September 17, 2025 • 9 mins
In this episode on GNC, Chris, the youngest son of Todd Cochrane, addresses the listeners following the unexpected passing of his father on September 8. Chris shares that the past week has been one of the most challenging times in his life, but gathering with family in Michigan provided some comfort. He expresses the difficulty … Continue reading Remembering Dad and What’s Next for GNC #1843
The post Remembering Dad and What’s Next for GNC #1843 appeared first on Geek News Central.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi, everyone.
Different face on today's episode.
I'm Todd's youngest son, Chris.
And if you didn't know yet,
my father passed away suddenly last Monday on
September.
This week
has been
probably the hardest week of my life, if
if I'm being honest.
(00:22):
It it's been difficult.
But something that
has been helping a lot is that, all
the family flew out to Michigan, and we've
resolved we've been all together, and we've just
been leaning on each other, during this time.
Today's episode is gonna be just a little
different. We aren't gonna be talking about anything
any news in the the geek area.
We're just gonna talk about this past week
(00:44):
and just a little bit about my dad.
So I guess I'll I wanted to
talk to you guys about how it happened.
I'm the youngest son. I was born and
raised
in the state of Hawaii on the island
of Oahu. I still live there to this
day,
and, it was 4AM for me when it
happened.
(01:05):
I got a phone call
saying that
my dad
had a heart attack and that he was
in the hospital.
And right after I got a call from
my mom, I I I started calling my
brother and my sister and then and then
my dad's sister, auntie Chantal.
Everyone was really positive and hopeful that my
(01:25):
dad was gonna pull through and just be
strong because we all know my dad. He's
he's he's a strong guy,
and
he wouldn't want something like that to take
him out.
But
although we're all hopeful, I I was still
curious.
I needed to know how my dad was
doing. So I found out the hospital name
for my auntie, and I I called them.
(01:47):
I got on the phone with the ER
nurse. I was caring for him. Give me
a little bit of rundown what happened, and
we're we're not gonna go too much into
that. But then the doctor came up and
talked to me, me, gave me more specifics,
and he kinda gave it to me straight.
And,
the doctor told me that my
it wasn't looking good for my dad and
that
it was looking, like, to be thirty minutes
(02:08):
to an hour
left.
Hearing that
broke my heart.
It it was tough.
Thankfully, though, the nurse was able to put
the phone to my dad's ear. And although
he didn't respond, I know he was listening,
and I was able to just pour out
my heart to him,
you know, to him I loved him and
and all that.
(02:30):
And
it's a memory I'm gonna hold with me
forever
because although it wasn't,
you know, like,
out of all the years memories with him
in the twenty one years, it it it
just means a lot that I got to
talk to him because,
it means a lot because
after the phone call, not even a minute
after I was on the phone with my
brother, and I was telling him how how
(02:51):
it was bad. And
that next minute, my my dad my dad
passed away.
You know?
So I'm I was so happy that I
was able to get my words in to
him, and he was able to hear it.
And
I think about, like, what would have happened
if I if I didn't call or,
you know, like, if I didn't answer the
(03:13):
phone call that this more that morning or
if I didn't even you know, like, if
I waited a a second later
to call the hospital.
And,
you know, it I I believe my my
dad was waiting for me
to talk to me
and or just to hear my voice and,
(03:35):
yeah, it's something that I'll hold with me
for a long time. Not in a bad
way, but think of it in a good
memory. You know? So,
that's how it happened.
The first few days were rough. I was
just calling family the whole time to help
me get through. And, actually, a big thing
that kinda helped me get through was you
guys.
When they made a podcast, they made a
Facebook post about my dad,
(03:56):
just talking about everything, and the comments were
just
filled with endless support with friends, family,
and people that looked up to him and
watched the show or, you know, coworkers, everything.
And to see my dad's significance
was just awesome. To see that, like, what
he was building,
basically, the entire time since I was born,
(04:17):
it it it it amounted to something, and
it was so awesome to see that. And
I know he was happy.
So, yeah, just family and you guys, especially,
just everything. I I was rewatching a lot
of my dad's podcast,
learned a lot.
There are some stories I didn't know. Like,
I did not know my dad talked to
Steve Jobs, and, like, I'm gonna be flexing.
(04:39):
Like, I'm gonna be showing that off for
for the rest of my life that my
dad talked to Steve Jobs. That's, like, so
cool to me. You know? That's awesome.
And,
but, yeah,
just seeing his podcast, it's and everything, it's
just been helping me it it helped me
get through those first few days.
Eventually,
me and all my siblings were all located
(05:00):
in different areas. Like, I'm still in Oahu
on Oahu.
My brother's in,
Portland. My sister's in Washington, and my my
other sister's in Florida. And I have another
sister here in Michigan.
So we're all separated. So we haven't we
we haven't really been with each other for
a very long time. I wanna say the
last time we were together was was twenty
eighteen,
I believe, if I'm not mistaken. So that's
(05:21):
a long time.
We would all hang out with each other
individually, but never altogether. So this past week
has been awesome,
and I'm sure my dad would be so
happy
to see all of us together because that's
what he wanted. You know? I'm pretty like,
there's one thing about my dad. He loved
his children,
and
I know he wanted all of us to
(05:42):
be together, and he got that this past
weekend.
I think this is a wake up call
that we need to start seeing each other
more, and that's something we're,
we're all on the same page about, and
we're gonna hope to do so. And we're
gonna we're gonna make it a priority to
make sure we see each other moving forward.
And, yeah, just
just being with them this past week and
being with my auntie and grandma and uncles
(06:04):
and all my cousins and nieces, it it's
been awesome.
We've been able to lean on each other
just, like, through all the roller coasters of
emotions and, you know, just make each other
laugh, smile, and you can just cry if
you needed to cry, and it's been great.
It's something
I definitely
didn't know I needed until I got here.
(06:26):
So the plan moving forward,
like I said, my dad worked his whole
like, for such a long time building what
you know, building Deepgram Central. He he worked
so, like, so long on it. He worked
hard. He's at 1,841
or 42 episodes. I'm close. K?
But
(06:47):
that's a lot of episodes.
And he he always told the viewers that,
like,
once he stopped having fun with this, he
would quit.
But he didn't. He did till
literally till the day he passed.
And I'm sure he's starting up another podcast,
you know, up in heaven.
Just talking about it. Maybe talking about his
(07:08):
life or whatever. What's going on?
But, yeah, we understand that my dad worked
really hard creating this, and
we don't want it all just to come
to an end, especially, you know, since he
wasn't ready for it to be done either.
So me and my brother
and my siblings, you know, we're hoping to
do some episodes weekly
(07:29):
and just try to get my dad's episode
count to 2,000. We might start with one
a week.
I know he did two.
And it might be a rocky start,
and there is gonna be a transitional period,
but we do hope that you continue to
listen to geek news
and, you know, show your support because,
you know, this is gonna be a little
not crazy different. I don't wanna scare you
(07:50):
guys off now, but it's gonna be just
slightly different because I am younger, so I
will be talking about, you know, probably newer
news or,
things in my demographic. But don't worry. I'll
look out for you guys too for all
for all viewers and make sure everyone gets
a little bit of something. And then we're
always gonna sprinkle in a little bit of,
you know, the story of dad or just
(08:11):
talk about dad a little bit.
But, yeah, I think
while I was up here in Michigan, I
wanted to record
a podcast in a familiar space for you
guys
and just
introduce myself
and to let you guys know that it's
not it's not over.
Geek news is not over.
(08:31):
It's gonna continue.
It's
it's what we want. But I do wanna
give you a heads
up. I wanna carry the same model that
my dad did, you know. He told you
guys that the day this stopped being fun,
he would quit, and I think I have
to carry that with me as well. Because
knowing my father, he wouldn't want me doing
this if I wasn't having
(08:53):
fun. But, yeah,
that's pretty much it. That's the episode, guys.
I really appreciate you guys for watching if
you do. I really appreciate you guys for
supporting my dad
for the past fifteen plus years,
you know.
You guys made it awesome for him, and
thank you so much. Because without you guys,
he wouldn't have been able to do all
(09:14):
this.
You know? And granted my dad worked hard,
but,
you know, since you, the viewer, supported him,
he was able to build something amazing.
And, hopefully, we can live up to my,
what my father
created. But yeah.
That's it. My name is Chris, Chris Cochran,
and that's it for today's episode. Have a
(09:35):
good day. Bye.
Hi, everyone.
Different face on today's episode.
I'm Todd's youngest son, Chris.
And if you didn't know yet,
my father passed away suddenly last Monday on
September.
This week
has been
probably the hardest week of my life, if
if I'm being honest.
(00:22):
It it's been difficult.
But something that
has been helping a lot is that, all
the family flew out to Michigan, and we've
resolved we've been all together, and we've just
been leaning on each other, during this time.
Today's episode is gonna be just a little
different. We aren't gonna be talking about anything
any news in the the geek area.
We're just gonna talk about this past week
(00:44):
and just a little bit about my dad.
So I guess I'll I wanted to
talk to you guys about how it happened.
I'm the youngest son. I was born and
raised
in the state of Hawaii on the island
of Oahu. I still live there to this
day,
and, it was 4AM for me when it
happened.
(01:05):
I got a phone call
saying that
my dad
had a heart attack and that he was
in the hospital.
And right after I got a call from
my mom, I I I started calling my
brother and my sister and then and then
my dad's sister, auntie Chantal.
Everyone was really positive and hopeful that my
(01:25):
dad was gonna pull through and just be
strong because we all know my dad. He's
he's he's a strong guy,
and
he wouldn't want something like that to take
him out.
But
although we're all hopeful, I I was still
curious.
I needed to know how my dad was
doing. So I found out the hospital name
for my auntie, and I I called them.
(01:47):
I got on the phone with the ER
nurse. I was caring for him. Give me
a little bit of rundown what happened, and
we're we're not gonna go too much into
that. But then the doctor came up and
talked to me, me, gave me more specifics,
and he kinda gave it to me straight.
And,
the doctor told me that my
it wasn't looking good for my dad and
that
it was looking, like, to be thirty minutes
(02:08):
to an hour
left.
Hearing that
broke my heart.
It it was tough.
Thankfully, though, the nurse was able to put
the phone to my dad's ear. And although
he didn't respond, I know he was listening,
and I was able to just pour out
my heart to him,
you know, to him I loved him and
and all that.
(02:30):
And
it's a memory I'm gonna hold with me
forever
because although it wasn't,
you know, like,
out of all the years memories with him
in the twenty one years, it it it
just means a lot that I got to
talk to him because,
it means a lot because
after the phone call, not even a minute
after I was on the phone with my
brother, and I was telling him how how
(02:51):
it was bad. And
that next minute, my my dad my dad
passed away.
You know?
So I'm I was so happy that I
was able to get my words in to
him, and he was able to hear it.
And
I think about, like, what would have happened
if I if I didn't call or,
you know, like, if I didn't answer the
(03:13):
phone call that this more that morning or
if I didn't even you know, like, if
I waited a a second later
to call the hospital.
And,
you know, it I I believe my my
dad was waiting for me
to talk to me
and or just to hear my voice and,
(03:35):
yeah, it's something that I'll hold with me
for a long time. Not in a bad
way, but think of it in a good
memory. You know? So,
that's how it happened.
The first few days were rough. I was
just calling family the whole time to help
me get through. And, actually, a big thing
that kinda helped me get through was you
guys.
When they made a podcast, they made a
Facebook post about my dad,
(03:56):
just talking about everything, and the comments were
just
filled with endless support with friends, family,
and people that looked up to him and
watched the show or, you know, coworkers, everything.
And to see my dad's significance
was just awesome. To see that, like, what
he was building,
basically, the entire time since I was born,
(04:17):
it it it it amounted to something, and
it was so awesome to see that. And
I know he was happy.
So, yeah, just family and you guys, especially,
just everything. I I was rewatching a lot
of my dad's podcast,
learned a lot.
There are some stories I didn't know. Like,
I did not know my dad talked to
Steve Jobs, and, like, I'm gonna be flexing.
(04:39):
Like, I'm gonna be showing that off for
for the rest of my life that my
dad talked to Steve Jobs. That's, like, so
cool to me. You know? That's awesome.
And,
but, yeah,
just seeing his podcast, it's and everything, it's
just been helping me it it helped me
get through those first few days.
Eventually,
me and all my siblings were all located
(05:00):
in different areas. Like, I'm still in Oahu
on Oahu.
My brother's in,
Portland. My sister's in Washington, and my my
other sister's in Florida. And I have another
sister here in Michigan.
So we're all separated. So we haven't we
we haven't really been with each other for
a very long time. I wanna say the
last time we were together was was twenty
eighteen,
I believe, if I'm not mistaken. So that's
(05:21):
a long time.
We would all hang out with each other
individually, but never altogether. So this past week
has been awesome,
and I'm sure my dad would be so
happy
to see all of us together because that's
what he wanted. You know? I'm pretty like,
there's one thing about my dad. He loved
his children,
and
I know he wanted all of us to
(05:42):
be together, and he got that this past
weekend.
I think this is a wake up call
that we need to start seeing each other
more, and that's something we're,
we're all on the same page about, and
we're gonna hope to do so. And we're
gonna we're gonna make it a priority to
make sure we see each other moving forward.
And, yeah, just
just being with them this past week and
being with my auntie and grandma and uncles
(06:04):
and all my cousins and nieces, it it's
been awesome.
We've been able to lean on each other
just, like, through all the roller coasters of
emotions and, you know, just make each other
laugh, smile, and you can just cry if
you needed to cry, and it's been great.
It's something
I definitely
didn't know I needed until I got here.
(06:26):
So the plan moving forward,
like I said, my dad worked his whole
like, for such a long time building what
you know, building Deepgram Central. He he worked
so, like, so long on it. He worked
hard. He's at 1,841
or 42 episodes. I'm close. K?
But
(06:47):
that's a lot of episodes.
And he he always told the viewers that,
like,
once he stopped having fun with this, he
would quit.
But he didn't. He did till
literally till the day he passed.
And I'm sure he's starting up another podcast,
you know, up in heaven.
Just talking about it. Maybe talking about his
(07:08):
life or whatever. What's going on?
But, yeah, we understand that my dad worked
really hard creating this, and
we don't want it all just to come
to an end, especially, you know, since he
wasn't ready for it to be done either.
So me and my brother
and my siblings, you know, we're hoping to
do some episodes weekly
(07:29):
and just try to get my dad's episode
count to 2,000. We might start with one
a week.
I know he did two.
And it might be a rocky start,
and there is gonna be a transitional period,
but we do hope that you continue to
listen to geek news
and, you know, show your support because,
you know, this is gonna be a little
not crazy different. I don't wanna scare you
(07:50):
guys off now, but it's gonna be just
slightly different because I am younger, so I
will be talking about, you know, probably newer
news or,
things in my demographic. But don't worry. I'll
look out for you guys too for all
for all viewers and make sure everyone gets
a little bit of something. And then we're
always gonna sprinkle in a little bit of,
you know, the story of dad or just
(08:11):
talk about dad a little bit.
But, yeah, I think
while I was up here in Michigan, I
wanted to record
a podcast in a familiar space for you
guys
and just
introduce myself
and to let you guys know that it's
not it's not over.
Geek news is not over.
(08:31):
It's gonna continue.
It's
it's what we want. But I do wanna
give you a heads
up. I wanna carry the same model that
my dad did, you know. He told you
guys that the day this stopped being fun,
he would quit, and I think I have
to carry that with me as well. Because
knowing my father, he wouldn't want me doing
this if I wasn't having
(08:53):
fun. But, yeah,
that's pretty much it. That's the episode, guys.
I really appreciate you guys for watching if
you do. I really appreciate you guys for
supporting my dad
for the past fifteen plus years,
you know.
You guys made it awesome for him, and
thank you so much. Because without you guys,
he wouldn't have been able to do all
(09:14):
this.
You know? And granted my dad worked hard,
but,
you know, since you, the viewer, supported him,
he was able to build something amazing.
And, hopefully, we can live up to my,
what my father
created. But yeah.
That's it. My name is Chris, Chris Cochran,
and that's it for today's episode. Have a
(09:35):
good day. Bye.
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