Between the Covers Podcast

Let's talk about our comfort zone, and more importantly, how can we stretch ourselves to leave it. I've shared this before how we can struggle to make some of the changes that we wish to in our lives because it'll take us out of what we are comfortable with. While this is absolutely normal and helpful at times, it can also keep us stuck. If we stick with what we know, we know what we're going to g...

For this month's hero study, I had the privilege of interviewing Michael Marshall, aka Marsh, from the Merseyside Skeptics Society. He's a podcaster, editor of The Skeptic magazine, and Project Director of the Good Thinking Society. He's a prolific skeptic and researcher who is great at asking the right questions to get people thinking about their perspectives on life. I first heard about him from...

Let's talk about our nervous system and the information it tells us. In a society that values our ability to logically think our way through life's problems and challenges, there is so much value in relying on our gut and nervous system to let us know when something isn't right. Our nervous system knows more than we often give it credit for and it can do so much to keep us safe. We talking about s...

Let's talk about checking the fruit in the actions and words of others. For those of you like me who have experienced spiritual trauma or adverse religious experiences, then allow me to apologize in advance for getting preachy in this one and relying on biblical scripture to guide the conversation today. Take care of yourself. If you need to skip this episode or take breaks from it, I understand a...

Let's talk about what excites you, and more importantly, sharing it! I had a recent experience where I received some PDFs for a set of role playing rules I preordered leading up to the release of the physical book...and I couldn't contain myself! It took everything I had to not spend the rest of the day scrolling through the digital copy and actually record this episode. I wanted to share the exci...

For this month's hero's study, I have the privilege of introducing you to Reverend Alba Onofrio. In our conversation, we talk about faith, spirituality, sexuality, queerness, the Bible, God, and so much in our time together. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much, if not more than I did speaking with Alba. Reverend Alba Onofrio is a theologian and spiritual activist rooted in the U.S. South, e...

Let's talk about following our desires. I share about a story of a trip to Leavenworth, WA where Libby and our friends, John and Dan, spent most of a weekend at one of our favorite places to visit and the fun we had. Much of this came from us choosing to follow our delight. In western societies today when we are often told many important things that we need and should be doing, sometimes it's more...

Let's talk about safe community and the benefits we gain from it. A safe community helps us feel physically and emotionally safe, especially in these uncertain times. My community is a lifeline for me and Libby. It's helped us weather mental health crises, given us plenty to look forward to, and has been a light for us even in the darkest of times. I've shared before that I wish it didn't take me...

Let's talk about hope once more. It's something that many people need more of these days, myself included. It's also something that many people wrestle with because hope can set us up for falls. That's all a part of the game and the nature of hope and hoping. Let's talk about hope once more. It's something that many people need more of these days, myself included. It's also something that many peo...

For this month's hero's study, we interview Brad Onishi, a podcaster and writer with some awesome answers to my questions. He's the cohost of Straight White American Jesus, author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism And What Comes Next, and he has some great things to say about heroes, faith, religion, politics, and masculinity. I hope you enjoy this conversa...

Let's talk about what lights your fire. This is one of my favorite topics because we all have at least one thing that we just come to life when we engage in the activity. It can be games, reading, writing, sports, outdoor activities, working with wood or on vehicles, painting, watching movies, etc. You name it! We all have something that lights the fire in our souls and if you're like me, these ar...

Let's talk about our beliefs. For most, if not all of us, our beliefs color how we see our world. Is your world black and white with clear lines of what's right and wrong with rigid rules? Is your world open and expansive to include many different walks of life and experiences? What we believe about ourselves and the world has a dramatic impact on how we view the world, in good and bad ways. Today...

Let's talk about a prominent topic in today's society. Today we look at authoritarianism, a wide political movement taking place all over in western societies. Much of this discussion comes from the work of Dr. Hilary McBride from her Holy/Hurt podcast (definitely give this a listen if you have experience being hurt from religious/spiritual groups). She uses five qualifiers to describe authoritari...

Let's talk about some lessons from another video game interest of mine. This time we're looking at the games Diablo 1 and Diablo 2. The fantastical adventures I'd have going around the world and slaying demons that were clearly the enemy was a favorite past time of mine. Nowadays, what's truly evil is much harder to discern. These two games have helped me move out of my clear as mud, black-and-whi...

For this month's hero's study, we interview Tori Williams Douglas! She's the cohost of the White Homework podcast, an activist, and anti-racism educator. Her experience in the conservative evangelical church and being a mother had lasting impacts on who she is and what she does. This was an incredible interview and I hope you glean as much if not more from it. Enjoy an awesome conversation! If you...

Let's talk about how we can be setting ourselves up for failure. Much of this comes down to expectations. I'm a king at setting my expectations too high for many of the projects I want to work on. This came up with a conversation Libby and I had with our friend Katie about some of our financial goals that we're not meeting. It's good to have goals that will stretch you, but also having ones that a...

Let's talk about myth and the power it's had over the generations. From my research, it appears that the purpose of myth is to offer explanations to unusual dynamics of our world. Why do we have pain and sorrow? Why is there evil in the world? Why do children change as they get older, before there was an understanding of trauma and hormones? Why are some people born differently, mentally and/or ph...

Let's talk about how we can handle resistance in our lives. Have you ever found yourself doing something that you believe in your heart you should do and that's when the world seems to come against you as if you are trying to get a wedding cake for a gay wedding from a Christian baker? Bad analogies aside, resistance is a natural part of life, and much of this resistance likely is coming from us!...

For this month's hero's study, I take a look at David Tennant. I wish I could get him as a guest on the podcast, but let's be real with the expectations...for now. David Tennant is a phenomenal actor from Doctor Who and Harry Potter, among others that I haven't seen, and he is also a stalwart ally to transgender and LGBTQAI+ individuals, going so far as to call out people in power in the UK and cr...

Let's talk about how we can create a new story for ourselves. If you're like me, and hopefully you're not, you can have a running dialogue offering colorful dialogue as to why life is the way that it is. Many of these come from past experiences and influences from others in our past and present. The important thing is that we can change it if we change the story that we're telling ourselves. Of co...

Let's talk about trauma once more. As my understanding of trauma grows, we can expect more expansions on this topic. Last time I shared about trauma through the lens of "little t" and "big T" traumas. Some experts in the field still use this language, and others aren't fans and prefer to use post-traumatic stress (PTS) trauma and complex post-traumatic stress (CPTS) trauma when referring to differ...

Sorry again for the bad audio. I swear we're almost done with these. I'm not too sure how many of these I recorded with my earbud, but there shouldn't be much more if this isn't the last one. Let's talk about adverse experiences. Have you ever heard of ACEs? When I worked at becoming a coach, I learned about ACEs for the first time, and they are adverse childhood experiences. These have such a str...

Apologies once again for the terrible audio. I'm almost through the batch I recorded with this bad microphone. Thanks for hanging in there with me. Let's talk about speaking your truth. In my journey to become the hero in my story, speaking my truth has been an important aspect of my walk. A couple of mentors of mine described it with this simple comparison: the difference between using the word "...

For this month's hero study, I brought on my friend Brandon to share his story. He's a Christian, an engineer, pilot, a member of the Mid-Columbia Master Singers, and published author! We met through our gaming group and our friendship has grown since. Part of his story involves being ostracized by his friend group and finding acceptance from his mentors. He's also received incredible words agains...

Sorry again for the poor audio on this one. I recorded a couple of episodes before discovering how bad the headphones mic sounded. Today, let's talk about the power that our words can have. Similar to my sticks and stones episode I released much earlier, our words have the power to destroy or build up. With some recent familial troubles, I experienced both. Some members of my family said things wh...