The Salad Bowl Podcast

Can you serve your country for 20 years...and still feel weird chanting "USA"? This Side Salad isn't about questioning patriotism—it's about questioning what patriotism means. A little World Cup, a few American flags, and a whole lot of curiosity over certainty. Let's toss it around. ⚽🇺🇸🥗

This short idea could be an amplified look on "The Golden Rule".

This episode, The Salad Bowl Podcast does something a little different. For the first time, the conversation is led by guest host Moriah Thompson , who sits down with Felice Gaddis-Sosa for an authentic discussion about the beauty, complexity, and power of sisterhood . What does sisterhood really mean? Is it limited to blood relatives, or is it something we build through friendship, community, and...

This Father's Day, we're serving up a special Side Salad dedicated to the fathers, father figures, and men who choose to show up every single day. In this short but meaningful conversation, Kevin explores the often unseen weight of fatherhood, the importance of presence over perfection, and why fathers remain an essential pillar in families and communities. Using the lasting effects of the war on...

What if one of the greatest forms of generational wealth we can pass down to our children isn't money, but health, confidence, and resilience? In this heartfelt Side Salad segment, Kevin Thompson reflects on an unconscious bias he discovered within himself as a father. Like many dads, he easily envisioned future bonding experiences with his son—sports, music, and becoming "gym partners." But it le...

🌈 SIDE SALAD: Pride, Belonging, and the Space Between 🌈 For this special Pride Month Side Salad, Kevin stands in front of Café Lafitte in Exile—one of the oldest continuously operating gay bars in America—to explore a question that reaches far beyond sexuality: What's the difference between fitting in and truly belonging? Using the history of Pride, the legacy of the Stonewall Riots, and his own...

In this episode of The Salad Bowl Podcast , Kevin sits down with Pritam Rai, better known as Razif , for a powerful conversation about resilience, identity, and the pursuit of purpose. Razif shares the incredible story of his family's journey from refugee camps in Nepal to building a life in the United States. Along the way, he reflects on the challenges of adapting to a new culture, serving in th...

What happens when ignorance is no longer protected by silence? In this powerful Side Salad segment from The Salad Bowl Podcast , we dive into the difference between being “non-racist” and truly anti-racist in today’s culture. As conversations around racism, bias, accountability, and social responsibility continue to evolve, this episode challenges listeners to rethink what it means to confront har...

There’s a lot I’m still learning about this—and I’m open about that. “Boys will be boys” is the conversation, but I don’t want it to end with a phrase—we need to unpack it. If you live in spaces where boys are being shaped every day—educators, teachers, coaches—I’d value your perspective. What does that phrase get right? Where does it miss? And what responsibility do we carry in defining it moving...

We think “The Talk” is coming one day… A single conversation we have to get right. But the real one? We won’t even be there for it. One day, your child will sit across from someone they love… and answer a question that will define everything: “What was it like being raised by you?” That answer is being written right now— in the small moments we overlook. So when they tell your story— will it sound...

Season 2, Episode 5 of The Salad Bowl Podcast features Brent Dorrough—a man whose story is rooted in discipline, growth, and an unwavering commitment to becoming better than he was yesterday. In this episode, we sit down with Brent to unpack the layers that shaped him—from his upbringing and early influences to the defining moments that tested his character and sharpened his perspective. Brent bri...

In this episode of The Salad Bowl Podcast , I sit down with someone who doesn’t just talk about leadership—he lives it. Zach Gonzalez is the kind of man who understands that what you carry in silence often shapes how you show up in every room you enter. We start at the foundation—his upbringing in New York—and how the environment he was raised in helped shape his mindset, his edge, and his perspec...

Who builds the statues—and who never gets a chisel? In this Side Salad segment from The Salad Bowl Podcast, we examine how power shapes history: who writes textbooks, who’s called “heroic,” and whose voices are left out of the national narrative. This episode argues for a richer, more honest story of America—one made of many perspectives rather than a single monument. We explore colonization, slav...

What does it mean to truly show up as yourself in a world that constantly tries to define you? In this episode of The Salad Bowl Podcast , Kevin sits down with Shawon Clark for a powerful conversation about leadership, personal identity, resilience, and the experiences that shape how we move through the world. Shawon shares his journey—diving into the moments that tested him, the lessons that buil...

What happens when positivity becomes a shield from truth? In this Side Salad, we unpack a quiet cultural habit: choosing comfort over honesty. From personal relationships to conversations about racism, immigration, leadership, and societal problems, the pressure to “stay positive” can sometimes silence the truth that growth requires. Is optimism helping us heal — or helping us avoid? In true Salad...

What if the most dangerous person in the room isn’t the one holding the weapon… but the one holding the microphone? This Side Salad connects an ancient fable to social media culture, political polarization, and the power of digital amplification. Listen carefully.

In this Side Salad, I challenge the reflex to reduce people to labels. What if the “liberal,” the “illegal,” the “piece of…” or the stereotype you casually assign doesn’t tell the full story? What if the person you’ve minimized excels in ways you’ve never considered? This episode asks a harder question: What does it say about our character when we choose dehumanization over curiosity? Sometimes la...

In this special episode of The Salad Bowl Podcast, I’m sitting down with someone who isn’t just a guest — he’s one of my bestest friends, my brother in life, and someone I’ve been proud to know for nearly 20 years: Brandon Mitchell. This conversation hits different because Brandon and I don’t just talk… we reflect. We challenge. We laugh. We unpack what it really means to become a man, a leader, a...

In a world full of influencers and misinformation and before you let someone’s words shake your confidence, your clarity, or your sense of self—pause. In this Side Salad, we unpack a truth most of us learn the hard way: position does not equal qualification. From bosses and parents to leaders, pastors, friends, and celebrities, we’re often taught to trust the loudest voices in authoritative spaces...

Girl + Boy Doesn’t Equal Sex is a Side Salad conversation that challenges one of the most quietly damaging assumptions in our workplaces and social spaces: that the mere presence of different genders automatically introduces sexual tension. In this episode, we step into the Human Resources lens—not to police behavior, but to examine human dynamics, boundaries, and professionalism at their core. We...

In the journey of podcasting, I’ve learned something unexpected. If your goal is views, comments, and engagement, the obvious move is to sit across from someone with a large following. That makes sense in today’s world. But I’ve also learned that some of the most compelling, meaningful stories don’t come from people chasing attention at all. This episode is one of those moments. I sat down with Te...

What happens when we stop talking about generations—and start talking to them? In this Side Salad, I step into a conversation that’s been quietly waiting its turn: a conversation across generations. From Baby Boomers and Gen X, who carried the weight of survival and sacrifice, to Millennials shaped by transition, to Gen Z and Gen Alpha redefining awareness and emotional fluency—this episode is a p...

Season Two starts now. 🥗✨ In a world that wants us to blend in, The Salad Bowl Podcast exists to remind us: You don’t have to dissolve who you are to belong. Different stories. Different experiences. Different flavors—still whole, still necessary. This isn’t about telling you what to believe. It’s about asking better questions. Listening deeper. And showing up as your full self—without apology....

The Final Project of 2025 As 2025 comes to a close, this Side Salad marks the final offering of the year for The Salad Bowl Podcast —a quiet, intentional pause before Season 2 begins in 2026. In this deeply reflective episode, we explore the parts of ourselves we rarely put on display: procrastination, jealousy, ego, lust, negativity—the inner patterns that shape how we show up long before anyone...

In this Side Salad segment, Kevin sits with a thought that’s been showing up in different corners of life: what happens when our deepest passions quietly turn into moral platforms? We all know what it feels like to be committed to something—our work, our faith, our identity, our cause. But sometimes that very commitment becomes a measuring stick we use to judge others, even when we don’t mean to....