Feeney Talks With Friends

Hosted by ERIC FEENEY

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180

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Eric Feeney talks with #friends! Eric is the founder of the nonprofit organization Friends of Feeney. Their mission is to help children and families who need assistance after heartbreak and tragedy. www.friendsoffeeney.com

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October 24, 2026Episode 17757 min

Episode #177: Feeney Talks with Heather Moran

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #177 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Heather Moran. It was great to talk with my #friend , Heather. Heather is the owner of The Book Club. We talked about: The Book Club is right above Bricco (minute 1) Heather’s teaching career (minute 2.30) Harry Potter Camp & Open Drop Off (minute 4) Storytelling classes (minute 5.30) Reading Bingo Game collaboration with Luna Pizza (minute 6.30) The Secret Sauce (minute 9) Heather book, “Connected: What Every Kid Should Read Before Their First Phone” (minute 12) Mr. Feeney’s Book Projects (minute 15) Book Events: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 18) “Good Friend” Moments at The Book Club (minute 22) 4 Keys to owning The Book Club (minute 25) Heather’s favorite restaurant, Bricco (minute 28) “Parenting with Picture Books” Class (minute 31) Mo Willems is alive! (minute 33) Book recommendations (minute 36) Brett and Thai are JCC Legends (minute 38) Birthday parties and Wishes Character Company (minute 42) The Mom Book Club (minute 44) Upcoming events and memberships (minute 45) FREE CLASS PROMO CODE!! (minute 48) Recommendations, The Next Chapter (minute 50) Book Trivia (minute 53) Closing remarks (minute 55) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

October 12, 2026Episode 1761 hr 14 min

#176: Feeney Talks with TJ Presthus

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #176 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring TJ Presthus. It was great to talk with my good #friend , TJ. TJ is the starting defender on The Hartford Athletic and former captain of The Yale University Soccer Team. We talked about: Playing soccer at Yale (minute 1) Being a captain and starting every game at Yale (minute 4) Lessons from playing soccer (minute 9) Year two at The Hartford Athletic (minute 13) Samadia and Antony photos with Feeney (minute 16) The Whoop bracelet (minute 19) The Lux Bond and Green fundraiser (minute 28) Messi or Ronaldo? (minute 30) LeBron or Jordan? (minute 33) TJ’s parents were elite soccer players! (minute 34) TJ vs Owen? Columbus vs Hartford? (minute 41) Being from “Ohio Skibidi Toilet”(minute 43) Soccer matches: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 44) What makes Seb a good #friend ? (minute 49) TJ’s favorite restaurant, Salute (minute 53) TJ’s favorite teachers and coaches (minute 55) Selfies with TJ (minute 58) Upcoming events (minute 1.00) Rapid fire questions (minute 1.02) Trivia questions about his current teammates (minute 1.08) 300 saves for Antony (minute 1.11) Closing remarks (minute 1.14) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

October 10, 2026Episode 1751 hr 18 min

Episode #175: Feeney Talks with Rich Troy

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #175 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Rich Troy. It was great to talk with my former college roommate and good #friend Rich. Rich is a Spanish teacher and he recently retired from the Army National Guard after serving 30 years. We talked about: Rich retired from the military on July 11th (minute 1) Explain what a Command Sergeant Major to third grader (minute 2) Cheers with “Colonel’s Cut” bourbon (minute 4) Retirement party photos (minute 5) What makes PV a good #friend ? (minute 7) Shoutout to Dave from Directline Media (minute 9) The Three Kings of Pizza and Feeney’s Pizza Review (minute 11) 3 Keys to being a Command Sergeant Major (minute 13) Rich and Feeney played basketball at Yale in The Cathedral of Sweat (minute 16) That time we walked from Harlem to The Bronx (minute 18) Lux Bond and Green fundraiser (minute 21) During college, Rich was known as “The Guy on the Couch” (minute 25) D Locke threw Feeney a two point conversion (minute 28) Our college roommates possibly still owe us rent money (minute 31) Rich is a Spanish teacher (minute 33) Rich’s favorite teacher (minute 36) Rich’s favorite restaurant and 4 dinner guests (minute 39) Podcast selfie pic (minute 43) Feeney dressed as Mr. Rogers (minute 50) That time we painted our chest at a Mets game (minute 53) Blind ranking our “friends” (minute 55) Tattoos: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 1.01) Recommendations (minute 1.03) Upcoming Events (minute 1.05) What’s This Puzzle Saying? - Rebus Game (minute 1.07) Rapid Fire Questions (minute 1.09) Feeney gives Rich a retirement gift (minute 1.13) Closing remarks (minute 1.16) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

October 10, 2026Episode 1741 hr 4 min

Episode #174: Feeney Talks with Dave Oliver

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #174 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Dave Oliver. It was great to talk with my #friend , Dave. Dave is the founder of Diabetes Plus with Dave and author of the book, Diabetes - Now What? We talked about: 31 years ago, Dave was diagnosed with diabetes (minute 1) Diabetes Plus with Dave started 3 years ago (minute 3) Dave’s book, Diabetes - Now What? (minute 5:30 ) How Dave realized he has diabetes (minute 8) Taking GLP-1 (minute 11) Feeney earned The Champion of Children from The Village (minute 14) Six Things that count as movements (minute 16) Avi and Methylene blue (minute 18) Jonah Francis (minute 20) 3 Keys to being a Diabetes Warrior (minute 23) Diabetes experiences: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 28) Motorcycle rides with MJ (minute 33) What makes MJ a good #friend ? (minute 35) Halloween costume photos (minute 36) Dave is on The Membership Committee for The West Hartford Chamber (minute 38) Lux Bond and Green fundraiser (minute 40) Davante Dillion, Doug and HYROX (minute 42) Dave pitched 4 no hitters in one season for East Hartford HS (minute 47) Dave’s favorite teacher (minute 51) Upcoming events (minute 53) Chapter 4: Good Foods to Eat (minute 58) Closing remarks (minute 1.03) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

August 26, 2026Episode 17358 min

Episode #173: Feeney Talks with Alex P. Taylor

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #173 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Alex P. Taylor. It was great to talk with my good #friend , Alex. Alex is The Nacho King of Connecticut. He is the author of the book, Totally Nachragerous! We talked about: Coracora Happy Hour (minute 1) Mass Appeal in Chicopee (minute 2) “Halloworth” Day (minute 4) Alex visited Feeney’s classroom (minute 6) Being the keynote speaker at Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce (minute 11) Photo of Alex’s new nacho tattoo (minute 14) Nacho analogy for cursive writing (minute 18) The history of nachos (minute 20) 3 Keys to being The Nacho King (minute 22) Nacho events: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 25) Congrats to Bear’s BBQ for winning the nacho competition (minute 29) The Macho Nachos, Peruvian nachos, from Coracora (minute 32) Holidays and Christmas cards (minute 35) Totally Nachragerous book release on August 25th (minute 37) Being on reality TV shows: Below Deck - season 11 and Hell’s Kitchen - season 23, episode 6 (minute 42) Alex has songs on Spotify (minute 48) Alex’s favorite teacher (minute 50) Alex brought treats from the restaurant, Tindahan City in Berlin, CT (minute 52) Closing remarks (minute 56) Upcoming events (minute 57) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

July 26, 2026Episode 1721 hr 3 min

Episode #172: Feeney Talks with Benn Gawitt

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #172 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Benn Gawitt. It was great to talk with my friend #friend , Benn. Benn is a teacher, rockstar, coffee enthusiast and twin girl dad! We talked about: Names are important! (minute 1) Fred Monet (minute 2) Being a twin dad (minute 3) Teaching Biology (minute 5) Inspiration to become a teacher (minute 9) Benn’s favorite teacher (minute 10) Principal Drew DiPippo and pickup basketball (minute 14) Mario B (minute 17) Benn was on House Hunters on HGTV (minute 22) Playing at the Johnny’s Jog (minute 30) Acoustic Marsh Pit (minute 32) Benn picks 3 songs, 3 dudes & 1 pizza (minute 35) Rapid Fire Questions (minute 45) Podcast sponsors (minute 50) 3 Keys to being a great lead singer (minute 52) Kindred and Crew Boutique in Simsbury (minute 54) What makes Erika a good friend? (minute 56) First Pop Roasting (minute 58) Shoutout out to Pink Flamingo (minute 1.01) Closing remarks (minute 1.02) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

July 26, 2026Episode 1711 hr 25 min

Episode #171: Feeney Talks with (Ret.) SFC Brian Stackpole

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #171 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring (Ret.) SFC Brian Stackpole. It was great to talk with my Army buddy and good friend #friend , Stackpole. Stackpole retired from the military after serving 28 years. He was a cook, Navy Seabee, Army Rail Instructor, IED Hunter and much more! We talked about: Retired after 28 years (minute 1) Stackpole’s military career (minute 3) Sea Bees training (minute 5) Army Railroad Instructor - 88U (minute 7) What is a NCO? (minute 9) Being an IED Hunter (minute 10) “Hurt Locker is garbage" - (minute 13) Chrissy Jeltema (podcast #76) is a good friend! (minute 15) “The Kitchen Club” at AT (minute 22) The “Class Cynic” at NCO School (minute 24) 141st Friends: Lefty, Colonel Nieves, Wells, Chandler and Ben Pare (minute 26) Military Career: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 28) Past podcast guest who served in the military: Paul Bucha and Mike Cabrey (minute 33) Getting honored at a New York Islanders game (minute 37) 3 Keys to having a successful military career (minute 41) Stackpole played football for West Haven HS and CCSU (minute 45) What makes Coach Jim Vicaro a good friend? (minute 47) Parades and Parties (minute 52) Hockey in CT (minute 57) Favorite restaurants and 4 dinner guests (minute 1.03) Special guest appearance from D. Locke, podcast #58 (minute 1.09) West Haven Trivia (minute 1.14) Waterbury vs. West Haven (minute 1.18) D. Locke threw a two point conversion to Feeney (minute 1.23) Closing remarks (minute 1.25) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

June 29, 2026Episode 1701 hr 10 min

Episode #170: Feeney Talks with Dan Hovey

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #170 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Dan Hovey. It was great to talk with my #friend , Dan. Dan is the owner of West Hartford Solar. We talked about: H O to V E - Y (minute 1 Dan has been helping families for years (minute 2) Collaborating on a Toy Drive (minute 4) Eric from Bergenn Financial and Ryan from Ryan’s Softwash (minute 7) Widow Jane (minute 10) Fifth Annual Friends of Feeney Golf Tournament on September 12th (minute 11) Dan’s inspiration for starting West Hartford Solar (minute 16) Where does our power come from? (minute 19) West Hartford Solar expanding outside of Connecticut (minute 22) Kristen aka The Sticker Girl (minute 25) The 3 Ms of going solar: monopoly, money, more sustainable (minute 27) Dan’s “solar power” pitch (minute 30) 1 in 10 homes in West Hartford use solar power (minute 37) AI uses a lot of energy (minute 39) Tattoos or no tattoos? (minute 42) American Eagle Financial Credit Union, our newest podcast sponsor (minute 43) Ryan Gomes is a good neighbor! (minute 48) Dan’s top three bourbons (minute 50) "Don’t wait for a special occasion for a bottle, make the bottle the special occasion” - Matt Whitney (minute 54) Dan ran 3 different marathons inspired by his daughter (minute 56) Upcoming events (1.01) Tommy’s Place in Cape Cod (minute 1.02) Most impactful moment for Friends of Feeney (minute 1.05) Closing remarks (minute 1.08) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

June 24, 2026Episode 16953 min

Episode #169: Feeney Talks wth Seth Wickersham

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #169 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Seth Wickersham. It was great to talk with my good #friend , Seth. Seth is an ESPN journalist and New York Times best selling author. We talked about: Seth on episode #7 back in 2022 (minute 1) Talking about his book on Good Morning America (minute 2) “Failed high school quarterback to NYT best seller author” (minute 5) Feeney caught a two point conversion from Dylan Locke (minute 6) Seth wrote two books and has another one coming out soon (minute 9) It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty (minute 11) Start, Cut, Bench: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft (minute 13) Spygate, Deflategate, Massagegate (minute 16) American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback (minute 18) Sit downs and long talks with Y.A. Tittle (minute 20) Quarterbacks: 16,000 in high school, 800 in college, 32 in NFL (minute 22) Bob Waterfield and Slingin’ Sammy Baugh (minute 27) The Colin Hurley story (minute 31) Andrew Luck retires (minute 34) Seth’s newest book, Be on That Hill: Stories from the Summits of Sport (minute 36) Steve Brouse, Hall of Famer (minute 37) What makes Wright Thompson a good friend? (minute 38) The Ketchup Prank (minute 40) Wright’s books, PappyLand and more… (minute 42) Seth hates onions! (minute 44) Disney matches employee charitable contributions (minute 45) Dave from GolfTec (minute 47) 3 Keys to being a great writer (minute 49) Upcoming events (minute 51) Feeney golfs (minute 54) Stefania golfs (minute 56) Dave golfs (minute 59) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org American Eagle Financial Credit Union - www.americaneagle.org

May 26, 2026Episode 1681 hr 3 min

Episode #168: Feeney Talks with Little Red

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #168 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Little Red. It was great to talk with my #friend , Little Red. Little Red is a Navy veteran and a UConn Super Fan! We talked about: Friends of Feeney just provided $300K to families in need (minute 1) Little Red’s favorite UConn jerseys (minute 3) How did you get the name, Little Red? (minute 5) Big Red (minute 6.30) UConn chants that he doesn’t like (minute 8) Getting noticed and taking pics with fans (minute 10) Rico Bosco from Barstool Sports (minute 12) Little Red served in The U.S. Navy (minute 14) UConn games: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 16.30) UConn vs. Michigan - National Championship game (minute 20) What makes GameDay Conor a good #friend ? (minute 22) Start, Bench, Cut: Omar, BJ & Steve (minute 26) Little Red walked from Bloomfield to Gampel in 14 hours and raised $14,000 for charity (minute 28) David Horowitz walked with Little Red for an interview (minute 37) Podcast sponsors (minute 40) Float 41 (minute 41) 3 Keys to being Little Red (minute 42) Coach Hurley (minute 43) Watching basketball in a football stadium (minute 46) Liam McNeely is his Dude Dude! (minute 47) Bold predictions for next season (minute 50) Rapid fire questions (minute 52) Upcoming events (minute 55) Blind rank these UConn players (minute 56) Little Red recommends Beem and Epic Fitness (minute 1.07) Little Red hosted a golf tournament for Officer Lombardi from the WPD (minute 1.01) Closing remarks (minute 1.03) Podcast Sponsors: Directline Media - www.directlinemediaproductions.com/ The Fix IV - www.thefixivtherapy.com West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com Float 41 - www.float41.com Maximum Beverage - www.maximumbev.com Sally and Bob’s - www.sallyandbobs.com Mandell JCC of Greater Hartford - www.mandelljcc.org