Hears How

Videos giving his students high-fives and hugs have gone viral online. Despite the duties piled high on the school principal’s lunch tray, Zac makes it a point to greet his student and teachers so they feel seen. The resulting joy is dopamine-inducing.  In this episode of Hears How, Zac shares how simple acts of kindness performed with the intention of connecting can transform schools, families, w...

In this episode of Hears How, we talk about suicide and its emotional aftermath. If this topic is sensitive for you, please take care of yourself — whether that means pressing pause or choosing another episode. Remember that help is available, you are not alone, and your life matters. For the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988 To reach the Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741 Vis...

Laura Cathcart Robbins’ story is for anyone who has ever felt like they had to bury who they really are to be seen, loved, and accepted. She has written about her recovery in her memoir, “Stash: My Life in Hiding,” and candidly shares her experience in this episode of Hears How.  Laura and her husband welcomed two sons in consecutive years. They were energetic little boys, who slept as long as Lau...

In May 2024, army reservist Shayne Patrick Burke was enjoying his honeymoon. He and his wife, Chloe, visited national parks, with Shayne ready to snap his camera and capture a Great Grey Owl.  Two years earlier, doctors removed a non-cancerous brain tumor about the size of a golfball, and Shayne was eager to get back to doing things he enjoyed, like rock climbing and wildlife photography.  On a so...

Welcome to another episode of Hears How! I was inspired to talk to Gwendolyn Bounds — or Wendy to her podcast friends like you and me — because I love her story. As she writes in her book, “Not Too Late: The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age,” Wendy, now 53, went from the kid being picked last for dodgeball in gym class to a journalist glued to screens all day.  At a dinner party in 2016 she over...

You might've seen wood artist Ike Wynter's nostalgic and inspiring work on social media. His giant rendering of a 16-pack of Crayola crayons has more than 300,000 likes on Instagram since he unveiled the piece in April. Surrounded by art in his studio, Ike says he hopes his pieces remind people “of a simpler time in their life or a person or a place that just brings a warm feeling to the...

In this compelling episode of the Hear's How podcast, host Erin Jensen interviews Michelle Dowd, who shares her harrowing experience growing up in a religious, apocalyptic cult in the Angeles National Forest. Michelle details her isolated upbringing during which she learned how to rely on nature to survive the looming end of days. Once she was ex-communicated at 17 for defying cult rules, she...

In this captivating episode, actress/singer-songwriter Jillian Shea Spaeder candidly speaks about her battle with anorexia and its impact on her mental health. If you are suffering from an eating disorder, know NAMI’s HelpLine can be reached weekdays, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET at 800-950-6264. You can also text “helpline” to 62640, or find someone to chat with on their website .  The National Alliance...

When Paul Luu arrived to the United States all alone as teenage, Vietnamese refugee in 1979, he didn’t know any English. "The language barrier hit me like a rock,” he says in this episode of “Hears How.” “How am I going to communicate with people? That's when reality set in. That's when I realized, 'Gosh, I don't even know how to (tell) people when I'm hungry, how to...

Season 3 of the Hears How podcast begins with the remarkable journey of Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall whose life was forever changed by an attack in Ukraine. On March 14, 2022, the British journalist and two of his colleagues — cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and journalist Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova — came under attack while covering the war between Russia and Ukraine outside of K...

Artist Mary Purdie had a long, arduous journey to motherhood. The author of "If You Really Knew Me" experienced five miscarriages in less than two years. About three months after her fifth, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through it all, she never lost hope that she would one day be a mom. "'It's gonna be hard, but I'm going to get to the other side, and there&a...

As people reflect on what changes they’d like to make ahead of the New Year, I’m so excited to present a powerful conversation with writer Sarah Levy.  In her memoir “Drinking Games,” available in paperback Jan. 2, Sarah chronicles her journey to sobriety.  Growing up, Sarah’s family moved around a lot which left her feeling awkwardly out of place. But with alcohol, “I felt like I had this key,” s...

Collette Divitto started her own cookie company, Collettey's after being rejected for multiple jobs. She was born with Down syndrome and values her independence. After high school, she enrolled in Clemson University's Life program , which readies its participants for the workforce and living on their own.  Collette completed the three-year curriculum in just two years. After graduating,...

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes a love of football. This week's guest is Tyler Campbell, son of Earl Campbell, aka the Tyler Rose. While attempting to follow in his father's cleated footsteps as a college football player, Tyler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or MS.  The autoimmune disorder looks different in everyone but can be boiled down to one's...

Season 2 of “Hears How” debuts with the remarkable story of Jean Muenchrath, an adventurous woman who deems mountains “the joy of my life.” Jean and her boyfriend, Ken, set out for the John Muir Trail in 1982. She was just shy of 23 when she headed out for the journey, a little under 215 miles, that would end near Mount Whitney. On what the couple thought would be the last day of their trip, the w...

It should be noted that this episode briefly discusses domestic violence and sexual abuse. The Season 1 finale of “Hears How” offers two incredible stories about authors and foster care alumni, Justin and Alexis Black. Their book, “Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat the Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness and Love,” is full of eye-opening statistics. “Only 56% of foster youth graduate...

Doctors estimated Ashley Hallford had about four weeks to live after diagnosing her with cancer in her jaw, an inoperable malignant brain tumor, and innumerable tumors in her lungs. They also saw spots on her liver. After four weeks of treatment, during which some of her tumors had grown, doctors advised of two options, Ashley says. She could “stop the treatment and go home and enjoy the time with...

Doctors estimated Ashley Hallford had about four weeks to live after diagnosing her with cancer in her jaw, an inoperable malignant brain tumor, and innumerable tumors in her lungs. They also saw spots on her liver.   After four weeks of treatment, during which some of her tumors had grown, doctors advised of two options, Ashley says. She could “stop the treatment and go home and enjoy the time wi...

Greg Kelley’s future looked promising. His dedication to football was paying off for the high school athlete and offers to play college ball rolled in. But his bright future darkened when he was wrongfully accused and convicted of child sexual assault in 2013.  “It was always tough waking up and seeing those bars every morning,” Greg says. “It just felt like I kept waking up in a nightmare, and I&...

Heather Martin is a survivor of the Columbine shooting. She was a senior when two other members of her class killed 12 students and one teacher at their Littleton, Colorado high school on April 20, 1999. She and dozens of other students sought shelter in a choir office, where a SWAT team rescued them after three hours. “Three hours is a long time,” Heather says, “and three hours is a long time to...

On a September morning in 2020, Tristin Criswell left home, beginning her 8-minute commute to work. “It's a very long, busy road, with no median most of the time,” she says of the drive that takes her to the highway. "One little slip-up, and things happen.”  That morning, the 20-year-old’s commute was made even trickier by rain and fog. A truck collided with her SUV, compacting it so muc...

Jack Grandcolas met Lauren Catuzzi in college. “I just remember looking into her eyes and seeing the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen,” Jack says. “The sparks hit instantly. It was one of those wow moments.”  The couple wed and tried for a decade to have a baby. On Sept. 6, 2001, Lauren flew from California to attend her grandmother’s funeral in New Jersey and tell her family some good news:...

My name is Erin Jensen, and the "Hears How" podcast has been a dream in my heart for a very long time. As an entertainment writer, I've talked to a number of celebrities. But my favorite interviews are the ones that go beyond whatever project the star is looking to promote, conversations that get into topics we can all relate to -- things like failures, disappointments, grief. My th...