Men need strong friendships. Few of us are lucky enough to keep them for decades.

On this episode of The Back 9, we sit down with Jim Brock Jr. — a 30+ year friend — to talk about the rare power of long-term adult male friendship and what it takes to stay connected through the peaks and valleys of life.

What makes a friendship survive decades? What allows two men to be instantly available for each other no matter the circumstances. How can you pick up the phone after years and feel like no time has passed?

Jim shares what it was like coming out as a gay man later in life, navigating sexual identity in a polarized political culture, and how real friendship holds steady even when beliefs and identities shift. We talk about emotional trust, loyalty, and adult male connection, and why those bonds become more meaningful as life moves forward.

It's an episode that explores true masculinity through the kind of friendship that lasts a lifetime...on the Back 9

Contact Dennis & Josh

Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

What do you do when your industry shifts — and your 21-year run suddenly ends?

This week, we sit down with longtime ESPN producer Gus Ramsey to talk about career pivots, layoffs, reinvention, mentorship, and retirement planning on the Back 9.

After producing SportsCenter's most important shows during its peak, Gus was forced to recalibrate. Instead of chasing relevance, he focused on usefulness — launching a coaching practice, leading the prestigious Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting, and mentoring the next generation of broadcasters.

Now, at 59½ — emphasis on the half -- he's made another intentional pivot: retiring, relocating, and redesigning life on purpose.

This episode is about reading the signals, protecting your integrity, and making bold midlife career moves without losing yourself…on the Back 9.

Contact Dennis & Josh

Instagram: @Back9_Podcast

Most relationships don't end because of one big blowup. They end because too much goes unsaid.

This week on The Back 9, therapist and author Colette Fehr returns to the show to talk about her new book, The Cost of Quiet, and why avoiding conflict can quietly push couples toward distance, disconnection, and divorce. The three of us dig into how "keeping the peace" turns into resentment, how intimacy fades when hard conversations don't happen, and why this pattern shows up so often in midlife relationships and second marriages.

If you've ever stayed quiet to avoid a fight — and wondered later how things slipped so far — this conversation will hit home. It's a topic worth shouting about, on The Back 9.

Contact Colette

Preorder The Cost of Quiet: How to Have the Hard Conversations That Create Secure, Lasting Love
https://www.colettejanefehr.com/new-book

Website
https://www.colettejanefehr.com

Instagram and TikTok
@colettejanefehr

Substack
https://colettejanefehr.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

TEDx Talk, "Secrets from a Couples Therapist"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tSUOB2yEd0

Contact Dennis & Josh

Instagram: @Back9_Podcast