This Is Actually Happening

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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.