He Was Told His Life Was Over at 20—He Proved Everyone Wrong | Ken Kunken

The Thought Atlas Podcast · Jul 3, 2026 · 46m

What do you do when your entire future changes in an instant?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, I’m joined by Ken Kunken—attorney, disability advocate, rehabilitation counselor, and author of I Dream of Things That Never Were: The Ken Kunken Story.

At twenty years old, while playing football at Cornell University, Ken suffered a spinal cord injury that left him almost completely paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Many believed his life as he knew it was over.

Instead, he returned to Cornell, became the university’s first quadriplegic graduate, earned advanced degrees in education, psychology…