This Is Actually Happening

When ex-Bunny girl Jayne Gaskin spots the desert island of her dreams for sale online, she decides to risk it all. Trading in their English village home, Jayne and her family relocate to their own private paradise, just off the coast of Nicaragua. And a reality TV crew follows them to film a new show, No Going Back. But soon they all discover that paradise has its secrets. The locals claim the island belongs to them, and it’s been sold illegally. Jayne’s not leaving without a fight. A fight that will soon turn deadly. Hosted by Alice Levine. Listen to The Price of Paradise on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting https://wondery.com/links/the-price-of-paradise/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After his mother falls in love with Frank, the member of a one-hit-wonder 80s band, a man’s life becomes a roller coaster of neglect, scams, and chaos, but when he turns the camera on the inside of his family, a new world opens he never thought possible.

After losing her entire family at ten years old, a woman’s grief evolves into a self-destructive rage, and as systems of care, punishment and rehabilitation keep failing her, she’s forced to create her own path to healing.

Growing up queer, bullied and abused in a heavily religious community, a man tries and to change his sexual orientation through prayer, but as he pieces his life together and heals past harms, tragedy and misfortune raise more questions than answers.

Finally finding love and marriage after feeling unworthy of romance, a woman develops symptoms of a mysterious and debilitating illness, but in the roller coaster of recovery, her husband’s mental illness creates a new level of chaos.

An Indigenous woman from the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation whose grandparents suffered the horrific abuses of the Canadian Indian residential schools finds her own path to healing amidst the ravages of generational trauma on her family and community.

After being kidnapped by her mother in a custody battle, a woman finds herself cut off and under the thumb of an abusive stepmother, but after years of chaos and yearning, she finally learns the devastating truth.

Endowed with a strong drive from a young age, a woman becomes a workaholic and marries a wonderful man with similar ambitions, but when he faces a failing project, life-long toxic work patterns come to a tragic conclusion.

Soon after returning from a long trip abroad, Whit Missildine, our creator and host of the show, suddenly blacked out and entered a non-responsive seizure state, but as he woke up to a new reality, struggling to put himself back together again, the gifts from the show itself offered exactly the medicine he needed.

An impromptu hiking trip turns suddenly to disaster.

Growing up with a sense of heroic duty, a man becomes a cop fighting the drug war, when the sobering realities of his job lead him to profound awakening.

A woman growing up in poverty in Jamaica is abandoned by her mother at an early age, and as her story of unworthiness deepens, she falls prey to a cruel world.

After learning to endure a toxic relationship with his father, a man crafts a ‘good life’ filled with the privileges of success, but only when he finds himself on the other side of death’s door does he find out what it really means to be alive.

Growing up in a family full of secrets, a woman experiences a complex trauma and buries a secret of her own, but after finding her passion in medicine, she is faced with dilemma that brings everything to the surface.

A young woman on a backpacking trip in Bali faces a series of misfortunes, but just as she’s leaving for the next chapter of her journey, her future is thrown into darkness.

A young man looking for a quick way to get rid of student loan debt gambles with his life and nearly pays the ultimate price

A woman with severe harm OCD encounters the many faces of death and dying but finds renewal in caring for others and ultimately herself.

After tragedy strikes a Vietnamese refugee family, a young man finds his new home in a violent gang, forever marking his life path through acts of destruction and redemption.

Growing up in a broken home with a loving mother, a woman faces disturbing and routine abuse from her brother, but after it escalates, and the unthinkable happens, the terror never ends.

A woman experiences a childhood trauma, facing silence and betrayal in the aftermath, but a when unexpected tragedy comes, the answers begin slipping out of reach.

Growing up with a solid Midwestern childhood, and man discovers the wonders of the Hawaiian ocean, when one day a terrifying encounter changes everything.

After falling into a co-dependent relationship, a woman’s boyfriend begins a bewildering decline, but after losing his battle, she awakens to a deeper understanding of grief, death and generational patterns of trauma and silence.

Growing up with a controlling and mentally abusive mother, a woman suffers from a severe eating disorder that leaves her hopeless, until she discovers Medical Assistance in Dying, a program in Canada whereby people can receive assistance from a medical practitioner to voluntarily end their life.

After finally deciding to settle into a long term relationship, a woman becomes tangled in a web of confusion, guilt and grief as her partner self-destructs

Navigating a chaotic upbringing, a man finds his path through sports, military and grueling police work, but as the scars from Iraq, the domestic violence unit, and corrupt police politics mount, he pursues a dark reckoning to try to recover his humanity.

Finally emerging from her critical and violent home life, a teenager suffers a freak electrocution from a downed power line, sending unexpected shockwaves through her and her family.

Bullied from a young age, a woman’s insecurities lead her to a highly toxic relationship she can’t shake, but when she moves into a new life, an even greater threat lurks.

Growing up in a very strict Persian-Indian-American family with an abusive father, a woman vows never to get married and repeat her parents cycle, but after her father arranges for her to meet her future husband, everything changes.

Escaping a world of gangs and drugs, a man joins the military and becomes a veteran of Iraq, but the scars from his past, PTSD and a TBI haunt him until a fateful day when he faces the ultimate demons.

A chaotic upbringing leaves a woman with chronic depression, but after the birth of her first child, she enters a new level of chaos from which she struggles to return.

A woman with a severe eating disorder and addiction finds inspiration in the strength of a religious community and a woman who has beaten the odds, but when the illusions begin to crumble, a deeper source of strength emerges.

Growing up in poverty, a man finds an outlet in a racist metal band, when one day fate transforms him and he pursues an unlikely marriage, but when his wife begins to switch, new identities emerge that stretch the limits of love.

A woman leaves behind the wounds of her alcoholic father, only to find out that her husband’s addiction is threatening to ruin their family; but when he goes to find healing through a plant medicine ceremony, a shocking, darker truth is revealed.

After facing abuse at a young age, a man develops a festering, unseen sense of emptiness that finds expression in an act of violence that would haunt him forever.

Going from a highly privileged family to college at Princeton to a career as the first male supermodel, Hoyt Richards was truly living the dream, but as he fell deeper under the influence of magnetic mentor, he started living a secret life that threatened to consume him.

Growing up with undiagnosed autism and confronting her mother’s death at a young age, a woman struggles to understand herself and her family, but when her father commits an incomprehensible act, she is left tragically bewildered

Being born without his right hand, man’s resentment and monstrous self-image deepen as family and doctors intervene to fix his condition, leading him to question what would truly make him whole.

After growing up with a father she could never fully please and a trauma she couldn’t share, a woman is slowly groomed into an underworld of sex work beyond what she bargained for.

Growing up Muslim in the Middle East, a woman juggles the chaotic expectations of a severely abusive mother with her desire for self-expression; but when she comes into a sexual awakening, a secret world opens where a deeper healing waits.

Grappling with a lifetime of looming abuse from his father and a mother suffering from paralysis, a man decides to cut ties with his parents, only to set in motion a new set of horrors that threaten to decimate his entire family.

After escaping a childhood of bewildering traumas, a woman gives herself fully to a charming man with dark secrets, but when justice comes, she awakens to new self-insights and a unique superpower.

Escaping the tumult and abuses of his childhood through music, a young man lands a dream gig at a premiere nightclub in Mexico, but when the party’s over, he finds himself inside the underbelly that lurks beneath the glamour.

Growing up in a family of ex-Scientologists, a person finds solace in relationships, when they suddenly fall in love with someone calling everything in their life into question while descending into mental illness.

After being subjected to horrific abuses from his schizophrenic father as a child, a man later descends into his own mental illness, but as he struggles to recover, a freak accident unexpectedly awakens him into a new life.

In the wake of her uncle’s untimely death, a woman bears the brunt of her mother’s long mental health decline, struggling to keep her safe from herself, and in the wake of tragedy, finds a way to help thousands of others like her.

From an idyllic childhood in communist Yugoslavia, as a teenager, Mirsad’s world becomes a living nightmare as the Bosnian War brings shelling, torture, murder and ethnic cleansing to his village, leaving deep scars that haunt and transform his life.

A woman buries a series of childhood traumas and falls into a chaotic world of drugs and abuse, but when things turn from darkness to horror, she must make split second, life or death decisions that ultimately bring everything to the surface

After divorcing her first husband and starting a new life, a woman meets The One, but when one night he doesn’t come home, she calls the police and her world is turned upside down.

Struggling to prove himself and find his identity growing up, a man eventually builds a career and begins occasionally helping out a friend with his granite import business, when one day, the dangers of the job become all too real.

A special bonus episode featuring a conversation between TIAH host, Whit Missildine and Connor Sheets, an investigative journalist with the Los Angeles Times who co-produced the Point Blank series. In this conversation we discuss the origins of the series, how Connor originally got the story, the different storytelling approaches of print journalism and podcasting, the highs, lows and astonishing moments in creating the series.

A special bonus episode featuring a conversation between TIAH host, Whit Missildine and Candice DeLong, host of the brilliant podcast, Killer Psyche, discussing the spree killing in Rancho Tehama, the focus of our Point Blank series.

Growing up in a supportive, suburban family, Sheridan Orr shares an idyllic childhood with her brother Kevin, but when he suffers a series of head injuries, things take a turn for the worse and the family suffers the ultimate nightmare as his descent into mental illness results in the spree shooting of Rancho Tehama in 2017.

Two additional victims of the 2017 Rancho Tehama spree killing speak about their experiences in our Point Blank series: First, Jared Tuck, a neighbor of the shooter, who was attacked that morning and witnessed his uncle’s murder; Second, James Woods Jr., a young man who was driving with his father when Kevin Jansen Neal pulled up and shot him in the face.

After a chaotic upbringing and early adulthood, Jessie Sanders carved a life for himself in Rancho Tehama, California and formed a deep friendship, but when his sister reported hearing gunshots at the elementary school that day, Jessie knew exactly what he needed to do, confronting the horror, heroism and traumatic aftermath of loss and violence.

Coming from a career in the military, law enforcement and police dispatch, Ken Yuers found his true calling as a teacher for at-risk youth, and eventually landed a job at Rancho Tehama elementary, when one day in 2017, gunshots outside the classroom brought a horror on him and his students that he never imagined.

After losing her daughter to a freak accident, Sissy Feitelberg focuses on supporting her grandson Gage who lives in Rancho Tehama with his widowed father, Danny, but when a shooting spree begins, a deeper horror falls on the family and leaves Sissy to pick up the pieces.

After navigating a hardscrabble, working-class life, Troy McFadyen finally settles down with his wife in rural California, when one day driving down the road, they are aggressively T-boned by a stranger, and suddenly find themselves in the middle an unthinkable tragedy.

Having grown up in a safe, sheltered home, a woman balances her career, marriage and five children, but one morning, when her husband is traveling on a two-month tour of duty, a man enters her home and a nightmare begins that last well beyond the first 48 hours of hell.

Born to an affluent Mormon family, a boy befriends a rotating set of nannies that help raise him and become part of the family unit, but his favorite nanny starts playing games that reveal darker intentions.

While in the depths of a toxic relationship, a woman begins experiencing a magical, unseen world around her, but on a layover on a flight through LA, the world becomes all too real.

Reeling from the early loss of his father and abuse in the family, a man finds an outlet through cars and becomes a repo agent, but on a routine job one night, he faces a life-altering danger that will change him forever.

A woman struggles to break free from the rules of her strict and sheltered upbringing, but after battling a derealization disorder and finding a new life for herself, she faces a danger she could never have imagined.

A woman grows up in a loving Libyan family in California, but after recession hits and her dad falls on hard economic times, a darkness enters the family that destroys everything.

While hunting in the Canadian wilderness, a man accidentally comes between a grizzly bear cub and its mother and a terrifying a fight for his life ensues that will change him forever.

A woman learns shocking truths about what happened to her mom when she was young, while caretaking her mentally ill father and grappling with revelations that haunt the family forever.

After a chaotic upbringing ending with her parents’ divorce, a woman falls into the hands of a man whose promises are too good to be true.

A man searches to find love for himself and his family after facing the dark consequences of being disfellowshipped by the Jehovah’s Witness.

While pregnant and navigating a rocky relationship, a woman coming home from a local fair stops for a soda one night and suddenly faces the brutal terror of a notorious serial killer.

After suffering the horrific abuses of his Southern grandmother, father and mother, a teenage boy discovers his own queer identity through a fantasy world, but when it becomes all too real, everything he believes is called into question.

After leaving the Jehovah’s Witness faith of her childhood, a woman redefines her life with her husband and child and becomes a loving foster parent for many, but as one of her foster children comes of age, the chaos threatens to unravel the entire family.

After losing her father at a young age, a woman begins apprenticing as a funeral director, but when tragedy strikes again, the loss takes an exponential toll.

A man growing up in the closet joins the military under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and numbs his identity with alcohol, but after becoming a nurse and after COVID wreaks havoc, his downward spiral hits a new rock bottom that will decide his life or death.

A woman grows up in a home chronically terrified by her father’s abuse, but when her parents split and he starts another family, she learns of the true, horrifying danger she was in her entire life.

As a teenager struggling with severe depression and anxiety, a woman finds dance as her only outlet, but on a night that is lost to memory, a horrific accident transforms her body, her brain and her identity.

A man tries to put the pieces of his life back together after growing up with a mother who suffered from severe OCD and anorexia.

A woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder experiences a roller coaster of destroyed relationships and mental storm, but after stabilizing through therapy and medication her mentally compromised mother makes an accusation that cannot be revoked.

Growing up Black and queer in the South, a man finds an identity for himself through the arts and establishes a wonderful marriage with children, until one day, when his husband is late coming home, there’s a ring at the door and his entire life unravels.

Coming from a charmed, conservative, Catholic upbringing, a woman must confront her deepest beliefs as she struggles with the reality and implications of the most devastating news a mother can receive.

After surviving a chaotic and abusive upbringing, a woman develops an undiagnosable autoimmune disorder that threatens to take her vision and her livelihood, but when a friend brings a blow-up doll to play a practical joke one night, everything changes.

Bill Mitchell built a successful career, marriage and family, but just as his bright and loving daughter graduates from college with big dreams, an unthinkable event irreversibly changes everything.

Always feeling she had failed the ideals of her strict Muslim, South Asian family and community, a woman struggles to navigate trauma, shame and self-expression, when unexpected news forces her into a powerful reckoning.

A woman struggling to find herself finally discovers a place where she belongs and forms a deep friendship, but when she experiments with a powerful psychedelic the experience reveals more than she bargained for.

A man struggles to free himself from his father’s iron grip on the family, but when an unsettling truth about his past is revealed, his entire life comes into focus.

After a woman’s Mormon family falls apart following the death of her father, her mother brings her to a Scientology Center where she leaves everything behind.

After growing up queer with a complicated father in the 1960s, a man forges his own path, identity and career in the arts, but suddenly, after a routine surgery, he wakes up unable to move.

A woman falls deeply in love with a married man in her close friend’s circle, when suddenly an unthinkable event throws everything into question.

Following a tumultuous upbringing, a woman begins confronting the complexities of her identity and self-destructive tendencies, when all of a sudden, devastating bouts of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder begin to consume her life.

After self-medicating for years to cope with the emotional aftermath of an abusive, religious upbringing, a woman goes in for a minor surgery, and when she emerges, everything has changed.

Growing up with a single mother and a father in jail, a dancer’s life is forever changed when one night, while doing a favor for a friend, two unknown shooters open fire.

A boy grows up in a household devastated by AIDS, opening a downward spiral of loss and a path of resilience.

A teenage Russian immigrant in Iran is jailed and tortured during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, but when a prison guard falls in love with her, she’s forced to weigh the price of her freedom.

A woman struggles to find herself among her mother’s multiplying crises that always seem to find a new rock bottom.

A woman always seeking a sanctuary from a chaotic upbringing has her home and her life upended when a bizarre new roommate threatens to ruin everything she’s built.

After growing up with a patriarchal Christian home, a woman grapples with her father losing touch with reality when his delusions begin to dramatically unravel the family narratives.

Growing up Jewish and surviving the twin traumas of domestic abuse and antisemitic bullying, a man finally establishes a new life for himself, when devastating loss threatens to keep him locked in a cycle he can seemingly never escape.

Growing up in a loving Mexican immigrant family in the US, everything changes in a young girl’s life when a home invasion, abandonment and unprocessed losses mount, leading to a dramatic wake up call.

A man suffers a serious injury after a drunken fight, but in its wake, a deeper unhealed wound festers that leads to an act of hate.

Just before coming into adolescence, a young girl experiences an unspeakable trauma, but a bigger horror begins once she reveals her secret.

Growing up with a sense of heroic duty, a man becomes a cop fighting the drug war, when the sobering realities of his job lead him to profound awakening.