Hopefully Somebody Knows
By Scott Finholm
Let's learn about the world by talking to fathers and experts about things they know really well. What kind of knowledge do our friends have that we haven't tapped? What can we learn from those around us to improve ourselves and help us raise great kids? What knowledge can experts in fields related to parenting and self-improvement teach us about life and parenting? And can we have a little fun while we're learning? Hopefully somebody knows...
Hopefully Somebody KnowsApr 11, 2020
God Girls Podcast - preview and interview
Hi everyone! Just a quick one for you today to tell you about God Girls Podcast, a new show by my daughter Sadie (11) and my niece Rachel (12). They wanted to make a show about their faith and other things on the minds of young women. They did it all on their own (OK, I'm helping with the boring button-pushing stuff but the content is all theirs). I'm excited to share a little chat I did with them about the show.
You can find them on your favorite podcast platform by searching "God Girls Podcast" or you can click one of the links below:
Also, I mentioned Simple Ideas Apparel, my new clothing company. We help small organizations create and sell merchandise to help them raise funds and build fans. You can find God Girls merchandise there along with gear from other organizations and companies. Including a nice Hopefully Somebody Knows long-sleeve logo shirt!
Finally, more to come here at Hopefully Somebody Knows, we have some ideas brewing for next year. Have a great rest of 2022, we'll talk to you soon!
18 - Caitlin Pontrella - Parkour: much more than backflips and jumping off high stuff
Today we dig into Parkour. I started training nearly 7 years ago with Parkour Visions, an organization here in Seattle. Since then PKV (as we abbreviate their name) has shifted from running a gym to focusing on bringing parkour to new communities, particularly undeserved schools in the Seattle area. I'm joined today by their outgoing Executive Director, Caitlin Pontrella. Caitlin talks about how she defines parkour, how it differs from other athletic pursuits and the current state of organized kids' sports in America and how parkour stands apart. We spend a lot of time talking about privilege and how it relates to movement/athletics as well as we're both on our own journeys learning about that topic.
This is a good intro discussion if you're looking to learn more about parkour. Here are some other resources and items we talked about during our chat:
Parkour Visions' online classes and YouTube channel.
Breaking the Jump by Julie Angel - a book about parkour's founding and history.
A study by the Aspen Institute called "State of Play", looking at the current state of childrens' organized sports.
17 - Dad Roundtable - What should we do about school in a pandemic?
I've been meaning to bring on a group of dads I respect for a roundtable discussion for quite some time. The dads in our neighborhood have been weighing what to do about school in the fall (All week in-person? Hybrid? Virtual?) so we thought a fun, honest and respectful discussion on the topic could be helpful to other parents. All 4 of us come at this question from different perspectives and (spoiler alert!) we don't answer the question of "what's the best choice for education during a plague?" but...we took a swing at it.
I hope all of you are doing OK (physically and mentally). If you ever want to talk (not for the podcast, just about what you're going through) please hit me up at scott@hopefullysomebodyknows.com. I'd love to catch up and hear what's on your mind. It's good to get this stuff out guys and I'd love to talk with you about it.
16 - Julie Metzger - Great Conversations about puberty, empathy and modeling strong relationships
15 - Stoicism in a time of COVID19 + book giveaway
Today's episode is just me talking (first time I've done that). I spend some time on a quick overview of the philosophy of Stoicism, something that has been truly world-changing for me. I use an overview written by Ryan Holiday on his site, DailyStoic.com, as the structure for this overview. You can see that post here.
I'm also giving away a few copies of Ryan's newest book, Stillness Is the Key, to my listening friends. Here's how you can win:
Go to the show's Instagram or Facebook page and find the post about this giveaway (it's a picture of the book).
Reply to the post and tag a friend that is not a current listener of the podcast but that you think could dig it.
I'll pick two "pairs" (poster and the person they tagged) and send them each a copy of the book.
Lots of fun stuff coming for you soon! I have a lot of extra time at home right now (as, I'm sure, do you) so that’s resulting in some new content! Wash your hands!
PS - Here's that link to bio of Admiral Stockdale I mentioned: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale
14 - Wes Jones - Pro wrestling and chasing your dream
If you liked Wes and you're looking to buy or sell a home in Washington you should check out his site SellWithWes.com. We spend some time on it in the show so I won't spend too much time here but Wes is great at his job and the real estate market in the northwest has never been hotter.
I hope you enjoy this chat with Wes Jones!
13 - Steve Strange - Star Wars, Fandom, Kids and Star Wars
Fun one with my best buddy, Steve Strange. We had to do a do-over of our original discussion due to a tech snafu (which we discuss in our chat) but I think this came out better than that one. Ostensibly the idea here is fandom: is it OK to force what you like on your kids? How do you know if the resulting fandom is authentic or are they just liking something because "daddy likes it"? And does it matter?
In reality this is really more about Star Wars. Steve and I bonded of Star Wars (among other things) in our 20s and it's always been part of our friendship. In fact we're strongly considering starting a separate show where they two of us just talk about Star Wars and other stuff we're enjoying and we'll let you know when that comes out.
12 - Bryan Tomlinson - Coaching youth sports, how to be a better sports parent and UW football
Speaking of, I wanted to plug BT's charity that we didn't have time to get to on the show. Football for Sinaola is an organization focused on providing funds to help the kids of this underprivileged area of Mexico learn about and play flag and tackle football. Here's their Facebook page if you'd like to learn more: www.facebook.com/FootballForSinaloa
BT runs a podcast focused on University of Washington football, The Dawg Pod. You can search for it by name wherever you get your podcasts or check their site here: www.blogtalkradio.com/dawgpod/. It's a great show if you're a fan of the Huskies or really any Pac 12 team. We spend a bit of time at the end of the show covering his thoughts on the Dawgs this season, hope you enjoy that. BT was good enough to record this chat on his gear in his garage and put it up on his podcast as well so if you follow both of us you may have already heard this chat.
Please enjoy this chat with Bryan Tomlinson!
11 - Billy Christensen - Finding meaning and mid-life crises
Billy Christensen joins us today. Billy is another one of my fraternity brothers from the SMU Lambda Chi Alpha house. Billy now lives in Atlanta and works in consulting. He reached out via email to propose a discussion about meaning and purpose. This is really cool conversation as it's less about interviewing Billy and more about a back-and-forth discussion of some of the root causes of mid-life crises. Billy is really open and shares a lot about the struggles he feels even while he has all the traditional markers of success - great job, great wife, great kids, etc. He has a really intriguing take about bottling up emotions and looking for those big emotional releases, big highs and lows, and if that could be part of what causes guys to seek out flashy cars or other mid life crises cliches. We also talk a bit about philanthropy as a path to fulfillment and immortality as well embracing of different cultures including spending WAY too much time talking about K-Pop. We end with a talk about therapy and feeling that you are enough.
We spend a bit of time talking about Stoicsm as well. If you're unfamiliar with Stoicism it's an ancient philosophy that's gained new prominence. Here are a good site to get you started, the Daily Stoic.
Billy also mentioned Brené Brown's TED talk on the "Power of Vulnerability". If you haven't seen it I strongly recommended it, check it out here.
We also joked a bit about K-Pop and Billy's experiences with karaoke in Korea. He suggested a band called BIGBANG...here's a video for you to peruse.
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product price increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Here it is and thanks! "Hopefully Somebody Knows" Amazon Affiliate link.
10 - Tannya Bernadette - Fashion for dads
The Closet Edit myclosetedit.com/ Their Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecloset.edit/
Tannya's personal Instagram: www.instagram.com/tannyabstyle/
Seattle Gents: seattlegents.com/
Reddit's "Male Fashion Advice" community: www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/
09 - Tom Schwab - Values, religion and perspective from a grandfather
Today's episode is a bit different as it's the first time I've interviewed someone I didn't know personally. Tom Schwab is the CEO of Interview Valet, a company that matches podcasters with interviewees. I reached out to them as I was ramping up the show to see if they had anyone in their guest roster that could be a fit. In a cool surprise, their CEO, Tom, offered to be a guest. Tom is an advocate for the power of podcasting and is a very knowledgeable marketer himself but what I was most interested in were his experiences as a dad. Tom has 4 kids and now 2 grand kids, served in the navy, has worked for big companies and been an entrepreneur, traveled for business and balanced that with his family life, etc. We also, for the first time on this show, get into a discussion about religion. Tom and I both grew up catholic and he talks about how religion fits into his worldview and his parenting and I share a bit about my take on religion as well as my struggles with how to best layer it into my family's life as well. If you're selling anything and are interested in finding podcasts for you to appear on, please reach out to Interview Valet - you can reach them at the page they set up for us: http://www.interviewvalet.com/hsk.
One note from the show, a book that Tom mentioned is "Never Split the Difference", a book by a hostage negotiator dealing with how to deal with high-tension discussion in all parts of life. Here's a link to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8TWACFFXNFID&keywords=never+split+the+difference+by+chris+voss&qid=1556863549&s=gateway&sprefix=never+sp%2Caps%2C249&sr=8-1
A big thanks to our new sponsor, the Carma Project. Please take a minute and check to see if your car has been impacted by the Takata airbag recall by going to deadlyairbags.com/family. You can earn a $5 gift card for checking on your car and passing it along (get it...like "karma" but for cars...you get it) to friends and family.
Finally, the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product price increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Here it is and thanks! https://www.amazon.com/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=famousfin-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=5681ed1d0adde1ee2614ece4c3a0025b&camp=1789&creative=9325
08 - Morgan Anderson - Blended families, single fatherhood and a child on the Autism spectrum
I'm very excited to welcome the first of my fraternity brothers to the show!. Morgan Anderson and I met in college at SMU in Dallas (Go 'Stangs!). Morgan has worn many hats as a dad: father of a daughter with autism, single dad and now father in a blended family with 2 young sons. Each of those topics could be a show on its own but we try to get through all of them here. If you're interested in learning more about Autism I'd definitely recommend this one. Morgan tells a very interesting story about "equine therapy" (AKA using horses to help kids physically, mentally, socially, etc.) that really blew my mind.
Here's the equine therapy group in LA that he mentioned: https://www.sheacenter.org/
To learn more about autism or just to support a great cause: https://www.autismspeaks.org/
I hope you enjoy today's episode!
Also, if you're in the market for running or comfort shoes check out our friends at Shoes-N-Feet: http://www.shoesnfeet.com/, If you're in the Bellevue, WA area check them out in person, otherwise you can buy great shoes from them on their site.
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product cost increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Here it is and thanks! https://www.amazon.com/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=famousfin-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=5681ed1d0adde1ee2614ece4c3a0025b&camp=1789&creative=9325
07 - Bonus - Basic Breathing Meditation by Charles Morris
A little extra treat for you: a 12-minute simple breathing meditation by our previous guest, Charles Morris. Please note that listening to this while driving or doing any task needing your attention is not a good idea. But if you're interested in trying meditation, find a comfy chair in a quiet spot where you won't be disturbed and give this a shot. If you'd like to do more of Charles' meditations download the Insight Timer app (https://insighttimer.com/) and search for his name.
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product cost increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Thanks!
06 - Charles Morris - Meditation, neuroplasticity and their benefit at work and at home
I'm joined by Charles Morris for a very special episode focused on meditation and mindfulness.
Charles is a fellow Microsoftie and is currently Director, Global Learning & Development where he's helping to bring those concepts into Microsoft life. Charles is also a father himself so he's our first "two-fer" of expert and dad.
We cover a lot of ground on this one and jump around a bit so I edited the order of our discussion to lead off with a "what is meditation" discussion for any newbies. From there we cover common misconceptions of meditation, the science behind the practice, where meditation and religion overlap (or don't) and then into a discussion of Charles' personal history with meditation and Microsoft. He's bringing the two together through his Mindful Growth program (links to more info on that below).
Here are all the links to concepts we discussed:
Victor Frankel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
Google's "Search Inside Yourself" program + institute - https://siyli.org/
Other corporate mindfulness programs:
- Aetna - https://www.aetna.com/health-guide/yes-can-stop-multi-tasking-successful-executives-share-mindfulness-secrets.html
- Salesforce - https://medium.com/@salesforce/how-i-started-practicing-mindfulness-at-work-d2964cf95ec1
Charles' Proposal for the "Mindful Growth" program - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mindful-growth-accelerating-microsofts-transformation-charles-morris/
The Mindfulness Studies masters program Charles mentioned - https://lesley.edu/academics/graduate/mindfulness-studies-masters
London cabbies - larger hippocampus due to having to memorize streets - https://www.wired.com/2011/12/london-taxi-driver-memory/
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Meditation apps:
- Insight Timer - https://insighttimer.com/
- Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/
- Calm - https://www.calm.com/
- Digital Detox - http://digitaldetox.org/
Waldorf education - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
Finally, I talked a bit about a product we love in our house called K+. K+ is an organic sports drink formulated specially for young athletes. It has the right amounts of the good stuff your kids need and none of the stuff they don’t. And it tastes great (I like it too!). You can buy it on their site - https://kplusorganics.com/, at select healthy grocery stores like PCC and on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Beverage-Vitamins-Replenish-Electrolytes/dp/B07H445K9H/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1551118084&sr=8-2&keywords=K+plus
05 - Peter Allen - Teen girls, phone contracts, dyslexia and Mr Benedict
00 - Trailer
04 - Allison Norris - Masculinity, anger, therapy and values
03 - Shawn Macfarlan part 2 - Automation, guaranteed income, guns and politics
Shawn Macfarlan and I continue our discussion from the last episode, we enjoyed our chat so much we went longer than planned. Part two dives right into a discussion about guns (and we try to spend some time on both sides of the conversation). We also get into the current situation in the financial markets as of January 2019 and when the next bear market is coming. We also touch on guns, privilege, income equality and what happens in a world where automation eliminates jobs both at the lower and higher income levels including our thoughts on the feasibility of a guaranteed minimum income.
Even with this second part of our discussion we didn't get through everything which means we'll definitely be hearing from Shawn again.
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product cost increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Thanks!
02 - Shawn Macfarlan - Balance, meeting people where they are and where money fits in family
Shawn Macfarlan is a fairly new buddy of mine from our neighborhood. We were extremely lucky to meet a few other families that all had daughters the same ages as our girls and, even more luckily, they're all great people (I'll be interviewing all of the dads at some point).
Shawn is a father of three girls, a 7-year old and 10-year-old twins. Shawn is a twin himself so being a twin and raising twins is an area he knows a lot about so if you have or are expecting twins I think his insights will be helpful. He is also a financial manager and we spend some time talking about the role of money in his family. Shawn also has a very wise perspective on time: being patient, knowing that your kids are improving over time, setting realistic expectations due to kids getting into their "lizard brains" and meeting people where they are both in work/management and in parenting.
Also, another "new podcast" apology: I'm still playing with how to manage audio quality, editing, etc. so please excuse any choppy volume or popping, etc. My hope is that no one listens to a podcast just because of the audio quality ("well, the host is boring and the content sucks but MAN it does it SOUND GREAT!") so please cut me a bit of slack as I keep fumbling around. :)
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product cost increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Thanks!
01 - Mark Shapiro - Social media pressure, coaching and being friends with your kids
Mark Shapiro is our first guest. I've known Mark for nearly 20 years, been in each other's weddings and watched each other become dads. He's a State Farm insurance agent and helped found a charity called Roses & Rosemary that initially provided medication to HIV-positive orphans in sub-Saharan Africa and is now branching out into providing boarding school education for young girls in those countries.
As this is my first podcast interview please excuse the audio quality, my rambling questions and me saying "100%" WAY too much for some reason. Mark, luckily, saves the interview with his insights on social media, screen time rules, what it's like to coach your kid and the recent trend of being "friends" with your kids. We also touch briefly on politics and guns. Mark and I are fairly liberal guys so you'll hear a lot of us agreeing with each other on this one but I promise I'll get some opposing viewpoints on here also.
Mark also does a great job flipping the conversation and asking me some questions, most of which I do a fairly average job answering.
As always if you'd like to support us please visit our sponsors or the sites and businesses mentioned during our shows. Or the easiest way to support us is to visit our Amazon affiliate link where you can shop as you always do with no product cost increase but Amazon will kick a little bit back to us which helps cover our production and marketing costs. Thanks!