"Cardinal SOG" and I first met on IG over a Social Distortion post in which Mike Ness was getting blasted by keyboard commandos for simply posting a picture of him standing with police officers. Since then, he and I have chatted a lot about the power of music, childhood troubles and trauma, finding purpose in life, and serving to help others.

On this episode, he opens up about witnessing the domestic violence his mother endured, her death, gunshots ripping into his trailer, being a latchkey kid, and overcoming hurdles to become a firefighter, EMS, and work search and rescue. Oh...and he was in a band.

Instagram: @cardinalsog

Worth Parker is a gifted storyteller, retired USMC MARSOC officer, short-lived prosecutor, hunter, fisherman, and life-long reader. He coauthored, Always Faithful, and has authored numerous articles for NY Times, Garden & Gun Magazine, The Bitter Southerner, Backcountry Journal, Shooting Sportsman Magazine, Salt Magazine, SOFLETE.com, and DieLiving.com.

We also touch on his days earning a law degree, working drug cases as a prosecutor, his incredible family lineage, his love of books, writing, and remaining a free-thinking American.

IG @b00kwar

russellworthparker.com

Have you ever met a professional surfer who is happy when others win championships? Rick Takahashi has won 16 national surfing championships as well as acquired sponsors in the firearms industry. He talks about his mindset, his surfing career, his history training with rifles and pistols, following his instincts and surviving the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.

This is why I do this show!

I've looked forward to this talk for a long time. People can disagree, but we all must make an effort to be tactful, talk, and learn from one another.

Enjoy.

Feel free to comment.

For those interested in how America fights crime and terrorism, I give you an incredible guest.

NYPD-Joint Terrorism Task Force Detective Tom Smith shares his story of working an international kidnapping case that resulted in him traveling to Afghanistan and working with the military, the FBI, and an intel agency. His specialty in NYPD was flipping criminals into informants. While overseas, he did just that, developed a source, worked the investigation, and....

Tom Smith is also the cohost of The Gold Shields Podcast.

From his days working an informant in bin Laden's inner circle to the investigation and recovery of kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl, Special Agent Randall Bennett talks candidly about in actions during these investigations as well as his book, TAKING UP THE SWORD.

The absolute hardest working man in the industry, JOHN GUARNIERI!!!!

Former Secret Service agent

Current Security Director for Shinedown and Motley Crue

Host "Spear Talk Podcast" and cohost of "Talk O Tuesday" with Eric Bass (Shinedown)

Cohost of "Boos, Brews, and BBQs" with Ty Sherrell (TX Brew and Barbeque) and Barry Kerch (Shinedown)

Spear Talk Book club

Writer "Stay Hungry: A WW2 Horror Comic"

Befriending a cop-hating domestic terrorist was the beginning of Matt Pitcher's infiltration into a cell operating in the South and along the East Coast. With the Democratic National Convention approaching, Matt was introduced to more members who intended on blowing up the DNC...

Matt also infiltrated the mafia, but that's a story for another episode.

@ret_det_mattpitcher

From skate punk to firefighter, Brent Waterworth describes the 14 day ordeal of fighting the Palisades fires, water supplies running out, growing up a skate punk, his former punk bands and his current band, TAKEN DAYS.

What happens when gangsters become terrorists?

While serving 25 years in scores of countries, Special Agent Randall Bennett talks about his days getting shot at in Colombia in the 1990s, surviving the impact of Civil War in Angola, and his role in the "Dirty Bomber" terrorism investigation and eventual capture of Jose Padilla, an alleged former Maniac Latin Disciple gang member turned al-Qaeda trained terror suspect.

Bennett has documented his decades of service in his autobiography, Taking Up The Sword .