What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

In a perfect world, a child should be able to trust an adult. Children are dependent on adults for healthy food, medical attention, an education, and a safe environment. Children should be able to expect their parents to love them and protect them from any harm. But we don’t live in a perfect world. For my guest today, Michael, he and his siblings lived in a small home in Tampa, Florida. They desp...

DNA technology is pretty amazing, and it’s gone mainstream. I recently submitted a DNA kit with one of the companies called 23andme. I got the results back, and they gave me a list of 1500 people who were all “somewhere” in my family tree. And I’ve even gotten in touch with some of them.  Here’s an example. When I was a kid, we lived in Ohio but we had a lot of family in Virginia because that’s wh...

Remember that Seinfeld episode where George is at his girlfriend’s mother’s house, and he sees a partially eaten éclair in the kitchen trash can, and he picks it up and takes a bite? Of course, someone sees him do it, and he tries to explain, and all sorts of hijinks ensue because that’s the world of TV sitcoms. My guest on today’s episode, in a way, plays that role in real life. He’s well-educate...

When you travel internationally, do you ever get nervous when you come back to your own country and have to go through all the questions about where you’ve been, your reason for travel, and what you’re bringing back into the country? This is stressful for a lot of people, even those who have not done anything wrong. My guest in this episode is Emily. She lives in Toronto, and a few years ago she s...

Peekskill, New York. Angela Correa was 15 years old. She was a student at Peekskill High School, with an interest in photography as a hobby and perhaps eventually a career. On November 15, 1989, she went missing, and an area-wide search was conducted. Two days later, Angela’s body was found. She had been beaten, raped, and strangled to death. Police began an investigation, and questioned some of t...

Monica was divorced, and now a single mom with two little kids. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. Kevin was a nice guy, and he’d never been married. When they first met, there was a chemistry between them, but Monica was reluctant. Fortunately, Kevin was persistent. This is their story, and it’s a good reminder for all of us – when you have someone you love, be sure to appreciate the time you...

When I was a kid and even as a young adult, I had no fear of heights. I was always climbing trees, climbing all over the roof of our house, never had a second thought or any fear about it. Then, when I was 30, something happened that changed that. I fell off a ladder. You can get the full story by listening to the podcast. The thing is, what happened to me wasn’t even that bad. But imagine you’re...

Today we’re talking about the concept of being alone. Many people all around the world have been recently exposed to some form of loneliness or isolation because of the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. This problem started a little over a year ago, but for a lot of people it seems like it’s been longer than that, because they’ve had to stay at home in order to avoid getting infected.  Prime Ministe...

When you’re a police officer, one of the things you learn as part of your training is that there’s no such thing as a routine encounter, or a “regular” traffic stop. In most cases, you don’t know the person you’re about to interact with, or if they have a criminal history, or how desperate they might be. My guest today, Daril, found that out the hard way. He was a rookie officer, working the morni...

Personally, I’ve never had a fear of flying. In fact, I really like it. I’m not sure if it’s the flying itself, or maybe it’s the fact that the flying just means I’m probably going somewhere to see people or have fun. But I’ve never had that feeling like “Oh…what if the plane just falls from the sky and we all die.” I don’t think I’ve ever worried about that. Which might be kind of odd, since I do...

If this is your first time discovering the What Was That Like podcast, you need to know that this is NOT a normal episode. On this show, each episode is usually a conversation with a regular person who has been through some type of extremely unusual situation (such as a plane crash or a mass shooting). The guest comes on the show and tells the story of what happened, first hand. Check out some of...

Trains are a big part of American culture, because they are really fascinating in so many ways. If you stand next to one, you realize – they are just so BIG. And they have so much power, to be able to pull all that weight. And wow, are they LOUD. Not just the sound of the engine, and the steel wheels on the track, but that horn – you can hear it even if you’re nowhere near the railroad tracks. Kid...

December 26, 2004. That was the day a huge earthquake happened. In fact, it’s the third-largest earthquake ever recorded, and it had the longest duration of faulting that has ever been observed – between eight and ten minutes. But there was something different about this earthquake. It happened underwater. It took place in the Indian Ocean. The epicenter was off the west coast of northern Sumatra,...

What’s the most scared you have ever been? I’m not talking about being on a crazy roller coaster ride, or watching a scary movie. What we’re talking about on this episode is the kind of fear that just grips you, and controls you, and won’t let you think about anything else. I asked some of the listeners of this podcast that very question recently, in our private Facebook group. And at the end of t...

Alaska is home to a lot of wildlife, including bears. Dan loves the outdoors. You name just about any outdoor activity, and he has done it. Hiking, camping, boating, climbing, and his main obsession – fishing. In his time outdoors, Dan has had more than one encounter with a bear. Typically, they just run off when they see a human. But there was one day when Dan unexpectedly crossed paths with an a...

It was an early morning in Indiana. Steven, 18 years old, was on his way home from an overnight shift at work. Around 6:30 am, he got into the first car accident of his life – a minor fender bender – and was exchanging information with the other driver. He had no idea that his second crash, a much bigger one, was about to happen. Music credit: Industrial Cinematic by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://in...

According to an article in Business Insider magazine, one of the most stressful jobs in the US is being a 911 dispatcher. Out of 600 listed occupations, a 911 emergency operator’s job ranked at #13 for stress levels. They’re trained to remain calm on every call, regardless of how panicked the caller might be, or what’s happening on the other end of that phone line. But what about when a call comes...

Brandon spent 17 years working as an equestrian stuntman. But he didn’t grow up on a farm, and he didn’t spend his youth around horses. Back then, he was more interested in playing hockey. But he and his family did enjoy visiting Renaissance Fairs, and he met the right person at the right time. He got the opportunity to start learning how to be a stuntman – first working on the ground as a “squire...

Do you worry about your privacy on the internet? Do you ever think about how much someone could find out about you, if they wanted to? Have you wondered if your life could be destroyed, over the internet, by a stranger? Maybe you should. Monika was happy. She was a successful real estate agent. She used social media to connect with friends, and family, and clients. Just like everyone else does. Bu...

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 t...

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...

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 ta...

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 t...

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 poss...

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 fo...