Defenders LIVE Podcast

About Defenders LIVE Podcast

Welcome to the Defenders LIVE community! This is where you can find information and inspiration to grow as a defender both on and off the range. www.defenders-live.com (https://www.defenders-live.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Lora Thorson, Defenders USA

Category

education · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Dec 2023

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

133 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Ep. 202 | The Biggest Thing Firearms Training Gets Wrong w/ Instructor and Writer, Kevin Creighton

   As shooters, we spend a lot of time trying to become better shooters. We want to be faster, more accurate, improve our draw, get better at all the things we can measure. But how much of that actually prepares us for what we’re carrying a gun for in the first place? That’s a lot of what I talked about this week with Kevin Creighton. Kevin has spent more than 20 years in the firearms world as an instructor, competitor, and writer, and I really enjoyed his perspective because he looks at training a little differently. One of the things we talked about was how easy it is to train for a situation we’ve already scripted in our heads. We imagine how something is going to happen, what we’re going to do, and how we’re going to respond. Real life obviously doesn’t work that way. Kevin brought up things like using your environment to your advantage, actually carrying your gun instead of leaving it in the car, training from concealment, and being realistic about what our mission is as ordinary armed citizens. And one of my favorite things he said was that he looks at the defensive pistol lifestyle more like jazz. You learn the chords. You learn the fundamentals. You understand the context. But then you have to be able to respond to whatever is actually happening in front of you. I had never heard anyone explain it that way, but it made a lot of sense to me. We also got into Kevin’s novel Salvation, which led us into a completely different conversation about faith, strong male role models, doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, and living your life for something bigger than yourself. There’s a lot in this episode, but the part I keep coming back to is that being a good shooter and being prepared to defend yourself are not necessarily the same thing. Of course I want to continue becoming a better shooter. But I also want my training to make sense for my actual life, my actual mission, and the people I’m responsible for protecting. Kevin gave me a lot to think about with this one, and I think he will for you too. See more at quietlyarmed.com (http://www.quietlyarmed.com). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.defenders-live.com/subscribe (https://www.defenders-live.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Ep. 201 | Perfect or a Piece of Sh*t? | Lora Thorson, Defenders LIVE

   Five oatmeal cream pies. In a couple of hours. Yep. I did that. And as ridiculous as that sounds, what happened in my head afterward is the reason I’m talking about it. One poor choice became another. Then another. And pretty soon I wasn’t simply thinking, “That was a bad decision.” I was in what I call the shame cave. “You know better.”“Why can’t you control yourself?”“What’s wrong with you?” That’s the part I want to talk about. This week’s Defenders LIVE gets into something I’ve struggled with for a long time, my “perfect versus piece of s**t” mindset. I’m talking about:Why one bad choice can make the next one easierHow accountability can quietly turn into shameWhy I learned to associate perfection and control with safetyWhy recognizing the pattern doesn’t automatically make it disappearThe difference between “I made a bad choice” and “I am bad”Why trying to perform my way back into feeling worthy never worksHow remembering who I am in Christ helps me make the next right choice I’m still figuring this out. That’s actually why I’m talking about it. Maybe the problem isn’t that we keep failing to be perfect. Maybe the problem is believing perfect or worthless were ever our only choices. Defenders LIVE is supported by you. To join our live group calls, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.defenders-live.com/subscribe (https://www.defenders-live.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

3. 

   17 Sept 2026

   Ep. 200 | We Probably Shouldn't Have Recorded This | Adam Winch & Lora Thorson | Defenders LIVE

   Apparently I “weenied down” a workout in Arizona, Adam cannot handle a computer without having a complete meltdown, and I hauled guns all the way to Arizona because HE begged me to bring them...only for us to never even use them. 😂 And that’s just where this conversation started. Adam Winch is the founder and lead instructor of Defenders USA, but he’s also a good friend, and our conversations behind the scenes don’t usually look much like a formal interview. So we decided to let you guys in on one. We got into some ridiculous things we’ve seen online, bumper stickers and how much information we unknowingly give away about ourselves, some of the weirdest things students have brought to firearms classes, things Adam does that drive me crazy, things I do that drive him crazy, and why sometimes you can hear something 20 times before it finally clicks. I’ve done some pretty serious episodes of Defenders LIVE lately, and I wanted this one to just be fun. There’s no single big topic. It’s pretty much what it sounds like when Adam and I have a normal conversation and you guys get to listen in. Let me know what you think of this format and if we should do it again. Thanks for reading Defenders LIVE! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.defenders-live.com/subscribe (https://www.defenders-live.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

Who has been a guest on Defenders LIVE Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr TC Fuller
• Ross Hick
• Jeremy Morris
• John Hearne
• Christian Griffith

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

89,886

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

91

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

32

Contact Defenders LIVE Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Defenders LIVE Podcast