This Morning Brew begins with a Memorial Day reflection honoring the sacrifices made by generations of Americans who defended our freedoms and our constitutional republic.

From there, Ted reflects on the recent local election season, reminding listeners that while campaigns may divide us politically, we remain Americans first with far more in common than we sometimes remember.

The Brew then takes an unexpected turn with a late-night encounter on Highway 95 involving a full-grown elk standing silently in the middle of the road moments after Ted strangely felt prompted to think about elk while crossing the Kootenai River bridge. Coincidence… or something more?

On this episode of Almost Paradise In North Idaho, Ted sits down with Gabriel Custodio, from Sand Creek Connections in Sandpoint, Idaho, the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). But this conversation goes beyond programs, schedules, and services. It becomes an honest discussion about the reality that every person, at some point in life, struggles with something.

Together they talk about loneliness, anxiety, isolation, relationships, purpose, and the importance of supportive community. Ted also shares some of his own experiences, including struggles with anger and competitiveness in sports and activities, along with attending Celebrate Recovery after the painful end of his 30-year marriage. During that season he was introduced to the concept of co-dependency and began learning tools that still help him today.

This episode challenges the stigma often attached to mental health struggles and reminds listeners that seeking help is not weakness—it’s wisdom. Sometimes people need counseling. Sometimes they need friendship. Sometimes they just need someone willing to listen.

As Ted reflects during the conversation, everybody needs a hand up once in a while. And maybe one of the strongest things a person can do is admit they don’t have to carry life’s burdens alone.

Today’s Morning Brew takes listeners into the wild and dangerous world of Boundary County landfill law after Ted is stopped while attempting to rescue perfectly good cardboard from the recycling bin for use in the chicken coop.

What begins as a routine dump run quickly turns into a full-blown legal drama involving warning signs, changing rules, questionable interpretations of the word “salvaging,” and Terry’s now-famous legal doctrine that “as long as your feet stay on the ground, it’s allowed.”

Along the way Ted reflects on growing up in a world where people reused things instead of throwing them away, why rules usually exist because somebody ruined things for everybody else, and the biblical challenge of respecting authority… even when it involves cardboard apparently belonging to Caesar.

Featuring an off-key parody song, this episode proves life in North Idaho is almost—but not quite—paradise.

This Morning Brew went completely off the rails—in the best possible way.

Ted and returning partner-in-crime Mark Carpenter took on a round of “Stump The Chumps,” answering trivia questions while Joy served as judge, scorekeeper, and chief instigator.

What followed was a spectacular combination of wrong answers, wild guesses, laughter, protests, accusations of questionable officiating, and very little actual dignity.

Somewhere beneath the chaos were a few correct answers, though historians may debate that point for years to come.

By the end, Ted was openly questioning the fairness of the scoring while Joy seemed far too entertained by the whole thing. Listener discretion—and voting—is strongly encouraged.

Ted welcomes old friend and former podcast partner Mark Carpenter back to the microphones for a wide-ranging and occasionally rowdy conversation about the upcoming North Idaho primary elections and the growing debate over what it truly means to be a conservative candidate.

Ted and Mark dig into voting records, campaign claims, and why some candidates are being accused of sounding more conservative on the campaign trail than they have proven to be in office. Yes, the term “RINO” comes up more than once — and no, this episode does not stay safely in the middle of the road.

But as always, the conversation takes a few unexpected turns along the way.

The two also discuss the controversial use of beagles in medical testing, whether people should refuse to watch movies starring actors whose politics they disagree with, and Mark’s shocking confession that he has never seen The Matrix.

Ted even floats the idea of attending a future “No Kings” rally in Bonners Ferry with microphones in hand to hear directly from the crowd.

Agree or disagree, this episode is candid, conversational, and unmistakably North Idaho.

Sunday afternoon was supposed to be peaceful and relaxing after church. Instead, Ted found himself in an unexpected battle with an aging garage door that finally decided it had enough.

What started with a mysterious clank quickly turned into a full-scale mechanical mutiny involving tangled cables, falling poles, pinched fingers, bad engineering ideas, and one very frustrated homeowner talking to both himself and the garage door.

But somewhere in the aggravation came an unexpected realization: maybe the breakdown was actually a blessing in disguise. Sometimes life’s interruptions are warnings, protections, or even answers to prayers we didn’t know we were asking for.

Thirteen years ago this weekend, we loaded up a U-Haul truck, our animals, and a whole lot of faith and headed 1100 miles from Loveland, Colorado to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. What we found wasn’t a perfect property, but a rough, overgrown place that somehow felt like home the moment Ted stepped into the pasture under a cloudy North Idaho sky. In this reflective Morning Brew, Ted shares the story of hearing a mysterious question — “How bad do you want it?” — and how that leap of faith led to eighteen acres of hard work, unexpected beauty, and a life truly blessed beyond measure.

Today on Almost Paradise in North Idaho, we sit down with Bryce Cordel, Chief Nursing Officer for our local hospital, to discuss the growing challenges facing small rural hospitals across America—and what those challenges mean right here in Boundary County.

Most of us do not spend much time thinking about hospitals until the day we suddenly need one. Whether it is an illness, injury, emergency, or the critical first moments before transfer to a larger medical facility, access to local healthcare can mean the difference between life and death.

Bryce shares both the struggles and the strengths of rural healthcare: staffing shortages, financial pressures, emergency preparedness, and the ongoing effort to provide quality care close to home. But this conversation is about more than budgets and buildings. It is about community, responsibility, and the importance of caring for our neighbors during moments of crisis and uncertainty.

No one hopes to need a hospital. But there is tremendous comfort in knowing one is there when life suddenly turns upside down.

This is an honest and thoughtful conversation about preserving something many communities lose only after realizing how valuable it truly was.