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Stan Against Evil's John C. McGinley, Children's Author Laure Stack, and Investigator Melissa Sandberg
This edition of The Neil Haley Show opens with a Total Celebrity conversation with actor John C. McGinley, beloved as Dr. Cox on Scrubs, about the comedy-horror series Stan Against Evil and its second season. McGinley pitched the show, in which he plays a cantankerous small-town sheriff who discovers his New England home sits atop a witch's curse, as essentially Archie Bunker fighting witches, and said he was pleasantly caught off guard when The New York Times named the first season one of its ten best new shows, a stamp of validation for a scrappy genre comedy. He explained that the hardest and most important thing the team guards is tone, aiming for the sweet spot between the pure terror of The Exorcist and the pure fun of Scooby-Doo, landing somewhere near An American Werewolf in London, funny without ever declawing the monsters. McGinley noted that horror fans at Comic-Cons in San Diego, New York, and Silicon Valley will not forgive a show that softens its creatures, so the production respects them, tapping the department heads of The Walking Dead during their hiatus in Atlanta to make the effects look as good as they do. That discipline, he said, is finally paying real dividends, both with critics and with the loyal genre fans who make the difference. He spoke about relishing a role that lets him blend his comedic timing with the darker, sharper edges of his craft in a single character.
Neil then welcomed author Laure Stack to discuss her bestselling children's book Howie the Unusual Bear: The Heartwarming Journey of Courage, Friendship, and Embracing What Makes You Different. A lifelong educator, mainly a special education teacher and resource specialist who helped kids with learning disabilities keep pace with their classrooms, Stack now lives in the mountains, substitute teaches from kindergarten through high school, and stays busy skiing, hiking, and even skydiving. She traced her writing back to childhood, when she made her own little books about animals and plants, a dream she finally had time to pursue after retiring. Stack said Howie grew out of watching how wonderfully different today's kids are, and how much they need to feel that what sets them apart is a strength rather than something to hide. She reads the books to students herself, delighting in the moments a child connects with the message, and, alongside three more published titles and several on the way, is exploring stories drawn from her own animals and adventures. Her wish is simply for young readers to see their differences as a gift.
The hour closes with a Criminally Good with Sherrie and Jen simulcast, presented by Storehouse Media Group, welcoming Melissa Sandberg, host of the Dog With a Bone podcast. A self-described civil investigator rather than a police officer or private eye, Sandberg takes on overlooked, low-profile cold cases to give victims and their families a voice, affectionately calling her listeners the Dog Pound. She traced a path from a childhood love of solving mysteries and two decades in hospice care to the investigative work that became her passion, noting that not being in law enforcement makes people more comfortable opening up to her. She shared a chilling reminder to trust one's instincts, recounting how, while gathering information on a case, she unknowingly crossed paths with a man later charged in a young woman's death, and said her mission is simply to keep pushing until families get their answers. Find John C. McGinley on Stan Against Evil, Laure Stack's Howie the Unusual Bear at booksellers, and Melissa Sandberg's Dog With a Bone wherever you get podcasts.