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PODCAST

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media.

A storytelling podcast, with first-hand amazing stories presented by Scott Johnson and Meredith Hackwith Edwards. Each storyteller tells their own personal true story, with all the details of what happened. Animal attacks, plane crashes, mass shootings, and more – you"ll hear what happened directly from the person who experienced it, and the inspirational outcome of how they came out on the other side.

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

59:41

101: Garrett was held hostage at knifepoint

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2022/02/25

Deral Dean Ritter. Probably not a name you’ve heard before. In 1986, Ritter was 34 years old, and he was living in Waurika, Oklahoma. In fact, he was living in the Jefferson County jail. He was serving a 7-month sentence. The crime that landed him there sounds kind of silly, by today’s standards. He was convicted of possession of marijuana. Medical cannabis is now legal in Oklahoma, and there’s currently a strong push for the legalization of recreational marijuana as well, so that’s probably going

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98:31

100: Jeff's arm was torn off

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2022/02/11

Remember back in the day, when everyone got up on Monday morning, and went to work? I’ve worked from home for a long time, but I do remember having jobs with that kind of routine. Wake up, take a shower, have some coffee and breakfast, drive to work, and come back home at the end of the day. Next morning, you do the same thing. In the past couple of years, because of the pandemic, a lot more people are working from home instead of going into an office. But still, even if you don’t leave your house,

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76:30

99: Bill got a dreaded phone call

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2022/01/28

Sometimes, you see a phone call coming in and you just know that something bad has happened. I remember back several years ago, when my dad was still alive. He was in pretty poor health. He could still walk around, sort of, but it was with a walker, and it was very slowly. I’m the oldest of three sons, and of the three, I live the closest. It’s only about a 5 or 6 minute drive for me to get to my parents’ place, so if something happened, I’d be the one to get that call. Lots of times my phone would

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77:27

98: CQ was shot in an ambush

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2022/01/14

I believe that people, for the most part, are good. When a tragedy happens, we want to help. That’s really the whole basis for the GoFundMe website. You can read about someone who’s in some kind of desperate situation, whether it’s from an accident, or a critical illness, or something else – and you can literally help them. And when something really devastating happens, and it affects a whole city, we see an immediate result – the psychology of community. This is what happened in New York City

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93:48

97: Karen was attacked while hiking

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/12/31

As human beings, one of the things we crave is community. We need social interaction, and we want to feel like we belong in a group. Whether it’s family, or co-workers, or a church, or a local club – it seems like we need to be with other people. But for some people, there are times when we like being alone. I ride my bike every morning, and it’s something I really look forward to – just being out there for an hour, just me and my own thoughts. And maybe a podcast or two of course. For some reason,

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68:43

96: Danny found a baby in the subway

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/12/17

The subway system in New York City is pretty impressive. It opened in 1904 so it’s one of the oldest subway systems in the world. And it is definitely the largest, with 472 stations. And throughout its history, the subway has offered service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week almost continuously. The exceptions are usually emergencies and disasters, such as 9/11. You want to take a guess as to how many people ride the subway, on an average weekday? Go ahead, think of a number. Okay, it’s 5.6 million

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78:15

95: Amy's office was bombed

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/12/03

On the morning of April 19, 1995, a former US Army soldier parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building, located in downtown Oklahoma City. Inside the truck was everything he needed to carry out his plan of terrorism and mass murder. He had a large bomb, which he created using agricultural fertilizer and some chemicals, including diesel fuel. After parking the car, he got out and walked toward his getaway car, a yellow Mercury Marquis. He ignited a timed fuse, and a

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50:36

94: Barbie's dog was stolen

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/11/19

As I walk or bike through my neighborhood, one of the saddest things I often see is a flyer stuck to a telephone pole or electric pole, telling about a lost dog. We have a couple of little dogs, Lilly and Fenway. They’re both Yorkies. And believe me, they are family. I can’t imagine the stress and anxiety and sadness if we suddenly discovered one of them were missing. So that’s what I think about when I see one of those flyers. Some family, in a neighborhood near to where I live, is living with the

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69:44

93: Brook lost a leg to a shark

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/11/05

Few things are scarier than being attacked by a shark. Australian Mick Fanning was in a professional surfing competition, which was being broadcast live around the world. Viewers watched as a shark approached him and he was quickly rescued by nearby safety crews – the only damage was the leash that connected him to his surfboard had been chewed through. In 1963, Rodney Fox was competing in a spearfishing tournament. A great white shark attacked and bit him around his midsection, puncturing his

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60:19

92: Andrew head-on crashed his snowmobile

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/10/22

I’ve lived in places where the winter is really cold. Personally, I can say I prefer to live here in Florida, where it’s usually relatively warm. I don’t miss shoveling snow, or driving on roads that are icy, and it’s been a long time since my fingers and toes felt numb from the cold temperatures. I know some people prefer a colder climate, and I’m fine with that. The world is more interesting because we are all different. But when you live in an area where there’s cold weather and lots of snow,

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74:44

91: Bonus episode - Childbirth Stories

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/10/15

This is a bonus episode of What Was That Like. If this were a regular episode, you’d be hearing someone telling a story of how they survived a mass shooting, or when they got attacked by a grizzly bear, or that time they won $100,000 on Wheel of Fortune. We have guests on with all kinds of crazy stories, and they tell exactly what happened, first hand. But this episode is different. A while back, I asked my listeners to send in their stories about a specific topic: childbirth. What happened, what

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70:22

90: Emily was a surrogate

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/10/08

We live in a pretty amazing time. Private citizens are going to outer space, cars are able to drive themselves to places without a human, all kinds of crazy things that our grandparents would never have imagined. I love hearing about the advances in science and technology. And what we’re talking about today might seem like it’s always been around, but it’s actually fairly new. We’re talking about the idea of surrogacy. Being a surrogate mother means you carry someone else’s baby for them. And the

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61:51

89: Alex was trapped under an ATV

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/09/24

Do you have a best friend? I have a best friend. His name is Tim. He and I grew up together in Ohio. We went to the same school, same church, we would sleep over at each other’s house all the time. And we each have younger brothers, and they were also good friends, and our parents were really close as well. Of course I’m in Florida now, and Tim still lives up in Ohio. We haven’t seen each other in years, but we still communicate by phone and on Facebook pretty regularly. Tim’s the kind of guy that

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72:50

88: Tim lost friends on September 11

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/09/10

Most adults remember where they were on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. In New York City, there were some thunderstorms the night before, but that day, 9/11, had started out beautiful and sunny, with clear skies. Then people started noticing that some large passenger planes were flying too low. When the first building was hit, there was confusion. Even the office workers who were in the building didn’t know exactly what had happened, just that there was an explosion and lots of

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57:28

87: Victoria's neighbors brought horrible news

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/08/27

I was watching a video online recently. I don’t remember where it was, probably in a subreddit. It was recorded on a security camera in some business. There’s no sound, but you can pretty much tell what’s going on. These two men are standing there, and they are obviously in some kind of argument. You know how, even when you can’t hear what someone is saying, it’s easy to see that they’re upset just because of their body language? That’s what this was. I don’t know if they were two customers, or a

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64:29

86: Jen was robbed at gunpoint

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/08/13

There’s something I find really fascinating, and that’s learning about the wildly different ways people react in a sudden emergency situation. Imagine you’re in a restaurant and the main dining room is full of people. Everyone’s talking, servers are buzzing around to their various tables, people are enjoying their food. Then suddenly at the table next to you, a middle-aged man clutches his chest, yells out in pain, and falls from his chair. It’s pretty clear he’s having a heart attack. He’s still

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14:33

85: Bonus episode: Jessica's story

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/08/06

This is a bonus episode on an off-week Friday. Today you'll hear Jessica's story of what happened to her fiancé Mike. Jessica and Mike have been together for seven years, and have five children. After a short family vacation, Mike got sick and was unexpectedly diagnosed with Covid. He was unvaccinated. If you would like to help, a GoFundMe account has been set up. Music credit: Almost in F by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3354-almost-in-f License:

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61:16

84: Robert was in a gunfight with pirates

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/07/30

Today’s story takes place off the coast of Somalia, a country in Africa. If you look at Africa on a map, you’ll see Somalia on the east coast, right on the water of the Indian Ocean. In fact, of all the countries in Africa, Somalia is the one with the longest coastline. And for the Americans listening, to give you an idea of how big it is, Somalia is almost the same size as the US state of Texas. But here’s the thing about Somalia. It’s considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world. I

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46:17

83: Shareen was rammed with her own car

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/07/16

I remember the first time I was ever exposed to domestic violence. My home life growing up was very much non-violent. I was the oldest of 3 boys, and of course we fought sometimes just like all brothers do. But really it was more arguing than fighting. We never got violent with each other. And my parents? I could never imagine either of them even thinking about hitting the other. It’s just not something that would ever be considered. They had been married for 56 years when my dad passed away in

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77:52

82: Michael was abused with a sewing machine

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People. ·

2021/07/02

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 desperately needed protection from harm. But the harm was coming from their parents. It was mostly his

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