Poema Podcast

Today my series on ADHD continues with the return of my friend Elle Rose, to share their lived experience of ADHD, and the challenges and stigma they have experienced growing up with ADHD and in getting a diagnosis.  Elle shares honestly, and with great courage, about their day to day experience of ADHD, patterns of behaviour which can be linked with the condition, and the difference getting a dia...

Today I'm delighted to welcome my friend Sarah ('Sheologian' from Twitter) to the podcast for a new series of episodes focussing on ADHD. I myself have undiagnosed ADHD and there's a lot of stigma and misunderstanding about it. This series aims to raise awareness. Sarah shares her own story and experiences growing up with ADHD, in particularly in evangelical patriarchal culture, the day to day cha...

Today in the vlatest of my 'Geek Philosophy' series I'm joined by good friend Emma Morrison, and we talk about the world of Star Wars and its links to deconstruction and processing trauma. Emma tells her own story, sharing how Star Wars - and in particular the character of Leia Organa - influenced her growing up, how she inspired her and how as she went her own deconstruction journey she saw this...

Today I'm joined by author and writer Kevin M Nye, contributing author of the book 'Theology of the Marvel Universe' to explore this subject in more depth. As the latest MCU movie 'Black Widow' hits theatres we explore some of the deeper themes behind several characters stories and different movies within the MCU. We talk about where we see metaphors for faith deconstruction, decolonialism, patria...

In this new series, I explore with guests the philosophy, theology and mythology of geek world - superheroes, Star Wars, and more.  This episode, I talk to Mario-Francisco Robles of 'Superman on Film', about the mythology and philosophy around Superman and the early Superman movies. We each share our own experiences of this character and what he's meant to each of us. We also talk about Superman's...

Today, historian and author Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins me to talk about her bestselling book "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation". We talk about the forces in US evangelical culture which led to the rise and election of Donald Trump as President, dating back to the 70s and 80s and the Presidency of Ronald Reagan. We touch on the truths President J...

In today's episode, recorded early on in the pandemic, I'm joined by Daliana May, who lives in South East Asia doing anti-trafficking work and advocacy for social justice.  Daliana tells us her story of being a missionary, and then how she moved into deconstructing her faith. She talks of the challenges she faced in her deconstructing her faith, leaving patriarchy behind and decolonising as a whit...

Writer, speaker and podcaster Kate Boyd is my guest today. Together we explore and discuss how spiritual community has evolved and changed as more people deconstruct their faith, and how the pandemic will impact spiritual communities.  Kate shares what she's learned through her own story and work, and the challenges she's faced and that spiritual communities need to confront as we move forward pos...

Today my beloved friend Maria French joins me for a discussion on the post-pandemic world and it it will impact culture, our day to day lives and the church.  We dive deep into the concept of the 'new normal', and discuss the myth that our lives will ever 'go back to normal' and how people and even institutions may try, unsuccessfully, to act like the pandemic never happened. We also talk about ho...

Today I'm joined on the podcast by J Elizabeth Hanson. She shares with us the story of losing her son to suicide several years ago and how this impacted both her and her family. J Elizabeth talks about how her experience of processing and carrying grief, and how this led her to do work alongside others grieving. She talks about the work she does in giving people processing loss practices and ritua...

Today, podcaster and author Lisa Delay joins me to talk about navigating 'The Wild Land Within' - doing the internal work of healing and spiritual transformation.  She shares with us the power of spiritual & liturgical practice to navigate our inner world, and, alongside therapy, to help us explore and process what we're carrying inside. Lisa gives examples of healthy spiritual practices which, al...

Today, author Sarah Robinson joins me to talk about depression, mental illness and faith, as she discusses in her new book "I Love Jesus and I Want To Die". Sarah tells her own powerful story of growing up with depression in the context of traditional evangelical Christianity, and the challenges she faced in naming and getting support as she faced these challenges.  Sarah talks about bad experienc...

Today Abby Norman returns to the podcast to talk about the importance and transformative, healing power of lament - as she discusses in her new book "You Can Talk to God Like That".  We talk about the importance of naming our pain, feeling our pain, and giving voice to the grief and trauma we carry. We explore how naming our pain and lamenting it, actually robs it of its power, and opens up the pa...

In the second in our short 'Taylor Swift' themed podcast series, my friend Jenna DeWitt joins me to discuss Taylor Swift's story and music in the context of identity and the Enneagram.  We go through Taylor's career and see how her music reflected her own personal journey into discovering and owning her own power and voice, and what we notice about her personality type - Enneagram 3 w 4 - through...

This week we're doing a short series of Taylor Swift-linked podcasts. In today's episode, we examine Taylor's journey as a storyteller, as told through her music.  Heather and I explore the art of storytelling, and how Taylor has perfected and practiced this through her musical career. We also discuss the power of sharing our stories in our art and why good stories are so compelling, and where our...

Today my guest is the inspiring author and speaker Jay Bakker. In this episode, recorded in July 2020, he shares his own powerful story of personal and spiritual transformation. He shares more about the trauma, grief, and losses he's experienced and how they impacted his life, theology and faith, as well as the mental health challenges he's faced.  We explore how the things Jay experienced changed...

In this episode I'm honoured to be joined by Amanda Held Opelt, to share her stories of grief.  Amanda shares her experiences of grief, from losing a beloved grandmother, miscarriage, and the death of her sister Rachel Held Evans. She tenderly and honestly shares the impact grief has had on her life and faith, the questions it raised, how it's shaped her own journey - and we talk about how we as a...

Today a new on-off series 'Our Grief Stories' begins with author J. A. Browne telling the story of the loss of her mother in 2015, and then her dad in 2019, how she experienced grief, her reaction, and the lessons she learned.  She tells us how she learned how we experience life differently through the lens of loss, and how the loss of a parent is a very particular, and very painful type of grief....

Today Rev Dr Kate Hanch PhD, comes on the show to talk about her study on prophetic humility through the lens of women, and marginalised women.  Fully acknowledging her own inbuilt bias and white privilege, she talks about how we need to centre women in conversations around theology, and historical women theologians whose voices have been silenced due to patriarchy.  Dr Kate then moves on to talk...

Today I welcome writer and speaker Bob Doto to the show. In this episode we explore how we can have a form of relationship with the spirits of those who have passed. Bob explains how he discovered and experienced how we can encounter spirits and do spirit work through the lens of biblical hermeneutics, magical and mindfulness practices, shadow work, and self-inquiry.  Bob shows having a relationsh...

Today author and coach Caroline McGraw joins me to talk about her new book and why "You Don't Owe Anyone".   Caroline explains to us how often we feel obligated to the world around us, feel we "owe" people and put impossible expectations on ourselves, and the unhelpful roles we can sometimes assign ourselves. We explore the dangers of perfectionism and how to free ourselves of it. We also discuss...

Today I'm joined by author & speaker Sarah Bessey, and speaker, author, podcast host and activist Lisa Sharon Harper, to talk about the new collaborative book they've worked on and contributed to, along with many others, 'A Rhythm of Prayer'. We talk about the background to the creation of the book in the context of the events of the last 12 months - global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, th...

In this special episode, I sit with Becky Castle Miller and tell my own story. A story of childhood trauma, multiple grief experiences, and a journey through the unhealth of certainty and spiritual abuse, into deconstructing not just my faith, but my life and my identity. It's a story of transcendent spiritual experiences, betrayal, suicidal ideation and nearly losing it all. A journey of healing,...

Today my friend Kelly Wolfe joins me, to talk about sex, desire, lust, masturbation and healthy ways we can connect these with Christian faith.  We talk about the damage purity culture and shame has done to so many people, and how we need to unlearn this and begin to talk about these subjects openly and honestly, and be honest about our desires and how our bodies work, and need to express themselv...

I'm delighted to be joined today by Dr Hillary McBride PhD, therapist, researcher, author and former co-host of The Liturgists podcast (this episode was recorded before she announced her departure). We just started talking and let the conversation flow - it began by Hillary sharing her own journey and about the experience of being a therapist during a pandemic.  Hillary and I also talked about whe...