The Good Listener Podcast

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with Buck Angel, a male to female transexual who has lived 30 years as a woman and 30 years as a man. Buck spoke to me about his childhood growing up feelings like he was in the wrong body, the decision to "cross-over" despite there being little-to-no conversation around the topic at the time and the medical process including surgery and testoste...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with Ger Redmond, Irish professional triathlete who has truly turned his life around in an extraordinary way. Ger shared his experiences growing up in one of Ireland’s roughest areas, having his pro soccer dreams dashed, having to raise his younger siblings following his father’s imprisonment, his progression through the ranks of a criminal gang and his ev...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to Ian Bailey. Ian moved to West Cork (Ireland) years before the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, an incident which later became subject of a 3 part Netflix series  Ian spoke to me about his memories from the time of the murder and the subsequent years of his life as Gardai pursued him as their prime suspect, his own theories regarding the killing...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to Donna Zephrine, a former military mechanic who completed two tours of Iraq. She told me about her road to the army, her tours of combat in the Middle East, dealing with the mental strain of combat and living on a military base, having a learning disability, PTSD among soldiers/veterans and much more. 00:00 Intro, basic training  07:15 Becoming a light-w...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with John Crawley (Ex-US Marine and IRA volunteer), author of the "The Yank: The True Story of a Former US Marine in the Irish Republican Army". John spoke to me about his move to Ireland from the US as a teen, his time in the US Marine Corps, his joining the IRA and how the organization works from the inside. I asked John about his gunrunning mi...

Send us Fan Mail (CLIP FROM PREV. EPISODE (#13))  Former NYPD Hostage Negotiator Mike Ahearne recounts his craziest call-out. FULL EPISODE- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4nLy0tZYZI&t=1435s

Send us Fan Mail **** TIMESTAMPS***  For this episode I spoke with Irish-American author, Peter Quinn about his growing up in 50s/60s Bronx, his various books, Irish famine immigration, life as a writer, his thoughts on Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" and much more PETER'S BOOKS https://www.fordhampress.com/peter-quinn/ ***TIMESTAMPS*** 00:00 Preview, Peter’s background ...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke w/ Irish crime journalist and author, Nicola Tallant. She spoke to us about the upcoming trial of one of Ireland’s most infamous criminals, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch” and the shocking revelation that a Sinn Fein local councilor will be turning state’s witness against him. Nicola spoke to me about the background of the Hutch/Kinahan feud and the notorious “Reg...

Send us Fan Mail FUNDRAISER LINK- Please consider helping out w/ John's future ****** https://www.gofundme.com/f/muay-thai-community-each-other-for-a-brother **** TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Getting into Muay Thai, first fights 17:08 DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, WAKING UP IN HOSPITAL & immediate aftermath 32:13 Learning to walk on prosthetic legs 50:03 TRAINING AGAIN 55:38 Plans to fight again 58:33 Any oth...

Send us Fan Mail *** TIMESTAMPS BELOW*** Former World Champion Boxer, Nutritionalist and Performance Coach, CHRIS ALGIERI gives his take on the recent article in The Atlantic magazine titled "Separating Sports by Sex Doesn’t Make Sense". 00:00 Intro  02:23 Chris’ thoughts on the article, co-ed sports PRE-PUBURITY, testosterone, general differences in athletic performance  06:18  SOCIALIZ...

Send us Fan Mail ***TIMESTAMPS BELOW*** For this episode I spoke to Cam F. Awesome, former USA Olympic team member with over 400 fights as an amauter who travels across America speaking at High Schools, businesses, conferences etc Cam spoke to me about his dealings with bullying and anxiety as a teen and how he lost weight and eventually joined a boxing gym where he learned the skills that took hi...

Send us Fan Mail ** TIMESTAMPS BELOW*** For this episode I spoke to Will Jimeno, former Port Authority cop, who, on the morning of 9/11 was one of the first to arrive at Ground Zero after the two Towers I've been hit. Will and his fellow officers were subsequently buried underneath both buildings when they collapsed and spent 13 hours trapped underneath the rubble. He spoke to me about his th...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to Rafael Mangual, the Nick Ohnell Fellow and head of research for the Policing and Public Safety Initiative at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal . We spoke about his own growing up in NYC with an NYPD detective as father and how this informed his views on police and policing. We spoke about the various hypothesis in his rec...

Send us Fan Mail *** TIMESTAMPS BELOW*** For this episode I spoke to Iraq War Veteran Chris Levi about his experiences while serving in the U.S military in Afghanistan and Iraq. Chris' time in Iraq came to an end when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle, Chris narrowly avoided death and lost both legs above the knee as well as sustaining a bad arm/hand injury. Chris told me about his time in a mi...

Send us Fan Mail For this ep. I spoke to exoneree Marty Tanleff. Marty woke up on the first day of his last high school year to find his mother murdered and father clinging to life. Two years later he found himself in prison having been setup for his parent's murders. After serving 18 years in prison he is now a lawyer and works to exonerate others who were once in his position. This is his s...

Send us Fan Mail ***TIMESTAMPS BELOW*** For this episode I was joined by Ivor Cummins, Irish Biochemical Engineer, Complex Problem Solving Specialist who has examined the studies and data surrounding c*v!d, effectiveness of lockdowns and masks and has been an outspoken critic of government overreach during the pandemic. @Ivor Cummins He shared his thoughts on the efficacy of masks (or lack thereof...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke w/ former NYPD Hostage Negotiator, Mike Ahearne. Mike told me about his path to the role of hostage negotiator within the NYPD, the ins and outs of the job as well as the skills required in a good negotiator. He shared with us the story of his own experience getting taken hostage in a police station for over 4 hours in 2002, some of his most memorable nego...

Send us Fan Mail **TIMESTAMPS BELOW** For this episode I spoke w/ former world champion kickboxer, world champion boxer, nutritionalist and author of two books, "The Fighter's Kitchen" and the recently released, "So You Want To Be A Fighter" (links for both below).  Chris told me about his growing up in combat sports and his first professional fight career as a kickboxer,...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke w/ former white supremacist skinhead leader Tony McAleer. (TIMESTAMPS BELOW) Tony told us about his upbringing and the traumas that contributed to his eventual joining of Canadian racist skinhead movement where he would progress to the role of leader. Tony spoke about the members that made up such groups, the disfunction that was pervasive within the movem...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke w/ combat sports photographer, writer and good friend Pari Aryafar.. she spoke to me about her discovery of Muay Thai at Renzo Gracies gym in NYC, the origins of her photography skills, her love of capturing the human moments within combat sports, studying writing and becoming a sports writer for the prestigious ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP. We also spoke abo...

Send us Fan Mail This is episode number 9.  For this episode I spoke w/ professional Muay Thai fighter and gym owner Jake Peacock. Jake told me about his growing up in England as the son of a professional soccer player, his start in combat sports, setting up a gym in Canada, his decision to turn pro after just 3 amateur Thai fights and his career to date.. 00:00 Start 01.20- intro and next fight a...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to former FBI counter-terrorism agent Mike German. Mike told me about his time spent undercover posing as a weapons trafficker investigating white supremacist gangs in California, his insight into governments methods of terrorism prevention and it’s flaws, his thoughts on mass shootings and what does and doesn’t work in trying to stop them. I also asked ab...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to Ian Smith, co-owner of the Atilis Gym in New Jersey.. Ian and his gym gained nationwide prominence in 2020 when he and his co-owner made the decision to re-open their business during the government imposed shutdown.  Ian spoke to me about his life previous to the gym-shutdown drama, his thought process as covid hit the US, the decision to re-open and re...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke to oscar nominated documentary director and producer Stanley Nelson. We spoke about his latest award-winning documentary Attica, based on the 1971 prisoner rebellion at the upstate New York prison which lasted five days and resulted in 43 deaths, both guards and inmates. I also asked Stanley about his own journey thru documentary making and how it began, w...

Send us Fan Mail My guest for EP. 5 was NYC Public Defender Kelvin Richards. Kelvin spoke to me about his path to the US having grown up in Liberia during a time of civil war and his time spent in refugee camps. He told me about how his experiences in NYC shaped his decision to become a public defender, the work of a public defender, the ins and outs of criminal justice system, bail reform in NY a...