The TALK4 Podcast with Louis Skupien

In episode 177 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Colonel Maryann “Yeti” Karlen, Commandant of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School is one of the most legendary institutions in aviation history, but as Yeti explains in this episode, its modern mission goes far beyond simply creating test pilots. Today, TPS dev...

In episode 176 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Lieutenant Colonel Charles “Maddog” Brantigan, Commander of the 416th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. 🚗 Check your next car with carVertical! Use my link and code for a discount:👉 https://www.carvertical.com/louis20Code: LOUIS20 The 416th is one of the most exciting squadrons in modern military aviation, flying and...

In episode 175 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Joshua Gould, CEO of thebigword, a global language technology company operating across more than 250 languages and over 80 countries. Joshua shares his incredible journey from leaving university after just two weeks, learning sales from the ground up, and working his way through the business world to leading one of the most importan...

In Episode 174 of the  Talk4 Podcast , Louis Skupien sits down with  Nissim Titan , CEO and Founder of  4Cast  — an AI-powered Decision Intelligence company helping leaders make smarter, faster decisions in complex, high-stakes environments. 4Cast positions itself as a platform built to support better strategic, operational, and tactical decision-making across industries including defence, critica...

In Episode 173 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with  Ben Tasker , an AI education and workforce transformation leader helping organisations scale AI adoption in practical, responsible ways. Ben explains why AI is less about “tech implementation” and more about  change management  — training people, redesigning workflows, building accountability, and reducing risk. We discuss the “AI...

In  Episode 172 of the TALK4 Podcast , Louis Skupien sits down with  Michael “Mike” Durant  — retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer, elite Black Hawk pilot, and one of the central figures in the true story behind  Black Hawk Down . Mike takes us inside  October 3rd, 1993 — the Battle of Mogadishu . From the mission build-up, to the moment his MH-60’s  tail rotor was hit , to the crash, the firef...

In episode 171 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with  Brigadier General Charles “Charlie” Duke  — Apollo 16 Moonwalker, former CAPCOM for Apollo 11, and one of the last surviving astronauts to have walked on the Moon. Charlie became the  10th person and the youngest at the time  to step onto the lunar surface in 1972. In this extraordinary conversation, he takes us through an aviation...

In episode 170 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Dr Tony Dice — former firefighter, paramedic, U.S. Navy SEAL, addict in recovery, therapist, and author of After the Trident: A Navy SEAL’s Battle with Secrets, Addiction and Shame . Tony’s story is as extreme as it gets. From chasing chaos as a first responder and SEAL, to becoming physically and spiritually broken by alcohol and c...

In episode 169 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Miles Spencer – serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of Reflekta AI , a “Soul Tech” company that lets you preserve and talk with AI versions of your loved ones, even after they’ve passed. Miles shares his journey from a curious kid in Pittsburgh to building early digital media and mobile ad-tech companies, co-creating the T...

In this powerful conversation,  Chris Kaspar  (Founder,  Techless ) breaks down how phones and platforms were engineered for addiction — and what he’s building instead:  Wisephone  for adults and  Sage Mobile  (a full iPhone experience with layered protections) for kids and teens. We cover: The foster-care moment that sparked Techless Why “evil defaults” + the attention economy = anxiety, distract...

In episode 167 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien welcomes Jessica “Sting” Peterson — flight-test engineer, TPS instructor, and PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former civil-service technical director and instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School, Sting worked on Auto-GCAS and air collision-avoidance systems now credited with saving over a dozen pilot li...

In EP 166, Louis sits down with  Mark Lee Fox , former Space Shuttle solid rocket booster chief engineer and founder of  Resona Health . Mark explains how his aerospace career shaped his approach to building the  VIBE , a pocket PEMF device designed to deliver ultra-low-power energy protocols for anxiety, sleep, pain support, recovery and more—plus similar approaches for pets and horses. We cover:...

In EP165, Louis sits down with  Bryant Cruse , a former U.S. Navy aviator and space-systems engineer who helped apply AI to Hubble operations before founding  New Sapience  — a company building deterministic, knowledge-based “artificial intellects” that  can’t hallucinate  and are designed to help humans live better, smarter lives. We cover: Why  knowledge  (not tokens) is the missing half of AI L...

EP 164 — Maj Joseph “Paveway” Bledsoe III | F-15E Evaluator Pilot & USAFA Fellow In this episode, Louis sits down with  Maj Joseph “Paveway” Bledsoe III  — an F-15E Strike Eagle evaluator pilot with 1,500+ hours (including  344 combat hours  supporting Operation Inherent Resolve) and a Fellow at USAFA’s  Institute for Future Conflict . We dig into: Agile Combat Employment (ACE)  — what it is,...

In episode 163 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien speaks with Dave Munson — founder of Saddleback Leather and author of  They'll Fight Over It When You're Dead . From sketching a leather bag in Mexico to building a globally respected brand with a cult following, Dave’s journey is one of resilience, faith, and visionary thinking. We discuss: Why cheap products are killing quality How to build a br...

In  Episode 162  of the  Talk4 Podcast , Louis Skupien welcomes Dr Robb Kelly — a recovered alcoholic, Oxford‑educated neuroscientist, and founder of the Robb Kelly Recovery Group. From the streets of Manchester to becoming a trailblazer in addiction recovery, Dr Kelly shares his journey of hitting rock bottom, where a moment of clarity sparked a mission to save lives. He reveals why addiction is...

In this explosive episode, Louis Skupien is joined by Brig Barker — former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Army veteran with the 82nd Airborne — who’s spent over three decades tackling violent crime, terrorism, and transnational threats across the globe. Brig dives deep into the psychology of terrorism, how groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS operate, and how AI is now reshaping the threat landscape....

In Episode 160 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien welcomes Anagha Deshmukh, founder of The Power Scripts and a leadership transformation specialist who uses the science of handwriting to help CEOs and boards resolve friction and accelerate execution. After a 23-year career in engineering and marketing, Anagha pivoted to pursue her passion: helping leaders get boardroom breakthroughs by diagnosing...

In episode 159 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien welcomes Russ “Puck” Quinn — former USAF Thunderbird solo pilot, F-16 Weapons School graduate, and now Chief Growth Officer at Top Aces, the world’s only commercial operator of the F-16 fighter jet. From flying inches apart at Mach speeds to leading a fleet of privately operated fighter jets training next-gen F-35 and F-22 pilots — Russ shares one...

In Episode 158 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Rick Walker — a serial entrepreneur, leadership strategist, and author of "Nine Steps to Build a Life of Meaning." In this captivating conversation, Rick shares how he scaled multiple businesses across 50+ countries, battled through personal and health crises, and developed a deep appreciation for ancient philosophy, service, and pe...

In episode 157 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien welcomes Retired Brigadier General Max Stitzer, a veteran U.S. Air Force leader with over 30 years of service spanning combat deployments, Pentagon leadership, and cutting-edge defense innovation. In this episode, Max shares his unlikely journey from enlisting with only a high school diploma to becoming a general officer. He discusses the challeng...

In episode 156 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien sits down with Colonel Jason Herring, outgoing Wing Commander of the 621st Contingency Response Wing — the U.S. Air Force’s only wing solely focused on rapidly deploying teams to open airbases and respond to global crises. With 26 years of service, Jason’s career has spanned from combat operations as a C-130 pilot to strategic leadership in irregu...

In episode 155 of the  Talk4 Podcast , Louis Skupien sits down with Dr. Luis Luarca—an organizational psychologist, leadership expert, and former CFO with over 25 years of experience transforming businesses. Luis blends his unique background in finance, human behaviour, and leadership psychology to reveal how ego, poor communication, and ignoring employees often hold businesses back. He shares act...

In Episode 154 of the Talk4 Podcast, host Louis Skupien is joined by Christian Bruhn, a former Army Ranger and intelligence analyst who now runs "The Art of Time," a business focused on luxury watch trading and collection management. Christian takes us through his transformation—from driving a Budweiser keg truck in Louisiana to deploying with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, then diving into entre...

In episode 153 of the Talk4 Podcast, Louis Skupien is joined by Commander Trevor "Phantom" Merrell, Commander of the 25th Attack Group at Shaw AFB. With over 2,900 flight hours across platforms like the F-16 and MQ-9 Reaper, Phantom shares his extraordinary path through U.S. Air Force aviation and command. From surviving a catastrophic F-16 ejection to developing ISR strategy in the Pentagon and c...