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The Human Experience

Recent Episodes

The Invisible Crisis: How Karen Olson Built a National Movement for Homeless Families
June 9, 2026

The Invisible Crisis: How Karen Olson Built a National Movement for Homeless Families

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of suicide, grief, childhood trauma, and homelessness. Listener discretion is advised. What does it look like when a single act of kindness, a sandwich handed to a strange...
Losing My Daughter to Medical Negligence, and Finding Hope in a Baby at 57 | Barb Higgins
May 26, 2026

Losing My Daughter to Medical Negligence, and Finding Hope in a Baby at 57 | Barb Higgins

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood sexual abuse, child loss, grief, and substance use. Please proceed with care. In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Barb Higgins — educator, CrossFit coach...
Faith, Loss, and Finding Home: A Panamanian Woman’s Story of Grief, Resilience, and the God She Argued With | Marina Mendez
May 5, 2026

Faith, Loss, and Finding Home: A Panamanian Woman’s Story of Grief, Resilience, and the God She Argued With | Marina Mendez

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of grief and loss of siblings. Please proceed with care. In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Marina Mendez, a 24-year-old Panamanian educator and woman of deep faith,...
Walking On: A Father's Story of Loss, Legacy, and Choosing Hope After the Unthinkable | Stephen Panus
April 21, 2026

Walking On: A Father's Story of Loss, Legacy, and Choosing Hope After the Unthinkable | Stephen Panus

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of the loss of a child, grief, and traumatic death. Listener discretion is advised. In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Stephen Panus - author, speaker, and bereaved ...
Grieving Twice: One Woman's Journey Through Suicide Loss, Truth, and the Power of Advocacy | Lisa Sugarman
April 7, 2026

Grieving Twice: One Woman's Journey Through Suicide Loss, Truth, and the Power of Advocacy | Lisa Sugarman

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of suicide, suicide loss, grief, and mental health. Please proceed with care. What happens when the story you've built your grief around turns out to be a different story ...
Property of the Revolution: One Cuban Refugee's Story of Loss, Legacy, and the Power of Intergenerational Storytelling | Ana Flaster
March 24, 2026

Property of the Revolution: One Cuban Refugee's Story of Loss, Legacy, and the Power of Intergenerational Storytelling | Ana Flaster

What does it mean to carry a country inside you — one you were forced to leave before you were old enough to understand why? In this deeply moving episode, Jennifer sits down with Ana Flaster, Cuban-American author of Propert...
The Year of Dating Yourself: How One Woman Chose Herself — and Changed Everything | Abby Rosmarin
March 10, 2026

The Year of Dating Yourself: How One Woman Chose Herself — and Changed Everything | Abby Rosmarin

What happens when you stop looking for love and start finding yourself? In this episode, Jennifer sits down with author and New Hampshire transplant Abby Rosmarin in Concord, NH, to talk about the year that changed her life: ...
When Dreams Change: Cheryl Johnson on 45 Moves, Motherhood, and Learning as Transformation
Feb. 24, 2026

When Dreams Change: Cheryl Johnson on 45 Moves, Motherhood, and Learning as Transformation

What happens when the dream you've chased your entire life finally comes true—only to discover it's not actually what you wanted after all? In this conversation, host Jennifer Peterkin sits down with Cheryl Johnson, a woman w...
From Silence to Survival: Ruth Carroll's Journey Through Decades of Abuse to Radical Healing
Feb. 10, 2026

From Silence to Survival: Ruth Carroll's Journey Through Decades of Abuse to Radical Healing

Content Warning: This episode contains detailed discussions of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse, substance abuse, and suicide. Listener discretion is strongly advised. In this powerful episode of The ...
Episode 100: The Tables Turn - Jennifer Peterkin on Dreams, Travel, and the Power of Legacy
Jan. 27, 2026

Episode 100: The Tables Turn - Jennifer Peterkin on Dreams, Travel, and the Power of Legacy

For this milestone 100th episode, we're doing something special—host Jennifer Peterkin hands over the mic to her friend, Kesh Witmer, for an intimate conversation about the journey behind The Human Experience podcast. In this...