Swan Dive
Swan Dive captures pivotal moments in meaningful lives and features the inspiring stories of people who had the clarity and courage to chase their dreams and visions. Hosts and life-long friends, Ron Rothberg and Stu Sheldon, both made their own swan dives from successful careers in media and finance to the unknowns of content creation and fine art. Through their journeys, both found their true voices and, with Swan Dive Podcast, they dive deep into the big pivots of their myriad guests. From Africa's first black, female neurosurgeon to legendary performing artists, storied sea captains, NPR hosts, National Geographic photographers and so much more, each dynamic guest opens up about the unique emotional trials and the triumphs of becoming their most authentic selves. Wisdom, vulnerability and inspiration abound. Hopefully, you'll find comfort and kinship in your own big pivot, whether you've made it yet or not. Share your Swan Dive story with us and we may feature you. Find us @stuart_sheldon and ronrothberg@comcast.net.
Episodes
99 episodes
David Garfunkel - "Building Community" - From Peace Corps to re-building a forgotten neighborbhood
Income inequality and generational poverty have decimated the American Dream. How does one claw their way out of a deep hole if the walls are too steep and slippery to climb. David Garfunkel has d...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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53:59
Nate Monroe - "How do you Know?" - USA Today Columnist Speaks Truth to Power
Nate Monroe writes a column about Florida for USA Today, exploring how power works in the gilded, strange human heart of the modern Republican Party. His intrepid ir...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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54:01
Samantha Rose Williams - American Patriot - From Opera Singer to Activist
The Stanford Arts Review described Samantha Rose Williams as a “Mezzo-Soprano with ‘jaw-dropping vocal power.” This opera singer and arts activist is committed to creating spac...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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1:00:11
Daniel K Forkkio - "Healing & Reconciliation via Storytelling & Filmmaking" - CEO, Represent Justice
Daniel K. Forkkio is CEO of Represent Justice, building a critical mass of “syst...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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1:03:13
Matt Hartley - "DEI Criminal" - Incredible Educator Becomes Guiltless Victim of Culture War
Matt Hartley is an Interfaith expert and "DEI Criminal." He's an educator and ordained minister, a dad, a cellist, a high school running coach .... In other words, one of the good guys. Yet, after 5 years leading the University of North Florida...
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50:23
Suz Howard - "Designing Creative Leaders" - IDEO Industrial Design Legend Goes Solo
Trained as an anthropologist, Suz Howard spent 20 yrs as a partner at IDEO, one of the world's leading design and innovation companies, playing a critical ro...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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54:57
Jeff Kollath - The Soul of a Story - Exec Dir of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music
As Executive Director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, TN, Jeff Kollath oversees the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Stax Records and American sou...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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59:34
Clark Butcher - Victory Bicycles - Bike Lover Revolutionizes the Bike Shop Game
Clark Butcher will be the first to tell you he is addicted to endurance athletics. He started running age 7, completed his first half marathon at 11 and discovered triathlons at 14, where he naturally excelled in cycling. By 16, Clark was compe...
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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54:48
Dr Scott Morris - "Fine and Blessed" - Doctor/Minister Opens Largest Faith-based Hospital in US
As a teenager, Dr. Scott Morris became deeply interested in two things: his religion and the practice of medicine. He's spent his entire life creating a way to connect the two to serve humanity. Now 70, Morris is the founder and chief executive...
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57:02
Chris Jenkins - "Being There" - Documentary Filmmaker Turned Educator & How He Listened to "The Signs"
Chris Jenkins is Head of Production in University of California, Santa Barbara’s Film & Media Studies Department. He has been behind the lens of many notable and award-winning documentaries. His work has ...
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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1:09:09
Gary Adler - "Right Time, Right Place" - Life as a Hollywood Creative Director
Hollywood Creative Director and Graphic Artist, Gary Adler, has a blackbelt in branding on a global scale. He moved to LA in 1986 to chase his dream and, after decades designing for the film industry’s best, from Disney to Dreamwork...
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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50:58
Taylor Keen - "Living Red" - From Ivy League to Sacred Seeds ... Indigenous Leader Finds Home
Taylor Keen has an astonishing resume: Golden Gloves boxer, Dartmouth undergrad, Harvard MBA and Masters in Public Administration. Business man. Indigenous leader, Strategy consultant and full-time instructor in Corporate Strategy and Entrepren...
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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58:06
Lolo Reskin - "Sweat and Vinyl" - Iconic Record Store Pioneer
In 2019, Miami New Times tweeted “Does anyone know Miami music better than Lolo Reskin?” Music is in this woman’s blood. Lauren Reskin, better known as Lolo, is founder of Miami’s iconic, Sw...
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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51:06
Katie Hathaway - "I'll See You Tomorrow" - Mom turned gun sense activist
Katie Hathaway's swan dive moment came as her 7-yr-old son got in the car at school pickup and said, "Mom, I know it. We’re gonna be the first classroom shot up. We’re closest to the front of the school." Katie's heart sank. That any child woul...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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51:34
Andy Peay - "Pinot Pioneers" - From Wall Street to World Renowned Winemaker
In the mid-1990s, Andy Peay and his brother, Nick, set out to find land for the vineyard they dreamt of creating. Eventually, they settled on a property in California’s West Sonoma Coast, an old sheep farm and apple orchard. Here, the brothers,...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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54:30
George Clinton - "Free Your Mind & Your Ass Will Follow” - Funk Legend Discovers Painting
“Crazy is a prerequisite in this shit." -- George ClintonClinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective is considered one of the foremost innovators of funk … and his m...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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43:08
David William Carson - "John Muir 2.0” - Finance to Nature Preserve Director
David William Carson's heart lives among the tall trees and endless oceans. This environmental scientist, entrepreneur and artist was raised in the forests of upstate New York. He earned a Master's degree in Environment and Resource Management ...
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Season 7
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Episode 11
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47:07
Keith Pariani - "Ride On" - Avid antique bike collector rides across the US on a "High-Wheeled" bike
In 1984, Keith Pariani and eight fellow enthusiasts left San Francisco on antique "high-wheeled" Columbia bicycles, following the path across the USA taken 100 years earlier by pioneer Thomas Stephens. They rode these awkward contraptions which...
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Season 7
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Episode 11
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38:39
Rick Stone - "Telling Stories" - Renowned expert discusses the ancient art of storytelling and the power it holds in daily life
All day, every day, we each tell stories about who we are and how we are. Collectively, we speak of “controlling the narrative,” both positively and negatively. Rick Stone tells stories for a living and is one of the world’s foremost experts on...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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49:38
Jake Miller: "Based on a True Story" - The Making of a Rockstar
With sold out tours, millions of followers on social and growing critical acclaim, Jake Miller has quietly emerged as a magnetic pop presence. He has done this on his own terms with an infectious, high e...
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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49:50
Ron & Stu - "Severance" Looking back at the Dive
Nothing is more gratifying then when a listener calls to share that a discussion on Swan Dive influenced their life choices in a positive way. A recent call with an old coworker of Ron’s was exactly that and explored this listener’s “great resi...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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17:29
Christian Boos - "Changing Tides" - Computer Engineer to Boat Captain
Christian Boos is one of the most sought out surf and sportfishing guides on the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. He grew up in the ocean in Venezuela. At university in Caracas, he majored in computer engineering, a field of study he felt pre...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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48:33
Sheryl Johnson - "The Joy of the Dragonfly" - Finding Purpose in the Death of a Child
Sheryl Johnson is good at what she does. She’s a fine lawyer, happily married and the mother of four. But one of Sheryl‘s children, Alex, suffered from mental illness and anxiety. And, like so many with this disease, her son did not find in soc...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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53:13
Dr. Eric Dubbin - "Helping All Animals" - Large Animal Vet becomes Life Coach
Large animal veterinarian, Eric Dubbin, is a gentle and curious soul who was good at his job. “I knew which end of the horse got the hay,” this thoughtful healer says modestly. Still, after 18 years serving cows, horses and goats in the rural c...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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42:25