Going Big! with Kevin Gentry

In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Dr. Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, for a timely conversation about Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, and the ideas that have shaped America for nearly 250 years.
 
Kamensky explains why Jefferson was chosen to draft the Declaration at just 33 years old, how divided and uncertain the Continental Congress really was, and why the document’s opening vision became far more than a list of grievances. She also explores the central contradiction in Jefferson’s legacy: how the author of words about equality could also participate in slavery on a vast scale.
 
Together, they discuss America’s approaching 250th anniversary, the meaning of reflective patriotism, and the role that Monticello plays in preserving that legacy into the future.

In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Princeton professor Dr. Robert George for a wide-ranging conversation about truth, freedom, virtue, and the future of the American experiment. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, Robert reflects on what Americans often misunderstand about the founders, why George Washington was indispensable, and why a republic cannot survive without moral seriousness and civic friendship.
 
George also shares his own remarkable story, from growing up in Appalachia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners to becoming one of the country’s leading public intellectuals. Along the way, he explains why free speech is essential to truth-seeking, what his friendship with Cornel West teaches about disagreement, and why he remains hopeful about the next generation of Americans.

In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry welcomes economist Daniel Di Martino back for a timely conversation about Venezuela, freedom, assimilation, and the future of America. Raised in Caracas during one of the most dramatic political and economic collapses in modern history, Daniel shares what it was like to watch shortages, inflation, and repression reshape everyday life, and how those experiences led him to come to the United States and speak out.
 
Together, they explore what prosperous societies forget, why immigration and assimilation matter, what Daniel’s research says about family and culture, and why he remains hopeful about both Venezuela and America. This episode offers a firsthand look at the cost of collectivism and a serious conversation about freedom, opportunity, and where nations go from here.

In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with producer Drake Springer and director Meredith Danluck to discuss Why We Dream, a documentary that follows World War II veterans returning to Normandy 80 years after D-Day. With many of the veterans now more than 100 years old, the film captures a vanishing generation’s memories of war, service, sacrifice, and the lives they built afterward.Together, they explore how to tell a World War II story in a way that feels fresh and deeply human; why the filmmakers fought to keep the veterans, not the brand, at the center; and how storytelling can preserve living memory before it disappears. The conversation also examines risk, leadership, and the hunger many people feel today for meaning, connection, and a renewed sense of duty to one another.

After losing her husband, Navy SEAL Lieutenant Brendan Looney, in Afghanistan, Amy Looney Heffernan could have stepped back from the world. Instead, she chose a harder path: building a life of service, leadership, and impact in his memory.
 
On this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry talks with Amy, now President of the Travis Manion Foundation, about grief, resilience, Memorial Day, and how service can help turn pain into purpose. She shares the deeply personal story behind her journey, the values Brendan lived by, and how the Foundation is equipping veterans, families of the fallen, and young people to lead with character in communities across America.
 
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