403: What if your childhood bully actually apologized?
This Is Actually Happening
Audible
4.6 • 10.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After growing up in a home shaped by violence, racism, and fear, a woman is stunned to receive an apology from the girl who bullied her in middle school, forcing her to reckon with the harm they both carried and the possibility of repair.
Today’s episode featured Christy Davis. If you’d like to contact Christy, you can email her at MsChristy_Creative@proton.me. Christy’s episode is part 2 of a 2 part series.
Christy has recently started adding her writing to Substack: https://substack.com/@mschristy
Today’s episode was produced in collaboration with Pauline Bartolone, and was funded in part by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, as part of its "Spreading Love Through the Media" initiative, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
Pauline can be reached at paulinebartolone.org and on Instagram @pmbartolone
Producers: Whit Missildine, Pauline Bartolone
Content/Trigger Warnings: child abuse, domestic violence, emotional abuse, racism
racial slurs, bullying, physical assault, threats of violence, animal cruelty, parental infidelity, alcoholism, misogyny, depression, PTSD / trauma, medical trauma, hysterectomy, family estrangement, death of a parent, grief, explicit language
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Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it.
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Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez
Music Bed: Pure_Ambience_APM
Services
If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:
National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988
National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of This Is Actually Happening, |
| 0:04.3 | ad-free right now. |
| 0:06.4 | Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. |
| 0:09.4 | This Is Actually Happening features real experiences that often include traumatic events. |
| 0:13.7 | Please consult the show notes for specific content warnings on each episode, |
| 0:17.0 | and for more information about support services. |
| 0:19.9 | Hi listeners. |
| 0:20.8 | Last week's episode featured Nanda Nunnally, who survived the death of the and for more information about support services. Hi listeners. |
| 0:27.1 | Last week's episode featured Nanda Nunnally, who survived the deadly 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. |
| 0:27.9 | As the tornado tore through Nanda's house, she was suddenly struck by a memory of bullying |
| 0:32.4 | another girl, Christy Davis, in eighth grade. |
| 0:35.2 | As the tornado tore through Nanda's house, she was suddenly struck by a memory of bullying another girl, Christy Davis in eighth grade. As the tornado tore through Nanda's house, she was suddenly |
| 0:38.0 | struck by a memory of bullying another girl, Christy Davis, in eighth grade. As she huddled |
| 0:43.3 | in her closet, fearing for her life, she had a vivid thought. I'll never get to apologize |
| 0:47.8 | to Christy. After Nanda survived, she reached out to Christy and made that apology. Today, we hear from Christy Davis, the woman Nanda bullied as a teenager. |
| 0:58.2 | Christy tells her own life story, her account of the apology, and the subsequent healing |
| 1:02.8 | that took place. |
| 1:04.0 | If you haven't heard Nanda's story from last week, I urge you to listen to hers first before |
| 1:08.0 | listening to Christy's today to get the full context of what happened. |
| 1:11.7 | These two stories were brought to us by and co-produced with Pauline Bartolone, and were funded in part |
| 1:17.0 | by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center as part of its spreading love through the media |
| 1:21.5 | initiative, supported by the John Templeton Foundation. But now, on to Christie's story for today's |
... |
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