meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

167: Chris was not strapped in

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.71.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You ever watch a video on YouTube, or TikTok, and it shows someone walking right on the edge at the top of a very tall building? Or maybe they’re right at the edge of a cliff with a steep drop off, and they’re doing flips or some stupid thing, just to get views and show how fearless they are. Every time I see one of those, I get this weird feeling in my gut because I think about the risk that they’re taking, and the horrifying outcome if they make just one little mistake. I wasn’t always afraid of heights. As a kid, I was on the roof of our house all the time. But as an adult I fell off a roof, and since then – I avoid high places. That’s why I’ll most likely never go hang gliding. It actually does look like it would be an incredible experience, just flying silently through the air. But my mind would always go back to the thought of what could go wrong, and that kind of destroys the moment. My guest in this episode, Chris, went hang gliding and he found out exactly what could go wrong. It was his first time, and he was flying with an experienced hang gliding pilot. When they took flight, Chris realized he was not strapped in – his pilot had forgotten to attach him to the hang glider. This is a Flashback episode. Chris originally told this story a few years back here on the podcast, so after you hear his story I’ll play a recent conversation I had with him so you can hear what’s happened since then. And I asked him – have you ever gone hang gliding again? And hang around to the end, because I’ve recently discovered a podcast that I think you’ll really enjoy. The video of Chris hang gliding unattached - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLBJA8SlH2w You can get Chris’s book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Day-Fall-Chris-Gursky/dp/B0CFZQRSWJ/ref=sr_1_1 Check out the Birth As We Know It podcast at KionaNessenbaum.com Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/167 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self. Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week. Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month. Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today! To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is a Glass Fox Media Podcast.

0:10.0

You ever watch a video on YouTube or Tik-Tock,

0:13.3

and it shows someone walking right on the edge

0:16.1

at the top of a very tall building?

0:21.1

Or maybe they're right at the edge of a cliff with a steep drop-off and they're doing

0:25.7

flips or some stupid thing just to get views and show how fearless they are.

0:33.4

Every time I see one of those, I get this weird feeling in my gut because I think about the

0:38.0

risk that they're taking and the horrifying outcome if they make just one little mistake.

0:44.6

I wasn't always afraid of Heights. As a kid I was on the roof of our house all the time, but

0:51.5

as an adult I fell off a roof and since then I avoid high places.

0:57.0

That's why I'll most likely never go hang gliding.

1:01.0

It actually does look like it would be an incredible experience just

1:04.8

flying silently through the air, but my mind would always go back to the thought of

1:10.8

what could go wrong. That kind of destroys the moment.

1:16.4

My guest in this episode, Chris, went hang gliding and he found out exactly what could go wrong.

1:23.0

It was his first time and he was flying with an experienced hang gliding pilot.

1:29.0

When they took flight, Chris realized he was not strapped in. His pilot had forgotten to attach him to the hang glider.

1:39.7

This is a flashback episode. Chris originally told this story a few years back here on the podcast,

1:46.0

so after you hear his story, I'll play a recent conversation I had with him

1:51.0

so you can hear what's happened since then. And I asked him, have you ever

1:56.4

gone hang gliding again? And hang around to the end because I've recently discovered a podcast that I think you'll really enjoy.

2:09.3

Real People in Unreal Situations. in unreal situations.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.