UNSEEN EXPOSURES

Greg and Amy
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Documentary

Most people know what firefighters run into. Few understand what they carry home. Unseen Exposures is a podcast about the hidden cost of the job, and the lessons that reach far beyond the firehouse. Hosted by firefighter Greg Kelley and co-host Amy Gorin Chapman, who brings an outside perspective and helps decode the jargon, the show explores the real-life impact of stress, trauma, cancer, sleep loss, nutrition, mental health, family strain, and the culture of service. Born from the upcoming documentary SPOKE, Unseen Exposures continues the conversation the film begins, opening the door to a side of public service most people never see. Through conversations with firefighters, families, experts, advocates, and people working to change the narrative, the show looks at health, resilience, and what it really means to keep showing up for others. This is not just a podcast for firefighters. It is for anyone who has carried stress home, supported someone through hard things, or wondered what happens after the emergency is over. The public sees the response. This show is about the cost.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    #1 Killer of Firefighters isn't Fire - Kepra Jack | UNSEEN EXPOSURES Episode 04

    The number one killer of firefighters isn't fire. It's their own hearts. Kepra Jack was an ER nurse and pre-hospital coordinator, married to a firefighter, when a 44-year-old friend didn't wake up for shift change. That question, why are healthy people having cardiac events, became 15 years of first responder medicine: a primary care practice built for police, fire, EMS, dispatch, military, and their families, annual medicals for departments of every size, and national work with the IAFF, IAFC, and NFPA. Kepra owns HeartFit For Duty and is a founding member and vice president of Science to the Station, the nonprofit connecting fire service researchers with the firefighters their work is meant to protect. In this conversation: the 2022 decision that classified firefighting itself as a carcinogen, why 83 percent of fire service research has happened in the last two decades, the bro science problem at the kitchen table, what families never get taught about supporting their firefighter, NerdStock (the fire service science conference that ends with a circus), and the three things anyone can start today: real food, a primary care doctor, and actual sleep. Her closing challenge: establish with a mental health provider before you need one. And it is never too late to change your risk factors. Resources: science2station.org, and reach Kepra at kepra@heartfitforduty.org This episode is brought to you by SPOKE, our Founding Premier Sponsor and Film Partner. Watch the trailer at spokemovie.com

  2. Jul 17

    "We Are Not Victims" | Dena Ali on First Responder Mental Wellness - UNSEEN EXPOSURES - Episode 03

    Dena Ali was a police officer for five years before an episode of Rescue Me showed her that women could be firefighters. Eighteen years later, she's a Battalion Chief with the Raleigh Fire Department, founder of North Carolina's statewide peer support team, Program Manager of Behavioral Health for the First Responder Center for Excellence, and author of Hope Out of Darkness: A Guide to First Responder Mental Wellness. Recorded live at the FRCE Health and Wellness Symposium at the University of Iowa, this conversation covers the ideas at the center of her book: hope as a cognitive skill built through struggle, the surprising research on play and humor, psychological safety as the freedom to fail (with lessons the fire service can steal from NASA after Columbia), and the practical mechanics of peer support, from the kitchen table conversation after a bad call to asking someone directly whether they're thinking about suicide. Her hardest-won stance: first responders are not victims. They carry more protective factors than most people, and the solutions in her book are human solutions, not just fire service ones. Content note: this episode includes frank discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (US) any time. Get the book: Hope Out of Darkness at fireengineeringbooks.com or Amazon. First Responder Center for Excellence: firstrespondercenter.org This episode is brought to you by SPOKE, our Founding Premier Sponsor and Film Partner. Watch the trailer at spokemovie.com IN MEMORY OF SENIOR FIREFIGHTER JOSH LULL RALEIGH FIRE DEPARTMENT · RESCUE 16 · C-SHIFT END OF WATCH APRIL 19, 2026

  3. Jul 14

    "We Honor Them for How They Lived"- Victor Stagnaro, NFFF - FRC UNSEEN EXPOSURES Ep 02

    Firefighters are exposed to death on a scale the public never sees. Victor Stagnaro has spent his career making sure the fire service never forgets its own, and fighting to shrink the list of names read each year. Victor is the CEO of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and leads its affiliate, the First Responder Center for Excellence. Before that: 25 years with the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department, and a relationship with the Foundation dating back to the late 1990s as incident commander for the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend. Recorded live at the FRCE Health and Wellness Symposium at the University of Iowa, this conversation goes to the places the fire service is only now learning to talk about: cancer and suicide now recognized as line-of-duty deaths, and why the number of names honored each year is growing. The scholarships and children's grief camp that carry Fire Hero families forward. The culture conversation about risk and the cowboy mindset. What daily exposure to death does to firefighters and the people who love them. And what actually works when a department decides to build peer support, told through the story of Charleston and the FDNY. His challenge to every firefighter at the symposium: don't just come to learn. Decide what you're going to do with it. Support the mission: National Fallen Firefighters Foundation: firehero.org First Responder Center for Excellence: firstrespondercenter.org This episode is brought to you by SPOKE, our Founding Premier Sponsor and Film Partner. Watch the trailer at spokemovie.com

  4. Jul 14

    Protecting the Blind Side with retired FDNY Chief Frank Leeb - FRCE - UNSEEN EXPOSURES Episode 01

    "The bottom line is I care because I'm tired of losing my friends." Chief Frank Leeb spent more than three decades in the FDNY, rising to Deputy Assistant Chief and serving as Chief of the Fire Academy, Chief of Training, and Chief of Safety before retiring in 2024. He has been a volunteer firefighter with the East Farmingdale Fire Department on Long Island since 1983. Today he leads the First Responder Center for Excellence, and he has one message for the fire service: if leadership is not protecting its people from what they cannot see coming, leadership is not doing its job. Greg and Amy sit down with Chief Leeb at FRCE 2026 in Iowa to talk about the toll nobody puts on a recruiting poster: friends lost to suicide, careers hollowed out by PTSD, and cancer moving through firehouses in numbers the fire service is only beginning to confront. They discuss the World Health Organization's reclassification of firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen, why the dangers of this job do not discriminate between career and volunteer, and what it actually means for a chief to protect a firefighter's blind side. Chief Leeb is the author of the best-selling book Cornerstones of Leadership: On and Off the Fireground and co-author of 30 Fires You Must Know. This episode discusses suicide and mental health. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), or call the Fire/EMS Helpline at 1-888-731-3473. You are not alone. GUEST LINKS Cornerstones of Leadership (book): https://fireengineeringbooks.com/frank-leeb/ First Responder Center for Excellence: https://www.firstrespondercenter.org RESOURCES MENTIONED IARC classification of firefighting as Group 1 carcinogen (WHO, 2022): https://www.iarc.who.int Firefighter Cancer Support Network: https://firefightercancersupport.org Unseen Exposures is presented by SPOKE, a documentary about occupational cancer in the fire service. Learn more at https://www.spokemovie.com Follow the show, and if this episode moved you, a rating and review helps more firefighters and families find it. Music: White Mountains by Zambolino Source: https://freetouse.com/music Royalty Free Music (Free Download)

  5. Jul 14

    UNSEEN EXPOSURES Episode 0 - Why are we here

    Episode 0: Why Are We Here?Most people know what firefighters run into. Few understand what they carry home. In the first episode of Unseen Exposures, hosts Greg Kelley and Amy Chapman explain why this podcast exists and how it connects to the upcoming documentary SPOKE. Greg is a second-generation firefighter with 15 years on the job. Amy is a civilian, documentary producer, and mother who entered the fire-service world while helping make the film. Together, they bring two different perspectives to the same conversation: what the job looks like from the inside and what the public rarely gets to see. They discuss the calling that draws people into the fire service, how the job has changed, and why the risks extend far beyond the emergency itself. Cancer, cumulative trauma, disrupted sleep, poor recovery, family strain, and the pressure to keep going can follow firefighters long after the call is over. Greg and Amy also share how SPOKE grew from the story of retired fire captain and three-time cancer survivor Rudy Pospisil into a much larger examination of firefighter health, culture, family, and survival. This episode sets the foundation for the conversations ahead, featuring firefighters, family members, fire-service leaders, scientists, health experts, and members of the team behind the film. This show is for the people doing the job, the people who love them, and the people who depend on them without knowing the full cost. In this episodeWhy the public often sees the rescue, but not what happens afterwardGreg’s path from advertising and sales into the fire serviceAmy’s role as the public’s voice and translatorHow modern fires and all-hazard response have changed the jobThe origins of SPOKE and Rudy Pospisil’s storyThe physical and emotional exposures firefighters carryHumor, crew culture, and the difficulty of asking for helpSleep, nutrition, recovery, and their effects on family lifeWhy healthier firefighters create healthier departments and communitiesWhat listeners can expect from future episodesChapters00:40 Why this podcast exists 01:02 Meet Amy Chapman 02:03 What the public does not see 05:20 The history and evolution of the fire service 08:01 Why modern structure fires burn differently 14:15 How the documentary SPOKE began 17:01 The hidden exposures of the job 19:28 Why firefighter health affects the entire community 22:04 Humor, crew culture, and asking for help 28:10 The changing face of the fire service 32:23 Firehouse staffing, shifts, and sleep loss 38:48 Firefighting as a craft 42:07 Who this podcast is for 44:12 Cancer, trauma, recovery, and future topics 48:49 The mission of Unseen Exposures Learn moreSPOKE Documentary: www.spokemovie.com Unseen Exposures: www.unseenexposures.com Follow the podcast: @unseenexposurespodcast Content noteThis episode includes conversations about occupational cancer, cumulative trauma, firefighter death, mental health, and the effects of emergency-response work on families.

  • 5 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Most people know what firefighters run into. Few understand what they carry home. Unseen Exposures is a podcast about the hidden cost of the job, and the lessons that reach far beyond the firehouse. Hosted by firefighter Greg Kelley and co-host Amy Gorin Chapman, who brings an outside perspective and helps decode the jargon, the show explores the real-life impact of stress, trauma, cancer, sleep loss, nutrition, mental health, family strain, and the culture of service. Born from the upcoming documentary SPOKE, Unseen Exposures continues the conversation the film begins, opening the door to a side of public service most people never see. Through conversations with firefighters, families, experts, advocates, and people working to change the narrative, the show looks at health, resilience, and what it really means to keep showing up for others. This is not just a podcast for firefighters. It is for anyone who has carried stress home, supported someone through hard things, or wondered what happens after the emergency is over. The public sees the response. This show is about the cost.

Information

  • Creator
    Greg and Amy
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Greg and Amy