As I Was Saying with Big John Howell

John Dempsey returns to the show to break down a controversy-filled weekend at The Open Championship. The headline story: Bryson DeChambeau's two-stroke penalty for improving his lie in the rough, and his reported threat to walk away from the tournament rather than accept it. There's also the rules violation itself, Rory McIlroy's candid comments about DeChambeau's personality, and how Golf Channel's "Live From" team — Rich Lerner, Brandel Chambly, Paul McGinley, and Eamon Lynch — reacted on air.Plus, there's the tournament's real story: Ryan Fox, the late-blooming New Zealander who tied the all-time major low-round scoring record and held his nerve down the stretch to win his first major. Plus, why they call it "The Open" and not "The British Open," and a check-in on our own golf games.

Colby Hall — founding editor of Mediaite and author of the Substack newsletter "The Morning Frame" — joins the show to break down Trump's prime-time address on election security. Colby explains the bizarre twist buried in the declassified documents Trump's team produced: they show the 2019 Biden-Burisma corruption narrative originated as Russian disinformation, amplified for years by journalist John Solomon and Fox News primetime.The conversation covers why Fox News's own internal research team reportedly flagged Solomon's reporting years ago, how Hannity and Fox & Friends handled (or avoided) the speech's aftermath, and why Colby thinks this may be the first time one of Trump's media narratives has visibly backfired. They also dig into reporting on efforts to nationalize control over midterm election administration, and close with a look at the World Cup photo-op that didn't go as planned.

John Howell welcomes longtime friend and former radio partner John Dempsey for an entertaining conversation about golf, friendship, and the stories that come from both.They revisit a memorable golf trip to Naples, Florida, compare the highs and lows of their recent rounds, debate golf etiquette, preview The Open Championship, and discuss the latest news surrounding Phil Mickelson. Along the way, they reflect on improving with age, the value of good coaching, and why some of life's best conversations happen between tee shots.It's an hour of laughs, memories, and the enduring friendship that began behind a microphone and continues on the golf course.

Who was the Founding Father who coined "We the People"—and why have so few Americans ever heard of him?John Howell welcomes author Jesse Wegman to discuss The Lost Founder, the remarkable story of James Wilson, one of the architects of the Constitution, a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and an early champion of popular democracy. They explore Wilson's influence on Thomas Jefferson, the Constitutional Convention, the Electoral College, slavery, and the dramatic rise and fall of one of the most brilliant—and forgotten—figures in American history.

Can artificial intelligence really be trusted? John Howell talks with James and Chase Malackowski of AI QA Global about AI governance, accountability, and the growing need for independent oversight. They discuss who is responsible when AI gets it wrong, the risks of biased data, the Chicago Principles for responsible AI, and why building trust may be the biggest challenge facing artificial intelligence.

At four years old, a boy was dropped on the docks at City Point, Virginia, unable to speak a word of English except his own name. He'd been taken from his family on an island near Portugal, abused at sea by superstitious sailors looking for someone to blame for a storm, and abandoned with nothing but the clothes on his back. That boy grew to six foot six and 260 pounds, and became one of the most fearsome soldiers of the American Revolution.John Howell talks with retired Admiral John T. Palmer about his new book, George Washington's One Man Army: The Life, Legend, and Battles of Peter Francisco. Palmer traces how an indentured blacksmith's apprentice — inspired after eavesdropping on Patrick Henry's "give me liberty" speech — fought in ten major engagements, took six wounds, and by most accounts personally dispatched more than twenty enemy soldiers with a bayonet and a six-foot broadsword commissioned for him by Washington himself. They cover his single-handed defeat of nine of Banastre Tarleton's dragoons, the half-ton cannon he reportedly carried off the battlefield at Camden, being left for dead in a pile of corpses after Guilford Courthouse, and how he later ran into a burning Richmond theater and pulled out more than thirty people — then asked that his name be left out of the papers.Palmer also digs into why a soldier Washington personally credited with saving "perhaps the war" vanished from popular memory, what Francisco's story says about the man behind the myth, and how the book's structure moves between the generals' strategy and the up-close reality of one soldier's fight.

Hitler didn't just want to conquer Greece. He wanted to own it — convinced the ancient Greeks were proto-Germans whose civilization gave the Third Reich its rightful heritage. When the Wehrmacht occupied Athens in 1941, the Nazis arrived believing they were home. That belief bought just enough time for a small group of scholars and spies to pull off one of the war's most audacious cultural rescue operations. New York Times bestselling author Stephan Talty joins Big John Howell to discuss his new book The American School of Spies — the true story of how American archaeologists were recruited by Wild Bill Donovan, how a man named Rodney Young bled on the Albanian front before running Greece's wartime spy network, and how a single conscience-stricken German helped save Athens from deliberate destruction. Plus: the spy codenamed Cicero, the D-Day deception that hinged on a fake bride and a train out of Turkey, and why both Athens and Paris came within a few weeks of being rubble.

John Howell sits down with trumpeter and educator Dave C. Norman for an inside look at the life and legacy of legendary L.A. studio player and arranger Jerry Hey. From Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall to Earth, Wind & Fire and Quincy Jones, Hey’s horn section defined a generation of pop and R&B. It’s a deep dive into the artistry, discipline, and unmistakable sound of the players who made brass shine like lasers.

John Howell sits down with trumpet virtuoso and educator Dave C. Norman to unpack chops vs. musicianship, studio politics, and the “Quiet Trumpet” philosophy. They dig into range the right way (resistance, slotting, breath attacks), why soft, lyrical control beats higher-faster-louder, and how classical fundamentals pay off everywhere. Plus: mic technique from the Jerry Hey school, lessons from Doc and Maynard, and Dave’s upcoming book and 700+ tutorials.