AMERICAN ACHIEVERS explores the power of ambition, commitment to excellence, risk-taking and tenacity in pursuit of the American Dream. Hosted and produced by author, documentary filmmaker, and media trailblazer Keith Dunnavant, who has been interviewing newsmakers for more than four decades, including many years as an award-winning print journalist in New York and Atlanta. Widely acclaimed for his sports and general history books, including THE MISSING RING, SPY PILOT and MONTANA, Dunnavant co-directed the ESPN Films documentary BART STARR. With each episode of AMERICAN ACHIEVERS, he explores the life of an accomplished individual who has relentlessly chased success and fulfillment, often battling through significant adversity and reflecting universal lessons that strike at the heart of the American experience. Featuring entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, astronauts, media figures and civic leaders. KeithDunnavant.com
Episodes
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of college football's Heisman Trophy, talks about the powerful example set by his father, his first meeting with coach Woody Hayes, his humbling first carry at Ohio State, and what he learned from his disappointing NFL career.
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Gina Locklear, the owner of the Zkano sock company, talks about why she quit her real estate job to return to her devastated hometown and how she has been tested by the various challenges of building a consumer brand in an industry buffeted by globalization.
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Part 2 of 2: Robert Swan talks about the bittersweet climax of his South Pole expedition and his treacherous journey to the North Pole, the alcohol problem that pushed him to the edge, how Jacques Cousteau inspired him to pursue a 50-year mission, why he emigrated to the United States, and what he is learning from the son now following in his footsteps.
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Part 1 of 2: Robert Swan talks about the boyhood fascination with Robert Falcon Scott that grew into a burning ambition to follow in the doomed explorer's footsteps and how he overcame various obstacles to become the first person to walk to both the north and south poles.
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Tom Johnson, the former president of CNN and publisher of the LOS ANGELES TIMES, talks about the life-altering impact of one man's act of faith, the drive that propelled him to become one of the most powerful figures in American media—and the price he has paid for his raging ambition.
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Chiropractor Flora Hyacinth talks about growing up poor in a Caribbean fishing village, dreaming of a better life, the athletic scholarship that brought her to the United States, the memorable day she set a world record in the triple jump, and the injury she sustained while training for the Olympics that changed her life.
Monday Sep 05, 2022
Monday Sep 05, 2022
Former NASA engineer Homer Hickam talks about growing up in West Virginia coal country, his complicated relationship with his father, the influence of a special teacher, and the inspirational story that resulted in the best-selling memoir ROCKET BOYS and the popular film OCTOBER SKY.
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Jeff Miller, who owns a dry cleaning business in Hendersonville, North Carolina, talks about the World War II veterans, including his father, who imbued his upbringing with patriotism and a sense of community, and the fateful spark that led him to co-found the Honor Flight Network.
Monday Aug 22, 2022
Monday Aug 22, 2022
Part 2 of 2: Bill Rasmussen talks about the skepticism he and his partners faced in selling a 24-hour sports channel to cable operators, rights holders and advertisers, and the various financial, technological and logistical hurdles they overcame while founding a media brand that would fundamentally change the sports world and the television industry.
Monday Aug 15, 2022
Monday Aug 15, 2022
Part 1 of 2: Bill Rasmussen talks about his formative years as a local broadcaster, being fired from his front-office job with hockey's New England Whalers, and how, working with his son, Scott, and insurance agent Ed Eagan, he began to develop the revolutionary idea that became the cable channel ESPN.