The Breaking Good Podcast

The Breaking Good podcast was made possible by the Louisville Institute and with special thanks to the Western Indiana Community Foundation, Vermillon County Community Foundation, and the Collegeville Institute. Additional special thanks to Mark Bennett, a journalist at the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Except for Judith Dana Lewman Trent, her father, and her mother, all legal names, street names, identifying details of living characters have been changed or composited to protect their privacy.

J. Dana Trent knows what it’s like to ride—and survive—life’s razor edges. Her podcast details her life as a preschool drug dealer turned Duke graduate.

Raised by two mentally unwell, miracle-chasing, drug-trafficking parents in the tiny hometown of WWII journalist Ernie Pyle, Dana was plucked from her midwestern life suddenly and forced to leave the past behind. But even after renouncing her Indiana upbringing and graduating a prestigious Duke University, Dana knew she had to face the truth: Healing, after all, begins at home.

Dana brings her experiences to bear with readers and listeners. She doesn’t shy away from her failures, helping others learn from her set-backs, missteps, lessons, and resilience. Her vulnerabiliy and humor helps us all examine what pieces of our selves need to “break good.”