Beyond The Margins with Jen Chambers

This week's episode is the audio from a live Podcasting Office Hour I hosted on 6/6/16. This hour is all about editing your podcast. I shared how-tos, tips, and tricks to make it easy and fun. As my own podcast coach Cathy Heller says, "Make it fun and it will get done." That's great advice.

When I switched podcasting hosts, some episodes did not transfer over, so I'm reposting here. This episode originally came out 02/13/26.

This episode is full of great advice from seasoned podcasters who answered my questions about what they wish they’d known before starting their podcasting journey.

In switching from another platform, some episodes did not transfer, so I'm reposting them here. This originally aired on 5/15/26.

Today’s episode is the full audio of a recent Podcasting Office Hour I hosted for the members of my Podcasting Classes. I talk a bit about monetization and go over some examples of the equipment my library recently purchased. I share these as good options for your own podcasting journey.

In switching this show from another platform, some episodes did not transfer, so I'm reposting them here. This episode originally aired on 05/08/26.

In today’s episode, I sit down with 81-year-old storyteller, lifelong learner, and future podcaster Ardean Maxey for a moving conversation about aging, memory, community, libraries, loss, change, and the stories that connect generations.

We talk about:

• party line telephones & frozen TV dinners

• adapting to grief and change

• growing older without giving up curiosity

• Prohibition-era whiskey flights in a biplane

• and why maybe… we’re just supposed to have fun

Ardean shares memories from ranch life in California, stories passed down through her family, and her dream of creating a podcast for older adults. She envisions a place for connection, laughter, and meaning in life’s later chapters.

One of my favorite moments:
“The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails.”

This episode feels like sitting in a warm kitchen listening to someone who has truly lived.

In switching this show from another platform, some episodes didn't translate, so I'm reposting them here. This originally aired on 5/01/26.

“They called me a warrior, but I didn’t want to fight.”

Today I’m sharing an interview with my friend, musician, teacher, and mom, Jen Sennett Franklin. That one line from this interview says everything. We love neat language around suffering. We wrap people in words like brave, strong, and fighter because they help us make sense of what scares us. But inside the experience, it doesn’t always feel like strength. Sometimes it feels like fear. Like waiting. Like making impossible decisions in three weeks flat.

Sometimes it feels like doing the next thing because there is no other option.

And yet, on the other side, there is something that looks like strength. Not the loud, triumphant kind. Something quieter. Hard-earned. Built moment by moment. I invite you to listen to Jen’s story about music, joy, and her journey with breast cancer today and see her at www.jensenettmusic.com or on IG @jensenettmusic.

In switching this show from a different platform, some shows didn't translate, so I'm reposting them here. This originally aired on 3/14/26.

It’s hard to believe how many years have passed since the world first began shutting down in response to COVID-19. For many of us, those years feel both distant and strangely close. Life slowed. Plans changed. Entire ways of living vanished overnight.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Margins, I explore the nature of change through an ancient myth: the story of Persephone. Persephone’s descent into the underworld has long symbolized the cycles of winter and spring, but it also offers a powerful metaphor for transformation. Today’s episode includes a guided meditation & book recommendations.

In transferring this show from another platform, some episodes didn't translate, so I'm posting them here. This originally aired on 3/27/26.

When we talk about Oregon history, the same names tend to rise to the surface. We talk about explorers, pioneers, and political leaders.

But what about the women who quietly reshaped the foundations of democracy here?

In this episode of Beyond the Margins, I explore the lives of three remarkable women whose work changed how power flows through our communities: Hattie Redmond, Eva Emory Dye, and Cornelia Marvin Pierce.

In transferring this show from another platform, some episodes didn't transfer, so I'm reposting here. This originally aired on 1/23/26.

You may have heard all the chatter about going back to analog things for 2026 and beyond. I want to share the things I do that are analog, or Granny-core, or goblin-core, old-fashioned, basic, whatever you want to call it, and see if there are some that you like. I call them Hobbit Habits. I’ll share links to what I’m talking about on my Instagram, @j_b_chambers, if you want to play along. These things are making me happy! We all deserve a little more happy. And we don’t gatekeep happiness over here.

In transferring the show from another platform, some episodes didn't translate, so I'm reposting them here. This originally aired 1/16/26.

Today’s episode is a general check-in and a comeback from the great sickness of 2025-26. It’s also an announcement that I received a Storytelling Fellowship from Oregon Humanities, and an exploration of that project.

In transferring this show from another platform, some episodes didn't translate, so I'm reposting them here. This originally aired on 1/09/26.

The beginning of the year asks a lot of us.

Be new.
Be better.
Be motivated.
Be ready.

This week on Beyond The Margins, I’m pushing back on that noise.

After being sick through the end of the year and into January, I had to stop—even with episodes ready to go. My body asked for stillness, and I listened. This episode is about what that taught me.

We talk about:

• Listening to your body without turning rest into guilt

• Choosing joy as a daily practice—not a personality trait

• Saying yes to small, brave things without needing a total life overhaul

• Trying anyway (very Julia Child–style), even when you’re scared or tired

This isn’t a “new year, new you” episode.
It’s a you’re-allowed-to-be-here-as-you-are episode.

If you’re easing back in, feeling behind, or quietly rebuilding—this one’s for you.