Second Act Stories

Steve Gorman's drumming helped put The Black Crowes on the radio. These days, he's the one behind the microphone. Long before the band sold millions of records, Steve planned to become a broadcaster. He studied broadcast journalism in college and dreamed of working in sports. Then he borrowed a drum kit, dropped out of school, moved to Atlanta and joined the band that would become The Black Crowes. He owned his first kit for a matter of weeks when he recorded a demo with them. The band's rise was extraordinary. So were the years that followed. Steve played some of rock's biggest stages, toured with Jimmy Page, and watched the relationships within The Black Crowes grow increasingly difficult. While he was still touring, he began sitting in on a friend's sports radio show in Nashville. A few guest appearances later, he got a show of his own. His first night on air was rough. He kept at it anyway. His local sports show grew into a national show on Fox Sports Radio, followed by the syndicated Steve Gorman Rocks. Today, he hosts Gorman in the Morning on Minneapolis station KQRS. In this episode, Steve tells the unlikely story of becoming a rock drummer after barely playing a kit as a teenager, what it was like to leave The Black Crowes, and how a career he imagined before music became his second act. He also explains why being underestimated as "the drummer" helped him get started in radio but couldn't carry him for long. For more of Steve's fascinating stories from his years with The Black Crowes, order his book, Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you buy books. ******* If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode! Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack. Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel. Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.

Football is a difficult sport. It demands physical strength, speed, endurance and mental toughness. So it surprised us when we heard about Tom Green, a 61-year-old man focused on becoming the oldest football player in NCAA history. Tom is now a sophmore at McDaniel College, a few minutes away from his home in Westminster, Maryland. He is on the practice field as a defensive lineman playing against athletes who are one-third his age. If he gets on the field for just one play in the upcoming season, he will tie the record as the oldest college football player in history. But what makes his journey even more amazing is that just ten years ago he was diagnosed with stage-four, kidney cancer which eventually spread to his lungs, ribs, skull, aorta and pancreas. With the help an amazing medical team, an experimental drug trial and Tom's own perseverance, he eventually beat the cancer. And he is now focused on making the most of his next stage of life on the gridiron.    

If you're of a certain age, you may not know the name Andy Lindberg. But you definitely know his most famous role. Andy played Lard Ass Hogan in the legendary Rob Reiner film "Stand By Me," one of the most beloved coming-of-age movies ever made. His scene, the unforgettable "barf-o-rama" at the pie-eating contest, remains one of the most memorable movie moments of the 1980s. It was gross. It was hilarious. It was impossible to forget. Andy was 14 years old when he filmed the scene in Oregon, a local kid doing local theater who suddenly found himself working on a major motion picture based on a Stephen King story and directed by a man who would go on to become one of the great filmmakers of his generation. And then life kept going. In this episode, Andy shares what it was like to be cast as Lard Ass, how he felt about the role as a teenager, what it was like to return to high school after the movie came out, and why he has had to rethink the shame he carried for years about being "the right fat kid in the right place at the right time." He also shares some wonderful behind-the-scenes stories from the set, including working with Rob Reiner, watching Kiefer Sutherland hold the boom mic, and putting his face into what he estimates were more than 250 pies over the course of filming. To this day, blueberry pie is not exactly his favorite dessert. But Andy's story doesn't end with "Stand By Me." Not even close. After years of acting, including a move to New York and stage work around the country, Andy eventually returned home to Oregon. Today, he is the executive director of Westwind, a remarkable camp and natural area on the Oregon coast that helps kids unplug, connect with nature, and experience something increasingly rare: being fully present in a beautiful place. For Andy, running a summer camp is not as different from theater as it might seem. Both involve creating a temporary world; both have a beginning, middle, and end; both can change people in ways they may not understand until years later. In this episode, Andy shares his journey from childhood movie fame to steward of nature, from the stage to the forest, and from one unforgettable movie scene to a life built around helping kids find wonder in the real world. As Andy says, life is long. You can change course entirely. And it's never too late to become the person you were meant to be. To learn more about Andy's work, visit Westwind.org. ******* If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode! Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack. Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel. Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.

Wade Milyard worked as a police officer in Frederick, Maryland for nearly 20 years and planned to retire from the force in January 2025. As retirement approached, he had no idea what he was going to do next. In his final year as a police officer, he and his partner were called to a domestic dispute with a homeless couple living in a tent. "As we were leaving the campsite, God put it in my heart to ask a simple question: where do you do your laundry?" And that was where the idea of "Fresh Step Laundry" first began to take shape. Fresh Step Laundry provides free laundry service to Frederick's unhoused population via a mobile laundry vehicle that conveniently meets individuals wherever they are. The organization officially began serving the homeless community on September 4th, 2025 following the retrofitting of a donated, transport van with three, front-load washers and three, front-load dryers. The vehicle is affectionately named "Leaky Lucy." Interested in supporting Fresh Step Laundry? You can learn more at the organization's website at https://www.freshsteplaundry.com/.

If you know tech, you know David Pogue. His resume includes 13 years as the top personal technology columnist for THE New York Times, and prior to that, 13 years as a columnist for Macworld magazine. Today he's a full-time correspondent for the venerable weekly news program CBS Sunday Morning. His work there has earned him seven… SEVEN… Emmy Awards. He's also a five-time TED speaker, and he's hosted 20 NOVA science specials on PBS. David is also a prolific author. He's written or cowritten more than 120 books, including dozens in the Missing Manual tech series, which he created in 1999; six books in the For Dummies line; two novels; his three bestselling Pogue's Basics books of tips and shortcuts; his practical guide to the climate crisis, How to Prepare for Climate Change; and his newly released magnum opus, Apple: The First 50 Years. This is a man who doesn't sit still. But before he summited the tech world, David climbed to the top of the mountain on Broadway. He spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals. During that time he earned a reputation as the kid who could help people with tech. That reputation led him to the apartments of the Broadway elite, where he gave private lessons to the likes of Cy Coleman, Mia Farrow, Stephen Sondheim, and a host of others whose names you definitely know. In this episode David shares what prompted his love of technology, how it gave way to success on Broadway, and the unusual way it all came together to reveal the path that led directly to the pages of The New York Times and the airwaves of CBS News. How did the magic happen (pun intended; he's also an accomplished magician and has written a book on magic)? It's the advice he gives to everyone: "Say yes to everything." He didn't have a plan for his career, but he reached the peak in more than one industry. One of the most interesting things, however, is how his career in tech journalism started. Believe it or not, it had nothing to do with wanting to write. In this episode, David shares his journey from Shaker Heights, Ohio to the "Great White Way," to the pages of The New York Times, and beyond. He also dives deep on two of his legendary CBS Sunday Morning segments: his interview with Elon Musk that created worldwide headlines, and his experience as a passenger in the ill-fated OceanGate Titan submersible. Learn more about David by Googling his name or visiting his website. Buy David's new book, Apple: The First 50 Years anywhere books are sold. ******* If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode! Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack. Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel. Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.