Chaundra Crouch talks about centering pleasure, but not at the expense of others or of the world at large. They discuss food and relationships and sex and sensuality and finding ethical and pleasurable ways to navigate all of those areas. They also talk about the marriage of ethical hedonism and spiritual or religious practice.

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Logo: Sarah Walter
Theme Music: Jason Crane

Actor and baker Cory Anderson talks about dealing with the effects of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which she contracted as a result of getting COVID. It’s had a dramatic effect on her life, not least because of the struggle just to get a diagnosis. It’s also led to Cory becoming part of a growing community of folks with ME who are educating the medical community and the public, and also advocating for better treatment.

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In this episode, Aaron and Patrick join me to talk about the deep and beautiful friendship we’ve created in a text chat that was originally meant to do some planning for my jazz podcast.

In this episode I revisit five short audio essays from 2019 about my religious history, and then add an update on where I’m at now in 2023.

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On this episode I talk with my sister, Gretchen Gustavson, about her job as a speech pathologist. She helps dispel some of the mystery around speech issues and how they’re dealt with. She also talks about the somewhat surprising way she decided to become a speech pathologist.

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Althea Collier hiked the 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail in 2022, starting when she was 17 and finishing when she was 18. In this interview she talks about how she decided to do it; expectation versus reality on the trail; meeting trail angels and other hikers; and her advice for others who might be thinking about a similar journey. You can read Althea’s trail blog at thetrek.co and follow her on Instagram at @altsoco.

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Faraaz Abdool is a birder, author, guide, and environmentalist. In this interview we talk about how he developed an interest in birding; finding a community of people interested in the natural world; making a major career shift; the pros and cons of ecotourism; and more. Find Faraaz online via his website and on Instagram.

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Hester Blum is a professor of English at Penn State. She recently edited, and wrote the introduction for, the new Oxford World’s Classics edition of Moby-Dick. In this interview, we talk about new ways to interpret Melville’s classic through our modern lens; polar exploration; our responsibility to cultures other than our own; and more.

Richard Biever is an assistant professor of musical theatre at the School of Performing Arts at Wichita State University. In this interview, we talk about using the stage as a way to spark community conversations on difficult issues. We also discuss the performance of older plays and musicals in the modern era. And we talk about play readings (as opposed to fully staged performances) as a particularly successful way to invite dialogue with the audience.

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Clint Carrick is the author of the book Small Town Skateparks, which chronicles his journey from Vermont to California, visiting skateparks in out-of-the-way places across the country. The book is a mix of memoir and travelogue, and it examines the activities that knit people together and what happens when they drift away from them.