CommonX Podcast

Raymond Lavine has spent 16 years helping families prepare for one of the most emotionally brutal — and financially devastating — things that can happen: a parent, spouse, or sibling needing long-term care. He's an author, podcast host, and financial services professional. He's also watched his own family navigate it — his mother used a long-term care policy for 18 years and lived to 103. He gets it from both sides.In this episode, Raymond breaks down what long-term care actually means (hint: it's way more than diapers), why Gen X is uniquely squeezed between raising kids and caring for aging parents, and why "I'll figure it out when it happens" is the most expensive plan you can have. He also admits something most people in his industry won't say out loud: he doesn't enjoy being a caregiver. And that's exactly why he plans for it.If you've been avoiding this conversation — this one's for you.🎙️ Guest: Raymond Lavine — Co-author of Empathy and Understanding in Business, host of Planning with Purpose and The Caregiver's Blueprint📌 Topics covered:→ What long-term care planning actually means for a regular family→ Why caregiver burnout causes real mental health crises→ How LTC insurance works (and what it actually pays for)→ The "sandwich generation" squeeze on Gen X→ Why self-insuring is a bigger gamble than most people realize→ How to start planning even on a tight budget🌐 CommonXpodcast.com📺 Subscribe on YouTube | 🎧 Listen wherever you get podcasts

Your congressman probably wasn't picked by you. Tom Joseph — founder of America's Main Street Party — breaks down the machinery that decides who even makes it onto your ballot, why gerrymandering is less about drawing lines and more about burying opposition votes, and how he found a legal loophole that lets a political party run a free, moneyless nomination contest completely outside the reach of the FEC.If you've ever felt like the process is rigged — that the real decisions happen before you ever see a name on a ballot — this one's for you.🌐 mainstreetparty.org | wilsonsfountain.us📋 Sign the petition at mainstreetparty.org——🕐 CHAPTERS0:00 — Intro: politics as a group text nobody can leave2:07 — Meet Tom Joseph, founder of America's Main Street Party2:14 — What is gerrymandering, actually?4:52 — The COVID breaking point that started all this7:05 — How the people's primary app works9:10 — Getting nominees onto the actual ballot10:17 — The ideologically neutral Super PAC12:25 — When did Tom realize the whole nomination process was broken?15:49 — How this cuts the cord between candidates and donors16:40 — Operating inside the current legal system without changing it18:49 — What a people's primary looks like for an everyday citizen21:18 — Local committees and keeping them incorruptible22:28 — The term limits debate24:03 — The Digital Democracy Project (Ramon Perez is coming on the show)25:20 — Keeping it non-ideological: equal red and blue districts26:42 — Reaching younger voters who've already checked out27:44 — Can this actually break gerrymandering?28:40 — Public response so far — and why mainstream media won't cover it30:04 — James Wilson and the "fountain of democracy"31:59 — Who's most threatened by this idea (the answer will surprise you)33:08 — To the skeptics: someone will just corrupt this too34:44 — A system from 1929 that hasn't caught up with technology37:31 — What's kept Tom going when everyone said it couldn't be done38:52 — What America looks like in 5–10 years if this works40:20 — A message to the politically homeless41:32 — Mobile voting security: blockchain, face ID, and Carnegie Mellon42:38 — Jared's Five: movies, cartoons, and collecting John Lennon's autograph49:10 — Outro——CommonX is two Gen X dads talking to people actually doing things in the real world. New episodes weekly.🎙️ CommonXPodcast.com📺 Subscribe on YouTube📝 X-Files Blog: CommonXPodcast.com

Most of us are drowning in content but starving for actual facts. This week, Jared and Ian sit down with Kira Shishkin — 4-time entrepreneur, investor, and CEO of Inform.now — to talk about why the news media stopped serving readers and started serving advertisers, how misinformation is manufactured at scale, and what a genuine "information diet" actually looks like.Kira built TurboTax Full Service at Intuit, evaluated 600+ venture deals, and grew up across Ukraine, Israel, and the U.S. — giving him a front-row seat to information warfare in three different cultures. He's not just complaining about the problem; he built a solution: news by SMS, no accounts, no ads, no data collection, just facts from primary sources.Whether you still watch cable news or you've checked out entirely, this one will make you rethink how you consume information.Check out Kira's company: https://inform.now📌 CHAPTERS0:00 — Ian's overcooked intro0:43 — Meet Kira Shishkin1:46 — Why he left Intuit and TurboTax Full Service2:51 — How Inform.now works: news by SMS4:15 — Sourcing only from primary sources6:46 — How news became an advertising business9:44 — Are people waking up to media manipulation?12:09 — AI in journalism: useful tool or dangerous shortcut?21:46 — The coming era of information overload25:54 — What a healthy information diet actually looks like28:51 — Growing up in Ukraine, Israel, and the U.S.33:42 — SMS, anonymity, and radical privacy36:16 — Will the world be more or less informed in 10 years?38:19 — Evaluating 600+ venture deals — does Inform.now pass its own test?41:42 — Are we living in truly unique times?43:21 — Is America's division real, or manufactured by media?45:26 — Jared's 5 rapid-fire questions51:02 — Outro🎙️ CONNECT WITH USCommonX Podcast | Two Gen X dads talking to people actually doing things in the real world.#CommonXPodcast #MediaLiteracy #Misinformation #InformationOverload #GenX #NewsMedia #Inform #KiraShishkin #FactsNotOpinions #MediaBias

What if America isn't as divided as the news makes it look? Adam Mizel left a successful finance career to find out — hitting the road in a purple and white pickup truck, talking to thousands of everyday Americans from parking lots to state fairs, and filming a documentary along the way.Adam is the founder of Us United, a national unity movement built around one core idea: you can't sympathize with a label, only a person. In this conversation, he shares what he actually found on the road (spoiler: people are more united than you think), why Generation X needs to stop sitting on the fence, and the surprisingly simple things each of us can do to change the culture starting today.We also dig into his unlikely friendship with Sheriff Chris Swanson — the Flint, Michigan sheriff who famously took off his body armor and walked arm-in-arm with protesters in 2020 — and how that moment sparked the creation of Us United.--Chapters:00:00 — Intro & welcome01:00 — Why Adam walked away from finance03:00 — Meeting Sheriff Chris Swanson & the Flint march06:00 — How Us United was born08:00 — Sheriffs as community unifiers13:00 — The cross-country road trip16:00 — What Adam found: America isn't that divided20:00 — Gen X needs to get off the fence22:00 — What's fueling the divide (it's not just politics)28:00 — The power of storytelling: the redlining conversation32:00 — Shaq's one-word definition of unity33:00 — National Unity Day, December 1338:00 — Simple things every American can do right now41:00 — If you were president for a day...45:00 — Jared's Five50:00 — Adam's personal story: success built from collapse--Learn more about Us United: https://www.usunited.orgFind all CommonX episodes at CommonXPodcast.comIf this episode resonated, please like, subscribe, and share — it helps more people find conversations like this one.#CommonX #Unity #AdamMizel #UsUnited #GenerationX #America #Podcast

Most organizations are throwing millions at firewalls and security software — but the real vulnerability isn't the tech. It's the people using it.In this episode of CommonX, we sit down with Robert Siciliano — bestselling author, cybersecurity expert, and the architect of the Strategic Human Firewall framework. He's appeared on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and Anderson Cooper 360, and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The New York Times.We break down:→ The "human blind spot" — why we're biologically wired to trust, and how criminals exploit it→ Why denial is the #1 driver of data breaches (not hackers)→ AI deepfakes, voice cloning, and how a fake Zoom call cost one company $25 million→ The Strategic Human Firewall — how to build a security culture that actually works→ Why 15 billion compromised passwords are sitting on the dark web right now→ The real reason your IT team still uses default passwordsThis conversation could literally save your business — or your bank account.🔗 Find Robert: ProtectNowLLC.com📰 Full X-Files article: CommonXPodcast.com⏱️ Chapters:00:00 – Intro: Why humans are the real security risk06:30 – The Human Blind Spot explained10:00 – Denial, trust, and the 3–6% predator problem17:00 – Making security personal (the key that's being missed)22:00 – Pig butchering & wrong-number crypto scams28:00 – How to build a Strategic Human Firewall31:30 – The $25M AI deepfake Zoom call40:00 – Dark web, passwords, and 2FA47:00 – Jared's 5 rapid fire#CyberSecurity #HumanFirewall #RobertSiciliano #CommonXPodcast #ScamPrevention

Barbara Banner didn't set out to become a medium. She spent over 35 years volunteering on crisis hotlines, in emergency rooms, and at police response scenes — showing up for people on the worst days of their lives. Then, at an age when most people are winding down, her house started going haywire: lights flashing, objects falling off shelves, orbs appearing. It was hard to ignore.In this conversation, Barbara shares how a career in trauma response turned out to be the perfect preparation for communicating with the dead, why skepticism can actually block a reading, and what the "other side" is like according to the spirits she speaks with (spoiler: no anger, no judgment — only love and joy).She also walks Jared and Ian through a simple exercise that helps grieving people receive signs from their loved ones on their own — no medium required. The stories she shares, including a disabled daughter whose gold nugget was simply being "normal" on the other side, are hard to forget.Whether you're a believer, a skeptic, or just curious — this one will make you think differently about grief, loss, and what it means to be here.🔗 Learn more about Barbara at BannerMedium.com 📖 Read her full X-File at CommonXPodcast.com

Army veteran and public affairs expert Dr. Chase Spears joins Ian and Jared on the CommonX Podcast for a raw, no-filter conversation about the inner workings of the U.S. military — from how social media is reshaping wartime communication to why he turned down a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years of service.Dr. Spears breaks down the myth of the "apolitical" military, explains how that word was weaponized against conservative service members under the Biden administration, and makes a compelling case for why the recent strikes on Iran are justified under just-war tradition — even as someone who considers himself nearly an isolationist.Plus, Jared dives deep on the Anthropic vs. Department of War showdown over AI guardrails and autonomous weapons, and Chase responds to the "Seditious Six" controversy around Senator Mark Kelly.In this episode:What military public affairs actually does — and where it goes wrongHow the Army went from banning social media to running viral Rapid Response accountsWhy Anthropic (makers of Claude AI) refused to remove safety guardrails for autonomous military weaponsThe word "apolitical" and how it was used to silence constitutional-minded service membersWhy Chase got written up just for asking about conscience protections on the transgender policyWere the Iran strikes justified? A combat vet's honest takeThe "Seditious Six" — treason or protected speech?Why public trust in the military collapsed in 2022 — and whether it can recoverOver 8,000 troops still unaccounted for after the COVID mandate purgeConnect with Dr. Chase Spears: 🎙️ Finding Your Spine Podcast — [search your podcast app] 🐦 Follow on X: @[ChaseSpears handle]CommonX Podcast: 🌐 CommonXPodcast.com 📺 Subscribe for weekly episodes on politics, military, culture & America's future"War is a human endeavor. We should never lose sight of that." — Dr. Chase Spears#CommonXPodcast #MilitaryVet #ArmyVeteran #Iran #ArtificialIntelligence #Anthropic #CovidMandate #MilitaryTruth #FindingYourSpine

Why does it take 4 months to get an 85-year-old grandmother on Medicaid when she has zero assets? In this episode of CommonX, Peter Justen, founder of Ameritrust Solutions, breaks down why government benefit systems are stuck in the past — and what his team is doing to fix it.Peter shares how a personal experience with his mother's Medicaid application led him to build a platform that reduces a 209-question process down to about 20 questions and completes applications in 12 minutes. He explains how his company feeds better data into existing state systems without costly rip-and-replace upgrades, flags fraud before it enters the system, and helps rural hospitals recover billions in uncompensated care.Topics covered: Medicaid application reform, government fraud detection, rural hospital funding, VA disability benefits, the uncompensated patient problem, ACA subsidy expiration, and why trust in institutions gets rebuilt one brick at a time.Learn more: AmeritrustSolutions.comVisit our site and X-Files Blog: https://www.commonxpodcast.com/thex-filesWatch the Video on our YouTube Channel (and subscribe)Keywords: Medicaid reform, government automation, Ameritrust Solutions, Peter Justen, CommonX Podcast, government fraud, rural hospitals, healthcare technology, Medicaid application, government efficiency, VA disability benefits, uncompensated care, healthcare innovation, government benefits, public sector technology, application fatigue, Medicaid fraud, rural healthcare, government modernization, health and human services

Traditional safes haven’t really evolved in decades — and Oscar Hedaya decided that was insane.In Episode 74 of the CommonX Podcast, we sit down with Oscar Hedaya (founder of SpaceSafe) to talk about why physical security still feels stuck in the 90s, what it takes to build hardware + software the hard way, and why “visibility + accountability” is the real upgrade: tamper notifications, movement alerts, and a safer that can work connected or offline.We also get into the realities of manufacturing (margins, development costs, PCB mistakes you only make once), what it would take to expand into bigger safe formats (yes… gun safe conversations), and Oscar’s long-term goal of selling the company and using his time to help other founders.