John Wayne Gritcast

The John Wayne Gritcast is BACK for season 2! We have a lot of amazing guests lined up for this next season but our first guest needs no introduction.

Tim Kennedy is a decorated Green Beret sniper, UFC headliner, television host, producer, entrepreneur and now, #1 best selling author of the book Scars and Stripes.

In this episode, Ethan Wayne and Tim talk about John Wayne's portrayal of the Army Special Forces in his film, The Green Berets, revisiting Tim's past mistakes while writing Scars and Stripes, how Tim relates to John Wayne's character in The Quiet Man, the importance of teaching critical thinking to children at his school, Apogee, and so much more!

Learn more about Tim Kennedy and all of his amazing companies and causes here: https://timkennedy.com/

Follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/timkennedymma/

Purchase Tim’s book here: https://timkennedy.com/scarsandstripes/

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What was it like being in Duke’s inner circle? Well, lots of trips on the Wild Goose and passing out autograph cards to the fans! This week, we headed to Nogales, AZ, to the Wingfield ranch to sit down with Wayne Family friend, Teddy Wingfield.

Teddy is the son of one of Duke’s closes friends. The Wayne’s and Wingfield’s grew up playing on the Wingfield ranch in between filming and traveling on the Wild Goose. Teddy has some really great stories remembering his time with John Wayne, including one story where he almost got kicked out of Old Tucson!

It is so great to speak with people who were close to John Wayne and we are so grateful that Teddy shared his stories with us!

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This week’s guest on the John Wayne Gritcast is Chairman of Texas Rangers 2023 and Vice Chairman of Texas Rangers Association Foundation, Russell Molina! Russell has a big job over the next 2 years, he is spearheading a statewide event in Texas celebrating the Texas Rangers Bicentennial.

In this episode, Ethan and Russel speak about the history and the importance of the Texas Rangers. John Wayne played a Texas Ranger in The Comancheros and was awarded an honorary Texas Ranger in 1979. That certificate will be on display in John Wayne: An American Experience, as we will be supporting the Texas Rangers in celebrating their Bicentennial anniversary.

Ethan and Russell also talk about the importance of classic American values that the Texas Rangers and John Wayne represent. They also speak about empowering the youth with practical skills and self-reliance.

We are so honored to be a part of the Texas Rangers Bicentennial celebration and to have had Russell as a guest on the podcast! For more information, you can visit https://texasranger2023.org/

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This week’s guest on the John Wayne Gritcast is Mark Rydell. The legendary Director of one of the most beloved John Wayne films of all time, The Cowboys. It is the 50th anniversary of the film’s release and Ethan and Mark haven’t seen each other since they were on location.

Ethan sits down with Mark in a very special location in Los Angeles to discuss Mark’s amazing career and working with John Wayne on The Cowboys. Mark describes being a little nervous to work with Duke, since the two were on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but he remembers that not being an issue at all. The two really enjoyed working together.

He also details working with his friend, Steve McQueen. He then tells the story about how he discovered Bette Midler and fought to get her cast in the Rose. The executives quickly apologized after 3 days of seeing her on set.

Mark turned 93 this week and it is such an honor to have Mark as a guest on the John Wayne Gritcast.

Also, make sure you’re signed up for our emails and follow us on social because we will be announcing some more exciting news in honor of the 50th anniversary of The Cowboys soon!

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This week on the John Wayne Gritcast, Ethan sits down with his sister, Aissa Wayne, to discuss growing up with their dad, John Wayne.

She talks about traveling on the Wild Goose and remembers a horrible storm where the ocean crashed through the salon of the boat. She also remembers travelling with her father and all of his friends, including Ernie Saftig (listen to Tom Saftig’s podcast here).

The two also talk about some of the lessons John Wayne taught them, including teaching Aissa not to lie in Africa on the set of Hatari. She then tells the story of how she snuck Bush Babies on the plane with them coming home from Africa!

This is a really great episode packed with stories about growing up with John Wayne! Stay tuned for a part 2 with Aissa.

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Today’s guest is the legendary Travis Tritt! Travis is a Grammy award winning country music icon. He is also a husband, a father, a songwriter, an actor, a proud American, and we are also lucky enough to call him a friend of the John Wayne team.

On this episode, Ethan and Travis talk about Travis’ career and how he connects with his audience. He knows the people that listen to him are hardworking Americans who are resilient and he wants to give them music to listen to which is similar to the way John Wayne connected with his audience through film.

He also tells Ethan about his dedication to his home state of Georgia. He draws inspiration from being able to drive down to his high school or on the roads he grew up on. Also in Georgia is his family. Travis talks about how close his family is and credits his wife for instilling a big love of family in to their children, which is something John Wayne passed along to his family too.

Travis really embodies a lot of the same values that were important to John Wayne. He is one of the nicest, genuine, and down-to-earth people and we think you guys will really enjoy listening to this episode!

Follow Travis on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/realtravistritt/

More information on Travis’ tour dates on https://travistritt.com/tour/

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Randy Wayne White is the author of the Doc Ford series and an extreme outdoorsman… and by extreme, we mean he hunts pythons. That takes some grit!

Ethan Wayne started reading the Doc Ford series and immediately saw some familiar names and reached out to Randy to see if John Wayne had any influence. It turns out, he was correct! The two connected and have stayed in touch ever since.

To say Randy lives John Wayne Grit, is an understatement. He is extremely adventurous, courageous, intelligent, and creative. We hope you enjoy this episode with our friend, Randy Wayne White!

To learn more about Randy, visit his website here: https://www.randywaynewhite.com/

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No one gets off the beaten path, literally and metaphorically, more than Matt and his crew from Matt’s Off Road Recovery! Matt and his team run a very popular YouTube channel that shows them recovering vehicles who get stuck off roading. Matt and his team were nice enough to let us come on an off-road excursion with them in St George, Utah, the scene for some of John Wayne’s films.

Ethan and Matt discuss how Matt got into the business of off-road recovery after years of owning his own roofing business and then how his off road recovery business turned into a very successful YouTube channel. Matt and his crew share so many of the same core values as John Wayne, including self-reliance, family, and adventure.

You can listen and watch the full interview with Matt on Apple Podcasts and Spotify but if you want to see the off road adventure they took us on, head to our YouTube channel for some exclusive Behind the Scenes footage!

Follow Matt’s Off-road Recovery on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MattsOffRoadRecovery

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattsoffroadrecovery/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattsoffroadrecovery

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Run Pilgrim, run! Meet our John Wayne Grit Series Race Director, Molly Kassouf! If you have been to one of our runs, Molly has greeted you with a big smile. The John Wayne Grit Series is a series of trail runs set in beautiful rugged locations and bring awareness and raise funds for John Wayne Cancer Foundation.

Molly knows good trail runs, she is an avid Ultra Marathon runner and has ran all over the world. She also had a run in Newport Coast, CA for many years, which is how she got connected with Ethan and the JWCF team.

On this episode, Ethan and Molly sit down over coffee to discuss how Molly got into running, how the John Wayne Grit Series was created, and her favorite JWGS running locations!

To learn more about the John Wayne Grit Series, head to johnwayne.org/jwgs

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In the western world, there’s a saying “all hat and no cattle” which basically means someone is all talk but lacking the experience…. Well, Ricky Bolin is the opposite of this saying! He not only runs some of the most iconic western hat brands but he truly lives the western lifestyle.

Ricky Bolin is the President of Hatco which is the parent brand for iconic hat brands like Stetson, Charlie 1 Horse, Resistol, but he started out bullriding in Mesquite, Texas. He made the NFR several times in his life and was one of the first riders to get sponsored and opened the doors for other riders.

John Wayne worked his way up from being a propman’s assistant to a leading actor and Ricky has that same drive. After he stopped bullriding, he got a job working at an outlet store for Resistol then worked his way up to being the President of Hatco.

Ethan and Ricky also discuss the values of the western community and how those values are regaining popularity.  How do you make a deal with George Strait, one of the biggest country music legends in the world? With a handshake. That’s the classic western values that Ricky and his team are keeping alive today.

This is a really fun interview with an interesting person and great friend of John Wayne Enterprise, we hope you enjoy!

Follow Stetson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/stetsonusa

Follow Resistol on Instagram: www.instagram.com/resistol1927

Follow Charlie 1 Horse on Instagram: www.instagram.com/charlie1horse

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