off the record

In this very special New Year's episode, I look back at an unforgettable inaugural year of the podcast. Joined by my fiance Giavani Cairo, I brought back a few of the incredible guests I've had on to reflect some of the biggest moments of the year for them, as well as what they hope for in 2026. I personally reflect on the highs, the health challenges and the lessons of 2025. My fiance Gia...

If you've wondered what really makes a great journalist, this episode is for you. Rick Brown is a former network field producer and legendary DePaul professor who sent out hundreds of reporters and anchors into newsrooms across the country. Rick's tough love, sharp eye and unmatched storytelling instincts shaped a generation of broadcast journalists. In this heartfelt conversation during h...

Pavlo Derbedyenyev is a super-heavy weight, world-class arm wrestler from Ukraine. At 6-foot-1 265 pounds, Pavlo is one of the strongest, most technical arm wrestlers out there. He's faced many of the sports best like Devon Larratt and John Brzenk. In this episode, Pavlo and I talk about how he moved his way up the ranks in arm wrestling, the biggest moments of his career and who he's hopi...

My fiance Giavani Cairo is back for another episode! We've been back home in the Midwest, so we catch you up on how our life has been lately during our wedding planning season. From our Dancing With the Stars opinions to Giavani's behind the scenes experiences filming season 6 of The Chosen TV series and the movies we've loved this year, we let you in on our lives a little bit right no...

George Xanthis is an Australian actor and producer. Many of you may know him most for his role as "John the Apostle" in The Chosen TV Series. George is also known for his roles as "George Stephanopolous" in Impeachment: American Crime Story, "John Travolta" in Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You miniseries, "Frank Capone" in The Making of the Mob: Chicago, and more. George is a huge Live...

Rock Middleton is a professional basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters. A street-baller who plays hoops at a world-class level, Rock owns 13 Guinness World Record Titles and earned Top Rookie Player during his debut season with the team. He's now been with the Globetrotters for eight years. If you've went to a Harlem Globetrotters game, you've seen his amazing handles and deep four-point...

Jonathan Togo is an actor most known for his role as Ryan Wolfe on CBS' CSI: Miami for 8 seasons. It was named the world's most popular show in 2006. Prior to his role on the hit CBS show, he made his feature film debut in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated film "Mystic River" with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. A graduate of Vassar College, Jonathan has appeared in many independent films and guest spot...

Jalein Abania is The Chosen TV series insider. If you're a fan of the show, you know her. Jalein brings you all the fun content through social media. You may also know her for her "Bible tea" videos on Tik Tok and Instagram, where she provides fun insights into the scripture. In this episode, Jalein and I discuss how she became an insider for The Chosen, and what she was doing in her...

Andrew Gonzalez is an actor who works quite consistently in the industry. Andrew is best known for his roles in “Law and Order SVU,” “Promised Land”, “It’s always sunny in philadelphia,” “general hospital” and “Power Book 2 Ghost” He’s a meisner trained actor, is fluent in Spanish and also teaches the craft. If you love learning more about the film world and acting, then you're going to love t...

Sophia Blum is an actor, director, producer and educator. She’s best known for her role as Martha in The Chosen. In addition to recently completing filming for season 6 of The Chosen, she is currently in post-production for a short film she wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in called MIA. She is also currently teaching acting and directing a production of Pride and Prejudice at The Universi...

Eric Woodyard is the Detroit Lions beat reporter for ESPN. He’s an award-winning journalist from Flint, Michigan. Eric has also authored a few books, we talk about that and his personal journey growing up in flint and making it to where he is today, and the most touching story he's covered so far in his career. With the Lions playing some Monday Night Football tonight, we talk about what you c...

Nicholas Moreano is a Chicago Bears beat reporter and digital media coordinator for the Marquee Sports Network in Chicago. Nick is also a fellow DePaul grad and has been covering the Bears professionally for four years now. This week we bring you another bonus episode because of the time sensitive topics Nick and I discuss regarding the Bears week 3 preview, what you can expect and why this game a...

Pat Ragazzo is a Mets reporter on SI which is part of sports illustrated. He also does recurring guest spots on TV for NBC and local news PIX11...as well as radio for ESPN New York and WFAN. I sat down with Pat and dove deep into Mets news and their chances of taking a wild card spot as the MLB postseason approaches. We talked about tonight’s series against the padres and its playoff implications,...

Demetrios Troy is an actor. You may recognize him most from his role as "Lazarus" in The Chosen TV series. He's also been on shows like Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. Demetrios also has many theatre credits, having performed in the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Demetrios is a fellow Chicagoan, we talk about his roots and how he began his acting career. We also talk about his faith, bein...

Diane Pathieu is a traffic anchor and reporter for ABC7 Chicago. Diane is Assyrian, her parents are immigrants from Syria and Lebanon. In this episode, we discuss touching topics like the recent passing of her husband Nick Adamski, who was battling brain cancer. Diane talks about dealing with grief and how she's been seeing a grief therapist. We also dive deep into her personal journey in the...

Fred Mitchell is an award-winning sports journalist who formerly worked for the Chicago Tribune from 1974 to 2015 – where he became the beat writer covering the Chicago Bulls, Cubs and Bears. He was hired as the Chicago Tribune’s first African-American sportswriter. He’s the author of 12 books, that he's authored with NFL Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and MLB Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, as well...

Jay Cohen is a sports writer and editor for the Associated Press. He spends half his time covering sports in Chicago and the other half on the AP’s national desk, editing stories from all over the world. He’s done the last four summer olympics for the AP, and he teaches a sports business journalism class at DePaul. Enjoy this episode!

Reza Diako is an English-Persian actor from Austria. You may know him as “Phillip” from The Chosen, he’s also been in movies like “The Covenant” – “The Diplomat” and Emmy-award winning Apple TV drama “Tehran." You’ll also be seeing him in an upcoming film “The Astronaut," which releases on September 18th. Reza is multilingual, has a passion for psychology and mental health – hoping to op...

Laurence Holmes is an iconic on-air radio host for Chicago’s 670 the score, he was previously a sports anchor at NBC Chicago and NBC Sports Chicago. Laurence is an adjunct professor -- or "scholar practitioner" as he likes to call it -- at DePaul University. He also writes comic books. We discuss his journey into the sports media world and how he pays it forward to young budding journalists. Laure...

Zachary James is a grammy-award-winning music artist and actor. He took home a grammy in 2022 for best opera recording in the production Akhnaten. Now, Zachary is spending his days rehearsing for “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl. He’ll be playing Caiaphas. He also just announced he'll be playing Claude Frollo in Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in London. I ha...

Adam Rittenberg is a national college football reporter for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2008 and also worked as a sports writer for the Daily Herald prior to that. Adam is one of my closest mentors, he was my professor at DePaul University. In this episode, we discuss his journey into the sports journalism world, some of the toughest stories he's covered, how NIL has changed the college football l...

Alaa Safi is a French actor, director and producer. You may know him as Simon Z from The Chosen, or from his recent roles in Indiana Jones and Doctor Strange. He was also a world champion in Tae Kwon Do at 18 years old. He also partnered with Jackie Chan in Chinese Zodiac. We discuss many behind the scenes moments in his career, as well as insecurities, embarrassing moments, and more. Alaa is such...

Ben Golliver is the National NBA Writer for the Washington Post and author of "Bubble Ball," a book about his 93-day stay inside the NBA's Disney World Bubble during the 2019-2020 pandemic season. Ben is one of my dear friends, we covered NBA All-Star together, we dive into the fun stories and moments we've had together through the years. Ben also reveals some of his most difficu...

I sit down with my fellow Assyrian brother, Beneil, after his unanimous win over Renato Moicano in the UFC 317 main card. We discuss how it felt being back in the octagon for the first time since 2023, his faith and how he's a coffee connoisseur. We also talk about his youngest-born daughter and how he plans to have like 10 kids.

Inaugural episode with my fiancé Giavani Cairo. We talk about how he feels about returning to film season 6 of The Chosen, what his insecurities and struggles have been and we also have some fun banter regarding our division rival sports teams.