Seemingly Ordinary

Author, musician, and podcaster Sam Dierberger and I have a conversation about five outstanding works of fiction, and why you'd probably like them a lot. Suttree, by Cormac McCarthy Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner Dracula, Bram Stoker The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler (This episode was recorded on February 3, 2024.)

Check out a story that is at the very beginning! 23-year-old Grace Vannoy is a beautiful soul--kind, smart and adventurous--and she has done something extraordinary: she's devoted her life to serving God and others. The  Student Life Coordinator at Christ Church, Grace studied religion in depth for over four years, and is doing her best to build up our society's youth. Hear Grace's...

Sammy Kopecky is only 21, and yet is an extraordinarily good photographer who started her business in high school. She quickly gained a following, and did senior pictures, events, and family gatherings. Now, she's accelerated to a whole new level--the holy grail of wedding photography.  How did she do it? How did she rise so quickly? In a compelling interview, she tells her highly unusual sto...

Sam Dierberger is a college senior who has worked in many retail environments. He has many stories about shoplifters, crazy people, and bosses who are hell bent to right every wrong. (This episode was recorded in March 2024.)

See why home schooling has surged in the past few years to over 7 million families. If you want to raise smart, tough, kind, cheerful, hard working, responsible kids equally at home with working with their hands or reading books, home schooling might be for you. Listen to expert Stacie Brown explain how she and her seven amazing kids do it. (This episode was recorded March 1, 2024.)

Stacie Brown's seven kids perform above grade level, start their own businesses, do workworking, leatherworking, and can make knives. Why are her kids so diversely skilled and active? Why do they love to be outside and read? What makes them get along so well with adults and others? Homeschooling has doubled in size in recent years, to over 7,000,000 students. Find out what this exciting, pers...

Adam Clement is a successful entrepreneur who leads a team. He is also a licensed marriage therapist who helps couples--although, he helps many others with many things. In this episode, we discuss dealing with: people who are too tight with money, people who are too loose with money, control freaks, and how to keep your marriage intact--as well as what do do when catastrophe strikes (like divorce)...

Marriage therapist Adam Clement also is a successful entrepreneur who leads a team and helps others get profitable. We discuss two things:  Can money buy happiness, and what is most useful about Dave Ramsey's way of living life? (This episode was recorded on Feb. 4, 2024.)

After achieving her life's dream of becoming a TV reporter, Caroline Burkard lived through a hurricane and found herself devastated by it.  What do you after you achieve your wildest dream--only to have it ripped from you? With grace and tenacity, you start over. This is the story of Caroline Burkard's hard-fought recovery. (This episode was recorded on February 23, 2024.)

Caroline Burkard was an TV news reporter who was everything the news business ever wanted--telegenic, outgoing, a good storyteller--until she lived through a hurricane, and had to cover the aftermath. The devastation, the stories of people who lost everything, and the reaction of her own executives--nearly broke her. She started off idealistic. Everything changed. She's had to remake herself....

Before Mike Coy’s father passed, he said, “Make a Difference, Son.”  That credo has led Mike, a lifelong athlete and a former baseball coach with 3 Texas State Championships and 1 National Championship, to now urging men to take care better care of their health. Never sick a day in his life, Mike had to suffer through cancer—although he bounced back, and now, at age 70, still plays baseball with a...

Sammy Kopecky is a professional photographer (episode 28) and a future F.O.C.U.S. missionary. Currently a senior in college, she has traveled to Peru (episode 141) and she has great advice for taking your relationships to a whole new level (episode 97). Always growing, Sammy is disarmingly relaxed. How does she do it all? In this episode, she takes her very successful life in a brand new direction...

In this concluding episode, Sam and I discuss religion, and he continues to mesmerize me with great stories. Don't miss this excellent conversation, in which Sam puts my brain in high gear.   Sam's podcast, "Those Film Nerds," is available on YouTube and other places. His album, "Them Who Haunt," is on Spotify and elsewhere.  (This episode was recorded on Jan. 20, 202...

The well-read Sam Dierberger joins me to discuss his album, tell me some great stories, and he begins to explain what he really thinks about God. (This episode was recorded on Jan. 20, 2024.)

In this wide-ranging conversation with Sam Dierberger, a brilliant senior from Rockhurst University, we discuss his 700 page novel, the crazy real-life stories that inspired it, religion, how Sam’s had his worldview severely challenged, and much, much more. Sam is a great storyteller with highly unusual observations. You’ll love this.  (This episode was recorded on Jan. 20, 2024.)

When college works, it really works. Sam Dierberger is a brilliant, well-read, fascinating senior at Rockhurst University who is going to law school in August, which raises the question: does college make people brilliant? Or do some brilliant people go to college? But what I find compelling about Sam are his many interests. Sam wrote two novels while in college. He loves literature, politics, phi...

Everyone wishes he or she were stronger, more self-disciplined, and more courageous; it's the key to life. Adam Clement discusses resilience: what it is, what gets in the way of developing it, and how to grow it to be a better spouse, parent, friend, and everything else that you want to be. A truly great conversation, loaded with insight and practical advice.

A Marriage Therapist Discusses All of Those Petty Personality Traits That Can Drive You Crazy (Part 2): Bossy people. Indecisive people. People who minimize your problems. And many more!

Little white lies. Secretive people. People who have to one-up you. Fake people. A Marriage Therapist Discusses All of Those Petty Personality Traits That Can Drive You Crazy (Part 1).  Part 2 arrives on January 23, 2024.

Father Merle Kollasch, 89 1/2, has been a priest for nearly sixty years. I ask him about his parents, childhood, time in Rome, his life as a priest, teacher, coach, and much more.  He is a great storyteller and a great, wise man. (This episode was recorded in Dec. 2023.)

Dr. Blaine Leeds is a dentist, an expert in sleep health, and the author of "What Happens When Your Child Doesn’t Sleep: Unlock the Secret to Happy, Healthy Children." By embracing new technology and AI, Dr. Leeds has pioneered new treatments that help with the many problems sleep apnea can cause, from high blood pressure to ADD, ADHD, bedwetting in kids, large tonsils, adenoids, and man...

Mark B. Murphy and his company, Northeast Private Client Group, helps over 4,000 clients do almost anything they want to do in the world of real estate, running your own business, and working in the finance industry. He also helps employees broaden their horizons. More than just a financial firm—although he runs an amazing financial firm—Mark helps entrepreneurs achieve multigenerational wealth. F...

Helene Waldeck has an adventurous spirit. We discuss her time in Alaska, bears, moose, the wild people up north, driving the Alaskan Highway and taking a 5,000 mile roadtrip through deserted lands, and--now--Helene faces the Big Question: What Comes Next?