The Kindness Chronicles

Reviving a Marching Band Legacy: How Teachers Build Community in Forest Lake | The Kindness Chronicles  Steve and Jeff fill in for John and discuss Steve’s volunteer experience at the Special Olympics USA Games ESPN Unified Sports Challenge at Allianz Field, where he accompanied producer Jimmy "Jam" Harris and various celebrity sideline coaches.  They then welcome Forest Lake educators J...

Minnesota Nice at Lionel Richie & Earth, Wind & Fire + A Day with Jimmy Jam at Special Olympics  The hosts recap attending the Earth, Wind & Fire and Lionel Richie concert in St. Paul, including memories of their first concert together decades ago, Earth, Wind & Fire’s energetic set and deep catalog, and a merch moment that coincided with seeing a recent KCP guest. Lionel Richie op...

In this episode, we welcome strategic executive leader and event producer Kelly Olson, joined by her husband Eric Scott Olson, to discuss her career in live events and television and her current work on the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in the Twin Cities.  Kelly shares her origin story working on the 1991 Special Olympics opening ceremony, including an early assignment to find a piano for Princ...

In this episode, the hosts reflect on KG’s father’s memorial and the support from family, friends, and organizations, then share details for the July 12 Semper Fi Flo hole-in-one challenge fundraiser at Loggers Trail Golf Course in Stillwater.  The conversation features special guest Jeff Meslow, a 25-year NCAA football official and 10-year Big Ten line judge, who describes his path from starting...

At a Minnesota Masonic Charities scholarship event, the CEO explains a scholarship program designed to recognize everyday kindness by having students nominate a peer and share the award. The program’s purpose is to uncover and celebrate stories of service that often go unnoticed, highlighting how simple actions can create ripple effects across schools and communities. Throughout the night, several...

On The Kindness Chronicles podcast, John Schwietz surprises Winona State student Addison Nash—called while she’s on a boat—after her friend Sienna nominates her for a Minnesota Masonic Charities Selfless Scholarship, awarding $5,000 shared between Addison and Sienna; they discuss Addison’s empathy, the death of her brother Tommy from sudden cardiac arrest, and the family’s Be Like Tommy nonprofit...

KCP Crew Reacts to Eric Church’s “Six Strings of Life” UNC 2026 Commencement The KC Crew discuss graduation season and family updates, including a daughter graduating from the University of Minnesota, then do a “reaction video” to Eric Church’s 2026 University of North Carolina commencement speech. Church frames life like a six-string guitar, urging graduates to keep key “strings” in tune: faith,...

The KC Crew learned that The Kindness Chronicles was ranked #2 on Feedspot’s “30 Best Kindness Podcasts for 2026,” THANK YOU, listeners! They quickly review the Masonic Children’s Hospital gala that raised about $2.5 million, as an example of kindness through philanthropy. The episode then focuses on an extended discussion of The Blues Brothers, including Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s origin stor...

In the 200th episode of The Kindness Chronicles, the hosts welcome back storyteller and former advertising executive Neal Ford to discuss how his ad career shaped his focus on emotionally resonant communication and how a viral TikTok story launched his social media storytelling. Neal recounts a 1969 experience when strangers helped his family after a car breakdown near Bakersfield, restoring his f...

After a couple of “LONG Stories,” we explore the oxytocin-inducing storytelling of the late great Rob Reiner

Our scheduled guest was unable to join us, SO…More Wild talk (that’s all KG knows…and movies), and Steve leads us in another one of his Kindness Comebacks game. 

A playoff preview for the Minnesota Wild with KG followed by game show host, Steve Brown, and his Kindness comebacks.

The KCP Crew welcomes Anytime Fitness co-founder Chuck Runyon, who reflects on growing up on the East Side of St. Paul and his journey in building Anytime Fitness, which comprises nearly 6,000 global locations.  Chuck discusses the challenges and innovations during COVID closures, and outlines the company’s emphasis on training, nutrition, recovery, senior fitness programs, storytelling-driven cul...

St. Paul native and Sirius XM personality, The Catholic Guy, Lino Rulli joins us. This guy is a lot of fun. Check it out.

KCP crew visit with kindness and character icon, Joe is the founder and president of Youth Frontiers, an organization that has been providing unique character development programs in schools for decades.

The KC Crew review celebrity kindness thru a silly little game. 

The KCP Crew welcomes AUTHENTIC Irishman, John Cosgrove gives us a peek into the Irish community in Minnesota. 

We visit with author, Denise Cesare. After losing her voice in a serious car accident, this professional speech and language pathologist from Brooklyn shares the origin and motivation for her book, Moments in Motion with Love. 

Let’s celebrate the woman behind the man…Patti Brooks. We review the 2026 Winter Olympics with KG, and visit with Kelly Paradise (daughter of 1980 Gold Medal US Olympic Hockey Team Coach, Herb Brooks’s). Joining us in studio is Kelly’s friend (and Kindess Chronicles listener) since kindergarten, Andrea Kangas. So may fun stories. 

The KC Crew visit with an extraordinary group of people who have taken their kindness to the Malawi, Africa. Our guests started their incredible journey into philanthropy as young Girl Scouts and created an organization, GRO (Girls Reaching Out), that provides fresh water wells for villages throughout Malawi. The program has evolved into a powerhouse organization, engaging volunteers from companie...

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Kindness Chronicles crew. We visit with a lovely group of College friends that have managed to spend an unusual amount of time with each other with very little drama. Maybe a little drama. 🤣

Clown Car alert: the entire KC Crew gather, discuss the joy of a successful Minnesota Wild Team and we visit with Shawn Kor from Eagle’s Healing Nest. 

FINALLY, KG has a night off to join the KC Crew for a little conversation 

This week the KCP Crew visit with KARE11 alum and extraordinary storyteller, Mark Daly. 

The KCP Crew welcomes Timothy Mathews. Timothy a writer, Care Minister, and kindness advocate whose work centers on empathy, connection, and the quiet power of everyday compassion. Through storytelling, community leadership, and practical action, Timothy helps individuals and organizations experience kindness as a lived practice rather than an abstract ideal. He is the author of The Night Before P...