A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World

Tracy is a senior staff writer at Jezebel covering sex, gender, and feminism. She's also the author of "Want Me: A Sex Writer's Journey into the Heart of Desire". Tracy and I discuss what it was like growing up as a young person with access to porn, AOL sex chatrooms, and how we navigated the very confusing world of "sexual education." We cover desire, pleasure, masculinity and femininity, power dynamics, sexual self-awareness, or lack thereof, and more.

Find Tracy at TracyClarkFlory.com and on Twitter.

Tracy's book recommendation: Talk Dirty to Me by Sallie Tisdale and Love and Trouble by Claire Dederer.

Songs featured: “Unravel Me” by Sabrina Claudio and “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Rachel was raised in a strict fundamentalist Christian household with rigid gender expectations. She was exposed to pedophilia, sexual violence and severe homophobia from a very young age. In the process of trying to find herself, Rachel became convinced that she could solve her mental health issues and her difficulties dating by taking cross-sex hormones and becoming a man. Rachel, who now identifies as a lesbian woman, shares openly about this process & why she decided to ultimately detransition. Rachel also explains what all of this has to do with internalized & culturally reinforced misogyny, unprocessed trauma, fundamentalist ideologies + widespread medical & psychological malpractice. 

Find Rachel on Twitter.

Watch Dysphoric on Youtube.

Rachel's book recommendation: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk and Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich

Songs featured: “Save Me” by Bleu and “Things Are Gonna Get Easier” by Low Motion Disco

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Vaishnavi is an independent filmmaker, feminist, writer, and women's rights activist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Her most recent film, Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood Like a House on Fire is a four-part documentary series on the rise of Gender Identity Ideology and gender transition in developing countries. We focus specifically on the recent uptick in FTM transitions, how the trend showing up abroad and where it may intersect with internalized misogyny. We also talk about the patriarchal underbelly of medical corporatism, cancel culture, and why understanding the social construction of our identity is so vitally important, especially when our goal is to achieve equality across the board. 

Find Vaishnavi at VaishnaviSundar.com, on Twitter and on Instagram.

Watch Dysphoric on Youtube.

Vaishnavi's book recommendation: Writing by Andrea Dworkin and Sheila Jeffreys

Songs featured: “Splintered” by Aisha Badru and “Your Move” (single version) by Yes

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Tao is a filmmaker (Being in the World, Monogamish), a photographer, a musician, a podcaster (the Being in the World podcast) and has a degree in philosophy from UC Berkeley. He is also an incredibly inspiring human and friend. From the compound he's built on his property in Joshua Tree to The Bombay Beach Biennale, Tao has a knack for creating environments and communities that push the limits of our imagination. We sat down to co-release this conversation about sexuality, non-monogamy, fear, and how the act of applying our philosophies and beliefs about life to our physical, tangible surroundings can be a powerful form of anarchism.

Find Tao on Instagram and listen to his podcast.

Songs featured: “I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got” by Bettye LaVette and “Relationship Anarchy" by Mary Wander

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Steve QJ is a writer who writes about race, politics and culture. He joins me on the podcast to have a controversial, but important conversation about race, and more specifically, about the current Anti-Racism movement. We speak about how "anti-racism" tends to favor conformity to an idea over genuine solidarity and support of black people, how broken our discourse is about these topics, especially online, and how power and privilege aren't inherently negative. Steve also questions the notion of "safe spaces," how identity has become more valuable than intelligence, and how looking at these issues cross-culturally can help lead to greater understanding between all people, across the board.

Find Steve on Medium and on Twitter

Steve's book recommendation: Writing by James Baldwin and Thomas Sowell

Songs featured: “A Thought Is Just a Passing Train” by John Moreland and “In the Real World” by Alex Serra

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Jenny is a certified Astrologer, has a B.A. in Classical Philology, a PhD in Modern languages and has studied ancient civilizations and languages for over 25 years. Jenny returns to MGSW, this time to expand on the topic of spiritual awakenings. Jenny and I chat about our personal journeys, and what we've experienced within (and without) various spiritual communities. We address what happens when consumerism and capitalism meet spirituality, and how our individual trauma always plays a role in our spiritual awakening. We also discuss the differences between discernment and skepticism, why having a spiritual container is so imperative to navigating the entire process, and so much more.

Sign up for Jenny's Lunar Nodes workshop this Saturday by joining Patreon at the "Renegade" level or higher: Click here

Find Jenny at amaltheaastrology.com

Jenny’s book recommendation: Spiritual Emergency by Stanislov and Christina Grof

Songs featured: “blue sky mind” by Trevor Hall and “Breathe” by Ásgeir

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

I decided to record a short reintroduction to myself and to this podcast. From honoring the space between personal experience and objective "truth", finding a community that can mirror us and help us grow, and taking responsibility for the stories we tell, I speak a little bit about why I created this project in the first place and where I think it's going. Thank you, as always, for listening, supporting, and for being here with me on this journey.

Song featured: “Mind on Fire" by Aisha Badru

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Lindsey is a writer and podcaster, helping others to heal trauma holistically and consciously create a reality that isn't ruled by the past. Lindsey was raised in Evangelical Christianity, and at 35, after watching a pro-gay rights Christian documentary, Lindsey had an identity crisis which lead to a nervous breakdown & suicide attempt. Eventually, she rejected her religious upbringing and restructured her life and values from the ground up. Lindsey and I speak about the danger of toxic, cult-like movements, from religion, to wellness culture and woke politics. We also touch on what it means to take a holistic approach to healing trauma, and how learning to think for ourselves & healing our trauma are two of the strongest antidotes against fundamentalist ideologies of all kinds that prey on fearful, dysregulated humans.

Find Lindsey at LindseyLockett.com and on Instagram.

Lindsey’s book recommendations: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Songs featured: “Party at the End of the World” by Carsie Blanton and “Waking Up” by Explosions in the Sky

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website – AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Deepa Iyer is Director of Strategic Initiatives at Building Movement Project where she builds projects, resources, and narratives that support nonprofits and individuals engaged in transformative movements for progressive social change. Her work includes creating the social change ecosystem map, which is a brilliant and creative way to help people identify their unique and authentic role within broad and diverse social justice movements. Deepa outlines each of the 10 roles, and discusses how self-awareness is imperative to creating change in the world. We also talk about the role anger plays social justice movements for better or worse, how shame is always counter-productive to progress, and how we can develop the courage to embody our principles and values, despite the pressure we may feel to comply or perform.

Find Deepa at buildingmovement.org and on Instagram.

Deepa's book recommendation: Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling

Songs featured: "Be Good" by Carsie Blanton and "Tribe" by Danny Addison

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram

Kevin is a digital pastor, the author of Bad Theology Kills, podcaster and holds a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology from Columbia Theological Seminary. This is Kevin's second time on the podcast, and I was thrilled to continue our conversation about Christianity, faith, sexuality, spirituality, magic and gender, and how they all intersect. Kevin and I discuss the importance of cultivating spiritual community, how to avoid becoming a fake idol (or following one), and how they define and approach magic and ritual. Kevin also discusses their gender identity through the lens of Christianity and masculine/feminine energies.

Find Kevin at thekevingarcia.com and on Instagram.

Kevin's book recommendations: I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde and the audio version of Being Ram Dass by Ram Dass

Songs featured: "Undercurrent/Watershed" by April feat. Mary Lattimore, "Little Runaway" by Celeste and "Crowded Table" by The Highwomen, Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Maren Morris

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive Discord Server, a book club just for patrons, shirts + stickers, playlists, and curated workshops led by myself, fellow Patrons and former guests of the podcast.

Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram