Life 2.0

If there is one thing that grinds my gears, it is the onslaught of drug commercials on nearly every media outlet humans are connected to. There's gotta be a better way to find healing, especially when it comes to the mental health challenges we all face, as our collective PTSD runs rampant. My guest this week, Dr. Judy Tsafrir the author of Sacred Psychiatry offers up some holistic approaches to stave off the erosion of life, how to handle the inevitable wake-up calls, and stop the energy vampires from sucking the life out of you.

As April wraps up, it's another action-packed episode focused on the gift of life, relating to the Earth we all share (like it or not) and organ donation. First, it's a walk in the woods and the concept that trees have an underground connection, unseen to the human eye. Then it's my conversation with comedian George Lopez, ( who was given the gift of life in a kidney transplant) from my Oprah Radio show back in the day, further proving that spirituality and intelligent design can co-exist.

I'm always looking to come at the environmental challenges we all face from a different angle, to shed light on our responsibility as stewards of the biosphere we call home. I took a deep dive into the audio vault and came up with a conversation that I had with Bill Kurtis and Jean-Michel Cousteau from 2009 when I was on Oprah Radio. It's timeless stuff and a full five years before BK and I launched the "Earth Matters" syndicated radio program. In honor of our collective efforts, I edited in a few EM spots, designed to underscore the fact that like it or not, believe it or not, understand it or not-there is no place else to go, so we make our stand on Earth-for better or for worse.

Working off the trusty, dusty Dell this morning (that spends most of its time packed away) has me once again realizing how unadaptable I've become when the keyboard is in a different location. But mushing on, I'm so excited to support a true pioneer in American music-John McEuen-one of the founding members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (and the guy who gave Steve Martin banjo lessons) in his latest audio effort "The Newsman" that is a rare spoken word just released CD. I've got a cut off that album as well as another episode of "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis" and to wrap up the whole enchilada, Phil Lynch has a new song out that is all about listening first, and seeing each other as human beings, not political punching bags.

Another deep dive into common sense for uncommon times.

Everyone knows (or should know) that a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. That's stuff I learned in Mr. Andler's 5th-grade science class. Even so, there are some myths surrounding this celestial event, and I thought it might be important to separate fiction from fact. Add in an episode of Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis, an homage of sorts to my biggest environmental influences, and a text message from the greatest sports writer in America about the book "IRONMAN" and you have another episode of common sense for uncommon times.

Dr. Jane Goodall is known the world over as an ambassador for the natural world, and the foremost expert on chimpanzees after 60 years of studying wild chimpanzees' social and family interactions. Goodall first visited Tanzania to observe its chimpanzees in 1960.

She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program and has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. In April 2002, she was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Goodall is an honorary member of the World Future Council and today is her 90th birthday.

I went into the vast audio archives and pulled up my conversation with Dr. Jane from a few years ago. Her messages are more relevant than ever. 

Easter is just hours away, but my attention has been diverted to a breaking news story in Chicago that is putting the city on edge! Heinz is building "Ketchup Relief Stations" around the city near hot dog joints, to push back on the "No Ketchup" tradition that has made mustard king for decades. But where did this all start? It's time for a history lesson that rolled back to 1893 and the World's Fair as my German relatives brought sausages to the Windy City. But, the reason for Easter Sunday is not lost on me, as I have a few thoughts on the concept of resurrection, and I have a little help from country music icon John Berry to get my point across. 

Once upon a time, I was Superman! But my cape took a serious hit when I tried out for the men's 65+ baseball league last week. I haven't swung a bat in 8 years, and Father Time gave me some serious reminders about the inevitability of growing older. And, I was close to just going fishing for the rest of my natural days after I got an email that seemed to be the biggest stroke of luck ever, which turned out to be another attempt from lower life forms to raid my stuff. But we end on a high note (pun intended) as millions of people around the world have watched a group of middle schoolers sing "Country Roads" on Tik-Tok much to the amazement of their teacher. 

After 40+ hours of audio work this past week, I was ready to watch something and not just hear it. I came across a video from the early 1970s featuring my longtime pal and Green Bay Packer Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer titled "The Habit of Winning." JK was interviewing some of his former Packer teammates about how their time under Vince Lombardi and his "teachings" had followed them off the field into the game of life. I called Jerry after I finished and our conversation was another reminder for me that discipline, perseverance and dedication to your calling are timeless principles that apply to everyone... but not everyone applies them. 

Does prayer work? If so, what happens to the theory that it does, and you pray for an outcome, and it doesn't happen or turn out like you think it should, hoped it would, or prayed that it would?

Then what?

A lunch with old friends had us taking a deep dive into the well of faith and when I came across a long-forgotten memo I wrote on prayer, I knew it was fodder for this week's podcast. Add to that a great version of a well-known tune that was written as a love song, but became a prayer over time, and you have another outing in audio excellence.