Finding Freedom

While most Americans are rightly concerned about government surveillance — license plate readers, Flock cameras, the deep state — a quieter and more intimate surveillance culture has taken root at home and at work. Employers are deploying AI to scan employee Slack messages, monitor productivity keystroke by keystroke, and flag tone and sentiment across billions of internal messages. At the same time, parents are tracking their teenagers' every move through apps like Life360 and Apple's Find My, often without stopping to ask whether they're solving a real threat or just following social pressure. Host John Odermatt argues that we've begun replacing trust with tracking — and the most unsettling part is that most people don't realize they're actively participating in building that culture. This episode is a call to examine your own role in the surveillance ecosystem, take ownership of your choices, and start having the harder, more honest conversations that actually build trust.

Video Chapters

0:00 – Intro: The Surveillance We're Not Talking About

1:03 – Welcome & Solo Show Setup

1:34 – Government Surveillance vs. Private Surveillance

4:48 – Salesforce, Slack, and AI Monitoring at Work

8:36 – Revisiting the David Deane Interview: AI as a Mirror?

9:40 – Family Surveillance: Life360, Find My & Tracking Your Kids

10:37 – The Research: What Constant Tracking Does to Teenagers

16:57 – Flock Cameras & the Government Surveillance Fight

20:19 – The Collapse of Trust: Edelman Trust Barometer Data

22:01 – What You Can Actually Do About It

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

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Most founders build their brand around what looks good instead of what actually works — and it's quietly sabotaging their marketing. In this episode, John sits down with Amber Andrews, founder of Andrews Artistry, to unpack why looking good and being clear aren't the same thing. Amber breaks down the real difference between a brand and a brand system, the biggest mistakes founders make when picking colors and building identity, and why she believes AI should never be used to design a logo. They also dig into when it's time to invest in professional branding and why staying authentically human beats a polished, AI-sounding brand every time.

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Chapters:

Links:

Andrews Artistry: https://andrewsartistry.com/

Andrews Artistry Page for Listeners: https://andrewsartistry.com/podbrand/

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

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Dr. Jeff Gross, a board-certified neurosurgeon and founder of Recelebrate, joins the show to demystify peptides and regenerative medicine. He explains how frustration with the traditional healthcare system pushed him from surgery toward cellular-level healing, and breaks down what peptides actually are, why "FDA approved" is widely misunderstood, and how stem cells and exosomes work in the body. The conversation covers real-world applications — from joint and cartilage regeneration to Parkinson's symptom relief and mitochondrial repair with peptides like SS-31 and MOTS-C. Dr. Gross also tackles misconceptions around legality, telehealth treatment options, and how to vet a regenerative medicine clinic. It's a wide-ranging, myth-busting conversation for anyone curious about the future of longevity and healing.

Chapters:

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Links:

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Everyone's worried about AI taking their jobs — but David Dean, enterprise technologist and author of An Inbox Between Us, argues that's the wrong fear entirely. In this episode, David explains how AI is really acting as a mirror, exposing the "unwritten contract" of how organizations actually function beneath their official processes and org charts. He and John dig into why authenticity and transparency are becoming non-negotiable for leaders as behavioral patterns become newly discoverable, why lived experience and judgment are things AI will never replicate, and why real AI adoption starts with organizational (and personal) self-discovery rather than new tools. It's a refreshingly grounded take on AI in the workplace — less about replacement, more about revelation.

Chapters

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠⁠

Links

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: ⁠https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5⁠

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: ⁠https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty⁠

Support us on Locals: ⁠https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/⁠

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

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For 30 years, Clarence Carter worked inside America's public assistance system under two presidents, four governors, and a mayor. In this episode, he joins John Odermatt to explain why the safety net designed to lift people out of poverty often keeps them trapped instead, and what a better system could look like.

Carter draws on his three decades of experience — including transforming Washington DC's homeless services program and leading welfare reform in Virginia — to argue that the problem isn't a lack of funding, but a lack of clear purpose. He walks through the 114 federal programs that make up the safety net, why they measure compliance instead of outcomes, and what it would take to build a system focused on growing people beyond dependency rather than managing it. Along the way, he shares personal stories, from handing out apartment keys to former shelter residents to a welfare recipient's tearful first paycheck, that illustrate what real freedom from the system looks like, and makes the case for a whole-of-society approach involving government, business, faith communities, and everyday citizens.

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Chapters:

0:00 – Introduction

0:58 – Sponsor message & guest introduction

3:18 – Why Clarence stayed 30 years in public service

4:11 – Transforming DC's homeless program

10:48 – The core problem: a system with no clear objective

15:37 – Can government solve this alone?

24:45 – Reimagining the safety net from scratch

34:14 – Building bipartisan support

38:13 – What keeps Clarence going after 30+ years

43:45 – The Wizard of Oz story & closing thoughts

Book: Our Net Has Holes in It by Clarence H. Carter — available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vW3syo

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

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Independent analyst and Gold, Goats, and Guns host Tom Luongo joins the show to explain why he's left orthodox libertarianism behind and adopted a framework built around the City of London, the Federal Reserve, and Donald Trump's geopolitical strategy. The conversation ranges from Jerome Powell's rate hikes to Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Strait of Hormuz, Bitcoin's murky origins, and why Tom thinks most libertarian commentary misses the real centers of power entirely.

Tom traces his intellectual break from the Ron Paul/Mises Institute wing of libertarianism back to the post-COVID Fed tightening cycle, arguing that the "coup" against Trump and Powell in 2020–21 mirrors a much older pattern of financial power rooted in London rather than Washington. He recounts a heated confrontation at the Mises Institute where he was cut off mid-speech for suggesting the movement update its models, and uses that story to argue libertarians are prone to the same "purity spiraling" as Bitcoin maximalists or gold bugs. From there, the discussion turns to Trump's Iran policy — framing it as less about Israel and more about dismantling chokepoints, energy dominance, and the offshore dollar system tied to the British Empire's financial remnants. Tom also lays out a theory connecting Bitcoin's DARPA origins to a broader strategy of building a new economic order outside the old London-centered system, and closes by tying Trump's moves in Venezuela and the Middle East to a long-term plan to leave the world harder to drag back into the old status quo.

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Chapters

Links

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

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Mitchell Suchner, director of Arkpad, joins John Odermatt from his floating resort in the Philippines to discuss how seasteading is moving from theory to operational reality. Arkpad has deployed 14 floating Airbnb units, five large fish cages, and a working resort off the coast of Davao City — all built for under $50,000 per unit using fiberglass and stainless steel. Mitchell explains the two core structure types (the Glamp House and the oil-rig-inspired Ark Pad), the engineering challenges of open-sea conditions, and how international flagging laws create a surprisingly libertarian legal framework for life at sea. The conversation covers who seasteading is realistically for today, how the path to a stateless floating city mirrors historical frontier movements, and Arkpad's roadmap to reach international waters within five years.

Chapters

0:00 – Intro: Why states lose power 12 nautical miles out

0:49 – Welcome & episode overview

1:27 – Sponsor: Jason Gonyea's Good to Go 90-Day Workout

2:30 – Meet Mitchell Suchner & Arkpad

5:38 – What Arkpad has built: resort, fish farm & floating houses

11:41 – Engineering: Glamp House vs. Ark Pad, storm resistance & lifespans

22:27 – Mitchell's origin story: COVID lockdowns & the Thai navy attack

26:10 – Who is seasteading for? Cost & accessibility breakdown

38:31 – Arkpad's 2, 5 & 10-year vision + the seasteading flag

41:22 – How to visit, invest & get involved

Links Mentioned

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most fitness programs are designed for people who are already in shape — but what about everyone else? In this episode of Finding Freedom, host John welcomes back certified personal trainer and health coach Jason Gagne, creator of the Good to Go Body 90-day program, built specifically for people starting from scratch. Jason shares his remarkable personal story of rebuilding his body after a series of childhood surgeries that left him bedridden for years, and how that experience shaped a training philosophy rooted in patience, flexibility, and consistency over intensity. The two dig into why flexibility — not strength — is the key to feeling young again, why men typically need a "scare" before they take their health seriously, and how small daily habits compound into transformational results. Whether you wake up stiff, can't remember the last time you exercised, or just want to move without pain, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

VIDEO CHAPTERS

0:00 – Introduction: Fitness for people who aren't already fit

0:55 – Welcome & guest intro: Jason Gagne and the Good to Go Body program

2:25 – Chair workouts & how Jason helped John's dad with Parkinson's

12:35 – Why flexibility is the real key to feeling young again

13:57 – Preview of the Good to Go Body 90-day program

21:36 – Your body has done this before: the "baby development" approach

35:52 – Why guys only take action when they're scared

43:28 – How to start small: making decisions you can actually keep

57:50 – Final advice: keep it simple — water, movement, sleep

1:01:53 – Outro & how to get $100 off the program

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most Americans — across every party, gender, and demographic — agree that only US citizens should vote in US elections, yet here we are having to fight for something that sounds like the most obvious principle in the world. I sat down with Jack Tomczak from Americans for Citizen Voting to break down exactly how we got here: a constitutional loophole that could allow non-citizens to vote in congressional elections if a state legalizes non-citizen voting at the state legislative level. Jack's organization has already amended the constitutions of 15 states to close this door, and now they're pushing House Joint Resolution 152 through Congress to lock it in federally. With 90% of Americans on board — a number that makes even voter ID look controversial by comparison — this should be a layup, yet the politics are anything but simple. We dig into the LA mayor's race, the erosion of trust in our elections, and why the only honest reason to oppose this amendment is if you actually want non-citizens voting. Jack's optimistic it can get through Congress this summer, and honestly, after hearing his case, it's hard not to share that optimism.

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Chapters

0:00 — Introduction: Should Only Citizens Vote?

0:48 — Welcome & Episode Overview

3:31 — How Americans for Citizen Voting Works & the Constitutional Loophole

10:59 — The LA Mayor's Race, Mail-In Ballots & Election Integrity

15:47 — The Polling: 90% of Americans Support Citizens-Only Voting

17:28 — The Opposition's Arguments (and Why They Fall Apart)

21:48 — Momentum: 15 States Amended, More on the Way

24:49 — What Victory Looks Like & the Path Through Congress

30:39 — Resources & How to Get Involved

Links

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top cancer researchers just declared the gut microbiome a "moonshot moment" in cancer prevention — so why is nobody talking about it? In this solo episode, I break down the mounting science linking poor gut health to not just colon cancer, but breast, lung, pancreatic, liver, and even brain tumors. You'll learn what dysbiosis actually is, how a leaky gut opens the door to chronic inflammation and tumor growth, and which everyday habits are quietly wrecking your microbiome. I also walk through the specific cancers most connected to gut health and what the research actually says about each one. Then we get into what you can do about it — from eating fermented foods and fiber to choosing the right probiotic delivery system. The good news is that unlike your genetics, your microbiome is something you can start changing with your very next meal. This episode is a wake-up call, but more importantly, it's a roadmap.

Show Sponsor: Jason Gagne’s Good2GoBody 90-day beginner fitness program - ⁠https://good2go.podia.com/?coupon=LIONSJOHN⁠

Chapters

0:00 – Intro & the Moonshot Moment

0:44 – Welcome & Sponsor: Good To-Go Body Program

2:14 – Why the Gut Is About Way More Than Digestion

3:26 – What Is the Gut Microbiome?

7:06 – The Moonshot: What Scientists Are Focusing On Right Now

9:41 – Which Cancers Are Most Linked to Gut Health

11:16 – What's Destroying Your Gut Health

14:13 – How to Fight Back: Diet, Lifestyle & Protocols

20:07 – Summary & Final Thoughts

Schedule a 15 minute Gut Health Audit with John: https://calendar.app.google/B9fcGdSFjC5caTVu5

SUPPORT LIONS OF LIBERTY: Help keep this podcast going! We rely on listener support to continue bringing you content on freedom, political reform, and personal empowerment. 

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lionsofliberty

Support us on Locals: https://lionsofliberty.locals.com/

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen – it makes a huge difference!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices