Tell Me What It's Like

When Kim Bantle was nine, her mother sat her down and asked her to picture where a lost earring had gone. Kim found it in seconds by seeing it in her mind. Her mother kept testing her for years, but never told her why. Kim had an uncanny intuition, one that three generations of women before her had, but it was something the family learned to hide. So Kim kept her experiences mostly to herself for decades, until she started writing about them and found that most people she talked to had a story of their own."I don’t think it’s mystical. I don’t think my skills are anything but a personality trait."– Kim Bantle on Tell Me What It’s LikeHear Kim discuss:Finding her mother’s lost earring at age nine, and her mother’s shocked reactionThe high-school dean who kept asking, “Why do you know this?”Growing up in a family where reading minds was a gameHow she tells the difference between an ordinary dream and one she believes is a messageSensing loved ones who have passed, and why she doesn’t always tell peopleA name she kept hearing that turned out to belong to her friend’s motherWhy she believes so many people hide experiences like theseMentioned in this episode:Confessions of a Closeted Clairvoyant by Kim S. BantleKim’s website

When Jane Fischer’s daughter Suzy was born in 1974, doctors said she would never walk, talk, or learn. Suzy spent the next five decades proving them wrong. It wasn’t until Suzy was in her late 30s that the family finally learned the name for what she’d been living with all along: Joubert syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Today, Suzy works in a preschool and lives on her own with support. In this episode, Jane discusses what it was like to raise a daughter with disabilities, push past the doctors’ predictions, and help Suzy build a life of her own.“ Predictions are not promises. Nobody knows your child like you."- Jane Fischer on Tell Me What It’s LikeHear Jane talk about:The day Suzy was born, and the doctors’ advice to send her awayFinding help for a child with disabilities before GoogleHow raising Suzy tested her marriageShadowing Suzy at school, and the difference between inclusion and toleranceWhy doctors call Suzy a medical miracleHow a decades-long mystery was finally named Joubert syndromeWhat she’d go back and tell herself in that hospital roomMentioned in this episode:If You Knew Suzy: Pushing Past the Boundaries of Never by Jane FischerJoubert syndromeECLC of New JerseyMaplebrook SchoolJespy HouseSupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media

For more than 25 years, Dr. Tiffany Troso-Sandoval has treated women with breast and gynecological cancers. Throughout her practice, she’s realized that women going through cancer need more than treatment. They need to understand their care, stay organized, and have the right support around them so they can be active participants in their own care. In this episode, she talks about why she became an oncologist, what it’s really like on the doctor’s side of the room, and how she’s helping patients feel empowered."I call this becoming the CEO of your cancer care. You need to be the one in charge."Hear Dr. Troso discuss:How watching her mother’s frustration with her grandmother’s doctors shaped her pathWalking out of the LSAT and choosing medical school insteadWhat it’s like to deliver hard news, and how she handles the emotional weightHow cancer treatment has changed over 25 years, and is like “night and day”The day she spent her lunch hour organizing a patient’s records into a binder – and whyWhy telling a friend or family member to “call me if you need anything” doesn’t work, and a better way patients can ask for helpMentioned in this episode:Calming the Cancer Chaos by Dr. Tiffany Troso-SandovalDr. Troso's websiteMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterSupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social mediaMentioned in this episode:Help Others Discover the ShowEnjoying Tell Me What It’s Like? Leaving a rating and review in your podcast app helps more listeners discover the show. Thanks for supporting thoughtful conversations and perspective-driven storytelling.

Dr. Winston Vickers has spent decades studying one of America's big cats, the mountain lion. He's tracked them, collared them, and even studied their poop, all to help Southern California's mountain lions survive. A veterinarian who went back to school mid-career to study big cats, he shares what it's like to come face to face with a mountain lion, why highways are pushing some populations toward extinction, and why killing one lion doesn't solve the problem.“There was concern that mountain lions in some parts of Southern California were making it harder for these bighorns to recover. So that's why we started putting collars on the mountain lions."Hear Dr. Vickers discuss:How he went back to school to study mountain lions after a 20 year vet careerHow you trap a mountain lion (it involves roadkill)The diseases threatening them, from avian flu to feline leukemiaHow one freeway split a population and led to dangerous inbreedingWhat scat-sniffing dogs reveal about what lions eatWhat it was like to collar his first mountain lionClose encounters with mountain lionsWhy "you can't kill your way out of the problem"Why there seem to be more lions in the suburbsWhy mountain lions keep whole ecosystems in balanceMentioned in this episode:Learn more about the California Mountain Lion Project at UC Davis Listen to A Path for Mountain Lions by The Nature Conservancy, featuring Dr. VickersView the mountain lion trackerAbout Dr. Vickers:Dr. T. Winston Vickers is a wildlife research veterinarian with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and the Institute for Wildlife Studies. For 20 years he directed or co-directed mountain lion studies across California, and he has studied mountain lions and other wildlife for 23 years. His work focuses on why mountain lions die, how they move, road crossings, genetics, and how they interact with people."Just the sheer muscle that's there when you feel their bodies is just amazing. "- Dr. Winston Vickers on Tell Me What It’s Like

In the Season 2 finale, military spouse Kandi Hart joins the show to discuss what she's learned about building community after decades of moves. She and Stacy talk about what it takes to thrive in every new place, including the mindset you need, the tactics that can work, and how sometimes community starts with just one person."I will immediately walk up to somebody, and I will ask them about themselves. I'll say, 'Tell me about your family.'"Hear Kandi talk about:Why Twentynine Palms — a base most people dread — became a place her whole family asked to go back toThe party mistake that humbled her and changed how she thinks about inclusivityHow she went from a shy kindergartner who cried every morning to the first person to grab the microphone in any roomWhy she thinks showing up at someone's door still matters more than any Facebook groupHow to build your community when you're not in a military bubbleMentioned in this episode:Twentynine Palms, CaliforniaSupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media