Poema Podcast

Today my friend, author Sarah 'The Human', joins me to tell her story of deconstruction and spiritual awakening. Sarah talks about what led her to begin questioning her faith, and where this path led her and the challenges she faced along the way. She also shares how the more she asked questions, the more she moved away from what she'd known, the more she saw how she'd been 'borderline brainwashed...

My friend, tarot reader & eclectic witch Cat, joins me today to talk about an important and not often discussed issue - spiritual capitalism.  Sharing their own experiences and insight, Cat unpacks what spiritual capitalism is, and how people can be & have been exploited by certain groups or individuals as they seek support and guidance on their spiritual journey, using some prominent examples. Th...

TW: spiritual abuse, emotional abuse, domestic abuse,  **** In this episode my friend Kacey tells their story. They share their experience of growing up in an evangelical home, the expectations and demands, and their experiences of several types of abuse, in particular from their ex-husband.  They talk about the impact this had on them physically, mentally and emotionally.  Kacey then talks about...

I'm honoured today to be joined by best-selling author, novelist, educator and activist Rashid Darden.  Rashid tells us his story, and his lived experiences growing up and living as an LGBTQI black man raised by a single mother, and how this influenced his writing and his activism. We explore together how pop culture and black & LGTQIA representation, past, present and future, and why it continues...

**TW: conversion therapy** Today I'm joined by writer, PhD candidate and lecturer Luke Wilson, to hear his story of deconstruction, as well as his experience with and escape from conversion therapy. Luke lays bare his lived experience of conversion therapy and how he broke free of this and how this impacted his own mental health, his spiritual journey and his work. He also tells us about the advoc...

Special bonus episode today, with my friends Kevin Nye and Emma Morrison where they and I chat together about the award-winning show, Wandavision. We explore the themes of processing grief, certainty and how this show gives us an echo of the roots of fundamentalism and oppressive systems. We explore some of the deeper themes and story arcs and reflect on what the story means for us, and what we ca...

Today author Holly Smale, author of the bestselling Geek Girl books, joins me to share her story and talk about the lived experience of being autistic.  She talks about her writing career, and how creating geek girl actually helped her discover she was autistic and get a formal diagnosis. We discuss together our shared lived experiences of being autistic and the challenges autistic people face liv...

Today is the 300th episode of the Poema Podcast (despite some numbering issues with iTunes), and to celebrate, my friend Becky Castle Miller is acting as host, in a semi-fun ask me anything! Many listeners and friends sent in questions, and I had no idea what they were before recording. Questions on podcasts, how the podcast started, on my dreams, on creativity, spirituality, curiosity and a whole...

Today I talk with fellow singleton Kristyn DeNooyer about the challenges of singleness and stigma around this, and the importance of hospitality to and by single people in order to have healthy support networks.  Kristyn shares her own story and the challenges she's faced and how its impacted her mental health. She also discusses the stigma single people can often face in spiritual communities and...

Today my friends Trace Bell & Tina Olsen join me to talk about everything spiral dynamics - and how we can apply the concept of spiral dynamics to our every day living and grow in awareness and consciousness.  We talk about what spiral dynamics is, and Trace and Lisa unpack some very practical lessons they've learned about how we can use spiral dynamics as a tool. They explain how living the spira...

My geek philosophy series continues today as writer Doug Humphries and I spend time reflecting on the season one of 'Loki' and the lead characters personal journey.  We explore how Loki confronts his past, his actions, and his grief and goes through an incredible personal deconstruction & transformation, and how his journey is often reflected in our own. We also talk about the similarities between...

Today my geek philosophy series continues, as my friend Drew Brown and I sit down to discuss the series 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier'. We explore the character arcs of the two central characters, their processing of grief and trauma from the events of Avengers Endgame and loss of Steve, and how this journey helps them discover themselves.  We also explore the issues around systemic racism and wh...

Today on the podcast, another in our occasional series of deconstruction / spiritual transformation journeys, this time blogger and author Deborah Brunt.  Deborah shares with us her experiences of growing up in a toxic religious environment and the spiritual abuse she experienced, and how it impacted her faith & her mental/emotional health. She tells me how in order to follow what she believed to...

Today my friend Marie joins me to tell her deconstruction story. She talks about how she and her husband found their way into evangelical culture as adults, and how she slowly began to feel trapped in toxic religion. She shares her experience of purity culture and how this impacted her marriage & her faith. Marie then tells us how she began her journey out of of toxic religion and purity culture,...

**Trigger warning: Narcissistic abuse, spiritual abuse, emotional abuse** My friend Ana returns to the podcast today, to share her lived experience of narcissistic abuse within Christian fundamentalism.  It's a powerful, discomforting story which shows us the depths of narcissism within evangelical Christianity and patriarchy, and how challenging it is to break free of it.  Ana tells us how she fo...

Today I'm joined by John Howey, otherwise known as Bridge Livwat, who shares with us his personal, spiritual and creative journey. He talks about his faith deconstruction and the journey from aspiring worship leader into creating his own music, and his creative and spiritual journeys intertwined and interacted. We talk about our shared love of the work of Rob Bell, and how he's impacted each of ou...

My friend Cat, tarot reader, joins me today. They tell their powerful, challenging story from evangelicalism through deconstruction into tarot and spellwork, and coming out.  They also tell us about how they discovered the transformative power of tarot and spellwork, and the impact it's had on their life.  It's a discomforting but honest story, of Cat's experiences within an evangelical cult, the...

Today I'm joined by podcaster, creator, artist and spiritual mentor April Kling Meyer. April tells us her own story and talks to us about the intersection between creativity and spiritual journey. She shares through her story and experience how our spiritual and personal journeys inform our creative journey. Finally, we discover how we can use the energy of grief and trauma to transform our lives,...

I'm honoured to be joined again by my friends Jenna DeWitt & Holly Stallcup today, to explore healthy sexual ethics in the church and being sex positive. We explore topics like masturbation, sex toys and other things which rarely get discussed in church environments. We also go on to explore different sexual ethics, and how we should honour and respect each others sexual ethics, even if they're di...

I'm honoured today to be joined by Suzanne and Declan DeWitt Hall, authors, activists and Christians. They tell us their story as a couple, and in particular the journey of Declan to embrace his gender identity. Declan talks about his own journey of coming to terms with his true gender identity, being honest about this with herself, before God and the world, and beginning the transitioning into th...

My friend Trace Bell joins me for the first time today Trace has done a lot of work, some with his dad Rob Bell, on talking about spirituality, awareness, time and spiral dynamics. Today he shares his own spiritual journey, and in particular how his curiosity led him into an understanding of awareness. He shares how he began to see his own consciousness and awareness as separate from his body and...

I'm delighted to welcome back my friend, writer, author and coach Jim Woods to the show this week! Jim's just released his first novel 'Bite the Bullet', and today we talk about the creative process behind the novel, how long it took to write, and the experience of novel writing. Jim talks about the power of storytelling, why stories resonate with us why the best stories connect with us. He also t...

Today I'm joined by TED speaker and grief/loss facilitator Jennifer Mathews. Jennifer tells her own tragic, in some ways unique, and powerful story of loss...and how her response to the death of her life partner was not one she calls grief, and the lessons this experience taught her about dealing with loss. Jennifer explores how processing loss can lead to connection, and how she experienced this,...

Today on the podcast I'm joined by author Kat Armas (MDiv and MAT), who shares her own story, and talks about the wisdom of women on the margins - mothers, grandmothers, sisters, daughters - and how & what it teaches us about spirituality and the divine.  Kat shares her own experiences and lessons she's learned, as well as some other powerful stories, and we see how some of the great theologians o...

Today my occasional series on ADHD continues with therapist, mental health advocate and podcast host Robert Vore sharing his own story.  Robert shares his own unique experience of growing up with ADHD and then becoming a therapist and advocate himself and encountering/working with others with ADHD and trauma.  Robert gives us a valuable insight into the lived experience of ADHD and insight into wo...