Shawn Ryan: America May Not Stay A Superpower, China Is Watching Us Self-Destruct

You said you think you visited hell. >> I know I did. And it was more real than. anything I've experienced. It was the. most amount of fear I'd ever felt in my. life. My body was contorted. It was. doing things that the human body. shouldn't do. >> Do you think you were possessed? Because. subsequently, you've had several. exorcisms. >> Yes. The things that are happening are. just undeniable. >> What happened? >> I'll tell you what I experienced. >> Just before we get into all of that, you. have lived a remarkable life. I was in a. US Navy, went to Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan, and done some insane.

missions. I mean, you learn a lot of. critical life lessons, but there's. another side, too. I mean, you get. addicted to those type of environments. Adrenaline. >> And after your CIA contracting role, you. moved to Medlin, Columbia. >> Yeah. It was probably the most dangerous. thing I'd ever done. >> Did you get involved in the drug dealing. networks? >> Yes. I never really dealt. It was more. setting up the network, figuring out who. the players are that gave me the rush. There's not very many people that can. pull some like that off. But then this. guy Freddy, he said, "The police were.

after me." They had planted a bug in the. light fixture outside of my door. And. then they. >> You now have built one of the biggest. podcasts on planet Earth. >> Yes, but my show will not appear in. popular podcasts because it's something. that I was saying a long time ago. It. had to do with. >> That is very [ __ ] weird. Do you think. podcasters are being compromised by. guests being planted on their shows or. in other ways? >> Yes. Here's one example. Trump. administration crushed it in the. election cycle, right? Really utilized.

the podcast. They saw the power of it. It was a great tactic and so I think. that they have people inside of all the. platforms that we use and this has. happened to me because one time I had a. guy come on and we can talk about that. >> And you endorsed Trump before the. election. >> I wanted him to win. Have you changed. your opinion on Trump now? >> Oh yeah, for a multitude of reasons. I. probably shouldn't be satisfied. >> Before this episode starts, I have a. small favor to ask you. Two months ago, 61% of the people that watch this. channel weren't subscribed. We're now. down to 58%. My goal is 50%. So, if.

you've ever liked any of the videos. we've made on this channel, if you like. this channel, can you do me a small. quick favor and hit the subscribe. button? It helps this channel more than. you know. And the bigger the channel. gets, the more we can invest in bringing. you even better guests. Thank you and. enjoy this episode. Sean Ryan, you have lived a remarkable. life for so many different reasons. Um, I feel like you've lived several. different lives as well, dare I say. But. for anybody that might not be familiar. with your smash hit show and your.

incredible journey through the military, can you give me a a topline on the. career that you've had before you got. into podcasting for those that might not. know? Yeah, joined the US Navy. It I. think I enlisted at age 17, went. straight to into the Navy Seal program, went to BUDS, went to SEAL teammate, spent 5 and a half years in the Navy, and then left that, became a real estate. agent. I had read a book by Donald Trump.

way back then on this is it, how to get. rich. It inspired me to become an. entrepreneur and failed miserably. So. then I looked at government contracting, started contracting for central. intelligence agencies, started a small. state department gig, got picked up for. the CIA contract, did that through. Blackwater, then jumped over to a. company called Socked and then uh wound. up getting picked up direct contractor. for the agency of No Middleman. >> And you said that you wanted to be a.

Navy Seal. Now, for for international. audiences that might not know what a. Navy Seal is relative to just like being. in the army, what is the distinction? >> A Navy seal stands for sea, air, and. land. So, you operate in the sea, air, and the land. It's uh special. operations. So, it is uh one of the most. prolific special operations units in the. world. You go through a training. pipeline that's a couple years long. you. go through buds, which if you make it um. without getting hurt or without getting.

rolled back, that's 6 months. I didn't. make it without rolling back. So, I. think I spent about 9 months there. Then. you go to jump school. Then you go to. SQT SEAL qualification training, which. is kind of where they turn you into. I guess I shouldn't say they turn you. into a special operator, but but that's. the the final school. Then you get your. SEAL trident and then you spend another. year or two, year and a half training at. your SEAL team before you ever even get. the opportunity to to to deploy uh for.

the country. Diving, jumping, land. warfare, demolition, small unit tactics, lots of time in a kill house, lots of. time in land warfare, all different uh. operational environments, desert, winter, jungle, you name it, we're in. it. Is it equivocal to the SAS which is. like the British version of the special. operations team? >> I would say yeah SAS or SPS. >> Okay. And you must have seen some pretty. horrific interesting.

unforgettable things while you were on. those tours of duties around the world. >> Yeah. Yeah. Oper. The first thing I ever saw uh that was. that that that. was warfareish. It wasn't really hot. I. thought it was hot at the time, but uh. 2004 we went to Haiti when Aristid got. pulled out of power. It was the first. time I'd really seen true poverty. And. uh I don't know if you've ever been. there, but I mean, you know, the sewage.

goes right into the streets. All the. prisoners had broken out. We there were. dead bodies floating around the water, bullet holes everywhere. Every once in a while, I'd see a car on. fire. I mean, it was just vast chaos. It. really wasn't anything compared to what. I would see later on. But uh but that. was the first place. And then. Afghanistan uh we went there after. Operation Red Wings uh happened. That. was uh the biggest loss in SEAL team.

history at the time. >> What was Operation Red Wings? >> Have you ever seen the movie Lone. Survivor? >> No. >> Okay. There was a a sniper element on a. mountaintop that was that was. surveilling a town that had a highv. value terrorist in in there. And um the. sniper hide was compromised by a goat. herder. Goat herder went back to town. and told everybody what he had seen and. then and then they ambushed the element. up there. Helicopters went down and then. there was one guy that survived it. And.

so it was it was the biggest loss ever. in Seal Team history at the time. That. happened in on June 28th and I think we. were there by late late September, early. October, I believe, is when we were. there. We did some uh hit some targets, but they were pretty much all dry holes. Grabbed a couple of prisoners. Um stuff. like that. And then we actually went. home early. And then I went to Iraq. Well, I went to Iraq. My platoon went.

home. I decided I wanted to get out at. that point. Uh it just for me it wasn't. really what it was uh what I thought it. was going to be. >> What was it? >> I thought it would be a lot more combat. I wanted to go out every night and do. the job, do direct actions, do CQB, do sniper stuff, whatever. I. just wanted to work. And uh we weren't. getting that in Afghanistan. It was few. and far between. This was 05 time frame. and 0506.

time frame. I can't remember what. happened. Uh but the elections were. dragging on and so I had a OIC which is. kind of like the leader of a of a SEAL. platoon. He had found a way to farm us. out to conventional units that were. getting hit were getting hit on supply. routes with with roadside bombs, uh. suicide bombers, stuff like that. And so. we would attach into these conventional. units and train them up. Hey, this is. how you this is how you run.

surveillance. This is how you come up. with a mission basically. And we would. teach them everything from how to plan. the mission to how to set up a sniper. hide, how to shoot, how to insert, how. to Xfill, uh how to position all the. different teams. And then we would go. out there. We would take them with us. and uh hunt the people that were killing. our guys. And every time we went out, we'd. we had killed the bad guys, uh, the. terrorists within within 24 hours of.

being out there. And then we move on to. the next unit and that was my last. deployment. >> When you came back from the SEAL team, were you a different man? >> Definitely. >> In what way were you changed? >> A lot of ways. you learn uh a lot of. critical life lessons uh in the SEAL. teams and being in environments like. that and your personal drive just goes. through the roof. Uh what you realize. that you can accomplish as a human being.

uh is far more than I think what the. normal person thinks. your ability to to. work in stress uh in extreme stress uh. goes through the roof. There's another. side too. I mean you get addicted to. adrenaline. You get addicted to. those type envir of environments. You. succumb to the culture that comes with. that which is a lot of drinking, fighting, all those things.

>> So you're in the Navy Seals. >> Mhm. You contract with the CIA for a while. and then I guess the other, you know, pretty tremendous accomplishment is you. now have built one of the biggest. podcasts on planet earth where you. interview people just like I do here. That is correct. Do you think podcasters. are being compromised by sort of guests. being planted? Yes. I have no proof, but yes. And in a in a. couple of different ways. So here's one. example.

Not just podcast. Let's go influencers, not just podcasters. So Trump administration. crushed it in the elections in the. election cycle, right? Different. podcasts, they they really utilized the. podcast. They saw the power of it. They. utilized it and uh it was a great. tactic. And then afterwards, you know, I. think a lot of podcasters and. influencers, they felt powerful because, you know, the they got close to the.

president, they got close to the. administration. And if you saw what. happened, you know, do you remember the. ep the first Epstein file release? >> Yes. >> When they had all these people show up. and they're holding up the binders and. [ __ ] you know, they did not understand. that the minute that happened, they were. captured. >> Who was. >> the everybody that was in those. pictures? >> Oh, okay. Yeah. they can no longer be a. freethinker because maybe they are a. freethinker but the appearance that they. just gave off is that they are in a. tribe you know and they were smart to do.

this and and I've had several invites I. always turn it down because no I don't I. don't know I'm not doing that. >> invites to where invites to wherever. >> the white house. >> football games the white house this that. you know public events where you'll be. seen where you'll be photographed where. it looks like everybody's on. >> one team and we're all having a party. and we're all friends and all this [ __ ]. You know, that's a way to capture what. you're doing without you even realizing. it and showing the world, hey, look, we.

have we have Steven. We've got him. We've got pictures of him holding. binders up. We've got pictures of him at. dinners with us. He's on our team. And. maybe you didn't want that, but you were. so fixated on being close to power. >> that you didn't even realize it was. happening. M. And now those those people. those people are all captured. It feels. like once in a lifetime stuff. Hey, we. want you to come, you know, ride on Air. Force One, ride on Marine One, do this, do this with us, do this.

>> I'm not doing any of that [ __ ] I know. what this is. You're trying to capture. me and put me into a group. You know, you can't allow that to happen. Otherwise, you hit a ceiling. And and. the minute that happens, you've hit the. ceiling. and you don't know what kind of. decisions these people are going to wind. up making later on. >> So that was one of the ways you can be. captured. >> That's one of the ways you're talking. about people being inserted into the. podcast circuit. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I think there are definitely. people that are in the podcast circuit.

that are planted but maybe they don't. even know. >> guests or hosts or both. >> Probably both. you know, but like you said, we were talking about. it offline, but yeah, I think there are. guests that. come out of nowhere and all of a sudden. you see these these people that nobody's. ever heard of and they get just. unfathomable traction and numbers, but. it's not because they have a good life. story. It's not because of something. miraculous that they've done. It's just.

they're talking about current events, you know, and I think the way that this. works is, you know, you could talk to. somebody for 2, three, four, five hours, you know, but the mission, you know, the. piece of it may only be one sentence. >> that they know is going to hit. that they know, you know, they're hoping. gets clipped. >> or they can clip. >> and then that goes viral or maybe we've.

done something. This has happened to me. These people can come on and they'll. make predictions about what's going to. happen in different geopolitical uh. events that are going around the world. You know, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, whatever it is, you know, whatever the. thing, and then you get a text, you. know, hey, you know, I call I told you. this was going to happen. And it's like, you did tell me. How the [ __ ] did you. know that? >> You know, and and it's like, how do you. how do you even remember.

>> Yeah. >> that you said that? Because you did 50. shows, you know, you did 50 different. podcasts and in a two month span. How do. you remember you said that on mine? >> Mhm. >> And when I have things like that happen, I'm like, "Oh, they got me.". >> I wouldn't have believed any of this. I. wouldn't, as an ordinary civilian, I. wouldn't have believed any of this stuff. even existed. until I started learning. about the spy organizations around the. world and because I don't how do I say.

this? You kind of grow up thinking the. world is as it seems and then you learn. and then you see I don't know James Bond. and you go okay that's a movie and at. some point I realized that these things. were actually true like that there are. lots of different um sort of spy. agencies and networks around the world. and they use all these operations. They. compromise people. They put them in. certain situations. There are people. living here in New York City right now. that are living lives we assume are. real. They've got families. They've got. jobs. They've got businesses. They've. got all these things. but they're.

actually planted from another country. and that other country is like funneling. the money to support them and prop up a. fake life. Like when I learned all these. things, I suddenly became very cautious. generally about like calling anything a. conspiracy. >> Mhm. >> And then you sit here with these spies, I mean probably you've interviewed a lot. of CIA spies. If someone had heard. someone saying this on a podcast, I. would have thought they were a. conspiracy theorist. >> I would have dismissed it and gone. [ __ ] idiots. Now maybe from doing. this, no, no, no, no. I it makes logical. sense to me. Like if I was insert.

adversary, that's what I would do. I would get. insert great uh podcast guest. I'd get. them because I'd know that the minute. they have one good podcast performance, every podcast calls them. >> You can do a 100 million views off just. one good podcast performance. And can. you influence a podcast performance? Can. you send traffic to a podcast? Theoretically, could you? Of course you. could. >> I think you could. I think that you I think that they.

>> I think that they have people inside of. all the platforms that we use. Here's an. example. I started talking about a. certain subject very early on. And I'm. not going to say we got shadowbanned, but there was a lot I'm still not even. in the top most what what is that. section in YouTube? The most popular. podcast. We're number three on Spotify. today. We've been the number one on. YouTube uh several different times, but. I can't get into the my my show will not. appear in popular podcasts because.

something that I was saying a long time. ago. It was it it had to do with um. terrorism. >> Oh, this section. >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> you'll never see mine in there. >> H. >> we get like 150 to 200 million views a. month. It's not in there. >> Yeah. Hey, you've got more US views this. week than Rogan has. >> Isn't it? But anyways, so I think that. there are people inside, you know, and. I'm not saying that the companies even.

know, you know, cuz that's how that's. how this game works. This is the. intelligence work is, you know, is the. primary job, but the cover is, oh, I'm. just an employee at YouTube. >> Mhm. >> You know what I mean? Oh, I'm just an. employee at Meta. Oh, I'm just an. employee at Tik Tok. Oh, I'm just an. employee. But it's a mole inside the. organization that nobody really realizes. is happening. >> You know, Annie Jacobson calls it uh. speculative narratives.

instead of conspiracy theories. >> Speculative narratives. >> Speculative narratives. I love that. >> I mean, she knows a lot about conspiracy. theories herself. I mean, she's like. basically studied and proven a lot of. them aren't conspiracies. So, I'm. guessing she she's saying that in a way. that is supportive of the idea that. these speculative narratives are often. true. >> Mhm. I'm not complaining. I have a great. I have a great partnership with YouTube. I love they've been great to me. You. know what I mean? I don't really give a. [ __ ] if I'm in that or not. I just find.

it very odd that we're not, >> you know? It's just like, well, this. doesn't make much sense. I think with. all platforms there is there's a there's. a human element where there's someone at. the office picking. >> Mhm. >> I mean that's the case with all it seems. to be the case with all these platforms. Did you endorse Trump before he before. the election? >> I was supportive of him. I wanted him to. win. I don't think I gave any official. endorsements or anything. I did get put. in that that sphere. What nobody.

remembers is I've I offered the. Democratic party I mean you can look it. up. I think it's on the Washington Post. and we were talking to Kamla's team. I. wanted to have her on. I wanted to have. everybody on. >> So they said no. Comma Harris's team. said no. >> They said no. But it wasn't just a hard. note. We were talking about it. We were. coming up with an outline. They I had. all these things that I wanted to talk. about. They said, "Well, we don't want. to talk about that. We don't want to." I. said, "I'll tell you what. You guys just. tell me what you I don't care what you. want to talk about. I know I can hold my. own. So you you give me the topics and.

I'll develop the outline. How about. that? >> And when Trump came on, was there. anything he didn't want to talk about? >> There were no guidelines. >> I think this should be a little bit of a. sort of a a lesson for the Democratic. party about how to navigate in this. these environments. >> Yeah, they're learning. >> When Kamala came on my show, which was. after the election and after she'd lost. and all that stuff, no guidelines. >> Oh, really? >> Is there? That's good. >> She didn't tell me there was anything I. couldn't talk about, but I think at that. point she had they had nothing to lose. I actually think at that point she. didn't even have the same team anymore.

>> That's good. She came in, she was, in my. view, she was honest. She She said Joe. Biden kind of screwed me over. She was. swearing. >> She There was none of this sort of like. cookie cutter polish politician. [ __ ] She just was super relaxed. >> That's good. >> And I just wish you'd offered that side. of her to shows like yours beforehand. cuz it would have been good to see the. comparison. Yeah, that's what I wanted. to do, you know, and uh I I had RFK on. when he was still running as an. independent, but yeah, we we got very.

close to Camala and then at the last. minute uh they backed out. I wish it. would have happened. I don't think it. would have changed the outcome, but um. but I wish it would have happened. >> Have you changed your opinion on Trump. now? >> Oh, yeah. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> Why? >> Oh, man. for just for a multitude of. reasons. I'm just, you know, to put it. plainly, I'm I'm not really happy about. anything that's happening right now. I. think he's totally gone against what he.

said he was going to do. And what do you. think? Are you happy? >> I'm not an American, so I tend to like. try and you know, but I think I mean, one of the things I think a lot about is. this situation in Iran and um how much. of a blunder that appears to be. I you. know I don't know a ton about the. military or war or conflict but. logically I can't reason my way out of. that situation like I can't find a good. outcome at this point to what's going on. there and because you have been a.

service person you served served for. America I was curious to get your. perspective on what you think is going. on there and do you see a a golden. bridge or a positive outcome? >> No. >> No. I I don't at this point I I don't I. don't know what's going on there. anymore. Nothing seems to make any damn. sense to me. I don't think there's any. positive outcome for America. >> When you talk to your former colleagues. in the military, what's the general. sentiment around the deployment and the. situation there?

>> They think that they are involved for. for another country's uh interests. >> Whose interests is it for? I think. Israel probably has the majority of the. interest here. >> I sat with JD Vance. He said that, you. know, we're the he said we're the we're. the senior partner, but it sounds like. your colleagues are saying that maybe. that's not necessarily the case. >> It doesn't seem like that's the case to. me. >> Did you buy the narrative that Trump. invaded or started the war for reasons. related to nuclear weapons?

>> No. >> No. What do you think the real reason. is, Sean? >> I don't know. You know, anything I say. would just be speculative, but I don't. think they're for our interests. >> And so, why would Trump be sucked into. doing something for a non-American. country's interests? >> That's a great question. I don't know. the answer to. >> Do you think America would have be. better off if the Democrats had won? I. think that. these are.

seemingly more and more to be one and. the same. >> And this is why you're sort of. retracting from politics is because. you're sort of you sounded like you're a. bit disillusioned by one of these. candidates. Yeah, I've had I mean it. just. pretty much every one of them that I've. had on has just slied straight to my. face. >> really until everybody who watches. You. know what I'm interested in is is I. think that there is a possibility that.

maybe it's already happened but I think. that there's a possibility that America. uh may no longer be the superpower or. will not be shortly for a multitude of. reasons. I mean, if you look at, you. know, the the power that that China's. power structure, nuclear, they're going. nuclear, and we're still batting around. this [ __ ] here in America. Should we go. nuclear? What are we going to do about. our power grid? And the petro dollar. I. mean, you've had um what's that guy's.

name? He does a great breakdown on it. Professor. the game theory guy. >> Yeah. Professor Chung. >> Yeah. He does a great breakdown of it. And I I mean when you think about it, it's like holy [ __ ] And and you think. about everybody that we've pissed off, you know, in America. I mean like Canada. for example, >> you know, they wanted to pipe in uh what. is the Keystone pipeline. Biden said no. They don't want to. >> Trump says so they start to make deals. with other countries, China. Now Trump.

is penalizing him for it. I can't. remember the exact uh tariffs, but it. went from somewhere around 25% to 50% to. 100% or you know, whatever. But we're. penalizing them and it's like [ __ ] man. 4 years ago or less. They wanted to pipe. it in. Now we got this new guy. He want. And now we're going to penalize him. because they're not going to pipe it in. And they're looking at us like, "These. people are [ __ ] crazy. They're like.

dealing with a schizophrenic. How do you. do business with that? I mean, as a. business owner, as an entrepreneur, you. can't do business with with with an. entity like that. You can't. And I think. the whole world is is seeing this, you. know, because it's happening to damn. near the whole world. except one country, Israel. But everybody else, you know, we're. destroying our relationships with and.

and yeah, does does the US, you know, put in the majority of the money and. take the, you know, like put in the. majority of the risk, you know, with a. lot of the things? Yes, we do. But we. still need allies, you know, and and you. can't just [ __ ]. and ruin everybody's trade. infrastructure and oil trade and and and. and penalize people for. making changes for some for something. that they tried to do earlier, you know, with you and and it's happening all over.

the world. And so one of the things that. I'm interested in uh that I'm looking. for is I want to start talking to. starting with the UK. I want to talk. about when you know what did it look. like for the UK when when the US took. the the superpower ship you know back in. World War II. What did that actually. look like? Because all we hear is all. this doom and gloom and you know oh you. know it's going to be lawless. It's. going to you know our currency is going. to go to zero. Look that that all might. happen. It might. I don't know. I'm not.

But it might be. Maybe it's I don't. know. Maybe it's a good thing. Was it. that bad in the UK when So, I want to. bring on a historian to actually find. out what what exactly did that look. like. I'll tell you one thing. If we do. lose it, it's going to take a lot of. these a lot of pack money, you know, out. of US politics. is going to, you know, hopefully force politicians to actually. look at our country. and and concentrate on our country. You.

know, another thing I want to do, I I I. probably shouldn't even be saying this. I want to do a thing called 50 states in. 50 days where you go to the poorest. parts of each state and just film it and. look at this [ __ ] Look at this [ __ ]. Why are we sending all of our money to. all of these other foreign countries. when this [ __ ] is happening right here. in New York? Tomorrow we're going to be. in New Jersey and the next day we're. going to be in Wisconsin. And then we're. going to go to California, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, every single.

state, and just show how much poverty. and how disgusting certain parts of this. country are. And why the [ __ ] are we. sending all of our money to all these. foreign countries? instead of taking care of our own. people. It's disgusting. Our politicians have totally abandoned. us. They're just. they're runaways. And then I want to call out every single. senator, congressman, governor, and just.

look at this. This is your state. This. is your state. This is the state that. you represent, and this [ __ ] is. happening all around you. Look at this. H there's both I guess a disrespect. here at home but there's also as you. point it like a disrespect of allies and. you know you can put the tariff there. and whatever but I think one of the. things that made the US the superpower. that it is still but you know that's. increasingly in question is there was.

this sort of peace by strength or. whatever the phrase is. >> like you're strong because you never. really have to like say you are you. don't act like a bully. >> but we just know you're strong and then. the minute you start acting like a. bully, we start going, is that strength. or is that insecurity? >> You know, this the minute you start. insulting countries and being rude about. their leaders and saying that I don't. know, Canada is the 52nd state or. whatever Trump said, that's when it. starts to look a little bit more like. insecurity.

>> And also, that's when I think some of. these nations go, [ __ ] like maybe we. need to band together ourselves instead. of banding together with the United. States. And I think you're seeing that. in Europe now with what's going on with. Iran. The European leaders are now. coming back together and saying, "Fuck, like we might not be as safe as we. thought we were um with in the US's, you. know, with the US's leadership. And so. we need to form a new type of. leadership." It's it's it's an interest. really interesting time. And you know. what? One might say that China are. playing it very smart, not making.

enemies with anybody. That calm. strength. >> They don't need to do anything. They're. watching us self-destruct right now. in. real time. >> Do you care about the 2028 election? Are. you going to get involved in it if the. politicians will want to come back on. your show? >> I don't know. I mean, it depends. Right now, I think probably. not. If there were to be some type of a. third party, then I would probably get. involved.

But right now, uh, with what I see, I. just don't really see any strong. candidates. You mentioned you had. someone on your podcast called Blair. >> who said something which was slightly. suspicious to you. >> Blair Skoro. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that ICE got him and. they're trying to deport him out of the. country or something. We got an email. about it, which if he was uh an asset, actually did all that stuff for us, which, you know, I think he did. >> What happened? >> I guess I I don't know the full scope. I.

just know that uh he got wrapped up by. ICE and it sounds like they're going to. deport him and that he's worried that if. they deport him that he's going to be. killed. Apparently ICE doesn't care. about that. But yeah, you know, he came. on and we were talking about it was a. life story basically in a nutshell. He. came on and he was a he got recruited. out of prison to infiltrate the Islamic. terrorist cells, the Muslim Brotherhood. >> He's an American. He is from uh I can't.

remember uh eastern block country. He. was able to infiltrate all these uh like. huge like terrorist cells that had huge. weapons cachets and he would go and and. he was a CIA asset and he would go and. and do the deal and then all of that. those caches would get shipped to. another country where it would and then. it would be in CIA's hands. And so we. had this we long conversation about this. and then all of a sudden he starts. talking about uh Russians.

getting nukes into the US and it was. just so out of left field. It made me. think, you know, I just said earlier, you know, you you could talk to somebody for two, three, four, five, six, however many. hours and maybe they just need one thing. inserted into the podcast, you know, to. start a new narrative or to reinforce a. current narrative. You know, there's a. big back then, still is today, you know, big narrative. We we all need to we all. need to hate Russia. Maybe we do, maybe.

we don't. I'm not saying either way, but. you know, for us to be talking about the. global war on terror and his time is a. CIA asset infiltrating terrorist. networks and and and derailing massive. weapons caches back to uh wherever they. were going, you know, and then all of a. sudden for him to talk about the. Russians. bringing in nuclear warheads or whatever. it was into the US, it was like and I.

think I challenged him right on the show. and I said, "You know, how do I know. that you weren't sent here just to put. that one sentence into the show? That. came out of left field. That doesn't fit anywhere with any. conversation that we've been talking. about.". >> What did he say? >> He was, you know, taken back. I don't. remember exactly what he said. You could. probably find the clip somewhere, but. that's that's how it happens. That's how. it happens. I'm not saying that he is or. isn't one. I'm saying that's what it. looks like when it happens. And your gut.

sometimes tells you that you're. interviewing someone who is probably. still working on behalf of an agency. >> Uhhuh. >> Do you delete a lot of episodes? >> No. I've had I've had episodes that I. didn't delete or that I never aired. I've had I don't know, not very many, but I've had a handful. You know. >> what is the reason typically? Well, one time I had a guy come on. This. was about the COVID vaccine. And he. comes on and and he's talking about how.

the COVID vaccine was was developed in a. lab and was patented way before CO even. came out. And it it was very compelling. and I didn't really think about it until. afterwards. But afterwards when I was. thinking about the interviews, some of. these interviews I'll think about all. weekend or you know days to weeks. sometimes after they happen. I mean it. sounded super compelling and maybe it. was real. I don't know. But every time. he would it was co 19 co. But then when.

he would say he wouldn't say the covid. vaccine was patented prior to. 2020 he would say the sars vaccine was. patented prior to you know so but but. the narrative was the covid-19 vaccine. was. patented long before co 19 ever even. came out. But like I said, he would. switch it. He would switch. We would be. saying co CO, but then he would say the.

SARS vaccine. And so he left and I was. like, I mean, there's got to be like a. million different there's there's like. thousands of variations of SARS and CO. And so why did he keep switching it? Why. didn't he just say the COVID 19 vaccine? Why did he switch it to SARS? And so. that that clicked and I was it just made. me think maybe this isn't factual and I. don't want to you know I've done. speculative narrative interviews lots of.

them but I. once again we were talking earlier you. know we have an audiences of millions. and millions and millions of people and. I don't want to put something out that's. not factual and then have somebody make. an important medical decision based on. >> Yeah. based on [ __ ] and I just. didn't want to gamble that. So I never I. never released the episode and I'd. talked to lots of doctors and you it was. a it was a charged subject, you know, at. the time and so I didn't like the vax. I.

took it but I regret it but but. whatever. You know what I mean? It. doesn't matter. I didn't want anybody. making that type of a I know that people. trust me. I I couldn't live with myself. if I found out that guy was totally full. of [ __ ] feeding feeding a [ __ ]. narrative for whatever. >> And then you got people, you know, either taking it or not taking it based. off what he said. So I never aired that. You know, I've had another guy.

I had I was interested in a lot of the. stuff going on in the World Economic. Forum and and I had this guy that I. thought was an expert on the World. Economic Forum come on and he couldn't. even tell me what it was. I was like, "Well, what is it? Is it a business? Is. it a nonpr What is it?" He couldn't even. tell me. And then he would just start. talking about all this conspiracy [ __ ]. and I'm like, "Look, if you can't even. tell me what it is, like you really have. no business being here." So, let's just. end the interview right now. >> And recently, I had one where.

this woman on supposedly she worked for. the agency. Then when I started talking. about agency stuff, of course, everything's classified. So, we hide. behind the classification system. And. the only thing she wanted to talk about. was like the polygraph. And I'm like, for the polygraph? Who gives a [ __ ]. about the polygraph? Like, everybody in. there has to take a polygraph. Why are. we talking about the Is this like. something that you researched really.

hard on what a polygraph's like? So to. make yourself sound legitimate because. you're not talking about anything else. >> and you know something that may be. classified that they don't want out is. how to defeat a polygraph. So and that. was within the past couple months and. you know we we ended that one pretty. quickly and I think she knew exactly. this. So, we'll never release that one. But I don't care. You know what I mean? I just I don't want to knowingly put. things that are [ __ ] out there. I.

mean, it's going to happen. We're going. to make mistakes. I've made mistakes. But, you know, knowingly, just for. views, nah, I have no interest in that. >> It used to be that working for yourself. was a massive, massive risk. But that. world has completely changed. And. arguably, in some situations, it can be. more risky working for someone else. If. you've got a business idea that you. can't stop thinking about, I think you. owe it to yourself to at least try and. make it happen. And that is where our.

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life and through the after your CIA. contracting role at 34, you moved to. Medigene, Colombia and spent two years. with taking out drinking alcohol. Yeah, I started in Cardahana and uh ultimately. just decided I'm going to camp out in. Medigene. >> Did you get involved in the the drug. dealing networks while you were there? >> Yes, I did. >> How do you categorize this season of. your life in Colombia? Because before.

then you, you know, you're a SEAL, you're doing contracting work with the. CIA, and then it appears that in this. season of your life, when I look at it. from sort of a bird's eye view, that it. represents instability. I think what it represents is, you know, just talked about addiction to. adrenaline. Yeah. And I wasn't getting. that adrenaline anywhere. And, you know, I would be in the States and it was. boring to me. You know, it was it was it. was boring going to the bar and that.

life just it had no appeal to me. It was. boring. And then on top of that, I was. tired of listening to everyday average. Americans talk about the war, give their. opinions on what we should be doing when. none of them have done anything. It just. didn't sit well with me. So that's why, you know, when I said I went down to I I. didn't want to hear English. I didn't. want to hear people asking me for my. opinions. I didn't want to hear their. opinions. I don't think their opinions. mattered. I didn't think that at the. time anyways. And so I went down there.

and it became like a game to me. It. wasn't the dealing. I never really. dealed uh dealt. It was more setting up. the network that gave me the rush and. infiltrating networks and figuring out. who the players are and all that and. being able to insert myself into the. middle of all of that. You know, in. retrospect, it it was probably the most. dangerous thing I'd ever done. Uh I. didn't care. you know, I just I I didn't.

really have any value for my own life. I. wouldn't say I was suicidal at the time, but I just I was in it for for the. thrill. And to me, there was nothing. else that was going to give me a thrill, a bigger thrill than that. And I figured. if if this gets boring, then I'll. probably just die down here. >> I'll probably just die down here. >> Yeah. I mean, it sounds like you came pretty. close to getting in significant trouble. At one point, your apartment was bugged.

by the police. >> Yep. Yep. I uh. I had come home and I was probably I did. I did a lot of a lot of drugs down. there, a lot of cocaine. And I don't. know, I was on three, four, maybe a five. day bender. And there was this bridge down there. that was called in in this area called. Bario Antio. I don't know what it's like.

now, but back then you couldn't you. couldn't get in there. You couldn't get. a taxi to drive you in there. You. couldn't get in there without going. through several police checkpoints. Um, but that's where the cheapest and. best coke was and that's where all the. the players are. It's all it's all. coming out of that specific. neighborhood. And I used to go in there. for a thrill and and. like go up the chain, go up the dealer. chain, find whose boss is whose boss is.

whose boss. Anyways, I went down there. uh with a bunch of girls and uh we went. to this bridge called the Poente de los. Locos and it was all these. it was like a homeless camp and. of just. insane people and I went down there with. a huge stack of cash. and just threw the money up in the air. cuz I wanted to see what would happen.

Of course, they all got up and it was. like a mad dash. and we almost didn't get out of there uh. cuz they had surrounded and there was. hundreds of people. And so we we we. wound up getting out of there and in a. car and we got back to my building where. I was staying at my penthouse. And one thing I always did was I always. took care of the door man at the. building. you know, all the security. guys that the the door man, they control. who comes in and out, they can inform.

you if people are hanging around that, you know, maybe shouldn't be, people are. looking for me. And so I built that was. part of my network, you know, was taking. care of them. And so I anything I got, if I got Coke, they got Coke. If I got. booze, they got booze. If I went clothes. shopping, they got clothes. If I got. groceries, they got groceries. They. always got tipped. They, you know, when. I was leaving, I would give them a bunch. of my clothes. like I just always took. care of those guys. And I came back and. uh this guy, his name was Freddy, and he.

said that uh the police were after me. One thing being a foreigner in Colombia, it's almost like a sin for them not to. try to take advantage of you. And I had. built a lot of trust with with Freddy. He was my favorite uh guy. And I was pissed. And I started yelling. at him like, "Man, I I give you like all. kinds of stuff. Like, why would you lie. to me to try to get more out of me? I I.

I always take care of you." And he said, "I'm not doing that." He said, "They. came by and they wanted uh they wanted. copies of your passport. They wanted to. know where you came from, who you are, who you work with, all these things.". And I was I just thought he was full of. [ __ ] And he said, "Look," he said, "they told me that they have pictures of. you throwing money up at a bridge in. Bario, Antioquia, and that was we had just come from. there." And so I was like, "Oh [ __ ] he.

is not lying." And what he was telling. me was that. they had. supposedly planted a bug in the light. fixture outside of my door and that they. had set up a observation point in a. building across from me. And so I went. up and scrubbed myself of everything. uh. kind of scanned around to see if I could. pick up, you know, who was who was.

looking at me, who was watching. I'm. pretty sure I saw it and got rid of. everything. Got rid of all the coke. Got. rid of everything. And then uh I did a. SDR to a couple of different internet. cafes. >> An SDR. >> An SDR. That's a surveillance detection. route. >> Okay. and uh it's it's it's it's a route. that you develop to to figure out if. you're being followed or not. So, I did. that. Didn't pick anything up. Bought a.

couple of different tickets to different. places and um was out of there within 12. hours, never to go back. >> And when you got back to the United. States, presumably, had you changed? Was. that was that enough of a close call for. you to give up the the cocaine and the. habits that you had at the time? >> No. >> No. >> I tried I I had cleaned it up a lot. I. had cleaned it up a lot, but I went I. started getting bored and so I did a.

couple of trips uh a trip or two maybe. to Panama. Panama was a lot tamer than. Colombia, but it's just as easy to get. in the middle of it. And then I did one. to Costa Rica. And then I I can't. remember exactly how many. I had gone a. lot of different places. I went to. Honduras. I went to San Pedro Sula. because it was uh it was literally the. do most dangerous place on the planet at. the time. So I wanted to go there and. feed my adrenaline. I had toned it down.

a lot, but um. but I didn't clean it up 100%. What was the turning point for you in. that season of your life? >> There were a lot of turning points. One. turning point that made me clean it up. quite a bit was uh my best friend. uh was was leaving contracting and and. he had a horrible addiction to opiates. And so he became my purpose. He became. my purpose. I wanted to help clean him.

up. And so in order to clean him up, I. had to clean myself up. And um. I think we made a lot of headway. Ultimately he did uh succumb to his. addiction uh years later. But that was a. turning point. And in in the middle of. that journey, I met this uh I had. started my therapy myself. >> What was the catalyst for you to go to. therapy? I just knew I.

I needed something and I had to. set an example for my friend like I'm. doing it so you should do it too. >> There was this call on Mother's Day as. well which I've heard you talk about. >> That was in Colombia. >> That was it while you were in Colia. >> That was while I was in Colombia. >> What was that phone call? >> That was a. I always thought I was oding down there. like my ankles would swell up, you know, from lack of blood circulation. and that would freak me out and lots of,

you know, things. And and I remember my. friend told me early on, he said, "You. don't you don't have to worry about. Odian on Coke until. things start to slow down. If you're on. speed. and then everything seems slow, that's. when you're riding the edge. And so that. started happening. I realized it was. Mother's Day once and I I called my my. mom in the middle of that cuz I thought.

it was going to be my last day alive. And um. so that's yeah, that's. that that was a realization point. >> And then you found this therapist. And. then I found this therapist. >> Was that a challenge to go to a. therapist? You know, there's there's a. lot of stigma associated to with going. to therapy, especially at that time. >> Yeah, I mean, it was definitely a blow. to my ego, but at the same time, you. know, I didn't really have any friends. Most of my friends were still.

operational at the time, and I didn't. have any friends where I lived in. Florida. And so, nobody really knew me, and I didn't have anything else to do. I. was like, "What the hell?" You know, I. might as well try this. And it did help. It helped a lot. How did it help? >> You know, I think. it's amazing how many of your own. problems you'll work out yourself in. your head just by telling somebody who. has a, you know, seemingly unbiased.

opinion, you know, just with a couple of. a couple of questions. Kind of like how. both you and I interview. you don't say. much and people just spill it. Yeah. >> And that you can see them working things. out in their head as they go along. >> For me, that's what therapy was. And. it's also. somebody that can hold you accountable, you know, for for different things. And. around that time, you did I began. treatment, which I'm somewhat familiar. with just after that time because I.

worked in psychedelics for a couple of. years. Well, a year while. >> you worked with psychedelics. >> I worked in psychedelics in the. industry. Um, okay. And I just when I. was between leaving my first company and. really starting this podcast, I did a. year in working in a psychedelics. business. >> Interesting. >> That was focused on mental health. So. Ibegan was one of the uh therapies that. I came across and studied and saw the. huge efficacy around addiction. But I've. actually never met anybody that did IEN. But I remember at the time when I was. working in psychedelics, they they told. me that there was this thing called.

Iberane you could take. It was quite a. intense treatment, quite a long. treatment. But there are several cases. where people do one dose of ibeane in a. therapeutic setting and their addiction. is cured. That's what I was told and I. was like this is crazy. And you you you did I gain right? >> I did I gain done twice now. >> Oh wow. >> And yeah the first time was amazing. I. went down there actually that was. actually after I'd started the podcast.

I have a feeling we're very similar. you. probably wrap your entire life up into. what you're doing. And we were having I. had a a six-month-old at the time, my. son. And I wasn't present with him. because my mind was always in business. It's just all I thought about was. business, business, business, the. podcast, business. I needed something to. just to slow my mind, you know, so that. I could be in the moment and actually be. present with my with my wife and with my. son. You know, at the time I had kicked.

I kicked a lot of things. I wasn't. drinking hard alcohol anymore. I I was I. mean, I was still on there was no coke. for a long time before that, but there. was still some pharmaceutical meds that. I would um dabble in sleeping meds, but. I went down there to be in the moment. That was it. like like help me. compartmentalize or manage business. stress because so many opportunities are. coming and if you you know the deal you. feel it's like do I need to do all these. opportunities are these all.

opportunities all good for whatever am I. a fool if I turn this down and I went. down there for that and when I came out. of it had no interest in drinking again. I quit all the sleep medications I had. quit the aderall and it was effortless. >> it was effortless and I was able to be. present uh with my wife and son. >> And where do you find yourself today as. it relates to alcohol, the substances. we've talked about, and your mental. health?

>> I've never been better. You know, I. haven't had a drop in over 4 years. I. don't take sleeping medications. I don't. take Adderall. I don't I have I actually. have no vices. None. And then I went to do it again and. uh the next one didn't didn't work out. so well for me. >> The next I gain journey. >> Yeah. >> Was this recently? >> This was about I guess about 3 months. ago now. >> And this is the one where I saw on your. show you said you you think you visited.

hell. >> Yeah. Yes, that would be the one. So, for anyone that doesn't know what. Iberane is and what the journey is like, is it a drink that you take and then. it's sort of like a 12-hour? >> For me, it was a pill. >> It was a pill. >> It's from a group in I think Gabone, Africa. >> Okay. >> Yeah. They they they say it's the most. powerful psychedelic you can do. >> And I believe it that and and and then. uh at this particular place, you do 5. MAO DMT a day after uh your I gain.

journey. And it's some extremely. powerful stuff. >> Has it changed you. >> that second? >> Yes. It's changed a lot of things. >> I saw you had uh Dr. Huber been on. Yeah. You know, the other day he was. talking about his faith and all that. stuff and and I'm on my faith journey as. well. And but you know, one thing is. when it comes to psychedelics.

is I've done Ibis Gain twice. I've done. psilocybin a handful of times. I've done. 5 MO a handful of times. And I got so. much out of the first one and I had a. very healthy respect. You know, I really. prepare for them. And then I forced. myself to kind of get looser with it. uh. because I I saw all these other people. doing it and and I would get these. answers to things, you know, really. tough business decisions or or something. that, you know, might seem really uh.

beneficial to you, but you don't. understand why it's happening or you. think there you think there might be. something else behind it. You know, I. would do maybe a psilocybin journey and. think on that and and it would be like. everything became clear like all of it. You could see what the motivations are. behind the person that wants to do. business with you. You could see the. thing over here that's going to happen. if you if you take that that step and.

and commit or maybe you see what happens. if you don't. It would be like problem. solved, you know, and this has happened. multiple times and not just with. business, with family, with. relationships, with with friends. You. would be able to piece together uh these. super complex problems and and and and. it would make sense and I believe it was. real. But also at the same time, I. believe that, and I always have, I. believe that you are.

potentially. opening yourself up to a spiritual realm. that maybe. we should not have access to. And that's. something that I always took very. seriously. Even when I did loosen up, I. would always pray before it. And as my. journey through Christianity became. stronger and stronger, I would take it. more and more seriously. you know, the. praying before and during. and. which led up to this last one, which.

was, "Yeah, I thought I think I saw. hell. I know I did.". >> You know, you saw hell. >> Yeah. >> Give me some context on how how one. would know that was hell and and if you. can at all. I know it's difficult to. sort of say these things in human words, but like what was it? >> It was total. emptiness. When I say I saw, I didn't see fire. I. didn't see any of that. And and where I. really felt it was in the five MAO.

experience. And there was nothing. It. was. the most amount of fear that I had ever. felt in my life. It was the most amount. of anxiety I'd ever felt in my life. There was no God. There was no Christ. There was. and it felt like eternity and this went. on for an hour and a halfish. It felt like I was going through the.

most intense exorcism you could ever. imagine. That's what it felt like. And. it felt like things were trying to maybe. leave. Maybe not trying, maybe I was. trying to get these things out and they. wouldn't leave. But it felt like. abandonment. It it it it's it's the most. horrific feeling you could ever even. imagine. And it was more real than.

anything I've experienced in in in real. life. >> What could you see. >> in this specific experience? I couldn't. see anything. >> Okay. >> I mean, my body was contorted. It was. doing things that the human body. shouldn't do. There was a a friend of. mine with me. Told him I didn't want him. to come down when I did it. And uh I. talked I didn't want to talk to anybody. for weeks after this except my wife, a. guy that um is a spiritual mentor of.

mine and some priests. And uh but I I so I called him several. weeks. He kept checking on me and he. said, "Man," he goes, "I know you told. me not to go down there, but he goes, "When I heard uh you down there,". he he said, "I didn't know if you were. hurting people. I didn't know what I. didn't." He's like, "I had I just felt. like I had to check." And he goes, "I. peered around the the the stairwell.".

He just said, "I've I've I've never seen. a human body doing what you were doing.". And this is a Mars. GWAD veteran who has. seen it all in the Marine Corps. I've. seen horrific [ __ ] It was a It was a. really bad experience. >> What do you think it was? Because some, you know, people say you had a. psychedelic experience, but you think it. was something more than just a.

psychedelic hallucination, per se. >> Yeah, I think it's what I told you. I. think that when you dabble in. psychedelics, there can be benefits. And I also think that there are you are. opening yourself up to a realm that we. were never supposed to have access to. spiritually. And I think. that you are. naked in a world that you or I or nobody.

living today truly understands. And with that comes. I mean you're just you're at a. vulnerable point that things can can. access you that and you can access them. And from what I saw from watching your. videos over the last couple of weeks, your life has been different ever since. >> Mhm. It's been different. All right. It's been.

dark. >> Really? >> Yeah. It gets better. It's been a lot of. supernatural things. Things that I just. I mean, I can't even believe I'm saying. I I talk about some of this stuff, but. it's it is real. And uh. I don't really care what anybody thinks. about me, but it has been supernatural. things that have happened. It has been. nightmares. It has been very odd.

coincidences, uh synchronicities, um. lots of that kind of stuff. And you know. what it's all done, it is it has drawn. me much much much closer to Christ. I heard you describe that some. supernatural things that were going on. in your physical environment, >> but you know, I think you one of the. videos I was watching maybe a week ago, you said that things were like falling. off the walls in your house. >> Not in my house.

>> Not in your house, in other places. >> Mhm. >> Your use of the word dark is really. fascinating to me. Is the darkness. because of the nightmares or is it. because of your mental state or is it. something else? >> The darkness is because of all of it. together. So, I'll I'll give you a I. don't want to talk too long on this uh. to be honest with you, but I'll give you. the example of the picture frames coming. off the wall. >> So, I was in Maine. I did a podcast up there. >> and I was at my in-laws house and I had.

been put on this uh I mean, it's no. secret. I I had done some exorcisms now. uh with two different priests who've. also been spiritual mentors of mine. And. I went up there and I I've been I I kept. having these nightmares, these these. reoccurring nightmares, different. scenarios, but it would it would destroy. my family. I'm sure you've had dreams. like this. You wake up and it takes you. a couple minutes to realize it was just. a dream. Well, I kept having these. And what all this has done has drawn me.

further into Catholicism. I grew up. Catholic, fell away from it. Now I'm. back in because I think they're some of. the only ones that have an understanding. of this realm. And I've been thinking about having this. bishop on from the Catholic Church. And. I had had this dream where. he kept uh kind of like we were about to. do the podcast.

and he kept like sending me these like. cryptic. homosexual messages like he wanted to. get with me or something. This was in my. dream and it was just making me furious. and and it made me hate the Catholic. Church. made me hate it. I woke up from. it. I was like, I don't want to be a. part of this anymore. This is. disgusting. Why, you know, it was vivid. dream. And uh but it was all Yeah, I. never met him. And then I still have. never met him. And and but I I I just.

kept getting, you know, it was it was. vivid. It was like what? We're coming. here to do the podcast to talk about the. So I wake up. These priests had put me. on this uh prayer regimen. It's called. the Libra Cristo method. And so you say. it at 6:00 a.m. 12 uh p.m. 6:00 p.m. So. I go out, I kind of shake it off and I'm. like, "All right, I'm going to go out. and I'm going to start my prayer. regimen." And so I start the prayer. regimen. And in the middle of it, I.

start the St. Michael's prayer and a. picture frame flies off the wall. And I'm like, "Holy shit." All right. I. just had this weird dream that makes me. hate Catholicism. Now I'm doing this prayer and this. picture frame flies off the wall and. then it's Sunday. So then I'm going to. mass. So I go to mass. and I'm with this guy uh we'll call him. Hendo and uh he he he protects me, protects my family and has turned into a.

spiritual mentor of mine and a good. friend. And we're going to mass together. and I'm telling him about these things. that are happening. and he knows all the prior stuff. whole. bunch of stuff had had happened prior to. this too. And we get into mass and and. uh I go and I take communion and. immediately after I took communion I had. an allergic reaction like immediately. And so this is all I think we went to.

8:00 mass. So this is all within about 2. hours from end of the dream to the. prayer to now we're at mass maybe 7:00. a.m. I don't know. So, I go up, I take. communion, come back. I'm kneeling down. My face. feels like it's on fire. And he looks at. me and and he's like, "What?" He's like, "What? What's wrong with you?" And I'm. like, "Is my face is my face red?" And. he's like, "Yeah." He's like, "Your He's. like, "Your veins are like popping out. in your forehead and you look like a.

tomato.". I'm like, "Man, my face feels like. really hot. I'm having a I think I'm. having a reaction to communion and I. mean this is like seconds after I it's. not even enough time for an allergic. reaction to happen. and it happened. seconds afterwards. And so, you know, it's these weird And right before that, I had told him we had we had got there a. little early and I was like, you it's so. weird cuz these things seem to happen in. like.

>> in sequences. And I was like, it's just like one after. the next and then nothing happened for a. while and then we went into mass and. bam, there it is. That kind of stuff has been happening to. me for 3 months now. Ever since that, >> ever since that. >> I guess the outstanding question I have. is there's this experience you had three. months ago. There's these experiences. you've had thereafter and like what is I. guess the audience will be thinking like. what is the conclusion of this?

>> It's really interesting because I've. I've done I've been a huge proponent for. the psychedelic community and and all. the good that it's done. But the minute. you do something and you say something. negative about it. >> pisses everybody off. They they don't. want you to talk about it. How dare you? You know, and and it's. there's two sides to it. And people need. to know that. You know what I mean? And. make their own decisions. Like it's not. all good. I just I just prove that, you.

know, and and do I know what it is? No. Do I know for certain that it came from. psychedelics? I'm not saying that it did. come from psychedelics. That seemed to. be the trigger point, but it kind of. appears to me like I'm the only one. that's willing to talk about both sides. because people are really upset, you. know, that I'm talking about what. happened to me, my journey. And um like. I said, I think that.

it opens you up to a forbidden realm. that we maybe we shouldn't have access. to. I mean, a lot of people say, you. know, it lifts the veil. Yeah, it lifts. the veil. All right. But maybe we have. that veil over us for a reason. >> This is something that I've made for. you. I realize that the divers here. audience are strivvers. Whether it's in. business or health, we all have big. goals that we want to accomplish. And. one of the things I've learned is that. when you aim at the big big big goal, it. can feel incredibly psychologically.

uncomfortable because it's kind of like. being stood at the foot of Mount Everest. and looking upwards. The way to. accomplish your goals is by breaking. them down into tiny small steps. And we. call this in our team the 1%. And. actually this philosophy is highly. responsible for much of our success. here. So, what we've done so that you at. home can accomplish any big goal that. you have is we've made these 1% diaries. and we released these last year and they. all sold out. So, I asked my team over. and over again to bring the diaries. back, but also to introduce some new.

colors and to make some minor tweaks to. the diary. So, now we have a better. range for you. So, if you have a big. goal in mind and you need a framework. and a process and some motivation, then. I highly recommend you get one of these. diaries before they all sell out once. again. And you can get yours at the. diary.com. And if you want the link, the link is in. the description below. There should be a. button just down below here. And if it. says subscribed, you're already. subscribed. If it says subscriber, that.

means you're not yet. And if you're not. subscribed, please could you do us a. favor and hit that button? It helps the. show more than you know. And according. to the algorithm, you're someone that. watches our show, but you haven't yet. hit that button. Thank you so much. Subsequently, you've had several. exorcisms, which you've talked about. over on your show. What is an exorcism? Cuz many of us only know a movie called. The Exorcist, and that's only sort of. reference point for an exorcism, but I. from what I understand, it's a priest. that does a sort of a process on you. with the intent of removing something. that is demonic. Is that broadly what.

happens? >> Yeah. the movies, you know, are are very. extreme to compare to to in comparison. to what I've been through. I didn't, you. know, do a backwards spider crawl up a. wall or or anything uh even close to. that. But and and I don't really want to. go too far into it cuz I'm I'm still in. this process. >> To my knowledge, there are two types. Uh. there are possession which is where. you're not. really in control of your body and your.

mind and then there is oppression. which is things start happening around. you and it could be. all the things that we just talked. about. It could be financial. It could. be health. It could be trying to destroy. your family. It could be trying to. destroy your faith. It could be all of. that, you know, but it's not. But you're. still in control of your mind and your. body. And so.

from the from the the the priests that. I've talked to, they all think that it. is oppression, >> oppression, not possession. >> What is it? I mean it is uh it's a. series of prayers. They try to figure. out what it is. I don't know exactly. everything that they're doing. Some of. them have been done in Latin. Uh some of. them have been done in English. One of. the commonalities seem to be, hey, we're. going to do a series of these. And we.

want to see if we get any reactions um. to certain prayers or certain parts of. prayers. And if we do see a reaction to. a certain part, then we can eliminate. certain things and and and and. kind of dial in on on what we think. exactly is going on. >> And you are right in the middle of this. at the moment. >> Yeah. >> How has it been for your family, for. Katie? >> I mean, it's it's it's been rough. >> Brilliant. >> Yeah. I mean, imagine uh coming home to.

your wife and kids and saying, you know, just being honest. I just got done with. my fifth exorcism today. >> Yeah. >> And then thinking about the things that. are going through their head because, you know, you think about, you know, what goes through your head? Exactly. what you said, the movies, >> you know, what is he what like is he in. control of his own mind? What is going. to happen? And I have the same. questions. How bad is this going to get? What's going to happen next? Is this is. this is this ever going to go away? Is.

this just mine to carry for the rest of. my life? What does my wife think? What. does she think when she goes to bed next. to me every night? >> Does she think I'm I'm I'm a crazy. person? >> I was just imagining my fiance's she. actually I think it's probably one of. the first time she's ever been here, but. she just happens to be here today. She's. in one of the other rooms and I was just. thinking I was imagining coming home and. saying that to her. She is very. spiritual. She's very religious as well. So I imagine she might pray for me. Um I. imagine I imagine she'd want to pray for.

me. >> Mhm. Well, then you have an amazing woman and. so do I. And she's been with me every. step of the way. She's been there for. some of them. Uh she's seen some of the. things happen, but it's been tough. It's. been really tough. And you know what's. interesting too is when I started. talking about this, you feel like you're you're alone and. you're crazy and and I never really have. cared what other people think about me, but this is pretty pretty personal uh.

stuff, but especially with the. psychedelics thing. I had uh extremely. influential uh military figures, SEALs, SF guys, Delta, like all these guys have. reached out and said, "Man, I thought I. was the only one that had that kind of. an experience." I and they're telling me. how brave I am for talking about it, you. know. But. I guess what I'm saying is I'm I'm not. the only one, you know, that this this. stuff happens to. I guess I'm just the.

only one that decided to articulate it. >> How are you? >> I'm good. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, that's I was going, you know, there is a positive to all of this and. and. >> you know, for me, are you a Christian? >> It's a good question. I was raised. Christian in a very very Christian. household. So, you know, to some degree. it's somewhat in your bones. I think at. like 18 19 I started having lots of. questions and then I became I was one of.

those people in the sort of new atheist. movement they called it that got really. interested in reading all the like. Richard Dawkins books. >> and I went through that phase where I. just wanted to argue with everybody. because I was trying to form my own. opinion and I came out of that and. stopped caring and now I find myself in. a place that I would describe as like um. as agnostic but curious and that. curiosity I think maybe from doing this. podcast frankly and the interviewing. some of the people that I have has. has continued to develop. So I found. myself in a place where I think it would. be extremely arrogant for me to say that.

I didn't think there was something more. But I I I don't I I couldn't say what I. what it was. I couldn't define it like. some people are able to define it. Like. the Christian apologists like Wes Huff. Wes Huff can define it. I can't define. what that means for me. >> Well, don't you think it's interesting. that all these people keep coming on. your podcast and bringing this stuff up? people that maybe you would never expect. like like your most recent one. >> Andrew Hubman. >> Yeah. >> No, it is fascinating. It is truly. fascinating. >> That's what started happening to me.

>> Oh, on your show. >> Yeah. That's where that's where the seed. was was planted. You know, I grew up, like I said, I grew up Catholic, but. that's what started happening to me is. all these people started coming on and. they would. >> and it was fascinating to me to hear. their journey, but I didn't, you know, I. was like you on the fence. >> You got baptized quite recently. >> Yeah. I can't remember what year. >> 2024, I think it was. >> Yeah. On Easter. >> Yeah. >> It's just funny, you know, how it works. But but so where I was going, you know, with all this stuff that's happening and. and and.

it's scary and but it gets less scary. and less scary and you know what it is. doing is uh it's just it's it's. strengthening uh my faith and my wife's. faith in Christ because. the the the things that are happening. are just undeniable. You said to Tucker Carlson in July, I'm. going through a crazy spiritual. transformation right now. It must be somewhat difficult to share. this with with the world, you know, for.

lots of different reasons because it's a. it's a subjective experience. So to sort of communicate that publicly, you I could see as you were explaining. it like you you're well aware that. people will think it's like it's what's. he talking about or it's some whatever. Like when you deliver your truth, you. also acknowledge as you're saying it. Some people will think I'm just saying, but you just have to take my word for. it. So, it's not easy to make that. decision to share it. What What inspired. that? What inspired your decision to.

come out and tell your audience very. publicly. you're going through this? A couple. reasons. One is. we get access to a lot of people that. nobody gets access to, you know, and and. we get a lot of time with them. I ask them on my podcast. I just ask the. questions, you know, that I'm that I'm. genuinely curious and for my for myself. >> Mhm. And on top of that, I feel like. it's kind of maybe my responsibility or.

that maybe I'm supposed to do that, you. know, because because I do have one of. the biggest podcasts in the world and. I'm a I'm just a normal guy. I think a. lot of people realize that about me and. because I get the access to the people. that I get access to, you know, I think. it's important that I ask those kind of. questions. You know, one thing that came. out of this, you know, for me is I I. just uh I've never like. Some of these things, some of these. supernatural type things happened the.

night before I had Cardinal Burke on and. he is very high up in the Catholic. church. And so, uh, one thing I decided. I wanted to do is cuz I I got way more. involved in politics than I wanted to. be. And you now I think pretty much all. of them are just lying pieces of [ __ ]. And so I don't really want to do it. anymore. Well, that leaves a a huge gap. in my content. And I'm not saying I will. never do it again, but uh it's unlikely.

So now I have this gap that's opened and. I I am obviously very interested in. Christianity now. And I've read maybe. half the Bible, maybe a little bit more, understand maybe 5 10% of what I've. read. So, what I want to do is, you. know, just like I was saying, I think. I'm supposed to ask these questions and. and and I get access to people that. almost nobody gets access to. And so, I. want to do a a series breaking down. every single book in the Bible on my.

podcast. And it'll take several years, you know, to get through it all. But. right when we kicked it off with. Cardinal Burke the night before all. these. wild. supernatural things you know started. happening the night before and so to me. that's a sign like yeah I am supposed to. be doing this. Were those the. supernatural things we talked about. before or is this lots of other things. >> difference the timing? You cannot make.

the timing up. >> And have supernatural things ever. happened to you before that experience. you had 3 months ago? >> Not like that. >> Not like this. >> This is the spiritual realm playing out. in real time. A battle over uh. over my soul. >> A battle over your soul. >> Yeah. And this is why you have to pray. several times a day is to I'm assuming. to reinforce which side of that battle. is winning. >> It is to um.

release oppression. >> And you don't know how long you're going. to have to do that for or how long this. is going to take? >> No idea. >> Really? >> Do you know when you'll know that it's. that battle for your soul has been won? >> All I'm told is that you will just. you'll know. You will know. it will be. uh very apparent. Is it difficult to be you right now? Yeah, I know what this is for me.

And now that I know what it is, now you. know, we were talking about. responsibility earlier. And now that I. know what this is, this is a battle. between good and evil. Now I I'm no. longer on the fence. I can't pretend. that I don't know. So, for example, I've. already had advertisers. who have been with me for. years. We just had a meeting on how to deepen. the relationship with this one. particular advertiser because they've. been with me for so long and they just.

canled because they don't advertise on. faith-based content. This is a life insurance company who. wants to get to people who give a [ __ ]. about their wife and their kids so that. if something goes wrong, their wife and kids are taken care of. Now, I'm sorry. What [ __ ] audience. are you trying to reach? People that. give a [ __ ] about their families and you. don't want to advertise on faith-based. content. They are maybe the only ones.

that that put family at the very top of. the priority list and you're going to. cancel. when I get farther into that. >> How do you feel about that decision? What do you think that is? >> I think it is a influence to try to get. me to not talk about it. Just like the. series of events that happened the night. before I had Cardinal Burke on. >> You think it's part of the battle for. your soul? I think that my platform. as well as yours has a lot of power.

And when you have the ability to reach. more people than you and I could ever. count in a lifetime. and you're leading people to that book, it pisses a lot of entities off. It. pisses a lot of people off. There's no. more pretending for me. Like I know what. this is. So, I have to make a decision, you know, because I do believe in heaven. and hell. And so, if I say we can't do.

the Bible series anymore because we're. going to lose advertisers, I can't take any of that money with me. after this is over anyways. It sucks. I have goals. I'm sure you. have goals. I think me and you have both probably. seen a pattern in the guests we've. interviewed, you focus a lot on life. stories. One of the remarkable things I. notic in the life stories often when I'm. asked like what is the pattern of these.

successful people? I always site that in. their stories there is a moment when. they made a decision that was against. their near-term incentives. And often I. mean this could be you know I think. about Jimmy Carr. He had a great job and. he went to do jokes in pubs for like 5. or 10 years and got paid nothing for it. or Darren Brown, one of the world's. great illusionists who had a great job. but went and did card tables in Bristol. for 10 years because that was his thing. You look at these moments in their life, you go, it only only an idiot would have. done that at that moment. But. consistently, what it leads to is a.

better place. And I think when you were. saying, you know, there's a short-term. sacrifice potentially to pursue living. more in alignment. I don't know, the. conversations I've had is every great. person that I've interviewed has has got. that in their story. Sometimes several. times. They've all walked away from. something that others in sane humans. might not have because of the strength. of the incentive in the pursuit of. alignment with themselves. Yes, there's. some near-term turbulence, but. consistently like living out of. alignment is I think a much worse.

long-term place to be. >> Mhm. It's like you're right. >> Do you know what I mean? We kind of. talked about it even with like booking. guests on the podcast. like, yeah, I. could have insert famous celebrity. person on, but then I'm I'm. incrementally swaying away from my own. like alignment. >> Mhm. >> And and you know, in the near term, I. might get a couple more subs. >> Yep. >> But over the long term, I have a life I. hate. >> Exactly. >> You know, >> you know, exactly. You become part of. the herd. It's easy to be part of the. herd. >> What is your goal now? Is there a.

central goal that you sort of orientate. yourself towards. >> in podcasting? in podcasting with your. businesses. >> in podcasting. You know, I think it's a. couple of things. I think it's, you. know, we already talked about this. >> the Bible, >> but I think that, you know, your team. actually sent me a similar question. before we got here and I thought a lot. about it, you know, cuz it always. changes, but there's one commonality I. think in my. in my show and I just don't want people.

to be afraid to ask questions. and I don't want people to be so tribal. I have a pretty open mind, you know, regardless of what people think about. me. I'll talk to both. So, I've had. Brohan on several times and Jank U is a. friend of mine. You know, Tucker. Carlson's a friend of mine. And so, I'm. open to all ideas. I'm able to say I'd. made a mistake. I'm able to hold myself. accountable, you know, for things. and.

and I've publicly made statements saying. that I've messed up, saying that I've. put out misinformation unknowingly, you. know, and I have to correct the record. cuz I I I I just I really pride myself. on integrity. And we don't see. very many people left holding themselves. accountable. And so I, you know, a. couple through my show, I just I I I. want to show that you can ask questions. and take a stand for what you believe. in. And maybe the repercussions that you.

have come up with in in your head aren't. going to be near as severe is is is what. you what you might think they're going. to be. You know, they say courage is. contagious. And I I think that this. country needs I think the people in this. country need courage. And so I want to. show like you can like talk about these. things and ask questions and it's going. to be okay, man. >> It's going to be just fine. Yeah, you. might get a little bit of hate, but like. I'm I'm still here and I've covered some.

of the most controversial [ __ ] on the. planet, you know? I think that's really. important. >> And what does a what does a good life. mean to you these days? A good life to me is just. creating memories with my wife and kids. I think we're both in in very good. financial situations. And. I don't know where you came from, but I. didn't come from money. And what I've.

realized, you hear it, and nobody's. going to believe me when I say it, but. you just can't buy peace and you can't. buy happiness. You have to create it yourself. And. you're not going to create it with. money. Yep. It will take some financial. stress off, but it brings a whole other. side of of of stress. And so, you have to do what you love and you. have to live in the moment as much as. you can and and create as many memories.

with the people that you love as as as. possible. And you know, so it's it's. made me I wouldn't say back off my. business cuz I'm a workaholic. I I know. you are too, but you have to work. smarter and look for the power plays. >> Mhm. >> And sometimes no is the is the best. business decision you could make, not. because. it was a bad deal, because it wasn't the. right deal. Does that make sense? Smarter decision. It's something a narrative that I hear. from from fathers and mothers much more.

than anybody else because now they. really do have to think deeply about. priorities. whereas you know I'm yet to have. children. I hope we have I will have. children soon but um but uh right now my. life is probably a little bit more. selfish in that regard than yours is. because the competition for my time is. my business and then you know my. partner, my fiance. >> But you love your business. >> I love it. there's nothing else you'd. rather be doing. So, for whatever it's.

worth, I I think you're doing the right. time, the right thing. The time for you. to build is now. >> because when you do have kids. >> and you do realize how fast they grow. and you look, you know, when your when. your kids's born and then 6 months you. look back and you're like, "Holy shit.". Like, they he was this big and now he's. this big and now he's this big. 5 years. later and you're like I mean it makes me. tear up right now. It's like where does. where did it go? Where did the time go?

So build man build it as big as you can. get it right now. Look for the smart. deals and then I hope you know I hope. you do get the opportunity to raise kids. but business can destroy a family. You. got to be careful of that. >> Why is that the warning that you give. me? Is that from experience? Then what? You said you you're miser. thinking about the speed of growth of. your son. Why?

>> You only get one shot at this. You're everything to them. And if you're. not there, somebody else will be everything to. them. >> Where is this coming from, Sean? >> You can see it sometimes. It's a battle. I mean it's a battle you. know for me. and so the time you know it's it's. always you know you hear people complain.

about it and try to find it all the time. what is the right balance how do you do. the balance. I don't know. I do the best I can to figure it out But. it it you you you you. can see how much time they want to spend.

with you and and all the phone calls and. all the business deals and you know the. the [ __ ] that seems so important because. it's going to put you at the next level, you know, and you're probably like me. your team's like, "Holy [ __ ] Steven's. got to pivot and we got to get the [ __ ]. done by in 12 hours, you know, and it's. those kind of phone calls, you know, like, hey, we this guy went on this, we're going to we're going to shift this. podcast to this day. Put this one in. this thing hit, you know, it's a. chessboard, you know what I mean?" And.

and you'll and and and that that's a. 24-hour a day business to be the best. You're always switched on. Even when. you're not trying to be switched on, you're switched on. Pistons are firing. in your brain all the [ __ ] time. And you got your 2-year-old over here. that just wants to. play trains with you. And you can't get. in the you can't get in the mode. You. can you can you can sit there and.

push a toy train around, but they they. know when you're there and when you're. not there. Have you got regrets in this regard. or is it was it guilt? What is it? What. is the emotion? >> Yeah, there's some guilt. >> With that being said, I'm I'm I am, you. know, I'm very close with my kids, but I. could be closer. >> And that really matters to you, doesn't. it? >> It takes a lot for me to leave home to. come do stuff like this.

>> Incredibly admirable, you know, and. Dare I say that even, you know, I think about all the all the. gifts my parents gave me by by. demonstrating the values of work and and. striving and um overcoming. And I think.

generally like the some of the gifts. that I look back on as a young kid, but. we didn't come from from money. The some. of the things that I'm most thankful to. my parents of is just is nothing they. said. It's not that they pushed the. trains around with me. It's like the. fundamental lessons they gave me about. life vicariously watching how they. conducted themselves. And one of the. things I think about with my mom is just. like she. never compl like she just like worked. all the time for us, you know, for to. make sure that we were good. and to the.

point that at one point she started. sleeping on this bag of rice in the back. of her little corner shop. And she. she never complained. She and through. that she taught me the lesson of like. hard work and striving. And there's no. possibility that I'd be sat here now. with a life that I love, doing something. that I love, with a perspective that has. been helpful for me in terms of dealing. with hardship and all those things if I. hadn't watched her through her absence. teach me this lesson. So I sometimes, you know, all I say that to say that.

the nature of the absence I think also. matters, you know, >> cuz that's going to be the story I think. for a lot of that's was the story for. me. It's like what where was my mom? My. mom and my dad, they were out working. for me. >> Mhm. >> But it's a trade. It's a trade. >> It's a trade. >> Yeah. It's a trade. Cuz am I as close to. them as I might have been otherwise? No. >> But you're talking about necessity. >> Yeah. Yeah. And what we're talking about. is abundance. >> Yeah. Yeah. True. Yeah.

>> And there's a difference. >> Mhm. So, what's your conclusion there? Is there a conclusion? Is there an. action to take? Is there. >> I'm I'm still figuring it out, but the. conclusion. is look for the power plays. >> Look for things that make sense. Hold. off for the right deals. Only do what. you really believe in. The quick money. is all [ __ ]. like my newest business, Glacier. I didn't know that was going to come, but I knew something big was going to.

come that made sense. And I've turned. down so many opportunities because I. just I didn't feel like it was me. And. then this came along and it was just. me solving my own problem. >> And it's a privacy and digital security. mobile app. >> Mhm. >> What does it do? >> We made the simplest. phone privacy app that's out there. It's. got a VPN. It's got secure DNS and it. has burner numbers. You walk around.

every day, you have all these apps. These apps are sucking information out. of your phone. They're pushing it to. data brokers that's being sold to who. the hell knows who. I mean, I just had. Byron Taon. He thinks that the Iranians. attacked a base by buying data from a. data broker and then attacked a US base. because of it. basically tapping into. soldiers phones just through everyday. data broker marketing [ __ ] And so what. the secure DNS is is it blocks all that.

from getting sucked out of your phone. The VPN's great, but that's not the. focus. The real win here is is the. secure DNS and the burner numbers. I. mean, now you can hand out burner. numbers. Yeah, here you can get a hold. of me on this burner number. When that. burner and you feel like that burner. number's been abused, you just hit the. button, it goes away. they can never. contact you again and you can you you. buy another one. >> What a cool product and very well. aligned. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Look, for for me, I'm not going to do two podcasts a week.

forever. I love to do this. Two a week, it's too much for me and my family, especially traveling around and and. doing foreign countries and this other. stuff. Like it I I have to slim it down. So, I'm eventually I'm going to go to. one a week and I've been given this. platform and. I want to start businesses that I truly. believe in that solves a real problem. cuz I love business. I love you know I.

also think about the other side like. well what if I was what if I was solely. a dad and husband and I didn't get any. of the phone calls and I wasn't able to. I didn't have a creative outlet. I love. the creativity of business and and. creating your way on how to win, >> you know? I mean, I think a lot of. people hit a roadblock and like, oh. [ __ ] didn't work. There's always. another way. There's always another way. to win, >> you know? And that's that's one of the. things that I took and one of the. positive things that I took from my days.

at contracting for CIA and being a Navy. Seal is there is always a way to win, but you have to you have to be creative. enough to find all the different avenues. to the goal that you want to get and. reverse engineer that. >> and dare I say have a bit of. persistence. >> Yeah, a lot of persistence. It's an. education, you know, and you get smarter. along the way. So, in a long way, I. think that's my conclusion. >> We have a closing tradition on this. podcast where the last guest leaves a. question for the next guest not knowing. who they're leaving it for.

>> And the question left for you is, what. is love? What is love? The first thing that comes to mind is. love is what you're willing to die for. >> H And what are you willing to die for? my family. >> Sean, thank you. Thank you for being an. inspiration for us podcasters. We've. learned so much from what you do. I. think the big lesson that I've taken.

from you is actually just around kind of. what we talked about earlier on is. you're such a high integrity person that. lives with such great alignment to what. you believe. You do things your way and. that's why I think you know people like. you I admire so much cuz in the world we. live in so easy to copy and follow and. you know all those kinds of things. But. there are some people I look out there. and I go, do you know what? That. person's doing it their way. I know who. they are because what they're producing. is so n of one. It there's only one of. them. And that and so that's those are. the people that I have the most respect.

for as as sort of a podcasting peer. And. you're certainly one of them. And you. know, as well with the subject matter we. talked about you being in pursuit of. your truth and your alignment even in. spite of there being obvious costs like. losing advertisers or what people might. think if again it's a it's a. demonstration of your integrity as a. man. And and then lastly, your um real. focus on family being at the heart of it. and seeing the emotion in your face as. you describe. This sort of battle that I. know a lot of my audience have every. single day in their own lives between. ambition and goals and these types of.

things, but then the love of family and. kids and all those things is another. wonderful reminder for me at this point. in my life where I feel like I'm about. to tussle with the same situation. So, thank you for doing all that you do. I'm. a I'm a great fan of yours both as a. fellow creator and podcaster but also as. a man and uh the service for the country. as well as something that is of great. admiration. So thank you Sean. >> Thank you. I was really excited to meet. you and uh. >> great job with what you're doing. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. YouTube. have this new crazy algorithm where they.

know exactly what video you would like. to watch next based on AI and all of. your viewing behavior. And the algorithm. says that this video is the perfect. video for you. It's different for. everybody looking right now. Check this. video out and I bet you you might love. it.