Not in a Huff with Jackson Huff

This week I speak with a former travel nurse who decided to take her travels to the next level selling all of her belongings and moving into a van. We talk about that decision and the highs/lows of life on the road. We also talk about her passion for reiki and her journey as a reiki practitioner and her work in energy healing. She talks about her background in western medicine and how it lead her...

This week I speak with Maggie Mills a ghostwriter who helps others share their story's. Scrolling through her website and you won’t find the name of one famous or infamous person from her client list. And you never will. Ms. Mills' services are completely discrete and by referral only. She never name names—no matter how famous they are now or how famous they become. The life of a ghostwriter is an...

This week I chat with musical artist John Michael Ferrari and his music producer/biggest fan Pepper Jay. Mr. Ferrari is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and entertainer who loves being on stage. Named Crossover Artist of the Year by New Music Awards, John Michael pens crossover genre soft yacht rock pop country songs, sometimes with jazz, blues, or Motown influences. It’s the John Michael Ferrari ge...

This week I speak with Rita Bliven about her extraordinary story of being involved in a parental international kidnapping as a young child. She share that story, being reunited with her mother, and the impact being separated from her mother at such a critical time in develop of bonds has had on her life. Rita has an upcoming book, Canyons & Fireworks, which details her lifelong journey of healing...

This week we hear about a live truly well lived when I catch up with retired Pepperdine University Professor, Dennis Torres a man who has undertaken over 64 career paths and all the adventures that go along with them. He has written 3 autobiographical adventure novels that follow his endeavors from running the merry-go-round at the Santa Monica Pier, to being a Post Office letter carrier, dairy fa...

Saving the environment by day and making people laugh by night. This week I speak with scientist turned comedian Alia Laura about how to juggles both worlds. We talk about being female in the world of STEM only to head to another area where she is unrepresented in comedy. We talk her passions for the environment, what she does when jokes do not land, and some of the craziest places she has perform...

This week we are back for the rest of the story of Sam and Melissa. Sam grew up in the FLDS polygamist group run by Warren Jeffs and his wife Melissa grew in the more mainstream LDS (Mormon) church. This week is PART TWO of two and focuses mostly on the the other less known groups practicing polygamy, navigating their relationship with one partner from a world of multiple wives, and more about the...

This week we head back to southern Utah and learn the stories of growing up FLDS and LDS in the area. Sam shares his journey in the FLDS polygamist group run by Warren Jeffs and his wife Melissa talks about growing in the more mainstream LDS (Mormon) church. We learn the similarities and differences and what each group thought of each other! This week is PART ONE of two and focuses mostly on the b...

HEY BABY! It's time to dive into the world of prank calls with the one and only Sarah Gray better known as her alter ego Sue Dillon. Ms. Dillon is a 60 something, sassy, southern woman with a propensity for Virginia Slim cigarettes and calling people to complain. While the real Sarah Gray is a much younger nurse finishing up her studies to be a nurse practitioner who realized she could speak in a...

This week I speak with Lorie Bond Saadipour about her personal story of generational trauma, a mother's debilitating paranoid schizophrenia and a daughter who was thrust into foster care, homelessness, drug addiction, and was sexually abused and neglected. She decided to write a book about it all and though it discovers the strength of the human spirit and the power of love that defies all odds. L...

From the spotlights of the Olympic stage to the bright lights of the camera I talk this week with 2008 Olympian Samantha Peszek about her life thus far. We cover growing up in the world of gymnastics, joining the national team, and competing in the Olympics on one of the most famous US teams ever. We talk about the injuries that occurred to the team and having such high expectations that even thei...

This week I speak with Briell Decker about growing up in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). A world of polygamy and total allegiance to the leader, Warren Jeffs. We talk about her childhood and at 18 years old being chosen by this leader who was 50 years old to be his 65th wife. We talk about that time and eventually escaping it all. It became and amazing full c...

Step right up! This week my guest is bending steel and driving nails through boards with his hands. We talk with the amazing strongman and Guinness Book Record Holder, Todd Ryan Jones about the world of "old time" strongmen. A skill that has seen itself as some of the biggest celebrities dining with royalty in yesteryear to transitioning to being a sideshow act in the 1900's. Why did this happen?...

What started as a 14 year old's desire to preserve her families stories has now produced a book and a career passion for now 17 year old Suzette Sheft. This week I talk with the young author about her interviews with her grandmother about her time in Europe during the Holocaust. A story fascinating enough to have created the book "Running for Shelter". We talk about her writing process, getting pu...

Back for another title match this week when I speak with up and coming professional wrestler Izzy Moreno. We talk about her beginnings in the sport being part of WWE star Bayley's storyline as her "superfan" at just 8 years old. From there she started managing wrestlers at 10 and hosting a wrestling interview series at 12. After doing all this she decided her time had come to jump into the ring he...

This week we journey into the world of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist movement with Ruthy Heiler a woman who was born into it all. We talk about the warped teachings that these churches teach, the deep connection they all share than makes them anything but "independent", and her own story of sexual abuse and the cover up that immediately started once found out. We also talk about the HBO M...

This week we jump into the ring with Katherine Smith who is a data analyst by day and by night a professional wrestler. We talk about the world of wrestling entertainment. Is it a sport? Does it hurt? Does her co-workers know about her alter-ego?! This was a fun conversation about yet another profession that I knew very little about going into the chat. Whether you are a huge wrestling fan or know...

This week I speak with the film duo sisters taking the film festival circuits by storm with their enduring movies. We speak about the process of making a movie, their message for other women in the industry, and the Heartland Film Festival submitted movie that I watched call The Country Club. The Country Club is a comedy centering on two young women (Fiona Robert and Sophia Robert) who hatch a pla...

This week I speak with Chef Adrianne Calvo who became the youngest person to cook for the United Nations and its ambassadors, has competed on Food Network’s Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay and was recognized for her recipes and concepts in Bon Appetit, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today, and Saveur. The true testament to Chef Adrianne’s focuses and dedication was in 2020. When the restaurant indust...

This week is PART TWO in a conversation I had with Emily Elizabeth Anderson about a topic covered once before, IBLP and the documentary created about it all. After growing up in a fundamentalist cult for 23 years and experiencing childhood domestic violence and sexual assault, Emily began her journey to recovery in 2015 after bravely entering a lawsuit formed against the cult and its leader, Bill...

This week is PART ONE in a conversation I had with Emily Elizabeth Anderson about a topic covered once before, IBLP and the documentary created about it all. After growing up in a fundamentalist cult for 23 years and experiencing childhood domestic violence and sexual assault, Emily began her journey to recovery in 2015 after bravely entering a lawsuit formed against the cult and its leader, Bill...

This week we blast off for a trip "Around the Sun" with the writer/director of the episodic podcast of the same name. We talk about how a COVID project has turned into a medium that has allowed him to share his stories and have some of his biggest bucket list actors join him in turning his writing into a reality in recording. The players each week really are a who's who in Hollywood of yesterday a...

From junkie to judge is quite the phrase and my guest this week Mary Beth O'Connor has certainly lived quite the life. We start with being left at a nunnery as an infant, being pick back up 6 months later by a preoccupied mother, to then deal with an abusive stepfather throughout her childhood. Like to many troubled teens Mary Beth turned to drugs and alcohol to lessen the burden of home. This add...

This week we dive into the Not so SHINY and certainly not HAPPY world of the Institute of Basic Life Principle's aka IBLP organization. An organization that was featured in the Amazon Prime documentary "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets". We learn about the smooth talking leader, Bill Gothard and the truly heartbreaking things he was teaching people. We learn the terrible things he was doi...

This week we dive into the jump on stage with DOCTOR Neil Berliner as he tells us how he balances a career in psychiatry with her role as a comedy writer as well. From writing for Comedy Central Roasts, to Howard Stern, to Mad Magazine we talk about what makes a good joke and the balance between fun and just mean. This was a fun chat and goes into the age old question "why is that funny?". _______...