Common Humanity Episode 2: Behind the Scenes
Updated: Jan 25, 2022
In Episode 2 of the Common humanity Podcast, I spoke with a blast from my past, Brennan Vinatieri. Before we went live I was explaining to Brennan where the concept of my podcast came from when he asked, "Why did you want to talk to me?"
I answered in the most basic and truest sense, "I'm starting with people I know, you aren't afraid of the limelight and you can hold a conversation." It probably didn't seem like the most complimentary reason to invite him to join me, but let me explain.
You see, during the summer of 2020, Brennan, like many American workers, was furloughed from his job with a concrete company and needed work to get by for a while. I desperately needed help with grunt jobs at the YMCA and hired him. We spent time working on projects together, sharing office space, and in doing so, had a lot of conversations.
In the short time that he worked for me we talked about just about anything - relationship dynamics, generational trauma, participation medals in youth sports (that was one of my favorites). We never stayed on small talk, which made me happy, because I loath small talk. He provided a space for my brain to interact with another adult human about thoughts and theories, emotions and logic, and plenty of healthy debate.
When things started to open back up and he got called back to work, I knew I was going to miss him. Good conversationalists don't come around every day. So, when I started a podcast about real, human conversation, I had to ask him to join me.
After one and a half years since we last talked about anything and everything on a daily basis, it was great to have a good conversation with him again. To see how he has changed and grown as a person was a joy. His ability to see his goals and how he plans to achieve them is inspiring. His insight into the world around us always helps me expand my perspective. And his ability to be vulnerable and open makes the conversations with him all the better.
So maybe I invited him to talk with me because he can "hold a conversation" but that ability from him comes with a lot of other character traits that generally make him a damn good dude.
Don't forget to check out our awesome conversation in Episode 2 of the Common Humanity Podcast on Spotify!
