AwareNow™: The Official Podcast for Causes

Some of the skills that save us are the same ones that later teach us how to see one another. For John Patterson, learning to move carefully through a world that did not always feel safe became something more than survival: it became a practice in curiosity, empathy, and understanding realities beyond his own. His story is a powerful reminder that what we endure can shape not only who we become, b...

There is a space between surviving and healing that rarely gets named. It is where endurance begins to loosen its grip, but recovery has not yet fully taken hold. In that in-between, we begin the quiet, difficult work of making room for life again. Featured in 'The Complex Edition' of AwareNow Magazine www.awarenowmagazine.com Written & Narrated by: Paul S. Rogers Music by: Peter Carva...

Suzanne Akullian and her husband, Leo, built a life in motion, filled with surfing, snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking and the freedom to simply go. Then multiple sclerosis began changing what movement looked like for Leo, and with it, the shape of the life they had always known. What began as Suzanne’s determination to help the man she loves hold onto his independence has grown into AxEL Mobil...

There are hearts we are born with and hearts we are given. Adolfo Lopez has known both. A heart transplant recipient, artist, father and founder of Abnormal Hearts, Adolfo has transformed a lifetime shaped by congenital heart disease into something larger than survival: a community built from scars, stories, art and the belief that what makes us different may also give our lives meaning. Featured...

Some stories entertain us. Others stay with us, changing what we understand about another person, a community, or even ourselves. As AwareNow joins New York Festivals in recognizing storytelling with the power to inform, connect and create change, I sat down with Rose Anderson to talk about the stories we choose to honor, why recognition matters, and what storytelling can still ask of all of us. F...

For years, Danielle Carpio carried the effects of complex trauma without having the language to explain what was happening inside her. Receiving a CPTSD diagnosis did not erase what she had endured, but it helped her understand that she was never broken and that her responses made sense in the context of what had happened. Now, as Complex Dani and the founder of the Healing & CPTSD Foundation,...

At just 18 years old, Reagan Murphree is helping bring people back to a corner of downtown Byron that was forever changed by a devastating fire in 2012. With Riverview Coffee, she’s building more than a coffee shop; she’s creating a place to gather, connect and believe in community again. And while the dream may be hers, Reagan is learning that some of the best things are never built alone. Featur...

At a time when so much seems designed to remind us of our differences, Jack McGuire asks us to remember what came first: our humanity. In this reflection, he explores humanity not simply as something we are, but as a choice we make through compassion, awareness and action. Because perhaps the future of our shared human story depends less on what divides us and more on what we choose to do for one...

For much of Wilson Lee’s life, hard work was more than a value. It was a measure of what it meant to do things right. But across 24 years in education, Wilson has learned that the strongest leadership does not ask us to choose between excellence and humanity, but to make room for both. Featured in 'The Unhidden Edition' of AwareNow Magazine www.awarenowmagazine.com Written by: Sonja Montie...

What we see of someone is rarely the whole of them. In a note his father never meant for anyone to read, Duff Archie discovered a side of living with MS that existed beneath the humor, resilience, and carefully protected strength. Thoughts on the Evening of... is a deeply personal reflection on identity, isolation, and the parts of ourselves that can disappear quietly, even while the people we lov...

Marge Wakefield grew up in Lake Linden, Michigan, a small town in the Upper Peninsula, where she came to know herself as a “Yooper” and, from a very young age, came to know something else she called “the shadow.” At nineteen, while studying piano in Philadelphia, she was hospitalized for the first time and saw the word “schizophrenia” written on her chart. What might have frightened someone else b...

Long before multiple sclerosis entered his life, Brian Wallace knew what it meant to fight for every inch—on the football field at the University of Michigan, where he played on four Big Ten championship teams and made three Rose Bowl appearances. Then, at just 27 years old, the opponent changed: Brian was diagnosed with MS, beginning a fight that has lasted nearly three decades and ultimately ins...

Sometimes the things we care for have a way of caring for us right back. For Krystal Duran, the creative force behind Plants with Krystal, nurturing plants became more than a passion—it became a place to hold grief, rediscover purpose, and connect with thousands of people navigating their own seasons of change. With her debut book, More Than Just A Plant, Krystal explores what happens when plant c...

Sir Bruno Serato is an internationally recognized chef, humanitarian, and founder of Caterina’s Club. His life changed forever when his mother looked at a hungry child and said, “If he’s hungry, feed him pasta.” Those few words became the foundation of a mission that has fed millions of children, housed hundreds of families, and reminded the world that compassion is often measured one person at a...

When life feels too loud, sometimes the simplest act can create the space we need to breathe. In this deeply personal exploration, Allié McGuire reveals how coloring can quiet an anxious mind, restore a sense of agency and reconnect us with the present moment. More than a childhood pastime, it becomes an invitation to embrace imperfection, choose freely and return to ourselves one color at a time....

Every life tells a story, but the events themselves are only part of what appears on the page. This thoughtful reflection explores how perception, expectation, and reality each shape the way we understand our experiences, while reminding us that none must hold the pen alone. Through acceptance, flexibility, and clear-eyed hope, we can move beyond simply reacting to life and become conscious author...

For Kaissa Gurvine, soccer has never been simply a game. It has been a lifelong source of joy, identity, belonging, and the inspiration behind the Legendary Women’s Cup, an experience created by women, for women, and designed to keep them connected to the sport at every age. By honoring the women who paved the way while creating space for those still finding their way back to the field, Kaissa is...

In this deeply personal reflection, Duff Archie traces the twenty-year progression of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis through the life of his father, Timothy. With humour, tenderness and unflinching honesty, he reveals how a family learned to measure decline not only in clinical stages, but in stairs climbed, trips taken, dinners shared and jokes made along the way. You Can’t Be Sad in a Me...

The answers to many of humanity’s greatest challenges can be found in the wisdom of Indigenous cultures and the intelligence of the natural world. Sydney Griffith is the Executive Director of Kinship Earth, where she is helping pioneer a new, yet ancient, way of moving resources, one that aligns philanthropy with the principles of living systems through regenerative partnerships and an innovative...

In a world where health advice is everywhere, clarity can be hard to find. As a Doctor of Pharmacy, mother of five, entrepreneur, and trusted media expert, Dr. Sue Ojageer has built her platform around making complicated medical information feel practical, personal, and possible to understand. In this conversation, we explore the power of health literacy, the danger of misinformation, and why aski...

Ezra Vancil has been writing, recording, and performing music since he was a teenager, chasing songs, dreams, love, and the promise of something just out of reach. Along the way, he found attention, record deals, heartbreak, collapse, and a decade lost to alcohol before waking up to a different kind of life. Now, with his latest project, Morning & Midnight, Ezra returns not with music as a mea...

Malynda Hale is an actor, filmmaker, singer, podcast host, and advocate whose work lives at the intersection of art, justice, faith, and identity. In the upcoming drama Bull Street, she stars as LouEster Sadie Gibbs, a small-town attorney fighting a courtroom battle where privilege, legacy, and home collide. Beyond the screen, Malynda continues to use every platform she has — from Black Voices Hea...

Awaiting Evaluation explores the uncertainty of waiting for answers and the questions that surface in the silence. Written by Alex Grech in 2017, the play now offers a window into the artist he has become: a multidisciplinary storyteller shaped by creativity, resilience, and purpose. Featured in 'The Unhidden Edition' of AwareNow Magazine: www.awarenowmagazine.comGuest: Alex GrechHost: All...

Rural communities are often defined by their resilience, but resilience doesn't happen by accident. It is built through partnerships, shared purpose, and people who choose to invest in the places they call home. As CEO of the Shiawassee Family YMCA and a longtime leader in education and community development, Laura Archer understands what it takes to help rural communities not just survive, bu...

Keeping her MS diagnosis private once gave Jamie Lynn Sigler a sense of protection, but eventually, the secrecy became another form of suffering. By sharing her truth, she discovered not only freedom, but an entire community waiting to welcome her. Here, she speaks openly about grace, treatment decisions and learning to let her own voice be the loudest in the room. Featured in 'The Unhidden Ed...