The Mike Sodini Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Sodini
Mike Sodini is the Un-Gun Gun-Guy. Working several years as a manufacturer and importer in the gun industry he has injected his branding, style, and relaxed attitude. Now as the head of Walk The Talk America, he is bridging the gap between the gun industry and mental health awareness. Weekly guests include interesting people from both the gun and mental health world.
This episode Mike sits down with Dr. Loice Swisher, Emergency Medicine Specialist. She is Chair of the Mental Health Task Force for the Resilience Committee for CORD.
Rafael Del Valle, Director of Sales & Marketing for Eagle Imports, These best friends unite for the origin story of Walk The Talk America...
Kenny returns to challenge Pincus as the most frequent MSP guest. Hilarity and insight ensue.
Part Two of my sit-down with Jake Wiskerchen where we talk about gun rights, mental health, and red flag laws.
In today’s increasingly crowded society of Virtue Signaling, social justice warriors, and woke culture, it’s refreshing when you meet someone that wants to do right by humanity’s standards and truly seeks to make the world better. Today’s guest is someone who epitomizes that. He is unique because he is a mental health clinician who is also pro second amendment. One of the benefits of not only having Jake involved in WTTA, but also as a friend....we get to have some pretty deep conversations. This episode is part one of a two part conversation with Jake Wiskerchen.
In today's politically charged climate, Red Flag laws have become a symbol of gun control as opposed to a mechanism to save lives. The mere mention of them within the pro-second amendment community triggers responses of anger and frustration. These laws vary from state to state but are discussed as if they are one mythical boogeyman used by vindictive ex-lovers or angry co-workers to strip law abiding citizens like the majority of the pro 2a community. The pro-gun control crowd weaponizes them to accuse us of not caring about saving lives if we oppose them. One thing is for sure: everyone has an opinion on them but have never actually had to be part of one which leaves us with a question: What would happen if you were in a scenario which required you to enact one while being a staunch 2A supporter? You would find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place weighing your support of gun rights against your moral duty to save the life of a loved one or potentially others. It would probably feel like an episode of the twilight zone. Today's guest was unfortunate enough to find himself in that very situation. Here is David Anastasi’s story.
In this weeks episode, my guest is Kenny Barlow. Kenny....aka Kenny Fresh is an industry vet with years under his belt at North American Arms and now Dasan USA, an industry manufacturing partner in Duluth, GA. Kenny is one of the most easy going and objective people in the firearms industry. In today’s world of 2A fuckery where people throw reason and logic out the window because of identity politics and the ease of group thought, Kenny is a breath of fresh air and embraces his rejection of industry stereotypes with his flat-brim hat, Adidas shell-tops, and endless rotation of sport coats. It’s important to let people hear the types of conversations that go on between industry folks especially the ones that are devoid of political talking points and this conversation is a perfect example. We touch on subjects such as why everything defaults to politics these days, even tragedy. the danger of the claim that a person’s speech is the root cause of tragic events, and comparing Trump’s rhetoric on immigration to the lyrics by Tupac and Marilyn Manson the inherent issues of silencing bigoted speech and a host of other controversial topics. If you want to see how two people can have an objective conversation and grapple with sensitive topics.....then this is the show for you!
On today’s episode, we have the one and only TracyGuns in the studio. I say one and only because I think she is one of the most unique influencers in the 2A community. Her presence on Instagram as a firearms industry brand ambassador is noticeable....I had seen her before at gun industry shows and on IG, but wasn’t formally introduced until last years shot show. She has a great energy to her and you certainly can’t miss her with blue hair....so I knew her story would be interesting. In today’s 2A world, the term gun bunny is thrown on any attractive female that is into shooting sports....and unfortunately, their actual knowledge, skill, and personal backgrounds get thrown to the wayside in many cases. A lot of these ladies juggle carriers outside the industry....they take care of family and raise children.....all while navigating through a predominately male industry. It was a pleasure having Tracy come through the studio that day because it gave us a chance to learn about the person behind the badass sexy pictures....it puts a personality to the image and I think that’s important. Tracy is definitely not the so-called stereotypical gun bunny. She’s a professional photographer who has ties to the UFC and a social media manager with numerous clients who takes her firearms and her firearms training very serious all while keeping an open mind and staying grounded. I really think you are going to enjoy this one.
Rob Pincus, Mike Sodini and Maj Toure too an opportunity to record this dialogue on Suicide Prevention, the need for the gun community to work with Mental Health Professionals and ways in which we can encourage greater responsibility in the firearms community. They also dove into the stigma that sometimes comes with gun ownership and often accompanies mental health issues or even asking for help. The conversation was recorded immediately after "Denver Gun Day", hosted by Guns For Everyone on August 25th, 2018. Maj Toure is the Founder of Black Guns Matter, an organization intended to raise firearms rights awareness and education in the urban community. Just a few weeks before this recording, Mike Sodini launched "Walk the Talk America", a non-profit organization lead by the gun industry to collaborate with Mental Health Professionals to take proactive steps to prevent tragedies. Rob Pincus works with both organizations and is the Executive Director of Personal Defense Network. He has been advocating for guns rights and teaching defensive skills for over two decades.
Rob Pincus and I sit down to discuss "Good vs Evil," religion, taking emotion out of conversations with those that you don't agree with, and a whole host of other topics.
Mike sits down with Rob Pincus to discuss Walk the Talk America's partnership with Zephyr Wellness and how we plan to bridge the gap between Mental Health Professionals and Gun Culture, our continuing education class, training philosophies and life in general.