{"podcast":{"title":"State of the Second","slug":"state-of-the-second-6604741","podcast_index_feed_id":6604741,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/state-of-the-second/","website_url":"https://stateofthe2nd.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/5c1ba3ec-041a-4f0c-8c7f-3f645a8a1e00/rzBp1JmNTLPL5oywdC41G-y8.jpg","author":"Gun Owners of America","episode_count":141,"summary":"\"State of the Second isn’t your typical 2A podcast—it’s a backstage pass into the firearms industry. Hosted by Kailey Nieman and John Fahrner, we sit down with the real people behind the brands, builds, and big ideas shaping the gun world. From shop owners to social media legends, each episode dives into how they got started, what keeps them going, and what it really takes to make it in the firearms industry, plus the battles they face along the way. If you’ve ever wondered how to break into the industry or what it’s like behind the scenes, this is your front-row seat.\"","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T02:19:50.974174+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741"},"episode":{"title":"The Coolest Job in the Firearms Industry (ft. caliber.row)","slug":"the-coolest-job-in-the-firearms-industry-ft-caliber-row","published_at":"2026-06-17T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741/the-coolest-job-in-the-firearms-industry-ft-caliber-row","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741","url":"https://stateofthe2nd.com/episode/the-coolest-job-in-the-firearms-industry-ft-caliberrow","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/507a3b34-1d7d-4362-bad8-3030fea035d9.mp3","summary":"Alex from Caliber Row joins hosts Kaylee and John to talk about what she calls one of the coolest jobs in the firearms industry: photographing and filming brands. Alex runs Caliber Row, where she specializes in photography, videography, and brand marketing for firearms companies. Her path started in Chicago, where she grew up on the Southside and shot in the fashion industry with agencies like Wilhelmina, Factor, and Ford. She applied on a whim to a job at apparel company GrunStyle, got hired despite limited firearms experience, ran its photography department, and stayed with the company for six years, moving with it from Chicago to Texas and later to Arizona. Much of the conversation is about women coming into a male-dominated industry. Alex says women are entering the space more than ever, and most of them are genuinely excited, educated, and skilled shooters. She also pushes back on a mindset she sees in some women who want to dominate or exclude men, arguing the industry should be a respected, equal space and that men built it. Kaylee, who is five feet tall and wears a child-size large glove, talks about how few options existed for someone her size when she bought her first gun, and how the influx of new gun owners has driven innovation and better ergonomics, pointing to firearms like the EAA tip-up and the Smith and Wesson EZ that work for people with limited mobility. Both hosts and Alex agree the community is growing stronger, not weaker, and that the Second Amendment community is made of many different subgroups that should row in the same direction. Alex describes the impact photography has in reaching people who are gun curious or hesitant, using her own story of moving from anti-gun Chicago to pro-gun Texas, where people showed her the ropes. She talks about…","meta_description":"Alex from Caliber Row joins hosts Kaylee and John to talk about what she calls one of the coolest jobs in the firearms industry: photographing and filming…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2692,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/state-of-the-second-6604741/episodes/the-coolest-job-in-the-firearms-industry-ft-caliber-row/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/state-of-the-second-6604741/the-coolest-job-in-the-firearms-industry-ft-caliber-row.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}