MARS MESSINA PRESENTS

Episode 153 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS finds us frolicking with Dorothy Gale & her friends towards the Land of Oz. We will explore this most popular and influential of stories, originally published as a book by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and ultimately made into a movie in 1939. We will take a look at all the characters, places and things that make Oz...Oz, or an Illusion. We will also notice strikin...

For Episode 151 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF haunts the airwaves with three, very short eerie stories. Mars apologizes for being away for so long, but homework & studies hold her captive like the blood of a vampire. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to this podcast, either Venmo @mdm773 or Zelle mitchellmary773@gmail.co...

Episode 150 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about how humans and animal species cohabitate and mate throughout time, and we will touch of four different types of couplings: Monogamy, Polygyny, Polyandry, and Polyamory. We will talk about how humans were once naturally polygynous and how they became monogamous. We will touch on why polyandry and polyamory are relatively rare as compared to polygyny...

When one listens to or reads the news, one really gets overwhelmed. There's so much going on - bloodshed, rumors of ramping up wars, genocides, kidnappings, etc. Sometimes, something of significance might fall through the cracks. Episode 149 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS addresses the topic of Project 2025, a 922 page document created by conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation. The authors...

For Episode 148 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will talk about last week's historic tornadic outbreak that affected the City of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. Not only will we talk about the events that spanned 2 days, this episode serves as a warning to those who think that the Chicago area is unaffected by the possibility of tornadoes. The fact is that Chicagoland is actually sitting in...

For Episode 147 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we are going to talk about reported Marian Apparitions. This post is happening on a Sunday - what better day than to hang with our home girl, Mother Mary? We will talk about her more famous apparitions for the uninitiated (ie those who were not brought up Catholic, not married into a Catholic family, not well versed on the Divine Feminine, etc). If this ep...

Episode 146 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS holds 3 goals: a) to bid a gentle and peaceful farewell to recently deceased loved ones, b) for us survivors to learn to accept their new journeys in comparison with our own, ongoing mortal journeys, and c) to accept that death is not the opposite of life, but a natural and needful companion. We die little deaths every single day. We feel pain, but we can assua...

The topic of Episode 145 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS is the human attribute, faith. James W. Fowler, a Pulitzer Prize winner, an American theologian and professor, described a set of seven sequential stages in the development of faith. We will take you through each of these stages. Note that these stages of faith encompass religious, alt-spiritual, and secular growth.  BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUST...

Episode 1 44 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS carries over from last week's broadcast about the murders of 3 women at Illinois' Starved Rock State Park in 1960. A suspect confessed to the crime...but the story did not end there. We will fill out the story and bring us up to today, even as doubts abound and mysteries remain. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to thi...

Episode 143 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS takes a close look at the grisly 1960 murders of three women at Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois, a nature lover's haven. We will follow attorneys and detectives through the investigation, and will meet the man who authorities say savagely attacked the three friends and left their dead bodies in a canyon. The case, as it turns out, does not end...

For Episode 142 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we explore true leadership and self reliance. We talk about the habits we need to develop to live a self directed life. At the same time, this directive carries with it a caveat. We, as human beings, have a knack for destroying peace and cultivating jealousy, offense, and often violence against others. The Self Directed Life is so much more fulfilling, eve...

Episode 141 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS shares a quick 15 minute-or-less exercise plan that can be done at home, with or without weights and other equipment, AND a very quick high protein, nutrient dense recipe for a breakfast break to be consumed right after said workout. This episode is for anyone who has a hard time getting themselves to make healthy/healthier choices, as well as for those who are...

For Episode 140 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will discuss the cognitive distortion known as Catastrophizing. Do you more often than not worry about the worst case scenario or worst possible outcome to a problem, ignoring all the other ways the issue ca resolve? Do you try to control the "what-ifs" in life? Has anyone ever told you that you make mountains out of mole hills? Catastrophizin...

Episode 139 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about the once meandering mud stream that became a crucial travel hub between Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...as well as home to native plant life, businesses, sports and leisure, tourists, and a bustling, thriving global metropolis. We will talk about its growth from its ancient days serving indigenous peoples to its curren...

Episode 138 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about Growth Mindset, Fixed Mindset and False Growth Mindset, as outlined by psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University. We will identify each of the three categories and give examples of each, as well as strategies to move ourselves to a Growth Mindset point of view and lifestyle. Growth Mindset is crucial to improved neuroplasticity in the brain, a...

Episode 137 launches MARS MESSINA PRESENTS into the New Year with our predictions for 2024 - a year that will surely be encumbered by problems and will challenge us in myriad ways. Who will win the presidential election? Will we have all-out war in the middle east? What surprises will AI unleash on us? What movie will win Best Picture? Is there any really good news on the horizon? We make those pr...

Episode 136 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS says goodbye to 2023 and rings in 2024 with a meditation that sets an intention for peace - a deep inner peace for the individual and a revival of a collective global peace. Put on some comfortable clothing, dim the lights and settle in for a moment to reclaim health and sanity for yourself and for your world - an everlasting moment that you can carry with you...

Episode 135 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS posits that we can control maladaptive thinking with alternative thoughts that challenge our anxieties/limiting beliefs with critical thinking, which then engenders a more realistic, alternative way to think. In fact, this is the basis of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Socratic Questioning. We will do a short, but effective, exercise toward the end of t...

Episode 134 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS went spelunking for some good news in the midst of the morass of bad news in which we are sinking....eureka, we found some good news! Mars plays your Good News news anchor and reports some....good news. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF concludes with the poem, "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening", by Robert Frost. To send correspondence,...

Episode 133 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS discusses an unsolved murder in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. We will learn of the gruesome slaying of a well liked and respected church choir director/city colleges professor, and its link to an alleged ring of clerical sex abusers known as The Boys Club. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF concludes with the poem, “The Priest’s Brother”, by...

Episode 132 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS gathered intel from the Thanksgiving Feast field, and presents it to you as yummy Thanksgiving recipes, brought to us by individuals who swear by said recipes. We'll go over food safety, thawing and brining, various ways to cook turkey, something for the vegetarians and vegans, and some sides. We will also give you recipes to Guhlwein, both alcoholic and vi...

In Episode 131 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will recognize that there is no need for Americans to do away with their Thanksgiving celebrations in order to recognize the plight of the Native Americans. In fact, the concepts of gathering to harvest and to give thanks are inherently Native American. We are undertaking a mindful approach to the holiday season by recognizing the native tribal regions o...

Episode 130 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS addresses the doldrums that often accompany The Fall Season. We will become one with natural and accept these natural seasonal rhythms. To prepare, get yourself a little water and a little tea, have your journal at the ready, wear some loose, comfortable clothing and find a cozy spot. We will drift off into the autumn forest of your soul and shed that which hur...

Episode 129 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS takes you on a breathless tour via broomstick to one of the most haunted areas in the US, the so-called Archer Avenue Triangle, a hallowed parcel of land to the southwest of Chicago. Appearing as something of a left scalene triangle on a map, southwest-northeast running Archer Avenue serves as its main road and a nexus of a variety of hauntings. We will weave t...

Episode 128 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS armchair-quarterbacks as a psychologist diagnosing the one and only, Count Dracula. Before the vampire mesmerizes us to do its own bidding, we will attempt to analyze the mind of The Undead through the methods of Freud, Jung, and other modern psychotherapists. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF closes the coffin on this episode with an excerpt from the...