It's Ben a Week

This week on It’s Ben A Week, Ben is opening up about something deeply personal—and explaining the emotional moment millions of viewers watched unfold on The Traitors: New Blood.During a recent episode, Ben became emotional while talking about how, for the first time in his life, he genuinely felt like he was “one of the boys.” He also shared that fellow cast member Joe reminded him of the father figure he always wished he’d had.But what viewers didn’t see was the lifetime of experiences that made those moments so meaningful.In this deeply personal solo episode, Ben reflects on growing up gay, struggling to feel accepted by other boys, and navigating complicated relationships with the men in his life.He opens up about his biological father, who passed away from pancreatic cancer before Ben ever had the opportunity to come out to him. It wasn’t until his father’s funeral that Ben learned something he would carry with him for years: his father had always known he was gay and loved him regardless.Ben also shares the painful reality of growing up with a stepfather who rejected his sexuality, including a terrifying confrontation when he was 18 years old that ended with Ben being threatened with weapons, forced to leave home, and calling the police.For years, those experiences shaped how Ben approached relationships, vulnerability, and his place among other men.So when he found himself surrounded by a group of men on The Traitors who genuinely embraced him, encouraged him, and made him feel included, something unexpected happened.He cried.Not because he was sad, but because he finally experienced a kind of acceptance he hadn’t realized he’d been missing.Ben also reflects on how appearing on national television has changed his life, the overwhelming support he’s received, the challenges of keeping his Traitors experience under wraps, and why he’s excited for the next chapter of the podcast.This episode is about much more than reality television. It’s about growing up, finding your people, making peace with your past, and realizing that sometimes the moments that change us most are the ones we never see coming.In this episode:Why Ben became emotional on The Traitors: New BloodThe real meaning behind finally feeling like “one of the boys”Growing up gay and feeling different from other boysWhy Ben gravitated toward female friendshipsThe challenges of navigating male friendshipsBen’s relationship with his biological fatherLearning after his father’s death that he had always been acceptedGrowing up with an emotionally abusive stepfatherThe terrifying night Ben was threatened and forced to leave homeHow childhood experiences can influence adult relationshipsWhy Joe became such an important father figure during filmingFinding unexpected acceptance among the men on The TraitorsWhy Ben describes his emotional moment as healingThe support he’s received from viewersWhy humor has always been one of Ben’s coping mechanismsWhat’s next for It’s Ben A WeekContent Note: This episode includes discussions of homophobia, emotional abuse, family rejection, threats involving weapons, and childhood trauma.If you’ve ever felt different, excluded, or like you didn’t belong, this conversation is a reminder that your past doesn’t have to determine your future.Sometimes finding your people happens when you least expect it.See You Next Tuesday!🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

Eleven is back on It’s Ben A Week—and somehow a casual catch-up turns into an hour-long therapy session about friendship, fame, social media and knowing when it’s time to let people go.With Ben suddenly experiencing a new level of attention from The Traitors: New Blood, he’s noticing something strange: people are treating him differently. Old acquaintances are popping back into his DMs, people he’s known for years are suddenly acting differently around him, strangers are asking for photos, and everyone apparently “always knew” this was going to happen—even though Ben certainly didn’t. That leads Ben and Eleven into a much bigger conversation about friendship. They’ve known each other since 2015 and can go months—or even a year—without talking and immediately pick up where they left off. But not every friendship works that way. Some people are meant to stay, some belong to a particular season of your life, and others simply reach their expiration date without a dramatic fight or falling out.  Then Ben makes a confession: he knows when you unfollow him.And yes, sometimes he wants an explanation.Ben and Eleven unpack the surprisingly complicated psychology of the Instagram unfollow, why Ben immediately unfollows people back, Eleven’s completely different approach to cutting people out of her digital life, jealousy, comparison and why social media can make friendships considerably more complicated than they need to be.Eleven also reflects on once having around 600,000 YouTube subscribers, watching roughly half of that audience disappear as she moved away from beauty content, and learning that evolving publicly sometimes means losing people who only connected with an earlier version of you. Finally, Ben and Eleven answer listener questions about friendships, queer identity, making yourself smaller for other people, being misunderstood and figuring out who in your life actually gets you without needing an explanation.In this episode:Why people are suddenly treating Ben differentlyGetting recognized after appearing on TVBen’s unexpected “gay cowboy” personaPlaying a straight cowboy as a gay actorWhy some friendships last decades and others expireDrunk Ben’s entirely separate collection of friendsFinding your people after moving somewhere newFriendship between queer men and womenKnowing when someone isn’t “your person”Missing a wedding because of a Burning Man threesomeWhy Ben needs closure when friendships endThe psychology of unfollowing someoneWhy Ben knows exactly who unfollowed himJealousy and comparison on social mediaEleven losing hundreds of thousands of YouTube subscribersFame, attention and being put on a pedestalBen and AJ navigating Ben’s current career whirlwindListener friendship questionsMaking yourself smaller to keep other people comfortableWhy communication might solve more than we realize🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

This week on It’s Ben A Week, Ben is catching up with one of his oldest and dearest friends from his Los Angeles days, Australian actress and longtime partner-in-crime Allira.Ben and Allira met nearly a decade ago in acting class, where they quickly discovered they shared two things: a love of acting and an inability to keep a straight face around some of their classmates. What followed was years of questionable decisions, ridiculous adventures and the kind of friendship where neither person should probably be left unsupervised.They look back at the acting program that brought them together—including brutal rehearsal schedules, unsolicited acting advice, questionable notes from teachers and the moment Ben was told one of his completely normal mannerisms was “too gay.” Allira remembers being told her Australian accent needed work, while they recall another classmate allegedly being encouraged to adopt a less Latino-sounding professional name. Then comes one of Allira’s greatest Hollywood stories: while working as a Universal Studios tour guide, she confidently welcomed an entire bus of roughly 160 guests, performed her introduction, delivered jokes and talked for several minutes before discovering she’d boarded the wrong vehicle.It was the Mandarin-language tour.And nobody on the bus understood her. But nothing compares to the day Ben and Allira went to a Malibu wine safari, got drunk in the middle of the afternoon and somehow decided the only reasonable next step was to fly to Las Vegas to see Britney Spears.Within hours, Ben had booked flights and front-row tickets, they raced from Malibu to their apartments to dog daycare to LAX, continued drinking on the plane, befriended a flight attendant, arrived in Vegas carrying a garbage bag full of airplane liquor and discovered their hotel had upgraded them to a penthouse suite. Allira—who initially didn’t even want to see Britney—ended up in the front singing every word and having one of the best nights of her life. Plus: Australian wildlife, how to actually pronounce Melbourne, LA Pride, terrible wine, casino adventures, Ben’s refusal to fly economy to Australia, and the very questionable acting jobs they accepted before anyone knew who they were.Sometimes the best friendships are built on love, loyalty and a decade of evidence that probably shouldn’t be made public.In this episode:Allira’s Australian moth invasionHow Ben and Allira became friendsThe insanity of their LA acting classes“Right there—that was gay.”Acting advice they probably should have ignoredAllira’s Universal Studios tour-guide daysAccidentally boarding the Mandarin tourThe Malibu wine safariGetting drunk and spontaneously booking Britney Spears in VegasRacing across LA to make their flightThe flight attendant who joined their night outAccidentally getting upgraded to a Vegas penthouseWhy Allira changed her mind about Britney“Copy that… what was that?”LA Pride and a $45 recovery burgerWhy Ben desperately needs to visit AustraliaAnd ten years of friendship and questionable decisions🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

Brian and John from Out Loud & Laughing are back on It’s Ben A Week, and apparently a few months apart gave everyone a lot to discuss.Ben catches up with the boys on everything that’s happened since their last visit—from The Traitors: New Blood and Ben’s increasingly recognizable cowboy hat to weight-loss shots, gay body standards and why Ben considers himself a “six-foot-three petite person.” The conversation somehow moves from GLP-1s to protein, farm animals and the uncomfortable realization that Ben may own chickens—but absolutely cannot eat Joanne.  Then it’s time to compare summers. Ben recounts his European vacation aboard his best friend’s enormous yacht—which he quickly learned should technically be called a “giga yacht”—complete with a helicopter, multiple smaller boats, Greece, Sicily, Capri and the South of France. Brian and John share their own European adventures, including returning to the Spanish villa where Brian celebrated his wedding ten years earlier.  Brian and John also have plenty to celebrate professionally: Out Loud & Laughing is partnering with Out Magazine, they’re approaching 180 episodes in under two years, and they’ve become finalists in Ryan Seacrest’s Top Host competition. For them, the podcast has grown into something larger than interviews—it’s about LGBTQ+ storytelling, community and creating chosen family.  Meanwhile, Ben talks about what might come after his current television adventure, why most traditional reality shows aren’t for him, the newly announced movie Cowboy, and the reality show he’d actually consider doing next.  And because no conversation between these three stays on topic for long, expect debates about pumpkin spice, Santa Claus, Elf on the Shelf, gay elves, Vanna White, reality television, electric cars and whether Brian and John should take their podcast international.In this episode:Would Brian and John rather be Traitors or Faithfuls?Ben’s early experience with weight-loss shotsGay math and gym membershipsWhy Ben “identifies as petite”The problem with naming your farm animalsBrian’s bizarre fraternity initiationPumpkin spice seasonBen’s European giga-yacht vacationBrian’s 10-year wedding anniversaryThe Real Housewives villa connectionBrian and John’s partnership with Out MagazineTheir Ryan Seacrest Top Host finalist runBen playing a straight cowboy in CowboyWhat reality show Ben would do nextThe nightmare of Elf on the ShelfWhy Ben believed in Santa for so longBrian and John’s mission to build queer community and chosen family🏆 Bryan & Jon are finalists in Top Host 2026! Vote for them here: https://tophost.org/2026/bryan-jon🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

Apparently, everything is a scam.This week, Ben is solo—and he has a few things he needs to get off his chest.It starts with a routine service appointment for Ben’s electric vehicle, a tire-protection package that was supposed to make tire problems worry-free, and the discovery that apparently tires can be too worn out to qualify for the protection Ben specifically purchased for his tires.What follows is an increasingly ridiculous lesson in warranties, loopholes and why Ben is convinced we’ve all been hoodwinked.But the scams don’t stop with cars. Ben takes on health insurance, dental insurance, airline loyalty programs, timeshares and the endless parade of programs that sound incredible when someone is selling them—until you actually try to use the benefits you paid for. Then Ben has another realization: maybe everything isn’t becoming more annoying.Maybe he’s just getting old.Because somewhere along the way, everyone started saying things like “that sent me,” “I’m sat” and “bruh”—and Ben would simply like to know where everyone is being sent, why nobody can stand up, and who decided this was how we’re speaking now. And don’t even get him started on 6-7. Finally, Ben addresses what he’s been seeing now that he’s on television: internet trolls, hate comments and the incredible amount of effort some people are willing to dedicate to something—or someone—they claim to hate.Maybe we all need to spend a little less time being angry online and a little more time touching grass.In this episode:Why Ben thinks everything is a scamThe $4,000 tire-protection sagaGetting told his tires were too worn to be coveredThe ridiculous workaround that followedWhy warranties seem amazing until you actually need themHealth insurance and the bizarre world of medical pricingWhy Ben questions whether dental insurance is worth itAirline status and chasing benefits that never seem to materializeThe family timeshare that keeps changing the rules“That sent me”“I’m sat”Why “bruh” needs to stopWhat the hell does 6-7 actually mean?The horrifying realization that Ben may officially be getting oldInternet trollsExperiencing online commentary while appearing on televisionWhy some people need to touch grassBen’s new philosophy: live and let live🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

This week’s It’s Ben A Week is a little different—and considerably more serious.Ben is joined by returning guest, friend, acting coach and criminal defense attorney Trisha LaFache for a conversation about sexual assault, college campuses, the criminal justice system and what happens when survivors believe the institutions designed to protect them have failed.The conversation was prompted in part by renewed national attention surrounding allegations that a former Cornell University student was drugged and sexually assaulted by fraternity members in 2024. After a civil lawsuit brought new scrutiny to the case, prosecutors reopened the criminal investigation and said the evidence would be presented to a grand jury.  Rather than attempting to determine guilt or innocence on a podcast, Trisha draws on her experience as a criminal defense attorney to explain the legal process behind cases like these: the difference between a university investigation and a criminal investigation, probable cause versus proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the role of prosecutors and grand juries, and why she believes an emphasis on “winnable” cases can create serious problems for sexual-assault survivors. Ben and Trisha also discuss the complicated role social media can play—bringing attention to cases that may otherwise receive little scrutiny while also creating pressure, misinformation and competing narratives before the legal process is complete. And Trisha shares something deeply personal: she is herself a sexual-assault survivor who never reported what happened to her. The conversation ultimately becomes less about any single case and more about what needs to change: creating spaces where survivors feel safe speaking, teaching young people about consent, encouraging bystanders to intervene, and making sure people know where they can turn when something happens. Since this conversation was recorded: On October 2, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that Attorney General Letitia James would serve as special prosecutor in the Cornell investigation. The allegations remain under investigation, and the outcome of the criminal process has not been determined. 🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

What does it take to survive more than four decades getting paid to crash cars, jump motorcycles, work with fire, horses and helicopters—and occasionally die on camera?Apparently, being scared.This week, Ben sits down with legendary Hollywood stuntman, stunt coordinator, actor, director and author Corey Eubanks, whose career spans more than 160 movies and over 1,200 episodes of television. From The Dukes of Hazzard and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to Fast & Furious, Transformers, Rush Hour, The Wedding Planner and Mission: Impossible, chances are you’ve watched Corey work without ever realizing it. Corey takes Ben behind the scenes of a side of Hollywood most audiences never see: stunt performers being hospitalized, friends losing their lives, actors insisting on doing their own stunts and productions attempting sequences where one mistake can have catastrophic consequences.He shares what it was like doubling Tom Cruise, why Cruise really does perform many of his own stunts, and the wild story behind The Wedding Planner sequence that Matthew McConaughey’s team insisted he could perform—until Corey put him on a horse and discovered otherwise. The professional rodeo champion eventually hired for the stunt was himself dragged by a horse and sent to the hospital.  Then there’s Corey’s most terrifying stunt: flipping a 21-ton prison bus three-and-a-half times at approximately 60 mph for Fast Five. Nobody could confidently predict whether the roll cage would withstand the impact, and Corey was concerned enough that he handed his life-insurance information to his children before filming. Ben and Corey also swap their own horseback stunt stories, discuss whether AI could eventually replace stunt performers, revisit Corey’s unusual path into Hollywood—including a little well-timed nepotism courtesy of his father, legendary game-show host Bob Eubanks—and talk about Corey’s transition from risking his life on camera to sharing what decades of stunt work taught him about fear, preparation and safety.In this episode:More than four decades of Hollywood stunt workWhy being afraid may have saved Corey’s lifeLosing friends in the stunt industryThird-degree burns, broken bones and concussionsDoubling Tom CruiseHow much of his own stunt work Tom Cruise actually doesWorking with Jackie ChanThe Matthew McConaughey stunt that Corey refused to let him performA terrifying accident while filming The Wedding PlannerBen’s own horseback stunt experiencesFlipping a 21-ton prison bus for Fast FiveHanding his life-insurance information to his children before a stuntCorey’s near miss with a helicopter bladeThe deaths and injuries audiences never hear aboutWhether AI could eventually replace stunt performersWorking with Michael Bay on TransformersGrowing up as Bob Eubanks’ sonThe nepotism that finally opened Corey’s first major doorJumping the General Lee on The Dukes of HazzardWhy Corey finally has nothing left to proveHis book Dying for a LivingWhat’s next for Corey Eubanks  Want to learn more about Corey Eubanks, his incredible career in Hollywood, and the stories behind some of the biggest stunts ever put on film? Visit Corey’s website to connect with him, learn more about his speaking engagements, and purchase his book, Dying for a Living, where he shares stories from his decades-long career as a Hollywood stuntman. Visit: coreymeubanks.com🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

Joy is back at the ranch—and this time AJ is joining the entire episode.Fresh off Ben’s Traitors: New Blood premiere party, the three chat about a week filled with friends, cocktails, cookies with Ben’s face on them, cakes with Ben’s face on them and, apparently, just about anything else they could possibly put Ben’s face on. But Joy’s visit brings back one particularly chaotic memory: the time she helped Ben and AJ move from Los Angeles to Texas during COVID.After U-Haul informed them that their “reservation” didn’t necessarily mean there would actually be a truck available, the plan quickly unraveled. A Penske truck was secured, AJ’s car suddenly needed a driver, and Joy—mid-walk in Beverly Hills—somehow agreed to drive it to Texas.What she thought would be a relatively manageable road trip turned into a 21-hour first day involving horses, dogs, a cat named Annabelle, a truck that could barely make it up hills, gas-station confusion, two panic attacks, fears of the cartel, sleeping in a horse trailer and discovering that simply reaching Texas did not mean they were anywhere close to Granbury. And the chaos didn’t end when they arrived.Ben promptly learned how not to operate his new swimming pool by heating the entire thing to nearly 100 degrees, draining the property’s propane tank overnight and leaving everyone without hot water—all for approximately fifteen minutes in the pool. The conversation eventually makes its way back to the present: Joy’s obsession with Patrick the cat, why guests at Ben and AJ’s ranch eventually become unpaid farmhands, another koi pond rebuild, experiencing Ben’s television premiere together, and the people, animals and little things bringing everyone some much-needed joy.In this episode:Joy returns to the ranchRecapping Ben’s premiere partyThe Whitney Houston cocktailJoy’s newest love: Patrick the catThe disastrous LA-to-Texas moveU-Haul’s questionable definition of a “reservation”How Joy accidentally became part of the moving crewA 15-hour drive that became 21 hoursAJ’s Penske truck that could barely climb a hillTraveling across the country with horses, dogs and a catJoy’s two road-trip panic attacksSurviving El Paso 😂Sleeping in a horse trailerFinally arriving at the new ranchBen accidentally heating the pool to nearly 100 degreesDraining an entire propane tank overnightWhy Joy is allowed to stay longer than most houseguestsThe ranch’s three requirements for an indoor catExperiencing premiere night togetherWhat is bringing everyone joy right now🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

It’s officially premiere week.After months of filming, waiting, keeping secrets and counting down the days, Ben is just two days away from the premiere of The Traitors: New Blood—and it’s finally starting to feel real. This week, Ben reflects on what it feels like to finally reach a moment he’s spent years working toward. From seeing himself on billboards and magazine covers to getting recognized in public, becoming a meme and discovering just how deeply Traitors fans will investigate someone’s life online, the experience has been exciting, surreal—and occasionally terrifying.But for Ben, this moment represents something much bigger than appearing on a reality show. After years of acting, auditions, rejection, photography, podcasting and trying to build a career in entertainment, it’s an opportunity to do the thing he’s always wanted to do on a bigger scale: make people laugh. And with plenty of new people about to discover the podcast, Ben gives everyone a proper introduction to the life behind the cowboy hat: growing up in Minnesota, moving to Los Angeles, acting, becoming a headshot photographer, barrel racing, meeting AJ, buying a Texas ranch over FaceTime and somehow ending up with more than 70 animals.Then AJ joins Been There, Done That for a premiere-week check-in involving Ben’s now-famous cowboy hats, a potential new business venture, rescue kittens, a bakery employee who didn’t recognize Ben from his own professionally retouched photo, Ben becoming a meme, the temptation to read comments online—and, naturally, another complete redesign of the koi pond. The waiting is over. The train has left the station.Here we go.In this episode:The Traitors: New Blood premiere weekWhat it feels like for Ben to finally reach this momentWhy he’s trying not to wish the experience awayBecoming recognizable in public for the first timeSeeing himself on billboards, magazine covers and memesThe good—and very bad—side of reading comments onlineWhy making people laugh has always been the real dreamA reintroduction to Ben for new listenersGrowing up in Minnesota and moving to Los AngelesActing, photography, barrel racing and podcastingBuying a Texas ranch over FaceTimeLife with more than 70 animalsAJ’s custom cowboy hatsThe bakery employee who didn’t recognize Ben from his own photo 😂Becoming a memeAJ’s advice about staying off RedditWhy Ben is rebuilding the koi pond… againGetting ready for premiere night🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com

This week on It’s Ben A Week, Ben sits down with author, speaker and endurance athlete Risa August for an incredible conversation about what happens when the life you carefully planned suddenly takes a completely different road. For nearly seven years, Risa knew something in her body wasn’t right. Despite unexplained weight gain, headaches, changes in her body and eventually debilitating symptoms, she says she was repeatedly told by doctors that she was fine. Finally, Risa insisted on an MRI—and one week later learned she had a tumor at the base of her brain and a rare disease called acromegaly. Brain surgery removed part of the tumor, but doctors discovered the remaining portion was wrapped around her carotid artery and couldn’t safely be removed. Faced with radiation, lifelong medication and a body she no longer recognized, Risa found herself sitting on her couch in a pair of “gnarly gray sweatpants” wondering what her life was supposed to look like now. Then she asked herself a different question: What can I do? Her answer? Ride a bicycle from Canada to Mexico.Risa shares how that 41-day journey changed her relationship with her body, perfectionism and the expectations she’d spent much of her life trying to meet. She also introduces Ben to “Bubba”—the name she gave the tumor she still lives with today—and explains why humor became part of how she reclaimed ownership over something that once terrified her. Ben and Risa talk about medical self-advocacy, resilience, humor as a coping mechanism, letting go of perfection, taking life’s biggest goals one tiny step at a time, and why changing your life doesn’t necessarily require changing everything overnight.In this episode:The symptoms Risa experienced for nearly seven years before her diagnosisWhy she finally insisted that her doctor order an MRILearning she had a brain tumor and acromegalyBrain surgery, radiation and discovering part of the tumor was inoperableWhy Risa named her remaining tumor “Bubba”Going from Ironman athlete to struggling to get off the couchThe “gnarly gray sweatpants” moment that changed her perspectiveDeciding to bike from Canada to MexicoRiding for 41 days with only a handful of rest daysLetting go of perfection and the person she thought she was supposed to beWhy humor can be powerful during life’s darkest momentsThe difference between a huge life change and taking one small stepRisa’s award-winning book The Road UnpavedChoosing what “living” looks like every single day Learn more about Risa and follow her journey:Website: https://www.risaaugust.comInstagram: @risaunleashed https://www.instagram.com/risaunleashed/TEDx Talk — “How a Single Word CAN Rebuild Your Life”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK9SITnpvcA🎧 Subscribe to It’s Ben a Week New episodes every week filled with unfiltered stories, wild guests, and brutally honest laughs. Hosted by photographer and professional barrel racer Ben McDonnell.📍 Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon | Wherever you get your podcasts🔗 Connect with Ben: Instagram: @itsbenaweek TikTok: @itsbenaweek Website: itsbenaweek.com💬 Want to be on the show? Submit your story or pitch at itsbenaweek.com