Candid Conversations by Cultivating Connections

This week, with no guest in the studio, we turned the microphones on ourselves. We explore The Courage to Be Disliked through the lens of Rory’s complicated past—resentment, betrayal, and the people who doubted him when he was at his lowest. It’s an honest conversation about the paradox of building a podcast around connection while carrying unresolved wounds from the very people we’d one day hope to sit across from.

Last week, Ry, Rors, and Cody sat down behind the microphones.

What followed was less of a podcast and more of three lifelong friends picking up a conversation that could have happened around a campfire, in a driveway after work, or at a kitchen table years ago.

We talked about growing up, high school culture, life after graduation, work, addiction, and the different roads we’ve all traveled. But underneath all of those topics was a question I’ve found myself thinking about more and more:

How do we carry the best parts of our younger selves into adulthood without trying to relive the past?

There’s a certain kind of laughter and connection that seems effortless when you’re young. As adults, life becomes fuller, responsibilities grow, and those moments can become harder to find. Maybe they aren’t gone. Maybe they just need to be cultivated.

I’m grateful to our lifelong friend, Cody Atwood, for being willing to join us and have an honest conversation. These episodes continue to remind me that every friendship holds stories worth revisiting.

Episode 3 is out now. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Update - Re releasing this on July 21st 2026. (Previously removed from our podcast)

We interview Sam, a very close family friend, about her past drug addiction and her ayahuasca experience that ultimately helped her get clean from opiates and cocaine similar to Rory’s story. 

(We have since discontinued our weekly zoom calls.)

Update - Re releasing this on Monday July 20th 2026. (Previously removed from our podcast)

We talk about what a hero means to us, how we see our fellow citizens as more heroic than most celebrities, and how we overcome the hurdles that are placed before us in our own hero's journey. We also talk about how we believe we are currently living in the age of the Hero.

Last week, Ryan and I had the honor of sitting down with our lifelong friend, Anshe Lotspeich.

This conversation reminded me why we decided to bring this podcast back.

The goal has never been to create perfectly polished interviews. It’s to create a space where old friends can reconnect, reflect, laugh, challenge one another, and tell the stories that helped shape who we are.

Listening back, I found myself smiling at memories I hadn’t thought about in years. It reminded me that some connections don’t disappear with time, they just wait for an opportunity to be revisited.

Every person carries a unique perspective on the moments we shared together. When we bring those perspectives into the same room, something interesting happens. We don’t just remember the past, we understand it a little more deeply.

I’m grateful to Anshe for being willing to have such an open and genuine conversation with us. I think you’ll hear the friendship, the honesty, and the joy throughout this episode.

If this conversation reminds you of someone from your own past, reach out to them. You never know what conversation might be waiting.

This is the intro episode to our rebranded podcast The Fire Circle by Cultivating Connections!

It’s been a long time since I’ve released a podcast like this.

My brother Ryan and I decided to bring it back, but this time with a different purpose.

We’re inviting people from different chapters of our lives to sit down with us for honest, unfiltered conversations. Not interviews. Not debates. Just real conversations between people who once shared a moment in time.

There’s something special about reconnecting with people who knew you before life became so complicated. Sometimes, just talking with someone from your past can bring back feelings you forgot existed, when laughing came easier, connection felt more natural, and life was a little less guarded.

My hope is that these conversations don’t just help us reconnect with old friends, but also illuminate the stories that shaped all of us. Every person remembers the same moments a little differently, and somewhere between those perspectives is a deeper truth about who we were, and who we’ve become.

Our first episode is just Ryan and me, laying the foundation and sharing some of our own story. After that, we’ll be inviting guests to join us as we revisit old memories, explore where life has taken us, and see what new connections can grow from old ones.I hope you’ll come along for the journey.

I have a feeling these conversations are going to surprise us.

Rory discusses what has happened since the ritual ended in 2022, and how he has once again found a way to stop using opiates

In this episode Ryan briefly overviews what has taken place in the past 3 years, and details the practice that he and his brother started in 2020 - The ritual

We recap week 3 

This week a notable change in Rory's behavior was seen when he reached out to Ryan as soon as the craving to to use drugs first emerged. This is a major difference in Rory's behavior from his past. Rory has never previously attempted to get ahold of me for potential intervention in his process of acquiring his drug of choice. 

This was our second interview with Dr. Rick Strassman Author of DMT; The Spirit Molecule and The Psychedelic Handbook.

We interviewed DR. Rick Strassman again following his recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Podcast and his release of his new book 'The Psychedelic Handbook'

Check out our YouTube page for video clips from this interview! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZvApgMamf1wtfZo4Wmxmxw/videos