It’s Halloween week on Subject Matter Expert, featuring the host of Jacked History, Jack Mandaville!

In this episode we dive into dark and curious corners of history: animals on trial at the Salem witch trials, the real origins of trick-or-treating, the legend of the Headless Horseman, whether San Antonio’s Menger Hotel earns its “most haunted” rep, and the true stories behind a few truly grim figures: Vlad the Impaler, Elizabeth Báthory, and Carl Panzram. We also run a rapid-fire “Wrong Answers Only” round for laughs and get Jack’s hottest history take (you’ll probably be offended).

Jack Mandaville is a writer, producer, Marine Corps combat veteran, and the host of Jacked History, a fast-growing YouTube channel where he unpacks strange, hilarious, and interesting stories from the past with a dose of sarcasm and comedy. If you like sharp history with personality, go check out Jacked History on YouTube or Spotify and subscribe to support the show.

• ​Subscribe to Jacked History
• ​Follow Jack Mandaville on Instagram
• ​Follow Jack Mandaville on X

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

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• ​⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠
• ​⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

War pushes families to the edge—and recent aid cuts make hard choices even harder in war-ravaged regions of Africa.

ChildVoice CEO Nathan Mandsager joins Subject Matter Expert to explain what aid reductions mean for girls at risk in places like Sudan, Nigeria, eastern DRC, South Sudan, and the Sahel—and what actually lowers danger on the ground. We dig into what is really happening on the ground in Africa, the realities of ration cuts, how to deliver trauma-informed care, and how a faith-forward approach can help heal, and even prevent future conflict.

Who is Nathan Mandsager? Nathan is the CEO of ChildVoice, working as a humanitarian focused on women and children refugees of war. With over 20 years of humanitarian experience, he is focused on practical protection for war-affected women and children—counseling, education, career training, and survivor-centered recovery across East and Central Africa.

• Learn more about ChildVoice
• Donate to support ChildVoice's mission
• Follow ChildVoice on Instagram

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

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• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠

• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

War correspondent Hollie McKay takes us inside Afghanistan during and after the fall of Afghanistan in 2021, where she was reporting on the ground with little to no safety net.

We dig into what life is like for frontline reporters, how life as a conflict journalist can be complicated, and the ethical and safety calculus of reporting in active conflict zones like Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Myanmar. McKay also talks about the long lasting effects of human atrocities in places closer to home, like Mexico.

Hollie McKay is an award-winning war reporter and author of “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield” and other books. She has reported all over the world, from Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine to Myanmar and Mexico with a focus on civilians, accountability, and ground truth.

• Follow Hollie’s work on Substack: https://holliesmckay.substack.com/ 

• Buy Hollie’s book “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield”: https://a.co/d/hx8N8Bu 

• Buy Hollie’s book “Afghanistan: The End of the US Footprint and the Rise of the Taliban Rule”: https://a.co/d/iwhfGMo 

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

• Subscribe to ⁠Subject Matter Expert on YouTube⁠

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Buy Marty's Books

• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠

• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror

Harvard professor Avi Loeb joins Marty Skovlund Jr. to unpack the newest interstellar visitor, 3I/ATLAS, and to draw a hard line between extraordinary claims and extraordinary evidence on UAPs. 

We get specific on what’s actually observed for 3I/ATLAS, how it compares with prior interstellar detections, and the kind of sensors, data, and public transparency that would move the needle on UAP research. We also talk about why bold science—done rigorously—still pays dividends for science, culture, and technology.

Avi Loeb was the  longest serving chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy, the founding lead of the Galileo Project, and bestselling author of nine books, including “Extraterrestrial” and “Interstellar.” He holds a PhD in Physics, was a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and authored over a thousand scientific papers (with h-index of 131 and i10-index of 614) on a wide range of topics, including black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial life and the future of the Universe.

• Follow Avi’s work on Medium:

• Buy Avi’s book “Interstellar”
• Buy Avi’s book “Extraterestrial”

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

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Buy Marty's Books

• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠

• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

Marty Skovlund Jr. sits down with tactical hippy Jay Pelletier of Q, LLC for a wide-open, engineering-driven conversation about modern firearms and sound suppression. 

We dig into the design thinking behind Q’s "Honey Badger" and "The Fix" bolt action, then get practical about silencers and why innovation doesn't necessarily require reinventing the wheel. Jay also breaks down the goals of 8.6 Blackout (8.6mm BLK)—heavy rounds with fast twist rates, and real-world performance—plus what consumers routinely get wrong about all of the above.

Jay’s a proud New Englander raised in southern Maine who has spent nearly a decade in the firearms industry (including years at SIG SAUER) before joining Q in 2019, where he leads consumer education and appears across Q’s media staples like King of the Bush and the Live Q or Die podcast—while jokingly serving as “Owner, CEO, Sales Intern, and Janitorial Liaison.” 

We also hit a book segment on Jack Carr’s new novel Cry Havoc, and how Jack is best in class at what he does. 

If you care about innovation in firearms, the realities of silencer use, and where 8.6 BLK is headed, this episode is for you.

• Follow Jay on Instagram
• Follow Q, LLC on Instagram
• Find out more about Q, LLC here

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

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• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠
• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠
  

Journalist and author Ian Frisch joins Marty Skovlund Jr. to take us through his new book “Inside the Cartel: How an Undercover FBI Agent Smuggled Cocaine, Laundered Cash, and Dismantled a Colombian Narco-Empire.”

This true story is about FBI Special Agent Martin “Manny” Suarez, who spent years undercover infiltrating Colombian narcos. We dig into how Suarez earned trust, smuggled cocaine to keep his cover viable, and followed the money through the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) to expose laundering pipelines that touched blue-chip companies and global finance.

This conversation lands amid major policy shifts: In 2025, the U.S. created a process to designate international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and shortly after designated eight cartels. We unpack what that “reclassification” means for law enforcement, banks, and cross-border trade—plus the real-world cost of living a double life.

• Follow Ian on Instagram
• Follow Ian on X
• Buy Inside the Cartel

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

• Subscribe to ⁠Subject Matter Expert on YouTube⁠

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Buy Marty's Books

⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

Former Air Force special operations pilot, war correspondent, and current drone-warfare expert Nolan Peterson joined Marty Skovlund Jr. to explain how Ukraine’s drone war reshaped the modern battlefield—from FPV drones and electronic warfare to the operator tradecraft that exploits wind, terrain, and “radio shadows.” He walked Marty through how naval drones (USVs) helped push Russia’s Black Sea Fleet away from Crimea, protected grain routes near Odesa, and even contributed to reports of Russian troops surrendering to drones.Nolan also covered lessons for the U.S.: why counter-UAS can’t just live on bases, why civilian infrastructure (airports, power plants) need micro-layered defenses, and why some sites require non-kinetic options that won’t disrupt aviation or comms. Plus, Nolan shared his field notes on China and Tibet from India’s border, his Himalaya trek, meeting the Dalai Lama, and why drones + AI are the big unknown right now.Note: This episode drops in the wake of the Pentagon’s newly announced Joint Interagency Task Force 401, which aims to accelerate counter-drone (C-UAS) capabilities.You can follow Nolan on X.
New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

• Subscribe to ⁠Subject Matter Expert on YouTube⁠

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Buy Marty's Books

• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠

• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to today’s “New Cold War,” former CIA case officer Doug Patteson joins Marty Skovlund Jr. to break down how Russia and China run spies in the AI era, HUMINT vs AI, Russia’s illegals, China’s LinkedIn trap, and corporate espionage. He also discusses tips for the every day person to be more aware and defend against exploitation. 

Follow Doug on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasspydad/

Learn more about the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation: https://jamesfoleyfoundation.org/

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

• Subscribe to ⁠Subject Matter Expert on YouTube⁠

• Subscribe to ⁠Subject Matter Expert Clips on YouTube⁠

• Follow ⁠Subject Matter Expert on Instagram⁠

• Follow ⁠Marty on Instagram⁠

Buy Marty's Books

• ⁠Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War⁠

• ⁠Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror⁠

What’s life really like as a paramedic?

Joshua Skovlund is an Army Ranger-turned-paramedic-turned-journalist who reveals the unvarnished ground truth about what first responders endure in EMS.

From brutal 911 calls, overdoses, burnout, split-second decisions, to what the media misses—this episode hits hard.

From urban emergencies in Minneapolis to working at a fire department in New Hampshire, Josh shares tactics he's used on scene, tough triage decisions, the human cost of saving lives, and how he thinks we can fix America’s EMS system. 

• Follow Josh on Instagram

New here? Welcome to Subject Matter Expert, hosted by Marty Skovlund Jr., featuring top experts across diverse and relevant fields without regard to political bias. If you're looking for an echo chamber, this isn't it! 

In each episode, Marty dives deep into high-impact topics with guests who have been there, done that, offering nuanced insights and practical takeaways, while highlighting their unique stories, knowledge, and experiences.

Subscribe & Follow

• Subscribe to Subject Matter Expert on YouTube

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Buy Marty's Books

• Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War

• Violence of Action: The True Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror