"I'VE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK!"

He infiltrated criminal networks in Colombia because normal life was boring.

This is Shawn Ryan.

He joined the US Navy at 17, became a Navy SEAL, went on to work as a CIA contractor, and has since built one of the biggest podcasts in the world.

When we sat down, I told Shawn that it feels like he has lived several different lives.

And I don’t think I’ve ever meant that more literally.

One of the most unexpected parts of his story is what happened to his faith.

He told me about an experience where he believes he saw hell, describing it as complete emptiness, fear and the absence of God.

For someoe who has spent so much of his life around war, danger and intelligence, it was this experience that seemed to have changed him in a completely different way.

And that is only one chapter of his life.

We discussed things like:

- Why he went to Colombia and embedded himself inside criminal networks.
- Why he says he went to hell and came back seeing faith differently.
- What he saw across Haiti, Afghanistan and Iraq that he still remembers today.
- How podcasts could be used to manipulate millions of people.
- Why politicians lying to his face changed how he sees politics.
- Why he thinks China benefits every time America weakens itself.

What makes Shawn’s perspective so interesting is that he hasn’t just studied these worlds from the outside.

He has lived inside many of them.

There were things in this conversation I probably would have dismissed several years ago. But doing this podcast has made me far more careful about assuming I understand what is possible.

You don’t have to agree with everything Shawn believes.

But his perspective is absolutely worth hearing.

Out now on all platforms ❤️👊🏾