What if the most powerful art comes not from performance, but from radical truth-telling and allowing yourself to be a vessel for something greater?

In this soul-stirring episode, host Aaron Lazar sits down with the extraordinary Sara Bareilles—Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Tony and Emmy-nominated actress, and creator of the beloved musical Waitress. Sara joins from a place of deep reflection, having recently delivered the commencement speech at her alma mater UCLA, where she spoke about embracing the "both/and" nature of life—the glorious and the awful, the joy and the fear, all existing simultaneously.

This conversation is both intimately personal and universally resonant. Sara opens up about her lifelong allergy to anything inauthentic, her belief that music is her church and that she's simply a vessel translating divine particles into song. She shares her journey with anxiety, the transformative power of meditation and therapy, and why she's no longer interested in brand-building—only in genuine connection and being of service.

Sara's impossible dream shines brightest when she talks about surrendering to life's flow, recognizing that resistance only amplifies suffering, and trusting that even our most painful experiences carry profound lessons. This episode is for anyone navigating anxiety, loss, creative blocks, or the fundamental human challenge of showing up authentically in a world that constantly asks us to perform.

Guest Bio:

Sara Bareilles is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Tony and Emmy-nominated actress, and New York Times bestselling author. Best known for her chart-topping hits including "Love Song," "Brave," and "Gravity," Sara has sold millions of albums worldwide and earned critical acclaim for her honest, emotionally resonant songwriting. She made her Broadway debut in 2016 when she composed the music and lyrics for Waitress, which became a cultural phenomenon and earned her a Tony nomination for Best Original Score. She later stepped into the lead role, showcasing her remarkable acting talents. Sara has also starred in Broadway's Into the Woods, earned an Emmy nomination for her performance as Mary Magdalene in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, and published the bestselling memoir Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song. A graduate of UCLA, Sara recently returned to deliver the 2024 commencement address. She continues to create music that serves as medicine for millions, believing deeply that art is about connection, truth-telling, and being of service.

Learn more about Sara Bareilles:

Official Website: https://www.sarabareilles.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarabareilles

Waitress the Musical: https://waitressthemusical.com

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Presented by the ALS Network

Produced by EVRYBDY Studios

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What if, for once, a conversation about ALS didn’t begin with despair—but with hope?

This holiday season, host Aaron Lazar invites listeners into a radically different kind of dialogue: one grounded not in fear, but in possibility. The ALS community is too often met with messages of limitation and inevitability. In this special episode, we turn that narrative on its head.

Joining Aaron are three extraordinary individuals— CEO of the ALS network Sheri Strahl, head of the ALS clinic at Duke university Dr. Rick Bedlack, and chief data scientist for PCCI Albert Karam—who each bring a voice of courage, compassion, and conviction. Together, they illuminate what’s possible when advocacy, clinical wisdom, and human connection come together in service of healing.

This conversation lifts up the stories, insights, and lived experiences that inspire strength. Sheri shares how the ALS Network supports families with unwavering dedication. Dr. Bedlack reflects on decades of caring for patients with an open heart and an open mind. Albert speaks to the power of innovation and imagination when seeking answers that bring genuine hope to the community.

This episode is a reminder that while ALS is daunting, the people living with it—and those standing beside them—are even more powerful. Their stories reveal pathways to resilience, connection, and possibility. This is a conversation for anyone who needs to hear that light still breaks through, even in the hardest moments.

This holiday, we offer a gift: a space where hope leads the way.

About the Guests:

Sheri Strahl is President and CEO of the ALS Network, one of the nation's largest ALS advocacy organizations. With a background in public health and business, she leads through three mission pillars: comprehensive care coordination, groundbreaking research partnerships, and tireless policy advocacy. Under her leadership, the ALS Network doesn't just support families—they're actively working to solve ALS.

Dr. Rick Bedlack is a neurologist at Duke University who has dedicated 28 years to transforming ALS care and research. He pioneered a radical approach: partnering with patients as equals in research. Today, he leads ALS Untangled and studies ALS outliers—patients doing extraordinarily well—to identify three key factors that could transform outcomes for everyone.

Albert Karam is Chief Information Officer at the Center for Clinical Innovation, a nonprofit think tank specializing in machine learning and artificial intelligence. As a mathematician and data scientist, Albert develops AI solutions that look beyond medical records to understand the whole person—combining clinical data with social determinants of health to reveal patterns invisible to traditional research.

Connect:

ALS Network Official Website

Become an ALS Advocate

Duke ALS Clinic

ALS Untangled - Alternative Treatment Research

LIVE YOUR IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS

✨ Subscribe to Impossible Dreams Podcast. Listen, believe, and transform your life.

Presented by The ALS Network

Produced by EVRYBDY Studios

Host: Aaron Lazar

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The Banker Who Nearly Ended His Life—and the Buddhist Temple That Saved It

Before he became a world-record-breaking endurance athlete, Matt Dawson was a wealthy New York investment banker silently falling apart. Despite the cars, the clubs, and the money, he woke up every morning wanting his life to end. Depression took over. Success meant nothing. And one night, Matt reached a breaking point: he truly believed the world would be better without him.

Instead of ending his life, he made one desperate choice—to run toward something bigger than himself.

He flew to Nepal with no plan except survival. At the base of Mount Everest, inside a small Buddhist temple, Matt experienced the moment that shattered his old identity and pulled him back into life. That spiritual awakening became the turning point that led him from self-destruction to service.

Now, Matt holds six World Records, has rowed solo across the Atlantic, climbed Everest, skied to the South Pole, and created Dawson’s Peak Foundation—donating 100% of net proceeds to Hope for the Warriors and the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Matt’s journey is proof that the human spirit can rise from absolute darkness and become a force of unstoppable good.

Connect with Matt Dawson:

Dawson's Peak Foundation Official Website

Matt Dawson on Instagram

Hope for the Warriors - Veteran Support

Gary Sinise Foundation - Military Veterans

LIVE YOUR IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS

✨ Listen, believe, and transform your life.

Presented by The ALS Network

Produced by EVRYBDY Studios

Host: Aaron Lazar

Instagram: @impossibledreamspodcast

YouTube: @ALImpossibleDreams

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Episode Navigation:

03:22 - How Matt Dawson set 6 World Records for endurance athletics

09:35 - Dawson's Peak Foundation mission: Supporting military veterans through Hope for the Warriors and Gary Sinise Foundation

16:30 - Understanding the difference between profession and purpose in life

17:07 - Breaking free from autopilot: How 95% of your identity becomes programmed by age 35

19:08 - The hidden darkness behind professional success and material wealth

20:28 - Matt's turning point: "Check in or check out" - confronting suicidal thoughts and choosing transformation

23:31 - Solo spiritual pilgrimage to Nepal and Everest Base Camp as life-saving journey

24:33 - Why this Nepal trek was Matt's last-ditch effort to save his own life

25:45 - Moving from head to heart: Transitioning from analytical thinking to embodied awareness

41:27 - Using personal transformation to help others overcome depression, pain,...