Searching For Heroes With Benjamin Hall
Every Monday, Benjamin Hall will highlight stories of culture, belonging and acceptance. From overcoming the unthinkable, pioneering a new way of life to exploring diverse perspectives on the human experience. Benjamin, along with his remarkable guests will give voice to untold stories , while inspiring listeners to take a deeper look at their own.
Episodes
October 6, 2025 • 41 mins
Host of The Connectors Podcast Quinten Sheriff was raised in a sheltered environment in Zimbabwe. At a young age, he was given parameters for how and who he should be, until one day he decided he was ready to take ownership of his life and run away with his partner to live in his truth as a gay man in Southern Africa.
What Quinten believed to be a desire to escape was ultimately a commitment to expand and not be held captive to ...
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September 29, 2025 • 18 mins
There's no set instruction manual for rebuilding your life, but the first step is simply, just to start.
Following several impactful conversations on the topics of rebirth and new beginnings, Benjamin reflects on what it means in his own life. After being severely injured in Ukraine and returning home, Benjamin's outlook on family, purpose, and resilience was reframed. He was allowed to re-experience life. Although the journey...
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September 22, 2025 • 37 mins
"If God didn't have a different plan and purpose for my life, I don't think I would be here today."
Author, speaker, and former Colombo Family Caporegime Michael Franzese details his experience with the mob and the epiphany that ultimately led him to turn a new chapter and step away from his life of crime.
Years later, Michael's life is dedicated to helping young people, who become entranced by the facade of glamour, fame, and po...
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September 15, 2025 • 59 mins
"It turned into this dark thing where I was using my pain as a party favor."
In 2018, Aaron Stark's story of rebirth captivated the nation when his TED Talk entitled "I Was Almost A School Shooter" went viral.
Aaron details how his traumatic childhood introduced him to a life of self-destruction and low self-esteem. He joins Ben to share how the unconditional kindness of a friend ultimately gave him the courage to rebuild his li...
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September 8, 2025 • 9 mins
Although not everyone experiences trauma that drives significant change, many people undergo transformations and choose to redirect their lives for a new purpose. Ben describes the courage it takes to go through a rebirth and how inspiring these stories are to people who desire a new lease on life.
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September 1, 2025 • 40 mins
Award-winning journalist and the founder of 'The Forgiveness Project,' Marina Cantacuzino, explains the inspiration behind her passion project, 'The Forgiveness Project.' She shares stories of forgiveness and how her research deepened her understanding of the topic.
Marina examines the nature of forgiveness, providing examples of individuals who have experienced tragedies and how they've navigated their trauma. She also dissects...
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August 25, 2025 • 46 mins
On December 14, 2012, Scarlett Lewis experienced a life-altering pain when she, along with the world, discovered that her 6-year-old son Jesse, 19 of his classmates, and 6 educators had been killed in a school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school.
The morning of his murder, Jesse left three words, "Norturing Helinn Love" behind on the kitchen chalkboard, as a permanent reminder of his incredible and pure life. These three wor...
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August 18, 2025 • 43 mins
Does our society require us to forgive?
Author of "You Don't Need To Forgive," Amanda Ann Gregory, ponders whether it is a dire necessity.
As a trauma survivor, Amanda understands what it is like to struggle with the idea of forgiveness, and now as a licensed trauma psychotherapist, she helps others conquer the subject. She describes the importance of feeling all the emotions following a trauma, and explores the belief that for...
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August 11, 2025 • 39 mins
"There are victims at both ends of the gun," was Azim Khamisa's response when asked how he was able to forgive and build a relationship with his son's killer.
After the gang-related murder of his son Tariq in 1995, Azim grappled with the concept of forgiveness, leaning on his faith and family to help him heal. He shares his story of forgiveness and the steps he believes people can follow on their personal journeys of healing. Late...
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August 4, 2025 • 15 mins
As Benjamin closes out the theme of solitude, he introduces the next theme: forgiveness.Does forgiveness benefit society better than the victim? If it doesn't erase pain, does it restore what has been lost?
Does forgiveness come from the pressure to be noble?
Over the next few weeks Benjamin will have deep conversations to uncover the answers to these questions, while also exploring his own thoughts and feelings on both the pre...
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July 28, 2025 • 39 mins
Solitude Chapter 4: Is spending time alone the answer to redirecting our attention?
As Benjamin concludes this chapter on solitude he's joined by the author of The Point of Vanishing, Howard Axelrod.After suffering a traumatic eye injury, that left him blind in one eye, Howard felt disconnected from the world around him. His solution for reconnection was to pack his bags and move to the woods of northern Vermont for two years and ...
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July 21, 2025 • 35 mins
Solitude Chapter Three:
Ben and Principal Investigator of The Solitude Lab, Dr. Thuy-Vy Nguyen, explores the misconception that solitude is the absence of connection, as opposed to the positive presence of self.
Dr. Nguyen provides insight on how intention is a moderator between solitude and loneliness, understanding the difference between choosing to be alone vs. being in a state of isolation.
Later, they discuss how our time a...
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July 14, 2025 • 40 mins
Solitude Chapter 2: Imagine spending 76 days alone in a life raft, facing sharks, raft punctures, starvation, severe dehydration, and relentless sun.
After Steven Callahan's boat was struck during a storm in the middle of the ocean, that's exactly the situation he found himself in. Armed with only a short spear gun, a solar still to desalinate seawater, and a safety manual, Steven faced a host of physical challenges while lost a...
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July 7, 2025 • 42 mins
Imagine being dropped at the edge of Antarctica, the launch point for a 570-mile ski expedition to the bottom of the world. That’s where Chris Fagan and her husband Marti found themselves in 2013, beginning a grueling, 48-day, unguided journey to the South Pole—one that would ultimately earn them a Guinness World Record. Along the way, they faced periods of profound silence: on good days, a serene connection with nature; on bad day...
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June 30, 2025 • 9 mins
When Searching For Heroes first launched, Ben’s mission was simple yet powerful: to offer listeners hope and strength through stories of extraordinary resilience — from those who faced unimaginable tragedy to others who found joy after profound grief. That mission remains at the heart of the podcast, but now Ben is expanding the vision.
In this new chapter, the podcast will dive deeper into the many dimensions of human resilience,...
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June 23, 2025 • 20 mins
For most Americans, the 4th of July means beaches and BBQs — but on that day in 2012, Army Staff Sergeant Monte Bernardo was fighting for his life in Afghanistan. After stepping on an IED, Monte lost both legs and his left arm, beginning a long and grueling recovery. With the help of his family and the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides lifetime support for critically wounded or ill service members, ...
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June 16, 2025 • 47 mins
Danny Combs' son, Dylan, was just two when he was diagnosed with autism. Although Dylan wasn't able to say "I love you, Dad" until he was six years old, he had started building complex LEGO sets by himself, with no instructions, three years prior. In speaking with his son's therapists, Danny wanted to highlight the fascinating skills his son possessed — but the primary focus was always on what Dylan couldn't do, not what he could.
...
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June 9, 2025 • 34 mins
She became an atheist at just fourteen years old due to the suffering she saw in the world and problems she observed within the Catholic Church. Fast forward to now, she's a nun who has fully devoted her life to Christ and her mission: finding God in the midst of misery and providing a safe space for those who have been hurt by members of the Church.
Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, co-creator of Sisters of the Little Way, joins Ben...
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June 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Roughly 133 million people in the U.S. struggle with chronic illnesses every day, and yet they're rarely talked about.
Struggling with a chronic illness can oftentimes feel isolating when the pain endured is invisible, or when it feels impossible to explain what it's like to live in constant fear that severe pain could be on the horizon. For Tina Medlin, who's been living with Crohn's disease for roughly 30 years, she knew these ...
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May 26, 2025 • 27 mins
Bonnie Carroll was living in Alaska with her husband, Army Brigadier General Tom Carroll, and thought life truly couldn't get better. However, that mindset crumbled when her husband's National Guard plane never landed — killing him and seven of his fellow soldiers in 1992. The grief Bonnie felt after losing the love of her life was insurmountable, but she refused to let this pain settle without finding a way to make it purposeful.
...
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