Intersection Podcast

In 1998, I found myself in a new job, new city, new state, and really a whole new side of the country. This southern born and bred young adult from South Carolina found himself in Phoenix, Arizona working for, at-the-time, the flagship television station for Meredith Corporation. KPHO-TV5 is where I met Morgan Loew. Phoenix is the fifth most populous city nationwide, the most populous state capital in the United States, and the only state capital with a population of more than one million residents. The history of the city of Phoenix begins with Jack Swilling, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. In 1867, while traveling through the Salt River Valley, he saw a potential for farming.Cotton, cattle, citrus, climate, and copper were known locally as the "Five C's" of Phoenix's economy. Now it is a high-tech epicenter a few hundred miles north of the U.S.–Mexico. Morgan Loew grew up on the border and gave me my first experience with border towns, immigration, and migration. Now, his storytelling and repor

Home is powerful word, powerful state of mind, and a sense of security for those across this United States of America fabric. In part one of this series examining the idea of home inside and outside our borders, we find ourselves in McAllen, Texas.I visited McAllen, Texas in January 2017 on a trip with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to examine and understand one of the largest cultural passages from Latin America into the United States. This is where we find Javier Perez, Director of National Missions & Humanitarian Aid for Buckner Ministries. Javier not only serves the populations in Southern Texas, specifically children of immigrants and those who are migrating, but he is also an immigrant as well. He came to the United States from Colombia on a student visa for his education, but now has converted into a H1B visa as he works for Buckner Ministries in McAllen. He understands immigration, passage, home, and finds himself battling for his right to live in the US; as he helps those whom immigrate

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,In the forests of the night;What immortal hand or eye,Could frame thy fearful symmetry? I love the last line of this poem, “Could frame thy fearful symmetry.” Fear is a powerful word, powerful feeling, and can even consume one’s spirit. I have never seen fear in Michael Bay’s eyes, I have never heard fear in Michael Bay’s voice, and I have never felt fear in Michael Bay’s heart. This former mascot, The Clemson Tiger, has done more than help Clemson Football fight for a win on a Saturday afternoon. He has fought one of the biggest fights…bone cancer. His story is so real, a story we see everyday. But no-one ever suspects The Clemson Tiger would ever have to fight cancer, bone cancer, twice.In some ways, I always felt Michael was immortal. I never thought I would hear that my good friend who made 85,000 people cheer on a Saturday could get cancer. Yet, his fight is one to embrace, because his mortality was more than real…it is the humanity of what makes Michael's story so reverential

How many push-ups can you do at one time? I actually cannot remember doing a push-up in years! I wonder what it's like to go down in the record books as the all time push up record holder...for this Tiger, it’s more than a record to beholden.Michael Bays is one determined Tiger, literally. He was the Tiger, the actual Clemson University mascot during his years as an undergraduate student at Clemson University. He put on the uniform for the three whole years and was the central focus for every Clemson Football game during his time as the Tiger. Being the Tiger at Clemson is more than just doing push-ups after every touchdown scored. It is more than being the face of a large division one university. It is more than just putting on the outfit. It is living the determined spirit for everyone that loves an institution located in Clemson, SC. It is truly about being a Clemson Tiger, and also living up to being THE Clemson Tiger. Check Out Links Below:The Tiger Tradition - Push-up Record HoldersClemson Wor

Are many Americans one paycheck away from homelessness? Well, after the 2008 financial crash, I assumed yes.  A Jan 20, 2018 Marketwatch article says that millions of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness? Just 39% of Americans say they have enough savings to cover a $1,000 emergency room visit or car repair. Can you identify with this statistic? Mark Horvath has a different viewpoint. I met Mark in 2012 downtown Chicago at a conference where he was telling the InvisiblePeople.tv story. He has been interviewing individuals who are homeless across the United States for years. As he told more stories, his YouTube channel just grew and grew becoming one of the top channels on YouTube, even being feature on the homepage. When I met him, GM just became a sponsor and presented him with a SUV so he could continue traveling and telling more stories. Mark is a special person, one with passion and a true desire to bring the stories of the homeless population to the forefront. His passion comes with experien

I never thought I would find myself taking a tour of a mobile health clinic, which is more of a visual tour, yet only recording the audio. But that is how this just so happened to transpire. After arriving to see this large vehicle, larger than the biggest Ryder truck, Dr. Paula Watt just wanted to show me around. So I hit record. In part one of this Mobile Medicine series, Episode 017, I sat down inside the mobile health clinic and talked about the background and vision for the future. Sitting inside felt like more a small doctor’s office with lots of examination rooms side-by-side. By the way...if you have not listed to part one, I hope you go back and listen. But in this episode, part two focuses on the magnitude of this mobile health clinic, both in size and impact. Trust me, when this mobile health clinic rolls up into your community...you will not miss it. You will think that the Clemson Football team is coming to play. It is a moving Clemson billboard with every possible emminity to serve the community

What does it mean to have the world’s first 100 percent solar-powered, mobile health clinic? Well, that is just as good as being in the Guinness Book of World Records, I think? But what does that mean for South Carolina, the state where this mobile health clinic is based...inside the land-grant institution Clemson University whose primary purpose is educating undergraduate and graduate students to think deeply about and engage in the social, scientific, economic, and professional challenges of our times. Well, improving the health of the underserved communities while providing a teaching experience for public health students...I think it fits rather nicely. Dr. Paula Watt, Clemson University Sullivan Center director has been dreaming of the day when they could have a four wheel drive, solar powered clinic;  so they could serve rural communities primarily in Greenville, Oconee, Pickens and Anderson counties. All of this while demonstrating to Clemson students the challenges in caring for the most vulnerable p

In the many years of telling stories of domestic violence victims and survivors, I have never interviewed someone who has described the actual details of their physical abuse with such specificity and granularity; where her injuries from her abuser were so visibly apparent. She was burned with acid and lost her vision. There are so many intersections inside this story. Sabrina Greenlee is the mother of four children and grew up and raised her children in a little town outside Clemson University...Central, SC. I grew up right around the corner in Clemson. Her son is a former wide receiver star from Daniel High School, Clemson University, and now one of the leading receivers in the NFL playing for the Houston Texans. His name is DeAndre Hopkins.I went to Daniel High School and worked for Clemson Football with her brother Terry Smith, former receiver who also played in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts. He died from a domestic dispute. Sabrina has been surrounded by domestic violence all her life; and this is a

We all just need a little bit more skirt in our life. Yes...Skirt! Many would feel that this is a male chauvinistic statement especially given the current political and social climate; but it is true. We need more Skirt...that is Skirt Magazine based in Charleston, SC. “Skirt is all about women – their work, their play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls. … skirt Is an attitude – spirited, independent, outspoken, serious, playful and irreverent, sometimes controversial, always passionate.”Skirt magazine is Charleston’s first women’s magazine, celebrating women with attitude since 1994. Shelly Hill Young is the executive editor and embodies everything that is Skirt.I met Shelly in 2009 as we worked together during a re-branding of a nonprofit working to grow the number of IT professionals in South Carolina. Afterwards, she spent a few years in California working for FOXSports.com, Hollywood Reporter, and the Doctors TV show. The south called her home, not only to raise her family

Do you know someone who has experienced infertility? This is one of those tough subjects to talk about not only in mixed company but also around family. It took Sarah and I years to have Rose, and when she was born in 2011, we experienced a miracle especially after three miscarriages. Around the same time, I was helping Greenville Health System tell some amazing stories in celebration of their centennial. This is when I met Jeff and Amory Cone. We helped Greenville Health System produced this story in 2013 as an opportunity to help other families realize the amazing advancements available when faced with infertility challenges. Jeff and Amory shared their home, their story, and how their family changed after the magic moments of having their little girl Payton. Six years later, their family has grown with a little boy. According to the CDC, about 10 percent of women in the United States, roughly 6.1 million women ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. Sarah and I along with Jeff and

Homes of Hope has a tremendous vision, providing opportunities for generational change throughout South Carolina. They do this in two ways, by rebuilding communities and rebuilding lives. But what does that really mean? In their 20th year of operations, they have developed 600 homes for families and helped over 300 men restore their lives. Their mission is to rebuild communities and individual lives through housing, economic and workforce development. They build safe, affordable, and energy-efficient housing for low-to-moderate income families and/or individuals in South Carolina. They also lead a men’s development program which is a voluntary one-year residential job training and mentoring program for men overcoming drug and alcohol addictions. As a storyteller, I have been leading a team to help tell the Homes of Hope story for over 3 years. Their impact and the stories we find inside these programs has not only inspired our staff of digital storytellers, but has inspired so many people here in the Carolina

It was the most controversial call during the second week of college football play in the 2018 season. College Station, Texas is the home to the Texas A&M Aggies, home of the 12th man, and they were hosting the second ranked Clemson Tigers for a classic Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference match-up. A critical play as the Aggies were mounting a comeback in-front of the home crowd, a run to the corner near the end zone where the ball was stripped propelling it in the air. Was it out-of-bounds or did it fly over the pylon indicating a touchback. The decision by the officials...critical. Yet, television replay could not provide an adequate view to confirm or deny the call on the field. Meet Lizzie Allen, a senior at Texas A&M and a student photojournalist on the field during the game. She just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, followed her instincts, and captured the perfect image of the ball flying. There is the many intersections inside this story, one that you will jus

In part two of this story, Nick Charalambous had to overcome a terrible cycling accident and chart a path for one of the biggest fights of his life, stage four bone cancer. Nick’s journey is one of a determined spirit, one of spiritual exploration, one that led him to explore every fundamental facet needed to merely live. He realized death was possible. This will to live was bigger than just fighting cancer, a faith journey that took him over and over and over again from a small town in the upstate of South Carolina across the state to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. This geographical journey brought him back to one of his greatest passions, cycling. He found his physical restoration was a small part of his faith journey, one that took him to train to get back on his bike and return from the coast...visiting every campus that was a part of Newspring Church. Here is the second part of his story, facing death, fighting cancer, and rebuilding to return home to place he loves and calls h

If you have ever met Nick...you are drawn in by his British accent and the inner desire to figure out how to spell his last name. Here is why, because you will never forget this man once you shake his hand, so you better know how to spell his last name. Nick Charalambous is a man of many passions. He loves his work. He loves telling stories for the church he loves. He loves his wife. He loves Christ...and I believe this affection is one of many intersections you will find woven together inside this soft spoken man. Nick is a fellow storyteller, and it is time for his story to be told. He has done more than fought stage four bone cancer. His journalistic career as a heretic led him down a path to understand the inner workings of a rapidly growing church, one that led him to his faith. It is this faith that was the undercurrent after almost dying from a severe cycling accident and then again as he fought stage four bone cancer. Here is his story... Check Out Links Below: Follow Nick Charalambous on Twitter News

In 1998 I was recruited by the Chief Photojournalist of KPHO-TV to join one of the best broadcast television visual storytelling teams in the United States. The moment I stepped off the plane in my black suit on a hot summer day in Phoenix, Arizona; Marty Boardman not only welcomed me in style but became one of my closest mentors and ultimately best man in my wedding. As Chief Photojournalist, Marty Boardman taught me more in 3 years about storytelling, life, friendship, empathy, and ultimately business; more than I could have ever imagined. After leaving Phoenix and KPHO-TV for graduate school at Clemson University, Marty left the broadcast television business to tackle a new industry. He converted his journalistic style into a business acumen that ultimately helped him build a huge real estate business. One of the most fascinating intersections in Marty's path was his ability to transfer his visual storytelling and journalistic skills into relationship building mechanism. One that helped him raise capital

A few years ago the people of Cange, Haiti needed water. Some of them had to walk a thousand feet down the mountain and climb back up lugging 40 pound buckets of water. Today a new system pipes clean water up the mountain and into Cange. A team of Clemson engineering students working with the Haitian partners helped make this happen. Clemson Engineers For Developing Countries, CDEC, began in the fall of 2009 when seven students in civil engineering noticed that something was missing from their curriculum. CDEC designed a system that would filter out large contaminates, kill microbes and ultraviolet radiation and chlorine, and then transport the water through the village in new pipes buried underneath recently paved roads. It would be the first chlorinated municipal water system in the country of Haiti. I met CDEC professor in practice, David Vaughn, in 2016 as we began telling the story of Clemson engineers traveling to Cange, Haiti as they continued to work alongside the Haitian people to service the municip

Since 2013, the Duke Endowment has funded summer literacy programs in North Carolina designed to engage United Methodist rural churches and improve literacy among elementary school students in their communities. These summer literacy programs are providing more than just building confidence for the children. These host churches are providing nurturing relationships, nutritious meals, daily enrichment activities, and more importantly, a safe space for families to engage and chart a path for the future. I met Reverend Mary Jane Wilson-Parsons in June 2018. She is the co-pastor at Seaside United Methodist Church in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. She recognized a need in her community, beyond the resort golf courses and high net worth retirees, that there are large pockets of poverty where underprivileged elementary children needed help. They needed help with basic literacy skills, especially during the summer months. This is called the “summer slide.” I found a unique intersection in this story. One that we at G

For anyone who has suffered a serious illness, whether personally or with a child; anyone facing the challenges of autoimmune disease; and any medical professionals who have worked to help them, Allison Greene has walked in these shoes. I met Allison in 2013 while working on a story for the South Carolina Hospital Association advocating for the South Carolina’s Legislature to consider expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Her son's story became a central focus of the story, one of heart, soul, trials and tribulations. Allison has worked in healthcare communications for more than twenty-five years and currently works for a large healthcare system in the upstate of South Carolina. Allison's story has so many intersections intertwined with one basic narrative, her son John almost died. Since that moment, she has spent over years fighting and navigating a system that has employed her; not only fighting for John's life and care, but also fighting a healthcare delivery system entangled with bureaucrati

In 2017, Dr. Anand Gramopadhye, Dean of the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, asked Gray Digital Group’s storytelling team to craft a series of stories inspiring the next generation of engineers to attend Clemson University. We identified numerous narratives showcasing visual stories that would inspire individuals to take the next steps to change the world. During the creative process, we knew telling a story of a bioengineering researcher helping a young boy with a lower limb prosthetic find comfort while walking and running would be a compelling story. What we found was something far more interesting and compelling. I met researcher and PhD candidate Meredith Owen, who we cast for this story. Her work is amazing, but what was more amazing is her passion to help people, lower limb amputees, real people in dire need of comfort. In a 2016 study by a MIT sociologist, 20 percent of undergraduate engineering degrees are awarded to women, but only 13 percent of the engineering workforce is fe

Most of what hear about America these days outlines our frustrations – the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, middle class jobs fading away, hate-filled politics that prefers gridlock to compromise. What we know about America mostly comes from journalists who travel in herds, trailing politicians or camped out at big stories, pouncing on problems to repeat over and over. They offer up celebrity experts for solutions, the people who spend their busy days spouting opinions to cameras, while others in the shadows quietly make America work. America survives and thrives because of all those names we don’t know, seemingly ordinary people who do extraordinary things. They don’t run for president or go on talk shows, but without them, the best of America would not exist. Bob Dotson has traveled more than four million miles, crisscrossing America practically non-stop for half a century, searching for people who are practically invisible, the ones who change our lives, but don’t take time to tweet and te