Late in 2025 they announced they we starting a podcast together called Once We Were Spacemen. I was very excited to say the least. I rushed to my computer and went to oncewewerespacemen.com to learn more. There was nothing there. In fact the domain was available for purchase. I panicked. My first thought was that I should buy it to keep it safe from a squatter or poacher. But what if the OWWS team takes that as an offense and sics the law on me. I called out to my amazing wife for advice. She said, just buy it. It will be fine. So I did. I put this up at the domain.

Time passes and I get a message on the site from Siobhan on the production team. I went to LinkedIn did some digging. Everything seemed legit so I transferred ownership of the site over. A little white later they contact me saying they want to send me some swag and if I could wait until after the first of the year. “Of course” I reply. They wanted to make sure I got some cool stuff and Nathan was going to pick something special out. I may have squeed. You probably heard it. Time passes and I get an email saying to expect a package (more squeeing).

Here is what I received. I was gobsmacked. Floored. Grateful. Stunned even. I had the Mrs take pictures as I unboxed the goodies.

WOW!!! I was floored and blown away by the generosity.

But wait there is more. I had shared the story up to this point with my friends. On Feb 26, 2026, my friend Laura sent me a link to this podcast called Dropping Names with Brent and Johnny. They being Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes. She told me I should listen because I got a shout out. I was baffled. It turns out Nathan and Alan were the guests, and I did in fact get a shout out.
I was giddy and squealing. These four actors and good humans were talking about me (mostly).

Here is the full podcast episode. My shout-out is in the first 4 minutes.

Then just when I thought it couldn’t get better, they released this short…

I truly feel like I leveled up.

I will update this after Awesome Con…

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We are going to start recording episodes again. This time there will be 2 of us.

In it, we will talk about what is coming and how this picture happened.

The post The Podcast is coming back first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

It certainly isn’t that of the First People. The native Americans that we stole land from, displaced and murdered. And we are still doing it to this day. They are so marginalized that most Americans never give them a thought. Except when we celebrate the colonizer, Christopher Columbus. Can’t be their independence.

It certainly isn’t that of People of Color. Especially the ones we enslaved for over 250 years. The ones the 13^th amendment “freed” only to have slavery replaced by incarceration through “the war on drugs”. Who have been and are still systematically and deliberately kept poor and marginalized. Who have been and continue to be redlined and separated from wealth and prosperity. Who are disproportionately targeted, harassed and killed by law enforcement. Or the ones who harvest most of the food in this country. Who process the beef, pork and chicken we eat. Who do the jobs that most Americans feel we are better than. Whose children we steal when they are trying to find a better home and future for them.  Who must be “exceptional” just to have the possibility of being seen as equal. Whose cultural traditions are coopted to sell more products. Can’t be their independence.

It certainly isn’t that of women. The SCOTUS just let us know what they think of women. Expected and forced to give up bodily autonomy and health decisions. Still paid less than a man in the same position. Must be “exceptional” just to be seen as equal. Must live every day knowing 3 out of 4 will be abused or raped and their attackers will never face punishment (or even understand what they did).  There are any number of states that continue to attack the sovereignty of women. Can’t be their independence.

It certainly isn’t that of our children. They continue to be slaughtered in schools and we wring our hands and blame doors and mental illness. We are stealing the future from them as we fail to make any real changes regarding climate change. We are just starting to see the real effect and ignore the coming relentless waves of climate refugees. We are leaving this crisis for them. We refuse to put any kind of universal health care in place to help them on a path to prosperity. We are not allowing them to learn the history of this country. We are keeping them ignorant to keep the parents happy. Can’t be their independence.

It certainly isn’t that of our friends and family in the LGTBQ+ community. We tell them they are mentally ill, a danger to society, unworthy of existence. We accuse them of grooming children to be prey. We deride Pride Month because somehow rainbows are upsetting. They are beaten in the streets, fired from jobs, told in action and word they don’t belong. Can’t be their independence.

That leaves us with straight white men. We are celebrating their continuance at the front of the American stage. The power they have amassed to control everyone else. We are celebrating their control of the major religion in this country which is now being used as basis for law. The fact they are the source of the abuse and rape of 3 out of 4 women but do not understand they are rapists and abusers. The fact they continue to refuse to see their privilege and its roots. Are we celebrating their unwillingness to let go of that power?

So, you can take Independence Day of a country stolen from the natives and built on their graves by the slaves owned by the men that wrote “all men are created equal” (as long as they were white landowners) and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. Because most Americans live in the shadows cast by the system of white male supremacy this country was bult on. Where is the independence?

It is time for America to declare it’s independence from white men. Adult white men comprise approximately 21% of the US population but they fill over 60% of elected offices. It is time for white men like me to move to the back of the stage and amplify the voices that we have been and are still drowning out. It’s OK. The worse thing that could happen is we will be treated as we have treated others.

The post Independence Day 2022 first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

The post Black Lives Matter first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

I started to solidify my reason for being here, for staying here and motivation for moving forward. 

I talk about the first few weeks after waking up and start laying the ground work for the next batch of episodes. 

It gets better. Ask for help. Ask questions.

Doug

The post Waking Up with Purpose first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

I could have made a better choice, but it propelled me forward and I haven’t stopped moving forward since. 

Ask for help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255

From here on the episodes get much more uplifting and motivational. 

Thanks for listening. Ask questions.  

The post The Night I Tried Suicide first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

I had some people ask me some tough questions, and I needed to backup my story so I could try to answer them properly. 

This is in preparation for really digging into the changes I made to become who I am today. I will try to offer strategies and ideas to help others.|

As always, ask questions.
doug@douginapub.com
www.douginapub.com

The post The Beginning first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

How affection seems to be taboo in many cases, when it is something the world sorely needs.

I give my answer to what is the main thing holding humanity back. 

Want to be a guest Do you have any questions?

doug@douginapub.com

The post Hope & Wonder & Affection first appeared on Doug In A Pub.

We discuss struggles with relationships and anxiety. Talk about how the past can keep coming back to trip you.

She has found EMDR to be very helpful and suggested the following resources from WebMD & Psychology Today.

I am so grateful she is so open and honest. The more we share, the smaller the world gets. The more we understand we are not alone, the better.

As always, ask questions. If you are struggling, ask for help.

What to be a guest?

www.douginapub.com

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Part two will be a little more personal and talk about anxiety and struggles within relationships. That will be episode eight.

Episode 7 is up next. Brett will be joining me to talk about transactional relationships. We will also talk about internal change vs external and the ego.

 www.elizarickman.com

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