That Podcast In Hutch

This edition of That Podcast in Hutch brings in one of my closest friends and somewhat frequent guest Tyler Kershner.

Tyler has a history of doing extraordinary things, such as riding his bicycle more than 200 miles in a day, fasting for extended periods of time, or in this case - walking 50 miles in a single day. 

He got the idea from President Teddy Roosevelt, who believed that officers under his command should be able to walk 50 miles in a 24 hour period. In that test of physical endurance the officers could break that walk up over any part of 24 hours. Tyler decided he wanted to do it straight through - walking 50 miles in one outing, with only small breaks during the day. 

He chose Hutchinson, and during his trek around town he learned a lot about the community - and about himself. 

I think you’ll find this episode intriguing - and will appreciate some of his insights and takeaways from his one-day adventure. 

This week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch centers on the work of the United Way of Reno County and two dynamic people who help lead the organization - Executive Director Lacey Mills and Director of Community Impact, Valerie Taylor. 

We visit about the United Way’s ongoing fundraising campaign - which is a critical part of supporting our non-profit community in Hutchinson. The United Way is an important resource to help these on-the-ground agencies do the work needed to improve the lives of residents in Hutchinson, which in turn improves our community. 

Additionally, we talk about the United Way’s work on ALICE - which is an acronym for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed. For too many families in our community, working isn’t enough to get by. These families are working hard, but the wages aren’t moving them to a place of sustainability. There are so many factors that work against people - and our conversation helps illustrate some of those challenges. 

I do want to say that I had some terrible technical challenges during recording - all due to my lack of experience with some relatively new equipment we’re using in the studio. But Christopher does miracles to make it all work out pretty well. 

I hope you enjoy this episode of That Podcast In Hutch. 

Producer Christopher takes over the podcast! he takes the recording equipment on the road and sets up at Sandhills Brewing during the launch of Jasons Prost for Probst Oktoberfest to ask attendees why they love Hutch.

This one is going to hurt. 

In this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, my friend Brandy Sheahan Harris talks about the loss of her son, Sebastian, to a fentanyl overdose. 

Sebastian passed away on April 15, 2022. He was 21 years old. 

Brandy tells us about her son, moving us through his young life and lets us see, through a mother’s eyes, Sebastian’s life. She also walks us through his struggles with addiction, and the hole his death has left in her family’s lives. 

I’ve known Brandy for a number of years. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child.  Yet she has shown an incredible amount of resolve and courage in the years since Sebastian’s death. 

Anytime I’ve asked Brandy to travel to Topeka to testify on legislation related to fentanyl deaths, she has helped without hesitation. She testified in front of Senate and House Committees and did numerous television interviews - all things that I know were far outside of her comfort zone. 

I spent nearly 3 years talking with other legislators about the need to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips. It finally happened in 2023 and I was proud to lead that effort in the legislature. But it wouldn’t have happened without people like Brandy - who had the courage to speak through their loss. 

In 2024, we followed that by passing a Good Samaritan law, which allows people to call for medical aid during an overdose without fear of arrest or prosecution. 

This one is going to hurt. 

But I think it’s important to hear it. 

I was visiting with my producer Christopher Acker about our 3-part series on addiction, alcoholism, and sobriety earlier this week. We got some remarkable feedback on the series, and I’m really thankful for the people who took time to reach out to share how the episodes had touched them. 

As we started talking about the upcoming episodes - including this week’s show - Christopher pointed out that even though it wasn’t labeled as part of the series on addiction, it was still very much related. I hadn’t considered that, but he was absolutely right. 

Luci Hernandez, or Lucky Luci, tells her story of destruction, demolition, and rebuilding - both in the house she’s rehabbing into a home, and in her life that today looks a lot different than she had imagined when she first moved to Kansas. 

I first heard Luci’s story this June during Talk 20 at the Hutchinson Public Library. If you haven’t attended Talk 20 before, you’ve been missing out. At its core, Talk 20 is a way to show us the lives of neighbors - particularly those neighbors who might not ever tell their stories to a broad segment of the community. 

Luci told her story about moving to Kansas with a plan for the future, only to watch it all fall away from her. She had to figure out what she might do next, and from the remnants of the life she had imagined, she began to rebuild her home, and herself. 

Her story is one of resilience and hope, and I think you’ll find, as Christopher pointed out, that it’s very much a story of recovery. 

In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses. 

To conclude our series on alcohol and sobriety, I visit with Seth Dewey, who works as a Health Educator at the Reno County Health Department. He has done incredible work to educate and inform our community about substance misuse. While Seth often speaks about various drugs, we talked in this episode about the parallels with alcohol abuse - which still remains one of the most abused drugs in Reno County. 

You'll have the chance to learn a great deal from Seth in this episode. 

Jason and Producer Chris head out to Third Thursday to hear from you! We heard from folks about their pets, their summer, or anything else they wanted to share.

In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses. 

In this episode, I visit with Mike and Cammie Rumback. They share their story about dealing with alcoholism - Mike as an alcoholic and Cammie as a wife and mother trying to navigate life with someone addicted to alcohol. 

This is a story that's more common than I think we realize, and I appreciated the Rumbacks for opening up about something so painful and personal. 

In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses. 

In this episode, I visit with former District Court Judge and Kansas Representative Steven Becker. He shares the story of his struggle with alcoholism, his time in treatment, and how those moments changed his outlook on life. 

I think you'll enjoy hearing this story, and this perspective, from Steve. He is open and vulnerable and honest about a difficult time in his life. 

This episode of That Podcast in Hutch reaches back a way - to about a year ago when former Hutchinson resident Slade Templeton dropped into the studio while visiting family, in the country from his home in Bern, Switzerland. 

Slade is an eclectic mix of interests and skills. He’s the author of horror books - his latest being Truth of the Shadows, which is described as “dark and spiraling journey into the abyss,” by the president of the Horror Writers Association. 

But his literary work is just the start. He’s a musician and record producer, as well as a designer and creator of Haunted Miniatures - offering spooky miniatures for dollhouse makers. 

In my conversation with Slade, we go back in time to his early years in Hutchinson. Along the way we touch on his experience with substance misuse, feelings of not quite finding your place in the world, and mental health crisis. But also about how he found his passion and place by embracing his true self.