Between the Covers Podcast

Let's talk about how life isn't a zero sum game. To begin with, what is a zero sum? That means that, in terms of economics, that in order for us to get some of the billions and/or trillions out there, we have to take it from someone else. There is only so much to go around. Who are the people who propagate this notion the most? The people who have the most. There is more than enough out there for...

Let's talk about spiritual violence, and today we have the first ever returning guest to share with us her expertise on this episode: Reverend Alba Onofrio! The company she works for, Soulforce, recently released a book titled Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena That Defile The Faith. We talk about spiritual violence, spiritual trauma, religious abuse, spiritual terrorism, and white Christian...

Let's talk about loving ourselves. This is still a lesson I'm learning and it's important that we show ourselves the love and care that we often give to so many others. What does it loving yourself look like? Be creative with it. You're worthy of love. Photo by Moe Magners from https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-holding-a-slogan-6670116/ Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spot...

Let's talk about some more things I've learned over the years while playing D&D and other tabletop role playing games. Look at that! I finally finish the original ten for one of these episodes. There will be more to come, I'm sure. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to intervi...

For this month's hero's study, let's look at the character of Van Helsing. Well...a couple of characters names Van Helsing. I went into this expecting that we would be talking about the same person, but if you look up Abraham Van Helsing and Gabriel Van Helsing, you're going to get two very different people. However, these are people who both stand up to the forces of darkness (aka Dracula), thoug...

Let's talk about how we can trim out the things in our lives that aren't bringing us delight and joy. Maybe these are even ideas that are holding you back and keeping you down. This conversation came about from my friends who are trying to sell their house saying that they want to be brutal with what they are deciding to keep. Sometimes, I have to be brutal about whether or not a game is actually...

Let's talk about what grows within us. It's probably no surprise, but what inevitably grows is what we give time and attention to, AKA food. Are the thoughts playing in your head ones that are tearing you down, self-deprecating, and harsh? Then what will grow is a spirit of resentment, disgust, and judgement that makes people challenging to be around at best, and brutal critics and Debby Downers a...

Let's talk about probably the worst thing to happen in modern American history: MAGA, or Make America Great Again. It's a fascist movement that is trying to revert the country to the 1950s, if not the 1920s or even earlier. Removing voting access, deporting legal immigrants, blatant disregard for the rule of law, and using the political machine to serve their desires rather than listen to their co...

For this month's hero study, I had the privilege to speak with Cecil Cicirello, one of the cohosts for Cognitive Dissonance and Citation Needed, two of my favorite podcasts to listen to. He's also the cohost on the Know Rogan Experience podcast, an interesting listen especially if you are Joe Rogan curious, which I am not. I tried my best to not point out parallels every five minutes, but our stor...

Let's talk about being gracious with ourselves, and being flexible. If you're like me, then the one person you tend to be the most strict with is yourself. We can be inflexible, rigid, and even hold ourselves to a much higher standard than we hold others to. What would it look like to allow ourselves to be flexible? What would it look like for us to be gracious with ourselves? What if we were to t...

Today I want to talk about taking pride in Pride. This last June I had the privilege to man a booth at the local Pride Rally for Therapists @ Pride, a group of therapists in this area who are LGBTQAI+ themselves, or affirming of these people. It was fascinating to see all of these people who are stereotyped, persecuted, and judged having the freedom to be and represent themselves. Let's take a loo...

My apologies for the noise disturbances in this episode. My microphone doesn't always want to cooperate and until I have the funds to replace it, sometimes it's going to be a pill. Let's talk about what we are holding within us. I had an experience around my birthday where I had a release of emotion that I didn't know was stored within me. Times were tough and stress and pressure build up over som...

For this month's hero's study, we're looking at the character Mega Man X (X for short) from the...Mega Man X video game franchise. This titular protagonist of this post apocalyptic future of mankind is also the progenitor of a race of sentient robots called Reploids. X is one of those reluctant heroes. He was specifically built to protect the last remnants of mankind. He also has many hidden talen...

Let's talk about some things I've learned from the game Stardew Valley. This is one of my favorite life/farming/adventure simulation games that came out in 2016. Just like any other game that touches on how life actually is, there are some striking lessons to learn from the character interactions throughout the game. As usual, I came up with a list of 10 and only talk about 5 because then these ep...

Let's talk about the impressions our characters make. This is one of those actions speak louder than words kind of conversation. You see, at the time of this recording, there have been some incidents that have shows how people in power are saying one thing, but then acting in another. At the White House Correspondents Dinner, a shooter broke through a security checkpoint. Once it came to the atten...

Let's talk about what we are able to do, because we are all able to do something. This is inspired by the saying that comes up often in recovery that you can't do everything, but you can do something. Even if what needs to be addressed is something that you didn't contribute to. *cough*politics*cough* Regardless of what is bringing about our current situations, we can always do something, even if...

Let's talk about trying new things today. This is one of my favorite topics to discuss with my clients because I'm essentially giving them permission to play and explore. We all need to, even if we are adults. On my recent vacation to Victoria, BC with two of our friends, Libby and I tried a lot of new things. The thumbnail is a picture taken from the metal concert we went to for Three Days Grace....

For this month's hero's study, we are looking at Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the Hunger Games books and movies. This is a hero who has spent all her life in the almost abyss of District 12 of Panem and found herself the head of a rebellion against not one, but two forces of power vying for the right to rule. She overcomes so much threat, danger, and attention from millions of people, has...

Let's talk about our need for control and how it's often an illusion. I'm reminded early on when working with my therapist that we reviewed a poster that said showed the most common things in life that people become anxious about and how that anxiety is often due to feeling like life is out of control when in fact we are trying to control things that we don't have control over. We want to be in co...

Let's talk about advocates and the value in finding one, or two, or more. This is a wonderful privilege I have with my partner, friends, family, and even some clients. It's valuable to have someone standing beside us to help speak our thoughts and/or stand between us to fight for us when someone or a system isn't working for us. As a coach, I can be an advocate along with my roles of being a cheer...

Let's talk about respect. One thing that often makes our heroes a hero in our eyes is because we respect them. We respect their values, morals, actions, and words. They are people who don't just talk, they walk out their words and beliefs. Anyone that we admire likely exhibits some kind of heroic qualities. Respect is something that is earned, not demanded. Part of the journey is that we will gain...

For this month's hero's study, we are looking at one of my favorite silent protagonists, Link from the Legend of Zelda franchise. Why is he one of my favorite heroes? He's the embodiment of courage, literally. He is the hero of time, the legendary hero, and he's the one who wields the Triforce of Courage. If you want someone to relentless help his friends and protect the land, Link's your guy...er...

*A correction: I misappropriated Joshua Haymes' words at belong to Brooks Potteiger until I found the actual clips. Brooks does want James Talarico crucified, but most everything I attributed to Brooks was actually said by Joshua. Let's talk about how power corrupts people, using some real examples for 2026 here. One of the things that is causing so much harm in our world today is the blatant disr...

Let's talk about spiral dynamics today. This is a model of evolution that tries to explain the process that society takes as we develop toward, hopefully, a more egalitarian society. It uses colors to denote the different stages and what each one can tell us about a specific group of people. It's no wonder with the current power structures in the United States at the moment, this came upas they ar...

Let's talk about another franchise that I love and adore that has taught me some lessons. I'll warn you in advance, this gets a little chunky with some fractions when I'm talking about rare item drop rates and finding rare enemies. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Follow me on Bluesky! @marcus-spaur.bsky.social Have questions you'd like di...