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Take a deep dive into a featured guest’s personal history; the pivotal moments of their childhood and adulthood that defined them and the crucial and sometimes painful decisions they made that forever changed the course of their lives. Each episode of And Then Everything Changed is an intimate conversation; sometimes funny, sometimes profound. Hosted by Ronit Plank. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
On a summer night in 1969, Judy Temes’ mother and a father, both physicians, packed their car for what was supposed to be a family vacation. Only this was no vacation. They were escaping Hungary's totalitarian regime. The tourist visas that gave them safe passage across the East-West divide came at a high price. To ensure their return, one of their two children would have to be left behind and that was Judy. For five years she lived with her grandmother in a tiny village in Hungary wondering why her parents had gone without her and if she would ever see them or her brother again. In this episode, Judy discusses her new book Girl Left Behind, what finally arriving in America to a family irrevocably changed was like, and how her life has become one rich with all that she dreamed of during those many years she was left waiting and alone.
Connect with Judy:
My author website is: https://judytemes.wixsite.com/judy-temes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judytemes/
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Stefanie Bonastia was about 15 years old when her eating disorder began. She was a shy, creative girl with anger she wasn’t aware of and wanted to gain a measure of control over her life. What began as anorexia became bulimia and later purging through exercise. She struggled mostly in secret but eventually left college and sought in-patient help. Her eating disorder ultimately spanned 25 years and she felt her relationship with food was so broken that she would never have normal hunger and satiety cues, never be able to feel sane around food. But she discovered it is possible to heal your relationship with food even after years of failed attempts.IIn this episode she shares her story, how she made peace with her body, and the work she does to help others find that same health and peace.
Connect with Stefanie:
To download free diet culture recovery guide
Follow on FB/IG: @iamstefaniemichele
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
For decades and decades, Robert Miller had a dream he didn’t pursue. Though he’d played music in his early twenties he left the industry to get his law degree and start a family. He often thought about playing in a band again but he didn’t act on that until he was seriously injured by a car while riding his bike. He needed 8 hours of surgery to repair his broken neck and arm but, in a huge stroke of luck, his spinal cord was intact. For Robert that was a sign. At the age of 60 he put together a band, began playing festivals and concerts, and now, 9 albums and over 4 million video views later, he is living the life he feels was gifted to him when his world changed the day of his accident. In this episode, Robert shares his story, his perspective on his life before reuniting with music and after, and offers advice for making a dream come true.
Connect with Robert:
- Website: www.projectgrandslam.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/projectgrandslam
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/PGSjazz
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/projectgrndslam
- Store: www.thePGSstore.com
- Spotify:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Most of Leah Carey’s memories growing up are black spots. Her dad was an alcoholic and he was abusive to her and her mom. He would tell her how unhappy he was with her mother and that Leah should at all costs avoid growing up to be like her. He discussed his sex life with Leah, talked about her body in a sexual way, and exposed her to sexual content in the home. Even when she moved out of the house their relationship remained very strained and Leah increasingly felt like she was shrinking inside and that she needed to disappear. As an adult she took a trip that would mark the beginning of her sexual awakening. She had her first experience with a woman, learned about tantric sex, and began to heal from the trauma that had marked most of her life. Today Leah is a sex and intimacy coach and host of the podcast Good Girls Talk About Sex whose mission it is to empower women into being equal co-creators of their sexual experience.
Connect with Leah:
- Website - www.LeahCarey.com
- Podcast - www.GoodGirlsTalk.com
- Instagram - www.Instagram.com/GoodGirlsTalk
- Facebook private group - www.Facebook.com/groups/GoodGirlsTalk
- YouTube -
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
After her son Jimmy died of a cancer rarely found in children, Margo Fowkes found that what helped her through her profound grief the most was other people leaving space in the world for him. She discovered support in loved ones talking about Jimmy and sharing their experience of losing him. She founded the Salt Water community to help people heal and live after their own devastating loss--a child, a sibling, a spouse, a parent, a close friend-- and to provide a safe harbor where those grieving can find comfort, support and tools to survive their loss and rebuild their life. In this episode Margo shares Jimmy’s story and talks about how she’s navigated a grief that she has come to understand will forever come in waves.
Connect With Margo:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday May 25, 2021
Tuesday May 25, 2021
Michael Arterberry grew up in a home ravaged by the violence and mood swings of his alcoholic father. In order to protect Michael, his mother signed him up for as many sports as she could and he excelled. His coaches became like his dads, his teammates, his siblings, and the accolades he got for his performance prevented him from abusing alcohol, drugs, and people. The trauma he and his siblings experienced altered their lives forever and each of them learned to cope differently: some with alcohol, some with denial. In this episode Michael shares the story of how he survived his childhood while protecting his mother as best he could, when he truly understood the severity of what his whole family had endured, and the clarity and strength that enables him to help support young people who have also survived difficult homes.
Connect With Michael:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Thursday May 20, 2021
Thursday May 20, 2021
For years Laurel Anne Stark put her mental health aside and focused only on work. She drove herself to exhaustion the way so many self-employed women do: never cutting herself slack, never asking for help, yet determined to focus only on work and being productive. Then one day she began digging into research about the wellbeing of the self-employed. She found that 3 out of 4 entrepreneurs suffer from a mental health issue which is further compounded for women in business because of the wage gap, sexual harassment, and the lack of gender parity. Because of these inequities, many women avoid or leave the workforce which further reduces women’s representation and influence. Laurel changed the way she lives and works and is now on a mission to help create better mental health infrastructure for women in the workplace and build a new culture that supports and lifts them.
In this episode:
- Laurel's Story
- Why she founded Resurgo.Co
- How she helps female entrepreneurs through her business
Connect With Laurel:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Thursday May 13, 2021
Thursday May 13, 2021
Dhyana Levey, creator of the podcast Generation Cult, knew she was growing up on a kind of commune in California but didn’t realize it was a cult until she was much older. Though her memories of childhood are often difficult, her curiosity about what her family was involved in spurred her to investigate. Soon after, she began pursuing interviews with other cult survivors gathering information, and attending the International Cultic Studies conference. Dhyana joins me to share what she’s learned about cult mentality, abuse, and the heavy burden of fear and alienation many cult survivors experience.
Connect With Dhyana:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Author Lily Dunn’s father joined Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s movement about the same time that And Then Everything Changed host Ronit Plank’s mother followed him to India. They both grew up in the shadow of Bhagwan (also known at Osho, the guru at the center of Netflix’s docuseries Wild Wild Country), each with a parent more devoted to his teachings and the lifestyle he extolled than to them. Lily shares some of what she witnessed at the Rajneeshee house she visited on weekends and she and Ronit discuss how their relationships with their father and mother respectively irrevocably changed when they chose freedom over parenting. In this special episode to mark the release of Ronit's memoir When She Comes Back and Lily's forthcoming memoir, the authors discuss their books, writing about family, and how watching Wild Wild Country which became a media sensation affected them.
Connect With Lily:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Diana Kupershmit and her husband had no warning that their first baby Emma would be born with a rare genetic disorder that would leave her profoundly physically and intellectually disabled. A young couple who had been high school sweethearts, they tried to grapple with the devastating news. When a social worker familiar with their case suggested they give Emma up for adoption, they decided she would be better off.
But soon, pregnant with her second child and wracked by regret and concern over news of Emma’s declining health, Diana realized she needed to get her daughter back.
In this episode Diana shares the story of emigrating to the US from Soviet Ukraine in 1979 along with millions of other Jews escaping systemic discrimination, meeting her true love, and how first their profound sorrow about Emma and then their profound love for her shaped their life.
Connect With Diana:
Connect With Ronit:
For more about this episode click here!