Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 252: Ben Ipson

Ben Ipson joins Paul through a connection with Mark Jenkins (Episodes 239 & 245.) Ben told the incredible story of his family who survived the Holocaust. He talked about the history of both the Russians and Nazis and their persecution of the Jewish people as well as mentioning Kristallnacht and other historical events. He traced some of the decisions made and miracles that occurred to his great grandparents and grandfather and the story of how his family ended up in the Richmond, Virginia area. His grandfather, Jay Ipson is one of the founders of the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Ben has been giving tours at the museum since he was 12 years old and he told Paul about how he has carried on his grandfather’s passion for talking to various groups about the museum and the history behind it. Ben’s family’s story of survival is amazing!

Episode 251: Ron Lazzeretti

Ron Lazzeretti is a singer, song writer, writer, film maker and commercial director. Ron is from and lives in the Chicago area and grew up in an Italian family that had a cast of characters! He grew up loving music, playing neighborhood baseball and admiring comedians such as Steve Martin. Ron went to college at Northern Illinois and afterwards got a job in advertising. He has since worked on various creative projects and was the writer and producer of Michael Keaton’s directorial debut “The Merry Gentleman.” They discussed that he considered moving to Los Angeles to further his career, but his heart kept him in Chicago and how it was the right decision. He told Paul he regularly plays at Fitzgerald’s Nightclub outside of Chicago and has been for years. They finished with talking about family … that is which ones were coming to his house for Christmas!

Episode 250: Sonja Fridy Kinney

Sonja Kinney joins the podcast for the second time, this time for a full episode. The first time Sonja was on for a short interview when she was inducted into the Patrick Henry HS 2023 Hall of Fame Class. Paul and Sonja talked about what it meant for her to be inducted in the first class of the PH HOF. They then talked about her father-in-law Dr. John Kinney. Sonja spoke about growing up on Jamestown Road in Ashland and playing games and racing against other kids … and winning … even against the boys. They talked about playing organized sports for the first time in middle school and how the coaches came looking for her to ask her to join their teams. She talked about competing in Gymnastics and Track & Field in high school as well as going on to compete in Track & Field at the University of Virginia. After college, Sonja competed in the World University Games and the Pan Am Games as a member of the U.S. National Team. They ended by talking about her family.

Episode 249: Dr. Earl Wright, II

Dr. Earl Wright II, Sociology Professor at Rhodes College, grew up in north Memphis in a single parent household. In his early years Dr. Wright didn’t have an interest in education and wasn’t really pushed. He did however have enough to meet Prop 48 requirements and went to college to play football. He told Paul after majoring in football and minoring in partying, he flunked out after two years. Earl moved back home and eventually went to the University of Memphis where he started his real journey in academia. Paul and Earl discussed history, major events, the education system and the subjects of his graduate theses. They talked about what was next for Earl and finished by talking about his family.

Episode 248: Jim Malaugh

Jim Malaugh is Jamie Malaugh’s (Episode 59) dad and is visiting Richmond from Alabama. Jim was born in Northern Ireland. He also lived in England and Scotland and then moved to Alabama in 1992. Paul and Jim talked about growing up in Northern Ireland, how to pronounce Irish names and a couple of his family’s traditions. They discussed the history of Ireland and how he and his family experienced some of the conflict firsthand. He told Paul about his education and how he ended up in a very unlikely place for college. They discussed his career, culture shock for he and his family when they moved to the U.S.A. and what to do if you visit Huntsville, AL. They finished with Jim telling Paul about his family and the story about how he met his wife Jacinta.

Episode 247: Chris Harper

Chris Harper joins Paul via a connection with Andrew Mauck (Episode 11). Chris and Paul talked about his early life which included two separate incidents where Chris’s had to be medivac’d by helicopter by the time he was 15 years old. The first was a jet ski encounter and the other was when he was in an off road vehicle. Chris discussed how these two incidents have shaped his life and how he still went on to play football at VMI. He discussed with Paul how he moved to Australia for a year after college and what he now does for work. He finished by talking about his wife (including his proposal) and daughter who is 1 and already a “giant” … Chris is 6’5 and his wife is 6’2”!

Episode 246: Joey Beltran

Joey Beltran comes to the podcast via a connection with Rich Dalton (Episodes 220 & 232). Joey grew up in Carlsbad, CA and told Paul that his dream as a kid was to be a boxer. Joey spoke to Paul about how he went down the wrong path after high school, but also how he got back on track. They discussed his professional fighting career in various disciplines, his fighting style and how the mental aspect of fighting can make a big difference. They discussed some of his coaches, where else he has lived besides California and how he has a job that he truly loves which is coaching kids in MMA and Muay Thai.  They finished by Joey talking about how he wants one more fight … a boxing match with gloves to fulfill his childhood dream.

Episode 245: Mark Jenkins Part 2

Mark Jenkins returns for his second episode to continue to talk about Israel. Paul brought up that this is the first time Israel has declared a state of war since 1973. Mark talked about how that is different from past “operations” as well how there is a war of public opinion. Mark went on to discuss some key historical events regarding Israel, Palestine and the Jewish people. Mark addressed past and current administrations and the response of the United States and what has changed over the last sixty years or so. They finished by talking about how this is an ever evolving story … which is why Mark will be back in the future!

Episode 244: Vern Glenn

Vern Glenn was born and grew up in Richmond, Va. and went to St. Christopher’s like Paul. They talked about growing up, attending St. Chris, playing sports and what his parents did for work. Vern knew in 10th grade that he wanted to be a sportscaster. He attended UVA and got his first sportscasting job in 1985 in Richmond, took his next job in Baltimore and then moved across the country to take a sports job in San Francisco. He’s still in San Francisco and he and Paul talked about why he stayed and why he loves the city so much. They talked a lot about sports including UVA and Bay Area sports past and present. They discussed stories of who he has interviewed and how he has been blessed in his career. They finished by talking about his wife Nicole and their three boys, Zack, Nicolas and Jacob.

Episode 243: Jeff Tiegs

Jeff Tiegs is from a small town in Wisconsin and was in the U.S. Army Special Forces. Jeff was a reader from an early age, played all the sports early and then started focusing on long distance running. Jeff went into the military out of high school and then took a break from service to go to college. He finished his college education at Montana State and was in ROTC there which led to him going back and having a career in the military. Paul and Jeff spoke about his military career including training, deployments and his journey in Special Forces. They finished by discussing Jeff’s recently released book, Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

This episode is being released two days after Veteran’s Day 2023. We want to wish all our Veterans, including Jeff and our previous two guests, Eric Doe and Clint Pearman, the best and thank them for their service to our great country.