Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor

The anchor episode. Dave's friend, Shannon, came in from Denver and did the thing nobody had done on the show yet — sat Dave down and defined the whole phrase, one word at a time. Shut up isn't aimed at anyone else. It's an internal pause — quieting the filters and preconceptions before you decide whether someone's worth your time. The and makes it a "so-that." Love i...

Some friendships start with a big moment. Most of them don't. Jason and Dave met in a local Facebook group, kept a loose digital eye on each other for a while, and then Jason did something most people don't do — he offered to help. He's been behind the camera and the edits on the podcast ever since. On this episode, Dave finally turns the lens around on Jason — the guy who designs c...

Some people throw open their door because someone is at it. Nicole has been throwing hers open for 19 years — whether anyone is at it or not. On this episode of Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor, Dave sits down with our friend Nicole — an OG of this lifestyle long before there was a name on a t-shirt. They get into hospitality, proximity, and the unglamorous work of being available to people. She a...

Pastor Ashley's road to ministry didn't run in a straight line. It ran through a music conservatory, a vocal performance program, a switch to musical theater, two-plus years auditioning in New York City, and a season of getting genuinely lost — before the call she had been hearing since childhood finally caught up with her. In Episode 6, Dave and Pastor Ashley sit down for one of the mos...

Some people impact your life in big, obvious ways. Others do it quietly, consistently, and without ever asking for recognition. Megan is one of those people. In this episode, we sit down with someone we don’t know all that well—but who has already made a meaningful impact on our lives. What unfolds is a powerful conversation about family, loss, resilience, and what it really means to show up for o...

What do questionable wedding dance moves have to do with the loneliness epidemic? More than you might think. In this episode of Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor , Dave sits down with longtime friend Bruce to talk about how their friendship started on a dance floor years ago in Austin, Texas… and why building real friendships as adults has somehow become so difficult. What starts as stories about m...

What do a broken Volkswagen in Paris, a delayed flight, and learning someone’s name have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor, Dave sits down with his friend Jon Ackerman to talk about the small moments that help people feel seen in a world that often moves too fast. What starts with travel chaos and a story about push-starting a 1971 Volkswagen...

A rogue driverless Uber, a driveway chalk message, a fat goldfish, and a conversation about what it really means to love your neighbor. In this first episode of Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor , Dave reflects on everyday moments that reveal how listening and presence shape real connection. Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor is a weekly conversation about listening better, slowing down, and loving t...

Welcome to Shut Up & Love Your Neighbor . This podcast started by accident — a Friday night, some time, some thoughts, and apparently some opinions. But while it began unintentionally, it’s very much on purpose now. For the last 14 years, my wife and I have been working on something simple but not easy: listening better and loving the people right in front of us. Not perfectly. Just intentiona...