Documentary

Behind The Story Show

Welcome to Behind The Story Show, a long-form interview podcast hosted by Jelani Gonzalez that goes beyond the headlines to uncover the real journeys behind extraordinary people and powerful ideas.

Each week, Jelani sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, creators, leaders, and change-makers to explore the defining moments, hard-earned lessons, personal challenges, and bold decisions that shaped their path. From business and creativity to leadership, culture, innovation, and reinvention, Behind The Story brings you candid conversations that reveal not just what people achieved, but what it took to get there.

If you are building something, chasing a vision, navigating change, or looking for stories that educate, inspire, and challenge the way you think, this show is for you.

Join us as we go behind the success, behind the struggle, and Behind The Story.

Latest Episodes:

The American Slumber Party: Sam Daley-Harris on Waking Up Democracy Jul 04, 2026

Show notes

Sam Daley-Harris spent twelve years as a professional percussionist and a career as a music teacher before a single question changed the direction of his life: does your member of Congress know your name? In 1978, he asked 7,000 high school students, classroom by classroom, if they could name their own representative. Fewer than three percent could. That gap became the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS, and nearly five decades of work teaching ordinary citizens how to find and use their power.
In this conversation, Sam and Jelani trace his path from music to movement-building — co-founding the Microcredit Summit alongside Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and developing the idea of "transformational advocacy," where the people who show up to change something are changed themselves. Sam shares the stories of two volunteers, Maxine Thomas and Ellie Sparks, whose journeys from "clueless" and "climate trauma" to "euphoric" and "sacred and profound" illustrate what's possible when citizens are trained, not just recruited.
They also talk about what Sam calls the "American Slumber Party" — the pattern of low civic participation he's tracked since the 1970s — and how small, organized groups of trained volunteers have recently helped shape the outcome of proposed federal budget cuts to programs like the EPA and global maternal and child health funding. It's a conversation about cynicism, hope, and the practical, unglamorous work of reclaiming a voice in your own democracy.
Chapters:
00:03 — From percussion to purpose: Sam's unlikely path into activism
02:45 — The question that started it all: naming your member of Congress
06:25 — Co-founding the Microcredit Summit and meeting Muhammad Yunus
13:17 — Transactional vs. transformational advocacy
13:47 — Maxine's story: from "clueless" to "euphoric"
14:44 — Ellie's story: from "climate trauma" to "sacred and profound"
21:19 — Three questions to ask someone you disagree with
33:53 — How organized advocacy shaped a maternal and child health funding decision
39:02 — How a small grassroots network engaged on a proposed EPA budget cut
44:11 — The eighteen commitments behind transformational advocacy
53:15 — Where to start tomorrow: reclaimingourdemocracy.com
Guest's book: Reclaiming Our Democracy — reclaimingourdemocracy.com

Get connected with an advocacy group near you: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCQuqj-4O2eh4Sfy_E-dfVntbPlqg1A4T4oQ8E2J0nuZbD-w/viewform

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The Physician Taking Her Fight From the Exam Room to Washington Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Neelam Perry spent over two decades practicing internal medicine and treating HIV/AIDS patients before a personal health crisis changed the direction of her life. After surviving seven strokes and fighting to access a costly medication she says her insurance wouldn't approve, she made a decision: leave medicine and try to fix the system from the inside.
In this conversation, Dr. Perry talks with Jelani Gonzalez about her path from the exam room to the campaign trail, her 2024 congressional run, the election-integrity concerns she says she witnessed firsthand, and what's driving her current U.S. Senate campaign in Florida. The two also dig into her positions on federal power, healthcare policy, and where she stands with the current administration.
This is a conversation about resilience, conviction, and what happens when a healer decides the healthiest thing she can do is challenge the system itself.

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The Diabetes Theory Doctors Don't Want You to Hear Jun 27, 2026

Show notes

After 27 years practicing as a pediatrician and allergist in Texas, Dr. John Poothullil noticed something in his own body that medical textbooks couldn't explain: weight that crept on every winter and refused to leave by spring. The standard answer — "improper diet and lack of exercise" — wasn't an answer at all. So he spent the next several decades building his own.

In this conversation, Dr. John walks Jelani through the "fatty acid burn switch" — his alternative explanation for Type 2 diabetes that challenges the textbook theory of insulin resistance — and the personal story that radicalized his skepticism of mainstream treatment: a relative whose husband, a medical professor, kept her blood sugar perfectly controlled with insulin for years, only for her to lose a limb anyway.

They also get into why "blood sugar" and "table sugar" are not the same thing, how grain-based carbohydrates became the hidden driver of the obesity epidemic, whether low-carb eating can help starve cancer cells, and what's really happening in your body on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound — including the question Dr. John says almost nobody asks before starting one.

This is a conversation about the difference between treating a number and treating a person — and why understanding your own hunger might matter more than any prescription.

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The Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Too Late Jun 23, 2026

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Scherrie L. Prince did not take a straight path into law. Before becoming an attorney, entrepreneur, business coach, and podcast host, she worked in operations, real estate, mortgage brokerage, and business ownership. Then the 2008 mortgage crisis hit, and she lost everything while raising two young children.

In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Scherrie to talk about the personal experiences that shaped her legal work today — losing her mother at 16, watching family conflict unfold after her grandparents passed without a plan, losing her own business during the mortgage crisis, and deciding to rebuild through law school.

Scherrie shares why she now helps entrepreneurs protect their businesses, personal assets, families, and future legacy. She breaks down why forming an LLC is not enough, what it means to build a “legal moat” around your business, why business planning and estate planning should work together, and how families lose generational wealth when there is no clear plan in place.

This conversation is about entrepreneurship, resilience, legal protection, legacy, family, and the hard lessons that can become a mission.

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Birthright Citizenship: The Story Behind the 14th Amendment Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

For more than 150 years, birth on American soil has been understood as one of the clearest paths to U.S. citizenship. But after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14160 on the first day of his second term, the country was forced back into a constitutional debate many people thought had already been settled.

In this BTS Exposé Special Edition of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez goes beyond the headlines to unpack the deeper history behind birthright citizenship: English common law, Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

This episode explores the phrase at the center of today’s legal battle — “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” — and why those words now sit at the heart of one of the most important citizenship fights in modern American history.

Jelani breaks down what the Constitution says, what the Trump administration is arguing, why courts have challenged the executive order, and what is at stake for children, families, immigrants, and the future definition of American citizenship.

This is not just a legal story. It is a story about belonging, power, history, and who gets to be recognized as fully American.

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George Tinsley Sr. on Legacy, Faith, Family, and Franchising Jun 13, 2026

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George Tinsley Sr.’s story begins in Smoketown, Louisville, where he was raised by Willie Tinsley, a woman with one leg who could not read or write but gave him the foundation of loyalty, responsibility, and resilience.

In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with George to talk about the journey behind the championships, the businesses, the book, and the legacy. George shares what it was like growing up during segregation-era Louisville, discovering basketball, winning three NCAA Division II national championships with Kentucky Wesleyan, being selected as an Olympic alternate in 1968, and later making the unexpected transition from professional basketball to teaching, coaching, corporate America, and franchising.

George also opens up about working alongside Colonel Sanders at KFC, becoming a franchise owner, building a family business, founding the KFC Minority Franchise Association, and the deeper meaning of legacy after reconnecting with his birth family later in life.

This conversation is about more than success. It is about family, faith, discipline, leadership, reinvention, and learning how to turn obstacles into opportunities.

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Can AI Help Musicians Create Without Replacing Them? Jun 05, 2026

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What happens when an award-winning vocalist and songwriter sits down with an AI music producer building a weekly online producer battle?

In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez is joined by Gerard Barnes and David Nichol for a timely, honest, and surprisingly personal conversation about AI music, creativity, ownership, and the future of performance.

David shares how AI is helping him reimagine his music, update live shows, and explore new possibilities as a singer and frontman. Gerard opens up about building A Idol, a TikTok-based AI music producer community where creators battle, learn, and push the limits of what AI-generated music can become.

Together, they explore the tension between technology and artistry, why human creativity still matters, what artists need to understand about copyright, and how AI could remove gatekeepers while creating new questions around ownership, authenticity, and live performance.

This conversation goes beyond the fear of AI replacing musicians. It asks a bigger question: What happens when real artists learn how to use AI as a creative partner?

Listen to the full episode now on Apple Podcasts

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Caring Leadership in the Age of AI with Germain St-Denis May 31, 2026

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What does it really mean to lead people well?

In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Germain St-Denis, author of Empowering People Through Caring Leadership, for a thoughtful conversation about the difference between managing tasks and truly leading people.

Germain shares lessons from his long career in technology, strategy, management, and executive leadership, including why leaders must train, equip, trust, empower, and genuinely care for their teams. He also explains why human connection matters more than ever in the age of AI, remote work, hybrid teams, and constant workplace change.

This conversation explores what happens when employees feel unseen, how leaders can rebuild trust, why succession planning often fails, and why younger professionals need leaders who help them grow.

If you care about leadership, workplace culture, personal development, or building teams where people can do their best work, this episode offers practical and human-centered insight.

Listen to the full episode now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube.
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Gerard Barnes: The Man Who Built A Battle Show for AI Music Producers May 26, 2026

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Gerard Barnes is back on Behind the Story — and this time, the conversation goes deep into the world of AI music.
Gerard is the creator of A-Idol, a TikTok-based AI music battle competition where producers from around the world go head-to-head using nothing but their imagination and a machine. Think American Idol — but the artists are the producers, the instrument is AI, and the competition is fierce.
In this episode, Jelani and Gerard explore the real story behind A-Idol's creation, what it actually takes to be a great AI music producer, how Gerard is helping businesses, brands, and older artists find relevance again through AI, and why the old arguments about "real music" keep showing up every time the industry evolves — from sampling to autotune to AI.
They also get into a song that made Gerard cry live on camera, why his famous father Sidney Barnes now has his own AI-produced album, and why Gerard believes the imagination is the most important instrument in music today.
This one is for creators, music lovers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who's ever been told that the new thing isn't real.
Follow Behind the Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Watch A-Idol live on TikTok @UncleFeeelGood.

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Why Success Doesn’t Fix Your Patterns with Daune Thompson May 20, 2026

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Why do so many successful people still feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected?

In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Daune Thompson, speaker, coach, and creator of the Soul CEO and Lighthouse Mastery approach, for a conversation about success, burnout, subconscious patterns, alignment, and self-understanding.

Daune shares why she believes burnout is not simply about doing too much, but about being out of alignment with who you are for too long. She also explains why high achievers often keep repeating the same patterns in relationships, health, money, and purpose — even after they have built the life they thought they wanted.

This conversation explores hustle culture, emotional triggers, blind spots, self-mastery, spirituality, science, relationships, and what it means to stop managing your life from the outside and start leading from the inside.

If you have ever looked successful on paper but still felt like something was missing, this episode will give you a deeper way to think about alignment, identity, and the patterns quietly shaping your life.

Learn more about Daune at:
ideserveitnow.com
daunethompson.com

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