Liv Harrison - “Talk To Me” Podcast
I, Cristian Murphy, am a world-class grandmaster of fly fishing.
Okay, I take that back. It turns out, I know a fair amount about the sport of fly fishing, despite the fact that I have never actually done it. I know the origins of fly fishing, the methods, preferred seasons/water temperature and the best knots and flies. How did I obtain all this information without ever entering the water? A simple yet life-changing answer…podcasts.
The podcast market is an extremely diverse one, and at this point there are shows about nearly every topic you can think of.
Murder Mystery? It’s there.
Fantasy Sports? Of course.
Boating? Yup.
Basket Weaving? Sure.
Corn Farmer? A very surprising yes.
As the entire world of audio and visual media shifts to streaming and direct to consumer distribution it should be no surprise to see so many creative minds step up and build their own platforms to share inspiring conversations and content.
This brings me to this week’s Creation, Talk to Me with Liv Harrison. Specifically, Episode 15 featuring Coach Robert Morrison (Talk to Me. Oct. 20, 2020).
Liv (@thelivharrison) is a creative who is hard to categorize or place in a genre. This is what excites me about her work. Her joy for life and creating is very apparent. When you visit her website, you are greeted with the following message: “It is possible to be childlike, flawed, a little human, and completely in love with Jesus. It is also possible to see the good in every single person you meet. To understand their journey, their pain, their struggles, and somehow make them laugh.”
It’s energy like that that makes Liv such a great communicator and podcast host. Episode 15 of her show “Talk to Me” with Coach Morrison was profound and I highly encourage you check out the full interview.
The last thing I ever wanted to do was create a podcast. Everyone has a podcast. I was really worried about just creating more “white noise”. For a long time, I was more focused on what I did NOT want to create, rather than what I wanted to create. But I was approached from the moment I became a professional speaker to have a podcast… Throughout me avoiding this medium I had narrowed down what I knew I would do in that specific space. I wanted to showcase people and their stories. But not just any people. I wanted to feature successful, well-known, even famous people not talking about how they achieved what they had or how they got to the top. I wanted to feature them as humans and tell their personal story.
Liv Harrison
In the show bio, Coach Robert Morrison is described as “independent and strong”, and upon listening, it became clear that those words, when directed towards Coach, will forever be an understatement. Morrison has a career that includes playing in the NFL, extensive coaching experience and various leadership positions in a number of football organizations. What is more impressive is that Morrison was eventually inspired to further his experiences and gain two Master degrees in the field of Education.
What makes this podcast conversation timely is that Morrison has spent his career breaking down walls of division and being a pillar of inspiration.
“In his professional career as a teacher and administrator he walked on EACH campus as the FIRST black educator. At EACH of the 7 campuses! He truly changed the education culture in the state of Texas,” Liv explains.
“I’ve always had a skill at breaking down walls... people got to learn my story and learn who I was. I realized that a lot of people still have their misconceptions and fears towards other people of color but for me they had a different story and that different story was created because of the comfort they had in talking to me.” Morrison goes on to state that once we all develop dialogue with each other we can watch misconceptions go out the window.
As we currently look to our country and our Church, we witness the fact that there is great division and fear of the “other”. As you read this text you have either casted your vote or you are preparing to vote in this year’s election and I am sure that during that process you have felt tension of some kind. That tension does not mean that we are people who like division or inequality rather, I believe, it speaks to the fact that we all know deep down that something is not right and perhaps areas of our communities are not at full speed with what the Gospel’s teach. This year has brought many issues to the table and one consistent is the fact that we need to have more conversations with others and learn each other’s stories.
Now creatively speaking, there are two reasons this episode works on such valuable levels. Reason one is the more obvious one, the guest is remarkable and has a remarkable story of true human experience that inspires. Reason two is Liv’s stellar ability to let the guest take the floor and offer such great responses.
I have worked in documentary film over the past five years and I have conducted many interviews covering various topics. What I have discovered is that the only way to truly get the most out of the interview is humility and a true desire to hear your guest speak. Many television or podcast interviews are empty and lack true value. So often we hear podcasts where the host is cutting off the guest and we the listeners are dying to hear the qualified guest speak their full mind. Often what is happening here is the ego and power of the almighty “host” role.
“As a natural communicator I always have struggled with where that gift gets featured in my personal and professional life. When I began to understand the reach and influence a podcast could have and that I had something specific to share that’s when I started to create.”
“My door as a creative is always open. I will always be someone you can ask for advice or clarity or for ideas. I love collaborating, but I also love helping the person next to me just as much. My journey has been a long one and it is just now starting to become clear to me.” -
Liv Harrison
Liv is the complete opposite of a traditional “host”. Liv is truly here to be a witness to her guests and it is so wonderful. She let Coach Morrison speak from his heart and wander off into directions that I am sure she did not fully expect yet she welcomed. I am of the mindset that an interviewer is not in charge of where the conversation goes. The interview must be a witness to the guest and conversation. “Talk to Me” is a creation that truly aims to listen and help listeners break down their own walls.
I have happily added this show to my list of podcasts and I look forward to more.
You can stay connected with Liv and her creative works by visiting her website (thelivharrison.com), Instagram (@thelivharrison) and of course her show “Talk to Me” available on Apple, Spotify and Google podcasts (as well as iHeartRadio).
Cristian Murphy
Campus Minister/Documentary filmmaker
CC Admin