Episodes

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m lucky enough to get email pitches from publicists from time to time, which I thoroughly enjoy because they introduce me to people I never would have thought to speak with. Recently, I was asked if I’d like to interview Dominic Hoffman about his upcoming book of short stories. I of course said yes, then stopped short. Dominic Hoffman? THE Dominic Hoffman. He’s been in a ton of shows that I’ve watched, so I was thrill...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. A few weeks ago, I got an email asking if I’d like to interview the CEO of a nonprofit veteran support group called Clear Path for Veterans. I was absolutely interested because A), I’ve done interviews with the All Secure Foundation in the past, and B), I enjoy talking to veterans. So, I got Ryan Woodruff’s number and gave him a call. So sit back, relax, and prepare to be amazed at what Clear Path for Veterans offers to our country’s bravest men and...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Recently I received an email asking if I’d like to have Forensic psychiatrist and author, Dr. Carole Lieberman on as a guest. I’m always looking for new and intriguing guests and was definitely interested in talking to her, especially after I saw that she’s studied Trump Derangement Syndrome and wants to have it become a recognized mental health disorder. In this episode we discuss that, as well as the assassination of Charlie Kirk, education and th...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. I love getting emails from publicists asking if I’d be interested in interviewing an author for an episode. Normally, I see someone who interests me, then I reach out to them. But these email pitches are always a nice surprise, and the streak continues with this episode’s guest, award-winning author Christa Carmen. So without further ado, sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy our conversation. Then, tell me what you think of Christa. As I mentioned ...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. For this episode, I’m welcoming back two of my favorite people, Johnnie Calloway Sr, and El-Amin. The wrestler, Hulk Hogan, died about a week before this episode, and El-Amin was a big fan of Hogan. El-Amin posted a photo of Muhammad Ali holding up Hulk Hogan’s arm after a wrestling victory and added a broken heart emoji to the post. To his surprise, around forty people came at El-Amin and told him that he shouldn’t mourn Hogan because of a statemen...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Hanover County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Steve Wills. I met Steve when he got promoted to sergeant, and I took his spot as an investigator with the sheriff’s office. Steve looks mild-mannered until he opens his mouth and you realize that this guy is hilarious. I’ve been trying to get Steve on the podcast for months, and we were finally able to coordinate our schedules to make it work. I take him through his career with the sheriff’s...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode’s guest is Mindy Applewhite. Mindy’s daughter, Dr. Lindsey Grizzard Braun was killed in an automobile accident in July, 2023. Since that horrible day, Mindy and her family have tried to cope with Lindsey’s loss, and as you’ll hear in our conversation, she’s still trying to figure out how to go forward with her life. This episode isn’t going to be easy to listen to, especially for parents, but Mindy is her daughter’s biggest advocate and...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. A few weeks ago, I interviewed Richmond Police Sergeant Michael Lewandoski about his firsthand experience with the riots in Richmond during the 2020 Summer of Love. After the interview, I noticed that his wife, Kelly, mentioned him in a few of her social media posts, so I got an idea and asked Ski if he thought Kelly would be interested in doing an episode about how she felt during that Spring and Summer. He said that he’d ask her and mentioned that...

Welcome back to the podcast, I'm Jamie Baynes. Johnnie and El-Amin are back to discuss their views on men's mental health. June is Men's Mental Health Awareness Month and since the discussions that I have with Johnnie and El-Amin focus on men's issues, we all thought that this topic would be great for discussion and, as usual with Johnnie and El-Amin, it was. We really had a great time discussing mental health and I hope you enjoy the conversation as well. What are your views on mental health...

Welcome back to the podcast, I'm Jamie Baynes. For this fantastic episode, I'm talking to two more of my favorite people: Nikki Bailey, who's been a guest a couple times before, and a brand new guest, but someone that I've known for years, Trisha Venable. My initial plan was to have them act as a type of counterbalance to the episode with Johnnie and El-Amin that focused on men, but Nikki and Trisha immediately threw me for a loop when they started talking about men, bears and Tik Tok! I thin...

Welcome back to the podcast, I'm Jamie Baynes. This episode's guest is Richmond police sergeant Michael Lewandowski, also affectionately known as Ski. Ski and I worked Patrol in 1st Precinct back in the late 90's. Recently I posted about how people compare the day-long riot on January 6th with the months long riots in the Spring and Summer of 2020. Ski posted his account of being at ground zero when the Richmond riots kicked off, then added more to his experiences on the recent anniversary of th...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. A few years ago, I joined NetGalley, a website that has a library of books that haven’t been released yet. Some books are by well known authors and others are by new authors. I was looking through the titles and saw a book cover with the title Dead Safe and a really cool, eye-catching cover. I read the description of the novel and found that it was about an LAPD detective named Casey Stafford and the author was George Prior. I downloaded the book an...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. For this episode I’ve brought back two of my favorite people, El-Amin and Johnnie Calloway, Sr. I wanted to get their take on what it means to be men in today’s world. The point is not to say that men are better than women, nor is it to judge anyone. I wanted honest opinions from two people that I admire and respect and not surprisingly, that’s exactly what I got from Johnnie and El-Amin. As you’ll hear, they differ on some of their opinions, but...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is my friend, former partner and current chief of the Richmond Police Department, Rick Edwards. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to ask Rick to be a guest on the podcast. I probably assumed that he was busy running the Richmond Police Department and didn’t have time to talk to me for a bit. I recently interviewed Deputy Chief Sybil El-Amin and sent the interview to Rick. I mentioned that I’d done other local police chiefs and all...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode’s guest is a woman that I’ve known for over twenty years, Richmond Police Department Deputy Chief Sybil El-Amin. Over the years, I’ve worked WITH Sybil and FOR Sybil and I always enjoy her outlook on police work and life in general. I decided to reach out to her and see if she’d be willing to come on the podcast and do an episode and she agreed, so here she is. I hope you enjoy our conversation. After you listen, tell me what you think...

Welcome back to the podcast, I'm Jamie Baynes. I've been doing this small podcast for a few years now and I enjoy finding guests to talk to. Recently, I've been lucky enough to have publicists reach out to me and ask if I'd be interested in interviewing authors that they promote. I always say yes and for this episode, I have the honor of speaking with Bryan Gruley, a retired journalist and current author. So sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy our conversation. Once you listen, let me know wha...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. About a week ago, I got an email from a woman who said that she listened to a recent podcast of mine, El-Amin’s first one, and she thought that Lt. Randy Sutton, a retired Lt. from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department would be a great guest for my podcast. I’m always looking for more guests, so I replied back and said sure. Then I paused and thought, “Randy Sutton from the Vegas PD?” Surely not THE Randy Sutton, one of the original cops who ...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today I’m happy to welcome back two of my favorite people, Johnnie Calloway, Sr. and El-Amin. As I mentioned in a previous podcast, I’m excited to have these men on as regular guests because of their attitudes about the world in which we all live. I wanted to get their opinion on how it seems as if human beings, at least in the United Sates, don’t seem capable of having civil debates, instead relying on slurs and insults to try and get their points ...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode, I’m honored to have two previous guests, Johnnie Calloway, Sr. and El-Amin. I’ve had Johnnie on twice and had El-Amin on a few weeks ago. After my interview with El-Amin, I knew that I had to have both of them on an episode and after we finished recording this one, I knew that I needed to have them on as regular guests. So here they are debuting together to talk about, well, why don’t I stop talking and you just sit back, relax and enj...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode’s guest is someone that I’ve wanted to have on for quite awhile: RPD Officer Alexander El-Amin, or El-Amin for short. I’ve followed his Facebook page for years and every photo simply exudes positivity. So sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy our conversation. After youn listen, let me know what you think about El-Amin. I don’t think that I’ve ever spoken with someone who is so passionate about what they do. His compassion and honesty ...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode’s guest is bestselling author G.T. Karber. A publicist sent me an email asking if I’d like to interview an author who created murder mystery logic puzzles online, then put those puzzles in a series of bestselling novels. Well, anyone who knows me knows that I’ll talk to anyone as long as they’ve got a positive message to share. And I especially like talking to authors, so the fix was in, so sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy our conve...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. On this episode, I’m bringing back Keanna, the current esthetician and former Richmond Police dispatcher. I enjoyed talking to her so much, I asked if she could find any other people who wanted to come back with her.. In about two seconds, she shot me a text and said that Dria, a friend of hers, and a dispatcher wanted to come and do an episode. Two former Richmond police dispatchers in one episode? How could I turn that down? So sit back, relax and...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. On this episode, I’m honored to be speaking with bestselling author, poet, ecologist and journalist, Mike Bond. Mike has written thirteen fiction novels, though as you’ll hear in our conversation, they’re all true because they’re based on his life. He's also written two tomes of poetry. To be honest, I was a little intimidated at the thought of interviewing Mike because of all his accomplishments and all the places that he’s been and the experiences...

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. This episode’s guest is Lela Tuhtan. Lela was an educator for over ten years, then decided to transition over to coaching adults. Lela’s philosophy is that we’re all raised with certain sociological stories that can limit us in our personal and professional lives. What Lela does as a coach is to dig up those embedded stories and, in her words, compost them in order for us to create new, better, healthier stories. So sit back, relax and I hope you en...