What It Cost · A podcast with Dan Russell
Stories of people who paid for who they became.
Nobody becomes strong by accident. Behind every person you’d call powerful is a stretch of life they’d rather not relive: the loss, the failure, the year everything broke. That’s what made them, and it’s the part they don’t usually tell.
What It Cost is that part. Each episode I sit down with one person who came through something hard and came out more themselves, and ask what it took. Not the highlight reel. The price.
No episodes yet · The first conversations are being arranged
01 / What you’ll hear
One person, one story.
Somewhere between forty minutes and an hour with someone who came through something hard: a leader, a founder, an athlete, a parent, someone who gave something up to become who they are. As long as the story needs, no longer.
01
The part before.
Who they were when it started, and what they thought they knew.
02
The crucible.
The loss, the failure, the year everything broke. What it actually felt like, not the version they tell at dinner.
03
What it cost.
The price they paid, what they gave up, and whether they’d pay it again.
04
What it made.
Who they are now, and what they can do that they couldn’t before.
02 / What you won’t hear
Not the highlight reel.
The polished version is everywhere already. This show is the part underneath it, and a few things stay off the table.
01
A highlight reel.
The polished version is everywhere already. This is the part underneath it.
02
Names without consent.
No one in a guest’s story is named unless they’ve agreed. Guests leave out details that would identify someone in an uncomfortable way.
03
A formula to buy.
Nobody here is selling a method. Every guest paid a different price for a different thing.
04
Clinical advice.
These are conversations, not therapy or medical advice. If you or someone you know is in crisis in the U.S., call or text 988.
05
Me talking over the guest.
I ask and I listen. My own story comes in only when it helps a guest open up.
03 / Who it’s for
If you’re in the middle of your own hard stretch.
Who it’s for
Anyone who paid for something.
Anyone in the middle of their own hard stretch. Anyone who has given something up and isn’t sure yet what it bought. And anyone who wants to know what the people they admire actually went through.
Be a guest
Tell the part you don’t usually tell.
If you came through something that changed you, and you’re willing to tell the part you don’t usually tell, write me a line or two about your story.
Where it stands
No episodes yet.
The first conversations are being arranged now. When they’re out, they’ll be listed here and wherever you listen to podcasts. The show also has a home at Fathom House.
