– Season 3 starts Fall 2026 –
What's it like to be a tween therapist? To switch careers and begin photographing toys? To have Guillain-Barré? To be the first female chess grandmaster?
Tell Me What It’s Like is a podcast about uncommon experiences and what they teach us about the world. Host Stacy Raine talks with people who have spent years in roles and life situations most of us don’t experience to understand what it’s actually like, what they’ve seen over time, and what those experiences reveal.
Tracking Mountain Lions: Dr. Winston Vickers on Saving California's Big Cats
Dr. Winston Vickers has spent decades studying one of America's big cats, the mountain lion. He's tracked them, collared them, and even studied their poop, all to help Southern California's mountain lions survive. A veterinarian who went back to school mid-career to study big cats, he shares what it's like to come face to face with a mountain lion, why highways are pushing some populations toward extinction, and why killing one lion doesn't solve the problem.
“There was concern that mountain lions in some parts of Southern California were making it harder for these bighorns to recover. So that's why we started putting collars on the mountain lions."
- Dr. Winston Vickers on Tell Me What It’s Like
Hear Dr. Vickers discuss:
How he went back to school to study mountain lions after a 20 year vet career
How you trap a mountain lion (it involves roadkill)
The diseases threatening them, from avian flu to feline leukemia
How one freeway split a population and led to dangerous inbreeding
What scat-sniffing dogs reveal about what lions eat
What it was like to collar his first mountain lion
Close encounters with mountain lions
Why "you can't kill your way out of the problem"
Why there seem to be more lions in the suburbs
Why mountain lions keep whole ecosystems in balance
Mentioned in this episode:
Learn more about the California Mountain Lion Project at UC Davis (https://whc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/programs-projects/carnivores/mountain-lions)
Listen to A Path for Mountain Lions by The Nature Conservancy (https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/protect-water-and-land/land-and-water-stories/a-path-for-mountain-lions/), featuring Dr. Vickers
View the mountain lion tracker (https://cougar.codefornature.org/)
About Dr. Vickers:
Dr. T. Winston Vickers is a wildlife research veterinarian with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and the Institute for Wildlife Studies. For 20 years he directed or co-directed mountain lion studies across California, and he has studied mountain lions and other wildlife for 23 years. His work focuses on why mountain lions die, how they move, road crossings, genetics, and how they interact with people.
"Just the sheer muscle that's there when you feel their bodies is just amazing. "
- Dr. Winston Vickers on Tell Me What It’s Like
24 Jun 2026
Building Community Wherever You Go: Kandi Hart on What She's Learned as a Military Spouse
In the Season 2 finale, military spouse Kandi Hart joins the show to discuss what she's learned about building community after decades of moves. She and Stacy talk about what it takes to thrive in every new place, including the mindset you need, the tactics that can work, and how sometimes community starts with just one person.
"I will immediately walk up to somebody, and I will ask them about themselves. I'll say, 'Tell me about your family.'"
Hear Kandi talk about:
Why Twentynine Palms — a base most people dread — became a place her whole family asked to go back to
The party mistake that humbled her and changed how she thinks about inclusivity
How she went from a shy kindergartner who cried every morning to the first person to grab the microphone in any room
Why she thinks showing up at someone's door still matters more than any Facebook group
How to build your community when you're not in a military bubble
Mentioned in this episode:
Twentynine Palms, California (https://visit29.org/)
Support This Show:
Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast app
Leave a rating & review — it helps others find the show
Share the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media
17 Jun 2026
Diagnosed with Asperger's at 65: Charles Grimes on Finally Understanding Himself
Charles Grimes has spent nearly 30 years as a business psychologist, helping leaders understand themselves so they could lead others well. But he’s also been trying to understand himself, with therapy, courses, and numerous self-assessment tools. But it wasn't until he was 65 — when a friend made a casual, throwaway comment — that the missing piece finally clicked into place. He had Asperger's. The diagnosis didn't feel like bad news. It felt like freedom.
"It's okay to be Charles. And that's something which I hadn't felt. And I'm 65. This is very late in life to suddenly feel it's okay to be me."
Hear Charles talk about:
What his friend said that set the whole thing in motion and why he didn't dismiss it
What "masking" is, and the exhausting work of hiding in plain sight for decades
The conductor who walked into rehearsal and transformed a mediocre choir without saying a word - and what this has to do with leadership
What fell into place when he looked back at his life through the new lens of his diagnosis
Learning about love and connection later in life — and why he thinks it's never too late
Mentioned in this episode:
A Question of Leadership (https://aquestionofleadership.com/) by Charles Grimes
The National Autistic Society (https://www.autism.org.uk/) — where Charles went for his formal assessment
Support This Show:
Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast app
Leave a rating & review — it helps others find the show
Share the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media
Mentioned in this episode:
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Who has been a guest on Tell Me What It's Like
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Morton Barlaz
Becca Pizzi
Saundra Pelletier
April Mitchell
Leigh Dzvonick
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