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This Is Actually Happening

Wondery

What if your mother left to follow a cult… or you woke up in a morgue… or if your boat got caught in a storm and began to sink -- what would you do? This is Actually Happening brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a man who finds out a celebrity crush isn’t who she seems to a woman stranded in a Mexican desert fighting to survive, these stories will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what happens next. New episodes come out every Tuesday for free, with ad-free episodes and exclusive past episodes available for Wondery+ subscribers.

What if your mother left to follow a cult… or you woke up in a morgue… or if your boat got caught in a storm and began to sink -- what would you do? This is Actually Happening brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a man who finds out a celebrity crush isn’t who she seems to a woman stranded in a Mexican desert fighting to survive, these stories will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what happens next. New episodes come out every Tuesday for free, with ad-free episodes and exclusive past episodes available for Wondery+ subscribers.

Location:

Oakland, CA

Networks:

Wondery

Description:

What if your mother left to follow a cult… or you woke up in a morgue… or if your boat got caught in a storm and began to sink -- what would you do? This is Actually Happening brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a man who finds out a celebrity crush isn’t who she seems to a woman stranded in a Mexican desert fighting to survive, these stories will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what happens next. New episodes come out every Tuesday for free, with ad-free episodes and exclusive past episodes available for Wondery+ subscribers.

Language:

English

Episodes

240: What if nine bullets shattered your dreams?

6/21/2022
“These are open ended wounds that you have to patch up, but how do you patch them up? How do you make it okay.” Today’s episode featured Diamond Garrett. Diamond is currenting starting a small business to provide products, services, and resources for disabled individuals to make their lives easier as wheelchair users. If you’d like to donate to support her vision and her small business, go to gofund.me/444f5605. You can also find out more about Diamond by following her on Instagram...

Duration:01:04:53

Wondery Presents: The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley

6/20/2022
On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was found fatally shot in a car on a dark North Hollywood street. The prime suspect was her husband, famed actor Robert Blake. But Bonny, a longtime con artist, had plenty of enemies. She left behind a trail of men she’d scammed, and she had a volatile relationship with Christian Brando, the troubled son of movie star Marlon Brando. Not since the O.J. Simpson case had the eyes of the nation been so fixated on a homicide. The search for Bonny’s killer took...

Duration:00:05:56

239: What if a single decision led to a spiral of loss?

6/14/2022
“Living in a constant state of anxiety does something to you…I’m not able to live, I’m not able to love, I’m not able to thrive.” Today's guest requested to remain anonymous, however, if you'd like to reach to him, you can email at: k.parker007@live.com. Producers: Whit Missildine Episode Summary: A boy grows up in a household devastated by AIDS, opening a downward spiral of loss and a path of resilience. Social Media: Instagram: @actuallyhappening This Is Actually Happening...

Duration:00:56:14

238: What if you were tortured in an Iranian prison?

6/7/2022
“You were in this abyss of darkness and the hardest part was not knowing…not knowing at all if you’re going to live or die or when or how.” Today's episode featured Marina Nemat. You can find out more about Marina and her story by going to marinanemat.com. There you can find contact information and more about her two books, 'Prisoner of Tehran', and 'After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed.' Her books are also available on Amazon, Simon & Schuster and Bookshop.org. Producers: Whit Missildine,...

Duration:01:15:52

Wondery Presents Persona: The French Deception

6/6/2022
Introducing the true crime podcast Persona: The French Deception— the story of Gilbert Chikli, one of the greatest con artists of all time. What does it feel like to pick up the phone and scam someone out of $50 million? Host and award-winning journalist, Evan Ratliff, investigates how Chikli successfully duped some of the world’s most powerful people into handing over their fortunes. He explores how Chikli evaded the law for years and became a Robin Hood-like hero. More than just a tale of...

Duration:00:04:40

237: What if your mom hoarded 90 cats?

5/31/2022
“We had such a sense of safety and comfort and then…it was like everything changes and you can’t go back.” Today's guest requested to remain anonymous. But if you'd like to reach out to her, you can email at ca.hummingbird.1970@gmail.com. Producers: Whit Missildine Episode Summary: A woman struggles to find herself among her mother’s multiplying crises that always seem to find a new rock bottom. Social Media: Instagram: @actuallyhappening This Is Actually Happening Discussion...

Duration:00:57:34

236: What if you had the worst roommate ever?

5/24/2022
“When there’s some trauma, you have a poison within you….If you leave it there it’s going to ferment and take over your life and your body….You need to take this out by speaking it.” Today's episode featured Sonia Acevedo. If you'd like to reach out to her, you can find her on LinkedIn Under Sonia Acevedo - AKA Sony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-acevedo-aka-sony-6352aa29/. If you'd like to contribute to help her get out of debt, you can find the GoFundMe campaign set up for her by...

Duration:01:05:49

235: What if delusion consumed your family?

5/17/2022
“A family tree is not permanent…You’re allowed to trim some branches.” Today’s guest requested to remain anonymous. But if you’d like to reach out to her, you can email at thisisactuallyhappening235@gmail.com Producers: Whit Missildine, Jason Blalock Episode Summary: After growing up with a patriarchal Christian family, a woman grapples with her father losing touch with reality when his delusions begin to dramatically unravel the family narratives Social Media: Instagram:...

Duration:00:58:37

Introducing BADLANDS Season 4: HOLLYWOODLAND

5/11/2022
Introducing the true crime podcast Badlands— a show that dives deep into the real stories of the famous at their most infamous. Each season, host Jake Brennan, explores the real life crimes and scandalous careers of the world’s most popular cultural figures. In an all new season, he tells the stories of A-listers whose misdeeds and career lows are as unbelievable as some of their films’ plot twists—like the story of Sharon Tate, who was caught up in a strange scene long before members of...

Duration:00:05:11

234: What if your joy came with a tragic price?

5/10/2022
“To feel like at any moment something tragic could happen put me in a deep, deep cloud as far as who I am, what can I be, and what could I have been.” Today’s guest requested to remain anonymous. But if you’d like to reach out to him, you can email at njsfil1972@gmail.com Producers: Whit Missildine, Jason Blalock Episode Summary: Growing up Jewish and surviving the twin traumas of domestic abuse and antisemitic bullying, a man finally establishes a new life for himself, when...

Duration:00:54:33

233: What if they invaded your home?

5/3/2022
“It honestly felt like my whole life had just gone from this amazing color filled motion picture to just going into something so black and white…just feeling so alone all of the time.” Today’s episode featured Evelyn. You can reach out to her through email at everetdev@gmail.com Producers: Whit Missildine, Sara Marinelli Episode Summary: Growing up in a loving Mexican immigrant family in the US, everything changes in a young girl’s life when a home invasion, abandonment and...

Duration:00:50:05

232: What if you committed a hate crime?

4/26/2022
“The feeling of unknowing while you’re going through that is probably the strongest, most terrifying feeling I’ve ever felt.” Today’s episode featured Matt Boman. You can find out more about Matt on Instagram @studioboman , on his website, studioboman.com, and you can check out his car’s tik tok page @the_namastang . If you’d like to contact him directly, you can email him at matt@studioboman.com Producers: Whit Missildine, Jason Blalock Episode Summary: A man suffers a serious...

Duration:00:58:38

231: What if they all betrayed you?

4/19/2022
“I was just terrified, just the not knowing what was happening or what was even going on in my own body…and I was so confused and hurt and scared.” Producers: Whit Missildine, Sara Marinelli Episode Summary: Just before coming into adolescence, a young girl experiences an unspeakable trauma, but a bigger horror begins once she reveals her secret. Social Media: Instagram: @actuallyhappening This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group on Facebook:...

Duration:00:52:14

230: What if you discovered you were the enemy?

4/12/2022
“It’s just terror, it’s just fear with no object…It’s so purely guttural and instinctive it’s almost like the prey of a tiger…the moment that it knows it’s about to be ripped apart.” Today's episode featured Neil Woods. You can find out more about Neil by going to neilwoods.net, where you can also find links to his two books: Good Cop, Bad War and Drug Wars, with more about his own experience and about the War on Drugs in Britain. To find out more about his organization, LEAP, or Law...

Duration:00:58:46

Wondery Presents: Scamfluencers

4/11/2022
You never really know someone…especially online. In today’s world, the power of influence can be the quickest path to money and fame, and it often ends in ruin. These are the stories of the world’s most insidious Scamfluencers. And we are their prey. On Wondery’s new weekly series, join co-hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi as they unpack epic stories of deception from the worlds of social media, fashion, finance, health, and wellness. These influencers claim to be everything from charismatic...

Duration:00:05:02

229: What if your life unraveled thread by thread?

4/5/2022
“I felt like I went through a portal into this evil place…and I immediately knew that we were in a whole different world.” Today’s storyteller requested to remain anonymous. However, if you’d like to contact her, you can reach out through email at foundatsea9@gmail.com Producers: Whit Missildine, Sara Marinelli Episode Summary: Growing up evangelical in the Purity movement of the 1990s, a woman constructs the ideal life, when piece by piece, her image of family, marriage and her...

Duration:00:52:39

228: What if you grew up with the ghosts of war?

3/29/2022
“Because so much of my life when I’d seen things happening I’d been told that it wasn’t really happening, I think my brain kind of formed to think that reality was not real.” Today’s guest requested to remain anonymous, but if you’d like to contact her, you can email at: kbojangles5@gmail.com. Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits Episode Summary: A woman struggles to break out of her role caretaking a father who was haunted by his experiences in Vietnam, but when both of their...

Duration:00:57:24

227: What if you faced a terrifying beast?

3/22/2022
“What it felt like was - I am absolutely here, but this is not happening to us…This is not happening at all.” Today’s episode featured John W. Evans. John is the author of three award-winning books. His poems and essays appear in Slate, The Missouri Review, ZYZZYVA, Poets & Writers, and have been listed as Notable in Best American Essays. He is the Nancy Draper Lecturer of Creative Nonfiction at Stanford University. His author website is www.johnwevans.com. Producers: Whit Missildine,...

Duration:00:55:04

226: What if you had three different faces?

3/15/2022
“I would look in the mirror and my eyes wouldn’t focus because it was like my brain wasn’t registering that that was me…I literally saw a stranger in the mirror.” Today's episode featured Grace Hartman. You can find out more about Grace on Instagram @graceAhartman or contact her through email at grace@hartman.net. Producers: Whit Missildine Episode Summary: Soon after coming into adolescence, a woman develops flu-like symptoms of an unknown illness that continue to progress until it...

Duration:00:51:16

225: What if you stared into the abyss?

3/8/2022
“People who are grieving a serious loss, and you’re staring into the abyss, they understand intimately the loss that we are all going to face, what we all will see.” Today's episode featured Frank Vaughan. If you'd like to reach out to Frank, you can email him at f.vaughan@verizon.net. Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits Episode Summary: At the peak of his life, having built a successful marriage, family and career, a man faces a series of compound losses that put him through a...

Duration:00:50:11

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