Radical Soul

Many of us raised in the church grew up idolizing Christian authors like C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, and Flannery O’Conner. And you didn’t have to grow up in the church to learn to love J.R.R. Tolkien. But looking back, these authors can be problematic. Rereading them, it’s easy to spot sexism, racism, classism that we either internalized or brushed off before. In Rebecca Bretten Weiss’s new book...

As early as the mid-19th century, white supremacists started using Norse mythology in an attempt to legitimize ideas that people with Scandinavian or Germanic heritage were of a superior race. Later, the Nazis used Nordic symbols, often the runes, as part of their party. To this day, white supremacists often claim Norse paganism, also known as heathenry, perverting the true meaning of the myths an...

This is the longer of two episodes featuring author, pastoral counselor, and Dharma Leader Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde. In this full 90-minute interview, you’ll hear about Ayo’s experiences being a part of the school integration initiative in the 60s and 70s and being bussed to a mostly White school. You’ll hear about her transformative experience with Sister Soulah, her work as an asylum officer, and...

This is the shorter of two episodes featuring Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde. In this 30-minute version, I pulled together moments from our interview that highlight Ayo’s insights about justice with a small j — which is justice on a personal level — versus justice with a Large J — which is systemic change — and how she makes sometimes daily decisions about which to focus on. Check out the full 90-minute i...

This is part three of a three part series on combating Christian Nationalism. The entire conversation was livestreamed on Wednesday, November 6, the day after the election. Part one covered what Christian nationalism is and who Christian nationalists are. Part two covered what doesn’t work in combatting Christian nationalism, or fascism in general. In this episode, we discuss strategies that do wo...

This is part two of a three part series on combating Christian Nationalism. The entire conversation was livestreamed on Wednesday, November 6, the day after the election. If you haven’t heard it yet, part one covered what Christian nationalism is and who Christian nationalists are. A reminder that, when it comes to its impact, Christian nationalism is the same as White supremacy. It’s fascist powe...

On Nov 6, I went live on Instagram and YouTube with three spiritual leaders and activists to discuss how to combat Christian Nationalism. I’m breaking up the discussion into three podcast episodes. In this first one, we discuss what Christian Nationalism is and who Christian nationalists are. The second episode is all about what hasn’t worked in combatting it, and the third episode, we discuss wha...

If you’re on a healing journey, you know what I mean by “ahah moments.” Those rare moments when something finally clicks and allows you to finally give up a hurtful habit or belief. These breakthroughs can take years to get to. And it’s not uncommon to believe they’ll never come. Or that they’ll never be enough. Sometimes it’s useful to hear stories about the work paying off. And that’s what autho...

I’m launching a new series for Radical Soul, honoring queer elders and ancestors. What you can expect: * Podcast interviews with queer activists and authors in their 60s and 70s reflecting on their careers, their personal journeys, and their latest work. * Posts at radicalsoul.co on the legacies of queer activists that have passed on (hopefully a mix of content written by me and submitted by all o...

I hope you’re lucky enough to have a friend or friends who specifically check on your mental health. Folks who genuinely want to hear about your anxiety, depression, attempts to focus, regulate sleep, etc. It’s pretty wonderful to have permission to talk about these things. Spiritual activist Bex Mui is taking it one step further. She wants to talk about your spiritual health. In our interview, sh...

When Goddess Erica and her husband opened up their marriage, her husband helped demonstrate how she deserved to be treated. “I don't want to say that he gave me the standards, but he helped me get to a point where I realized that l my low bar is worship,” she explained in our interview. But this realization wasn’t the only thing that led to Erica claiming her Goddess title. Becoming a mom was also...

A friend and artist Addie Hirschten recently released her first book, The Alchemy of Symbols: How to Use the Power of Images to Transform Your Life . The book is about living an intentional life filled with symbols: noticing how symbols affect you and paying attention to how the universe may be speaking to you through them, and/or how you also may be speaking to yourself. Addie asks the reader (an...

In a special episode of Radical Soul, my partner David Britton interviews me for a change! He asks me about growing up as a pastor’s kid and my move away from Christianity. For the past fifteen years, we’ve been there to witness each other’s spiritual evolutions. The result is a unique glimpse into the ways two people who love each other can impact each other, as well as what remains stable about...

Janet Hardy has a very public body. As a traveling kink educator and public player, it’s no leap to believe that thousands of people around the world have studied her body in public scenes or demonstrations. And as an author, much of Hardy’s work has centered around her own embodied experiences. As such, she has given us access to her body in a profoundly intimate way. Now in her late sixties, Jan...

Tristan Taormino’s new memoir A Part of the Heart Can’t Be Eaten combines her relationship with her father who died from AIDS, coming into her own queer identity, and becoming the sex educator and porn creator that she is today. As her astrologer who read her birth chart explained, Tristan is living in her dharma. There’s a beautiful theme of learning to trust her intuition throughout the book, an...

Kai Cheng Thom’s most recent book, Falling Back in Love With Being Human , is a series of letters to people or groups of people who are hard to love. Which is everyone.  She addresses trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) and trans women. She writes to sex workers and their clients. She has letters to mass shooters and their victims. She writes to J.K. Rowling. She writes to herself. The cu...

“Healing our relationship to desire, and being able to acknowledge, verbalize, and celebrate our desires is key to living a life of joy, presence, and meaning,” explained conflict navigator and healer Opulence Abundance in a recent newsletter/blog post . We spoke about Opulence’s relationship with desire for the podcast, along with the relationship between yoga and the caste system, embracing one’...

Quick announcement about rebranding this podcast to the Radical Soul Podcast. Follow me on Twitter , Instagram , or Threads . And if a certain newsletter or episode of this podcast resonated for you, please share it with others. Thank you so much for your support, and expect new content soon! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

My latest guest for Left-Handed Journeys is spirit , also known as spiritchild.   We talked about: * spirit’s spiritual roots as a Yaruba or Santerio priest. * Traveling as a freedom artist and giving back to communities he visits. * spirit’s work as a Somatica practitioner, helping people embrace their core desires. * What it means to be a spiritually-rooted person and a revolutionary. Transcript...

“I understand why self-care is important, but self-care cannot be a replacement for community care. You cannot ‘self-care’ your way out of horrible mistreatment, and mistreatment is often systemic,” explained Felicity Azura, my guest for this episode of the Left-Handed Journeys Podcast. Felicity is a writer, professional cuddler, sex worker, and host of Pro Cuddle Hustle —the world's first podcast...

Queer Theology is the multi-faceted brand of Brian G. Murphy and Fr. Shay Kearns — two friends who believe in spreading a progressive message about the goodness of queerness, gender fluidity, and sexuality within Christian spaces. However, the community they’ve fostered, known as the Sanctuary Collective , is open to all “seekers, doubters, and used-to-be-Christians” who are looking for a body-pos...

A big theme in Lenny Duncan’s story, as they told it to me for the podcast, is making space for themselves and breaking out of spaces that no longer fit. From a teen runaway who finds a home in alternative relationships in the 90s with other queer folks,  to becoming ordained in the ELCA church, to becoming initiated into Ifa, an African spiritual tradition while reparenting themselves in a loving...

In this episode, I talk to the wonderful Colin Bedell whose work combines queer studies and astrology. We talked how to "queer" astrology through the act of questioning and how astrology can, in turn, deepen your self-identity .  Colin explains how he came into his own as a queer individual through understanding his sign and his place in the universe and how he now grows in his spiritual being by...

Growing up, Alex Liu didn't know it was okay to be queer. And although he's been out of the closet for decades, a shadow of shame around sex and sexual desires still follows him around. He turned his own story and questions into a documentary: A Sexplanation . The documentary takes us "from neuroscience labs to church pews, [featuring] provocative conversations with psychologists, sex researchers—...

We all get to define what spirituality is for us. Jimanekia Eborn, also known as the Trauma Queen, has done this for herself. One of her spiritual practices is a bath with different oils—something that connects her to her body. And on this episode of the podcast, she encourages listeners to figure out what unique spiritual practices work for them. We talk about relationships and trauma, femmes and...