Andy Petranek Podcast

Available On:   iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify  Josh Mantz graduated from West Point in 2005 and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor while serving in combat in Iraq. In 2007, Josh died after suffering a gunshot wound in Baghdad, only to be miraculously revived by an expert medical team after his heart stopped for a full fifteen minutes. To chronicle his journey back from the dead to a place of truly living, Josh wrote his #1 best-selling book, The Beauty of a Darker Soul. The book carries a universal message about trauma that empowers people to transcend through their most challenging experiences. From Andy: The most compelling part of Josh's story is, of course, his experience with death (he remembers every detail of the last few minutes of his life.) But after peeling some layers back, it becomes clear that that was just the start of his journey. Today, after working through his own demons, he is committed to helping others through their mental, emotional, and spiritual crises

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Kevin Carter is a 14-Year NFL veteran, Super Bowl Champion, Sports Broadcaster, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. He recently hosted the highest rated college gameday show on ESPNU - The Experts and College Game Day. With four stellar seasons in the NFL, Carter turned his fifth season with the Rams into the best of his career. In 1999 he led the NFL in sacks with 17, earning him Pro Bowl, All-Pro, and All-Madden honors. Carter accomplished his ultimate goal as an NFL player that same year. With his help, the St. Louis Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, earning the team its only Super Bowl title in team history. Not only did Kevin make plays on the field, but off the field as well with vast community endeavors through The Kevin Carter Foundation, which he began in 2002. He was voted by his Titans’ teammates as the Community Man of the Year during three of the four seasons he spent with the team. Throughout his career, Carter fell i

Available On:   iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Charles Mayfield, both an early adopter and leader in the paleo nutrition world, got started down this road based on personal desire to put the best, healthiest, and nutritious food on the table for himself and his family. His intention recently expanded from that to now include being responsible for raising healthy livestock and taking care of our land, making it sustainable and renewable for years and generations to come. Charles is the co-author of one of the first cookbooks ever written for paleo recipes, is the co-founder of Atlanta Strength and Conditioning, and is the owner of his own farm, Mayfield Pastures, primarily for providing pastured poultry, pork and beef for his family while building the size and infrastructure to expand his operation and offerings to his local community. Charles is also an avid hunter, gardener, distiller, and BJJ enthusiast. This was a particularly fun interview for me as Charles and I connect on so many things a

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Paul Chek is a holistic health practitioner, a.k.a. "a healer." He developed a knack for it quite by accident about 30 years ago, when his teammates on the US Army boxing team found that they felt better and healed faster after having him work on them. He went on to study healing arts for the majority of two decades all over the world. He didn't leave a stone unturned, learning from as many different types of healers possible, in as many different modalities. As a result, he developed an innate capacity to heal others - especially when traditional methods didn't work.  He's also known for having been largely responsible for first introducing the Swiss Ball to the world as an exercise tool for rehab, corrective exercise, and training. In an effort to reach more people with his vast knowledge base and experience, he founded the CHEK Institute where he teaches his methods and philosophies to health practitioners from all over the world.  His programs and

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Katie Wells, the “Wellness Mama,” is a wife, a mom of six, an award-winning blogger, author, podcaster, and a real-food crusader. Her mission with WellnessMama.com is to provide simple answers for healthier families through practical tips, real food recipes, natural beauty and cleaning tutorials, natural remedies and more. To handle her daily workload, Katie has developed systems and tips for living a Wellness Lifestyle™ with a family, and on a budget. She was recently named by Greatist.com as one of the 100 most influential people in health and wellness along with Dr. Oz, Dr. Mercola, Food Babe and Tim Ferriss. From Andy: Katie in one word - "amazing". She has intentionally set up her life (and her family's life) to be in alignment with who she is and what she values. To do that, she's had to make some really significant changes and sacrifices, and it hasn't always been comfortable or easy, but she and her family and kids are already starting to reap

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Megan Morrone is a technology journalist hosting video shows covering tech news, longform interviews, and tips for normal people trying to make their way in a world where tech can be as confusing as it is ubiquitous. She is also a freelance writer, wife, and mom to three children and one dog (who reads and responds to her email for her and helps her attain inbox-zero!) Since 2015 Megan has been hosting and producing shows on TWiT (This Week in Tech), Leo Laporte’s technology network. She currently hosts iOS Today (a show about how to use your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV) and Tech News Weekly (a show that keeps you up-to-date on all the tech news that matters.) She co-hosts Know How (a maker show), Triangulation (a longform interview show), and The New Screen Savers (a tech variety show). She also covers live tech events and product announcements. From Andy: This was a really special conversation for me. I have been a HUGE fan of Leo Laport

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Jimmy Rosenberg was looking for a way to make some dough in the summer of 1983. He got this idea…sell juice on the beach. So he got some fruit, blended it in his kitchen, and started selling the juice by the cup (poured from a jug) on the beach in Santa Monica. Little did he know that inauspicious start would lead to the formation of two mega juice companies – Naked Juice and Evolution Fresh. His first attempt, a pretty impressive first attempt by the way, was a company called The Naked Juice Company. After growing it to a size that allowed him to serve most of California, he sold it and got out of the juice business entirely. But not for long. Two years later, with a renewed commitment to delivering the highest quality juice possible to consumers, he started Evolution Fresh. He steered this company for 19 years before being acquired by Starbucks in 2011.  Before I sat down with Jimmy, I didn’t tell him that I’d be asking him for photos and a bio, or

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Dr. Jeremy Brook, aka “The Spinechecker,” is a Los Angeles-based chiropractor, yogi, and movement specialist. He is the founder of The Life Center Chiropractic, a unique healing oasis that incorporates the disciplines of chiropractic, spinal corrective protocols, yoga, and other movement art forms to make sure the spine, body, and mind are aligned. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Brook has been teaching an anthropological, evolutionary and energetic approach to anatomy and also teaches chiropractic adjusting seminars to Doctors of Chiropractic and students of chiropractic. When he’s not “spinechecking” and adjusting, he can be found on his yoga mat, lifting weights at Deuce Gym, and slacklining between palm trees on Venice Beach. From Andy: Dr. Brook (or Jeremy as I call him during the podcast) is my chiropractor. I went to him about 8 months ago thinking that chiropractic was the last thing I needed. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Through

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify How do you describe Ronnie Teasdale? Figuring out how to capture him in conversation and in writing, that’s the problem I ran into after spending a few hours with him recording the podcast. Ronnie grew up in Michigan playing hockey practically every day of his life until he was 23 years old. At the height of his hockey “career,” he was what I’d call an “enforcer” — the guy you’d put in to take out (by brute force) whatever player on the other team was scoring goals or causing problems. Sports, to him, were a zero-sum game. Someone wins, someone loses — and doing anything necessary to win was just part of the game. When he moved west to California, he did so to pursue a more holistic calling. With degrees in psychology and exercise science from Oakland University, Ronnie opened a gym, started studying yoga, and left his hockey and win at all costs mindset behind. Then he discovered CrossFit, the sport of fitness. Since he already knew how to win, this

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Throughout his career, Dr. Michael Gervais has followed a central question: Is there a common thread connecting those who change how we understand how the world works? As a high-performance psychologist, published, peer-reviewed author and recognized speaker on optimal human performance, Michael Gervais works in the trenches of high-stakes environments, where there is no luxury for mistakes, hesitation, or failure to respond. While Dr. Gervais’ roster includes an MVP from every major sport, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians and Fortune 100 CEO’s, he is also the Co-Founder of Compete to Create, whose mission is to help people become the best they can be. He recognizes that all of us are required to perform daily. We all navigate our own high-stakes environments and can benefit just as much with the right mindset training. Ultimately, Dr. Gervais’ goal is to unpack, then decode, how the greatest performers in the world use their minds to p

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify Kristen MacDermott is a consultant and performance coach who has created resilience training programs for some of the highest performing people on the planet, including Naval Special Warfare Command (Navy SEALs) and the Los Angeles Police Department. Kristin’s programs have also been used in more than 20 hospitals across the country, in the Duke Cancer Institute, and in the National Institutes of Health among others. Kristin brings a unique skill set to her executive coaching, leadership training, and corporate consulting work. The resilience training curriculum she created has been validated in four studies with researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute, published in peer-reviewed journals and shown to promote clinically significant improvement in key wellness and resilience measures. The cornerstone of Kristin’s resilience training curriculum is emotional intelligence, which is why her expertise lends itself so well to the corporate worl

Available On: iTunes  | Google Play  | Stitcher  | Spotify In November of 1999, at the age of 24 and having just led an unsupported cycling trek across the United States with nine teenagers, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. In an instant, he went from being an avid outdoorsman, athlete and Zen enthusiast to being paralyzed from the waist down. Determined to not become the victim of his circumstances, Sam spent years learning from some of the world’s top experts in the fields of somatic healing, meditation, breath work and mind training. Bedridden for the better part of four years and hospitalized for over two years, Sam’s will to survive was tested on multiple occasions. Throughout it all, he developed a deep fascination with the power of the mind and body to overcome seemingly unconquerable obstacles. Friends and acquaintances frequently remarked on his resilient nature and the quality of his attitude and mindset. Being forced to experience such consistently unfavorable circumstances, and

As you might have noticed, this is the third podcast I've done with the folks from Human Garage. The first two were with the founders, Garry and Anela Lineham. Their stories and experiences are vastly different, yet they came together to create this extraordinary place of learning and healing. Today, I'm moving the conversation toward the "how" of it all — in other words, what's "under the hood" at the Human Garage. I'm doing this by talking to two of their Master Motion Mechanics: Alexander Rizk and Brian Donahue. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. Alexander Rizk is a retired professional soccer player. A career-ending injury left him debilitated and in chronic pain. After years of failed treatments, he decided to find his own solution. He attended school for medicine, therapy, nutrition, and human movement. Through these pursuits, he discovered a reliable path to treat his body naturally and, finally, he experienced a full recovery. Pain-free, he felt compelled to help others a

Anela Lineham is the co-founder, along with her husband Gary Lineham, of Human Garage. Anela is an Intuitive Women’s Health Expert. She is a motion/breathwork master, and an expert in women's health focusing on the biochemical, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of a woman’s well-being. Anela is also the co-owner Human Garage and has studied under Masters of NAAM, Kundalini & Vinyasa Yoga for over 30 years. Anela leads dedicated workshops on the importance of the mind/body balance and how your biochemistry, along with your mindset, plays an integral role in your mood and energy levels. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. As Anela's story unfolded, I was struck by her incredible ability to rise above. In spite of being smacked down by life time and again, she has always found a way to keep moving forward, learning, growing, and using the experiences, no matter how bad or destructive, as opportunities for growth. This is something that we all can use more of, and for some

Diana Rodgers, RD, LDN, NTP is a “real food” nutritionist living on a working organic farm near Boston, Massachusetts. The farm runs a vegetable and meat CSA. She is the author of two bestselling cookbooks and runs a clinical nutrition practice. Diana writes and speaks about the intersection of optimal human nutrition, environmental sustainability, animal welfare and social justice. She also produces The Sustainable Dish Podcast. In her podcast, she interviews experts in the environmental and health movement. Her new film project, Kale vs. Cow, examines the environmental, nutritional, and ethical case for “better meat’. There is so much I am just starting to learn about sustainable farming practices. The topic is hugely important, and I'm so grateful for people like Diana who are helping to tell the story in a way that most everyone can relate to and understand. She has the unique opportunity to be a practicing paleo nutritionist while living on a farm that sustains its self through its bio-diverse practices.

Garry Lineham, co-founder of Human Garage, is a lifelong bio-hacker who believes that the human body was designed to heal itself. He started Human Garage as a vehicle to give people the correct input to start that healing. Garry himself lived in chronic pain for over 20 years. During that time, he became increasingly frustrated with the countless treatment modalities that only addressed his symptoms. He realized the root of the problem wasn’t being solved and set out to do just that. Human Garage is based on the principle that optimal health is achieved through complete alignment— restoring the natural functions of the body to enjoy pain-free, full-range of motion. Garry is proud of the fact that medical doctors and therapists from around the world are now coming to Venice, California to learn the Human Garage way of repairing and re-balancing the human body. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. I've undergone many different treatment protocols over the years... but nothing like wh

Dr. Martin Gibala is a professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Martin studies the integrative physiology of exercise from the molecular up to whole body level, including the impact of training and nutrition on human health and performance. Gibala’s research on the physiological adaptations to interval training has attracted immense scientific attention and worldwide media coverage. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, the results of which have been featured by outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Vox, CNN, NBC Nightly News, and Conan. He is the author of a bestselling book, The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. This was a fascinating podcast conversation for me. I geek out on this stuff, because I've been doing different versions of interval training for decades. It was fantastic to talk to

Dr. Sujit Sharma is a Harvard-trained pediatric ER doctor in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Sharma is also the CEO at Chuice and a member of the board of directors of Georgia Organics, a non-profit organization committed to environmental stewardship, farmer prosperity and community health. Early in his career, Dr. Sharma admits he thought he had a ‘great appreciation’ of health and healthy living. But he realizes that he was wrong. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. My conversation with Sujit is one that could have gone on for hours. His experience in the world of pediatric ER medicine, working with hundreds of thousands of kids over the years, and seeing their health slowly decline offers a revealing look at the massive long-term health problem facing us today.  His product, Chuice, is really the first of it's kind... an entirely new category of edible, plant-based beverage. If he gets his way, Chuice will find it's way into all the mini-marts and convenience stores all over the US - off

When Maryann Berry was in her 20’s she suffered from chronic knee, hip and back pain. She ended up in a wheelchair, unable to walk due to excruciating hip pain. She had multiple surgeries and tried every medical treatment under the sun including injections, prescription drugs, chiropractic adjustments, and physical therapy. She was left broke, still in pain, and with seemingly no prospects for healing. Then she was introduced to Posture Alignment Therapy, a revolutionary exercise technique that treats the underlying cause of pain by correcting posture alignment. Maryann began following the program every single day. Over the course of roughly three years, putting in lots of work every day, Maryann went from being unable to walk to enjoying full range of motion and function of her hip, as well as eliminating her back and knee pain. Today, Maryann’s hip, back, and knee are fully recovered and 100% pain free. She feels like she got her life back. For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. No

Ryan Munsey is a writer, podcaster, speaker, and high-performance consultant. He has worked with professional and Olympic athletes, Navy SEALs, and entrepreneurs - helping them optimize their minds and bodies, win medals, further careers, and build multiple 6-figure businesses. His work has been featured in Fortune Magazine, Men’s Health, and Men’s Fitness. Ryan is the author of his brand new book, "F*ck Your Feelings" (if you're one of the first 1,000 people to click the link and request a copy, you'll get a copy for FREE), and the host of The Better Human Project podcast.> For complete show notes, please click here to visit our website. It takes us a bit to get to the real heart of Ryan's work as we spend the first part of the conversation getting to know a bit more about who he is and why we should pay attention. His new book is about how we're all getting wagged by our tails. In a nutshell, when you rely predominantly on your feelings to make important regular decisions, you're using your limbic brain, wh