Soul Searching Audacious Podcasts

In this episode, we take an unflinching look at our most primal sense – touch. Here, we explore sensitive themes around touch, shame and vulnerability. At birth, touch begins so naturally and innocently, yet as we grow up, events, fears and taboos often begin to weave shame into our skin. From the innocence of a child’s need for comfort, through layers of explorative experiments, seeking attention...

We all know the feeling — a conversation turns sour, and suddenly the people we care about most become the ones we hurt the deepest. In this episode, I explore why conflict feels so personal, how our language often fuels misunderstanding and what it really takes to restore connection. Drawing on ideas from Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, I look at the tension between being right and...

Immerse yourself in Stripped, South Africa's first feature-length audio drama, produced by Baird Media, now streaming on https://startlivingmy.life/stripped and all major platforms. Based on the life of Thomas W E Budge, Stripped tells the gripping story of one man's defiance against apartheid-era conscription in 1971 and his struggle to break free from the control of the JW Organisation, despite...

Thomas W E Budge’s story isn’t just one of personal triumph; it’s a powerful exposé of harmful religious doctrines and a source of encouragement for those marginalised and victimised for their differences. Unlike typical South African podcasts, Stripped breaks new ground as the country’s first feature-length audio drama. Produced by Baird Media, it tells the true story of Thomas’ courageous defian...

In this companion podcast, Thomas W E Budge reflects on the personal and societal reasons behind the creation of Stripped. As a teenager detained for resisting conscription in apartheid South Africa, Thomas shares how the control of both the apartheid regime and the Watchtower Society impacted young Jehovah’s Witnesses. Stripped is not just a story from the past—it’s a message of self-advocacy and...

Dive deeper into the turbulent backdrop of apartheid South Africa in the early 1970s with this companion podcast. Thomas W E Budge explores the tense relationships between key political figures, the Watchtower Society, and the apartheid regime, focusing on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ defiance of conscription and the persecution of homosexuals. Gain a richer understanding of the complex forces shaping Str...

Juxtaposed against the outer world lies an inner world full of imagination and abstraction, a rich world of raw emotion, a cauldron of lust, holiness, inspiration, insightfulness, depravity and terror. To some this is a private sanctuary, to others it is their place of imprisonment. Which is it for you?

Standing in the immigration queue at O R Thambo airport on one of my regular trips back south, I watch the strangest scene unfold.

None of us asked to be here. Nobody offered us a choice over our gender, race, body type, looks, upbringing, preferences, idiosyncrasies and inherent skills, yet here we are whether we like it or not. So, the million-dollar question is, "What the hell do we do with this strange and awkward thing called life?"

Today, Yvonne graciously volunteered to be my Guinea pig so that I could record a 40-min hypnosis session as my gift to all of you. Please do not listen to it if you are on the go or need to focus your attention on what you are doing. Only listen to it when it is safe for you to do so. If you do share this track with others, please share the entire blog and not just the recording as it is importan...

This is a story of how scientific advances removed God from the equation governing all physical matter and replaced Him with science’s powerful sense of control over the clockwork mechanics that it had discovered. Science also changed our views about life and God’s role in it when Darwin published his theories of evolution. The church fought an arduous battle to keep God at the centre of things bu...

Have you ever traded sex for the other person’s love and respect? Have you ever believed that you must first offer God your loyalty and faithfulness before you can receive His favour? If so, you have then experienced the perversion of the Law of Reciprocity. In this show, we explore what we mean by the reciprocity rule and we shall see how it can easily go awry with tretcherous consequences. Join...

Are you stuck in a world of guilt, remorse and shame? Forgiveness might be the tool to use to set yourself free. It is not the kind of forgiveness most people think of. There is a truth behind the truth, the one powerful trick you can use to dramatically change your future for the good. Join me in this show to learn what that forgiveness trick is. You won’t regret it.

What have wormholes through space, filled with drifting coloured balloons and a hovering naked man got to do with spirituality and time? Well, they fit together as perfect symbols that explain our layered consciousness, how we attract experiences and how we perpetually live in this present moment of time, which we call ‘now.’

Contemporary moral values are rapidly replacing old-fashioned ones. This translates into freedom and openness about your sexuality and how you express it. Statistics prove that it has also led to an endemic proliferation of affairs, sexual exploration outside the commitments of a relationship. If you have cheated on your partner, you may carry huge angst and guilt about it; if your partner cheated...

For many, being with a dying person is a nightmarish experience. We live in a disposable world and modern western trends encourages us to outsource dying to others, like nurses, hospice staff and doctors. Most of us don’t know what to say. We are afraid to be honest. We think that we need to bring hope and future possibility to the dying person. All while we’re grappling with our own emotions of i...

Most of us have piles of personal poo to deal with in life. Life isn’t always easy and we don’t always make the right choices when trying to solve our problems. In fact, we’re often quite blind to the mistakes we make or we find ourselves hell-bent on pursuing a course of action that leads nowhere. Your close friends and family may notice how crazy you are but many of them won’t stick their necks...

If the word body refers to your physical being and all of its material acquisitions, how do you define the words mind and spirit? Are there differences between spirit and soul? Most of us have a vague, three-way distinction between mind, body and spirit but it is insightful to know what various philosophies say about them. Having this proper distinction is key to your personal, spiritual growth. J...

My spiritual journey started in a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall and it came full-circle in one thirty-five years later. This is not a story discouraging you from joining them but it is one of encouragement so that you can embark upon your spiritual journey with eyes wide open and with a good measure of scepticism because there are some whacky beliefs out there and you’ll need to carefully avoid...

This show tackles the thorny issue of whether you should be religious, spiritual or neither and it will help you to understand what it means to pursue your own divinity. To be spiritual (or religious for that matter) often makes one feel bashful and insecure when sharing your journey with others, particularly in a modern world that is driven by consumerism, science and technology. It’s easy to fee...

Have you ever wondered why you’re not really finding traction with your spirituality? Why it seems so difficult and elusive? You may have read many scriptures and spiritual teachings and, while you have a good mental grasp of these philosophies, you simply don’t seem to walk the spiritual talk. What’s going on and how can you change this? For you to get a better understanding of what it is to be s...

Astronomical evidence debunks the Genesis account that is believed to support a flat-earth model. Here, in Part 2, by investigating this scientific and mathematical evidence, we inadvertently end up challenging scripture and belief. What are the implications of overturning the way God said He created Earth? This episode probes these and other intriguing possibilities.

The Genesis account in the Bible offers some compelling evidence to support a flat-earth model. Here, in Part 1 we investigate this evidence that supports Earth being flat, not round, as we were taught. If Earth is indeed flat, you will learn what the Earth’s flat structure is like and how it works. Much of this evidence is very plausible and convincing. However, what is fact and what is fiction a...

Sin is a myth, an illusory, erroneous judgement that you made about yourself. If there was such a thing as sin, then this would have been the biggest sin you made, to judge yourself as anything less than perfect. The most devastation meme that reached my brain was that I was born in sin. This meme implied that I was substandard, a failed human before I even began and perhaps an even crazier implic...

Rabbits pop up frequently in children's stories and comic strips, and genderless Easter Bunnies have had the pleasant task of bringing us baskets of decorated easter eggs for many centuries. But what are the origins of Easter folklore and how did Jesus get to take centre-stage with the Easter Bunny. This show explores old Biblical history, astronomy and pagan traditions to find an explanation.