Tag: Call Me Friend Podcast

Podcast

Ep 25: Alisyn Camerota on Loss, Love & Starting Over The Moment Everything Changed

Grief, loss, career reinvention, and starting over after tragedy take center stage in this powerful conversation with journalist and author Alisyn Camerota. When life changes in an instant, how do you rebuild, find purpose, and move forward? In this emotional episode of Call Me Friend, Daryn Kagan sits down with Alisyn to unpack what it really takes to navigate loss, trauma, and major life transitions. From her experience with workplace harassment and power abuse during the Me Too era to

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Podcast

Ep 23: A Life-Changing Phone Call, Fostering & Fatherhood: Darren Graham’s Journey to Becoming a Single Dad

He thought the call was spam. Hours later, he was standing in a hospital NICU meeting a two-pound baby fighting for his life. Adoption, fatherhood, healing, and the power of intentional love are at the heart of this emotional episode of Call Me Friend. Host Daryn Kagan connects with content creator, writer, and single father Darren Graham to explore a life-changing story about foster care, adoption, and the unexpected journey to becoming a parent. Darren never planned to become a

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Podcast

Ep 22: How a Single Cookie & Three Cancer Battles Created Purpose for a Mother & Daughter

When life delivers unthinkable loss, what happens next can change everything. Cancer survival, grief and healing, a mother-daughter business, resilience after loss, and turning pain into purpose and connection are all discussed on this episode of Call Me Friend, featuring Laura Stachler and her daughter Susan Stachler. This is an inside-out story of grief, resilience, and purpose. After losing Laura’s sister Susan to Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the family later faced the same diagnosis again when daughter Susan was in college. What

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Podcast

Ep 20: Done Being Single? Late Bloomers Are Finding Love

Dating after 40 and being single can feel exhausting in modern dating culture. On Call Me Friend, Daryn Kagan talks with dating coach Treva Brandon Scharf about dating burnout and finding love later in life without losing yourself. Treva shares her late-bloomer love story, why being single does not mean something is wrong with you, and how releasing pressure can actually create space for real connection. Together, they unpack how modern dating apps have changed relationships, why conviction matters more

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Podcast

Ep 19: He Lost His Job & His Wife. Singing for Hospice Families Helped Him Rebuild His Life

What happens when life knocks you down and you choose service instead of fear? Host Daryn Kagan sits down with hospice singer Kevin Dunn, a man whose life changed forever after losing his job, hearing a calling to serve, and spending over 23 years singing for patients at a hospice in West Georgia. What started as a moment of uncertainty became a lifelong mission of compassion, faith, and human connection. Kevin shares how volunteering in hospice taught him that end-of-life

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Ep 18: From Addiction to Fatherhood: The Second Chance That Changed Everything

Second chances change lives. In this deeply moving episode of Call Me Friend, host Daryn Kagan pulls back the curtain on a moment few people ever see: a surprise grant award that changes everything. What begins as a routine follow-up interview turns into a life-altering moment for Jimmy Erickson, a father, student, and recovering addict doing everything he can to build a better future for his family. From past struggles with addiction and DUIs to earning a 4.0 GPA while

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Podcast

Ep 16: Love, Personal Loss, and 9/11: Former CNN Anchor Carol Lin’s Story the Network Never Showed You

When the world stopped on 9/11, millions saw Carol Lin on their screens… but no one saw what she was surviving off camera. In this gripping Call Me Friend conversation, Daryn reconnects with her former CNN colleague to uncover the truth behind Carol’s marriage, motherhood, identity, grief, and the hidden story behind her memoir, When News Breaks. Carol Lin opens up about the pressure of broadcast news, the unraveling of her marriage, the devastating loss of her husband shortly after

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Podcast

Ep 15: Never Too Late To Find Your Best Friend: The Traveling Nanas at 81 Travel the World in 80 Days

What if the friend who transforms your entire life does not show up until your sixties? Two women share a life changing friendship that leads to an 80 day trip at 81. In this inspiring episode of Call Me Friend, Daryn sits down with Ellie Hamby and Dr. Sandy Hazelip, the viral duo known as The Traveling Nanas, to explore how their friendship transformed grief into adventure and joy. After losing their husbands, Ellie and Sandy found comfort, strength, and

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Podcast

Ep 13: CNN’s John King Living with MS, The Magic Wall & Media’s Biggest Mistake

CNN’s John King, famous for election night coverage at the Magic Wall, opens up about living with multiple sclerosis, how MS shapes his daily life, and why hope and healing keep him going. CNN’s John King is known worldwide for guiding viewers through presidential elections on CNN with the Magic Wall. But behind the political maps and election coverage is a personal battle with multiple sclerosis (MS). In this powerful Call Me Friend episode, host Daryn Kagan reconnects with her

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Podcast

Ep 12: Author Kristin Harmel on losing identity, finding her voice again, and the life behind her latest bestseller

Bestselling author Kristin Harmel opens up about losing and rebuilding identity during breast cancer treatment, and the friendships that carried her through it. Daryn and Kristin chat about asking for help, receiving it without guilt, and letting friends hold your hope when you cannot. Kristin reflects on her comeback to writing, how community fuels creative recovery, and the small habits that kept her grounded as a parent and a writer. You will hear practical ways to support a friend in

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