Alive Again

On a dangerous Australian beach, actor Frankie Mulinix was swept down the coast by a powerful undertow, slammed against rocks, and pulled under again and again. Time telescoped; panic rose; then came a stark clarity—“I’m done… I made peace with it.” At the very moment of surrender, a stranger hauled Frankie to safety and lifeguards took over. What followed was the quiet chaos of shame, flashbacks duri...

When Maggie Slepian flipped her kayak on Montana’s Gallatin River, she found herself trapped underwater, fighting to escape a spray skirt she had never practiced removing. In those harrowing moments, she felt time slow down, her thoughts split between terror, sorrow, and love for her family as she faced the possibility of her final breaths. Surviving the accident left Maggie grappling with PTSD, grief, and the loss of the fri...

What happens when the part of you that defines your identity begins to fail?

Dana Swanson was a rising creative force—an award-winning writer-producer at Adult Swim, a voice actor, a musical performer, and a self-proclaimed comedy nerd on the brink of big things. But in 2012, her world unraveled when she began to lose control of her speech. What started as a stuttered sentence became a devastating diagnosis: a rare brain tumo...

When a tornado ripped through his Alabama neighborhood, Chris Alonzo found himself clutching his young son in a closet as the walls shook and the front door blew open. In that moment of terror, his desperate plea—“take me, don’t take my son”—became a prayer. 

Raised in a devout Catholic family but long estranged from faith after his grandmother’s painful decline, Chris’s brush with dea...

Thrill seeker, Nate Dorn, never saw himself living past the age of 25, until he set sail for Cuba on a 28-foot boat with no idea he was heading straight into the storm that would change his life. Trapped in gale-force winds with his fingers crushed in an anchor chain, Nate suddenly recognized the recurring dream that had haunted him since childhood—he was living it in real time. What he thought might be his last moment became...

At 18, Jessica Sanchez thought she was dealing with wisdom tooth pain. Instead, doctors found a tumor that would lead to 18 surgeries, chemotherapy, and a near-fatal bleedout. Years later, she faced another harrowing battle: an ectopic pregnancy and rupture that nearly killed her. Jessica’s journey was made even more perilous by political barriers to reproductive healthcare. 

The repeated medical traumas—from cance...

When Matthew Fortune flatlined for 45 minutes, he didn’t see a tunnel or meet a divine being—he experienced nothingness. But coming back to life forced him to confront everything. In this unflinching and ultimately redemptive episode, Matthew shares his long and painful battle with addiction and homelessness. From growing up in a strict Christian household to surviving a fentanyl overdose and then rebuilding his life th...

Our episode title is a lyric by ​​Scott McCaughey, the beloved singer-songwriter behind bands like Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. McCaughey was also a member of R.E.M.’s touring band and contributed to their albums. He had spent his life living and breathing music—until a massive stroke in 2017 shattered his ability to speak, play, and understand the world around him. He describes the early aftermath as “a b...

At 20 years old, Amanda Kloehr was a quirky, irreverent Air Force airman trying to find her way in the world. But everything changed in an instant when her car collided with the back of an 18-wheeler. She was nearly decapitated, lost her right eye, suffered major facial trauma, and spent months in the hospital enduring over 20 surgeries. Against all odds, Amanda lived—and began a long and often painful journey of physical hea...

The deepest wounds aren’t always physical. 

Cliff Bauman was stationed near the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and was among those who raced into the smoke and fire to help in the aftermath of the attacks. But while the country began to rebuild, Cliff’s inner world began to unravel. Haunted by what he’d seen—and what he couldn’t forget—he carried trauma silently, spiraling into guilt, depre...

What if death isn’t an ending—but a sacred transition? In this deeply moving episode of Alive Again, we sit down with Dr. Sarah Kerr, a death doula, ritual healing practitioner, and founder of The Centre for Sacred Deathcare. With a PhD in Transformative Learning and decades immersed in cross-cultural and Indigenous traditions, Sarah helps individuals and families navigate dying and grieving as spiritual rites of passag...

On August 3rd, 2008, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Nick Bradley’s life changed forever when a 20-pound IED detonated under his Land Cruiser during a mission in Afghanistan. Thrown from the vehicle and blinded by the blast, Nick awoke in a ditch, unable to move. “I was helpless,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what was going on—or if I was going to make it out of there.”

In this deeply human and...

What happens when the journey to giving life nearly ends your own?

For years, Dorie Nolt faced the quiet heartbreak of unexplained infertility, finally celebrating a miraculous pregnancy after a long, arduous wait. But the joy of childbirth quickly transformed into a terrifying fight for survival when, after a routine C-section, Dorie's body began to unravel. Faced with escalating pain, a worsening fever, and doctors who dismissed ...

Rune Kolbeck found his truest self in the quiet expanse of nature, spending an idyllic youth roaming the Midwest's cornfields and timbers. But when he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, seeking a new home in the wilderness, he found himself in an unexpected nightmare. Within weeks of settling into the "big city," a casual run in a public park turned terrifying as he stared down the barrel of a gun. He recounts how he "kept being surprised...

What prepares someone to survive the unthinkable? For renowned polar explorer Eric Larsen, it wasn’t hope or heroism—it was hardship. From the punishing silence of the Arctic to the staggering indifference of a cancer diagnosis, Eric’s life has been shaped by brutal extremes.

In this profound episode of Alive Again, Eric shares how the mindset forged in the most hostile places on Earth—enduring one step at a...

His miraculous survival story became the subject of Danny Boyle’s film 127 Hours—but what happened inside Aron’s mind and spirit during that ordeal is even more profound. 

In 2003, Aron Ralston was trapped alone in a remote Utah canyon for nearly six days with his right arm pinned beneath an 800-pound boulder. In this episode of Alive Again, the man who cut off his own arm to live shares the transformation th...

When Delaney Tarr survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, her life split in two. One part became instantly visible: the fiery, articulate youth activist who co-founded March for Our Lives and stood on national stages demanding change. The other part—quieter, more complicated—was still inside the girl who had to hide in a closet and text her parents goodbye while her classmates were being m...

“I didn’t feel the van hit me. But I remember the voice. And then I was somewhere else.”

When Anne Bayford was struck by a van while crossing a London street, her body was left broken—but her spirit was transported into a realm of profound peace, radiant light, and unconditional love. In this episode of Alive Again, Anne shares the extraordinary story of her near-death experiences and the many lifetimes of i...

He flatlined twice. What came back was a different man—and a different artist.

In 2008, artist and musician Rodney White survived a catastrophic car accident that left him in a coma, fighting for his life. He flatlined twice and underwent emergency surgery to piece his body back together. But what followed was an even deeper reconstruction of identity, purpose, and spirit.

In this intimate conversation, Rodney reflects on the...