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Government Overreach, Lying About Your Service, and Rowing to Hawaii | Greg Anderson | Ep. 437 Mar 16, 2026

Show notes

Greg Anderson is a former Army Ranger and deputy U.S. Marshal with two decades in law enforcement and combat, a 3rd-degree black belt, and the owner of one of the most thriving Jiu-Jitsu academies in the Pacific Northwest. His first book, Courage Through Adversity, just dropped. He's also about to row to Hawaii.

The Row West Pacific expedition is a four-man team rowing a Ronic 45 from the U.S. coastline to Hawaii — no motor, no support vessel, roughly 60 days at sea. Greg explains why he bought the boat, what 3-on/3-off looks like when there's nowhere to stop, and what the trip is actually about. It's not the craziest thing he's signed up for, but it might be the hardest.

We also cover what happens when local government decides your Jiu-Jitsu gym is an illegal operation. The answer involves a $40,000 parking assessment, federally protected buttercups, and a mandatory ratio of rhododendrons to parking spaces. Greg pushed back. It worked.

He talks about the book — why he wrote it, what he was actually willing to admit in it, and why authenticity isn't a marketing word. Then we get into cops and Jiu-Jitsu, lying about military service, wealth building, and where he thinks the country is headed.

Greg's Book - Courage Through Adversity: https://a.co/d/02CV5tuu

Andy's Book - Drownproof: https://www.clearedhotpodcast.com/book

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Iran, The Draft, and Smuggled Ants | Negligent Discharge Friday | 3.13.2026 Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

Negligent Discharge Friday. Michael now has nunchucks. We're accepting name suggestions. Two names. Because there are two of them.

We got into Iran. The strike on the elementary school. Outdated intelligence. The difference between owning a mistake and talking around it. The authorized use of military force and how every administration since 9/11 has abused it. The draft being floated by a president who dodged Vietnam with bone spurs. Gaza and how you fight an enemy embedded in a civilian population. Mandatory service and why two years of serving something bigger than yourself might fix a lot of what's broken.

Then Snowden. Hero, villain, or somewhere in between. The surveillance state we already live in. The Patriot Act being one of the most unpatriotic things ever passed. AI deepfakes that take two days and $40 to build. A woman grieving the retirement of her AI boyfriend. And a guy in Kenya getting arrested trying to smuggle 2,200 ants in test tubes through an airport.

Enjoy.

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Wellness and Resiliency Are Not the Same Thing | Erica Gaines | Ep. 436 Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

Erica Gaines came into law enforcement as the Knife Girl — selling switchblades at police conferences, making small talk with cops, building relationships she didn't fully understand. She had opinions. She thought shooting someone in the leg was a reasonable ask. Then she stepped into a use-of-force simulator. One domestic violence scenario, a shock pack on her lower back, and two minutes of chaos later, she walked out shaking. That experience rewired her. She's been inside this world ever since, running TacMobility — bringing neuroscience, stress physiology, and resiliency training to law enforcement agencies across the country.

Suicide is the number one cop killer in America. Not line-of-duty deaths. Not ambushes. Not traffic stops. Only half of agencies have any wellness program at all. Of those, only 23% are teaching actual resiliency skills. We get into what that gap costs — and why wellness and resiliency aren't the same thing, and confusing them is part of the problem.

We talk about internal law enforcement culture — why officers say the body armor on their back is for their own admin. Why cynicism becomes a slow leak that doesn't stop at retirement. Why the most important thing a cop can do might be building a social circle that has nothing to do with the job. We also get into dispatchers, women in law enforcement, human trafficking in Kalispell, and what happens to your identity the day you turn in your badge.

Tacmobility: https://www.tacmobility.org

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Pack Light, Fight Hard, Say What Needs to Be Said | Full Auto Friday | 3.6.2026 Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

Listener Q and A to close out the week. Topics are heavier than usual, but that's how it goes sometimes.

-What's in the EDC fanny pack and why

-A guy who keeps getting knocked down asks if he should keep pushing toward becoming a Marine

-Family drama with the sister-in-law is bleeding into everything, how do you protect what matters without making it worse

-A man's mom just got a terminal cancer diagnosis. I lost my mom to cancer. I have regrets about how I handled the end of her life.

Enjoy.

Pick up a copy of my book Drownproof here: https://www.clearedhotpodcast.com/book

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Inside Cartel Conflict and the Reality At The Border | Oscar Hagelsieb | Ep. 435 Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

Oscar Hagelsieb is a Mexican-American law enforcement professional known for his lengthy career in U.S. federal service focused on border security, organized crime and cartel infiltration. He grew up in a tough neighborhood on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas, the son of undocumented immigrant parents. His upbringing gave him firsthand insight into both sides of the border and influenced his decision to pursue a career in federal law enforcement.

Hagelsieb began his federal service as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent, where he worked in frontline enforcement along the U.S.–Mexico border. In that role he encountered families and migrants crossing for economic opportunity as well as experienced cartel-linked smuggling activity.

Building on his effectiveness and his deep understanding of local culture and language, Hagelsieb transitioned into undercover work, infiltrating narcotics and human smuggling networks tied to major Mexican drug cartels. His appearance and background were strategic assets in these operations, allowing him to navigate criminal subcultures and gather actionable intelligence that led to prosecutions.

Over time, he rose through the ranks to become the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in El Paso. In this senior leadership position, he oversaw complex investigations into transnational organized crime, cartel logistics, and cross-border smuggling operations, and managed both domestic and international law enforcement efforts.

His work and perspective were featured in the documentary Kingdom of Shadows, which examines the human realities of the drug war and cartel influence along the border, providing rare insight into the lived experience of agents operating within these conflicts.

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The Lie Of "Stranger Danger" | Full Auto Friday | 2/27.26 Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

Four questions for today's Q and A that all center on responsibility and perspective. We start with a man in a movie theater watching someone try to enter through an emergency exit, his mind flashing back to the Aurora theater shooting and wondering ever since if he should have acted or done more. From there, a husband blindsided by his wife saying she's leaving and facing the reality of telling his two young sons. The third question comes from a man recovering from major surgery who feels useless and like a burden on his wife while he heals. We close by tackling whether it's smarter to openly acknowledge the risks young men and women face online, or ignore what is statistically unlikely but emotionally unsettling.

Pre-Order my upcoming book Drownproof here:

https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/drownproof-9781250379610/

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The Real Generation Kill | Brad Colbert | Ep. 434 Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Brad Colbert is a retired Marine Master Sergeant with 30 years of military and government service. He served with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Afghanistan in 2001 and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where he led Marines in combat and was later depicted in Generation Kill. After retiring from active duty, he continued working in support of the Intelligence Community before shifting his focus to leadership, resilience, and veteran advocacy through The Carry On Podcast and the Recon Foundation.

We talked about combat, responsibility, and what happens when the uniform comes off. A major part of this conversation was veteran mental health and the reality that too many men are still fighting alone. Brad is working to change that. This episode is about ownership, connection, and making sure the people who served don't suffer in silence.

Find Brad Here: https://bradcolbert.us/

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Negligent Discharge Friday | 2/20/2026 Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

Young Michael dove deep on his internet research for this Friday. We spent an hour discussing a variety of topics, and as usual, he did not disappoint:

-Black Belts Freaking Out and Punching Purple Belts

-Do Weapons Fire By Themselves?

-The Reality of Steven Seagal Movies

-Social Media Comments and Arrests in Europe

-Helicopter Crashes into the Snow

-The Epstein File debacle

And much more......

Enjoy-

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Built to Kill: Writing the Gray Man | Mark Greaney | Ep. 433 Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

Mark Greaney is one of the most successful thriller authors working today — a #1 New York Times bestselling writer who built an entire spy fiction universe with his Gray Man series and helped carry forward Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan legacy. His novels have become global hits, translated into dozens of languages, and turned into major motion pictures on Netflix starring high-profile talent. We dive deep into what separates hobbyists from career storytellers, why meticulous research matters, and how Greaney approaches pacing, character, and realism in a crowded genre.

In this episode, Greaney walks us through his journey from early drafts to international bestseller, the hustle behind sustaining a long-running series, and how real-world preparation — from travel to tactical training — feeds the kind of action readers devour but seldom see the work behind.

The Hard Line:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786216/the-hard-line-by-mark-greaney/

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The Cost of "No Quit" | Full Auto Friday | 2/13/2026 Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

This week's Q&A tackles a mindset I respect—but one that can turn on you if you're not careful. Two listeners ask different versions of the same question: can a "no quit" attitude become destructive? One is staying in a marriage he knows is unhealthy because he fears being labeled a quitter. The other can grind himself into the ground at work but doesn't know how to recognize the point of diminishing returns. The third question comes from a man caught in an emotional affair, wrestling with guilt and the weight of repeating the same mistake that fractured his own family.

Pre Order your copy of my new book "Drownproof" here: https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/drownproof-9781250379610/

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