In November 2015 Michael Penney made his second appearance on Funniest Thing! with Darrell & Ed, the Unity Online Radio show hosted by Darrell Fusaro and Edward Biagiotti. The episode was titled “It’s an Honor to Be of Service, Sir!” It was built around the Daily Word for Wednesday, November 11, 2015, which was Veterans Day. The show script was posted November 17.
What the episode covered
The hour centered on service and giving. The idea was that helping other people succeed comes back to you as success, joy and security. The hosts drew on Florence Scovel Shinn, Emmet Fox and Eric Butterworth for readings on selfless love, seeing yourself as a giver, and honest salesmanship based on the Golden Rule.
The script introduced Michael as a “United States Marine Corps combat veteran and a producer of the Cigars and Sea Stories podcast.” As on his first visit, he handled the Daily Word segment.
Michael Penney … drops in to read and discuss today’s Daily Word®, “Honor.”
Funniest Thing! show script, November 2015
That day’s reading carried the affirmation “I honor and thank those who serve.” It gives thanks for people who serve, protect and care for others, and it closes with Romans 13:7.
The episode also included the show’s regular pieces:
- Listener mail
- A joke of the day
Why it mattered then
Veterans Day week puts a lot of “thank you for your service” into the air. This appearance had a combat veteran on the other side of that, reading a passage about honoring people who serve. The reading points beyond the military, to anyone who protects or cares for others.
The episode’s wider theme, that you get ahead by helping others get ahead, also lined up with what he was doing at the time. Cigars and Sea Stories existed to put other veterans’ stories in front of an audience.
Looking back
The service-first theme of this hour runs through his later work. When he took the TEDxRaleigh stage in March 2016, his talk was titled “What’s your IED? How to add value in explosive situations.” The talk’s own description says his goal was to help fellow veterans achieve greatness after leaving the military.
The original Unity Online Radio audio page for this episode is no longer online. The hosts’ show script, with the full rundown, is still up.
This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.
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Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.