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Episode 32: Telling the Story With Heart — A Conversation with Dr. Nicole Clark

In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with Dr. Nicole Clark, Emmy award-winning anchor and reporter for Spectrum News Texas — but before the newsroom, before the camera, there was nearly two decades in psychology.

Nicole opens up about how her background as a Ph.D.-level psychotherapist shapes the way she tells stories today — especially the hard ones. From covering families in crisis to interviewing individuals turning pain into purpose, she shares how empathy, emotional intelligence, and credibility intersect in journalism.

We talk about the stories that stay with you long after the mic is off. How to report on trauma without becoming detached. And what it means to use media not just to inform — but to humanize. Nicole reflects on why she does this work, what continues to inspire her, and how storytelling can create light even in the darkest moments.

This conversation is about purpose, resilience, and the responsibility that comes with holding someone else’s story.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones

Guest: Jocelyn Barrera, Executive Director of The Christi Center

Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
Grenada, "Treasure"
McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

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Episode 31: Grief Beyond Death — A Conversation with Jocelyn Barrera of The Christi Center

In this on-location episode in Austin, Jamal and David sit down with Jocelyn Barrera, Executive and Clinical Director of The Christi Center, to explore grief in all its forms — not just death, but displacement, illness, violence, and the quiet losses that reshape families.

Jocelyn shares her journey from bilingual services coordinator to leading one of Austin’s most impactful grief support organizations. The conversation moves beyond textbook definitions of grief and into lived realities — supporting families navigating loss due to sickness, sudden violence, and even the emotional rupture caused by ICE raids and deportation. Together, they unpack how race, racism, culture, and community all shape how grief is experienced and expressed — and why peer-based support can be life-changing.

This episode challenges the idea that grief is only about funerals. Sometimes grief looks like fear. Sometimes it looks like separation. Sometimes it looks like carrying a weight no one else can see. And in every case, connection matters.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones

Guest: Jocelyn Barrera, Executive Director of The Christi Center

Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
Grenada, "Treasure"
McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

Send a text

Episode 30: “If Only I Had…” — Living With the Loop of Regret (Part 2)

In Part 2 of our conversation on regret, Jamal and David move from awareness to release. Many widowers quietly believe that suffering proves love — that carrying guilt forever somehow honors their wife. But what if that belief is the very thing keeping you stuck? In this episode, we challenge the idea that love requires lifelong punishment and offer a different frame: love asks for remembrance, integrity, and living forward well — not endless self-inflicted pain.

We also share practical, grounded tools to interrupt the regret loop. Naming it out loud. Writing the letter you never got to finish. Separating what was truly in your control from what never was. And asking the anchoring question: If she could see me now, would she want me stuck here — or living? If Part 1 helped you recognize the loop, Part 2 helps you loosen it. You are not broken. You are grieving. And there is a difference.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones

Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
Grenada, "Treasure"
McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast