What happens to decades of experience when a business decides faster and cheaper are enough? Julie Matzen joins Jay to talk about creative work, AI, and the fear of becoming invisible in an industry you helped build. She shares the thinking behind Boarderline, a platform intended to connect businesses with…
Matt Dawson has climbed mountains and crossed an ocean. One of the moments that changed him most happened while sitting in a village in Nepal. Dawson joins Jay Hicks to talk about the purpose behind his expeditions and the personal experience that reshaped how he understood strength. He describes an…
Dani Meza went from a life filled with writing, recording, and performing to wondering who he was without any of it. After an aneurysm and two strokes, Dani spent years feeling isolated from the work that had shaped his identity. He joins Jay Hicks to talk about finding his way…
Hernando Del Castillo returns to the Academy and skips the polite warm-up entirely. The Miami comedian and I Am Just Gaying host joins Jay for a Detention conversation about hookup apps, family expectations, and why telling his mother he wanted to do comedy was its own kind of coming out.…
Chuck Duran makes a living helping people find something worth hearing in their own voice. Sometimes that starts with giving them permission to make a mistake. Chuck joins Jay Hicks to talk about producing voiceover demos, collaborating with other artists, and building a career around work he enjoys. Their conversation…
An ordinary introduction can lead to a story you would never have guessed was there. Alec Cantrell, host of The One More Minute Podcast, joins Jay for a conversation about listening, self-image, and the reasons they keep putting microphones in front of people. They begin with beards, hair loss, and…
Crystal Cassidy's work in biotechnology and her interest in meditation developed alongside each other. She joins Jay to talk about the questions each has brought into her life. Crystal describes studying biochemistry, working in pharmaceutical development, and first encountering meditation through martial arts. Over time, her personal spiritual experiences led…
Dani Meza went from a life filled with writing, recording, and performing to wondering who he was without any of it. After an aneurysm and two strokes, Dani spent years feeling isolated from the work that had shaped his identity. He joins Jay Hicks to talk about finding his way…
Leo Marrs once thought he was someone who simply couldn't meditate. Finding a way into stillness changed how he understood his own mind. Leo joins Jay Hicks to explore the relationship between creativity, consciousness, and the body. They talk about breathwork, the frustration of trying to sit with a restless…
A small success can matter when a young person has come to expect another failure. Austin Davis joins Jay to discuss his work with teenagers facing mental health and substance-use challenges. He traces his path from youth ministry into counseling and explains the approach he describes at Clearfork Academy, including…
A conversation can change the person asking the questions, too. The Mirror Has an Echo gathers Jay's reflections from conversations across The Tragedy Academy. There is no new guest interview here, but the people who helped draw these thoughts out remain part of every subject: shame, identity, compassion, and the…
For Rachel, success sometimes meant keeping her condition from getting worse. Explaining that to people who wanted a dramatic recovery milestone was another challenge entirely. Rachel joins Jay Hicks to share her experience of living with cranial-cervical instability after a car accident. She describes fourteen years without the diagnosis, the…
Content note: discussion of childhood sexual abuse, family violence, and trauma. How do you build a life of your own after growing up in a home where you were not safe? Cindy Benezra joins Jay to discuss surviving childhood sexual abuse and writing about her experience in Under the Orange…
Kids spend plenty of time using technology. Nico Gutierrez wants them to understand what happens when they start creating it. Nico joins Jay and Gary to talk about Code Ninjas in Wesley Chapel and teaching children to code through building games. He explains the thinking involved in designing a project,…
A guided psychedelic experience sent Matt Zemon back to school with a question he wanted to understand: what had just happened in his mind? Matt joins Jay Hicks and Gary DeFranco to discuss that personal experience, his studies in psychology and neuroscience, and the ideas behind Psychedelics for Everyone. The…
What does it take to keep caring for patients when the work has begun to wear down the person doing it? Emergency nurse Jennifer “Jenn” Johnson joins Jay to talk about the realities behind the role: patient loss, workplace bullying, pandemic pressures, and the effort to keep showing up. She…
Angelica Lara stood in front of the mirror after shaving her head and cried. She was proud, hurt, and feeling several things at once. Angelica joins Jay Hicks and Gary DeFranco to talk about the health changes that affected her ability to have more children, her hair, and her relationship…
What happens when you know something has changed in your body and need someone to listen? Jessica Baladad joins Jay to share her experience with breast cancer and the questions that became the foundation of Feel For Your Life. After having a benign breast tumor removed at 18, Jessica was…
The microphones belong to Florida Men on Florida Man. For this conversation, The Tragedy Academy is taking over. Jay and Gary visit Josh and Wayne's studio for a crossover full of childhood memories, Florida stories, and arguments that turn into another joke before anyone can settle them. Gary's elevator ordeal…
A serious eye injury brought Nico Verresen's fighting career to an end. The years that followed asked a different question of him: where do you put that drive when you can no longer compete? Nico joins Jay Hicks and Gary DeFranco to discuss his life across Muay Thai, psychology, and…
A comedy assignment sent Steve Young looking for strange records. It led him into a world of corporate musicals, a documentary, and eventually his own songs. Steve joins Jay Hicks to talk about writing for David Letterman and following an interest long after its original purpose has passed. What began…
Billy Henderson's life did not follow the path he pictured when football was everything. Billy joins Jay to trace his journey from college athletics through military service and law enforcement. He talks about injuries, changing direction, and the difference between the future you plan for and the opportunities you recognize…
A medieval dinner in Las Vegas, a lesson in Canadian slang, and a work call that should have stayed off camera. There is no tidy route between them. Ayden and Kelsy of Why Are You Like This? join Jay and Gary for the second part of this live conversation. Jay…
Before Ivan “Flipz” Velez was performing around the world, a house fire changed his family's life. He remembers both the fear of that night and the people who helped them afterward. Flipz joins Jay Hicks to talk about his Puerto Rican roots, the culture of breaking, and the community that…