Hey Siri…. What’s the opposite of a damsel in distress?

The women on the Team Never Quit podcast have fascinated me from the

first episode I listened to. I believe it was the podcasts’ Second- or Third

episode featuring Diana Nyad recounting her swim from Cuba to Florida. I

listened enthralled as she recounted the years of training, failures, and

positive commitment as she pursued her goal. Nyad spent Three years

training for the 24 hour 110- mile swim. At 60 years of age, after four failed

attempts, she did it. How? Because she never quit.

I know it sounds easy to never quit, but facing onerous odds is never

simple. The TNQ podcast has featured women as varied as Dana Loesch

to Brogan Wall to Amberley Snyder. Each woman related their Never Quit

moments in humble tones, separately intertwining disparate stories into a

strong narration. As the TNQ podcast continued to produce more

episodes, I noticed their unspoken commitment to spotlight women. The

episode with Lara Logan emphasized this, at least to me. Listening to this

particular Never Quit story is indescribable in its horror… sickening. I had

to pull over in my car while listening to gather myself together. During

Lara’s telling her heinous story, it was the reaction of the hosts that hit me

the hardest. Here were three former SEALS listening to a woman describe

her gang rape in detail, and all they could do was listen. While being the

hosts, these men were quietly taking a step back so the listener can

become their own central character in a vast scene.

Between the different hosts throughout the podcast there exists an

unspoken thread, barely perceptible like gossamer. This moment right

here is what makes the TNQ Podcast vastly different from most out there.

There is a lexical thread evident in each other episode, interlacing these

ladies together. What was that thread? The podcast’s female guests are

as diverse as the day is long. Different ages, races, religions,

professions…. Other than their gender, the Ladies only share that gleam of

subdermal steel which binds all Never Quitters together.

I thought I caught the nucleus of that thread listening to the Mary

“WonderNubs” Dague episode. I didn’t grasp it at the moment, possibly

because Mary is hilarious. (Full disclosure: I snarfed my coffee at least

twice while listening.).

Headed to work this past February, I began listening to the Holly Luttrell

episode. And there is was… that thread. Boom! I heard it when Marcus

and Morgan welcomed their Mama onto the show. It is intimated in their

voices, that unspoken thread. Gentle and substantial, like water on a

rolling boil.

Is their experience in the harsh realities of war a key element? Were they

fighting to create a world where women don’t have to struggle, don’t lose

their arms in a bomb blast or the use of their legs in a car accident? Holly

Luttrell brought that out. Mrs. Luttrell said, “Do not pass your fears onto

your children,”. She emphasizes raising her boys with self-respect and

self-reliance. Her recounting of life with two sons on deployment pulses

with raw emotion and ripe fortitude.

They are bringing their experiences as warriors to a broader audience. The

TNQ Podcast isn’t so much giving us courage, they are focusing the

courage we already have. Mentoring the rest of us with their hard-won

knowledge and honoring the women of the world for theirs. The TNQ

Podcast is singular in a time when human stories dissipate in an instant,

leaving devastation. For me, the Lady guests walked their personal

gauntlet of devastation with determination and an unconquerable audacity

to absolutely never quit.