The National Defense Radio Show

Randy welcomes Kevin Smokler, th author of three books about pop culture, and the director of the new documentary “Vinyl Nation” joins the show to talk about music, the medium of vinyl, and how important Record Store Day has been in revitalizing the music industry. With sales increasing every year over the past decade and a half, Randy and Kevin discuss how this medium is finding a toe-hold in the world of smartphones and mp3 players.

Big news on the veteran employment front as we welcome Mark Elliott, Head of Military and Veterans Affairs for JP Morgan Chase, to talk about his own military service in the U.S. Military, retiring as a Colonel, and then his transition to civilian life where he continues to strive to support the men and women who have put on the uniform of the U.S. Armed Forces. Randy and Mark discuss J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.’s veteran hiring initiatives and much more in this segment.

Randy welcomes Vlad Coric, CEO and Chairman of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals to discuss an exciting advance made in Nurtec ODT used to treat migraines. Randy and Vlad talk about the drug, the process in which they identified patients whose lives have been directly affected not only by debilitating migraines, but also for those who have been able to get them under control with these issues. Military members who have suffered high stress, traumatic brain injury, and more are all at advanced risk to suffer from the scourge of migraines.

Jim Meskiman joins The National Defense to talk about his long-running acting career, his own REAL mother, actress Marion Ross (better known as Mrs. C from “Happy Days”) serving as America’s T.V. mom. Jim is an INCREDIBLY talented impressionist, and shares some of his craft with us here on The National Defense.

Documentarian Ken Burns is back yet once again on the show to talk about his newest documentary subject: Benjamin Franklin. Randy and Ken talk about the process in which these topics are identified, and gives us a few morsels of what we can expect from this new series on PBS, the PBS website and PBS app.

Ben Kligler, MD, MPH Executive Director, Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation for the Veterans Health Administration. Randy and Dr. Ben talk about the VHA, and get an update on some of the current challenges being faced by the VA as well as the successes that the agency has seen in providing care to our veterans!

We’re always happy to feature the great new products from Gillette and in this segment we welcome back Peter Ries, Brand Director for Gillette North America to talk about the brand new Gillette Labs exfoliating bar.  Randy and Peter talk about this new innovation, and the process that Gillette goes through to bringing these new products to life.

Randy Miller welcomes the great new comedian Michael Yo to the show to bring the funny and to talk about his brand new special “I Never Thought” on YouTube where you can catch Michael’s self-branded type of “blasian” culture and much more.

The National Defense welcomes actor Kelly Aucoin to the show to talk about his role as Dollar Bill Stern on the hit series “Billions” as well as his new project “The Girl From Plainville” on Hulu. Kelly portrays a detective in the true life story of a texting suicide case and we can’t wait to watch it.

We always like to talk about food here on The National Defense, and this week we welcome Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarain to talk about his career in the food industry, his time on the Food Network, and his GREAT idea for a new show “Big Restaurant Bet.” Geoffrey fills us in on the details of the premise for this great new show that we can’t wait to watch on the Food Network and Discovery+!