Survive Everyday

<p> The <em>Survive Everyday Podcast</em> explores the stories and systems that shape our lives, focusing on resilience, inequality, and change. Through candid conversations with individuals, policymakers, and experts, we uncover the hidden barriers that keep people struggling and discuss solutions to dismantle them. Our mission is simple: to spark understanding, challenge the status quo, and inspire action toward a fairer, more equitable world. </p>

The Real Welfare Queens

Send us a text Billionaires are rewriting the rules of democracy—should we be worried? Join us alongside my guest, Ohio State Representative Joe Miller, as we dissect the seismic shifts in political influence. We tackle complex questions about transparency, the rise of dark money, and the ethical dilemmas posed by wealthy billionaires steering political narratives. We explore Steve Bannon's "flooding the zone with shit" tactic, a strategy designed to divide and conquer public attention. W...

01-28
17:31

From Poverty to Policy Change

Send us a text Growing up in a working-poor family, State Representative Joe Miller (OH-53) brings a gritty, firsthand perspective to the table that challenges the status quo. Our discussion weaves through Joe's life experiences and combines them with insights from Matthew Desmond’s "Poverty by America" to expose the harsh realities of poverty and the systems that cement it. Together, we question the efficacy of political campaign spending and school voucher programs, and how they might unint...

01-07
35:12

Profiting from Poverty

Send us a text Jerry’s expertise provides a rare window into the, sometimes, exclusive world of investment strategies, encouraging us to question who truly benefits from the current financial system and how we can make smarter choices on our financial journeys. Through the lens of corporate giants like Walmart, we dive into the moral and economic dilemmas surrounding minimum wage debates. Do higher wages lead to healthier, less stressed workers, or do they risk job losses and drive inflation?...

12-11
27:44

What is Poverty?

Send us a text Every day, millions wake up to a cycle they didn’t choose—a system built to keep them struggling, surviving, but never truly living. Poverty isn’t just an empty wallet or a lack of opportunity. It’s a network of barriers: broken systems, historical injustices, and policies that perpetuate inequality. Welcome to Survive Everyday Podcast and our new series, Spark of Change. Today, we begin our journey into the systems of poverty—how they’re built, who they impact, and why they pe...

12-06
22:41

The Path Forward

Send us a text In Spark of Change: Anti-Poverty Conversations, join us on a road trip of deep reflection, raw family discussions, and unfiltered perspectives on politics, community, and the American struggle with poverty. Together, we'll explore America's systemic challenges and ask if uniting around economic class and common struggles could spark a true change. Tune in for raw insights, thoughtful debates, and a shared mission to redefine our future. Resources from this episode: https://w...

11-15
22:13

The American Experiment

Send us a text How do we survive this election? Let's tak about it. Support the show Survive Everyday on Bluesky Adam on TikTok

11-08
09:40

39: Mental Health Matters

Send us a text May is mental health awareness month and on this podcast we’ve never shied away from talking about mental health. On this episode we are going discussing 6 topics that delve into the intricate workings of the human mind and explore ways to foster our mental well-being. I’m embarked on a profound journey to unravel the significance of taking care of our mental health years ago, but like anything the work is never done, and it’s always ongoing. I hope to try and uncov...

05-17
21:36

38: My "I want" song

Send us a text A little more than a week ago I asked a question on social media. If you’re a musical theater nerd like I am, there’s always a song early in the first act called, the “I want song”. This is the song the hero of the story sing to set up the journey you’re about to go on. In Hamilton it’s the song “My Shot”. In the Little Mermaid it’s a part of your world. In Rent, it’s the title song called Rent. In Wicked it’s the Wizard and I. I could go on and on and on. B...

05-09
22:14

37: Stop.Drop.Rewind - Music = Survival

Send us a text In our previous episode, we explored the importance of literacy. Today, we'll be diving into another form of language that is also essential to our survival - music. From ancient times to the present day, music has been an integral part of human culture, connecting people across borders and languages. It has the power to inspire, heal, and uplift us during the most challenging times. Today, we'll be exploring why music is so important to our emotional and mental well-being, and...

05-03
01:04:04

36: The Literacy Avengers

Send us a text Literacy is an essential tool for empowerment and change. So today we’ve assembled the literacy Avengers, to use a comic book reference, to talk about the power of literacy and the challenges we face in promoting it and what Cleveland is doing to empower us all to become literacy ambassadors. Our Guests: Laureen Atkins-Holliday - Vice President of Strategic Initiatives with the Literacy Cooperative The Literacy Cooperative’s links: Web: www.literacycooperative.org...

04-25
01:03:59

35: Here we go again

Send us a text Here we go again. Yet another school shooting, in yet another school district, in the only developed country where this seems to be a problem. In february we had the shooting at Michigan State University, and now….this…. Our kids see more combat than our military.... https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/#:~:text=Between%201982%20and%20March%202023,percent%2C%20and%20seven%20percent%20respectively. https://www.statista.c...

04-04
33:37

34: The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis

Send us a text From the beginning of this podcast I’ve wanted to focus on books that tell a compelling story about survival, and I find none so compelling as the search for what our response to the Pandemic really was. I’ve read so many things on the pandemic and the response, but this book stands out. As much as this is a book about the pandemic, it's also a study on relationships. How they can help you and how they can hurt you. It's not what you know, but who you know. Michael Lew...

03-28
01:43:42

33: Tanisha Taylor - A Goal Without A Plan is A Wish

Send us a text A goal without a plan is a wish. This week we are still talking to Tanisha, but this time we are talking about how she exactly goes about talking to young adults without sounding like an arrogant boomer. If you have no idea who Tanisha Taylor is, go back and listen to episode 32 and come back. So here is my continuing conversation with Tanisha, check it out. Tanisha Taylor Coaching Tanisha Taylor Instagram Survive Everyday Instagram Survive Everyday Facebook ...

03-21
01:00:02

32: Tanisha Taylor - Financial Advice Doesn't Have To Suck

Send us a text This is the Survive Everyday Podcast Episode 32 with me, Adam Gercak. Money. It makes the world go around. We need it to navigate our society. We need it to exchange services for goods. It is the center of our lives. Survival Depends on a lot of things. Having enough food, water, shelter, and money is essential to survival. If you’re not independently wealthy, you need money to pay for shelter, you need money to pay for water, you need money to pay for goods. This is why ...

03-14
54:18

31: Audrey - Surviving Childhood

Send us a text Childhood is something everyone on the planet goes through, and the stories of our childhood are incredibly different. Today, we have a very special guest, my oldest daughter, Audrey. She just turned 21 yesterday, so I wanted to chat with her about her experiences growing up and what she has planned for the future. We discount the next generation of this county as not adding value, but I think Audrey offers some solid insight to her life, but also the lives of other kids...

03-07
55:10

30: Ashley Capps - How Non-Profits Build Communities

Send us a text According to the IRS, there are over 750,000 not for profit organizations in the United States. Organizations like the Red Cross, Susan G Komen Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and so many more. These missions fill mainstream roles in the national conversations, but there are 100s of thousands you might not even know about, doing great work in their community. Non-Profit Companies have a ton of headwinds, and you might even be mulling over the idea to start ...

02-28
01:22:37

29: Meredyth Willits - It's Not Their Problem, It's Your Problem

Send us a text Being a parent is hard. Being a parent doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and to this day I’m surprised as hell that I was allowed to take them home from the hospital. This year my oldest turns 21 marking my 21st year of beng a Dad. Literally half my life has been being a parent, but as my other 3 start to enter teenage years, I realized something. While I’ve been a Dad for 21 years, I haven’t been a full time parent. I co-parented my oldest with my ex-wife which is anoth...

02-21
01:21:09

Bonus Episode: A Love Story + 3 Special Guests

Send us a text Valentine's Day, named after St Valentine, who as a Priest in Rome performed secret marriages for soldiers who were not allowed to get married. Valentine's Day is an amalgamation of a few different mythologies. Like Cupid who was really Eros the god of love. We've celebrated Valentine's Day since 496 or so. So today I'm going to tell you my love story with my wife Jennifer and we're going to have fun talking to 3 of my kids about Valentine's Day, including a conversation...

02-14
44:41

28: John Gareis - The American Red Cross

Send us a text Survival and Preapredness look different to everyone. Today on the podcast we are diving into preparedness and really, where to start. John Gareis, Regional Preparedness Manager for the American Red Cross in Cleveland is joining us to talk about all they do to help everyday citizens get prepared and discuss what we already do that IS preparedness but we don’t think of it as preparedness. Show Notes: The Red Cross Resources: https://www.Redcross.org/get-help.html Survive Ev...

02-07
01:06:58

27: Rebecca Smolenski - The One About Cannabis

Send us a text This week's episode does feature some bonus content which you can access HERE and at the link and become a member of the Coffee Club to unlock Before we go on: a little disclaimer - The information provided in this episode is intended to be, educational in nature and informational. In this episode we are not diagnosing, treating, or offering a cure to any medical condition. Please consult your doctor before starting any new self-help program. Statements made about the medical ...

01-20
01:09:18

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