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
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...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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 ...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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,...
Mark as Played
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, ...
Mark as Played
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.
...
Mark as Played
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...
Mark as Played
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 ...
Mark as Played
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.
...
Mark as Played
May 19, 2025 • 28 mins
What is it like to tell two parents that their child won't live to see their 12th birthday? It's a question nobody wants to know the answer to, and yet is a challenge pediatricians face every day.
Recently, after one of his close family members got diagnosed with a brain tumor at just eight-years-old (one that is, thankfully, noncancerous), Ben was struck by the child’s bravery—as well as the calm strength of the pediatricians, wh...
Mark as Played
May 12, 2025 • 22 mins
Last week, Benjamin had the remarkable opportunity to be in Rome for the Papal Conclave—a historic event with the announcement that Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost would become the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
Benjamin sits down with theologian and FOX News Contributor Jonathan Morris to reflect on witnessing Pope Leo XIV accept this extraordinary honor in person, and to explore the prior...
Mark as Played
May 5, 2025 • 31 mins
April 30th marked 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. While Vietnam veterans are now honored and respected, that wasn’t always the case. When many returned to American soil in the 1970s, they weren’t welcomed as heroes—instead, they were often met with blame, regardless of whether their service was voluntary.
Now, half a century later, Vietnam veteran Jim Dickson and the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association are wor...
Mark as Played
April 28, 2025 • 31 mins
Before the age of 16, JT Mestdagh had undergone over 16 serious surgeries -- with many believing he shouldn't have survived his first years of life. Despite the challenges, JT has been able to take every challenging, bad day, and turned it into one worth living.
JT joins Ben to discuss how living with VACTERL syndrome, a rare combination of several birth defects, severe dyslexia, and short-term memory loss has influenced his life,...
Mark as Played
April 21, 2025 • 32 mins
On this Easter Monday, Ben revisits his conversation with disaster psychologist and disaster ministry expert Dr. Jamie Aten, on faith and resilience.
Dr. Aten dives into complex questions surrounding faith, tragedy, and resilience — and explains how his experiences and extensive research have allowed him to merge his understanding of the three.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
April 14, 2025 • 36 mins
On Monday, April 15th, 2013, while crowds cheered on runners at the 117th Boston Marathon, no one could anticipate the events that would unfold. Two pressure-cooker bombs would detonate in a terrorist attack near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
Among the injured was Marc Fucarile, who was supporting a friend when the second bomb went off right beside him, leaving him critically injured. Ma...
Mark as Played
April 7, 2025 • 29 mins
Imagine being accused of a murder you didn’t commit — and spending over 20 years behind bars, knowing the real killer was still free. That was Troshawn McCoy’s reality.
As one of the Marquette Park Four, Troshawn was coerced by Chicago police into falsely confessing to a double murder and robbery. Despite zero physical or forensic evidence, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Decades later, newly analyzed fingerprint evidence...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.