Something Shifted with Sean Loots

Sean Loots
  • 4.8 (25)
  • DOCUMENTARY
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS

There’s a moment where your life splits in two. Before, and after. Before the diagnosis. Before the loss. Before everything changed. And the life that came after, whether you were ready or not. But who are you when the life you planned no longer fits? Something Shifted is a podcast about lifequakes, identity after interruption, and the stories we tell ourselves after everything changes. Hosted by South African broadcaster Sean Loots, the podcast shares raw, deeply human stories that don’t make the highlights reel. In an almost documentary-style narrative, Something Shifted explores identity cracks, recalibration, and small but profound shifts that shape a new life. Alongside these conversations, Sean reflects on his own journey raising a child with special needs. These aren’t stories about bouncing back. They’re about growth in the middle of chaos and meeting the person you became when life changed the plan. Something Shifted brings human back and helps you feel a little less lonely along the way. Award-winning episodes that create genuine connection and remind you: you are not alone.

  1. "The things I hadn't dealt with."

    2 DAYS AGO

    "The things I hadn't dealt with."

    Josh was 12 years old when the phone rang on a quiet Sunday morning. He was home alone, mid-game of WWE SmackDown, when a voice on the other end broke the news. In this episode, Josh talks honestly about delayed grief, the way children absorb loss without the language to process it, and how the stories we tell - through music, through art, through conversation - can become the very thing that saves us. He also reflects on identity: growing up the happy one, finding his voice as a storyteller, and learning to answer the three questions his drama lecturer once posed: who am I, why am I here, and is that okay? This is a conversation about grief that arrives late, creativity as survival, and the slow, ongoing process of becoming who you were always meant to be. LINKS: Listen to Josh's song "Life as a Fleeting Bird" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0EkW0sS6uYlfXB7InWl40o?si=40c3280ab1ed497c Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    26 min
  2. From 14% to Full Breath: Remembering Tanya Bothma's Double Lung Transplant Journey

    17 MAR ·  BONUS

    From 14% to Full Breath: Remembering Tanya Bothma's Double Lung Transplant Journey

    What does it feel like to breathe freely for the first time at 40 years old? Tanya Bothma has struggled with every breath since birth. After a meconium aspiration as a newborn and repeated severe viral infections during childhood, she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a progressive narrowing of the airways that no medication could reverse. By 2017, Tanya's lung capacity had fallen to just 14%, less than one litre of air. That year, she became the first patient to receive a bilateral double lung transplant in a state hospital on the African continent. After the operation, her capacity reached 85%. For the first time, she could shout from the sidelines at her daughter's sports matches, support her husband, and live life without counting every breath. Then, in December 2023, six years after her transplant, Tanya was diagnosed with chronic rejection. In this episode, Tanya shares what it was like growing up with a severe chronic lung condition, the impossible decision to go ahead with a groundbreaking operation carrying a 50/50 survival rate, the grief of losing her brother in the same year as her transplant, and the joy of watching her daughter grow up on lungs she never thought she'd have. She also speaks with extraordinary openness about organ donation; what it means to receive a stranger's gift, what it meant to watch her own brother's tissue help 26 people, and why she believes more people need to understand what organ donation really involves. This episode was originally recorded in 2024 while Tanya was on the waiting list for her second double lung transplant. In December 2025, Tanya received that transplant. Sadly, Tanya passed away shortly after. Her story lives on as a testament to courage, love, and the life-changing power of organ donation. This episode was first published in November 2024. https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/spear-reit-a-new-breath https://odf.org.za/ https://save7.org/ https://podcasthon.org/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    20 min
  3. "I will not become what I witnessed."

    10 MAR

    "I will not become what I witnessed."

    In this episode of Something Shifted, True Crime South Africa host Nicole Engelbrecht reflects on how childhood trauma shaped both her identity and her work, telling some of the country’s darkest stories. Nicole Engelbrecht grew up in a world where some stories were never meant to leave the house. Violence, addiction, and instability lived quietly behind closed doors, and like many children raised in chaotic environments, she learned early how to survive by staying small, solving problems, and never becoming another burden. Years later, Nicole would build a career telling some of South Africa’s darkest stories. Listeners often ask how she can immerse herself in crime and tragedy every day and still sleep at night. For most of her life, Nicole believed the answer was simple: resilience. But the truth was more complicated. Nicole traces the hidden survival strategy that shaped her identity. From midnight moves and silent family secrets to raising a child while still in high school and forging her own path at seventeen, she learned to keep moving forward. Then, decades later, a small moment - a passing explanation on a psychology podcast - sparked a powerful lifequake. Suddenly, the resilience she had worn as a badge of honour looked very different. What followed was the slow, brave work of unpacking the boxes she had built to survive: understanding trauma, rewriting old narratives, and discovering that healing does not mean erasing the past; it means integrating it. Nicole’s story is about more than survival. It is about the stories we tell ourselves, and how sometimes those are the hardest stories to share with others. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio. Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    34 min
  4. "Harder to kill."

    24 FEB

    "Harder to kill."

    Conn Bertish, a high-performing creative director, faced a rare brain cancer diagnosis at 36. Emergency surgery revealed a medulloblastoma, usually only found in children under five. In a matter of hours, Conn’s life fractured, forcing him to confront who he was; and who he would become. In this episode of Something Shifted, Sean Loots explores how lifequakes - those seismic shifts that upend everything we know - can fracture identity and force us to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves. Conn’s story begins with subtle slurred speech and six-second headaches that escalated into emergency brain surgery and a rare brain cancer diagnosis. For him, this was the ultimate identity interruption. A before-and-after moment that challenged everything he believed about resilience, purpose, and survival. Through courage, self-reflection, and the hidden strategies that make some people harder to kill, physically, mentally, and emotionally, Conn rebuilt his life. This episode dives into the science of resilience, identity after trauma, and the powerful internal narratives we create to navigate life’s most intense disruptions. Listeners will discover: - How a lifequake can fracture identity and change the stories we tell ourselves - The hidden survival strategies that allow people to endure extreme trauma - Lessons on resilience, purpose, and transformation after life-changing events Conn’s journey is more than survival; it’s a testament to the human capacity to integrate life’s upheavals into a stronger, more purposeful self. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    33 min
  5. If Chickens Can Do It

    6 JAN

    If Chickens Can Do It

    A case for optimism. In the prelude to the new season of Something Shifted, Sean Loots speaks to astrophysicist-turned-journalist and author of "The Bright Side" Sumit Paul-Choudhury, about the science and psychology of optimism. Drawing on stories from Ernest Shackleton's 1915 Arctic expedition, to Sean's "Joy Jar", and the research behind optimistic chickens, Sumit shares how he became an optimist after experiencing great loss. Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    21 min
  6. "Peel the f*cking onion."

    31/03/2025

    "Peel the f*cking onion."

    Healing is like peeling an onion. The final episode of this season is a story about love, although it's not a traditional love story. It's about love addiction, the fear of not being loved and the kind of love that can keep you alive. It's about a mother's love, facing your greatest fear and learning to love yourself through it all. Sara-Jayne shares her complex family background, the trauma of being abandoned and adopted at 7 weeks, and her struggles with addiction alongside her partner's relapse. Through it all Sara-Jayne Makwala-King emphasizes that the opposite of addiction is not soberity, but rather connection. SJ is a journalist and author and has written two books about her life story. 'Killing Karoline' and 'Mad, Bad Love'. Both are available online and in all good bookstores. QUOTES: 'My biggest fear had just happened, and yet I was the one that had told him to go. I’d facilitated that. So that was the quake—the worst thing in the world that could happen to me as I exist is happening, which is that I am a single parent, and it’s all on me.' 'You feel as if it must be personal, and it isn't. If somebody's not ready to get well from addiction, there's nothing you can do. I am powerless over another person in their addiction.' INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/seanloots https://www.instagram.com/thisissjking BOOKS: Killing Karoline: https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9781920601959 Mad, Bad Love: https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9781990973567 RECORDED AT LATITUDE PODCAST STUDIO: https://www.staylatitude.co.za/latitude-podcast-studio/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    31 min
  7. I phoned The Chaeli Campaign for Podcasthon 2025

    24/03/2025 ·  BONUS

    I phoned The Chaeli Campaign for Podcasthon 2025

    My plan was to visit The Chaeli Campaign HQ. But life happened. So instead, I picked up the phone and spoke to the CEO, Zelda Mycroft. Zelda shares The Chaeli Campaign's mission to drive social justice and inclusion for people with disabilities. Highlighting the crucial role of advocacy in changing how society views and supports those with disabiliities, we speak about initiatives such as inclusive education and adaptive sports. Listen to how Athletics South Africa came to include wheelchair athletes to their rulebook because of the advocacy work done by The Chaeli Campaign. This episode forms part of Podcasthon 2025, using podcasting for good and raising awareness for charitable causes. QUOTE: "Inclusion can't be learned; it has to be lived. That is central to all the work that we do, seeing challenges as opportunities and inviting others along for the journey." WEBSITE: https://chaelicampaign.org/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/seanloots https://www.instagram.com/chaelicampaign/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    26 min
  8. "Pick up your pen and write a different story."

    10/03/2025

    "Pick up your pen and write a different story."

    What if your life suddenly changed course, not by choice, but by force? In this episode, host Sean Loots introduces Verity, a woman who decided to rewrite her life after a personal lifequake. Through courage, creativity, and deep self-reflection, Verity learned that we always have the power to author a new chapter, no matter how messy the last one was. Sean guides this conversation on transformation, resilience, and the small but powerful shifts that can lead to a completely new sense of self. In this episode, Verity Price tells a story filled with twists and turns. From losing her dad at 24, to walking the Camino de Santiago in his honor, writing a letter to the future, and even following a man to America. Verity went on to sell 2,000 copies of an album before it was even recorded, and in 2021, she beat 35,000 people to become the World Champion of Public Speaking. QUOTES: "I was shaken to my core. We had a week with him, and it was really rough because he was paralyzed. So this very verbal father that I'd had could just look at me with his eyes, and he was totally paralyzed from the stroke." “The biggest lesson I learned from that was that your ego often has one idea of what your life should look like and your soul has another.” "I cried so much while rehearsing them and hoping they could hear how much I love them, and my speech that I won with was literally saying, "Your life is a book. If you're not enjoying the read, pick up your pen and write a different story." WEBSITE: https://verityprice.com SONG: "Forever In Me" https://open.spotify.com/track/2fWW1fHiJSkoyIcfF21hxB?si=0cb2a306e91d4104 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/veritypricespeaks RECORDED AT LATITUDE PODCAST STUDIO: https://www.staylatitude.co.za/latitude-podcast-studio/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

    29 min
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Trailer

4.8
out of 5
25 Ratings

About

There’s a moment where your life splits in two. Before, and after. Before the diagnosis. Before the loss. Before everything changed. And the life that came after, whether you were ready or not. But who are you when the life you planned no longer fits? Something Shifted is a podcast about lifequakes, identity after interruption, and the stories we tell ourselves after everything changes. Hosted by South African broadcaster Sean Loots, the podcast shares raw, deeply human stories that don’t make the highlights reel. In an almost documentary-style narrative, Something Shifted explores identity cracks, recalibration, and small but profound shifts that shape a new life. Alongside these conversations, Sean reflects on his own journey raising a child with special needs. These aren’t stories about bouncing back. They’re about growth in the middle of chaos and meeting the person you became when life changed the plan. Something Shifted brings human back and helps you feel a little less lonely along the way. Award-winning episodes that create genuine connection and remind you: you are not alone.

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