Today, it’s time to talk to Rick Kennedy, the Democratic representative for Texas’ 17th Congressional District.

It’s unusual to meet a politician that’s as open as Rick is, and he left me feeling like I’d just had a chat with one of my buddies. 

He is a self-described optimist, even though he’s campaigning in a Republican area and against an opponent with considerably more funding.  

He doesn’t have any big corporations to answer to, and instead gets all his campaign funding from regular citizens. And this is what Rick prides himself on. 

He describes the Republicans as too fixated on short-term solutions and pleasing their donors. Instead, he wants to shift the focus to health, security and prosperity. 

After interviewing Pete Sessions in the last episode, it’s nice to hear the other possibilities, and being a Democrat I have to say it seems like a closer option to me...

“Nobody owns me, all of my contributions come from individual people, and if you want to know who you’re representative in Washington is going to work for, look where the money’s coming from.” - Rick Kennedy

Today, I’m talking with Pete Sessions, the Republican candidate for Texas's 17th congressional district. 

Being completely open with you guys, I'm a registered Democrat. So you can imagine me and Mr. Sessions have some rather different viewpoints. 

But this is what I love about this podcast being able to have open discussions with people who hold different views. 

He’s very honest and willing to talk to me and explains the main points that set the Republicans and Democrats apart. 

His focus is on justice, safety, and security, and he explains his long past working with the NRA, farming businesses, and pro-life institutions. 

He describes himself as pro-business, pro-people, pro-law enforcement, and pro-freedom. 

Mr. Sessions has a lot of admirable qualities, and although I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, he opens my eyes up to a lot of Republican standpoints I didn’t understand before...

“We’re not in this as individuals and we all need to be in this together.” - Pete Sessions

My guest today is a country artist Clay Walker, who has recently released new singles 'Need a Bar Sometimes' and 'She Won't be Lonely Long' for his new record label Show Dog Nashville, leading to his 12th studio album.

With 31 charted singles, 11 No. 1's, four platinum albums and decades of performances to his credit, Clay Walker tells us how he got 'discovered' and how his career took off in mid-1990s, and what he is up to in 2021.

Talking to Clay feels like sitting on a back porch, guitar on the lap, fiddling the strings and enjoying life.

He plays exclusively on the show the unplugged version of his new single 'She Won't Be Lonely Long,' and I'm deeply honoured by his amazing performance, one of the best we've had on the show so far.

"You never want the opportunity to be there and you’re not ready, and that happens to a lot of people. But I was just ready to be heard, I had been preparing for it all my life." - Clay Walker

Climbing is becoming more and more popular as a sport, and once you’ve tried it it’s easy to see why. 

It’s great fun and a killer workout, but what makes it really special is the community of people that it attracts. 

Today, I’m talking with Kevin Goradia, the owner of Austin’s Crux Climbing Centre. 

This is where I used to climb before the pandemic and hearing about the adaptations Kevin’s made to the place actually gets me feeling ready to go back. 

We talk about how the virus has affected his business and how the climbing world has responded to the pandemic. 

He also explains to me the difference between free climbing and free solo, and why free solo climbers are so impressive. 

Finally, we talk about the diets of climbers and the unfortunate prevalence of eating disorders in the climbing community...

“With climbing, a lot of people think you have to be really skinny and have big muscles. But really a lot of it is where your mental state is, how you climb efficiently and feel completely at peace.” - Kevin Goradia

‘Warrior Nun’ is one of Netflix’s new hit series, and today I’m meeting Ben Dunn, the man behind the story. 

If you haven’t seen it, it’s very worth giving a watch. A woman wakes up with unexplainable superpowers and has to fight to survive in a world filled with good and evil. 

Ben Dunn has been a comic book artist for over 30 years and is the creator of the comic book series that the show is based on. 

He tells me how he started creating comics and how ‘The Warrior Nun’ ended up as a Netflix adaptation. 

It sounds like one crazy journey he’s been on, as we talk about everything from the history of comic books to what the future for comics looks like...

“You shouldn’t give up. If there’s something you want to pursue, pursue it.” -Ben Dunn 

My guest today, Konni Burton, is a former Republican member of the Texas State Senate and successful business woman.

She also started a media organisation called ‘The Texan’ which bills itself as ‘news you can trust’ which leans right of center.

We talk about the first presidential debate, the upcoming elections, Black Lives Matter, and criminal justice reform. 

It’s important in today’s society to be able to have open discussions with people who have different views than yourself. Konni Burton has a very interesting way of looking at the current state we’re in, and she has me thinking twice about the lockdown...

“What’s more important than voting is to be an informed voter. Don’t vote on the sound bites.” - Konni Burton

Today, I’m talking with Austin native and restaurant owner Eric Silverstein.

Eric’s spent over ten years building up his businesses and is the owner and founder of The Peached Tortilla. 

But with the pandemic and the lockdown it brought, his business went from being hugely successful to just barely surviving. He explains how his business has been devastated by the pandemic and the possibilities there are of it ever recovering. 

Having to innovate to survive he tells me the ways he’s been able to keep income coming in and the new avenues he’s been looking at…

“Tough people last, tough times don’t. This just happens to be a really long tough time.” – Eric Silverstein

Today we’re joined by the Texan country music singer/songwriter Rich O’Toole.

American Music Times classed his debut album ‘Seventeen’ the Best Album of 2006 That No One Told You About and it’s great to have him on the show.

This year Rich released a new album called ‘New York.’ He tells me what got him into music, who his influences are, how he uses his platform, and what his favourite parts of Texas are.

We go on to talk about the politics, the riots, and the importance of being able to talk to each other in a calm and constructive way. 

A really down to earth guy who’s a great musician too, it’s great hearing Rich’s way of seeing things. 

“This election is really putting people in turmoil. The amount of depression, anxiety that it’s caused America – I feel like it’s Thanksgiving, 11pm and all your uncles are screaming.” – Rich O’Toole  

Today I’m joined by a wonderful musician and hit songwriter Terry McBride, who is a true legend in the country music industry.

He has a new album called ‘Rebels and Angels’ coming out at the end of October, and the first two singles, ‘Callin’ All Hearts’ and the title song ‘Rebels and Angels’ are already released. 

In his career spanning over decades, he toured with Brooks and Dunn and wrote songs for them, he wrote songs with Guy Clark and a lot of other people.

In this interview we talk about music of course, but we also get a bit emotional, talking about sobriety and the struggles with drinking. We also get to hear some hilarious stories about Terry’s first gigs and countless anecdotes from his life as a musician. Enjoy the conversation! 

“Songwriting is a strange process. It’s intimidating and it’s different every time. Yes, I’ve written some big songs, but every time you walk through that door, you start all over again.” – Terry McBride

It seems that university life is never going to look the same as it did once. The virus has moved many lectures online, but also a pressure is constantly being put on universities to deal with systemic racism that is still present at some places.

Today, I’m joined by the former chancellor of Missouri University, and 24th President of Texas A&M University, R. Bowen Loftin to talk about these issues, as well as what his life was like working at the University of Missouri.

We also talk about the pros and cons involved with opening up university sports again, and how different this will look like as social distance and safety measures are put in place due to COVID.

R. Bowen Loftin is a very clever man and he opens my eyes to a few things about the American University system that I did not know. And that is the purpose of every good conversation. Enjoy! 

“If you look at the press you’ll find virtually every university president is criticized. The expectations are so different now to what they once were. With smartphones, every single thing you say or do is potentially captured by someone else, and that can be manipulated with and put out.” – R. Bowen Loftin