Behind The Shield

Harry Turner is an Emmy winning filmmaker, with his film and life story – Wildcat. He deployed with the British Army at 18 and returned home with severe PTSD. With his life forever changed and not knowing what the future held, he left everything behind and fled to the Amazon rainforest. There, Harry found the peace his mind so desperately needed, but it opened the door to so much more healing. He...

Jules and Gédéon Naudet are the French brothers behind the documentaries 9/11, November 13 and Notre Dame to name a few. We discuss their childhood in Paris, studying film in NYU, what took them to the FDNY, their accounts of September 11, the heroism at the 2015 Paris attacks, saving Paris' most treasured landmark and so much more. Jules and Gedeon Naudet, brothers and filmmakers, shot, produced...

Aye Hood is a former rapper turned comedian from Shreveport. We discuss his childhood in Louisiana, the power of parenting, what pulls our youth into gangs, using social media for good, drug prohibition and so much more.

Mike Binney is a Battalion Chief at West Metro Fire Rescue in Lakewood, Colorado, with over 15 years of operational experience. He holds a Master of Public Administration in Emergency Management and Policy from the University of Colorado and recently earned his Master of Public Health in Health Informatics from Yale University, where he also served as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Bioethi...

Jim Poole is Chairman, President and CEO of Solace Lifesciences, Inc., maker of NuCalm® which is a neuroscience technology designed to relieve stress and improve sleep quality without drugs. In this second conversation, we discuss NuCalm's new Stress Assessment, cancer prevention, shift work, brain injury and so much more. Mr. Poole is an accomplished business executive with extensive experience i...

Johann Hari is the author of "Chasing the Scream" and "Lost Connections", two of the most powerful books ever written on addiction and mental health. We discuss his childhood trauma, the mental health crisis, the history of drug prohibition, the failure of the "War on Drugs", learning from other countries and much more. Johann Hari is the author of two New York Times best-selling books. His first,...

Mitch Aguiar is a 10 year Navy SEAL Veteran, Professional MMA Fighter and Entrepreneur. In this conversation, we discuss his journey into the military, war propoganda, the industrial military complex, teaching BJJ to law enforcement, juice fasting and so much more. His non-profit needs our support. Please consider donating to help make law enforcement safer for all. Mitch joined the Navy in 2008 a...

Doug Monda, Raul Rivas and Chris Fields are co-hosts of the 'Trauma Behind the Badge Podcast' and part of the 'Survive First' Family. We discuss the crushing impact of organizational betrayal on first responder mental health, the national recruitment crisis, courageous leadership and much more. Doug Monda Doug is a retired narcotics agent, is a leader in the field of mental health advocacy for fir...

Joel Salatin is a world renowned holistic farmer, author and speaker. In this third conversation, we discuss how to truly make America healthy again, changing the food in our schools, the takeways of the pandemic, home cooking and so much more. Joel calls himself a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer. Others who like him call him the most famous farmer in the world, th...

Lt Col Dave Grossman is a retired Army Ranger and author of several books including "On Combat", "On Killing" and "Assassination Generation". We talk about being a Sheepdog, the increase in school murders and much more. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is an internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the ro...

Shawn Downs is a 25 year veteran of the fire service, currently serving as Deputy Fire Chief of Operations in the District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department. We discuss his journey into the fire service, 9/11, their 24/72 shift schedule, the January 6th Capital Attack, the response to the Potomac River arcraft crash, DC's wellness initiatives and so much more. "Throughout my career, I have under...

Katie Hansen, a passionate and talented skydiver and BASE jumper, has been active in the sport since 2003. Her journey began with a jump the day before her high school graduation in Bremerton, WA. Katie's expertise spans wingsuit flying, freeflying, and canopy swooping. She has wingsuit BASE jumped worldwide, including Baffin Island, and competed in events like the World Wingsuit League (WWL) base...

Julien Pineau is a world renowned movement specialist and innovator. Julien specializes in getting athletes out of pain my identifying muscle imbalances and correcting them with functional movements. In this sixth conversation, we discuss the damage the pandemic had on the world's health, the fitness industry, influencers, wokeism, his training philosophy and so much more. Sports have been a part...

I'm reposting this episode as we lost Monty yesterday. He was 98 years old. Rest easy brother. Monty Montgomery is a WWII veteran, retired Miami Dade firefighter with 32 years of service and a multiple Spartan race finisher. Monty is the definition of late in life athlete AND young at heart. He ran his first triathlon at 48, first marathon at 58, went skydiving at 75, hang gliding at 89, bungee fo...

Jared Bonvell is an executive federal law enforcement professional and 17 year Air Force veteran with 8 years of experience conducting and directing large-scale, multi-jurisdictional criminal, fraud and counterintelligence investigations, security operations, and counter-terrorism operations. In this conversation, we discuss his journey into the military, law enforcement, his deployment in Afghani...

Dixon Phillips is a former collegiate athlete, Pasco County firefighter and union president of IAFF Local 4420. In this second conversation, we discuss the incredible results Pasco has seen over the last eighteen months, since announcing their transition to the 24/72, 42 hour work week. We discuss the explosion in recruitment, slashing of overtime, the influx of paramedics, fitness standards, annu...

John Doolittle is a retired Navy SEAL Captain and the Director of the Florida Chamber Health Council. In this second conversation, we discuss hurricane response, Florida's Special Mission Unit, first responder mental health, the healing power of eTMS, Kaatsu and so much more. John was raised in Walnut Creek, California. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy in 19...

Jim Poole is the CEO and President of Solace Lifesciences, a neuroscience company focused on personalized evidence-based wellness and performance and the creator of NuCalm. Dr. Blake Holloway, the inventor of NuCalm, spent several years immersed in the intriguing and exotic research of bio and neurophysics. His objective in inventing NuCalm was to design a software that would have direct physiolog...

Aaron Williamson’s path is one of relentless drive and reinvention. After proudly serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he emerged with a mindset rooted in discipline and a passion for pushing limits. That same intensity launched a career that now spans elite fitness coaching, on-screen performance, and high-profile transformations for some of the biggest names in entertainment. In 2000, Aaron was scr...

Aaron has spent over 15 years in strength and conditioning and is now the Pulic Safety Wellness Coordinator for Virginia Beach. We discuss his journey into coaching, training the tactical athlete, injury prevention, programming, sleep and performance and so much more. "I am a dedicated health and wellness professional committed to supporting the physical and mental resilience of our city's frontli...

Dr. Aziz Rahman is a dual board-certified Diagnostic and Vascular and Interventional Radiologist currently works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He completed his undergraduate and medical education through the accelerated six-year BA/MD program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He went on to complete a medical internship at the University of Massachusetts, followed by a Radiology Residency at Ba...

Kevin Heffernan is an American actor, writer, producer, and director, and member of the Broken Lizard comedy group. We discuss his early life, finding comedy, pursuing law, the creation of Broken Lizard, the origin story of Super Troopers, how a trip to Australia inspired Beerfest, Quasi, his family connection to the Fire Service, the creation of Tacoma FD, the importance of technical direction an...

Mike served over 25 years in the U.S. Army, where he served as a platoon leader, company commander, and staff officer at the Battalion to Division level. After transitioning from the Infantry, he earned a master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from the military’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program. Following his academic achievements, Mike served as a primary care manager for a U.S....

Jennifer Grima began as a firefighter/paramedic and special operations technician with the Saint Lucie County (FL) Fire District in 2016. Jenny currently holds technician level certifications for the State of Florida in Trench Collapse Rescue, Rope Rescue, Vehicle and Machinery Rescue, Structural Collapse Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, and is certified as a Rescue Specialist. Jenny has been a HOT...

Aaron Suozzo is a multifaceted professional with a background in law enforcement, tactical training, and collegiate athletics. We discuss his journey into policing, his officer involved shootings, his powerful mental health journey, healing through psychedelics, CTE, the 343 Fund and so much more. Suozzo was born in Valley Stream, New York. He majored in business management at Monmouth University...