The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett

Small Town Famous, Two Years Late

• Chris Bennett • Episode 123

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A rescued bird standing for the first time. A research chart showing a 28% drop in dementia risk. A small-town stage where friends turned a dream into tape and tape turned into a career. That’s the arc we follow as we lean into real good news, hard-won purpose, and the power of community to change a life.

We start with an uplifting story from Ohio correctional facilities partnering with the Ohio Wildlife Center. Inmates care for orphaned and injured animals—tiny birds, baby rabbits, and motherless possums—inside aviaries and even cell-side cages. The result is striking: calmer behavior, fewer infractions, and a rediscovery of compassion through daily caregiving. Then we shift to a major UC Davis study that tracked more than 13,000 adults for 15 years, finding that people with a stronger sense of purpose were about 28% less likely to develop dementia or broader cognitive decline. The protective effect held across backgrounds and even after accounting for education, depression, and genetic risk for Alzheimer’s—a hopeful nudge to find meaning in family, volunteering, faith, hobbies, or helping others.

From there, we celebrate the two-year anniversary of recording Small Town Famous at the Pinedale Community Center. We share behind-the-scenes gratitude for the friends, listeners, and local supporters who made the comedy special possible, and how that hour unlocked headlining gigs and a busier stand-up calendar. Producer Ryan jumps on to swap museum stories—Frida Kahlo’s work up close, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond—and to play a National Podcast Day trivia game that proves you really can podcast about almost anything. We also shout out Ryan’s live, chat-ready sports gambling and comedy show on the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, with consistent 6 p.m. slots that make joining the community easy.

If you’re looking for a lift that also sticks—rehabilitation through care, brain health through purpose, and creative momentum through community—you’ll feel right at home here. Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts, watch Small Town Famous on YouTube, and leave us a quick review to help more people find these stories. What gave you purpose today? Tell us—we’re listening.

SPEAKER_00:

From the Horn Auto Center Studios, Chris Bennett and the Morning Brew. It is Tuesday, so you know what that means. That's right. It's talk about something good Tuesday. Normally we talk to our best friend Janine and share some good news stories with her, but she is out today. She should be back tomorrow. Uh, so I am taking the helm for all the good news today. Here is our first good news story on this talk about something good Tuesday. Uh, this is a cool story out of Ohio, where some of the state's correctional facilities have found a powerful way to rehabilitate their inmates by letting them re rehabilitate animals. At places like the Marion and Richland Correctional Institutions and the Ohio Reform Reformatory for Women, inmates are trained by the Ohio Wildlife Center to care for these orphaned or injured animals. And uh they're taking these tiny birds that fell from their nests and baby rabbits that fell after accidents and even little possums without a mother. And inside prison aviaries and sometimes even in cages within the inmates' cells, these fragile creatures get food, care, and a second chance. And just between January and June, one prison alone took care of 284 animals, and they hope to reach a thousand by year's end. Officers say the effect on the inmates has been remarkable. They stay out of trouble, steer away from substance abuse, and develop real compassion. And one inmate described watching a weak bird slowly regain its strength is awesome. For many, it's the first time in years they've had something meaningful to care for. And just like the animals, these men and women are finding their own path to healing. And that's something good worth talking about on this talk about something good Tuesday. Janine's out, so I'm uh gonna do her story for her. Uh, this story is out of the University of California Davis, and uh it shows that living with purpose may protect your brain from dementia. Uh, shows this huge new study out of the University of California Davis. Uh, they followed more than 13,000 adults over 15 years and discovered that people with a higher sense of purpose were about 28% less likely to develop dementia or other forms of cognitive uh decline. And uh what's more, the protective effect was consistent across different backgrounds and remained even after accounting for factors like education, depression, or genetic risk for Alzheimer's. So, purpose can come from many places: family, relationships, volunteering, faith, hobbies, or helping others, as one researcher put it. It is never too early or too late to start thinking about what gives your life. Meaning, that's a hopeful reminder that finding joy and purpose today may help our brains tomorrow. So hopefully uh you find some joy and purpose today. That was our good news stories for this talk about something good Tuesday. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this? Hey, it's producer Ryan. Oh, producer Ryan.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm until you're live from Wilmington, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, it is so good to hear from you. I've been getting a little uh sentimental and emotional today, and it's uh really awesome that you called. Do you know uh what today marks for you and I? Or or or just in general?

SPEAKER_02:

Um the date I started going through my Manic episode.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that was horrible. I hate that. This is actually something uh I celebrate, best friend. September 29th, September 30th, two years ago, we shot Chris Bennett's small town famous comedy. Yeah. That feels how crazy is that? It feels like so much longer ago. I know, I can't believe it. And it was just it was making me emotional because it wouldn't have happened without the support of my friends. You jumped on board, you were the producer, helping me out for free, making my dream come true. We had the whole community come together, all my friends, all my fans, uh listeners, they all and family donated money to make this uh comedy special happen. And uh it was so great to do it in Pinedale at the Pinedale Community Center. And you know, it's just one of the things about doing the special was that I'd uh come up with new material and then also be able to go out and headline now that I have an hour tape. And you know, this year we uh I headlined Dead Crow Comedy in North Carolina all because I had uh a one-hour special. So thank you so much, Ryan, for for helping my dream come true and happy anniversary.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and now in December, you get to help me make my dream come true. You're gonna open for me at the Mic Drop Mania. I'll be doing my first headlining set.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I I'm so excited for that. And then that's uh, and then two days after that, December 20th, I'm bringing you up to Show Low at Rockies, and you're gonna uh headline for the second time uh at Rockies. So I'm excited for that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm excited too to be back at Rockies and bring my new material to show Low.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't wait, buddy. And uh just I just want to thank everyone again so much for uh your support and everything. You've helped uh so many of my dreams come true. So I just want to thank Ryan and everyone in the community and all my friends. I love you, best friends. We are back with my best friend Ryan McKee, aka producer Ryan McKee, a 1997 graduate of Payson High School. Don't hold that against him. Uh give us a little uh update uh on you. We know you have your 21-year-old roommate. Uh, did you and your 21-year-old roommate get in any mischief this weekend? What did you do this weekend?

SPEAKER_02:

I was out of town this weekend, so no mischief had with my with Joey, but he did watch my dog this weekend, and I came home. My dog is still alive and seems happy, so apparently he did a good job uh with that. And yeah, he's not home. I think he's at work or something.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh wow. And uh so what did uh what did you do this weekend? You went to go see a friend, I think, who is closer to your age. So I'm curious if you uh if you had pop tarts and egos like you do with Joey or if you had more adult activities.

SPEAKER_02:

We did more adult activities. It was weird hanging out with someone my age, I gotta say. Um not as many, not as many dudes and bros uh thrown around. Right. But uh yeah, we we went to a muse we went to two museums. We went to an art museum. Oh my god. And we went to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, we went out for a fancy sick dinner.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh!

SPEAKER_02:

Great, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was really fun. Dude, you're like a grown-up. And museums are so boring to me, but was it fun?

SPEAKER_02:

It was very fun, yeah. I got to go see my favorite artist, Frida Kahlo. Exhibit on her. I'd never seen her paintings live, so that was very cool. I actually paintings in person, I guess they weren't live. That would be more of a concert or a comedy show. And then I went and we went and saw the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, which was cool. It's the it's in the oldest building in Richmond, Virginia.

SPEAKER_00:

Dang.

SPEAKER_02:

Which is very old. Like in the seven from the 1700s.

SPEAKER_00:

Jeez, that sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So think about how much stuff that house has seen.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So uh are you thinking of maybe spending more time with people your own age after this weekend, or are you looking forward to going back and uh hanging out with people in their 20s?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I don't really have a a lot of options since I live with somebody in their 20s, and his 21-year-old girlfriend comes over all the time, so I hang out with them. Kind of this old third wheel that just hangs around. So it's fine though.

SPEAKER_00:

We're gonna play uh some games. I'm gonna give you an option. Uh, I have a game planned for uh the time for yoga day. Today is the time for yoga, uh, so I have a game for that, or I also have a game for International Podcast Day. Uh they are trivia questions, so which one uh should we do for you?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I am a bit of a yogi myself. I do yoga. I just bought a new membership at a new yoga studio that's right down the street from my house. So I feel like I'd have a young, I feel like I'd have an unfair advantage with the yoga one since uh, you know, I'm very far along my yoga journey in life. Yeah, yeah. So uh let's do the podcast one.

SPEAKER_00:

Perfect. Okay. Uh speaking of podcasts, don't forget to follow Chris Bennett and uh the morning brew with Chris Bennett and best friends wherever you listen to the fine podcast. Ryan, I'm gonna give you uh four podcast names, and you gotta tell me which one is the fake. You ready?

SPEAKER_02:

Can't wait.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, we have a podcast called The Pen Addict, and it's a podcast about pens and stationery. We have a podcast called Sleep With Me, and it's uh bedtime stories designed to bore you to sleep. We have dumpster diving, it's reviews of what people find in dumpsters, or we have Shoelace Untied, a weekly talk on shoelaces and knots. Which one is not a podcast?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I've actually listened to Sleep With Me to fall asleep because I have a bit of insomnia. So that I know is real. The I know dumpster diving and pens is a real preoccupation with people. Like people get pretty obsessed with those things. Right. Haven't heard of shoelaces and knots as a real obsession, maybe uh knots and you know, boating or something like that, but not shoelaces. So I'm gonna go with that one.

SPEAKER_00:

Dang, he is good. That's right. Panatic sleep with me and dumpster diving our real podcast, proving you can have a podcast about just about anything. And uh you have a uh a podcast that you do. Let's promote that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, uh listen to the stuffy small show. It's part of the podcast. Oh, I'm sorry, it's part of the sports gambling podcast network. And we do shows at 6 p.m. uh Monday 6 p.m., Tuesday 6 p.m. and Thursday 6 p.m. live on YouTube. So you can come in and live chat and also uh check it out wherever podcasts are. It's a sports gambling and comedy show.

SPEAKER_00:

Heck yeah. Producer Ryan, thanks for having fun with us on this national podcast day. Hope you have a great rest of your day, and we'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you, best friend. You have a great day.

SPEAKER_00:

Bye. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this? Good morning, best friend. Ah, it's Sharon! Sharon, what can I do for you this morning, best friend?

SPEAKER_01:

I just can't believe it's been two years. It seems like it was yesterday.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, two years since the taping is small town famous. September 29th and uh the 30th in Pinedale on 2023. I know, it's amazing how time flies. And uh thank you, uh you and everyone that uh helped make my dream come true. It was such a fun night. And if you haven't uh caught the special, go to YouTube today and uh watch Small Town Famous. So many people in the community uh are responsible for being producers and making this thing happen.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, everybody watch it. It's amazing. You won't be disappointed whatsoever. Chris is perfect in this.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, best friend. And uh for those of you that uh love to see me cry at the end of the special, I even cry. So there's laughter and tears.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and it doesn't take much to make you cry.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it doesn't. Well, awesome. Thank you so much, uh Sharon, and uh thank you so much for being a friend. We love you. I hope you have a great day.

SPEAKER_01:

Congratulations for everything you do.

SPEAKER_00:

Ah, thank you, best friend. It's been amazing. That's special, and then this year has been my busiest year with stand-up comedy, and it just it keeps growing, and it's all because of uh my best friend. So I love you all.

SPEAKER_01:

We love you. Have a great day. You too. Bye. Bye.

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