In this episode I speak with Colleen, who was Donny's fiance and lived with him on the street up to the night when he passed away from freezing temperatures. They were together for 12 years. We talk about how she is doing now, how rough it is trying to survive during the winter, and how she met Donny. We both discuss that there needs to be more done in the wintertime to ensure people have what they need to survive.

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Donny tragically passed away from hypothermia a couple days before receiving housing and getting off the street. This episode revisits some clips from his interviews, and I interview Pastor Steve from the Washington St. Mission, the religious non-profit through which Donny was connected with a case worker that linked him with housing. Pastor Steve performed a memorial service for him, as he does for many others in the community. We talk about other recent deaths and the difficulty of navigating those as part of his job, his interactions with Donny, and more. Listen to the episode titled "Donny" first for his full story from his point of view.

SUBSTACK: roaddogs.substack.com

music: Luke Henry on Spotify

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In this episode I cover the surge of homeless sweeps since the Supreme Court Decision that removed constitutional protection from being criminalized for being homeless. I talk about several different investigations that cover the multimillion-dollar private industry around sweeps in CA and also the deplorable conditions of shelters as well as the aggressive sweeps that even jail people for being homeless. It ends with an interview with the editor of The Challenger Street Newspaper in Austin, TX, and we talk about the importance of building community.

Stop the Sweeps Flyer from itsgoingdown.org

https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2024/04/16/swept-homeless-sweeps/ Article covering millions in private contracts to carry out sweeps

Atlanta City council votes moratorium on sweeps after Cornelius Taylor is killed in a sweep

Studies on ineffectiveness of sweeps

Studies about sweeps causing more overdoses and death

https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/02/california-homeless-shelters-purgatory/ Investigation into California Homeless Shelters

https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/02/california-homeless-encampment-sweeps/ Investigation into Sweeps in CA

https://projects.propublica.org/homeless-encampment-sweeps-taken-belongings/ Propublica project "Swept Away" documents items lost

This episode is about me, my struggles with searching for "freedom," and becoming lost along the way in addiction and relationships. It's essentially a summary of the defining moments of my life leading up to the time I finally left home and society behind for Slab City. This kicked off a 3-year journey of homeless wandering via hitchhiking and living out of different vehicles that would take me all over America, through every state but Utah, and briefly into Canada and Mexico. It's about why I chose to leave behind a life of relative stability for the unknown. Why I chose to live Nowhere.

Music in this episode is by Luke Henry and one song by me. If you want to support this podcast please subscribe, rate it and leave a review, and share it with your friends! Title of this episode comes from a 14th century poem by Hafez called "Dropping Keys."

In this episode I interview Pepper, who has traveled via freight-train, hitchhiking, vehicle, and bicycle off and on for the last 17 years. He was passing through my town, traveling by bicycle from Wisconsin down to St. Louis. He has struggled with heroin addiction since his early teens, and he shares with brutal honesty about his struggles in the past and recently. He also talks about the trauma that comes from living in and around hard drug use, and about a shooting he was witness to that killed two people and injured one and was reported on globally due to the political implications. He's been based out of Homer, Alaska over the past two years and has spent the past summer (and others) fishing on different vessels.

Music used is by Luke Otwell (Luke Henry on spotify).

You can follow me at roaddogs.substack.com to read more about my own travels and struggle with addiction and updates on the podcast.

CW: Addiction, Suicide, Childhood Trauma

This episode consists of a series of interviews with Donny, a man from my local community who has been experiencing homelessness over the past six years. He was a union electrician foreman who was injured twice while working on laying fiber optic along a railroad right-of-way, his second injury put him out of work for good. This was the early 2000's, and his doctor prescribed him three 80mg oxycontin daily, the drug pushed by Purdue Pharma that is considered responsible for kicking off the opioid epidemic in the US. We talk about how the medication led to heroin, prison, and homelessness.

All music is by Luke Otwell (Luke Henry on spotify)

Theo is part of a traveling subculture whose way of life is traveling. Living and sleeping outside and traveling with little to no money. I talk to him about he got started traveling, and what the last 4 years of his life on the road has been like. He longboarded hundreds of miles around the US, as well as hopping freight trains. One of those freight train rides was almost his last.

Support this show by subscribing, reviewing, and sharing! This show is a labor love. You can also donate at https://ko-fi.com/keeganotwell

Music by Luke Otwell (Luke Henry on Spotify)

Welcome to the podcast Nowhere, featuring interviews with people living on the fringes of society, on the road, and those currently homeless, living nowhere. I'm the host Keegan Otwell and I was homeless all over the USA, traveling for three years. You'll hear a little about that, but I'll also be exploring the fringes of the human condition, our spectrum of beliefs, and places where science greets the unknown. Look forward to interviews and episodes about the paranormal, spirituality and new frontiers of science, human connection and AI, and conspiracy theory culture. Humanity in one weird nutshell. I'll be asking some of the biggest questions that have chased us through history, while having a core focus on helping people tell their stories who otherwise might not have a voice.

“Nowhere” is a place where reality itself is questionable, where some people live and even die, it is the night sky that throughout history has inspired us to ask the really big questions, who are we? What happens when we die? Why are people still suffering? Why is it so hard to find connection in this hyper-connected world? Where are we now? Nowhere, it is our address in this vast incomprehensible universe that we’re hurtling through right now. It is beautiful, and it is terrifying.

Music by my amazing brother, Luke Otwell (Luke Henry on spotify)

Check out my Substack Road Dogs to learn more about my personal journey with homelessness, addiction, and recovery.

Want to support Nowhere? You can donate to ko-fi.com/keeganotwell to "buy me a coffee." Honestly anything helps, I'm currently doing this solo and purely out of love and passion.