Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas! In this special Christmas day episode of Half Hour Intern we speak with a Mall Santa and learn all about the life of Mr. Claus.

Sports is generally not known for having high caliber reporting.  In fact, most of the time when I’m watching I’m amazed at how boring the questions seem that are being asked on the sidelines.  But despite this perceived laid back nature there is a ton of work that goes into sports reporting.  I’m talking stats.  I’m talking about demanding an interview from someone that doesn’t want to talk to you right now.  I’m talking about trying to say something intelligent while not overwhelming the interviewee and trying to keep everything under 30 seconds.  There’s a whole lot that goes into it.  And that’s just the sideline reporting side of things.  Today we speak with Angela Lauren, who has been there and done that with just about every job in the sports reporter field. 

Sex.  It pretty much makes the world go round.  They say that nearly every major invention ever can be traced back to a desire to impress someone that you are sexually attracted to.  Moreover, adoption of new media and tech over the past 50 years has been heavily influenced by sex and the porn industry.  One of the major reasons VHS won over the Betamax format was VHS was the main format for porn.  By the late 1970s, erotic film accounted for over half of all VHS sales in the United States.  On the internet 13% of all searches are for erotic content, somewhere between 4-30% of all traffic is for porn, and at any second 30,000,000 unique people are viewing porn online.  Online payment was invented to collect money on porn sites.  Makes you wonder what the future will hold with virtual reality and artificial intelligence…actually it doesn’t, it’s going to be a lot of porn and sex.  Something this all encompassing takes a lot of time to talk about, and this will be the first of many of those talks.  Today’s guest, Maxine Holloway, is a porn actress and director, live show actress and director, an escort, a sex activist, and a college level sex educator that has her masters in public health.  As you can imagine, we had a lot to talk about.

Social media is such a pervasive fixture of modern society.  You may love it, you may hate it, you may think it’s a waste of time…but there it is.  Seemingly not concerned with peoples’ varying and ever-changing opinions of it, it remains, stronger than ever.  Today we interview a social media manger for a major fitness brand, Beach Body.  Jake will tell us about the ins and outs of trying to manage something as amorphous and massive as social media, and he’ll make us all feel a bit better about the social media hustle.

Most of us have the luxury of being able to speak our primary language every minute of every day.  If we choose to speak in a language other than our native tongue, it’s usually that, a choice.  We may learn to say things like “Where is the restroom?” or “Nice to meet you”, but rarely are these phrases necessary.  They’re usually learned to make conversations on vacation more easy, not with any real sense of urgency.  However, children all over the world are immigrating to countries where they simply do not know the language.  For economic or other reasons kids and teens find themselves in a new land, with no ability to speak the language.  In these instances they MUST learn the language, and there is a very real sense of urgency.  Today’s guest is an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Phoenix, AZ.  Holly teaches teens that are brand new to America, with no prior experience in speaking English.  She’ll tell us about what it is like to try and teach students like this and how the classroom dynamics play out.

It is an interesting time to be a member of law enforcement in America.  There have been many events in the past two years that have drawn the ire and suspicion of the greater public regarding the people that are hired to serve and protect them.  This is on the one hand good, as we should question everything all the time, and audit our government employees to make sure they are serving the purpose for which they were hired.  This is on the other hand bad, as public sentiment and backlash fracture the country further.   Worse, it can cause good law enforcement officers, who risk their lives to help make our cities safer, to feel ostracized and looked down upon.  Today I interview one such officer, Matthew Barton, a sheriff from Yavapai county in Arizona.  We’ll discuss what it’s like being a sheriff in today’s world.

Think about how different the world is from how it was 100 years ago.  A century ago we barely had cars, paved roads, or phones.  The world wasn’t connected by air travel, television, computers, or the internet.  Revolutionary advancements make the modern world unrecognizable from the not so distant past.  Yet there are certain places you can go where the impact of progress is less felt.  If you were to enroll in a university and go to class a century ago things would flow in a very similar way to how they do today.  The clothes and culture would stand out far more than the format of classes and education as a whole.  Today’s guest, and the university he works for, is aiming to change that.  Laurence works for Minerva University where the progress is the norm, the world is your classroom, and skill mastery is on the agenda.  It’s time for revolutionary advancement to come to the world of education.

Raise your hand it you like to travel.  Everyone?  I see.  Now, raise your hand if you like to spend time with your boo thang.  Everyone that has a boo thang (sans those who just got in an argument right before reading this)?  Just as I suspected.  We’ve interviewed for a lot of fun and desirable jobs on Half Hour Intern, but how about getting paid to travel with your boo?  That’s gotta be the best job in the world…tied at the very least.  Getting flown around, wined and dined, free stay here, free tour there, not too shabby.  We all know that travel blogs exist and we’ve probably all wondered, “who the hell are these lucky people and why not me?!”  Today we meet the lucky travel blogging couple of Roamaroo.  They’ll explain how they got so lucky and what life is like on the other side of the rainbow.

Nothing brings people together quite like a good meal.  This makes today’s guest somewhat of an important person.  You could say that Emma is a food writer and that she comes up with amazing recipes for a living.  You could, in a more indirect way, say that Emma is a happiness dealer that knocks over the first domino en route to good times and lasting memories.  I mean, without people like Emma over the years we’d all probably just be eating the same damn thing every day, and there’d be nothing happy about that.  Today she tells us how she comes up with her wonderful recipes and gives us a behind the scenes look at the food writing world.

They say that what you own owns you.  If that’s the case then I sure do hope that whatever owns me comes from the 167 year old Hammacher Schlemmer catalog.  Consider being owned by a batman golf cart that shoots flames out the back…I’d be okay with that.  Or how about a personal submarine, that’s also a sports car?  Not too shabby.  Yep, thanks to people like today’s guest, Sarah Plovanich, Hammacher Schlemmer, 167 years after it’s creation, is still a hub for high quality, very unique gifts.  Sarah is a buyer for the catalog where she does everything from evaluate invention submissions to travel the world in search of the next great products.  She’ll tell us all about what it’s like to have the coolest job ever.

Life is a journey best spent with your whole heart and mind invested.  Hold nothing back.  Love fully.  Travel far and wide, and learn and experience with an open mind.  Eat great meals with people that make you smile.  Experience deeply.  Through all of this, live with a light heart that is focused on the present.  These beliefs were the foundations of a wonderful idea and are now the blood and bone of a wonderful company, Moveable Feast Retreats.  Uber amazing couple Laura and Tim Sullivan come on the show to share their grand vision for the ultimate vacation, and tell stories from the recent inaugural retreat.

Nothing beats a good book.  A great fictional story can sweep us up in a make-believe world, blurring the lines of reality and the extraordinary.  A great nonfiction book can disseminate wonderful ideas that we can logically digest and grow from.  But why limit our lessons to the work of nonfiction?  Perhaps the best of all book genres is the highly under appreciated philosophical fiction. Sewing seeds of growth while wearing the disguise of entertainment.  When we are wrapped up emotionally in a narrative both sides of our brain can interpret a lesson, and a level of deep growth can occur that is difficult with nonfiction alone.  Today’s guest understands this concept well and has written an amazing piece of philosophical fiction that speaks to the collective struggle of our time.  He’ll discuss why philosophical fiction is such a great medium for distilling down complex topics, and explain what the whole book writing biz is all about too.

They say that home is where the heart is, but what about when you rent a home on vacation?  Suddenly your heart becomes more vulnerable.  You want a home that treats your heart like the love of your life…but even better.  Dare I say, like how your grandma would treat you.  Anticipating your every need, and always having more in store than you could ask for.  Homes like this are what today’s gust specializes in.  Ryan saw the need for a home rental company that went the extra mile for both home owners, and guests on vacation alike.  He pairs up amazing properties with people looking for a “grandma home” (damn I’m good at marketing).  He’ll explain the ins and outs of the luxury rental business and tell us about his decision to quit the corporate life and pursue his own business.

For most of us having a properly running car is a necessity.  If our car isn’t functioning correctly, our lives can’t function correctly.  We’d be late to just about everything…if we even had any chance of making it at all.  Luckily for us there are wonderful people like today’s guest.  Car not starting?  Engine overheating?  Bizarre clicking noise that you’re afraid might be animal living in your undercarriage?  Steven has you covered for all of this and more.  He’ll find out what the problem is and have you back on the road in no time.

If we ever get hurt, or our body has some sort of hiccup in proper function, it’s likely to take a whole team of specialized individuals to get us back on our feet. Physicians, physicians’ assistants, nurses, and the often unheralded medical device rep to name a few.  If you have ever needed a procedure done to improve your body’s health or performance, there was likely a medical device rep involved somewhere down the food chain. Reps, like my friend Sam, make sure that the products and devices being used in a procedure are being used in the best ways possible. They can also help troubleshoot problems that could arise during or after use. As they say, it takes a village, and we should all be glad that people like Sam are part of that village.

There sure are a lot of animals out there that get a lot of recognition for their greatness.  Dogs are a man’s best friend.  Chicken’s are coveted for their delicious, healthy eggs, and their equally delicious and dynamic meat.  Cows stand at the apex of the red meat world, and are also the standard for dairy products everywhere.  But what about animals that are just as awesome and somehow fly under the radar of acclaim.  What about the goat?  Or should I say G.O.A.T?  Their dairy…very low in lactose and S1 casein (another often inflammatory component of cow milk).  Their meat?  Gyros.  Their size?  Cute.  Their temperament?  Did you know that goats wag their tails when they’re happy?  Yep, they’re pretty darn great.  Today’s guest knows all about the greatness of goats and how great their dairy can be.  PJ is the owner of Goat Milk Stuff which is an amazing, family run, goat milk business.  They started with soap and now make just about everything you can think of.  PJ is nice enough to offer a free bar of her REALLY good soap to Half Hour Intern listeners.  Just visit http://www.goatmilkstuff.com/InternSoap to find out what all the hype is about.

They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.  I’m more of a pet rock guy myself…but today’s guest has me considering expanding my horizons.  Hannah Powers is a gemologist which is a person that looks at gems all day and, among other things, grades them on their value.  She’ll tell us all about what makes a gem a gem, what makes said gem valuable, and why diamonds are in fact pretty darn cool.  

Last year I was traveling with my wife and I said, “It’s just such a bummer that you can’t visit places for longer.  A travel visa only allows you to stay somewhere for a few months.  Think of what the experience would be like if you could stay longer than that.”  Cut to a month ago when I get an e-mail from a listener of the show in China, Yue.  Yue went on to tell me a story about this amazing program she had just been a part of called a ‘working holiday’.  It is a visa that you get from the government of a country, similar to a travel visa, only it allows you to stay there for one to three years!  Forget just saving up tons of money and going to some place for a few months, with a working holiday visa you can go to a country and get a job and live there.  Truly immerse yourself in the culture.  And no, you do not need to be sponsored by a company, or even have a job lined up for when you arrive.  If this has piqued your interest at all, listen to the interview with Yue to learn more about the program and hear about her year long experience living in New Zealand.

Did you hear, studies say two cups of coffee a day will give you a healthier heart?!  I hear you, you can only drink coffee in the morning though.  Never fear, didn’t you know that studies show that two glasses of red wine a night are proven to make you live longer?!  I know, it’s the perfect one two punch!  If only there was a study that supported my love of unhealthy food, like, oh, I don’t know, that eating grilled cheese sandwiches will make you more likely to have sex.  This new world of studies is so great!  Just start the Blake Fletcher patented ‘Coffee, wine, grilled cheese’ diet and you’ll be banging your way to a longer life in no time!  (Please don’t actually do that or you’ll probably get an arrhythmia, alcoholism, and clogged arteries)  It seems like studies are coming out every day that say…whatever the heck they want to say, and that new ones are always contradicting old ones.  What does it all mean?  Can we even trust studies and data at all anymore?  Dr. John Johnson, data analyst extraordinaire and co-author of the new book Everydata, is here to help us sort through everything.

Have you ever had the dream that you invented the next big thing?  That you made the next ‘must have’ product that people all over the world wanted.  That you were finally the person that made something that made everyone say “Why didn’t I think of that?!”  Today’s guest, Brett Miller, is one of those people.  About a year and a half ago he created Brik Book, and after being featured in everything from Gizmodo to Oprah magazine, he is now in the middle of living that dream.  Brett will tell us all about Brik Book’s launch and the lessons he has learned on the road to success.