Benefitting Shriners Hospital for Children

Marius was only 8 years old when a house fire in his native country of Romania took the lives of his parents and burned over 75% of his body, leaving him without fingers or a nose.

Benefitting Mad One Media

Joshua Walters uses his writing and creativity to talk about his experiences living with bipolar disorder, and it is a diagnosis that our host Kimi Culp happens to share.

Benefitting The Rebecca Bender Initiative

Rebecca Bender grew up as an all-American, small town kid skipping rocks on the river in Southern Oregon. At 18, her boyfriend convinced her to move with him to Las Vegas and the emotional abuse and physical violence began.

Benefitting The Trevor Project

As a teenager, Schuyler Bailar remembers being miserable all the time. As one of the nation's top swimmers, he was getting good grades, winning medals and accepted into an Ivy League school - yet he still felt empty. After an injury kept him from swimming, Bailar's mental health plummeted. He checked into a residential treatment center where he discovered that he was transgender. But what was he going to do about swimming? Schuyler shares why he ultimately decided to swim for the Harvard men's team, how he found the language and the courage to explain who he is, and why it's so important to make sure the voices in our heads are kind to ourselves.

Benefitting Step Up

In 2001, Emily Stark was newly married to the man of her dreams and pregnant shortly thereafter - with twins! And then a follow-up ultrasound appointment brought a shocking revelation. The twin girls were conjoined at the base of the spine. Emily and her husband were left with a difficult decision. Best case? They would be separated with no lingering effects. Worst case - the girls would be paralyzed from the connection point down. In this episode, Emily talks about making choices with no certainty of the outcome, why we are not meant to be in this world solo, and her greatest lesson of listening to your gut.

Kimi shares some of her favorite stand-out moments from this wild and unexpected year, and reflects on the beautiful lessons from our guests that provided comfort and guidance through it all.

Benefitting Shatterproof

As a father, Gary did what any parent would do to help his best friend and wonderful son Brian heal from a substance abuse disorder. He got referrals to treatment programs staffed with good people with good intentions. But what he came to understand after Brian tragically took his own life is that these programs were using unproven, outdated methodologies. Real solutions based on actual science were sitting untouched in medical journals. Today, Gary is on a mission to change the treatment system in the United States, educate the public that addiction is a very treatable disease when treated the right way, and erase the stigma and shame that keep so many from finding real hope and possibility in recovery.

Benefitting The United Nations Refugee Agency

Love doesn't make Sebastián Marroquín blind to the damage done by his father, Pablo Escobar. But he does credit the infamous cartel kingpin for giving him the tools to reinvent himself, far away from his long, dark shadow. As a child, Juan Pablo Escobar (his given name) was treated to everything a kid could want: swimming pools, go-carts, exotic zoo animals, until his father's crimes forced the family into a life of hiding where no amount of money could ensure their safety. The extreme violence left a lasting impression on Marroquín, who changed his name and has dedicated his adult life to making amends with his father's victims. He has met with over 150 families and was declared by the World Peace Organization an ambassador of peace.

Benefitting Healing Justice

On July 28th, 1984, Jennifer Thompson was asleep when a man broke into her apartment at 3:00am and brutally raped her. Jennifer knew in that moment that if she survived, memorizing his features would be critical in helping to catch and convict her attacker. The straight-A student studied him carefully and was later praised by police after picking him out of a line-up. The only problem? She picked the wrong man. Ronald Cotton spent over a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit. In this episode, Jennifer talks about how memory gets contaminated, why the need to blame someone can create an entirely false narrative, and how turning her pain into purpose has given victims of wrongful conviction a place to find healing and forgiveness.

Benefitting LA Community Health Project (formerly Clean Needles Now)

Erin Khar has relapsed so many times she can't even count. Her pill habit started at eight years old. Then at 13, a boyfriend introduced her to heroin. She hid her drug use from everyone while maintaining a full middle-class prep school lifestyle that included cheerleading, volleyball and horseback riding. By 21, she was using several hundred dollars a day worth of heroin and crack. Erin never imagined that 17 years later she would be clean and sober, a mom of two kids, an author and advice columnist. She talks about the reasons she started using as a child, the stigma around relapse, her road to recovery, and why it's so important to talk to kids about drugs from a young age.

Benefitting Stalking Prevention Awareness and Resource Center

Kathleen Gallagher was obsessively stalked for over a decade. He was a high school classmate. She barely knew him. Yet throughout her twenties Kathleen's stalker had tracked her every move, found each new phone number and residence, and appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a weapon in hand. But with no anti-stalking legislation on the books, Kathleen was left with very few options. She educated herself on the psychology of stalkers: how to stay a step ahead of them, how to outsmart them, how to document them, how to survive them. Her quick and clever thinking kept her alive, and today Kathleen known as "The Safety Chick", had used her wisdom to inspire and empower millions to make smart personal safety choices.

Benefitting C.H.A.N.G.E Memphis & Freedom Writers Foundation

It took three months of working together at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles before Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal realized they had met before, as teenagers in the 80's, when then Neo-Nazi skinhead Tim beat Matthew, a homeless, gay 14-year old, nearly to death. This moment of recognition began a process of healing and forgiveness that led the two men to speak together on stages across the country about their unlikely friendship. Today, Matthew and Tim share a vision that all things are possible, and provide hope to those who feel lost or otherwise unable to break free from the past.

Benefitting Santa Monica Playhouse

Obi Ndefo was living the life of a successful actor in Los Angeles, developing a television series by day and teaching yoga at night, when during an evening grocery store visit, a drunk driver veered across traffic and slammed into Obi's body, leaving both his legs severed above the knee. His path to healing involved a laser focus on healthy eating and exercise; his physical improvement astounding doctors and nurses at every turn. In this raw and vulnerable conversation, Obi explains the mental toll of extreme change, weaving his hopeful optimism with the honest reality of the nature of suffering.

Benefitting Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation

In March 2017, Chicago writer Amy Rosenthal wrote what may be the most widely read personal ad in history. But it wasn't for her. Rosenthal was planting the seeds for the world - and hopefully the right woman - to fall in love with her husband Jason, knowing that she had very little time left to live after a battle with ovarian cancer. "You May Want to Marry My Husband" was published in the popular Modern Love column in the New York Times, and was read by millions around the world. In it, she gushes about her handsome, thoughtful, and talented husband; the life they had together, and how she hoped he would move forward. Jason, a lawyer and now public speaker on the topic of grieving, offers answers to what became of him after Amy's death, and what it was like to open his heart to love again.

Benefitting Victoria’s Victory Foundation

Victoria Arlen grew up in beautiful New Hampshire, one of triplets in a close, supportive family, until at the tender age of eleven, she lost the ability to speak, eat, walk and move due to a rare condition. She slipped into a coma. When she awoke a year and a half later, Victoria quickly realized she was "locked" inside her own body. Doctors had written her off as a lost cause and gave her family no hope for recovery. In 2010, after almost four years she began the nearly impossible journey of coming back to life (beginning with blinking). By 2017, Victoria had become a US Paralympic champion swimmer, transitioned to a career in broadcasting with ESPN, and competed on Dancing with the Stars. In this episode, Victoria shares the mindset that kept her moving forward, the responsibility of being called a "superhero", finding hope during hard times, and the healing power of forgiveness.

Benefitting Maranatha Volunteers International

Brad Brown and his wife Melea moved their two kids to Paradise, CA in 2012 after a hospital chaplain position opened up for Brad bringing with it the promise of cutting-edge medicine that could help Melea treat her colon cancer. After a miraculous six-year battle (she was given a 1 month prognosis), Melea passed, leaving Brad to care for their kids along with an outpouring of support and love from his Paradise community. Only months later, the Camp Fire wildfire, the deadliest in California history, ripped through town, moving the length of a football field a second. When the hospital ran out of ambulances, Brad started loading patients into his minivan and quickly became stuck in gridlock surrounded by flames. After a harrowing escape and an emotional reunion with his kids, Brad chose to stay in Paradise where 91% of homes burned to the ground, in order to provide comfort to the community who stood by him in his darkest hours. In this episode, Brad shares his lessons on finding meaning and purpose amid tragedy and the key things that can help a community heal from trauma.

Benefitting Champ Assistance Dogs, St. Louis Food Bank, and Center for Women in Transition

On July 4th, 1990, 18-year-old Stacey Lannert shot and killed her father, who had been sexually abusing her since she was eight. She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentence to life without parole: Missouri state law, a disbelieving prosecutor and Stacey's own vulnerable state-of-mind all conspired against her. This harrowing real-life story of survival takes many twists and turns and is as dramatic as any movie. It is devastating, important subject matter and exquisitely told by a brave woman committed to justice for herself and all of man-kind.

Benefitting Ambition

As a child, Dan always dreamed of flying, so when he found skydiving he knew from the first jump that he had found his calling. He was living his dream, when a horrific plane crash killed sixteen of the twenty-two people on board and left Dan critically injured. After spending six weeks in a coma, Dan woke up with a broken neck, cracked skull, severe head trauma, a collapsed lung and other serious internal injuries. Against all odds, Dan recovered and went on to lead the USA 4 and 8 person Skydiving Teams to multiple World Championships. In this conversation, Dan talks about setting worthwhile ambitious goals, and how to approach the fear, adversity and obstacles you will naturally face in order to achieve them.