Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins Makes History With Barstool Sports

Let me address what everyone is thinking right here at the top...

Yes, I look fantastic in summer colors and the light was bouncing off my bald dome with just the right amount of charm for the duration of this interview. 

Barstool has enjoyed a litany of cool moments and hosted a laundry list of famous guests since its inception. I am hoping one day someone puts together a list of the names of guests that have graced the halls of Barstool studios over the years because it would be a very cool list. 

Regardless of where you stand politically, there is no denying the importance of certain jobs in this country. The highest rung on that ladder is President of the United States. The most powerful man in the free world. Years ago, Dave was invited to the White House and made history when he interviewed President Trump. One rung below that is his Cabinet. Well, we made history last week as the first show to sit down with a Cabinet secretary when we sat down with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Honorable Doug Collins, in the Barstool office. Again, I don't care where you fall politically because in Sister Anne's 4th grade social studies class when I was starting to learn about our government I learned about the Cabinet. Call me a hopeless romantic but I still hold certain positions in high regard in this country. 

I am not embarrassed to say I thought it was very cool to speak with Secretary Collins. I said in the episode, when we started a Veterans-first podcast arm here at Barstool, we knew we wanted to sit down with the VA Secretary. It was awesome to have that come to fruition. I've been a Veteran for over a decade now and the folks who have held this role have directly impacted me and my friends. I felt a sense of responsibility to sit down and have this conversation. I left feeling encouraged but probably even more encouraged that Sec Collins and his team reached out to us to come to the office; to me, it speaks volumes when you volunteer yourself to be grilled with questions. His no nonsense approach and willingness to be transparent was refreshing to see from an individual, especially one whose office has a Washington, D.C. mailing address.

I hope you share this episode with any Veteran you know in your life. Let us know what you think. Beyond that though, I think too often Veterans would rather be critical of VA for their past transgressions. I ask that you be open minded about a new leader moving forward. 

P.S. Shout to my co-host Ryan for brokering this convo

P.P.S. Shout to Chaps for starting ZBT and to Kate for joining us as we built something worthy of having a Cabinet secretary as a guest. 

P.P.S. I thought his list of favorite military movies were excellent choices and incredibly well rounded.

P.P.P.S. Monster thanks to Nick Hammy - he knows why.