Marius was only 8 years old when a house fire in his native country of Romania took the lives of his parents and burned over 75% of his body, leaving him without fingers or a nose. After many months in the hospital without visitors, two American girls got word of his story and started visiting him almost every day, forming a close friendship and eventually raising money to bring him to America for treatment. A year later, he was adopted by one of the girls’ family. This is a story of miracles. Of optimism. Of chosen family and abundant kindness. And it just might inspire you to do something nice for someone you don’t know.

Follow us on social media!

Twitter: @allthewiserpod

Instagram: @allthewiserpodcast

Facebook: @allthewiserpodcast

Sign up for our newsletter via our website for a special note from Kimi every time we drop an episode

Have a story to share with us or feedback about an episode you heard? Email us at [email protected]

If you like what you heard on today's show, please consider sharing this episode and giving us a 5 star rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It helps other awesome people like you find our show.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Are mental health labels a good thing? Kimi talks about her experience having a peer-to-peer conversation with our latest guest, Joshua Walters, with whom she shares a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She and Erica discuss the benefits and potential drawbacks of a given mental health label, why it's important to separate the person from the diagnosis, and how using the right language alongside a focus on gifts and talents can make a huge difference in living well with mental illness.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Joshua Walters uses his writing and creativity to talk about his experiences living with bipolar disorder, and it is a diagnosis that our host Kimi Culp happens to share. In this unique conversation, Joshua and Kimi speak openly as peers about how mental illness impacts their life, work and creative process. They share their commonalities, healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms, the value of comedy when discussing painful subjects, and the usefulness (or not) of mental health labels. 

Episode benefiting Mad One Media

Follow us on social media!

Twitter: @allthewiserpod

Instagram: @allthewiserpodcast 

Facebook: @allthewiserpodcast

Sign up for our newsletter via our website for a special note from Kimi every time we drop an episode

Have a story to share with us or feedback about an episode you heard? Email us at [email protected]

If you like what you heard on today's show, please consider sharing this episode and giving us a 5 star rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It helps other awesome people like you find our show.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sex trafficking is happening in your community - you just don't know about it. As our latest guest, trafficking survivor and advocate Rebecca Bender shared, sex for sale is rampant and it is hiding in plain sight. In this episode, Kimi and Erica share the typical profile of a trafficker, the types of victims that traffickers target, warning signs to look for in teenage girls, and what you should do if you suspect someone you know might be involved.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rebecca Bender grew up as an all-American, small town kid skipping rocks on the river in Southern Oregon. At 18, her boyfriend convinced her to move with him to Las Vegas and the emotional abuse and physical violence began. For six years she was traded and sold between different traffickers, living in a constant state of fear for her life and the life of her young daughter. Her eventual escape and path to healing has brought her to start a non-profit to help victims of sex trafficking, train hundreds of thousands of law enforcement on tactics of traffickers, and help people everywhere see and idenitfy human trafficking occuring in their communities across the country. 

Episode benefitting The Rebecca Bender Initiative

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kimi and Erica discuss our latest episode with Schuyler Bailar and share thoughts about the evolving language of trans-ness, what you should do when you say the wrong thing, who should bear the responsibility around trans-education, and why it is so not appropriate to discuss what inside someone's pants (especially a strangers!)

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As a teenager, Schuyler Bailar remembers being miserable all the time. As one of the nation's top swimmers, he was getting good grades, winning medals and accepted into an Ivy League school - yet he still felt empty. After an injury kept him from swimming, Bailar's mental health plummeted. He checked into a residential treatment center where he discovered that he was transgender. But what was he going to do about swimming? Schuyler shares why he ultimately decided to swim for the Harvard men's team, how he found the language and the courage to explain who he is, and why it's so important to make sure the voices in our heads are kind to ourselves. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kimi and Erica discuss our latest episode with Emily Stark and her formerly conjoined twin girls Lexi and Sydney. Topics include living with uncertainty, loss and adaptation, and how Emily managed the media circus around her kids.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In 2001, Emily Stark was newly married to the man of her dreams and pregnant shortly thereafter - with twins! And then a follow-up ultrasound appointment brought a shocking revelation. The twin girls were conjoined at the base of the spine. Emily and her husband were left with a difficult decision. Best case? They would be separated with no lingering effects. Worst case - the girls would be paralized from the connection point down. In this episode, Emily talks about making choices with no certainty of the outcome, why we are not meant to be in this world solo, and her greatest lesson of listening to your gut. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this follow-up to episode 43, Kimi speaks with Emily’s two daughters, former conjoined twins Lexi and Sydney.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy