Haley's Out, Facebook & Instagram Update, Surviving Civil War w/ Andy Stumpf | PBD Podcast | Ep. 376

Dive into the extraordinary life journey of John Lovell with host Shawn Ryan in the Shawn Ryan Show, as they uncover the pivotal moments and decisions that shaped Lovell's path from a Georgian suburb to the elite ranks of Army Rangers. Lovell candidly shares tales of his youth, a transitional phase marred by mischief that ultimately led to transformative discipline at boarding school. His candid conversation takes a deep dive into his spiritual awakening, revealing how a dawning faith became the bedrock of his identity, long before his military ambitions took hold.

In the realm of service and sacrifice, Lovell's story turns to his grueling indoctrination into the Army Rangers, a testament to his resolute spirit honed from high school wrestling days. The significance of events like September 11 offers a poignant backdrop to his military motivation, reinforcing the urgency of his training. Beyond narratives of personal dedication and elite training, the podcast also ventures into broader discussions – including Lovell's strong perspectives on national security issues, the importance of mental health support for veterans, and riveting combat recollections. Join Ryan and Lovell as they dissect these diverse topics, promising even more enthralling dialogue in future episodes.

Join host Shawn Ryan on the "Shawn Ryan Show" as he delves into the remarkable and harrowing story of Tyler Vargas-Andrews, whose journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a proud Marine is a testament to the human spirit. Despite a background marred by familial abuse and systemic deceit, Tyler's resilience shines through as he shares how a passion for fitness and the mentorship of a high school teacher led him to the Marines, where his tenacity and desire to serve the abused and underserved came to the fore.

This gripping episode uncovers the chaos and heroism of Tyler's experiences during the disastrous evacuation from Kabul, offering an intimate glimpse into the valor that defines our service members. Tyler's vivid account of the evacuation's logistical failures, the Abbey Gate tragedy that left him severely injured, and the subsequent road to recovery cast a stark light on his disillusionment with leadership and the bureaucratic insensitivities of the recovery process. His candid conversation with Shawn Ryan is not just his personal narrative—it's a call to transparency and accountability that resonates deeply with anyone who values courage and the unyielding pursuit of truth.

On The Shawn Ryan Show, dive deep into the incredible life of ex-Green Beret and CIA operative, Tony Cowden. His remarkable journey, from his formative years shaped by family influence and burgeoning fascination with warfare to his career featuring significant contributions to CIA training, is truly fascinating. Experience the resonance of his profound personal war stories and understand how the struggles faced in the battlefield were mirrored by equally daunting hurdles in his personal life.

With a wider societal and political lens, Cowden also critically examines the U.S. foreign policy, providing thought-provoking scrutiny on subjects like the prevalence of warfare profiteering and media influence. Listen to Cowden’s candid dialogue through the Shawn Ryan Show, as he shares his perspectives, future plans and aspirations – all the while driving home the intrinsic link between his extraordinary military and personal experiences and his growth as an individual.

What’s the secret to being a great leader? Whether you’re in a warzone or on the front lines of a corporate battle, Extreme Ownership argues that the best leaders take full responsibility for everything in their world: not only their actions, decisions, and failures, but also those of everyone on their team. By practicing Extreme Ownership, great leaders achieve victory by prioritizing the team above all else and focusing on constant improvement—and in this guide, we’ll show how you can, too.

Authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are former US Navy SEAL officers who served in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They honed the principles of Extreme Ownership on the battlefield, then applied the same tenets to the corporate world as business consultants. In this guide, we’ll add broader context from other leadership books such as Built to Last and Team of Teams to better illustrate how to apply Willink and Babin’s leadership principles to your life.

In The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp argue that many leadership models are unsustainable because they don’t prioritize self-management and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This causes leaders to burn out, lose their passion, and succumb to an unhealthy culture of competition and greed. As a result, employees disengage, turnover soars, and organizations break down from within. To overcome these issues, the authors argue that leaders must learn to understand and manage their emotions and mindset, communicate effectively with others, and align their actions and behaviors with their goals and commitments.

Dethmer, Chapman, and Klemp present 15 commitments that conscious leaders must uphold to run an effective organization, which we’ve synthesized into eight primary behaviors. We’ll explain what each behavior is, why it’s important, and how to put it into action. In our commentary, we’ll further discuss how to improve your leadership abilities and adopt the authors’ recommended behaviors, citing experts like Brené Brown (Dare to Lead) and Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth).

Self-deception—our tendency to see the world around us in a distorted way—is a common personal and organizational problem. Leadership and Self-Deception explains how self-deception derails personal relationships and keeps organizations and leaders from achieving the results they want. Instead of focusing on producing results, many leaders are trapped “in the box” of distorted thinking—they blame others to justify their own failures and can’t see how they themselves are a problem. They create the “people” problems that plague many organizations. Through a business fable, this book tells leaders how to get “out of the box”—but you don’t have to be a leader to use the principles to change your life and workplace.

The 21st century will bring changes and challenges unlike any humans have encountered before. Globalism and technological innovations are changing the structures of societies worldwide—and the changes are happening quickly. If people don’t face these challenges and help shape the future, the world could have a class of obsolete workers whose jobs have been automated and people could lose their ability to make their own decisions. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari highlights the biggest challenges in the modern world, and he offers advice on making sense of and navigating such transitional times.

In this summary, you'll learn how algorithms like Netflix movie recommendations are teaching you to distrust your own judgment, why religion can’t solve 21st-century challenges, and how automation will threaten the jobs of humans in every industry.

A Promised Land is Barack Obama’s memoir of his early political career and the first two years of his presidency. Obama takes us on his journey from relative obscurity as a biracial kid from Hawaii to becoming a transformative figure as the nation’s first African-American president. At every step of his career, Obama was guided by a deep faith in the fundamental unity of Americans; the potential and promise of America; the necessity of compromise and seeking common ground; and above all, the power of the democratic system to heal our divisions and effect real change for ordinary people.

Explore the depths of mental resilience in the military with former 75th Ranger John Lovell on the "Shawn Ryan Show," hosted by Shawn Ryan, a veteran Navy SEAL. This powerful episode delves into Lovell's boot camp trials and the psychological rigors that surpass physical demands, revealing how one adapts to the urgent readiness for combat and the profound personal growth that unfolds from the day-to-day resilience required by military life. Despite resistance from his inner circle, Lovell's unwavering commitment to serving in the military stands testament to his inner strength and the transformative journey of becoming a soldier.

Join Lovell as he recounts the intense brotherhood and strategic precision required in warzones, from coordinating with the elite Delta Force to facing ethical challenges in combat operations. His stories from life at Bagram Airfield and the Hindu Kush exude the complexity of conflict and the strength found in camaraderie. Listen as he opens up about navigating the transition to civilian life, highlighting the psychological armor that safeguards soldiers and the enduring humor that bonds them even after the battles are over. It's an episode where wit meets wisdom, creating a compelling narrative that honors the veterans' challenges of assimilating back into society and coping with loss.

If you’ve ever noticed that history seems to repeat itself over the course of centuries, you may be wondering what causes that pattern—and how it may play out in the future. In The Fourth Turning, historian William Strauss and consultant Neil Howe explain how Anglo-American history follows a pattern of four 15 to 25-year periods, called Turnings, and how the behaviors of different generations define these Turnings.

In our guide, we’ll explore the authors’ theories on the Four Turnings, as well as the generational archetypes and their respective roles in the Turnings. We’ll also discuss the authors’ descriptions of the past three Turnings and their predictions for the Fourth. Finally, we’ll examine the authors’ theories in the context of history and modern society, as well as how their predictions about the Fourth Turning have played out in the years since the book’s publication in 1997.

A Warning is an inside look at the chaotic Trump administration by a senior Trump administration official writing anonymously. It’s a follow-up to the author’s September 5, 2018, New York Times op-ed piece describing internal efforts to control Trump’s impulses. This is no longer working, “Anonymous” writes. The book depicts an impulsive and corrupt president, who puts his self-interest above the country’s interest, in the process undermining the foundations of democracy and putting national security at grave risk.

“Anonymous” describes the increasingly futile efforts of a handful of principled White House officials to stave off disastrous, often illegal actions. The author warns that the “guard rails” have come off—the principled staffers have mostly been driven away and Trump is uncontrollable. If he wins another four years, he may sink the ship of democracy.

What are the greatest threats to democracy today? How do healthy democratic states descend into illiberalism and authoritarian rule—and how can defenders and proponents of democracy prevent this from happening?

In Shortform’s Master Guide to Threats to Democracy, we’ve synthesized the ideas and recommendations of some of the world’s leading political scientists from across the ideological spectrum to bring insight to this important—and timely—question. We’ll explore forces like polarization, the decline of democratic norms, and extreme wealth inequality that combine to weaken and undermine democratic institutions.

We’ll also examine some of the ways proponents of democracy can promote stronger and healthier democratic institutions through specific institutional reforms, new economic policies to combat inequality, and actions at the individual and grassroots levels to overcome the social divisions that corrode democracy.

In "REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal," actor Jon Bernthal steps away from his on-screen persona to delve into the real-life experiences of an anonymous Israeli Defense Forces special operations soldier. In a poignant episode of crisis and valor, Bernthal offers a heartfelt platform for the soldier's unvarnished perspective of an October 7th terrorist attack, showcasing the intensity and emotional depth behind the factual accounts of the day. The conversation is steeped in respect and admiration as the guest reveals what it means to confront war's stark realities and personal sacrifices up close.

Amid the backdrop of family, values, and the chaos of an escalating situation, the soldier shares his journey from peacetime to conflict, articulating the fusion of his deep sense of duty with his unexpected re-engagement in military action against rising danger. The episode captures the soldier's tactics to protect both his loved ones and his country, including the psychological strategies required to maintain focus under fire. Listeners will be transported to the front lines, gaining an insider's view on the strategic decisions and ethical dilemmas that punctuate the life of a soldier in active territory.

A Promised Land is Barack Obama’s memoir of his early political career and the first two years of his presidency. Obama takes us on his journey from relative obscurity as a biracial kid from Hawaii to becoming a transformative figure as the nation’s first African-American president. At every step of his career, Obama was guided by a deep faith in the fundamental unity of Americans; the potential and promise of America; the necessity of compromise and seeking common ground; and above all, the power of the democratic system to heal our divisions and effect real change for ordinary people.

In the profound setting of "REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal," join host Jon Bernthal and his guest, former Marine Cody Alford, as they navigate the complex interplay between military service and personal evolution. The conversation delves deep into the soldier's identity, exploring the trials of fitting into expected roles of masculinity and the search for purpose within the strict confines of military life. Alford's vivid recount of his experiences in the Battle of Fallujah and the challenges of leadership within the ranks evocatively paints the picture of life on and beyond the battlefield.

The episode not only reflects on the throes of combat but also ventures into Alford's personal battles with identity, bureaucracy, and transitioning back to civilian life. Listen to stories of overcoming isolation, engaging in mental health advocacy, and embarking on a transformative journey aided by psychological breakthroughs linked to the use of psychedelics. Bernthal and Alford share insights into the healing process, the power of vulnerability, and the impact of personal relationships, including the poignant story of Alford's connection with his service dog, Munin. This compelling narrative reveals the resilience it takes to mend family bonds, reclaim life after service, and foster a community anchored in openness and self-discovery.