Stories from a Stranger

Hunter talks to three strangers about their mental health journey.Justice describes the most beautiful thing she's been told: "that everything is temporary". She explains this perspective has helped her throughout lifelong struggles with mental health, including depressive episodes, suicidal ideation, anxiety, agoraphobia, and OCD. Despite appearing successful externally—running a business, having supportive relationships—she reached a crisis point where she "couldn't quiet [her] brain and it was consuming me to a point of being dangerous". She emphasizes the importance of her support system, admitting that in her darkest moment, she sought help not for herself but for her loved ones: "If I can't do this for myself, I need to do it for the people that love me". Justice also critiques mental health care accessibility, noting that resources like the GeneSight test for medication compatibility should be more widely available, and advocates for trying therapy before medication.Michael shares his experience of…

This week Hunter talks to three strangers about meeting their perfect partners.Frank met his wife on Tinder following a painful emotionally abusive breakup that had caused him to give up on dating entirely. He initially suspected her profile was a bot due to her being out of his league in his own estimation. Their first planned meeting of 20 minutes stretched into six hours, described by Frank as feeling like time froze, similar to the movie "Big Fish". He knew she was "the one" approximately four hours into that first meeting. He told her he loved her roughly one week into dating, blurting it out during a phone call, and she said it back immediately. Frank described being loved by her as something that makes everything fall into place and allows him to be his true self.Manuel's greatest love is, whom he credits as the first person to give him permission to not be strong. He described an intense childhood that began with working at age 12, managing his parents' emotional conflicts, and caring for younger…

This week Hunter speaks with three strangers who are struggling with chronic illness.Lulu is a young woman who battled Lyme disease beginning at age 11. Her background includes years of misdiagnosis, during which doctors attributed her symptoms to POTS, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome, none of which addressed the root cause. A key contribution of her story is the advocacy role her mother played, described as "the reason I'm alive," who argued with doctors and ultimately suspected Lyme disease after years of searching. Lulu underwent a hyperthermia treatment at Clinic St. George in Germany, where her body temperature was raised to 107.24 degrees to break down biofilms protecting Lyme disease cells, allowing antibiotics to penetrate and kill the bacteria. She now lives with deep gratitude, waking each day thankful for her independence and ability to show up for the people she loves. Christi is a young woman who developed intense, chronic health problems during the fall semester of her junior year of…

Hunter speaks to three strangers with one thing in common: they’re adopted.Alyssa is a Black woman who grew up in a predominantly white community as an adopted child of an Italian-American family, making her adoption visually apparent from an early age. Her biological brother found her and reached out via Facebook after their biological father drunkenly revealed her existence to him. Upon reconnecting with her biological family, her biological mother denied her and called her a catfish, which Alyssa describes as one of the most painful things she ever experienced. Despite this, she does not regret the reunion, stating she would have wondered for the rest of her life otherwise. Charley always knew she was adopted and initially viewed it positively, describing it as a gift. However, she experienced recurring feelings of loneliness throughout her life, particularly at night as a young girl. She had no desire to find her biological mother well into her 20s and even threw away research a college friend compiled…

-Jeremy is a Canadian actor and comedian who put his career on hold to move to New York for his second husband, Zach, whom he met on Tinder. He describes Zach as the greatest love of his life, noting they met briefly on the app before transitioning to a more old-fashioned phone call and then a first date over wine on a rooftop. They married shortly before the pandemic, and Jeremy attributes the end of their marriage largely to the extreme pressures of that period. This was Jeremy's second divorce, and he acknowledges the embarrassment of going through it again, even making it part of his standup comedy material. After the split, he found himself in a foreign country without a strong social network, having paused a flourishing acting career in Canada to be in the relationship. Key contributions from Jeremy include his advice on navigating grief and loss by actively filling the emotional and mental space left behind with positive activities and experiences, as well as his insight that only the individual can…

Hunters speaks with three strangers who are remembering family members they’ve lost, or are losing.-Caty shares the story of watching her mother decline from primary progressive aphasia, a form of frontotemporal dementia. She describes first suspecting something was wrong during her senior year of college, noticing her mother misusing names and making uncharacteristic errors. Her mother was formally diagnosed in May 2022. Katie reflects on the pain of losing the close, almost mirror-image relationship she shared with her mother, the concept of anticipatory grief, and the one-sided nature of their current communication. She also describes finding comfort in signs she believes are sent by her mother, particularly through the song "Dancing in the Moonlight", and explains that she copes by living one day at a time, drawing on the perspective her mother's illness has given her.-Chris speaks about his aunt who passed away around 2010. Though she had no children of her own, she treated Chris, his siblings, and his…

-J’Quay reflects on “heartache” rather than just heartbreak, describing how investing deeply in something that doesn’t work out leads to emotional crashes, but also to the realization that time helps us cope and reframe those experiences. J’Quay shares that they do let people get close and give everyone “equal parts” of themselves, but believe that heartbreak is survivable because there are billions of people in the world and one person’s rejection isn’t definitive. They talks about a childhood dream of being “palatable but different” to achieve goals, and how they consciously let go of that dream in favor of individuality, which has helped them make friends, get jobs, breathe easier, and feel stronger.-Seve describes struggling with negative self-talk and not often focusing on beautiful things others say, but he cherishes a compliment from a not-very-close friend who called them caring and kind-hearted, which made them feel deeply seen and warmed. He shares that one of the most painful things he tells…

Hunter speaks with three people about their unique relationships with their fathers.Meet this week’s strangers:- William recently lost his father. William’s father, also named William, was a Marine Corps sergeant, a decorated combat Marine whose unit’s motto was “Retreat hell,” and later an attorney handling high‑profile, difficult cases, including immigration work. He grew up during Jim Crow in St. Louis, experiencing segregation and witnessing his own father, a World War II and Korean War veteran, being humiliated by police in the South; these experiences fueled an intense drive to be excellent at his work and “the best at whatever he did.” William considers his father to be his hero. William recounts the hospice experience, missing his father’s final moments, and then moving quickly into “problem solving mode” to arrange a military funeral, memorials, and a carefully crafted eulogy that honored his father’s career, impact, and the “weight of his attention” as a parent.- Gil had a complicated relationship…

- Peter immigrated from Korea as a child. As the only person of color in his school, he felt alienated and othered. He dealt with bullying because of the food he brought to school, called “Kim Jong-un” and told to go back to his own country. These experiences caused emotional pain, a desire to return to Korea, and resentment toward his parents, which he later reframed as gratitude for the opportunities they sought for him and his brother. Peter’s story takes an unexpected turn when he describes doctor’s finding a tennis ball-sized tumor in his head. His family—father, mother, and brother—dropped everything to spend a month with him in the U.S. during and after surgery, which he describes as the most beautiful thing they’ve done for him and a profound expression of support. - Jade moved to the US from Ecuador with her family seeking better opportunities as conditions worsened back home; she was 17 and left behind the life and community her mother had built. She felt rejected and isolated at school in her U.S.…

Hunter speaks with three strangers about meeting partners who changed the course of their lives. Meet this week's strangers:- Niko is a school teacher from New York City who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. During treatment he grew closer to his long-time friend Lauren who gave him gift packages, which became a catalyst for rekindling their relationship and eventually dating. He describes Lauren’s support as essential, saying he would not have gotten through cancer or remained mentally okay without her; she showed up early, handled everything with grace, gave him hope, and made him feel handsome and normal even when he had lost his eyebrows and eyelashes. He explains that falling in love with Lauren during treatment meant everything; she became the person he wanted around when he felt worst, and he now sees her as his life partner, having already bought a diamond with plans to propose.- Selene's greatest love is Ethan, whom she first met in 2010 through her cousin on the day of the World Cup final;…

Hunter talks to strangers who are carrying on the memories of loved ones that were taken too soon.Meet this week’s strangers:- When Yauri was introduced to Matthew by a mutual friend they immediately became close friends. Matthew was a chubby, goofy friend who would always crack jokes and let Yauri practice her hair styling skills on him. Unfortunately, Matthew had one foot in the gang world and was tragically shot and killed. The loss of Matthew rocked Yauri. She describes the depression that followed, and how she still thinks about him all of the time, and the neighborhood day that honors his memory.- John lost his mother Barbara earlier this year. She had John at the age of 16 and he felt like they really grew up together. Her remains were buried in Indiana just three days before the conversation, making the grief fresh; this process allowed John to relive their shared history and reflect on their relationship. He carries a picture of her and has taken her ashes on a “tour” to places like Hawaii and…

Hunter talks to three strangers who had moments in their youth that changed the shape of their lives going forwards. Even though they’re adults now, they still feel their young selves inside. Meet this weeks strangers:- Mia shares how being called “weird” and told she couldn’t sing deeply hurt her as a child, especially as a quirky, ADHD kid who once went to school dressed as a clown. She describes a traumatic recess incident where popular kids staged a fake breakup to humiliate her, chasing her and throwing papers, which shattered her sense of safety but later fueled her compassion and artistic philosophy of creating non‑judgmental, welcoming spaces. She talks about processing these memories through EMDR therapy, learning that childhood experiences lodge in the body and that working through them can be painful but ultimately liberating. Mia reflects on how bullying made her abandon her authentic, “weird” self to fit in as a teen, leading to a sense of “lost time” and a long journey back to self‑trust and…

Hunter talks to three people who were raised by parents suffering from addiction, and how that changed them.Meet this episode’s strangers:-Troy was raised from age two to seventeen by his stepdad, who is an ex-NFL player. Troy looked up to him, but as his stepdad’s alcoholism spiraled out of control, he drifted out of Troy’s life. Troy describes watching him slide into depression and isolation, and the heartbreak he felt discovering that his “superhero” stepdad was deeply flawed. Despite long absences, Troy continues to reach out to his stepfather and hopes one day he will find the help he needs.-Taylor’s father fell into drug addiction when she was 10 years old. The addiction changed him drastically. He became abusive and struggled to maintain a job and home, forcing the family to become unhoused. She describes celebrating her 16th birthday living in a shelter. Now, as an adult, Taylor is working to heal her relationships with her mother and her father, who has found sobriety.-Jeffery describes growing up…

Hunter interviews three individuals who were sent reeling after the losses of their fathers. Meet this episode’s strangers:-Koi’s describes her father as “the perfect person”. Tragically he was taken one day in a freak hit and run accident while riding his bicycle through Los Angeles. She recounts finding out about his death and the emotional toll it took on her. While she initially turned to substances to cope with his loss, she has since found religion and has pulled herself back onto her feet.-Brittany’s father died of a heart attack. She describes the moment she felt his spirit leave this Earth. She wishes that she could still call her father everyday and share her life’s milestones with him, but after a period of darkness she realized that she can still speak with him anywhere and anytime. -Vanessa grew up without knowing who her father was. As an adult she did some internet sleuthing and found him in Mexico. Reconnecting with her father was a wonderful experience that they both appreciated. Sadly,…

Hunter talks to three people who are living with disabilities, and how it’s effected them.Meet this episode's strangers:-Gabriella was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was a baby. She received cochlear implants, and after attending a preschool for the deaf, she transitioned to “mainstream” schools where most people didn’t realize she was deaf. To this day, she takes her implants off when she wants to feel grounded and at peace. Now, as an adult, she wouldn’t choose to be any other way.-Anthony was extremely offended when RFK Jr. made hurtful remarks towards people with autism. Anthony was diagnosed with autism at age three and has spent a lifetime learning to cope with it. He finds love and support from his mother, who has modeled behavior and advocated for him. Anthony emphasizes that no one can do life entirely alone, and people like his mother can help him push through challenges.-Nathalia has visible scars on her face that made her feel like an outcast growing up. When she was young she…

Hunter interviews four powerful women about their relationships with their mothers and their experiences as mothers themselves.Meet this episode's strangers:- Rosabella was adopted from Ukraine by a single mother and raised in Los Angeles. Her adoptive mother located her biological mother through a private investigator. She reached out and traveled across the world to the war-torn Ukraine to meet her biological sister. She is so grateful for this experience, which gave her not one but two loving mothers.- Michelle Obama chats with Hunter about how beautiful it has been to watch her daughters grow, and her own mother, who told her to "Come home, we'll love you here", which has always helped ground her.- Brenda is the single mother of an autistic son. Through him, she's learned how fulfilling it is to be a mother and is doing whatever she can to make his dreams come true. She's even started a quesadilla cart in order to give him a job and make ends meet. - Sharron tells the story of her late mother, who was…

Hunter speaks with four strangers who recount their stories of falling in love with their soulmates.Meet this episode's strangers:- Marylou and Arthur met in New York City in the 80s after they'd both been recently dumped. At first, it seemed like they'd never work, but they soon fell madly in love with each other. Marylou describes curling up with Arthur on his mattress on the floor as feeling like the safest place in the world. All these years later, they're still together, and their relationship is stronger than ever.- Pinar describes feeling alienated and lonely after moving to Los Angeles from Istanbul, Turkey. She talks about how hard it currently is for immigrants moving to the United States these days, and how everything changed for her when he met her husband, who also immigrated from Turkey.- Brenda glows as she talks about meeting her partner, whom she describes as "her greatest love". What started as a friendship blossomed into a romantic relationship 5 months ago, and being with her partner…

Hunter talks to three strangers who were brought to the brink of death, only to be given a second chance at life. Meet this episode's strangers:- David recounts his close relationship with his mother, whom he sadly lost recently. It's a loss that is still fresh and painful. Before her passing, she had gotten him through his own catastrophic medical issue. While playing softball, David collapsed on the field, struck with a sudden cardiac arrest. Thanks to the help of a total stranger, David pulled through this harrowing event.- Art was drafted into the Vietnam War at the age of 19. He gives a tense and emotional account of his time in the war, of the friends he lost, and what it was like to come back home and deal with the immense trauma he experienced. - Karan was a seemingly healthy young person when he was suddenly diagnosed with end-stage liver failure in 2019 due to an undiagnosed, rare condition. Karan tells Hunter about the life-saving last-minute transplant and the long recovery process that saved his…

Hunter meets with three individuals who had less than ideal relationships with the people who raised them and discusses how those relationships have shaped their adult lives. Meet this episode's strangers:- Latoya shares the story of a distant father and the fragile, beautiful bond they finally built in the last three months before he died. She describes his health struggles and the constant childhood fear that she’d get a call saying he was gone, and how that shaped her relationships with men. Yet in the end, she chose to show up for him at his lowest moment, ending what a friend called “a cycle of abandonment” in her family and reminding her father he was still worthy of love. - Carmel opens up about how her relationship with her mother contributed to her letting go of the dream of “true love” and a soulmate, even as her friendships feel like the deepest soul connections she’s ever known. Growing up in a home where affection was transactional and physical touch was absent, she learned that love had to be…

Hunter meets three people whose lives were upended by devastating illnesses. They share their stories of survival and how they refused to let sickness get in the way of living their lives.Meet this episode's strangers:- Sandra survived a catastrophic stroke and fell into a coma. Doctors told her mother that she would never wake up. Her mother refused to let doctors remove life support and proved Sandra could still hear by asking her to squeeze their fingers and move her foot. Sandra describes a visit to “paradise,” where she was told, “You have a purpose to fulfill,” before being sent back to her life. Now she walks Central Park for miles, has completed the New York City Marathon, and uses her story to show other stroke survivors that “it’s not the end.” - Cheri was a healthy 18‑year‑old dancer when a mysterious autoimmune disorder suddenly took away her ability to walk and move. Doctors told her parents to prepare for the worst as treatments failed, but Sherry—fully lucid inside a body that couldn’t…

Hunter speaks with two strangers about their painful upbringings.Meet this episode's strangers:- Lisa Marie shares what it was like to hear the words, “We are going to have to put you into foster care,” at sixteen, and to be separated from her much younger brother, David. She talks about the memory holes trauma left behind, the rage that followed years later, and how she kept people at a distance for most of her early adulthood. Lisa Marie reflects on the shame of feeling marked by foster care, poverty, and her parents’ substance use, and how writing her story helped her reclaim it and let go of the “scarlet letter” she felt she wore.- Adriana, who became a mother at seventeen and found herself raising her baby in a women's shelter after being rejected by her family. She describes the shelter as an unexpected village of women supporting each other through crisis, and how that experience cemented her resolve never to ask for help again.Topics:- Childhood trauma and its impact on identity- Navigating the…

Hunter Prosper meets two strangers who found inspiration in their hardest moments, and learns how one woman's cancer journey led her to find the love of her life.Meet this episode's strangers: - Marco shares the story of the man he knew instantly was the love of his life, the sudden disappearances that shattered him, and the cancer diagnosis that followed their final breakup. As a former dancer, he came to see his illness as his body mourning alongside his heart, and eventually transformed that grief into a three-part choreography, Safe from Sleep—bliss, loss, and journey—that brought him back to the stage after 20 years and all the way to Carnegie Hall.- Heather once abandoned her art because it felt “inconvenient” and too vulnerable to share. A sudden cervical cancer diagnosis and a hysterectomy at 35 shattered her dream of carrying a child and left her feeling “broken”. In the quiet of recovery at her parents’ home, she picked up old art supplies and rediscovered a talent that now brings her peace. Over…

Hunter Prosper talks to three strangers who have experienced the death of someone they love to understand how loss reshaped their lives—and how they continue to honor those who are gone.Meet this episode's strangers:- Jen, whose younger sister Christie was murdered along with her dog Hunter, and how that single phone call split her life into “before” and “after.” She describes the shock of an unexpected, violent death, the feeling of becoming “untethered,” and the help she’s found through a sibling-loss support group. Jen now says her sister’s name every day to honor her memory.- Arielle reflects on losing both of her grandfathers, and how learning their stories after their deaths revealed the ways their paths mirror her own. She also explains why asking older adults about their lives is one of the most powerful ways to keep their legacies alive after they are gone.- Isabel opens up about the night a police officer rang the doorbell at 4 a.m. to tell her family her older brother Jack was in the hospital…

Hunter Prosper meets three strangers at three different stages of life and asks them what love means to them. In this episode of Stories from a Stranger, we explore how love looks and feels different at every age—from the dizzying rush of a first crush to the quiet comfort of a lifelong partner, and the ache of wondering if love will ever come at all. Today, yesterday, and tomorrow, love is in the air.Meet this episode's strangers:- Sally, 96, who calls a college boy who gave her "a tingle" the love of her life, remembers the man who massaged her frozen feet on a ski trip and became her husband, and recalls the shock of being told she’d never have children, only to get pregnant on her honeymoon and become the matriarch of a sprawling family. She talks about losing her husband Joe, letting go of lovemaking, and living by her motto: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”- Ella, 18, has never been in love or in a long-term relationship and wonders if that makes her unlovable. After a string of talking stages that…

The new weekly video and audio podcast, Stories from a Stranger, features portraits of multiple strangers connected by themes of love, loss, regret, inspiration, illness, family connections, and more.