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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)

Episode 23: When the Job Is Gone, Who Are You? with Degion Craddock

In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with marketing pro and former Dell colleague Degion Craddock—a talented, driven brother who found himself suddenly laid off and in unfamiliar territory. Degion opens up about what it’s been like to face rejection after rejection, redefine his value outside of a job title, and fight through the quiet mental toll of long-term unemployment.

This isn’t just a conversation about work—it’s about identity, resilience, trust, and rebuilding. From navigating dating during a season of uncertainty, to learning how to let people support him when he’s used to being the strong one, Degion speaks with honesty, humor, and hard-won clarity about what it truly means to get back up when your confidence has been shaken.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones
Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winner (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
- Grenada, "Treasure"
- McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

Send us a text

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)

Episode 22: For the People - A Conversation with our Community

In this episode, Jamal and Dave step back from the mic to reflect on the journey so far—and to respond to you, the Getting Back Up community. Since launching, we’ve received love, critique, DMs, and real talk from people across the country. And today, we’re talking about it all.

What’s landed. What we missed. What surprised us. And why your feedback—every bit of it—means everything. This show was never meant to be perfect. It was meant to be honest. So in this episode, we say thank you for holding us accountable, lifting us up, and riding with us as we figure this out in real time.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones
Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winner (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
- Grenada, "Treasure"
- McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

Send us a text

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)

Episode 21: A Son’s Reflection on Love, Loss, & Legacy with Russell Hornsby (Part 1)

In this deeply personal conversation, Jamal and David sit down with acclaimed actor Russell Hornsby to talk about the kind of loss that doesn’t always make headlines—but leaves a lifelong imprint. Known for his roles in Fences, Grimm, The Hate U Give, BMF, and many more plays, movies, and tv shows, Russell opens up about him and his brother, Jonevan, losing their mother, Eva Redd Hornsby, to complications from dementia, and growing up in Oakland without a consistent father figure in their home.

This episode isn’t about celebrity—it’s about sonship, memory, grief, and the quiet weight of family history. Russell reflects on his mother’s strength, her legacy, and the subtle grief of never fully knowing the woman behind the illness. He shares what he learned at her repast, the artifacts he discovered while clearing her home, and what he wants the world to know about Ms. Eva—both as his mother and as a woman with a story of her own.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Thank you for your support!

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones
Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winner (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Chris Gazzo (Reel Media)
Music:
- Grenada, "Treasure"
- McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast