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The John Passadino Show

The John Passadino Show

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 The John Passadino Show delivers compelling insights on self-awareness, mental health, and spirituality through in-depth interviews with international authors, performers, educators, and philosophers.

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Episodes
  • When Running a Marathon Becomes a Blueprint for Surviving Cancer: My Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds

    When Running a Marathon Becomes a Blueprint for Surviving Cancer: My Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds
    Feb 4 2026
    A video version of this interview is available on YouTube.There’s something profound that happens when you sit down with someone who has stared down death twice and emerged not just alive, but thriving. My recent conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds on The John Passadino Show wasn’t just another interview about overcoming adversity. It was a masterclass in what it means to truly live, even when everything inside you is screaming to give up.Dr. Reynolds is the President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association in New York, but his story goes far beyond the impressive credentials. He’s completed five New York City marathons, four Long Island marathons, 30 triathlons, and seven Ironman races. And somewhere between mile markers and finish lines, he was diagnosed with cancer. Twice.The Unexpected Journey from Barstool to MarathonThe way Jeff tells it, his running career began in the most unlikely place: a bar in Tampa at 2 a.m. during a professional conference. Someone suggested a 5K race that morning. Jeff, in his mid-40s and admittedly not an athlete (he was kicked off the track team in ninth grade for getting other kids to smoke), showed up wearing shorts and shoes that were definitely not made for running.“The gun goes off. I take off like a bat out of hell, and 90 seconds later, I am huffing, puffing, cursing, and walking,” he told me with refreshing honesty. That 36-minute 5K became a turning point. A couple years later, he won that same race.But here’s what struck me most about our conversation: Jeff doesn’t just run to finish. He runs to understand himself.Mile 18: The Dark and Lonely PlaceThere’s a moment in every marathon, Jeff explained, that tests everything you think you know about yourself. It happens around mile 18. You’ve been out on the road for a couple of hours. Your body is breaking down. Your nutrition is failing. The finish line is too far to see, but you’ve come too far to quit.“Your mind starts playing games with you,” Jeff said. “You could just stop. You could walk. Nobody really cares. You’re getting the same free banana and bottle of water and dumb medal you can’t even wear to work at the end of it.”When he found himself two-thirds of the way through his chemotherapy treatments, he recognized that same dark, lonely place. The parallel was undeniable. His body was breaking down. The end wasn’t in sight. Every cell in his body wanted to quit.But he didn’t.Getting Comfortable with Being UncomfortableThis is where Jeff’s story transcends athletics and cancer and becomes something much more universal. We live in a world engineered for comfort, he pointed out. Want dinner? Order it to your door. Feeling stressed? There’s an app for that. But real growth, real transformation, happens in the spaces where we’re uncomfortable.“Part of that for me was getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Jeff explained. “Acknowledging the uncomfortability. Yeah, this sucks. Yeah, my body hurts. And then you acknowledge it and you put it aside and you keep going.”This isn’t toxic positivity or “just push through it” bravado. It’s something deeper. It’s about being present with your pain, naming it, and then making a conscious choice to continue anyway. It’s about finding meaning in the struggle itself.The Things Men Don’t Usually SayWhat really got me about Jeff’s book, “Every Mile Matters: Turning Triathlon Training into Cancer Triumph,” was how he talked about things men don’t typically discuss. Friendship. Isolation. Vulnerability. Spirituality.“You say so many things from a personal point of view and from a guy point of view that I normally don’t hear,” I told him during our conversation. And it’s true. Men are conditioned to tough it out, to not need people, to handle everything alone. But Jeff’s book and our conversation challenged all of that.He writes about the importance of having people in your corner. About the spiritual questions that arise when you’re facing your own mortality. About what we’re made of and what really matters when everything else falls away.From Cancer Survivor to Community ChampionToday, Jeff channels his experiences into his work as President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association, one of Long Island’s oldest and largest nonprofits. Under his leadership, FCA operates Thrive Recovery Centers, a revolutionary approach to addiction recovery that recognizes a fundamental truth: you can’t just take drugs out of someone’s life. You have to help them put really good stuff back in.“Rehabs are designed to help you take drugs out of your life,” Jeff explained. “Recovery centers help you put really good stuff back into your life. Unless you do both at the same time, somebody’s going to stumble and relapse again and again and again.”Thrive operates three centers across Nassau and Suffolk counties, serving about 10,000 people. And here’s the beautiful part: ...
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    58 mins
  • When Music Calls You Back

    When Music Calls You Back
    Jan 21 2026
    There’s something about finding music that speaks to you. Not just speaks—shouts, whispers, demands to be heard. That’s how I felt when I stumbled across Linda Brady and the Linda Brady Revival Band. I’m not just saying that because she’s my guest. I genuinely love this music. It has that raw, emotional quality that reminds me of Bob Dylan at his most urgent, when he’s got something real to say about the world.Linda’s new album, Deep Brain Stimulator, is her first in thirty years. Let that sink in for a moment. Thirty years. Most people would have moved on entirely, filed those rock and roll dreams under “things I did when I was young.” But Linda’s story isn’t about giving up on music—it’s about life pulling you in different directions, and then music pulling you back when you need it most.The First Time AroundLinda was seventeen when she wrote all the songs for her first album, the one she calls “the Green album.” Living in New York, a chance connection through her mother’s art class led her to Matthew King Kaufman, the president and founder of Beserkley Records in Berkeley, California. He heard her music and said, “Come on out and make an album.”“OK, whatever,” Linda remembers thinking. So, she did.She ended up living in San Francisco for about fifteen years, slugging it out in the trenches of the music business. We’re talking 2 a.m. concerts on Wednesday nights in bars with three people in the audience. This was before the internet, before you could build a following from your bedroom. It was just you, your music, and whoever happened to wander into that dive bar at two in the morning.“I just have more needs in life than just being a rock star,” Linda told me. She wanted a family. She’d met her husband in San Francisco. “I think I just want to have a family and be a normal person for a while,” she thought.And she did. For many years, Linda was a public school teacher. She raised her children. “That’s the most creative thing you could possibly ever do,” she said about raising her kids. “It’s more creative than writing songs and doing anything like this.”Her children are musicians too. They get it. They understand what music means to their mother. “They’re my pride and joy,” Linda said. “That’s like my reason for living—my children and my family.”The ReturnSo, what brings someone back to music after three decades? For Linda, it wasn’t a simple decision. It was complex, urgent, necessary. She was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Suddenly, the world looked different. Her world looked different. And when she looked at the state of everything around her—the chaos, the disarray—something inside her demanded expression.Deep Brain Stimulator isn’t a comeback album in the traditional sense. It’s a battle cry. It’s a plea. It’s what happens when someone with a gift for expression faces the biggest challenges of their life and refuses to go quietly.We talked about the business side of music, and honestly, it hasn’t gotten any prettier. I shared stories from the autobiographies I’ve been reading—Al Pacino getting wiped out by someone managing his money, Neil Simon being ripped off, Billy Joel’s money being taken. Wherever there’s money and power, there’s that black cloud descending.“The music business is so full of that,” Linda agreed. “That’s part of why I wanted to be normal—I don’t want to hang around these people anymore, you know, because a lot of them are just sleazebags.”But now she’s back on her own terms. As an independent artist, she has control. If she doesn’t feel like doing something, she can stop. Even if nobody’s ever heard of her, it’s better this way. She can focus on what she loves—the writing, the creating, the playing—without the parts that make her want to vomit.The Music and the MessageLinda’s songwriting process is fascinating. She described it as being like a jigsaw puzzle. She’ll have pieces lying around—a verse here, a chorus there—and suddenly she’ll see how they fit together. Sometimes a song will be two-thirds done and she’ll realize it needs to merge with another fragment she’s been working on. It’s organic, unpredictable, creative in the truest sense.Her band is built around trust and chemistry. She found her current bass player, Jackie, through an ad. They bonded immediately over music, even though Jackie was much younger. “I feel like I can trust her,” Linda said. “And you know what? That’s the secret to any creative endeavor.”The drummer, Chip, has been with her forever. “He’s a good drummer, a kind person, a loyal person,” she told me. There’s no ego, no drama. Just people who care about the music and each other.Full CircleWe got nostalgic talking about music formats. I told Linda about my first car with its 8-track player, swapping my cassette tapes with my friend who had 8-tracks. She reminisced ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Finding Freedom: How Dr. Laurette Willis Combines Faith and Neuroscience to Transform Lives

    Finding Freedom: How Dr. Laurette Willis Combines Faith and Neuroscience to Transform Lives
    Jan 7 2026
    As someone who’s been a yo-yo dieter my entire life, I’ve tried every program imaginable. I count my calories daily, I’ve lost weight, gained it back, and spent decades riding that exhausting rollercoaster. So, when I sat down with Dr. Laurette Willis for my podcast, I knew I was in for something different. And I was right.Dr. Laurette isn’t just another weight loss coach. As a certified life coach, cognitive behavioral therapist, and ordained minister, she’s created something I’d never encountered before: a program that weaves together biblical truth with neuroscience. For someone like me who’s struggled with both weight and mental health issues, her approach felt like the missing link I’d been searching for.The Problem with Diet Culture“A lot of people look at weight loss just from the physical standpoint,” Dr. Laurette explained early in our conversation. “And that’s the diet mentality. That’s where diet trauma comes in. That’s where the yo-yos come in.”She hit the nail on the head. I’ve done that for decades myself. But as she pointed out, “we’re not dealing with the reason why we’re using food improperly for comfort in the first place.”This resonated deeply with me. How many times have I finished a diet feeling triumphant, only to find myself right back where I started because I never addressed the underlying reasons? Dr. Laurette’s insight cut through years of frustration: “Let’s look at the reasons why we go to the comfort food instead of to the comforter.”Understanding the Whole Person: Spirit, Soul, and BodyOne of the most powerful concepts Dr. Laurette shared was viewing ourselves as complete beings, not just bodies that need fixing. Drawing from Genesis 1:26-27, she explained we are “spirit, made in the image of God,” we “have a soul—your mind, will and emotions,” and we “live in a body, your earth suit, the temple of the Holy Spirit.”This understanding, she noted, comes directly from 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where Paul prays “your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”“If you want to make a difference on the outside,” Dr. Laurette emphasized, “we want to do it from the inside first.”The Balance Between Faith and ScienceI shared with Dr. Laurette about my mother, who was wonderfully spiritual and charismatic but relied more on the spiritual side of things. She would read books advocating prayer and faith, and less on the cognitive, psychological approach. I’ve learned through my own journey that we need both.Dr. Laurette confirmed this beautifully: “This is where a lot of believers have missed it.” She explained that many Christians love the Lord, love the Word, love prayer and church, and “we got the love walk down.” But the question remains: “Why do I keep going around this same mountain again and again and again? And that’s because the brain element is missing.”As a cognitive behavioral therapist, she looks for ways to “renew the mind on the Word of God and then retrain the brain using neuroscience principles and techniques based on scripture.”What sets her approach apart is her commitment to truth. “If I don’t see a correlation in the Word of God in scripture, I don’t use it,” she said, “because then it’s not going to be founded on truth.”Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern ScienceI love how Dr. Laurette combines wisdom that’s thousands of years old with what we’ve learned through scientific research. As I mentioned in our conversation, we’re taking the incredible wisdom that has lasted millennia and bringing it together with neuroscience discoveries.Her approach is grounded in Romans 12:2: “Don’t be conformed to this world, the world’s way of doing things, but be transformed. Your whole life can be transformed how? By the renewing of your mind... on the Word of the living God.”The goal, as she puts it: “We want you to be healthy, fit, and free. Don’t diet, live it. It has to be something you can live one day at a time.”The Power of Self-Talk and Neural PathwaysOne of the most practical insights Dr. Laurette shared involved understanding how our brains actually work. She explained that when we repeatedly tell ourselves negative things—”I can’t do this,” “I always fail,” “I’m not good enough”—we’re literally creating neural pathways in our brains.“We have to go to what is it that we’re saying to ourselves,” she explained. Our thoughts become neural pathways that get reinforced every time we think them, eventually becoming what neuroscientists call a “superhighway” in our brains.The solution? Interrupting those patterns and creating new ones based on God’s truth. She uses techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy combined with Scripture to help people literally retrain their brains while renewing their minds.Breaking Free from Self-Fulfilling PropheciesDr. Laurette shared a concept ...
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    59 mins
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