Episodes

Five Hours to Noon is a documentary-style podcast that tells the true story of one runner’s fight against time, terrain, and himself at the Divide 200 ultramarathon in the Canadian Rockies. The race: 320 kilometers across mountains, ridges, and valleys, with a hard cutoff at high noon on the final day. The challenge: rain, grizzlies, sleep deprivation, wrong turns, and a body fighting Hashimoto’s disease. The question: can he make it to the finish line before the clock runs out? Told in eigh...

In this third episode of If Only, we turn to the story of Momofuku Ando—an orphan from Taiwan who became the man who changed how the world eats. As a boy, he learned survival in his grandparents' fabric shop, watching them stretch every resource and turn scraps into something useful. As a young man, he chased opportunity across borders—from textiles in Taipei to projectors in Osaka, always moving, always hustling through war and hardship. He built businesses that were swept away by forces bey...

In this second episode of If Only, we turn to the story of Harry R. Truman—the man who lived in the shadow of Mount St. Helens and refused to leave when the mountain began to stir. As a boy, he grew up in the rugged hills of Appalachia. As a young man, he hustled through Prohibition, running liquor and scraping a living on his own terms. He built a lodge on the edge of Spirit Lake and carved out a life defined by stubborn independence. And in May 1980, when scientists warned of an impending ...

In this first episode of If Only, we follow the life of Tsutomu Yamaguchi—an ordinary draftsman whose story was shaped by extraordinary loss and survival. As a child, he lost his mother. As a teenager, he watched his father’s business collapse in the Great Depression. As a young man, he endured hunger, poverty, and the weight of war. And in August 1945, he survived what no one else survived—both the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His life was marked by unanswered if onlys: if only ...

In this epilogue to Choosing the Unknown, we arrive at the breach: Babylon breaks through Jerusalem’s northern wall, and the city collapses. Amid fire and exile, Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch remain—two voices carrying words that kings tried to silence, scrolls that fire could not destroy. This is a story of loss, survival, and endurance: of a prophet spared but exiled, a scribe who chose to stay, and a message that endured through centuries to sit at the heart of scripture today. Woven throug...

In the final miles of the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon, runners descend through Flagstaff, Arizona—terrain as unforgiving as it is redemptive. But beneath the surface of these trails lies a darker history. In 1988, near this same course, 9-year-old Jennifer Wilson disappeared. Her body was later found near Sheep Hill. This episode tells the story of two brothers: Richard Bible, who would be convicted of Jennifer’s murder, and Mark Bible, the man who turned him in. Told through the lens of an ult...

In this chapter of Choosing the Unknown, we descend into the red rock corridors of Sedona alongside Cocodona 250 ultrarunners—and trace the escape of German surrealist Max Ernst from Nazi-occupied Europe to the Arizona desert. What connects a 250-mile footrace to a man fleeing war? Survival. As runners face the exposed cliffs of Hangover Trail, we explore Ernst’s arrest, internment, and rescue by a covert network of artists, poets, and smugglers. This is a story of exile, endurance, and sculptur...

The Cocodona trail doesn’t care who you were. And in Jerome, halfway through a 250-mile race, neither does the mountain. In this chapter, we follow Maynard James Keenan—rock star turned winemaker—and explore what it means to trade certainty for something real, slow, and brutally honest. Because when you’re running on tired legs or planting stubborn vines, all that matters is how you keep showing up. Chapter Three explores: Jerome, AZ: a town of ghosts, artists, and second chances Maynard’s jou...

Choosing the Unknown – Chapter Two: The Veteran What happens when expertise meets uncertainty? In Chapter Two, we meet Andy Jones-Wilkins, a legend in the ultrarunning world, as he runs the Cocodona 250. Andy has run hundreds of races and taught countless runners how to navigate the highs and lows of ultrarunning. But what happens when even a veteran steps onto a course that demands everything, over and over again? Through stories of the trail, quiet reflections, and moments of laughter, this...

What happens when you step into the unknown—even when everything is going wrong? In Chapter One of our Choosing the Unknown series, host Paul Johnson stands at the starting line of the Cocodona 250, but the real story begins long before the race starts. Three weeks earlier, he pushed through the Arizona Monster 300, battling the desert, fatigue, and self-doubt. This episode explores what drives us to step into the unknown, even when everything is already going wrong, and what it means to keep...

What does it take to step into the unknown? In this prologue to Get Some, host Paul Johnson looks at the moments when we leave certainty behind. From the starting lines of ultramarathons to everyday choices, Get Some explores what happens when we decide to take the next step, even when we can’t see the whole path ahead. This prologue shares why choosing the unknown might just be the most honest way to live.