John Rienstra was drafted ninth overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and later played for the Cleveland Browns. He played under Chuck Noll, Bill Belichick, and Bruce Arians — coaches who combined for 11 Super Bowl rings. He was nicknamed The Raging Rhino. At his peak, he could total over 2,000 pounds in powerlifting.But there was always an unseen side.

Since his first year at Temple, John battled crippling anxiety and panic attacks — often so severe that the only way through them was to vomit before every game. He hid it for a long time. And when coaches eventually did find out, the way they handled it said a lot about the era he played in.

What John and I really dig into today is the full arc — from a boarding school dorm room in Bryn Athyn to the NFL, and everything that came after: More than 20 surgeries. Teammates who died and were posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Going from a first-round pick salary to essentially starting over. From lifting 2,000 pounds to not being able to bench 10. 

John is living with the cognitive effects of a career's worth of repetitive head injuries and has been part of the NFL concussion lawsuit for over two decades. His story is a hard one. But John tells it like it is, and I admire him for it — and I think you'll walk away seeing football, and a lot of other things, in a completely different light.

Check Out:

Penn Sports Live Podcast with John Rienstra

A Quiet Warrior, The Story of Former NFL Player

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay ConnectedContact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Martha is a coach, a listener, and what she calls a "lay midwife for women's spirits" — someone who helps people come home to themselves.

She’s also my godmother. She's known me since before I knew myself. That should be enough said.

In this episode, we talk about what it means to truly see someone, why anger is almost always thwarted love, the stories we carry that keep us small, and why the hardest parts of our lives might be exactly what we were handed on purpose.

Just Martha and me, doing what we've always done.

Welcome to Episode 49.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

If you asked a room full of ten-year-old boys what they wanted to be when they grew up, Lach Brown became all of them: a Vietnam War Cobra attack helicopter pilot, police officer, firefighter, and decorated veteran, holding the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and Air Medal among others. In the traditional sense of what it means to be a man, he checks every box. But Lach is the first to tell you: he was asleep for most of it.

The real journey of masculinity, he’ll tell you, is the distance between a man’s mind and his heart.

That journey led him to his wife Dorothy—50 years and counting—who taught him the things of the heart that no cockpit or firehouse could—and supported him in finding brotherhood with other men on the same path.

That realization—that a man needs other men, and that the hardest war most men fight is the one within themselves—eventually led Lach to become a founding member of SWET (Spiritual Warfare Effectiveness Training), volunteer at halfway houses helping people reintegrate into society, and adopt five children.

What Lach ultimately shows us is that the measure of a man isn’t necessarily found in titles or medals—it’s found in the ordinary person who simply does right. In their conduct, their work, their home, and their community. That’s the example worth looking up to. And the reason that matters? It means any of us can live it.

Welcome to Episode 48.

Check Out:

SWET (Spiritual Warfare Effectiveness Training)

Bryn Athyn Police Department

Bryn Athyn Fire Company

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Shawn Rose has lived a quiet, intentional life that looks a lot like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, and in this episode he shares just how that path unfolded. Shawn has built his life around music and nature: perhaps best known as the piano accompanist to many generations, but there is more to this man than meets the eye. He has slept in a tent for the last 19 years, climbed trees closing in on 7,000 ascents, and is quite possibly the only American I have ever met who is lucky enough to have never sent an email.

Together we explore the pursuit of the 5 Primal Medicines: sun, sky, cold, dark, and earth. Primal medicines meaning how something can be medicine even when you don't think of it that way, such as how walking in the woods is anti-inflammatory. And if many diseases stem from inflammation, maybe Mother Nature has been writing us the right prescription all along. Shawn is living proof.

Light-hearted, jovial, and full of wonder, just like the legend himself. Step into spring with us as we embark on a new adventure together that just may rewire your brain too. 

Welcome to Episode 47.

Check Out:  

Purple La Sportiva Climbing Shoes 

Planet Medicine

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Marcia Perretto grew up in Brazil surrounded by physicians, fell in love with medicine early, and spent years becoming one of the most globally recognized specialists in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility disorders.

But through all that training, she kept noticing the same flaw in the medical system: patients weren’t getting the time or attention needed to address root causes. So she built something different—a holistic practice that treats the whole person, not just the symptoms.

What she didn’t expect… was that she would become the patient.

After nearly dying during labor, undergoing three hip surgeries, and ending up in a wheelchair, she hit a point where she wasn’t fighting to get back to the things she loved—she was fighting just to stay here. Ironically, the hip specialist had to learn how to walk again.

What followed was more than seven years of rebuilding—one small, unglamorous win at a time—until the day she returned to what she loves: line dancing, horseback riding, running, and weightlifting.

I met Dr. Perretto when I was living in Florida and starting to lose hope. She helped me see that getting back to the life I love is actually possible.

Her experience as a patient didn’t just change her perspective—it made her a far better doctor. In her words, it was one of the greatest blessings in disguise… and something she would go through all over again.

This is an honest conversation between two people living in hypermobile bodies—what it’s like to navigate chronic pain, the ego, healing, and what it really takes to get better.

The lessons go far beyond hypermobility.

Whatever you’re healing from—this one’s for you.

Welcome to Episode 46.

Check Out Dr. Perretto’s:

IG: the_eds_pt

Clinic: ActifyPT.com

Linkedin: Marcia Perretto

Book: Unlocking the Secrets of to the Hypermobility Puzzle

*stay tuned for her new book coming out late 2026

Books Mentioned

Radical-Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds

The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Die with Zero

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

On the surface, it’s easy to assume Darryl is fulfilling a predestined path, given he is the descendant of many Bryn Athyn “Greats.” But that version of the story misses the point entirely.

To truly understand Darryl today, you have to meet the 16-year-old version of him in the mid-90s—a shorter, overweight, average student who made a quiet decision one summer day to start running laps around a baseball field. Then another. Then another. That choice—to take ownership of his health, his grades, his future—set everything in motion.

From there, the trajectory changed: he set his sights on Wall Street, made it into Babson College’s lacrosse record books, fell in love over email with his future wife, and graduated top 3% of his college class.

Rejection was never a stop sign for Darryl; it was fuel. The moment someone said he couldn't, the challenge was on. What he didn't expect was that surviving 80-hour investment banking weeks would become something deeper: a spiritual journey of self-discovery. After years learning from the greats, finding his voice, and developing his craft, Darryl did what most only talk about — he fulfilled his dreams by building and launching his own hedge fund, Arcana Partners, from scratch.

The investing world talks about compounding interest. Darryl applied those same principles–making small changes, betting on himself, and letting them compound into a beautiful life he’s built for himself, his family, and community.

Welcome to Episode 45.

Check Out:

Darryl Hasen

Arcana Partners

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

My friends and I love to thrift, and Brenna Synnestvedt has been part of The Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop (better known as BATS), my personal favorite, for the past 25 years, recently taking on management. She thrives on supporting the 90 volunteers and 7 staff to find their niche, transforming a simple thrift store into so much more than a place to donate unwanted items.

On the surface, BATS might seem like just a spot for "spring-cleaning donations," with proceeds benefiting the Bryn Athyn Church. But as Brenna explains, it’s a vibrant community where people born in 72 different countries come together to belong.

Brenna has traveled to 42 countries, and in her early 20s, she lived in Bangkok, supporting refugees fleeing the Vietnam War. After marrying Chris Nunez, they returned to Thailand to continue refugee work, served together as Peace Corps volunteers on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and later lived in Romania, where Chris worked with the Peace Corps.

These experiences fit with her lifelong fascination with people and cultures, a perspective she has shared with her kids, Reece and Raika. Today, she channels that curiosity into helping to make a space where everyone feels welcome. 

Welcome to episode forty-four.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Instagram: @ethan.c.lewin

Contact: ethanchaselewin.com/contact

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Stephen D. Cole is a jack of all trades, descended from a lineage of brilliant minds. His father, Dandridge MacFarlan Cole, was a notable rocket scientist and futurist (look him up on Wikipedia!) who focused on practical space colonization concepts like hollowed-out asteroids for human habitats.

Stephen grew up out west, fell in love with the outdoors, and then moved east for his father’s work. As a kid, he commuted to Philadelphia to use early punch-card computers. At 14, his father didn’t come home, leaving behind a wife and six kids. The loss stayed with him, as did his father’s influence.

Today, Stephen is a pastor-turned-professor who finds wonder in symbolic forms, cognitive science, and just about everything, really. We explored consciousness and whether AI could ever truly be conscious, linguistics, being counter-cultural, surprising ties between church history and the zodiac, and much more...

I can assure you of one thing: Stephen will stretch your mind. Mine is still in recovery. I have never met someone who recalls information with such depth, accuracy, and articulation.

Welcome to episode forty-three.

Check Out:

Stephen D. Cole

Dandridge_MacFarlan_Cole

Moon Landings Fake? Filmmaker Says Not!

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Instagram: @ethan.c.lewin

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

For more than 30 years, Mare Odhner was the heart of the Academy school store. From behind the counter, she ran more than a place to buy books and grab snacks — it became a hub of student life. A place where students came to laugh, vent, get advice, and feel at home. Generations of students knew her on a first-name basis — Mare — and if you passed through the Academy during those years, chances are you knew her too.

Mare shares her life beyond the bookstore — immigrating from Italy, growing up in South Philadelphia, blending faith traditions, and the love she shared with her late husband, Tony. We talk about what the Academy community meant to her, the realities of being a full-time caregiver for her mother today, and how cooking is reconnecting her to her Italian roots.

Plus, Mare helps bring back show-and-tell, sharing a look at her growing bourbon collection and much more...

Welcome to episode forty-two, where we unpack the life of the Queen and Heart of the Academy.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Instagram: @ethan.c.lewin

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Brendan Pitcairn grew up as the kid who didn’t quite have his tribe yet. So he went into the woods—spending his time fishing and hunting. What began as isolation and escape slowly became mastery—and eventually purpose. Today, Brendan is a husband, father, outdoorsman, and mentor passionate about guiding the next generation of boys back toward adventure, brotherhood, and the natural and spiritual world. Along the way he worked in the mental health field serving low-income families and faced a life-altering diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome—often called the “suicide disease” because of its severity—shortly after becoming a father. Through it all, Brendan says the best decision he ever made was marrying his wife, who has walked beside him through pain, healing, and raising their twin sons.

In this conversation, Brendan reflects on faith, friendship, and finding your tribe. After his uncle passed, one of Brendan’s 10 year olds comforted him with simple certainty: “Don’t worry, Dad, everything's okay. He’s in heaven now, happy, and free from his earthly body.” In that moment, one thought kept coming back to him: this is why we pay for this tuition.

Welcome to episode forty-one.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: VenmoI tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Instagram: @ethan.c.lewin

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Intro/Outro Music

Instagram: @julien_buss