1KHO 630: No One Hands You a Rule Book for Belonging | Leland Lucky Vittert, Born Lucky

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Parenting, Kids & Family

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this unforgettable conversation, NewsNation anchor and instant New York Times bestselling author Leland “Lucky” Vittert pulls back the curtain on a childhood that included late speech, crushing loneliness, and a school world that often met neurodivergence with cruelty instead of care. But Born Lucky isn’t an autism “how-to.” It’s a father-son love story about what changes when one adult refuses to give up. Lucky shares how his dad chose a radical path: not removing adversity, but walking him through it—teaching character, work ethic, and the kind of social “tools” that slowly turn isolation into connection. The result is deep hope and a reminder that kids aren’t doomed by their hardest circumstances. Ginny and Lucky also dig into the practical magic of a hands-on childhood: flying lessons at eight, rowing, scuba diving, Michigan summers by Lake Michigan that all provided real risks, real effort, real confidence earned. Those experiences didn’t just fill time; they built transferable skills and a resilience that later carried Lucky through war-zone reporting and prime-time journalism. Along the way, you’ll hear about the quiet heroes like Mr. Mick whose belief became a lifeline. If you’ve ever worried your child won’t find their place or wondered if you’re doing enough this episode will steady you, strengthen you, and send you back outside with fresh courage. Get your copy of Born Lucky here Watch Lucky’s show On Balance with Leland Vittert on NewsNation (weeknights at 9 p.m. ET) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why are businesses like HelloVet choosing Apple products and services?
0:05.0	So we started the business two years ago.
0:07.0	We had a few people who were used to PCs and this was their first foray into Macs.
0:12.0	But it's been super smooth getting everyone onto those devices and everyone seems really, really happy.
0:18.0	Find out how Mac can help you run and grow your business at apple.com forward slash hello vet.
0:26.5	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast.
0:28.8	My name is Ginny Urton, the founder of 1000 Hours Outside, and I am so excited for today's guest.
0:33.3	I read his book, and I absolutely adored it.
0:35.6	It is a New York Times bestseller, like immediately.
0:38.1	The book is called Born Lucky, a Dedicated Father, a Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism. And the author, Leeland Lucky Holt Vitter, is here. Welcome. Great to be here. Thank you. I love the book. I love the book so much, so much. So every year, lucky, I work, Well, I'm going to say every year, but I only started doing it last year. So it's not really every year. But last year I gave a book as gift for my friends. I read a book. I really loved. It was also a memoir. It's called Will the Circle Be Unbroken by an author named Sean Diedrich. Okay.
1:11.2	And I liked it so much that that's what I gave as a Christmas gift to like my girlfriends. And I really like doing it. So I thought, well, this year I'm going to do the same thing. But it's November. And I was kind of like, I don't know, I guess I'm going to have to look through my books and see which one stood out the most. And then I read yours. and I was like, this is the one.
1:27.7	I have 13 pages of notes on your book,
1:30.1	and it just like this is the one.
1:33.3	I have 13 pages of notes on your book and it just like made me feel a lot of things.
1:35.2	I made me feel convicted.
1:36.7	It made me feel challenged.
1:40.5	It made me have questions about how I'm doing my life.
1:41.6	It made me feel hopeful.
1:43.6	Just have like a lot of feelings.
1:45.5	I got chills. I got teared up.
1:51.5	It is just a wonderful book. Well, thank you very much. Yeah. It's just incredible.
1:56.2	And I think you, yeah, you picked up on it. It's very easy to think that it's an autism book,
	...

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