Bar Fights

We are healing. Growing. Loving. Falling down. Getting back up again. We are a force that can change the world." There could not be a better time to welcome HeatherAsh Amara to Bar Fights. In many ways, this planet is currently in turmoil, and the author of the Warrior Goddess series has some encouraging and inspirational insight for the human psyche — you got this. So obstacles, beware. HeatherAsh can help you course-correct your life and get you dancing with the challenges as much as you dance with the joys.

"I will no longer be known as a number; I will be known as Dr. Danielle Moore." The last time Sarah Klein saw this week's guest, she was presenting her victim impact statement at the 2018 sentencing of Larry Nassar and those were Danielle's final words at the podium. On this episode of Bar Fights, Sarah welcomes her sister survivor, now a doctor of clinical and forensic psychology, to discuss their journeys since that emotional day in Lansing, Michigan and the op-ed Danielle felt compelled to publish on its four-year anniversary.

In a world starving for love and compassion, Hannah Smith has emerged as an inspirational hero. On any given day, you can spot Hannah on a busy street corner, holding handmade signs and the vibrant messages that adorn them for her town's tense commuters. "It's ok to not be ok, just don't give up." Nothing but uplifting, positive reassurance coming from a teenager who was admitted to a psychiatric medical institute for children at the age of 7 and attempted suicide less than 5 years ago. Hear the amazing story of how Hannah turned her life around and chose love to be her guide.

"You can think of the brain as being an overprotective mother." But sometimes, your body just wants to be independent and experience new things. Dr. Dravon James is a motivational speaker, a radio host, a life coach, and the author of Freedom is Your Birthright, and she brings buckets of sunshine and pearls of wisdom to the latest episode of Bar Fights. It's not too late to refocus your resolution and Dravon is just the person to help you do it. She provides all the tools and tips to help you find the power to get your health, wealth and relationships on the right track and create your best year YET! Because brains don't always know best.

"If you’ve survived something, isn’t it kinda your duty to talk about it? What was the point of going through it just to keep it to yourself?” From the moment a stranger laid his towel on a Nantucket beach next to his, Hoyt Richards, at the ripe age of sixteen, found himself living a glitzy New York City lifestyle and being groomed by a mastermind cult leader. On Sarah’s first episode of 2022, she finds herself awestruck by Hoyt’s riveting story of how a doomsday cult robbed him of twenty valuable years, confined him from his own family and brainwashed him into funding the whole operation with the money from his budding modeling career. Tune in and prepare to be enthralled by Hoyt Richards

Just another Tuesday afternoon talking about sex! On this episode of Bar Fights, Sarah welcomes Rachel Maine, a sex therapist turned sex coach and the host of the popular podcast Owning Your Sexual Self. Rachel and Sarah chat about Rachel's early days as an intern on a crisis hotline and a survivors advocate, to her work with Pure Romance, a woman-owned, international company. The conversation also gets around to severe trauma and how it can deeply affect intimacy. Rachel shows survivors of sexual and domestic abuse how to take ownership of their bodies again and regain their power, comfort and safety in the bedroom

"There are few things in this world more dangerous than an angry and frightened mother." When the system failed Polly Franks, she took matters into her own hands and went after the man who sexually assaulted her two young daughters. This serial predator, who was dubbed the San Antonio Ski Mask Rapist, eluded conviction in Texas and then rebranded as the Bandana Bandit in Richmond, Virginia — right in Polly's neighborhood, just one block from the elementary school. Sarah and Polly talk about what it took to get the man behind 286 known attacks behind bars, Polly's riveting book Devil at My Door, and how she has taken to Capitol Hill to turn her family's horrific nightmare into positive change for survivors everywhere.

There aren't many stories as compelling and inspirational as the one of Aspen Matis. On her second night of college, she was raped by another freshman in her dorm and the college did nothing to protect her. Her perpetrator was found innocent and she was expected to go about her education with him living on the floor directly above her. Then, in an act of personal salvation, Aspen hiked the Pacific Coast Trail from Mexico to Canada. On this episode, Sarah and Aspen discuss the 2,650-mile, life-changing journey, Aspen's novels Girl in the Woods and Your Blue is Not My Blue, and 15 king size PayDay candy bars

"More often than not, the [victims'] rights are violated rather than afforded." Sarah Klein returns after a 2-week break for an informative conversation with Meg Garvin, a Law Professor at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes balance and fairness in the justice system through victim-centered advocacy, education and resource training. Together, they discuss the future Ask For Rights Campaign and the ongoing need to place victims of violent crimes in the forefront of the criminal justice system.

"You can't expect somebody to build a house if you don't have the tools in the toolbox." Rhett Hackett was sexually abused as a teenager by his neighbor and has paid his experience forward by dedicating his life to restoring the human race with values and compassion through education. He is the president/co-founder of the Humanity Preservation Foundation in Philadelphia and hosts Hands Off on RVN Television, a weekly show committed to the prevention of interpersonal violence. This episode of Bar Fights explores Rhett's journey from survivor to full-time advocate, the importance of early intervention and how going public on The Oprah Winfrey Show changed his life.

Darkness to Light, based in Charleston, SC, is the nation's leading advocate for the prevention of child sexual abuse and has trained 2 million people on how to recognize and react responsibly to this national pandemic. Katelyn Brewer is the organization's president and CEO...and an everyday superhero. On this episode of Bar Fights, Sarah and Katelyn discuss the difficult conversations parents must have with their children and how rethinking your standards on challenging authority could save your child's life.

On this emotional episode of Bar Fights, Sarah takes a breather in the corner of the ring after her exhausting round on Capitol Hill with sister survivors Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman. The demanding schedule, the extensive traveling, the restless nights and the countless interviews that press to hear her story AGAIN and AGAIN have all taken their toll and reminded Sarah to focus on her own mental health. But rest assured this is just a moment to reset. There are many rounds left and the fight will resume stronger than ever.

Healed people heal people. Rabbi Avremi Zippel watched the Larry Nassar testimonies play out in 2017 and was so moved and emboldened that he came forward with his own reports of sexual abuse. While growing up in Salt Lake City, the family caregiver started molesting him just after his 8th birthday and the abuse continued for a decade. On this episode of Bar Fights, Sarah and Avremi examine his healing journey and lament the uncanny parallels in their stories of survival.

What started as an alluring self-help group turned into a secret sorority of forced labor and sex trafficking. On episode 07 of Bar Fights, Sarah Klein welcomes the author of Still Learning: A Memoir and the executive producer of the docuseries Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult — India Oxenberg. These two warriors discuss the parallels in their difficult journeys, escaping and surviving a high-control environment and the subsequent path to real healing.

Bar Fights continues with Sarah Klein's colleague, fellow attorney and real-life superhero — Morgan Stewart. In this episode, Sarah and Morgan chat about his landmark case against USA Water Polo and Coach Bahram Hojreh that resulted in a settlement of $14 million and the genesis of America's leading sexual abuse law firm — Manly, Stewart & Finaldi. SPOILER ALERT: they all blame John Manly.

In this episode of Bar Fights, Sarah welcomes colleague, fellow survivor and the Executive Director of Child USAdvocacy, a nonprofit organization that strives for common sense legislation to protect children from sexual abuse — Kathryn Robb. Sarah and Kathryn tackle the archaic laws that support the perpetrators more than the survivors and the national movement to augment the statutes of limitations.