BUCKiT with Phil Keoghan

Happy Holidays from all of us here at the BUCKiT with Phil Keoghan podcast.  Thanksgiving is a great time of the year to slow down and to really appreciate the good things that life has to offer.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the fast lane and forget to look around and be thankful for what we have right here, right now. 

While practicing being grateful, why not shed some of your inhibitions. Just let loose, even if a little, and break down some of those barriers that might be holding you back.  

This week’s podcast, which is about shedding your inhibitions, will be the last of the year as we are traveling the country looking for hardworking Americans, for a new CBS show called Tough As Nails.  We’ll be back in 2020, but before we go, I wanted to sign off with one of my favorite steps for living the BUCKiT® lifestyle, with some really creative and fun guests.

The BUCKiT® lifestyle is about learning how to live life to the fullest while you still can. It’s about saying “BUCKiT” and swerving off the predictable road you’ve been following for years – on to a completely strange and bumpy path that will hopefully get you completely lost.

There are 8 steps to living a BUCKiT® lifestyle. The 8 steps: 

Face Your Fear

Test Your Limits

Take a Leap of Faith

Aim for the Heart

Rediscover Your Childhood 

Break New Ground 

Get Lost

And…

Shed Your Inhibitions.

I realize that shedding your inhibitions isn’t always as easy as peeling off an extra layer of clothing on a warm day. But in a funny way, that analogy of shedding clothes is an apt one – because ultimately, in both cases, exposure is the desired result. And whether you’re exposing your body, your true feelings, or your talent, the risk is the same: the possibility of embarrassment and the chance that someone with disapprove. The trick is to come to understand that those are rather small, inconsequential risks. The embarrassment many not happen at all, and if it does, it will probably be only momentarily. It’s certainly a chance worth taking.

This week on BUCKiT® with Phil Keoghan, I talk to the lead singer of Sugar Ray, Mark McGrath, a former professional cyclist, Kit Karzen, who suffered from anxiety, and the youngest Show Runner in the history of late-night television, Ben Winston and former Supervising Producer on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, Rob Crabbe about the importance of ditching excuses and shedding inhibitions in order to live the BUCKiT lifestyle. 

Enjoy and we will see you in the New Year.

Phil recently returned from a “Tough As Nails” casting tour in search of hardworking Americans that keep the country running, people who roll up their sleeves 24/7 and don’t think twice about working long hard hours to get dirty hands and clean money.

Phil had the privilege of meeting and talking face to face with Ironworkers, Carpenters, Plumbers, Truck Drivers, Linesmen, Electricians, Longshoremen, Factory Workers -- people from all walks of life, who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor and who, for many, redefine what it means to be tough and that toughness comes in all shapes and sizes.

Phil was born in New Zealand and has always drawn inspiration from his proud working-class family of farmers, gold miners, builders and coal miners, “I was lucky enough to spend my school holidays working alongside my grandfather, an A grade mechanic, World War II aero mechanic, gunsmith and inventor. I’m excited to celebrate the skills of those who sweat on factory floors instead of gym floors and those who wear work boots instead of workout shoes.”

In this BUCKiT with Phil Keoghan podcast, Phil calls his dad in New Zealand to talk about what being Tough As Nails means to him, the values he learned growing up in a working class family and what he in turn passed down to his children.

It’s 5:30am and this shock job is about to return to the airwaves again, having being fired from his radio show 9 months earlier.

Mancow is no stranger to lawsuits and FCC fines. He’s been handed many over the years.  And this is not the first time he’s been kicked off the air.

But this outspoken radio personality known for his bizarre stunts is ready to make an outrageous comeback.  Why walk in when you can mail yourself to the radio station in a cardboard box, arriving just minutes before drive time begins.  I mean, what could be easier?

Erich "Mancow" Muller is an American radio and television personality, actor, and former child model. He’s won Billboard magazine's Major Market Radio Personality of the Year title more than once. He was syndicated into more than a dozen states and he had a TV series deal.

His radio career began while he was in college at a small station in Missouri, playing local commercials during satellite broadcasts of The Larry King Show. He eventually moved to San Francisco and that's where he pulled a massive stunt that gained him national publicity and notoriety, AND got him his next gig…this time in Chicago.

It didn’t take long for his show to rank #1 in 18 to 54-year-old white males and his ratings continued to sky rocket for many years. Mancow is opinionated and rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but his loyal listeners love him and follow him with a cult-like devotion.

25 years later, this Chicago shock jock still continues to make waves. Despite high ratings, this controversial radio personality was fired from his mid-morning show after 17 years on March 6, 2019.

Now this outspoken personality is back on the air and wants to “give the people of Chicago a voice”.

TOUGH AS NAILS, a new CBS competition series hosted and executive produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Phil Keoghan and his long time producing partner, Louise Keoghan, is looking for real people in real life who are real tough.

TOUGH AS NAILS is about hardworking people who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor. They will be tested for their strength, endurance, agility and mental toughness in challenges that take place in the real world. One by one, they will be eliminated until the TOUGH AS NAILS winner is named. The series will redefine what it means to be tough, proving that it comes in all shapes and sizes, and will celebrate Americans who roll up their sleeves 24/7 and don’t think twice about working long hard hours and getting their hands dirty.

Little does this CBS Executive know that the pitch he is about to hear will change everything.

Ghen Maynard hears lots of pitches for shows but this one is different. It isn’t a scripted drama or comedy series or traditional game show. There is nothing quite like it on TV and it doesn’t fit into any existing genre — but he knows one thing, he loves it.

It’s an idea that would turn into a reality series set on an island and ultimately transform the primetime landscape on broadcast television and usher in a new generation of unscripted programming that would catapult his career.

Ghen Maynard is the Senior Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming for CBS Television Studios. He’s the maverick who has helped develop some of reality television’s biggest hits.

Early in his career, Ghen championed and brought to life the first competition reality show for Network Television… a mega-hit called Survivor.

Ghen also developed and oversaw the multiple Emmy Award-winning The Amazing Race, the U.S. version of Big Brother, America’s Next Top Model as well as Kid Nation, Power of 10, and Million Dollar Password. As a drama development executive, he helped develop CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy and The District.  The list of successful shows goes on.

There’s no doubt Maynard has a keen eye for what viewers like — Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother and Top Model are among the longest-running reality TV franchises in the world. 

I caught up with Ghen just after the premiere of an unusual reboot version of the iconic 90’s teen series Beverly Hills 90210 called BH90210, which he developed and sold to FOX, and Kids Say the Darndest Things starring Tiffany Haddish, which he sold to ABC --  Once again proving that this Executive, who likes to think big, has the Midas Touch.

The BUCKiT® lifestyle is about learning how to live life to the fullest while you still can. It’s about saying “BUCKiT” and swerving off the predictable road you’ve been following for years – on to a completely strange and bumpy path that will hopefully get you completely lost.

On this week’s podcast I want to explore one of the 8 steps to living a BUCKiT® lifestyle. The 8 steps 

Face Your Fear

Test Your Limits

Take a Leap of Faith

Aim for the Heart

Shed Your Inhibitions

Break New Ground 

Get Lost

And…

Rediscover Your Childhood 

Nature designed kids to be alert, curious, imaginative and adaptable. Most importantly, they know how to have fun along the way.  

Children tend to dive head-first into experiences without fear or judgment. Their eyes are wide open; observing, learning and absorbing. Changing your attitude starts with taking a closer look at the things you do or see every day and studying and admiring the smaller details as if you are experiencing them for the first time.

With just a cardboard box a child can transform a mundane afternoon in the backyard into an intergalactic space mission with their own NASA rocket, discovering new planets and alien species. In adulthood, we tend to forget that we need our imaginations to achieve our wildest dreams. They help us discover which path to take and make the journey as extraordinary as possible.

Over the past year I have talked to guests that embody this way of life. In this podcast we revisit Matt Iseman, comedian and host of Ninja Warrior, Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, and the hilarious Afghanimals, who competed in The Amazing Race three times.

It’s Thursday at the quietest bar in town. As expected, zero students will turn up from Skidmore College because the hottest place to party isn’t here. But that was then -- and now twin sisters and budding entrepreneurs have decided it’s time to shake things up.

They know music. They know cool. They know how to cover a campus in flyers. And they know a guy who loves to spin vinyl. It’s time to deliver on a big promise.

Staring at the clock and the door, Antoinette, Tricia, a very nervous bar owner and a pumped up DJ stand and wait —  for what will turn out to be a game changer, not only for the party animals of Saratoga Springs, New York, but for two young women who claim their White Space and make doubling down, their mantra for life.

Elle magazine calls Antoinette M. Clarke and Tricia Clarke-Stone the “Power Twins”. They are a force to be reckoned with. These Identical twin sisters have taken the business world by storm. They set the bar very high, and surpassed it. They are Boss Ladies who have learned to double down and go all in on themselves.

Antoinette is a Two-time Emmy award winning TV producer and VP of Branded Entertainment and Media Innovation at CBS Television Network.

Tricia is the cofounder and CEO of WP Narrative, an award-winning marketing agency using a groundbreaking model uniting code and culture.

Of the 8,734 CEO’s of companies in the media and advertising world, only 93 are black women. Tricia is one of 93.

Both attribute their phenomenal success to a set of core principles they live by. 52 in all!

Antoinette and Tricia are best friends who say “have pushed each other to be successful on their own terms, offering unconditional support, straight talk, and passionate inspiration”

That’s how they got to where they are today and are now sharing these skills in their newly released book, Double Down.

Antoinette and Tricia wants to help women identify their goals, trust their instincts and core passions, and double down on their superpowers and become Boss Ladies.

31 years old and game-free for 10 years, Cam Adair is a recovering video game addict, and now a leading expert and pioneer in the field of video game addiction.

Growing up in Canada, Cam seemed normal. He went to school, played hockey, went home and played video games. But that all changed in the 8th grade when he began to get picked on. For the next ten years he disappeared into the world of video gaming. Nothing else mattered except the World of Warcraft.

In 2018, The World Health Organization declared video game addiction as a mental health disorder. There are 2.2 billion gamers worldwide and it’s 3% of gamers struggle with addiction challenges. This means there could be tens of millions of addicted gamers globally.

At 21, Cam beat the odds and quit gaming once and for all. He founded Game Quitters which is now the largest support community for people who want to break free from the addiction.

Cam joined me in the BUCKiT® studio part way through a national tour, to tell me about how he turned his life around and the lives of so many others who suffered like he did.

Sabrina Jalees is a comedian, writer, and actor who's been described as “the lesbian Ray Romano we’ve all been waiting for”. She started doing stand-up when she was 16 and has been making people laugh since on series like Netflix's "The Comedy Lineup,” “Search Party,” “Transparent,” “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” “Last Comic Standing,” “Adam Devine's House Party,” “Best Week Ever” and now CBS’s brand new series, starring Patricia Heaton, “Carol’s Second Act.”

After working up the courage to tell the Muslim side of her family – she was shunned for coming out - Sabrina learned the hard way that standing up and taking pride in who she was, would not only enhance her material as a comedian, but would lead to a fulfilling life, full of crazy coincidences, life changing surf lessons and an entirely unexpected career path. She has not looked back since. I caught up with her during the filming of her new series. She is now in prime time TV, proudly representing on camera something that was unimaginable to her as a kid.

Photo Credit for Sabrina Jalees Episode:

Sela Shiloni

Writer’s block had set in when two female comedy writers in LA put down their pens and declared they’d run out of material. But then a light bulb lit up and an idea was hatched – Sarah Haskins would marry her next-door neighbor, a man 20 years her senior with ex wives and a lot of children. It was just too good to pass up. They got back to work and at that moment “A Trophy Wife” came into existence.

 Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern are writers and producers on CBS’s Carol’s Second Act starring Patricia Heaton. They also co-created ABC sitcom Trophy Wife based on Sarah’s marriage to her older husband.

 Their first project together, the funny, edgy coming of age movie, Booksmart, was written in 2009, about two overachieving girls who realize that the only thing they haven’t accomplished is getting boyfriends. It has a lot of twists and turns just like their journey it took to get the film made in the first place.

 For 10 years the script was shopped around, and turned down, and reworked, and then shopped around again until finally Olivia Wilde agreed to direct it in 2019, Booksmart opened to critical acclaim.

 I met up with Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern during a break from writing Carol’s Second Act, to hear about their incredible story of how tenacity, vision and a great producing partner can turn big dreams into reality.