50 Challenges. 6 Continents. One Divorce: How Lisa Niver Found Herself — and Fearlessness — After 50 with Lisa Niver

50 Challenges. 6 Continents. One Divorce: How Lisa Niver Found Herself — and Fearlessness — After 50 with Lisa Niver

June 4, 2026 · 15 min · Season 1 · Episode 233

About this episode

Lisa Niver shares her transformative journey of self-discovery and bravery following her divorce and turning 50.

She was lying on the ground in Thailand, her husband having just shoved her in public, not knowing if her neck was broken, her arm was broken — knowing only that her heart was. In that moment, journalist, traveler, and diver Lisa Niver could not have imagined that the next chapter of her life would take her skydiving, mountain biking down a ski run in Lake Tahoe, and scuba diving with bull sharks in Mexico. She could not have imagined that she would turn 50 on the other side of all that pain — freer, braver, and more herself than she had ever been. But that is exactly what happened. Lisa is the author of Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents, and Feeling Fearless After 50 — a memoir that begins on the worst day of her life and traces the extraordinary journey that followed. After returning to Los Angeles alone from Asia, Lisa threw herself into the unknown: therapy, a gym with pole dancing and burlesque classes, an undiagnosed eye condition finally identified and corrected, and eventually, 50 challenges she set for herself before turning 50. Along the way, she discovered something that quietly changed everything — that bravery isn't a trait you're born with or without. It's not…

People in this episode

Guest: Lisa Niver

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents, and Feeling Fearless After 50

Places: Thailand, Lake Tahoe, Mexico, Los Angeles

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