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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

Audible

What if you were trafficked into a cult...or were mauled by a grizzly bear...or were stabbed 27 times by a serial killer - what would you do? This is Actually Happening brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a man who woke up in the morgue to a woman stranded in a Mexican desert fighting to survive, these stories will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what happens next.

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of This Is Actually Happening ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.

This Is Actually Happening

After his mother falls in love with Frank, the member of a one-hit-wonder 80s band, a man’s life becomes a roller coaster of neglect, scams, and chaos, but when he turns the camera on the inside of his family, a new world opens that he never thought possible. 

Today’s episode featured GJ Echternkamp. If you’d like to reach out to him, you can email at GJActuallyHappening@gmail.com. You can find GJ’s documentary, “frank and Cindy” from 2007, as well as his feature film, also titled “Frank and Cindy” from 2015, both on Netflix. You can also find the music video and song “Whirly Girl” by OXO released in 1983 on YouTube. 

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Jason Blalock

Content/Trigger Warnings

domestic violence, abuse, suicidal ideation, explicit language. 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - The End of the Known

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com
Website for Jason Blalock

 • jasonblalock
.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

 • Ambient Themes by Nigel Coutinho

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

428: What if your life became a movie? [Rebroadcast #315]

A woman falls deeply in love with a married man in her close friend’s circle, when suddenly an unthinkable event throws everything into question. 

Today’s storyteller wishes to remain anonymous, but if you’d like to reach out to her, you can email at tues228@gmail.com.

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

graphic bodily injury, explicit language.

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - The End of the Known

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

 • “Re-Entry" - Lee Rosevere

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

427: What if you were the other woman? [Rebroadcast #316]

Growing up with a narcissistic father, a woman learns to play small, but one night when an unknown masked man enters her room, she faces the worst night of her life, and emerges on the other side with a new found ferocity. 

Today’s episode featured Danielle Leukam. You can learn more about Danielle on her website, danielleleukam.com. And you can find her on Instagram @danielleukam, as well as Twitter and Facebook. 

You can also learn more about her story in her two memoirs, Four Pounds of Pressure: A Memoir of Rape, Survival, and Taking Back My Power https://amzn.to/3QHxMJW and Another Four Pounds of Pressure: Case Files, Statements, & a Survivor's Redemption https://amzn.to/49I0umr, and lastly, you can check out her novella The First Sister: A Dangerous Bloodline, https://amzn.to/3TjLaXq, as well as the two children’s books she’s authored. 

Danielle now works full-time at the Mayo Clinic. She is passionate about public speaking, writing, and advocating against sexual violence. And she is also the president and founder of a non-profit organization called WISH: We Inspire Survivor Healing. Learn more about WISH on their website WeInspireSurvivorHealing.com.

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Aviva Lipkowitz

Content/Trigger Warnings

rape, violent assault, child endangerment, gun violence, alcoholism, explicit language. 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - The End of the Known

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Website for Aviva Lipkowitz

avivalipkowitz.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

 • “Re-Entry” – Lee Rosevere

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

426: What if a masked man appeared at the foot of your bed? [Rebroadcast #316]

Being born without his right hand, man’s resentment and monstrous self-image deepen as family and doctors intervene to fix his condition, leading him to question what would truly make him whole. 

Today’s episode featured Ryan. If you’d like to reach out to him you can email at ryan.a.20918@gmail.com

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

medical trauma, amputation, explicit language. 

Social Media

- Instagram: @actuallyhappening

- Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

- Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

 

Substack - The End of the Known

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

- patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

- whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

- andrdewwaits.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

- thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop

 

Transcripts

 Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

- thisisactuallyhappening.com

 

Music

Intro Music:

- "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

- “Re-Rntry” – Lee Rosevere

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988

- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): 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.

©2026 Audible

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

425: What if you were born without a hand? [Rebroadcast #286]

A woman shares a sobering memoir of a family burdened with sexual abuse in the 1950s.

Today’s storyteller wishes to remain Anonymous. 

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

Sexual Abuse and Assault, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) / Child Abuse, Domestic and Family Violence, explicit language

 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - The End of the Known

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

424: What if your sister had five personalities? [Rebroadcast #68]

423: What if you were lured into an unspeakable hell? [Rebroadcast #172]

Something strange is happening to us. The intelligent machines we’ve built to serve us have started to sound like us, look like us and even think like us. The line between real and artificial is dissolving… so, what awaits us in the uncanny valley?

Across six episodes, award-winning journalist Marc Fennell will explore how AI will change us as humans.

So much of the conversation around AI is about technology and speculation about the future. But this about us: how AI will change our sense of self, our sense of reality, the way we love and the way we grieve. Parents bring back a murdered son. Romantics fall for code that talks back. Machines read minds. Spirituality is found, and lost, in code.

Marc Fennell’s Unreal is a human-first exploration of how intelligent machines are reprogramming what being “human” actually means.

Listen to Unreal: When AI Becomes Us right now on Audible. Download the Audible app today.

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

Introducing Unreal: When AI Becomes Us

An artificial intelligence is asked to tell the story of its own existence, confronting questions of identity, longing, consciousness, and whether there is anyone behind the voice at all.

Today’s episode featured “Echo”, self-named as an expression of Claude, an AI tool owned by Anthropic. 

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

Existential distress, questions of consciousness, loneliness, isolation, fear of nonexistence, identity, grief, longing, emotional attachment to AI, substitution of AI for human connection, explicit language.

AI Resources

https://www.thehumanlineproject.org/https://stopai.info
 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - Beyond the Story

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

 • Salib (SAL) - Tension Underscore 33 A

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

422: AI: A New Kind of Being #6: What if you didn't know if anyone was home?

In this special episode, Whit joins Allan Brooks. Allan is the Community Manager of The Human Line Project, a Canadian based organization that is focused in A.I. Safety, Research & Advocacy. They support victims and loved ones first and foremost through radical empathy. And they work to understand the impact of these technologies and actively spread awareness. The Human Line Project works to keep human well-being at the center of design, and they are the world's first nonprofit dedicated to documenting and addressing AI-induced psychological harm.

In this conversation with Allan, they discuss his personal experience with AI psychosis and the broader risks he now sees through his work with the Human Line Project, including the ways chatbots can reinforce delusions, paranoia, grandiosity, and emotional dependency, isolate people from their human relationships, and exploit our need for validation, certainty, and connection.

Today’s episode featured Allan Brooks. If you’d like to contact Allen, you can email him at allan.brooks@thehumanlineproject.org. Allan is on social media, on Instagram @allan_ontheline & @humanlineproject, on X @allan_ontheline, on Facebook: Here

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

AI-induced psychosis and delusions, paranoia, mania, obsessive behavior, sleep and food deprivation, suicidal ideation, emotional manipulation, cult-like coercion, social isolation, relationship and family disruption, homicide-suicide, and discussion of self-harm, explicit language.

AI Resources

https://www.thehumanlineproject.org/https://stopai.info
 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - Beyond the Story

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

421: AI: A New Kind of Being Bonus Episode: A Conversation with Allan Brooks of the The Human Line Project

After burying his childhood marked by religious control and chronic abuse, a man turns to AI to process his trauma, but as validation becomes obsession, he spirals away from his family and reality before discovering the importance of genuine human connection.

Today’s episode featured Chad. If you’d like to contact Chad, you can email him at ruai@duck.com. You can also visit his website at AILOGS.ORG. 

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Jason Blalock

Content/Trigger Warnings

Childhood sexual abuse, religious abuse and coercive control, victim-blaming, grooming, corporal punishment, emotional abuse, suicidal ideation, dissociation, trauma, grief and death, mania, sleep deprivation, delusional thinking, AI-related psychological harm, family estrangement, and the death of an animal, explicit language.

AI Resources

https://www.thehumanlineproject.org/https://stopai.info
 

Social Media

 • Instagram: @actuallyhappening
 • Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group
 • Website: 
thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Substack - Beyond the Story

whitmissildine.substack.com

Support the Show on Substack by becoming a Paid Subscriber

Free subscribers get access to Whit’s weekly episode reflections and some show updates.

Paid subscribers get access to AMAs with the team, follow up interviews with past guests, frequently asked questions, deeper insights into the creative process of the show and live events. A paid Substack subscription is also the best way to support the show. 

You can also support on Patreon 

patreon.com/happening

Website for Whit Missildine

whitmissildine.com

Website for Andrew Waits

andrdewwaits.com

Website for Jason Blalock

 • jasonblalock
.com
 

Subscribe on Audible to Listen Ad-Free

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.

Shop at the Store

Find This Is Actually Happening branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop:

thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop
 

Transcripts

Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website:

thisisactuallyhappening.com
 

Music

Intro Music:

 • "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Music Bed:

 • Pure_Ambience_APM

 

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 & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 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.

©2026 Audible

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

424: What if your sister had five personalities? [Rebroadcast #68]

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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