An Army of Normal Folks - What Happens When You See the Person Everyone Else Ignores

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Before Helen Keller changed the world, someone saw her when others didn’t. This Shop Talk is a reminder that how normal people like us can quietly unlock extraordinary potential.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, everybody. It's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks. Welcome to the shop. Hi, Alex. Hey, we're actually in your office today, not the shop. We're in the shop. This is the shop. Quit. It's a virtual shop. One of her employees took our normal room. It's ridiculous. It's such a jerk. He's kind of been here a long time. I hadn't asked you about the kids lately. I actually haven't asked you about the wedding. That's what we need to talk about. Well, first, I should do. They're good. The wedding was, um, Well, Molly decided since being like she's like number 30 of 30 friends to get married, that everybody's kind of done every conceivable kind of wedding. And really at some point you've been to so many weddings with all these girls at this marrying age

that you don't really go to the weddings because you want to. You go from a sense of obligation. And she's like, Dad, I want people to, you know, want to have to go to a wedding. And so we had it in Las Vegas. And it was crazy. Interesting from the photos I saw. Yeah, it was nuts. I mean, you're in a pretty crazy jacket.

Well, she told us to, it was black tie, but not standard black tie. And we're like, what's that mean? She goes, I want everybody in Texas, but I don't want everybody in normal black tuxes. So everybody gets something different. So there were people there with light blue, 70s ruffles. And she asked me to wear something. in Vegas Glitz. So I bought a Vegas Clitz-Thucks, and I look like, you know, the piano guy at some

some cheesy bar. Apparently Max livestreamed the wedding on Instagram. Yeah, I already did that. He's such a jack leg. Did you watch it? No, but I saw them post. Well, she was married by Elvis, had showgirls leader down the aisle, and her cat was in a wedding dress, and Elvis held the cat.

It was so ridiculous. But it was hilarious. So, anyway, Molly's married. She is now Molly Z. Yeah. Yeah. And I love Tracy. So Tracy, her husband is awesome.

So, yeah, it was a good time. Cool. Just for point of order, Tracy and Molly did do the premarital counseling with a Christian counselor. They're not totally even. No. They did all of the background things that Lisa and I would want them to do as a serious married couple putting God in the center of their marriage, just to say that. But the marriage itself was absolutely insane. And the reception had a contortionist, some roller skaters.

I saw the video on that roller skater being like thrown in the air in a circle. Yeah. It was crazy. So it was a lot of fun. It was really good. Okay. So what happens when you see the person everyone else ignores? Love the title.

So is Shop Talk number 93? And I think Alex Haley. Isn't it, Alex Haley? Charles Haley? There was a defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers. It was incredible. It was number 93. It was Charles.

Alex Haley wrote roots. It's Charles Haley, I think. It's a defense vint for the 49ers that I always thought was really good. But maybe I'm wrong about that. I'm not really seeing much on here. Besides MetaWorld Peace War No. 93 and the Kings. During the World Peace. All right.

What happens when you see the person everyone else ignores for ShopTot number 93? Right after these brief messages from our, Jenner sponsor. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the war. world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's a unicorn.

No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its fault of secrets. Listen to the Sixth Bureau on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, a story gripped the UK,

evoking horror and disbelief. A nurse who should have been in charge of care. for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict? A villain? A nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses.

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt the case of Lucy Lettby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it. to ask what really happened when the world decided who Lucy Lettby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level of the British establishment of this is wrong. Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season 2 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous.

lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. He pulls the gun. Tells me to lie down on the ground. He identified Tremaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Termaine was sentenced to 99 years. I'm like, Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity.

The best lie is partial truth. For 22 years, only two people knew the truth until a confession changed everything. I was a monster. Listen to Burden of Guilt Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you,

what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka neurolinguistic programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology.

Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a new age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all, NLP, might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, everybody. Welcome back to Shop, shop number 93. Struggle in there. Yeah. This is from Army member Terry Smith. Terry, thank you so much. Who made my day yesterday with this note that she wrote there. Okay, well, here it is.

Love the show. I've listened to every episode, is what Terry says. I made my day because that's a lot of episodes. That's a lot of episodes. So, Terry, thank you so much for being such a loyal listener, but also thank you for sharing this story with us. Oh, my goodness. Tewkesbury Almouse, Massachusetts.

Close enough. 1880. It was not built as a school. It was built as a holding place. The poor, the ill, the elderly, the mentally disabled, and the unwanted were housed together with little distinction. Overcrowding was common. Disease spread easily.

mortality rates, especially among children, were very high. Among those sent there was a 14-year-old girl who had already lost almost everything. Her name was Anne Sullivan. She was five when Tricoma damaged her sight. Eight when her mother died. Ten, when her father abandoned the children. She and her young brother, Jimmy, were sent to Tewksbury because there was just nowhere else to go. Jimmy, her brother, died within months of the arrival.

You know, that's enough for a 10-year-old to have handled, Alex. Yeah. Anne was left alone, nearly blind, uneducated, living in a place that warehouse societies forgotten. But she refused to disappear. For five years, she survived through grit and instinct. She was angry, loud, defiant. that anger likely kept her standing. And beneath it was something else, a fierce desire to learn.

In 1880, Frank B. Sanborn, the Massachusetts State Inspector of Charities, visited Tewksbury as part of a broader reform effort. During that inspection, and did something bold, she appealed directly to him. She asked to be sent to school, to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, She insisted she wanted an education and that she could do more. Sandborn took notice. Soon after, arrangements were made for admission to Perkins, and arrived there later that year.

She did not fit neatly into that world. She was older than most of the other students. She had rough edges shaped by survival, but she brought something very rare, relentless determination. Medical treatment improved her vision. She attacked her studies with urgency. In 1886, she graduated as valedictorian of her class. The girl from the almshouse had become the top graduate.

Shortly after, Perkins received a letter from Alabama, a man named Arthur Keller was searching for help for his six-year-old daughter, Helen, blind, deaf, and isolated in a world without language. Perkins recommended one of his strongest graduates, Anne Sullivan, on March 3rd, 1887, Anne traveled to Tuscumby, Alabama. The early days were chaotic. Helen resisted. She screamed.

She struck out. Many might have left. Anne, proving yet again her resilience, did not. She recognized the rage. She understood what it meant to feel trapped in darkness. Then came the water pump. Cool water flowed over Helen's hand as Anne spelled, W-A-T-E-R into her palm.

In that moment, something connected. Helen realized that objects had names, that language could unlock her world. Helen later called it the day her soul awakened. Anne and Helen would remain together for 49 years, teacher and student, companion and collaborator. Anne spelled lectures into Helen's hand at Radcliffe College. she stood beside her as Helen became a writer, an advocate, and a global voice. The world remembers Helen Keller. Few remember the girl from Tewksbury, the nearly blind teenager who survived neglect,

the child who lost her brother, the student who demanded a chance, the teacher who refused to give up. Anne Solomon died in 1936. Helen was with her. History often celebrates the visible figure, but sometimes history turns because a normal person quietly supported their greatness. Anne Sullivan was once the forgotten child. Someone listened, and because of that, millions learned what human potential really looks like.

Holy smokes, what a great story. Terry, you're the bomb. You're the boss. Thanks for sending that. It is just yet again another reminder of what a normal person can do when they have a passion and they use their abilities coupled with that passion to fit in need. You have no idea what kind of that work, what that kind of work could do to change the world. And I think from this story we can easy see, if not for Anne Sullivan, you'd never have heard of Helen Keller.

It's kind of a really cool, maybe this is our first one doing this, like a historical example of supporting greatness. It really is. It's a historical example of both supporting greatness and the power of a normal person. Yeah. And I've heard of Anne Sullivan before, but I had no idea what her story was. I didn't either. I'd heard the name too. Actually, when I was reading it, it's like, I've heard.

but I didn't know this. Another thing is it's also an example of if you just keep trying, no matter what the world throws at you, you have a chance to do something. I mean, she lost her brother, she lost her parents, she lost her eyesight. A lot of people just giving up. And I think it's a healthy reminder

that despite all the world throws at us, there's a path that we can find success and happiness in and clearly, and Sullivan did. What a great story. Terry, thank you so very much for sending it. I think there's a lot to take from it. Anything else, Alex?

For those of you listening, this will come out in time for our launch event in Memphis. So anfmemphis.org, you can RSVP, and then we will still have the Atlanta one on March 8th, and the Ozaki one on March 8th, ANFOsaki one on March 8th, ANFOsaki.org. You should join us. Should join us. They're actually all at breweries, too, kind of.

The Ozaki one's actually at a Mexican restaurant in the basement. We're getting like a whole private room down there. I love that. The Atlanta one and the Memphis one, too, are at breweries. So we're going to have fun and have a beer and learn about changing our community. That's it. And you're going to be there at the Memphis one, Bill. I am.

I'm going to be at the Memphis one. I've done March 8, right? No, March 1st. Don't confuse people. Huh? Don't confuse people. You're just going one day at a time. I have a lot going on, but I'll be there.

It's on my calendar, I promise. Lisa and I will be there. All right, everybody. Shep Talk number 93, Anne Sullivan teaches us that... There's even a title I wrote. Go back to the title. Well, I know that, but I'm thinking about Ann Sullivan.

Actually, I'm going to be thinking about this story all day, but... You're welcome. Thank you, Terry. Anne Sullivan's teacher, Anne Sullivan's work to teach Helen Keller is all about what happens when you see the person and everyone else ignores. and the power of an army of normal folks and supporting greatness.

So that's it. Thanks everybody for joining us. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review it. Join the army at normalfokes. Us and what else? I don't know. I'm tired. Do some other stuff.

I woke up at 2 a.m. this morning. Listen to the show and tell everybody about it, join the podcast and join a service club. You can't join a podcast, but you can subscribe to one. Do ever. Do all that stuff. All right. That's Shop Talk.

Number 93. We'll see you next one. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult?

NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games. a new podcast exploring NLP, aka Neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 1969, Malcolm and Martin are gone. America is in crisis. At a Morehouse College, the students make their move.

These students, including a young Samuel L. Jackson, locked up the members of the board of trustees, including Martin Luther King's senior. It's the true story of protests and rebellion in black American history that you'll never forget. I'm Hans Charles. I'm Manilic Lamouba. Listen to the A-building on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story? Evidence has been made to fit. The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed. What if the truth was disguised by a story we chose to believe?

Oh my God, I think she might be innocent. Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world. The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its fault of secrets. Listen to the Sixth Bureau on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.