Finding Freedom
Finding Freedom is a long-form podcast focused on entrepreneurship, health, and politics, featuring in-depth conversations with independent thinkers, business owners, researchers, and cultural critics. Hosted by John Odermatt, the show explores how centralized institutions, corporate power, and political narratives impact personal freedom, health, and economic opportunity. Episodes cover entrepreneurship and financial independence, health and wellness, medical freedom, government overreach, media bias, culture, and faith. Guests range from entrepreneurs and medical professionals to academics and journalists. Finding Freedom is designed for listeners who value long-form discussion, intellectual honesty, and practical insights into building a healthier, freer, and more resilient life.
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Sandusky: The Recantation, the Hearing, and the Truth with John Ziegler
<p>The Jerry Sandusky case is back in the national spotlight after reports that "Victim 10" Ryan Rittmeyer plans to recant his trial testimony at an upcoming evidentiary hearing. Journalist John Ziegler, who has spent over a decade investigating the case and is the only person to have interviewed Rittmeyer since the trial, argues that the alleged recantation is deeply compromised and that the hearing could backfire disastrously on Sandusky's defense. Ziegler reveals that investigator Frank Parlato developed a deeply conflicted relationship with Rittmeyer — including housing him, arranging a documentary contract, and introducing him to a girlfriend — fatally undermining any credibility the...
The Lost Generation: How DEI Drove Men Out of the American Workforce
<p>This episode examines the declining male labor force participation rate in America, which has fallen to its lowest level since 1948, with roughly one in three men no longer working or seeking work. While mainstream explanations point to manufacturing decline, an aging population, and the opioid crisis, host John Odermatt argues that a decade of DEI policies has systematically pushed men—especially white men—out of industries across corporate America, academia, media, and tech. Drawing on Jacob Savage's viral Compact Magazine article "The Lost Generation" and survey data from hiring managers themselves, the episode presents sector-by-sector evidence of documented hiring disc...
No Family Should Have to Cross an Ocean to Save Their Child with Kendra Riley
<p>Kendra Riley's two daughters were diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare terminal genetic disorder. With no FDA-approved treatment available in the U.S., Kendra's family had to raise nearly half a million dollars and relocate to Italy so their youngest daughter could receive a life-saving gene therapy. While that treatment succeeded, their older daughter's disease had progressed too far — she is now in hospice care at age eight. Kendra joins Finding Freedom to advocate for Right to Try 2.0, federal legislation that would give rare disease patients access to individualized gene-based therapies at home without crossing an ocean. She al...
Watched from the Cradle to the Cubicle
<p>While most Americans are rightly concerned about government surveillance — license plate readers, Flock cameras, the deep state — a quieter and more intimate surveillance culture has taken root at home and at work. Employers are deploying AI to scan employee Slack messages, monitor productivity keystroke by keystroke, and flag tone and sentiment across billions of internal messages. At the same time, parents are tracking their teenagers' every move through apps like Life360 and Apple's Find My, often without stopping to ask whether they're solving a real threat or just following social pressure. Host John Odermatt argues that we've begun replacing trus...
FF: Why Most Small Business Branding Is Quietly Killing Their Marketing with Amber Andrews
<p>Most founders build their brand around what looks good instead of what actually works — and it's quietly sabotaging their marketing. In this episode, John sits down with Amber Andrews, founder of Andrews Artistry, to unpack why looking good and being clear aren't the same thing. Amber breaks down the real difference between a brand and a brand system, the biggest mistakes founders make when picking colors and building identity, and why she believes AI should never be used to design a logo. They also dig into when it's time to invest in professional branding and why staying authentically human be...
Neurosurgeon Turned Regenerative Medicine Pioneer Dr. Jeff Gross on Peptides, Stem Cells, and Healing from Within
<p>Dr. Jeff Gross, a board-certified neurosurgeon and founder of Recelebrate, joins the show to demystify peptides and regenerative medicine. He explains how frustration with the traditional healthcare system pushed him from surgery toward cellular-level healing, and breaks down what peptides actually are, why "FDA approved" is widely misunderstood, and how stem cells and exosomes work in the body. The conversation covers real-world applications — from joint and cartilage regeneration to Parkinson's symptom relief and mitochondrial repair with peptides like SS-31 and MOTS-C. Dr. Gross also tackles misconceptions around legality, telehealth treatment options, and how to vet a regenerative medicine clinic. It...
AI Isn't Taking Your Job — It's Exposing How Your Company Actually Runs with David Dean
<p>Everyone's worried about AI taking their jobs — but David Dean, enterprise technologist and author of An Inbox Between Us, argues that's the wrong fear entirely. In this episode, David explains how AI is really acting as a mirror, exposing the "unwritten contract" of how organizations actually function beneath their official processes and org charts. He and John dig into why authenticity and transparency are becoming non-negotiable for leaders as behavioral patterns become newly discoverable, why lived experience and judgment are things AI will never replicate, and why real AI adoption starts with organizational (and personal) self-discovery rather than new to...
The System is the Problem: Clarence Carter on Why America's Safety Net Keeps People Poor
<p>For 30 years, Clarence Carter worked inside America's public assistance system under two presidents, four governors, and a mayor. In this episode, he joins John Odermatt to explain why the safety net designed to lift people out of poverty often keeps them trapped instead, and what a better system could look like.</p> <p>Carter draws on his three decades of experience — including transforming Washington DC's homeless services program and leading welfare reform in Virginia — to argue that the problem isn't a lack of funding, but a lack of clear purpose. He walks through the 114 federal programs that make up the...
Tom Luongo on Leaving Libertarianism, Iran, the City of London and Trump
<p>Independent analyst and Gold, Goats, and Guns host Tom Luongo joins the show to explain why he's left orthodox libertarianism behind and adopted a framework built around the City of London, the Federal Reserve, and Donald Trump's geopolitical strategy. The conversation ranges from Jerome Powell's rate hikes to Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Strait of Hormuz, Bitcoin's murky origins, and why Tom thinks most libertarian commentary misses the real centers of power entirely.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Tom traces his intellectual break from the Ron Paul/Mises Institute wing of libertarianism back to the post-COVID Fed tightening cycle, arguing...
The Ocean Exit: How Arkpad is Making Seasteading a Reality with Mitchell Suchner
<p>Mitchell Suchner, director of Arkpad, joins John Odermatt from his floating resort in the Philippines to discuss how seasteading is moving from theory to operational reality. Arkpad has deployed 14 floating Airbnb units, five large fish cages, and a working resort off the coast of Davao City — all built for under $50,000 per unit using fiberglass and stainless steel. Mitchell explains the two core structure types (the Glamp House and the oil-rig-inspired Ark Pad), the engineering challenges of open-sea conditions, and how international flagging laws create a surprisingly libertarian legal framework for life at sea. The conversation covers who seasteading is re...
