Truthfully, Tracy

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson — astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, host of StarTalk, and one of the most beloved science communicators alive stopped by Truthfully, Tracy on his way to the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse for his show Cosmic Collisions on October 21st. In this episode, Neil talks about why looking at the universe doesn’t make him feel small , it makes him feel large. Because...

Dr. Emad Rahim was born in a concentration camp in Cambodia. His father was killed there. His brother died of starvation. His mother escaped with him to a refugee camp, then to Brooklyn — into Sunset Park in the 1980s at the height of the crack epidemic — where Emad was shot in the leg as a child while playing with friends. Strangers from the neighborhood pooled money from their pockets and saved...

Bob Searing moved to Syracuse in 2006 for graduate school. He never left. And nine years into his role as Curator of History at the Onondaga Historical Association, his love for this city and its stories is still completely uncontrollable. In this episode of Truthfully, Tracy, Bob pulls on one of the most remarkable threads in CNY history — the story of Reverend Jermain Loguen, who escaped enslave...

Barb Shepard spent 16 years as a pediatric mental health counselor in Central New York — treating OCD and anxiety in hospitals, schools, foster care, and her own private practice. She thought she knew what she was walking into. And then PANS showed up in her own home. In this episode of Truthfully, Tracy, Barb breaks down exactly what PANS and PANDAS are — why a child can seem completely fine and...

Leah Stiles served 20 years in the Navy with an eating disorder she had carried since she was 11 years old. She watched a gap in care exist, tried to ignore it, nearly lost her life trying to find help within it, and then decided if not her, then who. In this episode of Truthfully, Tracy, Leah — retired Navy Senior Chief, Syracuse University alum, and founder of SEA WAVES — opens up about what it...

Tommy Lincoln didn't leave Syracuse when he could have. And everything about Stay Fresh is the reason why. Tommy is the founder and creative director of Stay Fresh — a design studio and art gallery on Syracuse's Near West Side that has quietly become one of the most important creative anchors in Central New York. He grew up here, skated these streets, snuck into swing nights at the Phantom...

Matt Reed joins Truthfully, Tracy for a conversation about building a media brand from scratch, staying authentic on camera, and why "boring" content never wins. Matt is co-founder of Spatchcock Funk, a food and culture show airing on PBS Syracuse (now in Season 3, with Season 4 in the works), created alongside his creative partner Alex. We get into how the show's name came together,...

Emily Gozy has spent her career helping people stop fighting their food — and start trusting themselves around it. As a Registered Dietitian, Founder and CEO of Nourished with Emily, and 2022 Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year, Emily's approach lives entirely in the gray area. No rigid rules. No guilt. No impossible standards of perfection. In this episode she walks us through her PCC fram...

Andrew Lunetta wasn't a developer or a housing expert when he started A Tiny Home for Good in 2014. He was a 24-year-old who had spent years working in Syracuse homeless shelters and couldn't stop thinking about a better way. The answer he landed on was simple and radical at the same time: build real homes, on permanent foundations, with no roommates, no time limits, and a landlord who act...

Melissa Murphy didn't come from healthcare. She came from a sense of purpose — and that turned out to be more powerful than any credential. As CEO and founder of Aging Advocates CNY, Melissa built a nonprofit called Living with Dementia from a community conference, grew her team from 12 to over 100 through a company acquisition, and built a mission around moving families from crisis management...

Latavius Murray spent 10 years in the NFL. But the work he was always meant to do was waiting for him back home. In this episode of Truthfully, Tracy, Latavius opens up about the mother who relocated her family to give her kids something better, and how watching her work became the foundation for everything he's built since. He talks about his decade-long NFL career across six teams, the MBA h...

"Like a girl." For too long those words have been used as an insult. Tahirah Abdul-Qadir decided that ends now. Tahirah is a social justice advocate, second-degree black belt, Team USA kickboxer, Presidential Gold Service Award recipient, United Nations contributor, and Rare Beauty mental health ambassador , all from Syracuse, NY. She's also the founder of FLAG Empowerment LLC — Figh...

Most people treat their health the way they'd fix a car by only checking the tires — and then wonder why nothing changes. Jason Minnamon, CEO of NuME and USMC veteran, is back on Truthfully, Tracy with a conversation that gets to the root of why so many people feel stuck in their wellness journey. Jason walks us through NuME's total system philosophy — treating the body as an integrated wh...

Eddie Brennan didn't just inherit a farm — he inherited a responsibility. As president and CEO of Beak & Skiff and Ayrloom, Eddie has spent the last two decades making bold decisions to keep a 115-year-old, fifth-generation business not just alive, but thriving. In this episode, he walks us through how 1911 Hard Cider was launched out of necessity and grew into a top 10 national brand, how...

Don McPherson is back on Truthfully, Tracy — and this conversation goes straight to the heart of who we are and who we're raising. Don is a former NFL quarterback, author, and activist who has spent decades reshaping the conversation around masculinity. In this episode, he makes the case for retiring the term "toxic masculinity" altogether — not because the harm isn't real, but b...

In this episode of Truthfully Tracy, Tracy sits down with Heather Wood — mother, leader, and founder of Stupendous Love. In January 2023, Heather lost her 14-year-old daughter Ava to a murder-suicide. Her story reached over a billion people. But this conversation is about what happened when the world stopped watching. Heather talks openly about grief alongside joy, the messy middle where real life...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy, I sit down with Randall Hon — Central New York entrepreneur, restaurateur, and one of Syracuse's most driven business minds. You know him from Poundtown Burgers, Pavone's Pizza, and the Taphouse on Walton in Armory Square, but this conversation goes way deeper than the food. Randall opens up about leaving a long corporate career at AT&T to bet on himself...

Season 2, Episode 1 Before she was the Mayor of Syracuse, before she made history as the first Black mayor of this city, Sharon Owens was just a girl from Geneva, New York who came to Syracuse and never left. In this episode, Tracy sits down with Mayor Owens for the conversation behind the headlines. They talk about family, faith, losing a baby, navigating menopause while running a city, never pla...

Welcome to the very first episode of Truthfully, Tracy — where we go beyond the surface and get real about what it means to heal, lead, and live with intention. In this powerful debut, I’m joined by Isaiah Salter — founder of the With a Grain of Salt podcast (WAGOS), mental health advocate, retired Le Moyne basketball player, and someone who shows up with heart and honesty every time. We talk abou...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy , we’re stepping into a conversation that shows us what real leadership looks like — not the version people see from the outside, but the truth of what it takes to keep going when life gets heavy. My guest is Lauren Kochian , President of The MOST — Museum of Science & Technology (@mostscience). Lauren is a leader known for her innovation, her integrity, and her...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy , we’re shining a light on what too many people endure in silence — harassment, discrimination, and the quiet harm that happens behind workplace doors every day. My guest is Megan Thomas , founder of Megan Thomas Law PLLC — a plaintiff’s employment attorney who represents individuals who have been mistreated, harassed, or pushed out of their careers for simply trying...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy , we’re shining a light on the work being done every single day to create safety, healing, and hope right here in Central New York. My guests are Rebecca Shiroff and Tricia Matthews from Vera House, Inc. — a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing, responding to, and partnering to end domestic and sexual violence. For more than 45 years, Vera House has been a...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy , we’re sitting with a story that is both heartbreaking and deeply human — a story about love, loss, and the legacy we carry forward. My guest is Sara Russo , owner of Sara Russo Photography , a gifted photographer whose work captures life’s most honest moments — the raw, the joyful, and the in-between. Sara’s father died by suicide after becoming sober from alcohol...

Today’s episode is real, raw, and deeply human. Sean Kelsey opens up about his journey through the foster care system, surviving childhood abuse, and growing up without a safe space — only to spend his adult life creating one. As CEO of Nave Law, an avid community supporter, dad, husband, and friend, Sean lives by the rule of turning challenges into opportunities. His story reminds us that healing...

This week on Truthfully, Tracy, we’re diving into a conversation that could quite literally save your life. My guest is Caron Grossman — a registered nurse, TEDx speaker, breathwork facilitator, and the author of Listen to Your Heart Song: Navigating the Unexpected. After surviving a heart attack, Caron discovered what so many women still don’t know: the signs of heart disease often show up silent...