American Achievers

Season 4, Episode 12: Franc D’Ambrosio

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Part 2 of 2: Franc D’Ambrosio talks about the sacrifices he made to chase his dreams, including routinely choosing between food and shelter, how dyslexia affected his career, how playing the Phantom changed his life, and the critical skill he learned from Barry Manilow.

Season 4, Episode 11: Franc D’Ambrosio

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Part 1 of 2: Franc D’Ambrosio talks about walking away from the security of his family’s bakery business to pursue a career as a singer and actor, the intense desire that drove him, landing the part of Anthony Corleone in THE GODFATHER PART III, and how he almost turned down the stage role that will always define him—the masked man in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

Season 4, Episode 10: Ulice Payne, Jr.

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Lawyer and former Major League Baseball executive Ulice Payne, Jr. talks about the formative values of his childhood in western Pennsylvania, landing a basketball scholarship to Marquette, where he played on the 1977 NCAA championship team, and the moment of heartbreak that opened the door to his future.

Season 4, Episode 9: Jodie Markell

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Actress and director Jodie Markell, who recently starred in the satirical play LENI’S LAST LAMENT, talks about the moment when she first realized that performing stirred something deep in her soul and why she was driven to turn a long-forgotten Tennessee Williams screenplay into the independent film THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND.

Season 4, Episode 8: Randall Atcheson

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Concert pianist Randall Atcheson talks about the talent that propelled him from small-town Alabama churches to Julliard and performance halls on five continents, how he keeps pushing himself to excel and connect with audiences, and the near-death experience that changed his life.

Season 4, Episode 7: Bob Lilly

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Part 2 of 2: Bob Lilly talks about the mindset he brought to the field as a Hall of Fame defensive tackle for Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys, how it felt to become the first honoree at Texas Stadium’s Ring of Honor, and the gift that launched him on a different sort of adventure.

Season 4, Episode 6: Bob Lilly

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Part 1 of 2: Bob Lilly talks about learning from his father’s tenacity, the devastating drought that forced his family to leave Texas, how his life pivoted on landing a football scholarship to TCU, and becoming the first draft choice of the expansion Dallas Cowboys.

Season 4, Episode 5: Richard Jadick

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 05:30:00 -0500

Urologist Richard Jadick talks about the tragedy that rocked his upstate New York family, the television show that inspired his medical career, how he became the most decorated doctor of the Iraq War, and the battlefield memories that still haunt him.

Season 4, Episode 4: Bob Tiffin

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 05:30:00 -0400

Bob Tiffin talks about the lessons he learned around his father’s home supply store, the leap he took to launch Tiffin Motorhomes, how he built the family operation into a leading RV manufacturer, and the power of a very big check.

Season 4, Episode 3: Eileen Collins

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 05:30:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Eileen Collins talks about the pressure she felt to measure up at NASA, becoming the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle, how traveling to space affected her, and the tragic day when Columbia disintegrated on re-entry, killing seven of her colleagues.

Season 4, Episode 2: Eileen Collins

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 03:39:11 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Eileen Collins talks about her youthful fascination with flight, the stuttering that dented her confidence, negotiating the road from community-college math major to barrier-shattering U.S. Air Force pilot, and achieving her dream of becoming an astronaut.

Season 4, Episode 1: Bill Hardgrave

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 10:04:57 -0400

Bill Hardgrave talks about becoming the first person in his family to graduate from high school, using basketball to earn a college education, and how technology powered his unlikely journey into higher education—culminating with his appointment as president of the University of Memphis.

Season 3, Episode 14: Gabe Kallos

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 13:47:51 -0400

Gabe Kallos talks about the rise of antisemitism in his native Hungary and how it affected how he saw himself, somehow avoiding the gas chambers as a teenage slave laborer at the Auschwitz concentration camp, emigrating to the United States, and carving out a good life as a Southern California dentist.

Season 3, Episode 13: Paul Coffman

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Paul Coffman talks about being shaped by the values of a small Kansas farming community, walking onto the football team at Kansas State, where he eventually earned a scholarship and a starting position, and negotiating the arduous road from undrafted free agent to Pro Bowl tight end for the Green Bay Packers.

Season 3, Episode 12: Norman Gaddis

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Norman Gaddis talks about the day he was captured by the North Vietnamese, the torture he endured, how he survived 2,124 days at the infamous prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton, and the joy he felt when he reunited with his family and resumed his Air Force career.

Season 3, Episode 11: Norman Gaddis

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Retired Air Force General Norman Gaddis talks about the moment of initiative during World War II that changed his life, flying escorts in the Berlin Airlift, volunteering for duty as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, and the fateful day when his F-4 was blasted out of the sky.

Season 3, Episode 10: Robert Finnigan

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 02:09:15 -0400

Silicon Valley pioneer Robert Finnigan talks about losing his mother at age eight, gravitating to the then-nascent field of electronics after World War II, and betting his future on the commercial viability of the revolutionary quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Season 3, Episode 9: Carol Bates Brown

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Carol Bates Brown talks about being affected by the radicalization of her college campus in the late 1960s, how she and a friend developed the popular bracelet that brought attention to the issue of Vietnam War POWs and MIAs, and how the cause took control of her life.

Season 3, Episode 8: Randy Cross

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 05:30:00 -0400

CBS Sports football analyst Randy Cross talks about the impact of his father’s alcoholism, why his ambition to be a professional football player developed slowly, what he learned about chasing success from Bill Walsh, and how he leveraged his three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers to achieve a long career in television.

Season 3, Episode 7: Susie Scott Krabacher

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Susie Scott Krabacher talks about struggling to find her way after PLAYBOY, meeting the love of her life, dealing with the lingering effects of her abuse, and the purpose she has found in leading a charity dedicated to nurturing and protecting Haiti's most vulnerable children.

Season 3, Episode 6: Susie Scott Krabacher

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Susie Scott Krabacher talks about the abuse she suffered as a child, a promise she made to God, her rocket ride to fame as a PLAYBOY centerfold, confronting the dark side of that world, and the marriage to a conman that eventually left her homeless.

Season 3, Episode 5: Michael Cleveland

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Grammy-winning Bluegrass fiddler Michael Cleveland talks about battling against the limitations of blindness and hearing loss, a youthful encounter with Bill Monroe, the drinking that once dominated his life, and how he keeps pushing himself artistically.

Season 3, Episode 4: Art Dunning

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Art Dunning talks about the love of learning that animated his youth in the segregated South and eventually led to a successful career in academia, the defining choice he faced while serving in the U.S. Air Force, and the fateful decision he made to help integrate the all-white University of Alabama football program.

Season 3, Episode 3: Joe Kittinger

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Joe Kittinger talks about reuniting with Dr. John Paul Stapp for Project Excelsior, jumping out of his balloon from a record altitude of 102,800 feet, being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and working with the Red Bull team to help Felix Baumgartner shatter his 52-year-old record.

Season 3, Episode 2: Joe Kittinger

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Fighter pilot and test pilot Joe Kittinger talks about the sense of independence and adventure instilled in him by his parents, the yearn to fly that led him into the U.S. Air Force in the early days of jets, his life-altering introduction to Dr. John Paul Stapp, and his pioneering high-altitude work with Project Manhigh, which took him toward the edge of space in the years before NASA.

Season 3, Episode 1: Dave Kindred

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 05:30:00 -0400

Sports columnist Dave Kindred talks about the enduring influence of small-town Midwestern values, the impact of a childhood gift, the memorable day he shared a bed with Muhammad Ali, and the late-in-life assignment that has given him purpose and fulfillment.

Season 2, Episode 18: Dick Rutan

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 05:00:00 -0500

Part 2 of 2: Dick Rutan talks about the obstacles he and his brother Burt faced in building the Rutan Voyager and how, over the course of a nine-day journey in 1986, battling through mechanical problems, violent weather and gathering fatigue, he and Jeana Yeager established an aviation milestone that many thought impossible: flying around the world without stopping or refueling.

Season 2, Episode 17: Dick Rutan

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 05:00:00 -0500

Part 1 of 2: Dick Rutan talks about the airplane ride that changed his life, the admonition from his mother that altered his view of the world, the need for adventure that led him to become a decorated fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, and the origins of his historic flight around the world.

Season 2, Episode 16: Tito Echiburu

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 06:32:14 -0500

Chilean-born banker Tito Echiburu talks about escaping an abusive father and political instability to chase success in the United States, the importance of goal-setting, drive and assimilation, and how he leveraged a tennis scholarship and a life-altering telegram to find happiness in a small Mississippi town.

Season 2, Episode 15: Michael O’Neill

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Michael O'Neill talks about his breakout performance as a Secret Service agent on THE WEST WING, the one part he lost that still bothers him, the most gut-wrenching role of his career, the importance of tenacity, and how some characters have burrowed deep into his soul.

Season 2, Episode 14: Michael O’Neill

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Television and film actor Michael O'Neill, best known for SEABISCUIT, THE WEST WING, and GREY'S ANATOMY, talks about the unlikely phone call that led him to Hollywood, the lessons he learned from an aging star, and how he conquered a debilitating weakness.

Season 2, Episode 13: Archie Griffin

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of college football's Heisman Trophy, talks about the powerful example set by his father, his first meeting with coach Woody Hayes, his humbling first carry at Ohio State, and what he learned from his disappointing NFL career.

Season 2, Episode 12: Gina Locklear

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Gina Locklear, the owner of the Zkano sock company, talks about why she quit her real estate job to return to her devastated hometown and how she has been tested by the various challenges of building a consumer brand in an industry buffeted by globalization.

Season 2, Episode 11: Robert Swan

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Robert Swan talks about the bittersweet climax of his South Pole expedition and his treacherous journey to the North Pole, the alcohol problem that pushed him to the edge, how Jacques Cousteau inspired him to pursue a 50-year mission, why he emigrated to the United States, and what he is learning from the son now following in his footsteps.

Season 2, Episode 10: Robert Swan

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Robert Swan talks about the boyhood fascination with Robert Falcon Scott that grew into a burning ambition to follow in the doomed explorer's footsteps and how he overcame various obstacles to become the first person to walk to both the north and south poles.

Season 2, Episode 9: Tom Johnson

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Tom Johnson, the former president of CNN and publisher of the LOS ANGELES TIMES, talks about the life-altering impact of one man's act of faith, the drive that propelled him to become one of the most powerful figures in American media—and the price he has paid for his raging ambition.

Season 2, Episode 8: Flora Hyacinth

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Chiropractor Flora Hyacinth talks about growing up poor in a Caribbean fishing village, dreaming of a better life, the athletic scholarship that brought her to the United States, the memorable day she set a world record in the triple jump, and the injury she sustained while training for the Olympics that changed her life.

Season 2, Episode 7: Homer Hickam

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Former NASA engineer Homer Hickam talks about growing up in West Virginia coal country, his complicated relationship with his father, the influence of a special teacher, and the inspirational story that resulted in the best-selling memoir ROCKET BOYS and the popular film OCTOBER SKY.

Season 2, Episode 6: Jeff Miller

Mon, 29 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Jeff Miller, who owns a dry cleaning business in Hendersonville, North Carolina, talks about the World War II veterans, including his father, who imbued his upbringing with patriotism and a sense of community, and the fateful spark that led him to co-found the Honor Flight Network.

Season 2, Episode 5: Bill Rasmussen

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Bill Rasmussen talks about the skepticism he and his partners faced in selling a 24-hour sports channel to cable operators, rights holders and advertisers, and the various financial, technological and logistical hurdles they overcame while founding a media brand that would fundamentally change the sports world and the television industry.

Season 2, Episode 4: Bill Rasmussen

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Bill Rasmussen talks about his formative years as a local broadcaster, being fired from his front-office job with hockey's New England Whalers, and how, working with his son, Scott, and insurance agent Ed Eagan, he began to develop the revolutionary idea that became the cable channel ESPN.

Season 2, Episode 3: Joe Galloway

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 05:04:51 -0400

In an interview conducted two years before his death in 2021, war correspondent Joe Galloway talks about the pivotal event that led him to a life in journalism, covering the Kansas murder case immortalized by Truman Capote, the landmark Vietnam War battle that profoundly marked him, producing the best-selling book that was adapted into the Mel Gibson movie WE WERE SOLDIERS, and the surreal night he spent on the same battlefield 28 years later.

Season 2, Episode 2: Spencer Tillman

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 05:33:50 -0400

Fox Sports football analyst Spencer Tillman talks about the missionary mother who shaped his view of the world, the lessons he learned while playing football for Oklahoma and in the NFL, the keys to his long career in broadcasting, and the motivational power of rejection and pressure.

Season 2, Episode 1: Steve Justice

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 05:04:24 -0400

Steve Justice, the former director of advanced systems development for Lockheed Martin's fabled Skunk Works, who recently came out of retirement to join Virgin Galactic, talks about the aircraft that captured his imagination, what he learned from his biggest failure, and the power of dreams, passion, risk, and thinking without artificial boundaries.

Season 1, Episode 23: Chee-Yun

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Classical violinist Chee-Yun talks about the sibling rivalry that enabled her musical development in South Korea, how moving to America and studying at Julliard motivated her, the family crisis that kickstarted her professional career, and the special instrument with an intriguing heritage that brings her pleasure.

Season 1, Episode 22: Ben Gilbert

Mon, 30 May 2022 06:11:27 -0400

Ben Gilbert, one of the founders of Moe's Original Bar B Que, talks about why he quit his job to pursue his dream, the importance of a strong work ethic, and the lessons he has learned from turning one Colorado restaurant into a growing chain with locations in 14 states.

Season 1, Episode 21: Steve Bartkowski

Mon, 23 May 2022 06:04:26 -0400

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski talks about being selected number one overall in the 1975 NFL Draft, why he began to second-guess his decision to choose football over baseball, how losing his starting job changed him, why a 1980 playoff loss to the Cowboys still haunts him, and the athletic lessons that he has applied to the rest of his life.

Season 1, Episode 20: Adam Wright

Mon, 16 May 2022 06:48:38 -0400

Grammy-nominated songwriter Adam Wright talks about his early musical influences, the impact of his family legacy, the art of writing a country song, and how it feels to hear his work interpreted by artists including Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson.

Season 1, Episode 19: Charles Bolden Jr.

Mon, 09 May 2022 05:07:52 -0400

Part 2 of 2: Charles Bolden Jr. talks about the mentor who encouraged him to apply for the astronaut program, how his four Space Shuttle missions affected his perspective, the problematic deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and his seven-year tenure as NASA Administrator.

Season 1, Episode 18: Charles Bolden Jr.

Mon, 02 May 2022 07:41:04 -0400

Part 1 of 2: Retired General Charles Bolden Jr. talks about navigating around a cultural roadblock to win an appointment to the Naval Academy, the influence of his educator parents, and the lessons he learned as a Marine aviator and test pilot on the way to outer space.

Season 1, Episode 17: Jamil Dada

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 07:41:03 -0400

Banker and civic leader Jamil Dada talks about his privileged childhood in Pakistan, why he defied his parents to pursue a new life in the United States, the defining life lesson he took from his grandfather, and what he has learned from battling stage four cancer.

Season 1, Episode 16: Tinesha Ross

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 07:41:07 -0400

Tinesha Ross talks about the trauma that devastated her childhood, the power of one thoughtless sentence, and the lessons she learned while battling against the odds to make her dream come true, becoming a rocket scientist for United Launch Alliance.

Season 1, Episode 15: Alana Shepherd

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 07:45:00 -0400

Alana Shepherd talks about the catastrophic accident that paralyzed her son and how this personal tragedy became the catalyst to the defining cause of her life, the Shepherd Center, which has treated more than 40,000 people who have sustained spinal cord injuries and acquired brain injuries since 1975.

Season 1, Episode 14: Steve Ritchie

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 07:41:15 -0400

Retired General Steve Ritchie talks about struggling to hang on during his first year at the Air Force Academy, the deal he made with a superior officer to reach flight school, mastering the F-104 Starfighter and the F-4 Phantom, and his fateful decision to volunteer for a second tour in Vietnam, becoming the only Air Force pilot ace of the war.

Season 1, Episode 13: Robert Risko

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 04:28:27 -0400

Caricature artist Robert Risko talks about the pivotal day he met Andy Warhol, how LSD altered his perspective, the origins of his widely celebrated retro airbrush style, and how he has endeavored to turn icons into real people in the pages of magazines including VANITY FAIR and THE NEW YORKER.

Season 1, Episode 12: David Hartman

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 02:40:17 -0400

Part 2 of 2: David Hartman talks about why he reinvented himself in middle age by becoming the first host of ABC's upstart program GOOD MORNING AMERICA, the philosophy he employed while interviewing presidents, kings, and movie stars, and the most gut-wrenching experience of his broadcasting career.

Season 1, Episode 11: David Hartman

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 07:23:37 -0400

Part 1 of 2: David Hartman talks about the importance of curiosity and experimentation, losing his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot, achieving success as an actor on Broadway and in television shows including NBC's LUCAS TANNER, and the edgy documentary project that began pushing his life in a very different direction.

Season 1, Episode 10: Tai Babilonia

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 06:19:53 -0500

Tai Babilonia talks about the moment of youthful inspiration that launched her figure-skating career, the day she met long-time partner Randy Gardner, how it felt to be in the zone, the burdens of teenage fame, and the injury at the 1980 Winter Olympics that broke her heart.

Season 1, Episode 9: Rodney Williams

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 07:46:23 -0500

Technology entrepreneur Rodney Williams talks about failing the first grade, the aspirational outlook that shaped his development, the business lessons he learned around his mother's beauty shop, and why he decided to walk away from a big job at Procter & Gamble to co-found the pioneering ultrasonic connectivity company LISNR.

Season 1, Episode 8: Neil Leifer

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 10:54:42 -0500

Neil Leifer talks about growing up poor on New York's Lower East Side, the deli delivery job that allowed him to buy his first camera, landing his first SPORTS ILLUSTRATED cover as a teenager, why his legendary picture of the triumphant Muhammad Ali still resonates, and the drive that propelled him to become one of the greatest sports photographers of all time.

Season 1, Episode 7: Sister Schubert

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 07:24:58 -0500

One-time flight attendant Sister Schubert talks about the church food fair that changed her life, the risks she took to follow her dream, the promise she made to God, and the lessons she learned in creating an iconic frozen foods brand.

Season 1, Episode 6: Dick Vitale

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 04:07:34 -0500

In an interview taped before his recent battle with cancer and a throat condition that has sidelined him for the rest of the 2022 season, ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale talks about the childhood trauma that profoundly affected his self-image, the obsession with winning that colored his meteoric rise as a coach, and the humbling failure that opened the door to his future.

Season 1, Episode 5: Stacia Fernandez

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:59:25 -0500

Stage actress Stacia Fernandez talks about the moment of rejection that became the catalyst to her career on Broadway and with big national tours, the rush she gets when she steps into the spotlight, how it feels to inhabit a character, and the challenges of aging in public.

Season 1, Episode 4: Jan Scruggs

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 06:25:49 -0500

Jan Scruggs talks about the day he thought he was going to die in a Vietnamese jungle, struggling with the war's lingering effects, a memorable night at the movies, and the battle he led against powerful and entrenched forces to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Season 1, Episode 3: Jerry LeVias

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:09:04 -0500

Former SMU and Houston Oilers receiver Jerry LeVias talks about the struggle of becoming the first scholarship African-American football player in the old Southwest Conference, the advice Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave him, the enduring influence of his parents, and the triumphant moment that still haunts him.

Season 1, Episode 2: Bonne Bedingfield

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 18:55:45 -0500

Cake artist Bonne Bedingfield, a 2021 competitor on Food Network's HALLOWEEN WARS, talks about accidentally discovering her passion, the delicate process of creating a work of art that tastes as good as it looks, the importance of staying on the right path, and the motivating power of fear.

Season 1, Episode 1: Jim Lovell

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:47:21 -0400

Astronaut Jim Lovell, one of the first three humans to orbit the moon, talks about his difficult childhood, failing his first NASA physical, and what he learned from the aborted Apollo 13 mission, which became an object lesson in overcoming adversity, turning him into an American folk hero immortalized by Tom Hanks.