Listen Up with Host Al Neely
Hi, I'm Al Neely. I've spent most of my life asking, " Why do people behave a certain way? Why don't people understand that most everyone wants basically the same thing? Most everyone wants their fundamental need for peace of mind, nourishment, shelter and safety."
What I have learned is that because of an unwillingness to open one's mind to see that some of the people you come in contact with may have those same desires as you do. We prejudge, isolate ourselves, and can be hesitant to interact, and sometimes we can be belligerent towards one another. This is caused by learned behavior that may have repeated itself for generations in our families.
What I hope to do with this podcast is to introduce as many people with as many various cultures, backgrounds, and practices as possible. The thought is that I can help to bring different perspectives by discussing various views from my guests that are willing to talk about their personal experiences.
Hopefully we all will learn something new. We may even learn that most of us share the same desire for our fundamental needs. We may just simply try to obtain it differently.
Sit back, learn, and enjoy!
Episodes
94 episodes
A Working Mom And Army Veteran Explains Why Accountability Beats Party Loyalty
Congress doesn’t just make laws, it sets the moral temperature for the whole country. When that temperature feels off, people notice, and they stop trusting everything downstream. We sit down with Haley Dollar, a mother of four, Army veteran, a...
How Clover Stokes Built A Modern Classic Rock Band
You can look fearless under stage lights and still be shaking inside. That’s the truth Clover Stokes shares with us, and it’s exactly why her story hits. Clover is the frontwoman of Monarch, a Virginia Beach local band making waves across the 7...
Who's Controlling the Narrative | Community Advocate Jessica Sanchez - ListenUp Podcast
Democracy feels abstract until it shows up in your therapy office, your workplace, or your child’s school. We sit down with Jessica Sanchez, an author, advocate, and founder of Daughters Of Both Suns, to talk about what it really takes to suppo...
A Third-Generation Woodturner Explains How Craft Keeps Culture Alive
A storm knocks down a cedar limb, and most people see yard waste. We see a whole philosophy. We’re joined by Nathan Elliott, a third-generation woodturner and woodcarver with roots connected to the Nansemond, Nottoway, and Saponi tribes in East...
What Makes a Real MC? | Musician & Rapper Sunny Black - ListenUp Podcast
He’s built for the stage, obsessed with style, and still chasing that feeling hip hop gave him the first time he saw Run DMC. We sit down with Sunny Black, a Paterson, New Jersey rapper now active in the Virginia hip hop scene, and get the kind...
From Fear to Art: Rhythm, Identity & Photography | Ashley Cayon - ListenUp Podcast
What if the rhythm that shaped your childhood could also guide your future? We sit down with Miami-born, Cuban American artist and photographer Ashie Kaon to trace a bold journey from Little Havana to Virginia Beach—through Chicago snow, COVID ...
The Body Holds the Truth | SB Cutts on Fascia & Trauma – ListenUp Podcast
Fascia tells the truth your words skip. We sit down with SB Cuts—fasciologist, integrative wellness coach, and founder of Fascia Fusion Wellness—to map how trauma, surgery, and everyday stress shape the body’s connective web and how hands-on wo...
Art that Restores | Artist Trevor Lucas - ListenUp Podcast
A colorblind muralist who sees more clearly than most. That’s Trevor Lucas—founder of Anomaly Art Studio—whose life spans rural Louisiana, a military move to Virginia, and a bold career painting community stories on brick and concrete. We dive ...
Introvert on Stage | Rome Davis - ListenUp Podcast
A shy loan officer from Norfolk turned his nerves into rocket fuel and found a home under the lights. We sit with comedian Rome Davis to unpack the seven-year grind behind a “90 seconds or nothing” America’s Got Talent audition, the nightly rit...
Funny without Swear Words | Comedian Quincy Carr - ListenUp Podcast
What if the cleanest joke in the room is also the funniest? We sit down with Quincy Carr—the self-styled “Quality Comedy King”—to unpack how a Navy vet from Austin built a stand-up career that wins over churches, cruise ships, comedy clubs, and...
From Hurt to Healing | Malik Jordan with "Teens with a Purpose" – ListenUp Podcast
A poem can carry what a kid can’t say out loud. That truth runs through our conversation with Malik Jordan, facilitator and Safe Passage team member at Teens With A Purpose in Norfolk. Malik traces his path from an angry 11-year-old to a mentor...
Building a Creative City | Producer Jamar Davis - ListenUp Podcast
What does it take to turn a region into a creative hub? We sit down with executive producer and community leader Jamar C. Davis to unpack the strategy, grit, and heart behind building large-scale festivals, leading Hampton Roads Pride, and laun...
An Artist at 12 Years Old? | Jalani Vickers – ListenUp Podcast
A quiet swing, a rooftop at sunset, a barbershop buzz—sometimes the places we know best say the most. We sit with 12-year-old artist Jalani Vickers to explore how ordinary scenes become emotionally rich portraits, and why small choices like a h...
The Taste of Art | Chef Jeremiah Cardinal – ListenUp Podcast
A plate can be beautiful, but the real magic is what it makes you feel. That’s where we go with Chef Jeremiah Cardinal—a cook who treats cuisine like an art you practice daily, not a badge you wear. From early days flipping burgers at sixteen t...
Pushed Out of Work | Al Neely – ListenUp Podcast
The numbers don’t add up—or do they? We break down why black women, the most educated segment among black Americans and a cornerstone of the middle class, are experiencing historic job losses across government, healthcare, manufacturing, and co...
From Immigrant to Icon | Chef Yasmine Charles – ListenUp Podcast
A teenage diary named Nancy. A snowstorm walk after a father’s refusal. A boot camp commander who sees what no one else did. Yasmin Charles joins us for a fearless conversation that traces a path from Port-au-Prince to Brooklyn to the Navy—and ...
When Art Gets Censored | Artist Jessica Chevon - ListenUp Podcast
A decorated high school art teacher walks away from the system—and finds a bigger canvas. Jessica Chivon joins us to share how she traded classroom constraints for a studio-first life, why students are hungry for handwriting and analog craft, a...
The Weight of Words | Toni Britton - ListenUp Podcast
Some stories aren’t meant to be told once; they’re meant to be lived, spoken, and reshaped until the truth inside them finally lands. That’s where we go with poet Tony B, whose book Runaway Home charts a fierce, tender path through grief, reinv...
Africa Diaspora in Unity | Rita Addico Cohen – ListenUp Podcast
What happens when culture becomes the bridge instead of the barrier? We sit with Rita Addico Cohen, executive director of the Tidewater African Cultural Alliance, to explore a life that stretched from Accra to Hampton Roads and a mission that n...
Style With a Purpose | Ann & Jennifer – ListenUp Podcast
Fashion doesn’t just live in New York or Paris. It thrives wherever creators take the risk to build a stage. We sit down with Ann Ward Lester and Jennifer Lester of Splash Entertainment Group to trace how a model management experiment became Vi...
Discipline Builds Musicians | Jake Small – ListenUp Podcast
What if a music program could flip the switch from shy to fearless in a single season? We sit down with Jake Smalls, music director at School of Rock Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, to unpack how performance-based training builds skill, confiden...
From Hampton Roads to Hollywood: A Comic’s 17-Year Grind, Hecklers, and Heart
We sit down with Tim Loulies, a Hampton Roads comic and teacher, to trace his 17-year journey from sticky-note premises to packed clubs, from the Comedy Store’s unforgiving OR to the Apollo’s infamous boo, and into the wild psychology of being ...
Virginia Beach Voices: Small Business, Big Community
Local stories can change the fate of a city when they’re told with care. Tony B sits down with Al Neely of Neely Media and Councilman Cash Green to chart a people-first media plan that lifts small businesses, reduces stigma, and builds real civ...
Democracy in Action: The 10-1 System and Fair Representation in Virginia Beach
What happens when a decorated Air Force pilot turns his attention to local democracy? Sean Monterio, chairperson for the Virginia Beach Democratic Party Committee and retired Air Force colonel who flew the fearsome A-10 Warthog "tank killer," b...
Laughing Through Life's Chaos
Comedy isn't just about making people laugh – it's about processing life's challenges and speaking truths others can't. That's what local comedian Steve Wills discovered after stepping onto the stage for the first time nearly two years ago....