33 | Born Astride a Grave
Alive Again9 Dec 2025

33 | Born Astride a Grave

Aileen Loy grew up inside a storm—descended from indentured laborers, raised in a rigid, often violent household, and taught to keep the family together at any cost. At 13, she watched a Halloween car crash fling her four-month-older nephew through a windshield; the year before, a beloved brother had died by suicide. For years she became the caretaker and the peacemaker—“a people pleaser” who never prioritized her own pain—until the reckoning came: an ICU stay after a suicidal spiral and the hard decision to break from the patterns that were breaking her. In this raw conversation, Aileen traces the inheritance of shame and self-loathing, the pressure to assimilate, and the moment she realized, “I am a severely damaged person,” then chose to heal—through truth-telling, boundaries, and art. It’s a story about refusing the “family curse,” and finding dignity beyond survival.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of family violence, a fatal accident involving a child, suicide and suicidal ideation, depression, and intergenerational trauma. Listener discretion advised.

If you or someone you love is struggling, you’re not alone. In the U.S., dial or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Story Producer: Nicholas Tecosky

If you have a transformative near-death experience to share, we’d love to hear your story! Please email us at aliveagainproject@gmail.com We’d love to hear your story!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avsnitt(45)

43 | Rip

43 | Rip

Zoe Cooper grew up around parachutes—her parents were skydivers—and by her eighth jump she felt like a pro. Then the parachute ripped. Spinning low, she and her instructor had to cut away and free-fal...

17 Feb 56min

42 | Extraordinary Awakening: A Conversation with Filmmaker Jonas Elrod

42 | Extraordinary Awakening: A Conversation with Filmmaker Jonas Elrod

Filmmaker Jonas Elrod never set out to become a spiritual seeker. While making a documentary in San Francisco, his life was suddenly upended: lights flickered, voices appeared, and a portal opened in ...

10 Feb 1h 29min

41 | Angel Falls

41 | Angel Falls

At 26, Taylor Maxson was searching for purpose while working with at-risk youth in Kentucky. After months of exhaustion and stress, he and two friends set out on the Cumberland River for what was mean...

3 Feb 37min

40 | The Bondage of Self

40 | The Bondage of Self

In this unforgettable episode of Alive Again, Charlie Collins shares the moment that changed everything: when he was electrocuted by 12,500 volts on top of a moving train in New York. Legally blind si...

27 Jan 39min

39 | Maybe It Saved My Life

39 | Maybe It Saved My Life

On a 110° Grand Canyon trek rerouted by wildfire, Drew Seibert collapsed alone—hallucinating a friend, cooling in a cave, and realizing he might die there. He didn’t. A river guide’s sat phone summone...

20 Jan 49min

38 | Play The Tape Through

38 | Play The Tape Through

At UC Santa Cruz, Brooke Knisley fell more than twenty feet from a redwood while drinking and spent ten days in a coma. What followed was the long, messy work of living with a traumatic brain injury: ...

13 Jan 42min

37 | Threshold Metaphysics

37 | Threshold Metaphysics

In 2015, Robert was poisoned by someone he knew. A rapidly spreading infection sent him into emergency surgery—then into a profound near-death experience. In a vivid desert vision, a calm “guide” spok...

6 Jan 37min

36 | From Whom All Blessings Flow

36 | From Whom All Blessings Flow

When a falling rock shattered Rhesa Bailey’s pelvis at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, survival became immediate and bodily— improvised splints, a perilous raft run to the remote ranger station, a tur...

30 Dec 202553min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
svd-nyhetsartiklar
allt-du-velat-veta
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
det-morka-psyket
pojkmottagningen
dumforklarat
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-vetenskapsradion
sexet
halsorevolutionen
rss-ufo-bortom-rimligt-tvivel
rss-spraket
rss-experimentet
vetenskapsradion
rss-broccolipodden-en-podcast-som-inte-handlar-om-broccoli
medicinvetarna
bildningspodden
4health-med-anna-sparre