The Reaching Higher Podcast

When Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly of an aortic dissection, actor Tyler Ritter recognized the coded phrase "brief illness" immediately. In 2003, his father — beloved actor John Ritter — died from the same misdiagnosed condition. In this special return episode, recorded from Argentina, Tyler explains what an aortic dissection actually is, why doctors so often miss it, and how the John Ritter Foundation is working to save lives.During this special episode, we dig into the updated Ritter Rules, why a quick, painless echocardiogram can mean the difference between life and death, and how to advocate for yourself at the doctor's office. Plus, Tyler shares a joyful World Cup detour from Argentina.Show links:* John Ritter Foundation - https://JohnRitterFoundation.org* Previous Reaching Higher Podcast with Tyler - https://reachinghigherpod.com/honoring-his-dads-legacy-through-acting-and-advocacy-tyler-ritters-journey/

For the better part of 14 years, Jim Weiss was my boss, my mentor, and the person who taught me that communication is leadership. He also wrote the foreword to my book, Wired for Purpose. So this one is personal.Jim is the founder and now chairman of Real Chemistry — the company he started as a one-person consultancy in 2001 and grew into a global health innovation powerhouse. Today he hosts the Get Real podcast, a show built on the same mission that has driven his entire career: making the world a healthier place.We're joined at the top of the episode by Kate Voss, executive producer of Get Real, who breaks down how the team went video-first, turned part of Jim's house into a studio, and grew from zero to 25,000 YouTube subscribers and a million views in roughly a year — and why YouTube is still the wild west compared to the walled gardens of audio-only platforms.From there, Jim and I get into the stuff we've been talking about for two decades: what actually keeps a leader grounded when everything is accelerating, why technology should serve humanity rather than replace it, how to know when to trust the data and when to jump off the edge on creative instinct, and what he'd tell his younger self 25 years after starting the company.We also talk about his wife, Audra. Jim turned profound personal loss into public purpose through the advocacy work he does in her name, and he shares what he wants people to understand about who she was. It's the heart of the episode.Plus: GLP-1s as the health game-changer of our lifetime, music as medicine, the three Real Chemistry moments Jim is proudest of across 25 years, the real risk behind the 2021 W2O Group → Real Chemistry rebrand, and a lightning round covering Bravo, Boston accents, biggest regrets, and the one concert he'd travel back in time to see.Show Links:Get Real Podcast with Jim Weiss — https://www.youtube.com/@GetRealwithJimWeissJim Weiss on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgweissAaron & Jim's 2019 DC interview — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jim-weiss-ceo-founder-w2o-group-understanding-the-7/id1209181618?i=1000385560900Wired for Purpose (foreword by Jim Weiss) — https://www.getwiredforpurpose.comThe Dempsey Center (Audra Weiss's advocacy work) — https://dempseycenter.org/Music as medicine project — https://relix.com/news/detail/mickey-hart-renee-fleming-jim-weiss-and-fnih-establish-music-as-medicine-neuroscience-research-initiative-and-issue-call-for-grant-nominations/

What happens when a single text message becomes a movement? In this episode of the Reaching Higher Podcast, Aaron Strout sits down with Shawn VanDiver, Navy veteran and founder of AfghanEvac, the coalition that has helped resettle more than 195,000 Afghan allies. Shawn traces the story from an August 2021 message from his friend Lucky to building what federal leaders call the gold standard for public-private partnership.Along the way, he shares hard-won lessons on holding 250+ organizations together through clarity over charisma, managing egos, earning trust between government and grassroots, and choosing optimism deliberately because “pessimism has never once resettled a single family.” He introduces unforgettable people—Judy, Tamim, Florence, Syed, Sweda—and reminds us that “showing up is the love language of advocacy.”Show Links:Support the mission: https://afghanevac.org/donateWeekly updates: updates.afghanevac.orgVisa Pathways tool (VPRIC): pathways.afghanevac.orgBattle Buddies program: afghanevac.org/battlebuddiesFollow @AfghanEvac everywhere

In this episode, host Aaron Strout sits down with a longtime friend, Dr. Chethan Sathya — pediatric trauma surgeon, public health leader, trained journalist, and Oscar-winning consulting producer. From a SXSW speaker dinner years ago to this long-overdue deep dive, the two unpack Chethan's improbable career and the through-line that connects all of it: the belief that storytelling, backed by data, is what actually changes hearts, minds, and policy. It's a conversation about firearm injury prevention, finding common ground across deep divides, AI's role in expanding access to care, and staying genuinely optimistic in a fractured moment.Links and ResourcesDr. Sathya's Northwell profile — https://www.northwell.edu/chethan-sathya-md Northwell Center for Gun Violence Prevention — https://preventgunviolence.com All the Empty Rooms on Netflix — https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/all-the-empty-rooms-joshua-seftel "NIH and MAHA had a public health roundtable. I decided to lean in." (Washington Post op-ed) — https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/11/nih-maha-health-policy-trump-administration/ 20-Minute Health Talk (Chethan's podcast) — search "20-Minute Health Talk" on Northwell.edu, Apple Podcasts, or SpotifyConnect with Dr. Chethan SathyaLinkedIn and Instagram: @DrChethanSathya — he's always open to cross-sector collaborations and new ideas for tackling public health challenges.

James and Nancy Keach join Reaching Higher for a conversation about brotherhood, memory, and the diseases that quietly reshape families. James — director of Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, Turning Point, and the new Greg Allman: The Music of My Soul — shares how he found himself telling stories about Alzheimer’s, addiction, and grief, and what forty years of failed drug trials taught him about the scientists behind them. Nancy, a leader at BrightFocus Foundation, traces her path from the American Museum of Natural History to funding research on Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, and opens up about living with Crohn’s disease since childhood. Special thanks to previous guest Phyllis Ferrell for the introduction — and a few great questions.Watch/ListenGlen Campbell: I’ll Be Me — streaming on Tubi, YouTube, and Apple TV: https://youtube.com/watch?v=x-6Vjzq8dAkTurning Point: https://www.brightfocus.org/about/educating-through-film/turning-point/Greg Allman: The Music of My Soul — now in theaters: https://greggallmandocumentary.com/Let’s Talk Alzheimer’s Podcast: https://www.brightfocus.org/lets-talk-alzheimers-podcast/Zoom in on Dementia: https://www.brightfocus.org/alzheimers/resource-search/zoom-in-on-dementia-alzheimers/Learn more:PCH Films: https://pchfilms.comBrightfocus: https://brightfocus.org

In this special edition of Reaching Higher, host Aaron Strout looks back on an unforgettable Season Two — featuring Kathy Giusti, Justin Brooks, Chef Christine Ha, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chef Aaron Sanchez, and a healthcare-and-AI panel with Dr. Amy Abernethy, Seema Verma, and Christopher Kunney. Aaron also celebrates the launch of his book, Wired for Purpose, and his East Coast tour through DC, NYC, and Boston. Plus, a sneak peek at the final four episodes: James and Nancy Keach, Dr. Chethan Sathya of Northwell, Jim Weiss of Real Chemistry, and a possible visit from former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams. Season Three returns in September.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1E25BaAzlGvotFPAwA9pQVKathy Giusti — https://open.spotify.com/episode/4WiO5b8NfLUX9YxAn63ftLJustin Brooks — https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ktLiq5rMHvL6MmzXUtJ3qChef Christine Ha — https://open.spotify.com/episode/2krheOTItruurJ8OFjkCoVGary Vaynerchuk — https://open.spotify.com/episode/51Gm2Hf1cgvdc2NylXocVyChef Aaron Sanchez — [https://open.spotify.com/episode/72IEeIqJr1Ll768o75JmipAbernethy / Verma / Kunney panel — https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ss7fclSDJV9SJPAtY4L5E

Greg Kahn operates at the intersection of three worlds most people treat as separate careers: artificial intelligence, media, and sports. A self-described "catalytic connector" who has driven billions in deals and advised giants like Google, Disney, and MasterCard, Greg co-founded AI Trailblazers to help leaders cut through the hype and actually move the technology forward. He's also bringing The Global Game Summit to Newark this July, betting big on soccer—and especially the women's game—as the next great commercial frontier.Recorded live in New York City during the opening week of the World Cup, this conversation is rational optimism in action. Aaron and Greg dig into how to tell the genuine AI leaders from the people just riding the wave, what "where infrastructure meets humanity" actually means in practice, bot traffic overtaking human web traffic by 2027, the difference between marketing to humans and marketing to agents, what "technology for good" looks like when it's done right, and why the future will be decided where ethical connection comes first.Show links:GK Digital Ventures — https://www.gkdigitalventures.comLinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-kahn-580848Threads / Instagram / X — @gk_ventures (https://www.threads.com/gk_ventures)AI Trailblazers — https://aitrailblazers.ioThe Global Game: The Future of Soccer, Tech & Media Summit (Prudential Center, Newark, NJ — July 15, 2026) — https://www.globalgamesummit.comMontclair Film — https://www.montclairfilm.org

What happens when you put three of healthcare's sharpest minds in the same room? You get a masterclass in what it's actually going to take to fix a broken system.In this special panel episode, host Aaron Strout is joined by Dr. Amy Abernethy, co-founder of Highlander Health, former FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner, and hematologist-oncologist with 500+ published works; Seema Verma, EVP & GM of Oracle Health and Life Sciences and former CMS Administrator who championed the landmark Patients Over Paperwork initiative; and Christopher Kunney, FHIMSS-credentialed digital transformation strategist, Managing Partner at IOTech Consulting, and 2024 HIMSS Changemaker Award recipient.Together they tackle AI's real promise and persistent hype, the EHR burden on clinicians, why interoperability remains a willingness problem more than a technology one, the dangers of careless digital transformation for underserved communities, and what it takes to lead through change without losing the human element of care. This one is not to be missed.Show Links * Dr. Amy Abernethy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyabernethy/* Seema Verma's Oracle Bio: https://www.oracle.com/corporate/executives/seema-verma/* Oracle Next-Generation EHR: https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/oracle-unveils-next-generation-ehr-2024-10-29/* Christopher Kunney on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherkunney/* Christopher's Podcast — Straight Outta Health IT: https://www.youtube.com/@StraightOuttaHealthIT-ti6cf