BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S2 EP 4 : LIGHT THE TORCH

This week on the podcast, Christa and Micah talk with Shannon - a lunar mentor, plant medicine facilitator, and entrepreneur.

She shares memories and pivotal moments from her spiritual journey, reflecting on:

Growing up immersed in evangelical Christianity

Questions that were always present but never fully answered

Working for YWAM and participating in overseas missionary trips

Leaving Church altogether

The importance of paying attention to your intuition

Jesus, the ultimate shaman?

The spiritual benefits of plant medicine

Facilitating plant circles and helping others heal

Shannon can be found online @themodernhustle.ca

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S2 EP 3 : GOOD SOUL

What is the difference between a Pastor and a Spiritual Director? What could it look like to engage with our spirituality outside of a church system and all the politics that come with it? How do we cultivate a nourishing spiritual community, or companionship, when we may have been harmed by a previous religious community?

This week on the podcast, Christa and Micah chat with Samuel Fagan, a spiritual director, husband, father, and ex-pastor from Sydney, Australia.

In this conversation, we reflect on the following:

Sam’s upbringing and family dynamic

His years as a pastor at Hillsong Church

How both Micah and Sam felt when their Senior pastor suddenly resigned

How Sam found his way into Spiritual Directing

Navigating church trauma and evolving belief systems

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S2 EP2 : SPACE FOR GRIEF

Nat is an Australian-born photographer, designer, and mother to three beautiful children. Tragically, in 2020 she lost her husband of 13 years in a freak accident, followed by the loss of her beloved Dad four months later due to cancer. This week on the podcast, Micah and Christa sit down with her to talk about the magnitude of those experiences, and how she has learned to continue walking forward after such devastating loss. Conversation covers:

• The importance of making space for grief and how we can understand it better
• Widow - holding a new identity and facing some of the social stigma surrounding it
• Parenting alone after losing a spouse
• Dealing with the expectations and projections of those in your community
• Navigating “widow’s fire” - the complexity of finding love and companionship again after loss

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S2 EP1 : WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Welcome to Season 2 of the Bad People podcast! In this episode, Christa and Micah reflect on how they both felt after recording the final episode of season one - CONFESSIONS - and where they’re at now. They explore what the title ‘Bad People’ means to them, what it could represent on a wider scale, and talk about how looking at the uncomfortable or conflicting parts of ourselves can actually cause our spiritual parameters to expand, rather than contract. They discuss the question “how do we be (and stay) authentic in a world that is constantly trying to mold us?” and how it is potentially at the heart of this project, and also chat about guests they will be holding conversations with over the course of season 2!

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP10 : CONFESSION

Trigger warning: suicide, abortion, strong language

In this final episode of season 1, Micah and Christa revisit the original BAD PEOPLE theme of confession. Christa talks candidly about what unraveled for her after the affair - the ending of her marriage, a subsequent relationship - and goes into detail about the loneliness and confusion she’s faced in the aftermath of everything. She shares some of the choices she’s made in slowly trying to find her way forward again, how these have been perceived in various ways by those around her, and how some of these choices have led to much deeper, necessary realizations about her own identity and self-worth.

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP9 : LOVE, ACTUALLY

This week, Micah and Christa discuss love. What does it look and feel like? And how has learning to love themselves impacted everything else? We look at the truth and reality that one can only love others to the extent they love themselves - which sometimes felt counterintuitive (especially in the church context of sacrificial love). We delve into the concept that love is defined differently and also experienced in many different forms. We questioned what true love, actually feels like - and if mutual understanding, respect, equality, and freedom were important? We hope that you join us this week in examining our lives for evidence of love or the lack thereof - and the deep knowledge that we can choose to be curious about cultivating a life of love in the here and now.

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP8 : NO, THANKS

Trigger warning - anxiety

Boundaries. We hear this word a lot these days. But when is “saying no” actually necessary? And what does it look or feel like to implement boundaries within our relationships and communities? In this episode, Micah and Christa discuss times they've both failed and succeeded in setting boundaries, how ‘boundaries with church’ (or work) can be such a gray area to navigate, how cultural perceptions of selfishness impact our understanding of boundaries, and ultimately - how putting them in place requires a certain level of self-reflection and awareness.

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP7 : NOTHING LEFT

This week on the podcast, Micah and Christa talk about our collective human need for belonging, and how this natural desire can sometimes lead us to places of exploitation and burnout within our “chosen” communities. We talk about how we realized when this was happening to us personally, what it felt like, and how subtly it seems to occur. We ask questions such as: when does the emotional, financial and physical sacrifice that church often requires of us become too great? Are we actually committed to making space for authenticity, equality and true spiritual growth within our communities, or is our participation - and the participation of others - simply being used to benefit “the system”, and a select few?

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP6 : FREE WILL

In this episode of BAD PEOPLE, Micah and Christa discuss their thoughts on autonomy & self-governance and how that intersects with our basic human right to exist and think our own thoughts. They spend time reflecting on how, at a time, their inner worlds were at odds with the teaching around them - and how they started to find the confidence to even start to hold on to the thoughts they were thinking. As Christa & Micah experienced firsthand, when one can’t even identify why they believe the things that they do - or why they don’t feel safe in their own minds - then this can cause massive damage to one's psyche. They continue to wrestle with the then fear-based worry about expressing these thoughts as their own - with the result being labeled bad being one of the core issues at hand.

BAD PEOPLE PODCAST // S1 EP5: F*CKED UP

Trigger warning - domestic abuse.

In this episode of BAD PEOPLE, Micah reflects on the challenging dynamic between her parents, growing up, and the explosive relational interactions she and her siblings were often exposed to. She describes the feelings she experienced, witnessing one of her siblings being “disciplined” in a very damaging way, and how this has impacted her own parenting. Christa shares a story from her own mothering experience, where an impulsive response to one of her kids led to some painful realizations.