Mike Baker HQ — Human First Mike Baker HQ
Subscribe
Podcast

Episode 19 — The Middle Still Matters

Episode 19 — The Middle Still Matters Somewhere along the way, noise replaced nuance. Everything became a side to choose, a take to post, a reaction to perform.

Mike Baker 22 October 2025  ·  1 min read
Podcast

Season 1 · Episode 19 · October 22, 2025 · 24 min

Watch on YouTube Listen on Spotify Apple Podcasts

Just an Ordinary Tuesday

New episodes and essays land in my Tuesday letter, along with the Resource Library. Free, and leaving is easy.

You’re in. Check your inbox to confirm.

Show notes

Episode 19 — The Middle Still Matters

Somewhere along the way, noise replaced nuance.

Everything became a side to choose, a take to post, a reaction to perform. We started scrolling through outrage like it was oxygen, and somehow forgot how to just… listen.

In this episode, Mike Baker steps back from the static to search for the signal underneath it — the quiet frequency that still connects us.

He reflects on what liberty looks like when truth flickers, on the slow erosion of empathy, and on why the middle of the story — the place between extremes — still holds the power to heal.

Through personal reflection, storytelling, and moments drawn from his art and music, Mike explores how we begin finding our way back to each other when everything around us rewards division.

He shares why he created Human First — not as a protest, but as a reminder. A reminder that connection still matters, that decency still counts, and that empathy is not weakness — it’s survival.

The Middle Still Matters is an invitation to breathe again, to remember who we are beneath the headlines, and to believe — even now — that light still breaks through the static.

🎧 Still Here, Still Trying — with Mike Baker

Music: “Human First” by Mike Baker

Thanks for listening to Still Here, Still Trying.

If this episode gave you something to think about, please like, follow, subscribe, and share it with three people who could use it in their lives.

You can find more of my work — music, writing, art, and reflections — at:

🌐 mikebakerhq.com

Grab a copy of my book, The Optimist’s Way:

📚 https://a.co/d/4RqPS6g

Thanks for being here.

Still here. Still trying.

Support the Podcast Here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2516381/support

I’ll send you the next one

My letter is called Just an Ordinary Tuesday. Essays mostly, and now and then a song, an episode, some artwork, or something from the advocacy work.

Joining is free, and it opens the Resource Library: twelve tools I built because we needed them.

You’re in. Check your inbox to confirm, and the next ordinary Tuesday will find you.

I aim for Tuesdays, twice a month or so, and I don’t always make it. Your address stays private, and leaving is always easy.

More episodes All episodes →
14 Oct 2026

My ADHD Rabbit Hole Built an Apocalypse Club

A conversation about AI with Jake and his friend Max turned into Apocalypse Optional, a sci-fi film and book club with a quiz that sorts you into your apocalypse house. Season 2, Episode 19 of Still Here, Still Trying.

5 Oct 2026

After 27 Years, What Makes Someone Your Person?

Kellie and I heard a Tolkien line about marriage at a celebration of life the day before our 27th anniversary. What actually makes someone your person after decades together? Season 2, Episode 18 of Still Here, Still Trying.

23 Sep 2026

Wherever You Go, There You Are

A high school friend used to say it as a joke. At fifty, it became a question: wherever I go, I’m going to be there, so how much say do I still have in what it’s like when I arrive? Season 2, Episode 17 of Still Here, Still Trying.