Behind The Story Show
Welcome to Behind The Story Show, a long-form interview podcast hosted by Jelani Gonzalez that goes beyond the headlines to uncover the real journeys behind extraordinary people and powerful ideas.
Each week, Jelani sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, creators, leaders, and change-makers to explore the defining moments, hard-earned lessons, personal challenges, and bold decisions that shaped their path. From business and creativity to leadership, culture, innovation, and reinvention, Behind The Story brings you candid conversations that reveal not just what people achieved, but what it took to get there.
If you are building something, chasing a vision, navigating change, or looking for stories that educate, inspire, and challenge the way you think, this show is for you.
Join us as we go behind the success, behind the struggle, and Behind The Story.
Episodes
62 episodes
The Ali G Movie Firestorm: Banned Before Anyone Saw It
Twenty-six years ago, a comedian in a yellow tracksuit and orange shades sat across from real politicians, generals, and diplomats — and they answered him seriously. That was Ali G. This fall, Sacha Baron Cohen is bringing the character back in...
Arrested Over an $87 Check — Dr. Sheena Meade on Second Chances
In 2004, Sheena Meade was a young single mother earning about $18,000 a year when an $87.26 check bounced. Two months later, police arrested her in front of her four children. She paid the check back, completed the courses, and thought her sent...
Robert Kennedy III: The Introvert Who Speaks to Thousands for a Living
He was born in Jamaica, named Robert Kennedy III by a grandfather who said it "with such glee" — and he's spent his life turning that name into a conversation starter. In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with communic...
Judge Rules Trump's Mail Ballot Order Unconstitutional — What Happens Next
Back where we started — except this time, it's different. The same judge who was forced to lift her block on Trump's mail-ballot rule put a new one right back up, days later — and for the first time in five months, a federal court actually rule...
Mail Ballot Fight Part 2: The Judge Says They Broke Her Order
We told you two days ago this story wasn't over — it moved even faster than expected. A federal judge has now ruled that the Trump administration violated her own court order restricting mail ballot rules... and then declined to do anything abo...
Supreme Court Rules on Mail Ballots: Who Controls Your Vote?
The Supreme Court just ruled 6-3 on who controls your mail-in ballot — but by its own admission, the ruling doesn't decide if any of it is actually legal. "Time will tell," the Court wrote. So what did the justices actually decide today, and wh...
The Shadow Docket: The Supreme Court Power You've Never Heard Of
Somewhere in Washington this week, the Supreme Court will decide something that affects your life — and you may never know why. No hearing. No explanation. Sometimes not even a signature. It's called the emergency docket, better known as the "s...
The Mind Is All There Is — Consciousness, AI & the Kingdom Within
What happens when a man becomes so convinced of a single truth that he legally changes his name to match it?In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with the author and philosopher known as One I Am ...
He Sold the Pills for 20 Years — Then He Walked Away
Dr. Keith Hersey spent more than twenty years behind the pharmacy counter. Then he did something most pharmacists never do — he stopped focusing on dispensing pills and started coaching people to need fewer of them.In this episode, Dr. K...
He Googled "How to Make Money Without a Degree" — Then Built a Firm
Tom Hunter didn't plan any of this. He started as a primary school teacher in London, burned out, and Googled "how to make money without a degree." That search led him into recruitment — and nine years later, he walked away to build Story Recru...
The Type of Diabetes Doctors Miss in Adults (LADA)
Manny Hernandez grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, in a world that no longer exists — and left in 2000 as the country changed around him. Years later, a routine checkup in the U.S. led to a diabetes diagnosis, and then a misdiagnosis: he was told h...
The Laptop Landlord: How Naresh Turned a Side Hustle Into 9 Properties and 5 Books
Naresh built the kind of business most people are told doesn't exist: one that funds his life instead of consuming it. In this episode of Behind the Story, he sits down with Jelani Gonzalez to trace the road from a Duke degree and a coveted ban...
Warrior of Light: Turning Chaos Into Purpose
Theresa Garcia didn't set out to become a coach — she set out to survive. After losing her fiancé and her mother six months apart, she rebuilt her life from the ground up, eventually writing the book Warrior of Light and founding Ruby'...
The Career Crisis No One Talks About
Why do so many smart, capable, successful people still feel disconnected from their work? Sarah Aviram has spent her career answering that question — first as a director of talent development, then as the person who convinced her CEO to let her...
The American Slumber Party: Sam Daley-Harris on Waking Up Democracy
Sam Daley-Harris spent twelve years as a professional percussionist and a career as a music teacher before a single question changed the direction of his life: does your member of Congress know your name? In 1978, he asked 7,000 high school stu...
The Physician Taking Her Fight From the Exam Room to Washington
Dr. Neelam Perry spent over two decades practicing internal medicine and treating HIV/AIDS patients before a personal health crisis changed the direction of her life. After surviving seven strokes and fighting to access a costly medication she ...
The Diabetes Theory Doctors Don't Want You to Hear
After 27 years practicing as a pediatrician and allergist in Texas, Dr. John Poothullil noticed something in his own body that medical textbooks couldn't explain: weight that crept on every winter and refused to leave by spring. The standard an...
The Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Too Late
Scherrie L. Prince did not take a straight path into law. Before becoming an attorney, entrepreneur, business coach, and podcast host, she worked in operations, real estate, mortgage brokerage, and business ownership. Then the 2008 mortgage cri...
Birthright Citizenship: The Story Behind the 14th Amendment
For more than 150 years, birth on American soil has been understood as one of the clearest paths to U.S. citizenship. But after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14160 on the first day of his second term, the country was forced back...
George Tinsley Sr. on Legacy, Faith, Family, and Franchising
George Tinsley Sr.’s story begins in Smoketown, Louisville, where he was raised by Willie Tinsley, a woman with one leg who could not read or write but gave him the foundation of loyalty, responsibility, and resilience.In this episode of...
Can AI Help Musicians Create Without Replacing Them?
What happens when an award-winning vocalist and songwriter sits down with an AI music producer building a weekly online producer battle?In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez is joined by Gerard Barnes an...
Caring Leadership in the Age of AI with Germain St-Denis
What does it really mean to lead people well?In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Germain St-Denis, author of Empowering People Through Caring Leadership, for a thoughtful conversation ...
Gerard Barnes: The Man Who Built A Battle Show for AI Music Producers
Gerard Barnes is back on Behind the Story — and this time, the conversation goes deep into the world of AI music.Gerard is the creator of A-Idol, a TikTok-based AI music battle competition where producers from around the world go head-t...
Why Success Doesn’t Fix Your Patterns with Daune Thompson
Why do so many successful people still feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected?In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Daune Thompson, speaker, coach, and creator of the Soul CEO and Li...
From Special Ed to Doctorate: Dr. Brian Arnold’s Journey of Resilience
Dr. Brian Arnold’s story is a powerful reminder that where you start does not have to define where you finish.In this episode of Behind the Story, host Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Dr. Brian Arnold to explore his journey from st...