The Liberation Garden Podcast

Religious Trauma is a growing field of study and research in clinical settings, but still, many patients go under-diagnosed or undiagnosed with this within therapeutic settings. For this week's podcast, I sat down with psychotherapist Samantha Speed to discuss the signs and treatments for Religious Trauma symptoms. According to Research Gate , 27 - 33% of US adults have symptoms of Religious Traum...

Religion is a social determinant of health. In this episode with the amazing author and theologian Michael Ivory Jr, we explore the harm of religious trauma and the power of religious inclusion. Religious inclusion matters, not just in churches, but in secular spaces like the workplace, too. Let's talk about it! In this incredible episode, Michael invites us to sit with some questions, such as: Wh...

Reality television has never been just entertainment. It is a social text — a window into what we collectively believe about power, belonging, desire, and who deserves to be treated as fully human. In this episode of The Liberation Garden Podcast , I sat down with cultural critic and podcast host Alexandria Baetol (@abaetol on Instagram and Spotify), whose work on TikTok and at the Southern Povert...

Religion is a social determinant of health. Theologies shape how we see our bodies, our worth, our communities, and even who gets access to care, dignity, and belonging. In our latest episode, I sat down with Nick Young to unpack how religion impacts mental health, social systems, exclusion, healing, and the ways we move through the world. This conversation meant so much to me. Follow Nick on TikT...

In this episode of The Community Garden , I’m joined by Connie Chen —an MDiv-educated theologian from Harvard, artist, and disability rights activist —for a conversation about what access, embodiment, and dignity reveal about the kind of communities we’re actually called to build. Follow Connie @Connie Together, we explore how theology has too often been used to justify exclusion—and how disabilit...

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by public theologian Kristian Smith to talk about his new book Question Your Answers — a powerful invitation to rethink the way we approach faith, certainty, and spiritual growth. Together we explore why deconstruction alone isn’t enough, the limits of binary thinking, how sin-consciousness shapes our spirituality, and what it means to read the Bible as a lib...

In this episode, I sit down with powerhouse theologian, Tamice Spencer Helms, M.A/ThM @blackmodernmystic. In this episode, we discuss Hush Harbors, Black, Queer Spirituality, and their book, Faith Unleavened ! Tamice Spencer-Helms (they/she) is the founder of The Black Modern Mystic, a theo-activist, speaker, pastor, and scholar-practitioner based in Richmond, Virginia. With two master’s degrees i...