Swan Dive

In 1984, Keith Pariani and eight fellow enthusiasts left San Francisco on antique "high-wheeled" Columbia bicycles, following the path across the USA taken 100 years earlier by pioneer Thomas Stephens. They rode these awkward contraptions which have no brakes and only one gear across the entire country, through sun and rain, over the Rockies and vast stretches of emptiness, finishing 61 days later in Boston. The classic b...

All day, every day, we each tell stories about who we are and how we are. Collectively, we speak of “controlling the narrative,” both positively and negatively. Rick Stone tells stories for a living and is one of the world’s foremost experts on the power of storytelling. He began in advertising and has dedicated the past 30 years to bringing back this ancient art form in service of teaching, learning and connecting people worldwide...

With sold out tours, millions of followers on social and growing critical acclaim, Jake Miller has quietly emerged as a magnetic pop presence. He has done this on his own terms with an infectious, high energy style that’s full of optimism and fun as hell. His fans, dubbed “The Millertary,” are so devoted that many tattoo his lyrics on their body. Florida-raised and LA-based, this singer, songwriter, and producer made waves with 201...

Nothing is more gratifying then when a listener calls to share that a discussion on Swan Dive influenced their life choices in a positive way. A recent call with an old coworker of Ron’s was exactly that and explored this listener’s “great resignation” opportunity. This prompted Ron and Stu to revisit some of the key and critical aspects of their own swan dives. In this short episode, your hosts look back at some of the more pragma...

Christian Boos is one of the most sought out surf and sportfishing guides on the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. He grew up in the ocean in Venezuela. At university in Caracas, he majored in computer engineering, a field of study he felt pressured into by society’s expectations of him. But after just 3 months working as a computer engineer in the early 2000s, Boos quit his job and moved to Costa Rica to find a more satisfying an...

Sheryl Johnson is good at what she does. She’s a fine lawyer, happily married and the mother of four. But one of Sheryl‘s children, Alex, suffered from mental illness and anxiety. And, like so many with this disease, her son did not find in society the care and understanding that was needed. Alex took his own life in 2017, a victim of the pain of depression. Sheryl and her family struggled for a long time with the weight of this un...

Large animal veterinarian, Eric Dubbin, is a gentle and curious soul who was good at his job. “I knew which end of the horse got the hay,” this thoughtful healer says modestly. Still, after 18 years serving cows, horses and goats in the rural countryside, something shifted, when serendipity offered him a new opportunity. Instead of serving animals his new gig would be about people, helping leadership lead better, find deeper job sa...

Mitzi Rapkin is the founder, host, and producer of the long-running podcast, First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing,  featuring in-depth conversations with the world's most distinguished literary writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and essays. One of the best interviewers in the biz, her archive contains more than 380 interviews accumulated over nine years. Mitzi reads 50 BOOKS A YEAR, that's one a week, to produce up to ...

“I’m not inherently brave. I was very much in a life that, outside of being queer, had checked off all the American dream boxes: job, child, house, partner that loved me. It was a good relationship, we paid our bills,  I mowed the yard … had cookouts. And then I met my partner (Bret) at a birthday party. I quit my job without a plan … It was in that moment that I was either gonna live authentically or not live very well, despite wh...

During his nine years as a pro hockey legend from 1972-81, Ron Andruff shared in 3 Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens. He won two Most Valuable Player awards with three major professional hockey leagues. He also won the American Hockey League Scoring Title. During and after his athletic career, Andruff lent his name and support to important causes, from Big Brothers to cancer, water conservation and many others. An entreprene...

Beth Black is the Founder of Cherokee Creek Boys School, a therapeutic boarding school for struggling boys 10-15 that offers a safe place to “discover what is real and true about themselves and the world around them.” The school uses indigenous wisdom coupled with modern psychology to help these boys grow and thrive. Beth’s son attended a therapeutic boarding school in the 1990s, and she says, “It has become my mission to seek out ...

The youngest Latina ever to run a nationally endowed philanthropic foundation, this inspiring daughter of immigrants, Dr. Carmen Rojas, has dedicated her life to bettering the lives of underserved working people across the US. Growing up in a sprawling, multicultural family, surrounded by love and core values, instilled in Carmen a deep sense of promise. “For me, it’s really about supporting people, organizations and initiatives th...

Wayne Irwin evolved his electrician trade into a radio broadcast engineer and now, a solar energy entrepreneur.  Wayne owns Pure Energy Solar in Gainesville, Florida and his company creates innovative products that help bring solar power to the world. Last year, Wayne followed his passion for music and launched his own radio station, WMBT "The Wombat" 90.1FMl in Gainesville, FL. "Gainesville's Locally Driven Rad...

Steff Florentina grew up in Nova Scotia, the daughter of an excellent tennis player who introduced her to the sport at age 5. “My life was tennis. When we weren't playing tennis, we were watching tennis, or going over areas that I could improve. My typical schedule growing up was wake up at 5, drive 35 minutes to the tennis courts, be on the courts from 6:00-8:00, make it to school just in time ... , play tennis during lunch (...

Criminal defense attorney and award-winning novelist, Jon Miller, has tried cases in all but one of New Mexico's far-flung counties. He knows the grit and grind of the criminal mind. Raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a vision of practicing environmental law, Jon studied Urban & Regional planning at Cornell, went to law school and then worked at the Dept of Interior in DC, until budget cuts sent him packing back to NM...

Welcome to Swan Dive Revive, a reflective pause to look back at where we were to better understand how far we’ve come in our ever-evolving journeys. Today we revisit May 5, 2020, the episode titled, Unfinished. Ron was just about to leave his successful career as the pandemic hit. As the world experienced a collective pivot, we discuss his virtual going away party and the then-novel idea of being together in lockdown “doing nothing...

The documentary film project, Capetown Legends, described Conrad Hicks as “an artist, self-taught master blacksmith and conservationist that is merging many worlds in his distinctive work.” Based in Capetown, S Africa, Conrad specializes in hand-forged metalwork to produce his sculptures and architectural and interior design projects. His forge is housed in The Bijou, an old Art Deco cinema, which he bought and began restoring in 1...

Tiffany Manning was cruising along with a satisfying job in the art department of an ad agency when the layoff happened.  She looked at the change of career as a gift and quickly changed gears, making moves as a commercial photographer.  But with Tiffany, it’s all about movement and there was one more move she needed to make - a fine artist. When she finally found the courage to make that declaration out loud, everything changed. “...