Locally Grown with Jim Fini

I am lucky to have David Hunter as “a guy in the neighborhood”, especially at such a volatile time around the world. David and I are somewhat on opposite sides of the aisle so you will hear a really good discussion trying to find middle ground, where the truth usually lies. United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.

Today my guest is Tommy Potter a student at the University of Michigan who I met while visiting my daughter this fall.  Our conversation over coffee was just so interesting, I had to have him on my podcast.  I think it is critical for us oldsters to elevate this future generation of leaders who will be instrumental to the survival and prospering of our society as time passes.   The list of Tommy’s...

Now that winter is here, I start to long for those comfort foods like stews and soups and pasta dishes. One of my go-to recipes is pasta and Bolognese sauce, or ragù alla Bolognese. It’s one of Italy's most celebrated culinary creations. Here’s my take on this classic. United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.

AI read my 285-page book and produced a cool podcast summarizing the key ideas. Google LM Notebook created a podcast with natural human characters talking. Complicated subject matter is boiled down to layman’s terms so it’s understandable with a level of interaction that is indistinguishable from real humans. I was blown away. United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for A...

In the words of the immortal Joan Jett, "I love Rock & Roll so put another dime in the jukebox baby." Join me and my older cousin Tom Fini as we traverse the decades from his early 1960s band, the Del Mars, to todays music including one of my original songs. We explore the singer-songwriter ethos, within the context of protest music then and now. Stop what you’re doing and put on tho...

I’m a Boomer, married to a Gen Xer, with Gen Z kids. My and my parents’ generation has left us with an ever-expanding unsustainable federal government that has taken on a life of its own, and we are sticking our kids with the bill. However, all is not lost. There are lots of smart, practical and patriotic kids who are willing to step up now to be part of the solution that rights the American ship....

My guest today is American entrepreneur and politician, Christopher Collins. Chris served as the U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district (Buffalo NY area) from 2013 until 2019. Prior to his time in Congress, he ran for Erie County Executive in 2007 on a platform of smaller county government, lower taxes and operating efficiency and he defeated the Democrat incumbent wit...

Laz Lopez joins me today to tell his family's story of escaping communist Cuba and achieving the American Dream as a successful business owner in the U.S. In these challenging times, it's just the reminder we need about how precious and tenuous our American freedom really is. United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.

Elon Musk recently labeled NPR and PBS as “government-funded media” on Twitter, angering both organizations. Is he right, and does it matter anyway? For many years, I supported PBS and NPR financially. I just loved their music, movies and documentaries and their news and opinion programs, that while left leaning, were conducted in a civil tone. They at least made token attempts to cover both sides...

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”   63 years ago, a great American, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called out injustice and held America accountable to its constitutional principles. Now there’s a new ideology permeating all corners of our so...

Inflation and interest rates are inflicting painful damage today. Yet seemingly without notice the national debt is working like a cancer sapping the nation’s long-term economic vitality. Whether we reach the “doom loop,” or just become mired in stagflation, unchecked government spending and mounting national debt will drain all growth potential from the national economy sooner rather than later....

I was introduced to Larry Lawton through Congressman Bill Posey's office as someone with a compelling story that can help point at-risk kids in the right direction. Man what a story ! Larry was was one of the biggest jewel thieves in American history who ultimately spent 12 years in prison for his crimes. Upon his release in 2007, Larry moved to Florida and began his career as a successful au...

Climate? Guns? Abortion? Equity?  Nope. Listen Up for America’s Biggest Issue. United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.

It’s been a month since my last podcast where we spoke with Florida Congressman Bill Posey. I’ve had a lot of family stuff to deal with which I will get to later.  But I wanted to get this out by Memorial Day because it is such a powerful transitional holiday, and I am definitely in a transitional point in my life.  United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.

I am so pleased to have as my guest GOP Congressman Bill Posey who represents Florida's 8th Congressional District. He serves on the House Financial Services  and Science, Space and Technology committees.  Prior to that he served 8 years in the Florida State Senate and 10 years on the Rockledge, FL city council and prior to that, he was the founder of a large real estate company. Having been...

Ultimately, our freedoms and rights power the innovative culture that makes the United States the most successful political experiment in history. Even with its historical warts, America has improved the living standards of its citizens more than any human culture that has ever existed. Democracy, protection of individual freedoms, harnessing the power of diversity while creating a strong collecti...

My guest today was a guest on this podcast about 18 months ago and we talked about how rising geo-political risks threaten the 75-year-old Pax Americana where global domestic product has increased by a factor of 20 times. Well, it appears those risks are now a clear and present danger as Russia has invaded Ukraine.  Not only this, but China has also publicly stated that its partnership with Russia...

Dr. Rikki Eriksen is a marine biologist focused on the health of our oceans. She grew up in Florida, living on the water with the amazing marine wildlife. Summers were spent on a sailboat in Denmark with her grandparents and winter school breaks sailing in the Caribbean. As a teenager, she started noticing the marine ecosystem was choking to death and that she had to do something about it.  United...

The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.  Much of recent American federal government policy seems to fit into this paradigm. Like let’s print a  whole lot of money then act surprised when we get inflation.  Or stop enforcing our immigration laws and be shocked when millions of foreign people including criminals, terrorists and those who don’t share o...

History repeats and unfortunately, we are on the downhill run of the latest cycle. But remain optimistic because we have a system with a demonstrated track record of success. China has emerged as a powerful rival, but its authoritarian system will remain its Achilles Heel.  Stay vigilant and start thinking about what happens after we get through the coming hard times. And remember, United We Stand...

Today my guest is Cecil Grant, the host of the new “ Changing the Narrative ” podcast which you can find on Apple, Pandora and other places. His podcast focuses on issues seen through the lens of a middle-aged African American man who deeply cares about his country and is alarmed by what he sees. He has the moral authority to really challenge bad government policies that hurt the people they are s...

The Biden Administration is busy. Very busy. Busy making sure all we hear about is racial politics, the dreaded COVID Delta Variant, climate change, diminishing our election laws, defunding our police, and turning our schools into indoctrination centers. So I guess it's understandable that they have missed the growing threat that our adversaries pose to our place in the world.  China and Russ...

Today my guest is Andrew Shelley, author of the book, “ American Butterfly ”, an excellent exploration of the roots of the American culture wars through the lens of a deep-fried southern fish out of water.  We explore Andrew’s transition from a boy born to a conservative southern family to a northern liberal living in Boston and how that has helped him empathize with and find value in the conserva...

Just like e-commerce internet companies in the 1990's, most crypto projects won't succeed. However, the ones that do transform our world. In the last decade, Bitcoin and Ethereum emerged as two of those transformers. If you invested $2000 in ETH five years ago, you'd be retired now. This is because the ETH improvement on blockchain architecture is the platform upon which other disru...

The fact is that middle ground in America is to the Right of where we are now, not further Left. The pendulum swings back and forth in politics but a razor thin Democrat majority in the House and an equally divided Senate, is NOT a mandate to discard the Constitution and re-do America as a socialist utopia. At best this is going to continue to alienate a least half the country and that is not unit...