What It's Like To...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wanted to sell your house and buy a farm? After listening to Zach Gobeil describe his adventurous lifestyle, you might be tempted to. Zach, a science teacher turned farmer, stay-at-home dad, and Instagram influencer, took the risk of moving with his wife and newborn son onto a farm in New Hampshire during the pandemic. In this episode, Zach explains the value of taki...

Send us Fan Mail As a teacher, Matt King has always been an advocate for children of all backgrounds. But when he fostered an 11-year-old boy who had endured trauma, his perspective changed. In this episode, Matt describes the common mistakes that schools make in dealing with victims of abuse, and questions some models of discipline. For example, if somebody is acting out, it can be best to bring...

Send us Fan Mail There are many ways to create a family.  When Mary and Tony McQuinn's two biological sons were 13 and 8 years old, they expanded their family by adopting a baby girl with special needs from Korea.  In the years to follow they would adopt another baby boy from Korea, and three girls from China--ages 13, 9, and 7; all with special needs.   In this episode, Mary McQuinn candidly...

Send us Fan Mail What do all of these things have in common:  designer, author,  teacher, illustrator, creator?  One answer: Mike Rohde.  Another answer: visual thinking.  If you don't know what visual thinking is, or don't think you are a visual person, Mike has made it his mission to convince you--and me--that we all are visual thinkers!  He even created a new way of taking notes, call...

Send us Fan Mail The Experience Podcast announces its plans for the summer!  Tune in for this mini-episode to hear what's up for the next few months. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail One morning last year as a mom was driving home from the gym, her child called and told her some news that would change their lives, their relationship, and reverberate through their extended family for months (perhaps years) to come: they'd made the decision to transition into a female.  In this raw, revealing interview, this mom discusses: How her child shared the news (01:...

Send us Fan Mail When Meagan Wizceb was just over 36 weeks pregnant with her first child, she went in for a check-up--and began living any parent's worst nightmare.  Her baby had stopped moving, and what happened next would forever change her life and her purpose. In this episode of The Experience Podcast, Meagan bravely and openly shares her story of loss,  finding "blessings" thro...

Send us Fan Mail In the first two seasons of The Experience Podcast, we've interviewed guests with some pretty interesting and intriguing jobs.  In this episode, we get a taste of what it's like to be: an Olympics photographer, a Googler, a longtime CBS sports producer, a United States Marine veteran, sexual therapists, a mom of eight children, a novelist/children's book author, and...

Send us Fan Mail We've had so many inspirational guests on The Experience Podcast with so many impactful life experiences. In this episode, we feature a few who have shared their truly life-changing experiences with honesty, vulnerability, and humor. Included are clips from the following episodes: Karen Peterson : What it's like to be an Alcoholic Yousuf Azhar : What it's like to be...

Send us Fan Mail We've had so many entertaining guests on The Experience Podcast throughout our first two seasons... we decided to compile some of them into this episode! Hear snippets of interviews from people who are involved in the entertainment industry in one way or another: a Broadway lyricist, a television director, an actor/stand-up comedian, a voice-over actor, a TikTok star, and an...

Send us Fan Mail Like any new mother, Jess Carpenter was used to reading picture books to her kids. As she read, she realized something: she wanted to write her own books. She got to work with her first two novels and later published two children's books based on her two young children. Now that she has a third baby, she’s hard at work on the next book. In this episode, Jess shares what it’s...

Send us Fan Mail After just one day on a television set, Ken Fuchs knew that he had found his career path. He was assigned the job of stopping traffic while the director shot scenes, listening for “action!” and “cut!” cues from his walkie talkie. When he returned to the studio at the end of the day, he was asked to come back the following day–and he’s worked in television ever since. Now, decades...

Send us Fan Mail What is it really like to start... produce... and host a podcast? Elizabeth Pearson Garr had been turning this question over in her mind for years before she released the first episode of The Experience Podcast in October 2021. The past year has been a whirlwind of cold calls, editing, researching, and lots of learning.  This week, we’re flipping the script on The Experience Podca...

Send us Fan Mail You may have come across Linda Fruits (@fruitsofmotherhood) on your TikTok “for you” page or on Instagram. She has more than 380,000 followers between the two platforms. She posts about the messy, beautiful, and bittersweet moments that come with being a mother, and through honesty and vulnerability, she’s been able to inspire and connect with mothers all over the country. Linda w...

Send us Fan Mail In New York City in 1993, a group of people got together: about half of them had experience in television production but knew very little about food or cooking; the other half were "foodies" but were clueless about television.  Through trial, error, grit, and a lot of dirty dishes, they created the Television Food Network. Elizabeth Pearson Garr, host/creator of The Expe...

Send us Fan Mail As any parent knows, having kids is a daily mix of emotional highs and lows, tedious tasks, heart-filling joy, exhaustion, love, frustration, and on and on and on.  Imagine multiplying all of this by eight.  Our guest on this episode--Jessica Galbraith--is the mother of eight children (as she likes to point out: all planned! no twins! all with the same man!).    What is that like?...

Send us Fan Mail It can take Rebecca Firth fifteen tries to get a recipe just right. Even if her cake tastes perfect, she wakes up in the early hours of the morning and bakes late into the night to see how she can improve a recipe. Can she cut down on ingredients? What kinds of substitutions could she play with? How can she make this recipe the easiest it can be for her readers? On this episode of...

Send us Fan Mail Cliff and Joyce Penner never meant to become sexual therapists.  They each started down different paths, but became "accidental experts"--and have now published 11 books, spoken about sex around the world, train other sexual therapists, and continue to counsel couples on intimacy. They also specialize in helping religious couples of all creeds to connect with their spiri...

Send us Fan Mail When Yousuf Azhar first joined a religious Sufi community in Chicago, he felt more connected to his faith and to Allah. He made close friends, and followed the guidance of his ​​shaykh and mentors. Azhar and his family stayed in the community for thirteen years, and lived under the guidance of leaders until Azhar became suspicious that something was amiss. In this week’s episode,...

Send us Fan Mail Documentary filmmaker Dan Sturman has won Oscar,  Emmy, and Peabody Awards, and his films have been shown at the world’s most prestigious festivals, from Cannes to Sundance.  He has interviewed presidents, war criminals, movie stars, and ordinary people with extraordinary stories.   In this episode, Dan takes us behind the scenes of some of his films, including “Nanking,” “Soundtr...

Send us Fan Mail Most of us can't even stay awake for an entire day and night, but Sarah Lavender Smith runs races that go for 24 hours straight!  Not only that... she also runs 50ks, 100 milers, self-supported stage races (up to 170 miles over several days, carrying everything she needs on her back), trail races, and more.  And ... she has won several of them.  In this episode, Sarah shares...

Send us Fan Mail When Karen Petersen was fifteen years old, she got blackout drunk for the first time--at her high school's homecoming dance.  In college, the booze really began to flow, and she sometimes ended up with men she didn't even know.  Later, as a local TV reporter, she'd drink nearly two bottles of wine each night, alone.  One day, she finally admitted to her husband--and...

Send us Fan Mail Photographer Jeff Cable has had a front-row seat at the past seven Olympic Games--although his seat is cluttered with cameras, lenses, and laptops.  As the photographer for the United States Olympic Committee, Jeff has an all-access pass to any event he chooses.  In this episode, he shares:  how he edits 2600 images down to 10 in a matter of minutes how social media has changed th...

Send us Fan Mail It's not easy to get to the top of the world.  It takes a lot of training and determination, a willingness to endure pain and suffering--and no small amount of luck.  Even the most prepared climber can confront a deadly avalanche or fatal turn in the weather. Our guest, Jeff Gottfurcht, was the first person ever to summit the tallest mountain in the world--Mt. Everest--with r...

Send us Fan Mail Most of us feel overwhelmed cooking and serving Thanksgiving dinner for our own extended families. Imagine doing it for 25,000 people!  That’s what the Raul Jimenez Dinner in San Antonio, Texas does each Thanksgiving.  It started in 1979 with an idea to serve senior citizens, and has grown to become the largest Thanksgiving dinner under one roof in the United States.  This “feast...