Back to the People with Nicole Shanahan

Richard Ryan is a software developer and media executive with more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry. He has generated billions of views and millions of followers across social media platforms, leveraging his deep understanding of algorithms and digital marketing.As a co-founder of Black Rifle Coffee Company, he helped grow the brand to a publicly traded powerhouse with a $1.7 billion valuation and $396 million in revenue in 2023. As a tech entrepreneur, Richard has created a suite of applications to include a YouTube app that debuted in the App Store four years before YouTube. Across multiple apps, he’s achieved over millions of downloads. As a media executive, he launched Rated Red with Verizon Media and Hearst Publications, growing it to over one million organic subscribers in its first year. Richard’s YouTube empire includes several channels like FullMag (2.7 million subscribers), with over 20 billion views across all his platforms.In his new book, The Warrior’s Garden, Richard exposes how social media algorithms exploit the same psychological triggers as casinos: bright visuals, sound cues, and unpredictable rewards that hook users and keep them scrolling. Just as gamblers chase uncertain outcomes, we chase likes, comments, and notifications, sacrificing long-term goals for short-term gratification. He explores the neuroscience behind these dopamine-driven cycles and offers practical strategies to reclaim control. His book is not about quitting technology altogether, instead it focuses on using it consciously, minimizing addictive effects, strengthening mental resilience, and empowering readers to become mindful participants in a digital age.

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Max McLean is an American stage actor, writer, producer, and founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA), a New York-based company producing theater and film from a Christian worldview. He is renowned for his acclaimed stage adaptations of C.S. Lewis’s works, including The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert—the last of which he also starred in for the film adaptation. In addition to dramatizing Lewis, McLean has created original plays such as Martin Luther on Trial, performed dramatic presentations of Biblical texts, and narrated multiple versions of The Listener’s Bible, earning four Audie Award nominations and critical praise from national publications. His productions have toured internationally and played to over a million people, frequently reaching university campuses as part of his drive to foster open, civil dialogue on big questions of faith and life. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Jeff Award (Chicago theatre’s highest honor) and the 2022 C.S. Lewis Foundation Award for contributions to integrating faith and the arts.

McLean is currently touring his acclaimed stage adaptation of The Screwtape Letters. Tickets and tour dates are available at ScrewtapeOnStage.com.

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Virginia Robinson and her family moved to Camp Lejeune in 1959, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. She raised her children there and dedicated 25 years of her life working on base, never knowing that the very place where she lived, worked, and built her family was slowly poisoning them. For decades, toxic chemicals such as PCE and TCE contaminated the water and air at Camp Lejeune. No one warned the families. And for Virginia, the consequences have been devastating. Virginia has endured a battle for her life that has spanned more than 40 years. She survived leukemia, colon cancer while pregnant, and two separate diagnoses of breast cancer. In 2023, she faced liver cancer, kidney cancer, and yet another fight with breast cancer, all at the same time. The tragedy has stretched across her family. Her husband passed away in 2014, her daughter followed just five months later, and her father developed Parkinson’s. Her daughter was born with a spinal tumor and died young from bladder cancer. All of them were exposed to Camp Lejeune’s poisoned water. Virginia’s suffering has been relentless, but so has her courage. Out of five siblings, she was the only one plagued by repeated cancers. Despite loss, grief, and years of illness, she refuses to give up. “Camp Lejeune never told us the truth,” she has said, but she still believes she can win this fight for herself, for her family, and for every victim who was left in the dark. For decades, families like hers have been ignored, their pain dismissed, and their sacrifices forgotten.

Ashley Keller is a founding partner of Keller Postman LLC and one of the nation’s leading trial and appellate lawyers. At Keller Postman, he helps guide strategic direction across the firm’s wide-ranging docket, which includes product liability, antitrust, class action, and arbitration matters. He is a recognized leader in product-liability litigation and currently serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel in the Acetaminophen multidistrict litigation in the Southern District of New York. Ashley also represents numerous states in antitrust litigation against Google, challenging its dominance in online display advertising. He has played a key role in the development of Keller Postman’s arbitration practice, which has secured millions of dollars in settlements for employees and consumers nationwide. Before founding Keller Postman, Ashley co-founded Gerchen Keller Capital, which became the largest private investment manager focused on legal and regulatory risk. He was previously a partner at Bartlit Beck, where he litigated high-stakes securities, patent, and mass tort cases. Ashley clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court and Judge Richard Posner on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and graduated first in his class from the University of Chicago Law School. Keller has been recognized as a Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazer by the National Law Journal and has been listed among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He will be representing Virginia Robinson in her fight for justice in the Camp Lejeune case.

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John Rich is an American country singer-songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur known for his outspoken conservative views and community advocacy. After rising to fame with the band Lonestar and as half of the duo Big & Rich, Rich earned acclaim both as a performer and the songwriter behind numerous country hits for major artists. He is a three-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year and has built successful ventures in music, television, and business.Within the country music industry, Rich routinely calls out the perceived silencing of conservative voices, opposing trends he believes marginalize patriotism and traditional values. He defends political independence for Nashville’s artists and frequently weaves right-leaning themes into protest songs such as “Shut Up About Politics” and “The Devil & the TVA.” Rich is also known for his willingness to challenge both Democrats and members of his own party—publicly supporting candidates who buck the Republican establishment and calling for accountability regardless of party alignment.Rich has become a prominent advocate for grassroots causes, especially in Tennessee, where he often champions property rights and individual liberties. He is recognized for supporting Republican leaders, most notably Donald Trump, and frequently uses his platform to encourage civic engagement, defend free speech in entertainment, and call for ordinary citizens to have a stronger voice in government decisions.

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Annelise E. Barron is the W.M. Keck Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Her lab focuses on human host defense peptides (antimicrobial peptides), particularly LL-37, studying their biophysics, mechanisms of infection defense, and roles in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The group also develops biostable peptoid mimics of LL-37 as potential therapeutics for antibiotic-resistant infections, including neurological, respiratory, and ocular diseases. Past work includes creating mimics of lung surfactant proteins for pneumonia treatment and ventilator-associated lung injury prevention.Dr. Barron’s research extends to the pathogenic mechanisms of COVID-19 and the links between innate immunity, metabolic health, and susceptibility to viral and polymicrobial infections. She is broadly interested in systems-level analyses of complex human diseases.She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral work at UCSF and Chiron Corp. She joined Stanford in 2007 after a decade on Northwestern University’s faculty. Her awards include the NIH Pioneer Award (2020), Oskar Fischer Award (2022), PECASE (1999), Beckman Young Investigator Award (1999), and Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1998). She has published over 177 papers (H-index: 58) and co-founded five biotechnology companies.

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Chandler Crump is a 20-year-old Gen Z commentator, artist, and activist whose political journey began at age 14 when he attended Turning Point USA’s Young Black Leadership Summit. At that event, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk told him that he was his “No. 1 fan,” and that it didn’t matter how young he was, that he could still stand and fight for his beliefs. That moment of encouragement inspired Chandler to immerse himself in the conservative movement, and he has since many more TPUSA events. Today, he credits TPUSA with shaping both his worldview and his commitment to advancing the conservative principles of individual liberty, free markets, and open dialogue.

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Alex Lee Moyer is a filmmaker, director, and editor best known for probing contemporary subcultures and difficult cultural topics. She started her creative career editing music videos and documentaries, including The New Radical (2017), and gained acclaim for her directorial debut TFW NO GF (2020), a documentary examining the lives of young men immersed in online subcultures. Her second feature, Alex's War (2022), explores the controversial figure Alex Jones, offering a candid look at the polarizing media personality and larger themes of information, trust, and cultural division. Moyer is the founder of Onset Creative, her own production company, intended as an incubator for ambitious and culturally relevant film projects.

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Kaizen Asiedu is a Harvard Philosophy graduate, Emmy Award winner, and cultural commentator with 800,000+ followers across social platforms. Publicly endorsed by Elon Musk as a “clear thinker,” Kaizen walked away from his Emmy-winning career at Riot Games—where he helped architect League of Legends’ competitive formats and global esports policies—to pursue truth and elevate public discourse. As the creator of Clear Thinker, Kaizen has developed a systematic course and community that teaches people how to cut through media bias and political manipulation using critical thinking principles grounded in formal philosophy and peer-reviewed psychology. His non-partisan approach to complex cultural and political issues has made him a trusted voice for Americans who feel politically homeless in today’s polarized landscape. Noted for tackling controversial topics ranging from politics to social issues, Kaizen promotes authentic, courageous conversation and encourages his audience to “attack problems, not people.” His mission is to restore clarity, nuance, and civil discourse to American culture by equipping people with the cognitive tools to think independently and resist tribal groupthink—regardless of political affiliation. If you’re interested in learning more about Clear Thinker Academy—featuring both systematic training and a community of truth-seekers—go to clearthinkeracademy.com to join the waitlist.

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Deborah A. Conrad is a physician assistant from Rochester, NY, who was dismissed from United Memorial Medical Center (Rochester Regional Health) in October 2021 after fulfilling her legal duty to report COVID-19 vaccine adverse events to VAERS. She has filed a landmark False Claims Act lawsuit against her former employer, challenging institutional suppression of reporting. As of March 2025, her case has survived a motion to dismiss and has advanced into discovery.

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Miles Wallace is a first-generation fisherman who has dedicated his life to sustainably diving and fishing off the California coast. The ocean is more than his livelihood — it is where he now raises his family and where he finds his deepest sense of purpose. From the kelp forests of the Channel Islands to the rugged drop-offs of the Pacific, Miles works with care and respect, knowing the future of our oceans depends on the choices we make today. Unlike large-scale industrial operations, Miles relies on low-impact, hands-on practices. As a vocal advocate for honest labeling, regenerative fishing practices, and family-owned operations, Miles represents a new generation of fishermen committed to safeguarding the ocean for the future.

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