PODCAST · tv
People Of Distinction
by Al Cole
People of Distinction features celebrities as well as the everyday public who have made extraordinary impact through their intense dedication to loving what they do! When you think about it, this sort of concept of "people of distinction" would make for the most engaging and informative interviews on the planet, wouldn't it? Influencer Al Cole from CBS Radio, creator of People of Distinction, and his son Benji Cole, actor and celebrity connector, are two of the most dynamic voices in professional broadcasting. Al Cole from CBS Radio interviews World Renown CELEBRITY GUESTS. Al's Fans call themselves "Al ColeHolics"!!! Contact Al Cole: [email protected] Contact Benji Cole: [email protected]
Episodes
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Skating Through Life's Lessons with Samantha Lewis
What if the thing you begged for as a kid was never what you truly needed? In this episode of People of Distinction, we welcome Samantha Lewis to discuss her book I Want My Darn Skates (3rd edition), available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and the deeper story behind its unforgettable title....
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The Hidden Messages: A Journey with Samuel Merritt
A rose without thorns is artificial and Samuel R. Merritt Sr. came to prove why poetry hits harder than most people realize. In this episode, we dive into A Heart’s Treasures (available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) and unpack how Sam turns everyday lines into “encrypted” meaning, vivid mental...
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Al Cole from CBS Broadcasting with Special Guest THEODORA MAYS on People Of Distinction
The great and inspiring THEODORA MAYS appears as a special guest of Al Cole from CBS Broadcasting on his stellar SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW SERIES. Theodora's impressive book is called "Read My Mind...See My Thoughts". It's a Poetry collection for your heart, full of wisdom that explores themes of human...
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Kicked Out, But Not Cast Away
What if the place that promised to heal you became the place that broke you? When Darla Melancon's son disclosed abuse at their church, her pastors didn't offer support, they offered silence, and eventually, the door. In this conversation, Darla shares the journey behind her book The Things I...
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Finding God in the Dark: Encouragement Through Scripture
What happens when life's darkest moments become the canvas for God's most encouraging messages? In this episode of People of Distinction, we sit down with Althea B. Best—poet, survivor, and author of Encouraging Good News Through Poetry, to explore how scripture, suffering, and the gift of verse...
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Trusting God Without the Rules
What if the God you've been told to fear is actually just waiting to be a father? Author and 44-year ministry veteran John Phelps joins People of Distinction to unpack his book Trust God, Period, a raw, honest look at moving from fear-based faith to genuine confidence in a God who isn't afraid of...
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Finding Your Way Back to Self: No Perfection Required
What if the moment you hit rock bottom wasn't the end of your story, but the beginning of finding your way back? In this deeply raw conversation, author Winfield Ivers opens up about how addiction, wilderness solitude, and a stubborn refusal to quit led him to write The Sacred Path Back. From...
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40 Years, 7 States, One Question: What Does It Mean to Help Someone Live?
Forty years, seven states, and one question that changes how you think about care: what does it mean to help someone live their life, not just recover from an injury? Occupational therapist Margret Kingery joins People of Distinction to share the moments that never make it onto the chart ; from a...
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They Tried to Kill the Message — Not the Messenger
When darkness targets your purpose, only divine intervention can save it—that's the real-life story of author Eddy Colin. In this raw, faith-driven conversation, Eddy opens up about his rise, his fall into an ego-driven life, and the moment God intervened to save him and redirect his path. He...
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The Other Life of Mary Abrams
What if everything you were looking for was already inside you, and a single field trip could prove it? Author James Edwards III joins People of Distinction to unpack his debut novel The Other Life of Mary Abrams, a surreal psychological adventure following five college students on a trip that...
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Running on God's Clock: A Conversation with L.A. Damon
What happens when you finally escape a place that hurt you, only to discover God is calling you right back? L.A. Damon's memoir Matter of Principle: R8mans is a 25-year journey involving stolen manuscripts, silent seasons, and the stubborn grip of divine purpose. In this conversation on People of...
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Reality Isn't Found — It's Framed: The Agenda Spin Method
Every headline you've ever read was chosen. Every outrage you've felt was framed. Dr. Richard E. Vatz, professor of nearly 50 years and author of The Only Authentic Book of Persuasion: The Agenda Spin Method—reveals how the loudest voices don't just react to reality, they build it. If you've ever...
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No Losses, Only Lessons
What happens when the fire that burns you becomes the light that guides you home? Randy Lemieux survived a childhood shaped by domestic violence, drug addiction, and rebellion — then turned every scar into a lesson worth sharing. In this episode of People of Distinction, Randy opens up about his...
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Through the Eyes of a Cat: A Conversation with Patricia Kawa'a
Ever wonder what your cat is really thinking when they stare out the window? Author Patricia Kawa'a turns that everyday curiosity into a delightful children's book series that reminds kids and parents alike to slow down and find magic in ordinary moments. Meet Leon St. Ray and Grapefruit — two…
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A Billion-Dollar Verdict and a Lifetime of Healing
She survived fourteen years of abuse that began at age four. She stayed silent for decades, building two versions of herself just to make it through the day. Then she took her abuser to court and won a $1.1 billion verdict. Now Pamela Elaine Lockridge is showing survivors everywhere that healing...
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Media Is a Business — Your Home Doesn't Have to Be
What if the real problem isn't the screen, it's that we've forgotten we're allowed to turn it off? In this episode, we sit down with Michael Hartfield to discuss Unplug: 101 Ways to Pull Your Kids Away From Their Electronics — the powerful book written by his late wife, Wanda Kanten Hartfield.…
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The Only Way Is Up: Breaking the Stigma Around ED
Erectile dysfunction affects millions of men worldwide, yet the conversation around it is still stuck in silence and shame. In this episode, clinician and author Seema Tangri breaks down everything your doctor might not have time to tell you: from the surprising medical conditions hiding behind…
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Obedience Over Comfort: A Conversation with Bishop Eugene McCrea
He moved his wife and kids to Alaska with no job, no money, and no plan, just a word: obedience. Bishop Eugene McCrea sits down to unpack the faith-fueled leap that nearly broke his family and ultimately built his legacy, detailed in his new memoir The Journey of Obedience. This is a raw, real...
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Answering a Dead Poet: Rilke's Art of Metric Melody
What if a poet answered a dead man's verse with one of his own—across a full century? Martin Bidney did exactly that, translating Rilke's poems and writing a live poetic reply to each, from a panther's caged despair to monks finding meaning in a garden. This is a conversation that shouldn't be...
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Life After the Crib: Tackling Early Rising
At 5:30 AM, a toddler's newfound freedom from a crib quickly becomes an exhausted parent's worst nightmare. In this conversation, Diana Yacobi unpacks the spontaneous storytelling strategy she invented during a single phone call to rescue her daughter from these relentless early-morning wake-ups....
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Finding God Beyond the Church Walls
What if death isn't the end, but a door you've been standing in front of your whole life? Author Hillary R. Carraway joins us to unpack her book Soul Existence, born from a spiritual awakening and forged through unimaginable tragedy: the loss of her son to a drunk driver. This raw, unfiltered...
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A Detective Story, A Spiritual Odyssey: Edwin Tazelaar's Story
Hear how one man tracked a stranger's stolen daughter using only a chance encounter, a chill down his spine, and a discarded piece of trash to find her. Retired police officer Edwin Tazelaar joins People of Distinction to unpack the true story behind Cathy! Cathy, Where Are You?, a real-life…
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Fifth Period: Lessons from a Lifetime in the Classroom
He walked into a classroom nobody wanted: the dreaded fifth period. 28 years later, he wrote the definitive guide on shaping young minds. In this episode of People of Distinction, retired educator Melvin Wendell Gates opens up about the students who changed him, the burnout that almost broke him,...
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Pay to Exist, Compete to Eat: America's Rigged Freedom
What if the American Dream has quietly become a lie sold to keep you compliant? Eagle Scout, teacher, and author MG Montpelier joins People of Distinction to expose 50 years of trickle-down economics, eroding civil liberties, and a rigged system designed to keep ordinary Americans "eternally...
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The $4 Billion Silence: Profit, Prisons, and the Suicides No One Prevents
More people die by suicide in U.S. jails than from any other cause and it's happening in the first 72 hours after arrest. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Anasseril Daniel, who has reviewed over 200 correctional suicide cases in 25 years, exposes how solitary confinement, inadequate training, and a...
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Top Gun Governance: Leading Through Uncertainty
What if the biggest threat to your organization isn't the crisis you see coming, but the one you can't? Derek M. Stevens—consultant, author, and former programmer—joins People of Distinction to unpack Top Gun Governance, a radical rethink of leadership built on military-grade situational…
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Son of Man, Son of God: Who Is This Man, Jesus Christ?
At 15 years old, Jan Rustad snuck onto a freighter to Norway and gave his life to Jesus in a narrow bunk somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. Decades later, after facing cancer, COVID, and back surgery, he brings his story full circle with his new book, "Lessons on Jesus: Who Is This Man…
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What I Believe: Keith Stelzer's Battle-Tested Faith
After nearly five decades serving in the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Defense, Keith Stelzer set out to answer one question: what does he actually believe? What started as a personal journal after a 2023 revival conference became What I Believe—a book that traces his walk from...
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Born in Heaven, Raised in Uganda: Dr. Sovereign's Untold Story
She says she's from heaven—literally. Dr. Nantume Sovereign opens up about growing up in Uganda, the family breakdown that reshaped her faith, and how a quiet, "reserved" girl became a woman convinced God had marked her for something bigger. In this conversation, she unpacks the heart behind her...
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Home Is Not a Dot on the Map: Margot Stornelli's Story
She packed a single suitcase at 17, boarded a plane to the Netherlands alone, and came back a completely different person Now, 50 years later, Margot Stornelli has turned that journey into a memoir the whole world needs to read. In this episode of People of Distinction, Margot unpacks the real...
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Born to Heal, Built to Serve
What if a single pair of hands could save lives, coach champions, heal souls, and warn a generation about the collapse of civilization? Vietnam veteran, rehabilitation director, soccer coach, and climate researcher Robert J. Ackerman returns to People of Distinction to unpack his profound new…
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Strange Land, Shared Stories
What happens when a diagnosis lands you in a world you never asked to enter and no one around you knows what to say? Tricia Ann Roloff, author of Navigating Through a Strange Land, joins People of Distinction to share how a pituitary tumor diagnosis led her to create a one-of-a-kind resource that...
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630 Hours in the Sky. A Lifetime on the Ground. One Colonel's Story
He flew combat missions over Vietnam, got spit on when he came home, and didn't speak about it for decades—until God gave him a reason to. Colonel David O. Sheiding returns to People of Distinction to share Wings of Faith, a raw and riveting memoir that takes you from the cockpit of a warplane to...
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From Medicine to Mystery: Dr. Andrew Schaefer's Story
A Holocaust survivor's son who escaped communist Hungary, swam across a river to freedom, and became a decorated physician — now he's writing murder mysteries. Dr. Andrew I. Schafer joins us to discuss The Panacea Doctor: The Mysterious Disappearance of a Beloved Physician, a gripping historical...
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40 Years in 40 Minutes: The Career Code
What if 40 years of hard-won career wisdom could be absorbed in the time it takes to drink your morning coffee? Author and systems engineer Michael Alan Bell joins us to break down his book 40/40: 40 Years of Career and Life Advice in 40 Minutes — a razor-sharp guide built for busy professionals...
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You Don't Leave War Behind - A Marine's Journey
He carried the weight of Vietnam for over 50 years and then he wrote it all down. In this episode of People of Distinction, Vietnam Marine veteran, Robert Janicki, opens up about his 13 months on the front lines with the 3rd Marines, surviving the Tet Offensive, and the survivor's guilt that…
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A Traitor to His Family, A Hero to His Country
He never lost a battle, was mourned by 10,000 people including a sitting U.S. president and today, almost no one knows his name. In this episode, author David Stinebeck joins us to unpack the deliberately buried story of Civil War General George Henry Thomas, a Virginian who chose the Union over...
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Healing on Purpose: A Conversation with Keith Scott
What happens when a dream becomes a message the world desperately needs to hear? Vietnam veteran and postal worker Keith Scott joins People of Distinction to share the story behind his novel A Time and Place for Healing — a beautifully simple tale about an unlikely connection that quietly...
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God Doesn't Waste the Ugly: A Story of Transformation
She was six years old, hiding under a table in fear and decades later, she would hold the very woman who caused that fear as she took her final breath. Leah Beth's memoir How God Breathed Life Into Me is a raw, unflinching account of growing up in an Amish Mennonite home marked by rejection…
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When Greed Threatens Everything You Love: A Conversation with Cleous G. Young
What if the miracle you've been waiting for was never a moment, but a community? In this episode of People of Distinction, author Cleous G. Young takes us from a boyhood dream of becoming the next Pelé in Jamaica to a divine writing journey that produced The Mountain of Miracles, a story about a...
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The Johnny in All of Us
What if one simple act of kindness could change everything? In this episode of People of Distinction, we sit down with author John W. Sangwin to explore Johnny's World: The Series in One; a heartfelt, coming-of-age story about friendship, belonging, and the quiet power of showing up for someone…
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Unseen, Unheard: One Woman's Battle Against Medical Neglect
She was born unable to breathe and for nine years, no one knew why. Seena Rothrock sits down to share her memoir I Survived: Bilateral Choanal Atresia, an unflinching account of medical neglect, growing up deaf in a hearing world, and the one curious doctor who finally changed everything. Her…
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It's Not in Your Head — It's in Your Spirit: Wayne Keast on PTSD
What if the deepest wounds of war aren't in your head, but in your soul? Retired Army Chaplain Wayne A. Keast spent decades watching soldiers medicated into silence, and he discovered that the answer to PTSD isn't in a pill bottle, it's in ancient scripture. In this episode, Wayne breaks down the...
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Unicorns, Dinos, and the Bully Next Door
What happens when a brand-new dinosaur moves into a magical paradise of unicorns and decides to ruin everyone's fun? In this episode, we sit down with Connie Clanton, author of Trouble Comes to Bagel Mountain to explore the chaotic arrival of Sam the dinosaur and the toll his bullying takes on…
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Surviving the Unthinkable and Reclaiming Your Life
How do you rebuild your reality when a high-speed police chase crashes into your world and shatters everything you know? In this powerful episode, we sit down with Kaitlyn Daly, author of In the Blink of an Eye to hear the harrowing story of their near-fatal 2019 collision and the grueling…
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Pause, Sigh, Goodbye: Finding Wisdom in Life’s Plot Twists
Have you ever been done dirty, left deeply hurt, or forced to say a painful goodbye? We dive into the new book, Quotes for the Mentality Notes for the Reality, by Antonia Harris, to untangle life's messiest situations and emotional plot twists. Hit play to discover how reading just one quote a…
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Bitten by Ambition: When Greed Becomes a Curse
What happens when ambition quietly becomes obsession and costs you everything? In this episode, we sit down with Michael Maxon (aka Dr. Johnny Delirious), author of The Need for Greed: Dracula's Curse, a memoir that draws haunting parallels between his own rise and collapse, the fall of the Roman...
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Rooted in Pain, Rising in Purpose
She survived molestation, addiction, and a family torn apart by dysfunction and then she wrote every word of it down so you wouldn't have to face yours alone. Marlene Essence Dotts joins People of Distinction to discuss her raw, redemptive memoir Coming Out of the Woods. A book that wasn't…
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Building the Shadow Carnival: Kristopher McClendon on Writing "Freak Show"
Step right up to the deadliest show on earth, where the price of admission might just cost you your humanity! In this episode, author Kristopher McClendon takes us inside the twisted world of his novel Freak Show, where the sinister Shadow Carnival is abducting citizens and transforming them into...
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Rising from the Ashes: A Conversation with Lonnie Beerman
What if being the kid who didn't fit in was never the problem, it was always the point? Author Lonnie Beerman joins us to discuss Tears of the Phoenix, a coming-of-age novel that readers are calling a lifeline for men, boys, and the women who love them; exploring friendship as survival, the quiet...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
People of Distinction features celebrities as well as the everyday public who have made extraordinary impact through their intense dedication to loving what they do! When you think about it, this sort of concept of "people of distinction" would make for the most engaging and informative interviews on the planet, wouldn't it?
Influencer Al Cole from CBS Radio, creator of People of Distinction, and his son Benji Cole, actor and celebrity connector, are two of the most dynamic voices in professional broadcasting.
Al Cole from CBS Radio interviews World Renown CELEBRITY GUESTS. Al's Fans call themselves "Al ColeHolics"!!! Contact Al Cole: [email protected] Contact Benji Cole: [email protected]
HOSTED BY
Al Cole
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does People Of Distinction have?
People Of Distinction currently has 594 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is People Of Distinction about?
People of Distinction features celebrities as well as the everyday public who have made extraordinary impact through their intense dedication to loving what they do! When you think about it, this sort of concept of "people of distinction" would make for the most engaging and informative interviews...
How often does People Of Distinction release new episodes?
People Of Distinction releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 594 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to People Of Distinction?
You can listen to People Of Distinction on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts People Of Distinction?
People Of Distinction is created and hosted by Al Cole.
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