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There are people who know a little about a lot. And then there are people like Pete A. Turner.

This week on Here’s What We Know, we sit down with a former Army counterintelligence agent who turned a life of asking hard questions into something unexpected: a podcast built on curiosity, connection, and listening.

What starts as a conversation about baseball and sports turns into something much deeper. We’ll talk about what it really means to pay attention. Not just hearing words, but understanding what’s underneath them.

Pete also shares how his time as a spy shaped the way he sees the world. How he builds trust, how he gets people to open up, and why the best conversations rarely go the way you planned.

And if you’ve ever wondered why some conversations stay with you long after they’re over, this episode might give you a few answers.

In This Episode:

• Why This Conversation Goes Off Script Fast
• Baseball, Obsession, and How Smart Minds Stay Engaged
• Why Sports Are More Than Games
• Why He Walked Away from Football
• The Problem With “Greatest of All Time” Debates
• What Makes Elite Athletes Different
• F1, Precision, and the Psychology of High Performance
• From Podcasting to 2,000 Episodes: How Pete Built His Show
• “I Was a Spy”: Pete Turner’s Counterintelligence Background
• Fear, Growth, and Why You Should Say Yes to Hard Things
• Near-Death Experiences and What Happens at the Edge of Life
• How a Spy Becomes a Great Podcast Host
• The Secret to Getting People to Open Up
• How to Ask Better Questions (And Get Better Answers)

This episode is sponsored by:

Bison Junk Removal

Bio:

Pete A. Turner is a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent turned podcast host and storyteller. As the executive producer and host of The Break It Down Show, Pete has led more than 2,000 conversations with a wide range of guests, from Nobel Prize winners to everyday people with extraordinary stories.

His background in espionage and global deployments across Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, and Germany shaped the way he listens, asks questions, and connects with people. That same approach now defines his work behind the microphone.

Whether he’s exploring geopolitics, personal resilience, or the human stories behind the headlines, Pete creates space for conversations that go deeper than most.

Website: https://www.breakitdownshow.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteaturner/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakitdownshow

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/peteaturner

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This week on Here’s What We Know, we welcome Eric Hayden, founder and CEO of Urban Catalyst, a company that’s helped drive billions of dollars in development across Silicon Valley. He was also named the 2025 Silicon Valley Business Journal Newsmaker of the Year.

That’s the resume. But that’s not the story. Because this conversation goes beyond real estate and development. It’s about how someone goes from selling sand dollars as a kid… to helping shape an entire city.

And really, when you strip it all down, it’s about how we think, how we build, and how we show up in the world.

In This Episode:

• Why housing is so expensive, and why it’s not an easy fix
• What it really means to “win” at school, work, and life
• What it actually takes to build in places like Silicon Valley
• The hidden systems behind growth, cities, and opportunity
• How curiosity and creativity can shape a career in unexpected ways
• And why success has a lot less to do with intelligence than people think
  
  

This episode is sponsored by:

Bison Junk Removal (Effortless solution to your junk removal needs!)

Bio:

Eric Hayden is the Founder and Managing Partner of Urban Catalyst. Responsible for developing more than $3.5 billion in real estate projects, including over 2,300 residential units in the California Bay Area, Mr. Hayden has experience in acquisition, contract negotiation, due diligence, risk assessment, financing, construction, and disposition of multifamily, single-family, and large mixed-use and master-planned developments. He maintains relationships with a broad network of property owners, enabling him to identify and acquire prime investments. Mr. Hayden also has expertise in navigating projects through the entitlement process by working with elected officials, community groups, and political organizations to gain support and get projects approved.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/urbancatalystfund/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikhayden/

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History tends to remember the loudest voices in the room. But sometimes the person who actually helped prevent disaster is the one sitting in the middle.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the world stood just hours away from nuclear war. Most of us remember the names Kennedy and Khrushchev. What we often forget is the man working behind the scenes at the United Nations, trying to slow things down before the world lost its mind. His name was U Thant.

This week on Here’s What We Know, we sit down with historian and author Thant Myint-U, who also happens to be U Thant’s grandson. His book Peacemaker tells the story of a schoolteacher from a small town in Burma who somehow found himself standing between the superpowers at one of the most dangerous moments in modern history.

We talk about the Cold War, the role of the United Nations, and what it was like for a grandson to discover the real scope of his grandfather’s life by digging through archives decades later.

This episode is a fascinating story about diplomacy, history, and the people who sometimes carry the biggest responsibility. Listen now!

In This Episode:

• The Forgotten Peacemaker Behind the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Growing Up With the UN Secretary General
• When Did He Realize His Grandfather Was a Global Leader?
• Why U Thant Was Left Out of the Cuban Missile Crisis Story
• From Burmese Schoolteacher to UN Secretary General
• The Human Side of a World Leader
• Taking Over the UN During the Cold War
• Political Assassinations and Cold War Tensions
• The Golden Age of the United Nations
• Can the United Nations Still Prevent Global Conflict?
• The Power and Limits of the UN Security Council
• What the UN Was Originally Designed to Do
• The Decline of UN Peacekeeping Influence
• Why the UN Still Matters Today
• The Personality of U Thant: Calm, Pragmatic Leadership

This episode is sponsored by:

Mike Counsil Plumbing & Rooter (Use code “Gary” to get $89 off any service!)

License #: 679261

Bio:

Thant Myint-U is a historian, author, and former United Nations official specializing in the history and politics of Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Educated at Harvard, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Cambridge, he served on UN peacekeeping missions in Cambodia and the Balkans and later worked at the UN Secretariat in New York on humanitarian and political affairs. He has also advised Myanmar’s government on economic reform and peace negotiations and founded the Yangon Heritage Trust to preserve the city’s historic architecture.

Website: https://www.thantmyintu.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thant-myint-u-340aa99/

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• Gary's Website
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Thank you for listening. Let us know what you think about this episode. Leave us a review!