Taking Back the Microphone
Giving Voice to Voices Unheard
In the early days of getting back on my feet after losing the work hosting a small national TV and radio program focused on the betterment of others because I'd been deteriorating in the process, I messaged a friend the same repeated line several times.
"I need to get back a microphone."
I felt desperate as a communicator after losing The David Magee Show 13 years ago because I knew I'd squandered opportunity that might never return. I’d let down myself, and the small audience who tuned in, and I so desperately wanted redemption, and voice. But podcasts weren't much of a thing at the time, and there was nothing easy about landing a daily TV show on a small national network, so what I’d lost, was gone.
I prayed the time would come to take back the microphone — this time, speaking in a voice I trust, that others trust.
I've written books and newspaper columns, told stories in public speaking, and sat behind the microphone on occasion the past 13 years, I waited for the day that I'd have my voice and platform, the microphone, again.
Finally, that day has arrived: the launch of my new podcast, A Little Crazy, on September 10. You can watch the just-released trailer here, and find follow the podcast on Spotify and everywhere you listen to podcasts.
In one sense, launching a podcast is no big deal. There are more than four million active podcasts in the world today.
So, I get the irony that I'm proudly stating that launching A Little Crazy is some accomplishment—when anyone can hit record and upload.
Of course, there's far more work involved in A Little Crazy, because we’re producing a premium program, and I'm proud the new podcast is part of a flourishing network.
But here's what I'm most proud of: We’ll provide a weekly program focused on improving the lives on my terms.
Translated, that means rather than chasing down the same celebrities who tell the same stories on every podcast everywhere, we’re investing in the untold stories of real people who face and win at this strange and wonderful thing we know as life.
Challenges exist with this strategy: How can one launch a new podcast without guests having hundreds of thousands of social media followers to bring in an audience?
It will be hard, honestly. But just like getting back on my feet 13 years ago, I’m up for that hard, and betting that stories of more real people, facing and conquering real challenges, is what listeners want and need.
Already, in show episodes recorded for release this fall, A Little Crazy podcast guests have delivered stunning and inspirational stories — and I cannot wait for you to hear them.
For instance, my podcast associate producer
and I interviewed a woman who was sex trafficked for eight-and-a-half years and abused in almost every inhumane way possible while battling addiction. What stunned me in the interview is that the woman’s heartbreaking and frankly shocking story ran right through my hometown — the small, picture-perfect college town of Oxford, Mississippi. Her story is breathtaking, but also inspiring, because she's now thriving in recovery and helping other women find their joy. But listen, you’ll be stunned by journalistic and humanistic importance of this story when its released in some weeks.
Notably, Phoebe, my podcast associate, is close friends with the guest and secured this remarkable, ground-breaking interview. Phoebe is a recent college graduate who believes in change-the-world storytelling, and listeners will enjoy getting to know her, along with our never-before-heard stories.
Another woman we've interviewed for episode release this fall was abused at the age of nine and fell into addiction and a nearly unspeakable life -- raped five times, arrested 41 times, beaten more times than she can count, until she found a Faith-centered women's recovery center that changed her life and now, she helps countless other women change theirs.
These women are not celebrities. These women are heroes, and their stories of resilience will change your life, as will other stories shared on A Little Crazy.
Does that mean we’ll never have celebrities or other well-known figures on the podcast? No, of course not. We will have names you know as guests. But when we do — those individuals will have stories and insight worth sharing you have not heard.
With every episode, and with every guest and topic on this new podcast, we’ll explore and reveal real people, and their real entertaining and inspiring stories.
It's been 13 years—13 long years—since I declared I needed to get back a microphone. I’ve toiled as a nobody, trying to find my somebody, and it’s been 13 years of valuable growth that I needed because nothing good happens before it's time.
Now, I represent neither nobody or somebody — but everybody, instead. Now, I’m ready
I've got the microphone again, aiming to illuminate voices and stories worth hearing you won't find anywhere else.
I'm so thankful you are here for the journey.
I won’t let you down.