Little Detours Podcast

Katie Spotz had two options: Row solo across the Atlantic Ocean or forever regret not doing it. At 22, she became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic with just her arms and her oars.

She used a bucket for a bathroom and kept time like a prisoner, making dashes on the inside of her boat Liv. Katie raised over $100,000 for safe drinking water projects and turned her 70 days at sea into a book, “Just Keep Rowing: Lessons from the Atlantic Ocean by the Youngest Person to Row it Alone.” Katie talks about motivation and endurance and encourages people to “find your ocean and keep rowing.”

Read More

Alcoholics Anonymous turns 85 on June 10, 2020. So many slender threads of grace created the fellowship that is a lifeline to alcoholics around the world.

Before Bill W. met Dr. Bob, alcoholics were doomed. They were called skid row bums and rum hounds. There was no cure and no hope; there were no rehabs and there were no hospitals that treated alcoholics with dignity and respect.

That all changed when a broke businessman from New York found himself desperate in Akron, Ohio at the Mayflower Hotel and reached for a phone instead of a drink. That call led him to Robert Smith, a surgeon whose hands were too shaky to trust. Together, they created a spiritual solution that changed the world.

Read More

Jimmy Malone is the voice Cleveland listens to on the drive to work on WMJI 105.7. He’s a popular local celebrity, but when he worked as a comedian, he had people cancel his bookings when they realized he was black.

The murder of George Floyd deeply disturbed him as a black man, and as a human being. Jimmy talks about the need for more minorities in positions of authority and what it’s like to keep waiting for justice that never comes, not for Tamir Rice, not for Eric Gardner, not for George Floyd.

Read More

It all started with an eye that wouldn’t stop tearing. WKYC-TV Senior Health Correspondent Monica Robins had covered everyone else’s health issues in her 30 years as a broadcast journalist. Now it was time to cover hers. On July 2, 2019, she got the diagnosis: She had a brain tumor.

The tumor was growing on her carotid artery and on her optic nerve. It could cause her to go blind. She shares how she took ownership of her treatment and recovery, even an unexpected and unwelcome side effect.

Read More

Flow, not fear, is the secret to riding out the coronavirus, according to spiritual teacher and mystic Sarah Weiss. She talks about how to find inner enchantment even now, through meditation, grounding, connecting to Mother Earth and relaxing into your BEing.

Sarah, who has taught meditation for 40 years, says the key to meditation is to get comfortable and relax, and if you do fall asleep, consider it a good meditation.

Read More

Kevin Adelstein, Publisher & CEO of the Cleveland Jewish News, finds the gift in every challenge. An hour after his son was born, the baby stopped breathing. The lack of oxygen damaged his brain.

Cooper is now 23 and the joy of Kevin’s life, even though he cannot speak or care for himself. Kevin shares how he doesn’t look in the rearview mirror or a crystal ball, but stays fully present to embrace what life gives him.

Read More

We’ve all found ourselves on a giant detour called The Coronavirus Pandemic. It has changed the way we work, gather and eat.

Dr. Michael Roizen, the first Chief Wellness Officer for the Cleveland Clinic, offers tips on how to boost your immune system to protect you from COVID-19 and add years to your life by changing your relationship with food.

Read More

Romona Robinson didn’t let poverty, racism and sexism keep her from becoming the first African-American woman to anchor the nightly news in Cleveland. She shares how faith and perseverance can transform any life.

Read More

Kendra St.Charles fell out of the sky and learned to soar. On a snowy day in 1992, she boarded USAir Flight 405. The plane left the LaGuardia runway, crashed and exploded into flames. Kendra shares how to be a “gracious receiver” and let life “spark your spunk” again.

Read More