New Episodes of Stories from Real Life Every Tuesday and Friday.

Episodes

Nov. 26, 2024

Win, Lose, or Drew

Houston attorney and former TV sportscaster Drew Shirley admits he voted for Donald Trump in this year's election, despite feeling embarrassed by his belief that Trump is a "clown." He's ready to share why he chose the eventu...

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Nov. 19, 2024

Our Ancestors' Legacy

Kristen Adele Calhoun is a writer, actress, and college professor, who also happens to be a cousin of this podcast's host. They are here to discuss the daunting challenge of uncovering their family's history as the descendant...

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Nov. 12, 2024

Is Christianity America's Side Hustle?

Exit polls show that 81% of White Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in this year, compared to 14% of Black Evangelicals. Guest “Bonhoeffer’s Child” tries to make sense of this moment in American and church history in this w...

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Nov. 4, 2024

How to Tame Your Dragons

Casey Jakubowski Ph.D. founded DragonTamer.us to help people and teams move from okay to outstanding! After 20 years in education, team building, and improvement processes, Casey is an advocate for the underdog, the bullied, ...

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Oct. 29, 2024

I ❤️ U2

Nate Belcik, a Texas high school history teacher, embodies a calm demeanor during the weekdays and transforms into a U2 superfan on weekends. Despite being in his 20s, Nate has attended their concerts 18 times, which includes...

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Oct. 22, 2024

To Serve and Protect

Michael Alcazar's journey to becoming a New York City detective is a testament to the unexpected paths life can take. Despite never intending to join the police force, he dedicated 30 years of his life to the NYPD, where he e...

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Oct. 15, 2024

Sons of the Republic

Our guest this week is Trevor P. Wardlaw, a descendant of Elder John Parker, a victim of the 1836 Fort Parker massacre in Limestone County, Texas, and a cousin to Quanah Parker, the "Last Comanche Chief." Born in Waco, Texas,...

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Oct. 8, 2024

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Boston-area bartender-turned-salesman Neil Rogers has been owner and Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Rogers Marketing for nearly 26 years. He built his career and business leveraging both old-school and new-school mark...

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Oct. 1, 2024

Words of a Feather

In this episode, I asked several people from all over the country to pronounce the following words. Their results are captured here in this fun and brief experiment. 1. Oil 2. Iron 3. Naked 4. Vehicle 5. Wash 6. Dawn 7...

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Sept. 24, 2024

Fighting Like Cats and Dogs

Ben Marsh is a pastor at First Alliance Church in Winston-Salem, NC. He lives there with his wife and two teenaged daughters. He has a dog, Hank, and a cat, who apparently changed its identity. The story of how that happened ...

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Sept. 17, 2024

Arkansas' Liberty Bell

Nate Bell is an outspoken Never Trump conservative and has been politically homeless since 2016. A lifelong Republican until 2015, Nate served in the Arkansas State House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017 where he chaired ...

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Sept. 10, 2024

Prior Restraint

In today's episode of "Stories from Real Life," hosted by Melvin E. Edwards, we feature Dr. Karen Swallow Prior. She is a renowned international speaker, professor, and author with a diverse portfolio of books on topics from ...

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Sept. 3, 2024

Richard Nixon's Search for Salvation

Our guest, Dr. Daniel Silliman, is the news editor for Christianity Today magazine. Three weeks ago, he released his newest book "One Lost Soul - Richard Nixon's Search for Salvation" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of N...

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Aug. 27, 2024

Centripetal Force of Nature

Meredith Wills has a Ph.D. in solar astrophysics and is a sports data scientist. She's a physicist and a baseball analyst, who happens to also be a world-class knitter. Rumor has it, Lynda Carter wears a Meredith Wills costum...

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Aug. 20, 2024

Dickens' Great Expectations

Eriksen Dickens is a storytelling wizard, crafting "legacy documentaries" that spotlight businesses, foundations, or individuals with fascinating tales to tell. These cinematic gems capture life through a lens of positivity, ...

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Aug. 16, 2024

Houston Texans 2024 Football Preview with Garret Williams

Garret Williams is known on Twitter as @TexansCommenter and runs a page called Houston Stressans. He is a contributing writer for the Sporting News and covers the Houston Texans for that publication and his page. How many win...

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Aug. 13, 2024

Mankato Muskrat

Minnesota's very own Pat Kahnke is the Joey Chestnut of muskrat skinners, once taking the hides off hundreds of rodents in a single day. Though his sobering takes on Christianity and politics are serious, wondering if he once...

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Aug. 6, 2024

A Little Mow Kindness

Rodney Smith Jr.’s simple act of assisting a neighbor with lawn care has blossomed into a nationwide movement centered on compassion and kindness. Born in Bermuda on the Fourth of July, Rodney Smith Jr. is the hero Americans ...

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Aug. 6, 2024

1st Anniversary Celebration

Find out what would happen if our guests Michael Freeman and Doc Hubbard took the wheel as President of the U.S. or Commissioner of Baseball for a day. Spoiler alert: courtesy runners might be running for cover! Tune in to un...

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July 30, 2024

In Their Best Interest

It’s time to change the conversation about divorce. And that’s exactly what our guest today is trying to do. Sarah Armstrong is a Vice President of Global Marketing Operations at Google, and she never expected to be in this s...

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July 23, 2024

Heather's RV Wine Tour

Today's guest, Heather Renee May, has a diverse background that gives her a unique perspective on life. Ballet was her first love, and she danced professionally until retirement. She's now an author, podcast host, musician, d...

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July 16, 2024

Celebrating Black Cowboy Culture

Our guest today is a best-selling author of more than a dozen novels and essay collections. Acclaimed writer Sarah Bird is an NPR Moth storyteller, a winner of the Meryl Streep screenwriting competition, a member of the Texas...

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July 9, 2024

Horror's Next King

Jonathan Janz is the pen name of Craig Shaeffer, an American horror author of 16 novels and one collection of short fiction. In 2011, Janz published his debut novel, The Sorrows. The book received praise from author Brian Ke...

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July 2, 2024

Stop, Look, and Listen

Lori Adams-Brown is an international speaker, business executive, and podcast host. She has lived all over the world and has a unique perspective when dealing with people from varying cultures and nationalities. It also helps...

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