Forging Fury Podcast

Interview with the late John McAfee, a British-American computer programmer, businessman, and two-time presidential candidate. In 1987, he wrote the first commercial anti-virus software that bears his name to this day.But McAfee was also a fugitive of the US for years.  In June, 2021, he was found dead in a jail cell in Spain soon after being scheduled for expedition to the US for charges of tax evasion.  Authorities ruled it a suicide. Prior to his death, McAfee stated that he was not suicidal, and that he was concerned he might be murdered and that his death would be made to appear a suicide. This was an episode that we thought had been lost to us.  We recorded this with him in January, 2020 but originally stalled in publishing this because of the incendiary nature of the topics and (truthfully) of the man himself.  Then, of course, COVID hit. We somehow lost the video of this interview, but recently stumbled again on the audio.  Since we were a show that did not shy away from hard

Great chat with Jacob Fasig - a man who has had a tremendous positive impact on the health and motivation of many people, most particularly your beloved host, Michael. Jacob is the host of the Barbell Voodoo Podcast, co-owner of Crossfit Donelson in the Nashville area, and life coach to many others. Jacob's journey to become "Fit by 40" was a key inspiration in Michael walking in to CrossFit for the first time, and this interview has been a long time coming. We get into all sorts of topics including the "best" workout music (SPOLIER: Reilly's favorite is "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga), how to stay motivated in your workouts and daily life, parenting, PORN, and much more.Thanks for listening!

Great conversation with Athena Perez, someone we have been inspired by and following for quite some time. Athena is an L2 CrossFit coach, owner of Scaled Nation CrossFit, and author of "Lifting the Wait", a book that tells the story of how she lost over 200 lbs. in her journey to be where she is today. We discussed her fierce advocacy for plus-size inclusion in CrossFit and how the wrong assumptions about a severely overweight newcomer can leave a lasting negative impact. We also tackled the challenging topic of whether providing specialty plus-size clothing in our sport/gyms is a good or bad thing for promoting health and wellness. Definitely some challenging conversations here.

After a long hiatus, The Forging Fury Podcast has returned as The Next Podcast on Your Playlist. Your hosts Reilly Kilbride and Michael Gray dust off their microphones to kick of a new season -- and a new direction for the show. The same crew you've come to love (hopefully) is back in the saddle again!

We are honored to be joined this week by our friend and newest Fury coach, Joe Mike Paul. Joe is a Wisconsin transplant who moved to Arizona to pursue his passion for helping people with dialing in their nutrition and nurturing in them a life of fitness. But Joe’s path to where he is now was anything but average. Inspired by a horible family tragedy, Joe has learned how to fight through adversity and come out of the hardship better and stronger.

Buckle up for one of our most open and honest podcasts ever. We thought we were going to be talking to our guest, Bee Evans, about two of our favorite things: mindset and booty shorts, but this conversation ended up going so much deeper. Bee is the host of the Tear Out the Tags Podcast, a former Phoenix Suns dancer, and was a key player in her family's oil and gas business. Despite being someone who was as comfortable on the dance floor as she was in the oil industry, Bee still felt like she was battling a wide array of unwanted tags that were placed on her in all areas of life. So she decided to tear out the tags. Her insight on the tags we accept from others and those we place on ourselves is profound, and she challenged us in ways we never thought possible. We think you'll be challened too.

The Legends Master's Competition took place just around the corner from us and we had the opportunity to meet and interview one of the top women's competitors, Sheena Shaw-Hammer. Sheena took 5th place in her division (Women 35-39) this past weekend. Sheena is a mother of 4, owner of Ben Lomond Crossfit in North Ogden, UT, and a former Crossfit Games athlete. We discussed how high-level gymnastics taught her how to be competitive from a young age and how CrossFit allowed her to continue being competitive once she wrapped up her college gymnastics career. Who knew that a gym drop-in could result in such an interesting conversation? We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Today we sit down and talk with Marvin Chargualaf, Fury member (and Spotlight Athlete for November 2020) about his fitness journey from Type 2 diabetes to taking control of his health through proper nutrition and CrossFit. We also discuss his native home of Guam, his experience in the military, and what it's like dealing with PTSD. We didn't, however, get the chance to chastise him for being a Seahawks fan. As a podcast who backs the Arizona Cardinals, we cannot condone this behavior. Other than that, Marvin is one of the best guys you could meet.

Kermit and Miss Piggy. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Kanye and Kim. Chips and Salsa. Netflix and Chill. Well, we've got one more epic pair to add to the list: Jordan and Tracy. Today's episode features Forging Fury's official favorite couple, as evidenced by the amount of times we've had them on the show. As you know, we're all still mired in the never-ending COVID disaster. Originally billed as "15 days to slow the spread", this pandemic has all but consumed most of 2020. We're now stuck in the purgatory between being totally over the lockdowns and safely returning to some degree of normalcy. We know we’ve discussed COVID before, but today we brought together two very intelligent minds to discuss this pandemic at a depth that goes well above our pay grade as your intrepid podcast hosts. We hope you enjoy the dialogue. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts!

Here we go again. As we enter our second wave lockdown in Arizona, Michael and Reilly discuss COVID-19 information/misinformation, the public response to mask-wearing, and the new Executive Order that bans people from going to the gym Nevermind that healthier people fare MUCH better with COVID than those with obesity, diabetes, and other underlying health conditions. And let's definitely NOT point out the double-standard that allows Cracker Barrels and WalMarts and casinos to remain open. Apparently these places are "essential" to public health. But not gyms. [insert eyeroll here]

Honored to have NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl Champion MVP Kurt Warner join us on the podcast today. We talk a lot about mindset and how inner confidence is key to pushing past the discouragements that life inevitably throws at you. We also discussed football (obviously), his foundation's yearly UFE event, and and how to raise children to learn their value and elevate their inner confidence. We also got to dive into the work he and his wife Brenda are doing with Treasure House Phoenix, an active living community for young adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. This is an endeavor that is near and dear to their hearts. Enjoy!

Today we pay respects to a man who did not deserve to die and contemplate a society that is deeply hurt, deeply angry, and deeply divided. We wish we didn't need to have this conversation, but we do.

Our guest today is Fury coach and Bomb Squad athlete Rachel Cannon. She joins Reilly to discuss her journey of learning to find her identity as a wife, mother, and athlete. Great episode with a great coach and friend of the podcast!

Our largest episode cast ever features the Faser Family: Bob, Bo, Brody Blaze, Brynn, and Bella. These longtime Fury members are a tight-knit crew and some of the kindest and most encouraging people you could ever meet We discuss everything Faser, from Bob's and Bo's Lockheed Martin romance to modern-day family CrossFit competitions – and everything in between! Enjoy!

Our good friend Michael Stahl joins us on this episode. Michael, Kristen, and the kids are a much-loved Fury family, and we were honored to have him on to discuss all kinds of things – from family planning (or a lack thereof) to CrossFit to religion. Along with being a family man, a CrossFitter, and an avid Arizona sports fan, Michael is a church planter who is preparing to start a church in the West Valley in 2021. Reilly took this opportunity to ask a lot of questions that many non-religious people have about God and organized religion. It got real deep. So if you planned on going to church this Easter but couldn't because of COVID-19, don't worry; we're bringing church to YOU!

This one is pretty simple: it's your favorite podcast hosts sitting around a dinner table with their much more attractive better halves – Heidi and Megan – having 6-foot-spaced, face-to-face human interaction in a crazy quarantine world. We're not even going to bother with telling you the topics of this episode because we go all over the map. We can't travel freely in real life, but the government's got no control over where our conversation takes us.

Today we chat with Cameron & Michelle Moore, fellow Fury members and owners of Continuous Motion Physical Therapy. We tap into their expertise by asking some of the top questions that athletes have for PT pros (or at least the top questions that we have). If you have other questions you'd like to ask, leave a comment below and they'll respond. Thanks for listening while in quarantine. Stay safe out there, Sweet People!

Today's episode features 13-month Fury member, Frankie Almonte. Frankie discusses his CrossFit journey and how he's been able to make amazing strides in his fitness and nutrition over the last year or so. We also get into his military career and how he developed a reputation for being the one guy who laughed his way through Basic Training – yeah, he's the kind of person who actually describes Basic as "fun". Great episode with a great guy, and an inspiring member of the Fury community.

With Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) the talk of the town these days, we thought we'd bring one of our favorite guests -- Dr. Jordan Leonard -- back for another episode to help us understand this virus and what we need to know as it makes it's way to our doorsteps. What is this virus like? How is it affecting populations around the world? How will it affect us? Are things looking more dire or more positive as we learn more and more about the spread? How should we respond and/or prepare? What is hype and what is fact? Where is all the toilet paper?! Lots of good info in this one! Disinfect that radio dial, then turn it up!

Today we continue our conversation with Tommy Marquez and Sean Woodland of the Talking Elite Fitness Podcast. If you haven't had the chance to listen to Part 1 yet, or to the bonus episode where we put Tommy through our version of The Newlywed Game, be sure to give those a listen. Great conversation with two great men. As always, thanks for listening. Love you, mean it!