Bryan Titman has been a sportsman since he was a child. He received a football scholarship to college, but he ended up pursuing his hearts dream: bull riding. Dr. Alan Campbell spoke with Titman about being a professional bull rider a few days before the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour competition in Virginia. Campbell (a secret cowboy fanatic) visited the event and spoke with other bull riders, a competition judge, a barrel man (or “distractor”), and audience members to get a real feel for the cowboy culture.

Dr. Anna Lembke is the Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford University Medical School. In this episode of Watching America, she talks about her book, “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” an instant bestseller. Listen to this riveting conversation about how the relentless pursuit of pleasure in the modern age paradoxically leads to increased pain and suffering.

Philosopher Jason D. Hill explores the concept of “inherited guilt” through moral and practical lenses in his latest book, “What Do White Americans Owe Black People? Racial Justice in the Age of Post-Oppression.” In this episode of Watching America, Hill speaks with Dr. Alan Campbell about the history of slavery and the three “foundings” of the United States: The Declaration of Independence, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Expected Russian aggression against Ukraine has dominated the news, but the situation may be difficult to understand. On this episode of Watching America, we hear an intimate conversation from a military perspective. Colonel Hennadiy Kovalenko is a “NATO officer in a Ukrainian uniform.” He brings valuable insight to the current crisis, history, and possible future of relations between Ukraine and Russia. A truly captivating conversation.

Regret is something we’d all prefer to avoid. Regrettably, we can’t.

Bestselling author Daniel Pink has studied regret extensively. On this episode of Watching America, he speaks with host Dr. Alan Campbell about his research, the value of regret, and experiences that bring different types of regret. “You're at a juncture in your life, you can play it safe, or you can take the chance. People don't take the chance. And over and over again, they regret it.”

Pink’s book is “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.”

danpink.com

This episode of Watching America harks back to 2019 when host Dr. Alan Campbell asked to interview the show’s senior producer, Gina Gambony. The topic was a “dark night of the soul” Gina experienced during a strange medical phenomenon that lasted the better part of a year. It included mistaken diagnosis, aphasia, brain surgery, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and a rare disorder called “paraneoplastic syndrome.” It also included a reorientation to life that was perhaps spurred by the temporary dominance of the right hemisphere of Gina’s brain.

According to Faisal Al Mutar, less than 1% of internet content is available in Arabic, creating a bubble of misinformation for many Arabic speakers. Al Mutar came to the United States as a refugee in 2013. In 2017, he founded the nonprofit “Ideas Beyond Borders” to provide educational opportunities to people who have little or no access to information about science, literature, philosophy, and history. In this deep discussion with host Dr. Alan Campbell, we hear about Al Mutar’s experiences in the Middle East and the mission of the organization, including the latest project to provide underground education to girls in Afghanistan.

“Journalism tends to look away from people at the end of life, especially at the undramatic end of a long life… Aging may be an ordinary bodily process, but like other bodily processes, it can elicit shame or embarrassment in others, maybe also fear or disgust.”

New York Times reporter John Leland is at the end of a very long project--7 years to be exact. His in-depth interviews with six people over the age of 85 were chronicled in the New York Times and in his book, “Happiness is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old.” Leland’s conversation with host Alan Campbell is an unflinching and enlightening look at the natural process of aging.

happinessisachoiceyoumake.com

Ballet performance appears glamorous and effortless to audiences; in reality, it requires grueling mental and physical discipline. Megan Fairchild believes the skills she learned as a principal ballerina with New York City Ballet can be transferred from the barre and stage to other pursuits. In this episode of Watching America, Fairchild talks about her new book: “The Ballerina Mindset: How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence.” Her experience is valuable to high achievers in every discipline.

meganfairchild.com

Alex Bernstein is a comedian and the award-winning author of the “Miserable” series of books (Miserable Adventure Stories, Miserable Holiday Stories, Miserable Love Stories), and “Plrknib.” His work has appeared at McSweeney’s, NewPopLit, The Big Jewel, The American Bystander, Yankee Pot Roast, Swink, and many others. In this episode of Watching America, we hear an excerpt of his popular story, “Blue Christmas,” wherein a Jewish man struggles to shield his son from Santa Claus while hiring an Elvis impersonator for his Jewish community center. We also hear two of his shorter stories in full.

Listen to Alex Bernstein’s full reading of “Blue Christmas” and learn more about him at promonmars.com