I'm joined by director and producer Monica Medellin. She's the brain behind Amazon Prime Video's new series 'Surf Girls Hawaii.' I've been fascinated by this show and have already watched it twice all the way through.

I've always had this rabid interest in surfing, despite the fact that I've never done it before. I went into Surf Girls Hawaii expecting to love the surfing and action of the sport. That was great, but I found the humanity of the show is really want kept me in.

'Surf Girls Hawaii' follows the lives a group of young women who were born and bred on the islands. Surfing is in their blood and DNA. Director and show creator Monica Medellin captures their lives on the islands, how surfing is ingrained in their daily lives, the struggles and the successes of their lives both on and off the water.

I feel such a pleasure that I had an opportunity to speak with Monica and I hope we will be able to connect again. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Joining me today is singer/songwriter Leah Marie Mason. I was first introduced to her through seeing her work with Jason and Nelly Reeves. They're two of my favorite artists, so I figured I'd love Leah. I was right. Her music is so special to me on many different levels. Most of which I can't put into words.

Her latest release is a song called 'Black Sheep.' It takes a look back at her time in high school. It was a tough time for Leah as she bounced around from group to group trying to find the place where she fit in. Ultimately she found that she didn't really fit in anywhere. I felt similarly when I was in school. This song struck a chord with me boy in the lyrics and its beautiful harmonies.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Leah Marie Mason. It's quickly become my favorite episode of this podcast. She opened up with me more than she has before. I appreciate that she felt comfortable enough to share her story. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Today's guest is illustrator and artist Nathan Pyle. I was first introduced to him through an Instagram post that was shared with me. It showed some real life pigeons walking around on the street, but Nathan had added captions and stickers to it to create a story. I don't remember exactly what was happening but I remember loving it. I followed him on Instagram and my life was forever changed.

Nathan Pyle is the creator of the wildly popular comic strip 'Strange Planet.' It's turned into 3 different books and now into a TV series for Apple TV+.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nathan where we discuss parenthood, how he transitioned from teaching Theology to art and watching his work being turned into a TV series.

This is a repost of an earlier episode that I shared in November of 2020. I've always thought it deserved a second chance at being heard since I posted it on the same day as the 2020 US presidential election. And we all know how that went. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Maria Ahlin. Below are the original show notes.

If I'm being honest, I never thought I'd be talking about porn in one of my podcasts. But here we are.

I was inspired to dive further into this topic after coming across a TEDx Talk done by today's guest, Maria Ahlin. It was titled 'Let's Talk Porn.' Ok, I thought, you have my interest. My eyes and mind were opened up to so many new things I had never really considered.

With people finding porn at younger ages, it's showing a massive impact on how young people view sex. Young people are creating unrealistic expectations based on what they see. Porn ends up having negative affects on the mind that can lead to symptoms that are common with drug addiction.

And some of those expectations lead to people doing things they don't feel comfortable with just because it's what they see in porn. Maria and I discuss how young women are thinking that they need to be choked and punished during sex because that's what men like. So many of these beliefs come from usage of porn.

I met Tyler Rich back in 2019. Have you ever had one of those moments where you meet someone and you feel this instant connection with them? That's how I felt about Tyler. We had a connection over our love of Huskies, our histories in rock music and our love of music in general. Since that meeting we've stayed in touch through social media. But I've always wanted to get him on the show.

Thankfully I was finally able to make it happen. Tyler joins me for what I think was a really fun conversation. It's a little bit all over the place, but in a good way. You'll get to know a lot about Tyler from how he got into music, how country music came into play and about his crazy work ethic that led him to developing a very avid fan base.

Today I'm pleased to be joined by American Idol's HunterGirl. I'll admit that I didn't watch any of Season 20, where she was the runner up. But I've become a fan since learning more about her. Hunter has a killer voice and an incredible personality and stage presence. I have a feeling we'll all be hearing about her for many years to come.

In our conversation we talk about where HunterGirl came from, both the name and the person, how her family helped push her to go for her dreams and what's going on now that Idol is in the rearview mirror.

I really enjoyed catching up with Hunter and hope you enjoy the conversation as well!

This week I'm discussing work culture with journalist and author Simone Stolzoff.

It seems like work has gotten out of control. People introduce themselves at dinner parties with their job title, working long hours and having stress is a badge of honor to people and we're expected to drop everything when our boss calls.

If you think it all sounds toxic, you're right. Yet, we all continue to operate this week. We are letting work take over our lives. What's the phrase? We are living to work instead of working to live.

How did we get here? Is it making us happy? And how do we fix it? Those are some of the questions that I answer with Simone Stolzoff. He recently published a book called 'The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life From Work.' We discuss the book and other things as we tackle the subject of our wild work culture in America.

For more from Simone Stolzoff: WEBSITE and INSTAGRAM

For more from Adult Education: @adulteducationpodcast

For more from host Jeff St. Pierre: @stpierreonair

This week I'm joined by the founder of running apparel company Outrun The Dark, Siggy.

When I started becoming an active runner I used it to escape some of the hard times I was having in my personal life. Once my feet hit the pavement, or treadmill, I was lifted out of the darkness that was going on and I focused solely on my run and progress. I didn't realize at the time how many other people used running to outrun their own demons.

Through social media I came across an apparel company called Outrun The Dark. After looking into it I realized it's so much more than shirts and sweatshirts. It was a community of people that used running to help battle through their own darkness.

Outrun The Dark was founded by a Norwegian man named Siggy. He had the idea while he was running through some of his own darkness. What he's been able to build over the last decade has been nothing short of amazing.

I was able to catch up with Siggy to learn more about his personal story, how Outrun the Dark came together and how the community great around it.

For more on Outrun The Dark visit outrunthedark.com

I'm so pleased this week to be able to speak with astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance. I went to Villanova University as an Astronomy and Astrophysics major. I spent my first semester in the major before deciding that the path was not what I saw as my future.

Despite choosing another avenue in life, I still have a fascination with the world above our heads, and I have so much appreciation for those who dedicate their lives to finding out the mysteries of the universe.

Sarafina El-Badry Nance is an astrophysicist and she's just published a book that is half science book and half memoir. It's titled 'Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark.' The book is super interesting and I've found myself getting lost in how she bounces back and forth between stories about her life and information about the universe.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Sarafina. We discuss her inspiration to follow science, the struggles she had along the way, my crazy theories about the universe and more.