Millennial in the Middle

To stay with the theme of Debates, Connor brings his High School Debate coach, Alli Martin, on the show to discuss various topics. Connor competed nationally in debate and talks about the lessons and skills he learned then that are still with him today. He also asks Alli what are the issues that matter most to her and why. Alli is an activist and advocate in the community helping to amplify the voices of those often unheard. They focus on LGBTQ rights and race in America. They discuss “white privilege” and pose the question if benefitting from a racist system makes you a “racist.”

Dr. Alli Martin:

Alli (she, her, hers) works as an Assistant Principal at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center in Salt Lake City School District.  She earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah. Alli serves as a member of the Board of Governors for the Human Rights Campaign and is a co-founding member of Friends, Allies, and Mentors of the LGBTQ community (FAM). Through her work with FAM, Alli regularly provides professional learning experiences to educators on issues of intersectionality and LGBTQ youth.

***Correction: Abraham Lincoln ran and against Stephen A. Douglas and others in the general election for the Presidency in 1860. They also faced each other in a race for the Illinois Senate in 1858 (A race that Douglas won). It is in this election for senator that their now famous “Lincoln-Douglas” debates were held.***

A night to remember! Connor was lucky enough to have the chance to volunteer at the Vice Presidential Debate last night in Salt Lake City. In this episode, he talks through his impressions of being there in person and what stood out to him. He also explains a moment you don't see on television that is a great metaphor for our political discourse today and life in general.  

Connor recorded this episode only two hours after the debate without watching any commentary or pundits. He just gives his raw reaction to what he saw and the biggest moments of the night.

Today we take a break from politics for a feel-good story and informative interview. In high school, Courtney Hill found herself in the middle of an extreme battle with anorexia. It only took a few weeks to become a very dangerous situation. What started quickly led to a very long 5 year road to recovery. She had several stays in treatment centers with her last time in rehab lasting over a year. In this interview she opens up about how a happy and healthy teenage girl found herself at rock bottom and what she learned along the way. We talk through the misconceptions around eating disorders and how we can support others with any sort of mental illness.

This is not a sad story. This is a story of triumph and the road back. Courtney explains her breakthrough moment and how she has committed to taking care of herself and helping others in their journey. All of us can learn from how Courtney found a way to bottle up that “Amalfi Coast feeling.”

***Just a warning, we do talk about some sensitive topics (eating disorders, self-harm) in this episode that may be triggering for some. ***

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right! The circus was on full display in Tuesday night. Last night was a good example of why most people have stopped watching the news and don’t like politics!

In this episode Connor gives some thoughts on the debates, what went wrong and missed opportunities for both candidates. He also tells the story behind the first ever televised Presidential Debate in 1960. Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy took part in this debate and shifted how presidential campaigns were conducted. The power of television took elections into American’s living rooms. The story behind this night is so interesting!

Allenmichael Boasten listened to the intro episode of this podcast and felt this message resonate with him. He feels like he is in the middle and in today’s political environment he knows being uninvolved or uninformed isn’t an option. He offered to come on the show to discuss race and his experiences growing up in Mobile, Alabama. He played college football, has lived all over the country and has a great perspective on life. While he knows there is a lot of progress we can make as a country he points out how far we have come and chooses to view the world from an optimistic perspective.

He says at the beginning, “One thing we lack when it comes to politics is empathy and you can’t have empathy without listening.” I hope you enjoy listening to this interview as we continue to have real conversations with the aim to move forward together.

20 EPISODES!! This benchmark for some reason really seems significant! What started as an fun idea with a catchy name has now become a legitimate platform for reasonable people to have uplifting and informative conversations. We are finding this is bringing people together, helping you learn something new and leading to an increased sense of respect and empathy for others. The initial concern was that we would run out of things to talk about or interesting topics to cover. For the last two months we have released 2 episodes a week and my real problem is deciding what topics and guests to prioritize. We can confidently say we’re just getting started and it’s just going to keep getting better!

In this episode, Connor looks back at the first 19 episodes and points out some themes and recurring comments that teach us a lot. He plays highlights from several guests and weaves it together in a way that further cements the purpose of this podcast.

At the end, Connor explains why he sings “Stuck in the Middle with you” at the end of every episode and how this sign-off has evolved to mean something much more than a comment about the clowns and the jokers in the world.

Emily Northway graduated college and decided to head to Norway to get a year of international work experience. She bought a one-way ticket, enrolled in some Norwegian classes and started applying for jobs. That one year has now turned into 6+ and she has immersed herself into the country, culture, and workplace.

In this interview Connor asks Emily about the differences in lifestyle, politics, and values. Emily explains how she is often put in a position to represent the US in conversations with friends and what Europeans really think of Obama, Trump, and the current election. More than anything, Emily’s courage has taught her some life lessons that we all can benefit from hearing!

With the presidential election just around the corner we are bound to hear a lot about the electoral college. After all, two of our last five elections have produced a winner that received fewer votes than the loser! In this episode, we dive into the history of the electoral college dating back to the Compromise of 1787 and why after 700+ attempts to change this system it is still in place today.

You know we love history on this podcast. Today we have a discussion on why history is so important to understand and learn from. Connor brings Patrick Henry Hansen on the show and asks him what parallels he sees with today and ancient history. His answer may surprise you and will definitely make you think.

Patrick Henry Hansen is a speaker, corporate trainer, author and historian. Patrick has delivered over 1,200 keynotes and trainings to sales professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders in over 20 countries. His clientele includes Apple, Tesla, Google, Rolls Royce, Kimberly Clark, Goodyear Tires, and dozens of Fortune 500, enterprise level and small business clients.

Patrick is best known for his entirely unique style of combining brief historical stories with modern sales, negotiation and leadership issues. He leverages history to entertain and inspire audiences who walk away feeling informed and motivated.

Patrick is the author of the best-selling book series, From Great Moments in History. His four books have been endorsed by industry icons including Stephen R. Covey, Brian Tracy and Larry King.

We all remember where we were on September 11th, 2001. We had been attacked on our homeland, but this enemy was very  different. There was not a specific country to strike back against. Instead, it was an underground terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden. This ushered in the "War on Terror." US involvement in the Middle East from 2000-today can be difficult to understand. Why were we there? Who were we fighting?  Today we speak with Colonel Bob Church and learn of his experiences during his deployment in Afghanistan in 2006 and answer some of those questions. 

Bob Church went to law school and decided to enter the Navy as a JAG officer. Over the course of his career he has been the command JAG for combat engineers, aviation, field artillery, and has been the State JAG officer. Currently he serves as the state military judge in Utah for the National Guard.   He has been to Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and Iceland. In this episode we focus on his deployment to Afghanistan in 2006. He served in a unique capacity working to help set up the newly formed Afghan criminal justice system. He mentored Afghan military judges, military attorneys and military police in their newly adopted military code of justice. Teaching them law and order and the concept of "innocent until proven guilty."

His perspective on the war and the freedoms we enjoy in our country is inspiring.  You don't want to miss this episode! For pictures and other visuals visit the @millennial_inthe_middle instagram page or Facebook page.