Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media.
389 episodes listed below
First-person survival and true-crime stories, plus Scott and Meredith's Tuesday Question banter.
What Was That Like gives unusual true stories room to breathe, from traumatic brain injury and plane crashes to grief, hoarding, and murder. Between the heavier stories, Scott and Meredith trade listener answers on embarrassment, public annoyances, irrational fears, and small discoveries.
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What Was That Like runs on three recurring formats rather than a single structure. The core interview episodes feature a first-person guest, typically someone who lived through violence, abuse, a disaster, or another life-threatening event, recounting their own account in detail, sometimes with archival audio like 911 calls or Facebook Live footage woven in. A second format, numbered under a 'STAS' label, has host Scott Johnson researching and solo-narrating a historical or news-based case without a guest present, such as the 1998 abandonment of divers Tom and Eileen Lonergan at the Great Barrier Reef. The third format, the numbered 'Tuesday Question' (TQ) episodes, drops the survival-story focus: Scott and co-host Meredith Hackwith Edwards trade personal opinions and listener-submitted anecdotes on lighter, everyday topics such as aging, public annoyances, and secondhand embarrassment. Recurring themes across the interview and solo episodes include domestic violence, mass-shooting threats, diving and travel accidents, and true-crime cases with legal outcomes like inquests or acquittals. Guests are not recurring public figures; each interview episode centers a different individual telling their own story once, rather than a rotating cast. Kiona is credited as the show's producer and separately hosts another podcast, Birth As We Know It. Content warnings are flagged within episodes when topics include suicide or graphic violence. The show serves two overlapping audiences: listeners of true-crime and survival-narrative podcasts, and listeners who enjoy the hosts' looser, listener-driven Q&A banter. Mid-roll ads promote other true-crime shows (Proof, The Jordan Harbinger Show) and consumer products. Episode length varies widely, from under 25 minutes for narrated case episodes to well over an hour for detailed guest interviews.
Made for: Listeners who follow first-person true-crime and survival narratives and also enjoy a casual, listener-driven Q&A segment with the hosts.
What sets it apart: Alternates full guest survival interviews with solo-narrated historical cases and a separate lighter Tuesday Question segment, rather than one continuous true-crime interview format.
A storytelling podcast, with first-hand amazing stories presented by Scott Johnson and Meredith Hackwith Edwards. Each storyteller tells their own personal true story, with all the details of what happened. Animal attacks, plane crashes, mass shootings, and more – you'll hear what happened directly from the person who experienced it, and the inspirational outcome of how they came out on the other side.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
What Was That Like makes trauma and survival legible through detailed first-person testimony, attentive follow-ups, and room for the aftermath.
What Was That Like gives people time to recount frightening, life-altering events in their own sequence, with Scott Johnson asking direct questions about what happened and what followed.
A child's prayer for his injured father makes your casual curiosity feel suddenly consequential.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
The image that lingers: a stepfather pocketing leftover restaurant pancakes for his dogs, and a kid already sprinting for the car.
The Tuesday Question format gives What Was That Like? something a long-form interview show rarely gets: the small embarrassments people have quietly carried for years.
A quiet, devastating look at how one injury can redraw an entire family.
Marcy's story follows what happens when a traumatic brain injury changes not just one man, but the whole household around him. She talks plainly about the night Greg was shot and the uneasy work of living with the version of him that came back.
Scott and Meredith field listener gripes about public behavior, with the bagged-and-abandoned dog mess drawing the most repeated attention.
The TQ episodes of What Was That Like swap the show's usual first-person disaster accounts for a looser format: Scott and Meredith pick a listener question, share their own takes, then work through what others sent in.
A stark survivor story told with restraint, and that directness is what makes it land.
Alyssa's story is about surviving an abusive relationship when the danger did not end neatly. The episode stays with Alyssa, a Tennessee musician, songwriter, and audio engineer, and with the fact that Jared was emotionally and physically abusive while police were actively…
A plainspoken question episode built around everyday annoyances and listener responses.
This Tuesday-question episode opens with a content warning for a brief mention of murder-suicide, then settles into Scott and Meredith trading back and forth on the frustrations listeners raised: drunk people, one-sided conversations, and people who seem oblivious to the space…
A calm look at endurance, repetition, and choosing effort you can live with.
The episode settles into a new recording room and lets that detail do some quiet work. It stays relaxed as it moves through endurance, repetition, and the kind of effort that still feels worth keeping up.
A botched head count left two divers 25 miles from shore, and no one on the boat noticed.
The dive boat Outer Edge left Tom and Eileen Lonergan behind -- a simple head-count error, 25 miles from shore. Scott, who hosts What Was That Like, tells the story himself this time, no witness in the chair: he walks through each ordinary failure, from Captain Jack heading back…
A quiet survival story where dread builds one ordinary minute at a time.
The episode stays close to Jess, and that choice gives the story its weight. It is about the strain of knowing danger may be near and still having to keep moving, through unanswered calls, a return to work, and the effort to act normal while the threat is still there.
Deer hunting talk with real life attached.
Practice money, clinical teaching and doctors' projects beyond the clinic.
Scott keeps the setup plain.
This episode tells the bizarre true crime story of Chelsea Perkins, a veteran and mother who faced sentencing for a murder plan that involved jurors using a Ouija board to consult the victim.
A brain injury changes the whole house.
Scott and Meredith start small.
This episode features a discussion with Margie about her experience cleaning out a hoarder house, exploring hoarding as a mental illness and the emotional challenges involved.
This episode discusses the common fears associated with flying, how flight attendants handle anxious passengers, and the reassurance of meeting pilots, but hints at potential dangers during landing.
Scott and Meredith discuss the definition and nature of irrational fears, exploring how they differ from legitimate fears while still causing discomfort, and referencing listener responses from their podcast's Facebook group.
Host Scott Johnson shares the story of the deadliest peacetime ferry disaster in European history, the sinking of the MS Estonia.
A storytelling podcast where individuals share their personal true stories of surviving traumatic events like animal attacks, plane crashes, and mass shootings.
The host announces a listener meetup and introduces a Tuesday Question episode where he and a co-host discuss stupid things they've done, based on listener responses.
Alyssa, a Tennessee musician, songwriter, and audio engineer, says her boyfriend Jared was emotionally and physically abusive before police were preparing to arrest him.
A mother shares her experience with her severely autistic son's violent behavior and the hope she finds in a hospital treatment.
This episode features Scott and Meredith discussing listener-submitted stories about terrible bosses, with a redacted company name to avoid legal issues, as part of their Tuesday Question series.
Host Scott Johnson promotes the true crime podcast Proof, which investigates wrongful convictions and helped free two men after 25 years in prison.
A guest recounts her terrifying experience of being attacked by a hippo while traveling in Africa.
Scott Johnson and Meredith answer a Tuesday question on What Was That Like: “what are you starting to hate as you get older?” Meredith says lower estrogen levels reduce her tolerance for “bullshit,” including drunk people, gossip, uncomfortable shoes, and flaky scheduling.
A man adopted at birth shares his story of finding his birth mother and the surprise reunion during the interview.
This episode features Scott's story about waking from a coma and the unsettling revelation from his doctor, focusing on the psychological impact rather than the coma itself.
First, there is a cow.
Tom and Eileen Lonergan, American Peace Corps volunteers celebrating their 10th anniversary, were accidentally left behind 25 miles offshore at Australia's Great Barrier Reef on January 25, 1998, when the dive boat Outer Edge conducted a botched head count and departed without them.
Jessica could feel trouble coming.
This episode explores the reasons why people end friendships through listener discussions and personal reflections from the hosts.
A woman receives a shocking surprise about her father from a former neighbor, leading to a difficult revelation.
Scott and Meredith introduce the Tuesday Question segment, discussing a blueberry incident and a game about noticing differences.
Host Scott Johnson introduces a story about Jennifer Strange, who died after a radio station's water-drinking contest, highlighting the dangers of negligent entertainment.
This episode is a Raw Audio bonus episode featuring a real 911 emergency call and the story behind it, with no ads.
A flight attendant recounts her calm response during a robbery and her heroic role on 9/11.
Scott and Meredith discuss a Tuesday question about why they are podcasters, sharing humorous thoughts and listener responses.
Host Scott Johnson shares the story of Geraldine Largay, a retired woman who went missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail.
The host shares humorous and embarrassing 'poop stories' from ultra runners, taking a break from the usual interview format.
Scott announces a listener meetup and introduces the Tuesday Question episode format where he and Meredith discuss past questions from the Facebook group.
Host Scott Johnson introduces a story about a father who receives a devastating phone call from a police detective about his daughter, setting up a personal survival narrative.
A storytelling podcast where individuals share their personal true stories of surviving traumatic events like animal attacks, plane crashes, and mass shootings.
A mother reflects on her parenting while recounting being run over by a car, leading to a story of survival and realization.
Scott and Meredith discuss a listener question about crazy things seen at weddings, sharing personal anecdotes and community responses.