittedly screw up the day of Francis's Feast). I share my thoughts on the incredible display of love and mercy in a Dallas, Texas court...

HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Thom Trahan (of the Brimstone Historical Society) In this episode of Find the Good News we go LIVE with Patrick Shawn Bennett of the Lake Charles Film Festival, an event that features films by Louisiana based indie filmmakers. Patrick was joined by Braylin Jenkins, the emcee of this year's event. Patrick talks about the value of this amazing event, his love of filmmaking, r...

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EPISODE ========== A little over a year ago I came back from a personal retreat and sat down with my creative crew to tell them about something I wanted to do. After reflecting on the state of my mind, my work, and the actual tangible good I was or was not doing through my trade, I had decided that I wanted to change the rules we’d been operating by, and create a signal all our...

Find the Good News Journal - Entry 1 - The Laughing Buddha w/Oran Parker In this Find the Good News Journal Entry I take you on my morning prayer and meditation walk to the Maplewood Commons in Sulphur, Louisiana. I talk about the past year of Good News, where goodness comes from, attending Julia O'Carroll's Tea at Walden journaling workshop, forgiveness, resentment, what the best version of me lo...

Openness. Truth. Honesty. The best stories are made up of these things, and I think that’s the holy trinity of what makes Find the Good News so unique. Each guest has come in here with their openness, truth, and honesty, and for those affiliated with programs, groups, businesses, or non-profits, their truth is tightly wound within the essence of their affiliation. I don’t say this lightly. I’ve se...

Ever since I started producing Find the Good News, I've wanted to do an episode that was explicitly about fathers and their sons. One thing I've never tried to do with this show is to force my energy in a specific direction. I have found that allowing guests to flow through naturally has allowed this signal to become what it's supposed to be, whatever that means. It's still a mystery. Recently, a...

It’s not easy for me to avert my gaze when I see someone in needs, especially the homeless or food impoverished. If you’ve listened to this show, then you know that images of the hungry affected me deeply when I was a little boy, and those photos haunt the hallways of my mind every single day. Still, being haunted by something doesn’t always motivate one to take action. I won’t lie to you and say...

HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Morgan Allain (The Inkling Girl) In this episode of Find the Good News we go LIVE with Kevin Lambert, Thunder John, and Kevin Johnson of the Horror and Hops Podcast, a show about good horror movies, great beers, and even better friends. They talk about the origins of their show, their favorite scary movies, and their upcoming LIVE event at Crying Eagle on September, Friday...

Like you, I’ve looked at a lot of artwork in my life. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and more often than not each work’s beauty is relevant to the particular eye of the beholder. We see it, process it, gauge it, place it somewhere on our value spectrum, often within the first moments of exposure. What most pieces don’t reveal to us is the story of the artist, the textures of their life. This is...

When I started Find the Good News I never really thought about listeners becoming guests. As it turns out, people attracted to good news have ended up being good people themselves. After so many wonderful conversations, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when a guest takes me into uncharted waters. The truth is I was surprised and taken places I didn’t expect to go when I visited with Breenie Dowi...

HOSTED BY Oran Parker & Mike Brignac In this episode of Find the Good News we go LIVE with Thom Trahan & Kat Godsey of the Brimstone Museum and Henning Cultural Center in Sulphur, Louisiana. They talk about the Chaos Theory art exhibit on display now at the Henning Cultural Center, and their Totally Rad 80s Party to send off the show in style, Saturday, August 31 from 6-8pm at the Henning Cultural...

I remember when I was a child, those key moments that softened my heart, the events that really made me tender, that helped me feel for others. Looking back I can see how often those feelings were turned off and on during my life. On reflection, I see the times when I saw the suffering and misfortune of others as benchmarks, moments when I felt my higher self, the part of me that longed to be a ba...

When you find out an old friend has started a hot sauce brand called Jammin’ Jelly’s Hot Sauce,… and you happen to like hot sauce,… and you have a podcast, then you know what you’re supposed to do next. I hadn’t seen Jelly Reynolds since we had worked together a K.D.’s Diner almost 23 years ago, so I invited mad food scientists—Jelly Reynolds and his business partner Charlie Frye—to come sit in th...

I don’t know if you have children, but if you do—as I do—then you’ve had to dig deep when summer ends, and it’s time to buy school clothes, uniforms, and supplies. Sometimes life takes a turn for the better, your resources become more plentiful and paying for school supplies, and fees aren’t such a heavy burden. For many, that turn has not arrived. For some, it never does. I have been in that situ...

If you are having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. I’ve often wished that I could see the private sufferings of the people around me, to behold their secret worries, fears, and pains on a scale of colors. That may sound dismal to some, but it doesn’t to me. I feel that if I could clearly see their pains, then I’d know exactly what ingredien...

When I sit and reflect on all the people I've encountered in my life, I feel grateful. It's not because every person I've met has been pleasant—I'm just thankful to have encountered the variety. On one end of the spectrum, I've met many people filled with pride and hubris, touching others with the subtleness of a shotgun blast. Sometimes I've even been that person. Other times I've met extremely g...

I have always been attracted to stories of transformation and enlightenment. A man is one way today, then something critical shifts in his life, and he wakes up as a new man.  It had been years since I had seen Mike Brignac, but when he came to visit me on Find the Good News it was clear that I was talking with a man that had come out of a chrysalis. Mike spoke to me with an honesty that I’ve come...

I’ve always tried to be honest in these introductions, hopefully giving you the best short reflection on my conversation with the guest of the week, and a brief sketch of the dialogue I’m presenting. I think it’s vital that I be clear that this episode of Find the Good News with Braylin Jenkins—the creator and host of the show Wide Awake With Bray J—takes a long way around to the find the good. As...