Break It Down Show

Composer and Producer Darryl Anders is at the top of his game.  His ability to execute his musical ideas puts him among the best in the business. This episode is an exploration of his song Bulletproof, which was not just a reaction to the killing of George Floyd, but a reflection of an important aspect of the African American experience. This show was LiveStreamed and recorded for this podcast the day before the song's release, so the discussion is very raw and sincere

When we talk baseball, we always look to our friends Commissioner Rob Neyer and Jim DeFelice. Sure these guys have day jobs that involve writing some of our favorite books, but baseball is what ties them together. 

Pete A Turner hosts a fun chat breaking down the unique 2020 season. We talk about the DH rule, expanded rosters, a Gold Glove award for the front office and taking 1st base on a wild pitch. This episode is a breath of fresh air-well get back to work after celebrating our past-time.

We welcome Chris Thomas King back to the Break It Down Show. During the lockdown, Chris was in the studio working on new music. Then the George Floyd murder crystallized his vision. The album is called Angola, after the prison

As Chris talks about his life, the realities of being black in the US and music, we're left with the reality that the black experience isn't on par with others in the US. Chris takes us on a 2 hour journey as he gets a lot off of his chest.

Richard Lyons is back on the Break It Down Show w/Pete A Turner to discuss our democracy. Far from a political party based conversation, Richard and Pete discuss how the system is supposed to work. Among the topics discussed is the concept of legislating from the bench. Judges are supposed to interpret the law, not create it. Further, the inability of the legislators to pass relevant laws places undue strain on the populace as their needs go unmet by those tasked to write the legislation and pay the bills.

Cat Connor returns to the Break It Down Show. Despite Cat being from New Zealand about as far physically from Pete A Turner as possible...and heck, she even lives in a different day; they've become friends. Cat's written 12 crime novels based upon her FBI team. The latest novel Vaporbyte features a breakout of a virus from a lab in China--she wrote this book pre-COVID. As Cat runs her characters through the latest book, she decided to create two endings. So get both, the Red and Purple jackets.

The more we examine, and dig into American history, the earlier and more complex the story. Charles Mann realized nobody had written a history of the Americas before Columbus arrived. 

Charles' book gets into a variety of aspects of early history--and the battles waged in academia as the timeline of human inhabitation of the Americas continues to travel further and further back into time. There are so many great nuggets from this book; you're going to be forced to enjoy this conversation.

Andrews and Wilson are back to talk about their latest novel. But these guys are doing SO much more these days. So yes the Tier One books, but also a new Sons of Valor which is a spin-off series...hang on there's more...plus a new series of Web Griffin books and finally the Shepherd series from Tyndale. That's 4 books a year at a steady pace for the foreseeable future. Host Pete A Turner, Jeff and Brian have a great chat as Pete tries to figure out how the get all of the work done.

When a case goes cold, it's technically still open. However, the world moves on and that case starves for attention. Luckily, people like our guest Jennifer Bucholtz are passionate about bring closure in these cases. Jennifer used to be a counterintelligence agent, just like Pete A Turner. Pete's former commander Erik Kleinsmith teacher at AMU with Jennifer...but wait there's more. Pete met Jennifer in Kuwait as each of them was headed to Iraq to do spy stuff. You're gonna love this episode.

The occurrence of transgender pubescent girls has exploded in the last 10 years. As we grapple with the phenomenon we're losing our grasp on science to "trans-influencers" and activists who attack anyone; this includes doctors. Abigail is heavily criticized for taking on this story. However, as we listen to her break down her findings, it's apparent that we need more conversations like this. Abigail goes to tremendous lengths in her book to illustrate her support for transgendered people.

Jennifer and Kelly are PhDs who've written about Female Engagement teams and the role gender plays in the institutional assessment of teams. As we try to better understand modern combat, it's researchers like Keohane and Jakes that push us further past our comfort zone. Most friends of the show know Pete A Turner and Rich Ledet are published on the ethical pitfalls of female engagement in conflict zones. This is a high-powered convo as we grapple with the impact of gender on how we do war.