What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

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63: Liz discovered a suicide Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Very few things in life could be more traumatic or horrifying than discovering a suicide.

Remember how shocked we all were back in August of 2014, when police announced that legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams was found by his personal assistant, having committed suicide.

There are so many factors to consider in that case, but I remember that when this happened, I kept thinking about how that person, his assistant, felt as she entered that room and discovered him on that Monday morning. She had worked with him for over 20 years, and it was more than just an employer – employee relationship. They were also close personal friends. It’s hard to imagine going through something like that.

Our guest today is Liz. She has experienced this as well. But the suicide she discovered was not her boss, or just a close friend. It was her husband.

Going through that would be bad enough. But for this podcast episode, Liz has even another story that is almost completely unrelated to her husband’s suicide. She’s been through a lot, and now she works trying to help people who have gone through similar tragedies. Check the links below for information on her book, and the work she’s doing.

A warning: this episode contains descriptions of graphic violence against a child. It’s definitely not suitable for everyone.

If you’d like to support this podcast and get access to all of the exclusive bonus episodes, you can do that at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.

Special thanks to J.T. Tschirhart for doing the voiceover for the message from Levi Aron.

Episode links:

Dr Liz website: https://DrLizLifeLaunch.com

YouTube: https://youtu.be/yGFm6oiUdFg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizette.bataille.3

Dr Liz’s book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V3N3YL5/

Leiby Kletzky Memorial Fund info: https://patch.com/new-york/ditmaspark/leiby-kletzky-memorial-fund-b8221f9f

Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255 – available 24 hours a day, every day

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62: Terri witnessed a murder Oct 09, 2020

Show notes

Do you remember when you were young, and going through your teenage years? Didn’t time seem to go by a lot more slowly back then?

All those years, waiting, and looking forward to that one big day when you’re finally out on your own. Now that was something to be excited about, right? You’d have your own car, your own place, you could come and go whenever, you could stay up as late as want, it would be like heaven on earth! Of course, now that we’re past that stage in life, we know that being out on your own and responsible for yourself is not always the paradise and freedom that we might have anticipated.

My guest today, Terri, was right at that breakthrough stage. Leaving home for the first time, being on her own, even moving hundreds of miles away – it was all very exciting.

But then as soon as she moved in to her new place – the very first day she was there, actually – she found out that the real world can bring with it some unexpected and horrific things. It was a day she’ll never forget.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a supporter. That not only tells me you enjoy the podcast, it also means you can get access to all the other bonus episodes that are only available to patrons. There are different levels of support and all the details are at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.

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61: Robin drove the Wienermobile Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

Today, we have a really fun episode that is going to make you smile.

My guest today is Robin, and Robin likes to have fun. She’s different. And she’s on today’s show to tell us about an experience she had – she was hired by the Oscar Mayer hot dog company to drive the Wienermobile.

And I realize some people might not be familiar with the Wienermobile, especially those outside the US. What we’re talking about here is a large vehicle that is designed to look like a giant hot dog. Yes, this is an actual street-legal vehicle, 27 feet long (about 9 meters). If you’re in the US, you might be surprised some day and see one traveling on a street, right there in your city.

And while this kind of vehicle seems like it would be unique, there are actually SIX of them traveling the country at any given time. They show up at grocery store grand openings, theme parks, pickle festivals, all kinds of events. And the drivers give out merch such as Wienie Beanies, Wienermobile Hot Wheels cars, and the ever popular Wiener Whistles.

Well, my friend Robin decided that she wanted to be a Wienermobile driver. So today she’s going to talk about how she made herself stand out from the other ONE THOUSAND applicants and got the job, and what the job is actually like.

And a couple of other things – Robin lives in New York City. You’ve heard of The Moth, right? Really popular podcast. In New York, they regularly do storytelling competitions, and Robin has competed in these. They’re called Story Slams. And she has actually won!

And at the end of this episode, I asked her to tell me about the time she was able to meet the comedy legend, Jerry Stiller. Great story.

So I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you’d like to support the show, and get access to all the bonus exclusive content, you can do that at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.

YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/YumsTheWordShow

Robin’s blog – https://www.robingelfenbien.com/blog

Robin’s website – https://www.robingelfenbien.com/

Recess with Auntie Robin - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2579481095698218

Is the Wienermobile in your area? https://khcmobiletour.com/wienermobile

Podcast - http://www.yumsthewordshow.com/

Instagram – https://instagram.com/robin.gelfenbien

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60: Two first-hand stories from 9/11 Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

Today is September 11. Today is the day we remember and honor those who lost their lives here in America on September 11, 2001.

246 innocent people aboard the four planes that were hijacked.

2,606 people in the World Trade Center and the surrounding area. 343 of these were firefighters, and 71 were law enforcement officers.

125 people in the Pentagon.

In today’s episode, we’re going to hear from two people who were there.

Lori Brody and her brother, Scott, both worked at the World Trade Center. She survived; he did not. Lori will tell us what happened to her that day, and in the years since.

Joe Falco was a New York City firefighter. He was working to save lives at the World Trade Center, and was injured when the buildings collapsed.

May we never forget those who were lost on September 11, 2001.

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59: Eric saved a crashed skydiver Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Every sporting activity involves some degree of risk. Risk of injury or even risk of death.

I bike about 10 miles each morning and I’m pretty careful. And I record video with a GoPro mounted on my helmet for every ride, which was inspired by my interview with William, episode 20 of this podcast if you want to check that out. But I know that no matter how careful I am, there is still the small possibility that something could happen. Same with almost anything else – running, playing tennis, swimming, you name it.

But for most people, when you think of the question, “What is the most dangerous sport?”, the answer that comes to mind is skydiving. It just seems like common sense that jumping out of a plane is really dangerous, right? But in reality, just driving a car is a LOT more dangerous. In fact, statistics show that if you decide to go and do a skydive, you’re 24 times more likely to die in a car accident on the way to the drop zone than you are to die while you’re skydiving.

But, the unexpected does happen.

Today we’re going to hear from Eric. Eric lives here in Florida and he and I have known each other for years. We’re mostly connected through the ultrarunning community, even though I don’t think either of us actually runs ultramarathons currently. Eric is an avid skydiver.

One day Eric was skydiving with about 10 other people. It was a fairly routine jump when they exited the plane, but one person had a serious problem with his main parachute. Then he had a serious problem with his reserve parachute. As you probably know, there isn’t a third parachute.

Somehow, Eric was able to see what was happening from thousands of yards away. And he ended up saving someone’s life that day.

He also got that whole thing on video.

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58: James was crushed by a tree Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

Today you are going to hear from James. He’s a young man who lives in England, and he has quite a scary story about something that happened to him one day at work, in 2019.

He and his partner were cutting down a huge tree, and things did not go as planned. I’ll let James fill in the details.

And at the end of today’s episode:

A new podcast for you to check out – Minds of Madness
You can sign up for my email newsletter
Raw Audio episode 4 is live

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57: Gael crashed into a river Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

It gets pretty cold in Mason City, Iowa in the winter. Just ask Gael - he lives there.

Gael is 18 years old. One day last December, on a particularly freezing day, he was on his way to a class. Just a routine day, driving along, and he’s approaching a bridge that goes over a big river.

Except he doesn’t make it to the bridge. Instead, he finds himself in the middle of the river, and the water is rising in the car. And somehow, during the crash, his phone got lost. But a young lady named Siri was still listening.

This episode includes the 911 call that Gael made, while trapped in his car in the river.

A warning about this episode, if you use an iPhone – during the story, Gael will use that lady’s name. You know, the lady in the iPhone whose name starts with “S” and he tells her to call the police. So be aware of this, so that YOUR phone doesn’t hear that instruction and make a phone call to your local police department.

And after today’s story, we’ll get a sneak preview of Raw Audio 3, as well as some of the reviews that have come in recently.

Bridge photo courtesy Amy Fleming/KIMT

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56: Lesli's house exploded Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

There’s something that you and I do every day, all day. We make decisions. That’s something that we literally do all day.

In fact, some sources say the average person makes 35,000 decisions every day. I don’t know how accurate that number is, but I’m sure it’s a lot. Most of them we don’t really even think about consciously. Which shoe to put on first, how much toothpaste to put on the toothbrush, which checkout line at the grocery store – those are all kind of subconscious.

The bigger decisions we do think about – what to have for lunch, what kind of car do I buy, those are more deliberate. You even make a choice about what podcast you want to listen to – and I’m happy to tell you right now, when you choose this podcast, you have made the right choice!

But what if you were suddenly in an emergency situation, and you didn’t know if you were going to make it out alive, and you were faced with making the decision of how you prefer to die?

That’s the spot Lesli found herself in one day. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and she’s been through a pretty incredible experience. She survived, thanks to a couple of men named Bill – one was her friend, and the other was a stranger. And you’re about to hear her tell me what happened.

It was crazy enough that she was invited to Ellen’s show to talk about it.

And be sure to hang around til the end, because after our conversation I’ll have a sneak preview of the new bonus episode, Raw Audio #2, which are 911 audio stories and exclusive content, and it’s live and available right now for patrons of the podcast.

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55: Michael survived an avalanche Jul 03, 2020

Show notes

Katmandu, the capital city of Nepal. April 25, 2015. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck without warning.

In the end, nearly 9,000 people lost their lives, and close to 22,000 were injured. Entire villages were destroyed, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

And not far from the epicenter was Mt Everest. There were a lot of people on the mountain that day, and 19 climbers were killed.

Michael Churton is an adventure filmmaker based out of New York City. He’s done work for National Geographic, NBC, ABC, Discovery, and the Science Channel. He’s been doing this for more than 20 years.

Michael was at Mt Everest Base Camp when the earthquake happened. And he was right in the path of the deadly avalanche that was triggered immediately after. And even though he survived, not all of his teammates came back.

Michael was on the mountain to document an adventure. But what happened that morning has turned that project into a documentary that he’s currently working on, to tell what happened on Mt Everest’s deadliest day on record. This film is called Bound To Everest, and you can see the trailer on his website.

And if you want to support this podcast, and get exclusive access to bonus episodes, you can do that at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.

Website – https://BoundToEverest.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/michael.churton

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/michaelchurton/

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/churtz

Email - michael.churton@gmail.com

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54: Bonus episode - Raw Audio Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

This is an off week for the What Was That Like podcast, but I’m here to introduce you to something new for the show that I’m pretty excited about.

Today you’re going to hear a bonus episode to kick off a new, ongoing series. These episodes are called Raw Audio.

One of the most popular features in some of the episodes for this podcast have been the 911 calls. When you hear the voice of a person calling the 911 emergency number and describing what’s going on, it can feel like you’re right there with them. These are not actors reading lines on a script, and they’re not re-enactments for a TV show. These are real-life moments, recorded as it happens.

I’ve wanted to incorporate more of those 911 calls into the show, but it’s just not always practical for each episode. So I decided I would create some new episodes, and the actual FOCUS would be on that emergency call. You’ll hear the backstory on what was happening, and you’ll hear the 911 emergency calls that took place, and you’ll hear what happened afterward. Unfortunately, not all of these stories have a happy ending.

So the first episode is happening right now, and this episode is available to everyone. After today, future Raw Audio episodes will only be available to patrons, through my Patreon page. Any supporter at the $5 level or higher will have exclusive access to these new episodes. So if you haven’t yet signed up, you can do that at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.

In today’s premier episode, you’ll hear:

an off-duty officer on the phone with the 911 operator, as someone is breaking into his house, where his two young children are sleeping
a man calling the emergency number from his car, while he is driving with his family
some restaurant employees calling for help after one of their co-workers is attacked

As I said, these are intense. They are not for the faint of heart. But if you want true life, real life stories, that’s what you’ll get with these exclusive episodes. I mean, the regular episodes you hear on this show are crazy enough, and those will continue as always, and they will always be free. But the Raw Audio ongoing series takes it to the next level.

So see what you think of today’s show, and if you want to support the show and hear every episode, get over to WhatWasThatLike.com/support and become a patron.

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