Going in Blind with Zach Tidwell

Steve Bigari is a West Point graduate, proponent/facilitator of skilled trades training in underserved communities, and massively successful entrepreneur bringing EI from the cyber world to the real world in all re7alms—from wearables for skilled trades workers like welders, electricians, and carpenters, to medical applications, restaurants, and beyond.

The intro for the episode doesn’t do this man or his work nearly enough justice, so buckle up.

Steve’sfamily has overcome an incredible amount of strife, from his first daughter being born with what was expected to be deadly...

Dr. Doug Cardell is an Evidentiary economist, author, and economic policy expert discussing why socialism is—and always has been—doomed to fail.

His work has spanned from serving as an aide to a Member of Congress, leading as a corporate CEO, consulting the Arizona Department of Education, and teaching as a Professor of Mathematics. His expertise in economics, economic policy, mathematical modeling, and system dynamics modeling makes him uniquely qualified to discuss the matter, because he’s taken one heck of a deep dive into it all.

In this episode you’ll...

Christopher Willars turned to crime after being kicked out of the Air Force, and wound up with a 144-year prison sentence after being found guilty as the getaway driver in a robbery. The others involved will all likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars, but Christopher is back out after nearly two decades in prison. Combined, he spent multiple years in solitary confinement with the longest consecutive stint lasting 14 months. But today he’s the face of Life Unit, his nonprofit centered around intervention, education, recovery, and reform—with an entirely new life and family.

Jill Chalsty is the Founder of the Overcoming Obstacles life skills curriculum, which she developer to fill critical gaps in education systems around the world, and has now taught over 180 million students worldwide. She’s achieved this while enduring breast cancer and a double mastectomy—all whilst caring for her late husband, who battled Dementia—and subsequently having gone on to persevere through the ensuing lung cancer that followed his passing. She found a singular purpose in those dark years that led her on a beautiful pilgrimage that culminated with the writing of her new memoir, Packets of Hope. Expect...

Levi and Stephanie Ware founded the Melodic Caring Project in 2010 after they had to bring a live concert to a sick child’s hospital room after an emergency bone marrow transplant prevented her from attending. Now they’ve worked with bands like Cold Play, The Black Eyed Peas, Direks Bentley, and other major names to help these kids see through the darkness. They’ve also extended their services to music therapy, songwriting sessions, and more— pushing through times so tough they lost their home whilst raising three children— just because they saw a need and believed in their mission. You’ll lea...

Dr. Robert Christophor Coppes is a board member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS) and author of "Impressions of Near-Death Experiences”. His work points to consistent afterlife experiences across all cultures and religions, veridical out-of-body projections, and an idea that religions centered around a judgement-dependent afterlife have it all wrong. You can find Bob’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Impressions-Near-Death-Experiences-Quotations-Experiencers/dp/0997560894 Zach’s book is on the way it’s officially in the hands of an editor, and on the final path to publishing! If your new to the show and haven’t heard his incredible...

Amie Ichikawa is Executive Director and Founder of Woman II Woman, and a former inmate who started making waves after her years in prison by speaking out against the fraud in our penal system, politicians pushing legislation that opens children to victimization, and men invading women’s prisons. Today, much of her efforts are focused through Woman II Woman , where she’s helping other women navigate post-incarceration life and pushing for legal changes to protect women from men during while they serve their sentences.

From drug abuse, outfitting women’s prisons with condom dispensers and issuing every prison...

Dr. Heather R. Spence is a marine bioacoustics expert with a PhD in behavioral neuroscience whose background as a musician and composer led her to focus on how ocean life communicates with sound, the impacts of sound on aquatic environments, and researching the world’s coral reefs. Her groundbreaking the work not only educates the public, but it also bridges the gap between conventional scientists and citizen scientist, and carries broader implications that apply to our terrestrial world.

Interesting Topics Covered:

Dr. Mario Duarte is President and CEO of Project Dynamo—a group conducting international, on-the-ground operations across the world to free human trafficking victims, remove American citizens stranded in conflict zones and natural disasters, and reunite separated families when governments fail to do so. And he had some chilling information to share about child trafficking in the United States— involving alleged deliberate deliveries of migrant children to sex trafficking rings and how most of these children are used in organ harvesting operations after their abusers have decided their usefulness has come to an end or they simply don’t surviv...

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an editor, and on the final path to publishing! If your new to the show and haven’t heard his incredible story, go back and listen to the show’s trailer, or visit Zach’s website at zachtidwell.com. To get the big news when it’s going to print, join his email list on the website.

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Ron Hardman is a software engineer turned master blacksmith, which led him to founding Kilroy’s Workshop—an American skilled trades school and shared workspace where creators of all kinds can learn everything from blacksmithing and blade smithing, to CNC machining, welding, additive design and manufacturing(3d-printing), and everything in between. Kilroy’s Workshop now has locations in multiple states, and Eli Timm, shop manager of their Colorado Springs location, joined Ron and Zach. It all started with an airplane hangar and a dream, and now Kilroy’s serves over 5,000 creators each year. And Eli climbed the ranks of the orga...

Mark Steven Porro is a multi-talented creative professional who has lived a remarkably diverse life. His parents lived through the Great Depression, and his career began in industrial design of all places— before rapidly expanding into Hollywood, where he spent 28 years building a career as an actor, writer, and director, appearing in shows like Hill Street Blues, Castaway with Tom Hanks, and even Seinfeld alongside his father. Beyond all of this, he . Also co-founded a snack food company with his brother to honor their father's 1963 invention, achieving national distribution.

But his most profound achievement came wh...

Alexis Arralynn was born into a fundamentalist Christian doomsday cult. She was groomed and abused throughout her childhood, manipulated by her mother, father, and eventual husband, and only escaped the life after an attempted kidnapping of her children in her thirties. It’s a harrowing tale filled with self-discovery and reinvention. She’s also an entrepreneur and podcaster.

You can find Alexis’ podcast here: https://wtbbpod.buzzsprout.com/

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an editor, and on the final path...

Dr. Atinuke (“Tinu” Adediran (J.D, Ph.D) is a sociologist and associate professor of law at Fordham University in New York.

In her new book, Disclosureland, she analyzed how corporate messaging surrounding race—which had never occurred until after the murder of George Floyd—were largely unmet, and explored the legal implications, the corrupt nature in which majority and institutional shareholders of public companies use their power to manipulate the actions of massive corporations, and the wider impacts on society.

Other topics explored were DEI vs meritocracy, racial equity audits, fixing d...

Sacha Dench is a geneticist, freediver, adventurer, high-flyer, change maker, and founder of Conservation Without Borders. Her work with animals began with capturing turtles as a freediver and geneticist off the Great Barrier Reef, and the uniqueness of her path multiplied from there. Competing internationally whilst becoming a national champion freediver, her work eventually took to the skies.

A 7,000 kilometer motorized paraglider flight following Buick Swans from the Russian Arctic to the United Kingdom catapulted her into the public eye as she helped combat the decimation of the species. Her grassroots effort carried her across...

Join host Zach Tidwell for an inspiring conversation with Wendy S. Huffman, Executive Director and Founder of Let's Make the Difference, as she shares her remarkable journey from interior designer to global changemaker. After losing her partner Bill in Africa, Wendy transformed grief into purpose by creating sustainable enterprises in refugee camps across 11 African countries.

Wendy's approach rather than just feeding them is revolutionizing how we think about humanitarian aid. From bakeries producing 1,000 loaves daily to peace ambassadors spreading throughout war zones, this episode reveals how small investments create massive ripple effects.

Isabella Young shares her harrowing journey from joining a messianic cult to escaping after losing her son to an alleged murder. As the wife of the cult leader who claimed to be the Second Coming, Isabella reveals the manipulation, abuse, and tragic consequences of cult life, while offering insights on cult dynamics, manipulation tactics, narcissism, abuse, healing, and prevention.

You can find Isabella and her books at: feelingbetternaturally.love

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an editor, and on the...

Laszlo Suhayda escaped communist, Soviet-occupied Hungary in 1956. He shares his story to remind the public that freedom doesn’t come free, and to warn of the dangers of socialism. He shared his story here, examined state-controlled media, power struggles, propaganda, and the dynamic states of Venezuela, China, Cuba, Russia, Iran, the Ukraine War, and the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, in addition to the recent New York City election of Zohran Mamdani.

Laszlo is also a successful entrepreneur and author, and you can find his work here:

Book(Twelve Bells to Fr...

Aaron Turnage officially served as a police officer and homicide/child abuse detective for 21 years, but his entry into the field began at 8 when he took his first ride along, then again 13 when he entered his local cadet program and logged over 4,000 hours of work by the time he graduated high school. When he finally joined the force, the man who took him on that very first ride along became his partner, and was eventually murdered in the line of duty. This, combined with two decades of avoidance, almost killed him.

You can find Aaron’s...

Riana Milne is an author, entrepreneur, Licensed Mental Health Counselor(LMHC), and trauma recovery coach, and she came on the show to break down the top 10 childhood traumas that impact adult relationships. From abandonment issues to verbal abuse, discover how early experiences shape our love lives and learn practical tools for healing.

Key Topics Covered:

Tragedy coupled with Jennifer Hawkins’ unmatched drive in her corporate career ever so perfectly so as to set her up for one wild, unexpected opportunity to arise that would ultimately save her teen son’s life. In this episode, you can expect to hear how nearly losing her brother—and the resulting disabilities of his accident—impacted Jennifer as a young woman and led her to find a mission in her life. In seeing her brother struggle so greatly, she wanted to have an impact, and that came in the form of acquiring a failing Sylvan Learning Center franchise when she...

Dr. John David Graham has worn many hats, the latest of which include being an award-winning author and founder of Good Samaritan Home. At 53, John and his wife purchased a home to create a shelter that has since served over 2,500 people transitioning from prison back into society.

John shares his journey from a childhood marked by "quiet desperation" through decades of professional detours—from truck driver to construction worker to minister—before finding his calling in prison rehabilitation. His novel "Running As Fast As I Can" has won 48 literary awards and sold 22,000 copies, using fiction to a...

Dr. Baruch “B” Halevi is a former rabbi turned pastoral counselor who holds two doctoral degrees - one in divinity and another in pastoral counseling. Dr. HaLevi practices logotherapy and runs men's peer groups through his nonprofit organization. The conversation explores his unique journey from rabbinical studies in Israel to developing innovative approaches to men's mental health and meaning-making through adversity.

We discussed cultural and spiritual realities for many American Jews, the crossover and disconnects between the race, culture, and religion, and explored how he became a rabbi and lived in Israel three different times. We d...

Tae Yeon Lee’s family ties to the Rooftop Koreans of the 1992 LA Riots led him to direct his creative efforts into revisiting the story from a modern day lens. And it made for a different kind of episode. We delved into growing up as the child of Korean immigrants and the stories Lee’s own family shared from living in LA during the riots. But we spent most of our time digging deep into the events that set the stage for the riots to kick off, from Rodney King, to the interracial tensions in minority communities, to the prov...

Julie Barth has navigated an incredible amount of pain. Her daughter, Tayte, was born with Primordial Dwarfism, and her vocal cords were paralyzed from the lifesaving care she received when she was born weighing just three pounds. Then, Julie’s husband, Colin, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 33. He passed 16 months later, when Taytem was just five. Julie eventually remarried into a cartoonishly abusive relationship, and Taytem was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer that required the removal of a part of her torso to save her life. But the hardships Julie and her family faced in...

Paul Watkins knows a thing or two about doing difficult things. In addition to being an accomplished entrepreneur and mountaineer, he won the 380-mile “6633 Arctic Ultra” race in the Canadian arctic in 2019, and achieved second place in the 2023 Laplandian Arctic Ultra—which was another 300+ mile race. And by the time this episode airs, he’ll have competed in a desert ultra in Namibia too.

But this episode was a lot more than just a rundown of Paul’s accomplishments. A discussion into his path towards that first arctic ultra facilitated a much deeper discussion into perspectiv...

Dr. Barbara Rothbaum(Ph.D) has spent the past four decades researching anxiety disorders, and specifically Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Her career is marked by innovation and dissemination of leading edge treatments, including both the invention of using virtual reality(VR) in exposure therapy, and driving it’s use in prolonged exposure therapy programs for veterans. To top things off, she and her team are now running a groundbreaking study using MDMA and exposure therapy to treat veterans with PTSD, with plans to run follow-on studies in the future.

Today, she’s the Director of the...

Adam Cheyer is a visionary software engineer, AI expert, and entrepreneur behind many of the technologies used by most of us today. In addition to sharing his trajectory, Adam he had some very nuanced things to say on machine learning, large language models, and where “AI” is headed—including his prediction of the next iteration of Cheyer’s Conjecture coming in 2035.

He and his team developed the world’s first digital assistant, Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010, and was the basis for all that came after: Alexa, Cortana, Bixby, and any others you can think...

Ben Patton is the grandson of General George Patton—the famed WWI and WWII General—and son of Major General George Patton IV, a man whose service record is as broad as his own father’s was. But Ben went a different path; he worked across various multimedia industries, co-authored a book, and founded the Patton Veterans Project, where he’s now helping American veterans process their own toughest times through filmmaking. And it’s having incredible outcomes—Ben and his team have conducted studies with the VA and found that veterans with PTSD who’ve completed a workshop with the Patto...

Dr. Holly Wood is a sex therapist who works with individuals and couples in California. She And Zach got into some spicy territory, covering everything from sex robots, AI companions, and non-monogamous relationships, to sex addiction, navigating infidelity, and helping victims of sexual violence reach a place where they can enjoy being intimate with a partner again.

You can find Holly in the following places:

Website: www.thehollywoodsexologist.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thehollywoodsexologist

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s of...

Tim “F-ing” Barber rose from racing go-carts as a kid, all the way to racing cars at the professional level. Along the way he’s owned multiple businesses, recorded on albums as a drummer, and is now running TFB Performance, where he trains the next generation of racers, builds racecars, and handles every aspect of vehicle and race prep/support for his clients.

You can find Tim and his team at TFBPerformance.com

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an editor...

Dr. Philip Yanos grew up on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in New York, and went on to become a world-renowned clinical psychologist known for his work on serious mental illness and stigma surrounding serious mental illness. He’s a professor and Director of Clinical Training for the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at John Jay College, and an author.

We discussed his new book about his experiences growing up on the grounds of the aforementioned facility, his work and development of “Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy”, and Phil’s surprising love of punk music—he...

Tom Lancaster has spent his life adventuring around the world, making films, and even setting a world record. But this episode focused on just about everything other than that; Zach and Tom went back-and-forth on philosophical meanderings about both the old and modern ways of the world, and what they might implicate on a larger scale. And it all began with an inquiry into Tom’s views on modern rites of passage and what he calls the “maturity crisis”.

Tom is now the Founder of Altitude Evolution, where he and his team merge wilderness experiences with h...

After serving 10 years in the Army, including two combat deployments, Deke Letson found healing through adventure and the Marcus Institute for Brean Health. And those combined experiences led him to found Veteran’s Exploration Therapy, where he is the Executive Director, and leads other veterans and their families through explorative experiences to help them grow, heal, find purpose, and embed themselves into a community.

You can find Deke and Veteran’s Exploration Therapy at VetXTherapy.org.

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hand...

Sal Gonzalez is a professional musician, Marine Corps veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and professional speaker with the Wounded Warrior Project®. His new album, “Sal Gonzalez” will be released November 10, 2025(links below).

You can find Sal in the following places:

Website: peglegsongs.com

Social media: @SalGMusic

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an editor, and on the final path to publishing! If your new to the show and haven’t heard his incredible story, go back and listen...

Aaron Vernon started teaching himself how to code when he was 12 years old, then went on to begin his impressive career as a software engineer as an early member of multiple startups, in the game development industry, and eventually working for the tech giant, Meta. But he’s now the Founder of Split Atom Labs, a startup “building an inclusive future for casual gaming”, and a 2025 Apple Design Award Finalist.

Aaron and Zach went deep into the weeds on this one—from covering Aaron’s professional path, to nerding-out about coding, dissolving illusions around LLMs and quantu...

Dr. Robb Kelly began life as a performing musician, eventually rising to the point where he was recording with Elton John and Queen. But addiction took over—to the point where he stabbed his wife over a bottle of booze, wound up living on the streets, and lost everything. And today he’s a preeminent force in substance abuse treatment for celebrities through his company, Robb Kelly Group.

You can find on his website at https://robbkelly.com/.

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s o...

Adam Meyers is a police Captain in Wisconsin who was involved in a fatal shooting in 2016 that changed the path of his life. He struggled with rampant addiction and destructive behaviors for six years before he began seeking help, at which point he was terminated from his department. Today he’s a certified Peer Support Specialist, Founder of “Stop the Threat - Stop the Stigma”, and working to help other first responders navigate the same types of incidents he faced in a healthier, safer way.

You can find Adam in the following places:

Websit...

Mike Bona is an exotic animal trainer and zookeeper who has shifted his focus to giraffe conservation. To date, he’s travelled to Africa four times, started a comedy benefit to contribute to their conservation, and appears on shows like this one to educate the public.

You can find Mike in the following places:

Laughs for Giraffes: https://globalconservationforce.org/laughs-for-giraffes-a-benefit-comedy-show/

Social Media: @WildTailsPod

Podcast

Zach’s book is on the way

it’s officially in the hands of an edi...

Dr. Jeffrey Mark Zurek is a Geophysicist and Volcanologist who’s worked in volcanic research, mapping mineral deposits buried in the Earth’s crust, and scientific consulting for various media formats. He and Zach dove into his work, obtaining a doctoral degree, ringwoodite, magnetic pole shifts, solar flares, and just about the incredible technology that makes Jeff’s work possible.

You can find Jeff in the following places:

Facebook:www.facebook.com/WhimsicalWavelengths Instagram: @whimsical.wavelengths Bluesky: @whimsicallambda.bsky.social

Zach’s book is on the way

it’...