My guest on episode 38 of "Let's Talk" is Brittany Wagner -- she was featured on the Netflix docu-series -- Last Chance U, which followed top-ranked junior college football team, East Mississippi Community College (EMCC)

She was the Lions athletic academic counselor Brittany helped student athletes move beyond personal failure to find success and prepare themselves for life beyond the gridiron.

That success led to her new book, "Next Chance You: Tools, Tips, and Tough Love for Bringing Your A-Game to Life".

Get the book here

Our guest this week is William Jack Sibley author of "Here We Go Loop De Loop" -- Sibley is a fifth generation Texas rancher, an award-winning author and a versatile writer whose work has spanned from the likes of writing dialogue for television’s Guiding Light to serving as a contributing editor at Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, to seeing his plays produced off-Broadway and regionally. Sibley is the author of a dozen screenplays, nine stage plays, and three novels (Any Kind of Luck, Sighs Too Deep For Words, and Here We Go Loop De Loop).

Sibley’s previous works have won the National Indie Excellence Book Award and USA Best Book Award while succeeding as a finalist in the Lambda Literary Award, Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, and more. Sibley currently is the Secretary of the Texas Institute of Letters, as well as a member of The Dramatist Guild and the Writers Guild of America. He lives in San Antonio.

Get his books here

"Here We Go Loop De Loop"

"Any Kind of Luck"

"Sighs Too Deep For Words"

My guest on Episode 36 of Let's Talk is Harry Guggenheim biographer Dirk Smillie -- He's written "The Business of Tomorrow: The Visionary Life of Harry Guggenheim: From Aviation and Rocketry to the Creation of an Art Dynasty"  It's an amazing look at a man who was instrumental in some of the remarkable technological achievements of the last 75 years. A member a family with a prolific history in the art world... Harry Guggenheim is the Guggenheim most haven't heard about but maybe should have. It's a great conversation you won't want to miss.

Get the book here.

My guest on episode 35 of Let's Talk is Arthur Swan -- a Los Angeles-based award-winning novelist and Character Supervisor for Dreamworks (he’s contributed to films like A Beautiful Mind and How to Train Your Dragon). His latest horror/thriller novel, is  The Encanto: Book One of the L.A. Fog series (October 2021, Swanfall). We talk about his new book, his work at Dreamworks, and his work a non-profit "Young Storytellers. 

Young Storytellers - https://www.youngstorytellers.com/

The Encanto: Book One of the L.A. Fog series - https://amzn.to/3bwk9sI

Our guest on episode 34 of "Let's Talk" is Dr. Hicham Bou Nassif… he’s a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and an expert in Middle East Politics.

He’s written two books - Endgames: Military Response to Protest in Arab Autocracies and The Oxford Handbook of Civil-Military Relations.

Dr. Nassif is a native of Lebanon and he's worked as a reporter for Agency France Press and the Lebonese Broadcasting Corporation

We discuss the devolving situation in Lebanon, a country on the brink of a political and humanitarian crisis. What are the causes? What are the conditions on the ground? Who are the players? What can be done.

Our guest on Episode 33 of Let's Talk is Occidental College professor Dr. Caroline Heldman. We talked about the political landscape that we are living in today. We look ahead to the midterm elections and the 2024 presidential race. This podcast was recorded on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Terror Attacks. Dr. Heldman and I were both in New York City that day. We talked about her experience on that tragic day. 

There's a big supply chain problem in the US. Dozens of ships are parked off the west coast waiting to offload their cargo and get products to the American people. Why is there a traffic jam and what can be done to fix it? On Episode 32... I talk with transportation expert and "Transport Topics" radio host Dan Ronan.

On episode 31 of Let's Talk we chat with Loyola Marymount Professor Dr. Michael Genovese about the state of America's political landscape. This episode was recorded on 9/11/2021 -- we open with a discussion about the world today -- 20 years after those devastating terror attacks.  From there we talk about the current political climate and how we got here, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the first six months of the Biden Administration and where do things go from here.

Episode 30 of the Let's Talk Podcast is a deep dive into the California Recall on the weekend before the final vote. I talk with a pane of expert guests. Dr. Caroline Heldman from Occidental College, Dr. Jack Pitney from Claremont McKenna College, Dr. Michael Genovese from Loyola Marymount University, and veteran political reporter Dave Bryan. 

In Episode 29 I talk with financial expert and social media guru Warner Trejo.

Warner hosts the STAY IN THE BIG podcast -- a podcast created to provide a platform and a community of leaders, athletes, entrepreneurs and all other walks of life just seeking to bring value and also share their personal stories.

Podcast on Spotify - Stay in the Big

@warnertrejo on Instagram