This Is Actually Happening

After building the loving family she always wanted, a woman loses her youngest son to an unsecured gun, and turns her grief into a fight to protect other children.

Today’s episode featured Kristin Song. Kristin Miller Song is a writer and speaker whose work examines what it means to live through a profound before-and-after moment, and how a life is reshaped when certainty disappears. Her writing centers on loss, endurance, family, and moral reckoning, and is grounded in lived experience rather than instruction or argument. She has a memoir coming out next year.

You can email Kristin at [email protected]. Kristin is on Substack @KristinMillerSong1, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kristin.song.58
On LinkedIn @Kristin Song

Kristin’s website where you can learn more about Ethan’s law and donate: https://songstrong.org/


Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Sara Marinelli

Content/Trigger Warnings: child death, gun violence, death by gunshot, unsecured firearms, traumatic grief, loss of a child, descriptions of a child’s fatal injury, parental guilt, suicidal ideation/depression, cancer and death of a parent, alcoholism, infidelity, divorce/family estrangement, financial insecurity, criminal/legal proceedings, and references to the Holocaust, explicit language

Social Media:
Instagram: @actuallyhappening
Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast
Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com
Website for Sara Marinelli: saramarinelli.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com.

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop.

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: Uncertain Outcomes

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a scuba diving trip in Croatia turns deadly, a successful Czech executive is falsely accused of murder and thrown into a foreign jail, where the total loss of control forces him to confront fear, grief, and the unexpected freedom of mastering his own mind.

Today’s episode featured Dan Frolec. If you’d like to reach out to Dan, you can email him at [email protected]. Dan is on Instagram @danfrolec, on Facebook @danfrolec, on LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfrolec/

Dan has written a book entitled, The Cave, and can be found here: https://danfrolec.com/the-cave-book/

Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings: scuba diving accident, drowning, death of a friend, suicide/assisted self-inflicted death, wrongful accusation, murder accusation, incarceration, foreign jail, police interrogation, media harassment/public shaming, anxiety/panic, and grief, explicit language

Social Media:
Instagram: @actuallyhappening
Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast
Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com.

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop.

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: Music To Air (MTA) - Houses

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After leaving Portugal to become a journalist, a woman is drawn into the world’s black markets, where dangerous encounters with criminals, extremists, and a military coup reveal the systems that shape people and the humanity that still connects them.

Today’s episode featured Mariana van Zeller. Mariana is an award-winning correspondent and investigative journalist. She is the host and executive producer of National Geographic's original documentary series ""Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller,"" which explores the complex and often dangerous inner-workings of the global underworld, smuggling networks, black and informal markets. For her reporting, Mariana has earned some of the most prestigious awards in journalism and storytelling. She hosts a podcast called The Hidden Third, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy.

You can email Mariana at [email protected]. She is also on Instagram @marianavz and on TikTok @mariana_vanzeller. You can also visit her website at www.marianavanzeller.me.

Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Aviva Lipkowitz

Content/Trigger Warnings: divorce/parental separation, alcoholism, 9/11, terrorism, war and political violence, anti-American extremism, child indoctrination, death of children, gun violence, drug trafficking, human trafficking, scams targeting elderly people, murder/assassination, death of parents, kidnapping threat, military coup, homophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ violence, parental guilt/separation from child, explicit language

Social Media:
Instagram: @actuallyhappening
Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast
Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com
Website for Aviva Lipkowitz: avivalipkowitz.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com.

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop.

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: KPM Main Series (KPM) - Barely There

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a childhood shaped by violence and addiction leads him into years of self-destruction, a man begins to transform himself in prison, only to learn he has 90 days to live.

Today’s episode featured Michael Mason. If you’d like to reach out to Michael, you can email him at [email protected]. You can find him on X/Twitter @Maurice74.


Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings: child abuse, domestic violence, sibling violence, alcoholism, addiction, violent crime, stabbing, gun violence, incarceration, suicidal ideation, terminal illness, cancer, grief, and the death of a sibling, explicit language

Social Media:
Instagram: @actuallyhappening
Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast
Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com.

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop.

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: Discovery Studios Tracks (DST) - Dark Oasis

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After years of caring for her mother through a devastating decline, a woman helps ease her final suffering, only to be accused of murdering the person she loved most.

Today’s episode featured Rachel Waters. If you’d like to reach out to Rachel, you email her at [email protected].

You can find Rachel on Instagram: @distinguishedheathen and TikTok: @distinguishedheathen, and on Reddit @notedheathen

To read Rachel’s story in The Guardian: ​​https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/07/rachel-waters-mom-morphine-murder


Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings: dementia, cancer, terminal illness, caregiving stress, end-of-life suffering, death of a parent, grief, accusations of murder, incarceration, family estrangement, bullying, corporal punishment, medical trauma, and chronic illness, explicit language

Social Media:
Instagram: @actuallyhappening
Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast
Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com.

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop.

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: Ambient Themes

Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.