What Was That Like Scott Johnson

Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Since it sits near a major cargo ship route, it’s not uncommon for Somalian pirates to hijack a ship and demand ransom. My guest for this episode, Robert, was on a large ship near Somalia once when pirates attacked. What the pirates didn’t know was that they were trying to hijack a US Navy warship.

Shareen felt trapped in her relationship with Jerome. He was unpredictable, violent and abusive but she couldn’t figure out how to escape. Finally she confided in a co-worker, and neither of them had any idea what they were in for that day.

Michael and his 7 younger siblings lived in a small house in Tampa with their parents, Jamie and Vernon. In this episode, Michael describes the horrific child abuse that they endured, and which went undetected year after year. Then the kids came up with a plan to escape.

Monica grew up in the Midwest, in a typical family with both of her parents. She never had any reason to question anything about her ancestry. Then she happened to try out one of those DNA kits, and she found out that what she thought was true for 40 years wasn’t really true at all.

Ricky is married, well-educated and fully employed. He can certainly afford to buy groceries. But he does not spend any money on food. What he eats does not come from inside the grocery store, but rather from the big metal bin behind the store. Ricky told me all about the world of dumpster diving.

Emily lives in Toronto. Like a lot of people, she usually gets nervous when she has to go through airport Customs, Immigration, and Security upon returning home from another country. But there was one time when she had a good reason to be stressed at the airport. Under her dress was about $150,000 worth of cocaine. And this experience led her into the business she runs today.