Fresh Aesthetic with Stephen Garton

Today’s episode is my interview with Michael Wright.

Michael is a writer, most well known for his weekly letter on art and spirit called Still Life. Michael is a thoughtful, contemplative person with a passion for art and spirituality.

You can find his writing at mrmichaelwright.substack.com

This episode is rich in reflections on the trappings of a modern society that prioritises productivity and profit above all else. Michael and I discuss the balance between doing work and bringing collective good in the world, and living a contemplative and peaceful life unburdened by the weight of expectations.

Today’s episode is my interview with Nyree Huyser.

Nyree is a singer songwriter who competed in the Voice Australia in 2023. She has just released her debut album, called Fixing Heads and Chasing Tails, which you can find on all major streaming platforms. It is a powerful blend of originals and covers, all with her signature soulful vocals with an eclectic blend of musical styles.

You can support Nyree’s work by buying tickets to her upcoming Celine Dion show at The Piano in September. You can also find her official merch on her Spotify shop.

Make sure you stick around to the end of the episode to hear Nyree give a live rendition of her song By The River.

Today’s episode is my interview with Jackie G. Jackie is an author, YouTuber, public speaker and podcaster.

In this episode Jackie dives deep into her journey through numerous challenges and hard times. She discusses what it was like coming to terms with her sexuality, battling an eating disorder, alcoholism and being constantly compared to her sister.

Ultimately, she poses the question: what would it be like to live as your truest self, without a mask?

For more of Jackie's work, be sure to check out her podcast, The Unity Project. You can find her YouTube channel @JackieGTV. Her book, Finding Home, can be found on Amazon, and her website is jackiegronlund.com.

Content warning: Eating disorders, alcoholism, depression.

If you are struggling with these things or anything else, please reach out for help and don't try to overcome it alone.

If you are in New Zealand, you can:

- Contact EDANZ

- Contact the Alcohol and Drug Helpline

- Get help with depression

If you are overseas, the relevant help centres in your area are just a Google search away.

Today’s episode is my interview with podcaster and author Meghan Tschanz

Meghan discusses what faith means to her today, and her extensive journey with social justice work.

Meghan is the author of the book, Women Rising: Learn to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice. She also hosts a really great podcast called Faith and Feminism, and is a keynote speaker who is dedicated to reclaiming intersectional feminism for the Christian church.

Meghan is also a wife and a mother, and is currently pursuing her Master of Divinity and ordination in the United Methodist Church.

For more information about Meghan and her work, be sure to check out her website, meghantschanz.com.

Today’s episode is my interview with Tara Teng.

Our conversation covers a whole range of topics around sexuality, including: embodiment. doing the work of decolonisation, comprehensive and enthusiastic consent, having a healthy sexual ethic, and much more.

Content warning: This conversation covers rape culture, human trafficking and exploitation of marginalised bodies.

Tara is a somatic practitioner, and seeks to offer her clients embodied Sexuality after Trauma. She is also the author of the incredible book, Your Body Is a Revolution: Healing Our Relationships with Our Bodies, Each Other, and the Earth

For more of her work, or to book a one to one coaching session, be sure to check out her website, tarateng.com.

She also has a TedX talk called Jesus Made Me A Feminist, and a great article written about her on The Peak all about breaking out of purity culture.

In today’s episode, the wonderful Katie Brookfield returns to the show to share more of her expansive expertise on sexual ethics, purity culture, patriarchy, women’s rights and a whole lot more.

We unpacked a wide range of ideas around what it means to have a healthy sexuality for yourself and how that might interact with the ethics of others.

Katie's first episode is called Navigating Identity Through the Intersection of Theology, Faith and the Lived Experience and I would highly recommend checking it out before listening to this episode to hear her backstory and experiences with Soul Survivor and a whole lot more.

Content warning: There are multiple references to sexual abuse in the episode.

Since recording this episode, Matt Redman released a documentary about the sexual abuse and other harm done at Soul Survivor, and you can find it here

Today’s guest is the exceptionally talented musician and songwriter, Dylan Chambers. We dive into Dylan’s backstory and explore how his journey led him through some dark times of loneliness and how he channels those feelings into positivity in his music.

Dylan’s new single, “I can Never Get Enough” is out on April 10th, and is from his upcoming EP called For Your Listening Pleasure! Which is out on May 17th. Be sure to show your support and stream it when it’s out!

All the music in this episode is copyrighted to Dylan Chambers and used with permission.

A celestial meditation inspired by the iconic photo taken during the Voyager 1 mission in 1990. The photo was taken from a distance of 6 billion kilometres in deep space where Earth appears as a tiny, "pale blue dot" suspended in a beam of sunlight.

Some of the words in the meditation are direct or slightly altered versions of astrophysicist Carl Sagan's quote, “Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us […] a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” This quote comes from his iconic book, Pale Blue Dot.

Original music composed by Stephen Garton, featuring Maddie De'Ath on electric guitar. You can find the instrumental version of the piece here - https://soundcloud.com/stephengarton/spacebound

Today's episode is my interview with David Hayward, more commonly known as the Naked Pastor. This episode hones in on what it means to be vulnerable and open-hearted to the entirety of the human experience. David shares about what vulnerability means to him, and also what it means to evolve and grow as a creative artist and as a person.

A recurring theme in this episode is what it really means to be your authentic self and how that privilege should be available to everyone.

It was so inspiring to see someone as honest and open as David share what vulnerability means to him and how he is challenging himself to incorporate that sense of authenticity into his art and what he shares online.

The video referenced in the interview about how David got started in drawing cartoons can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXwXsSpJSoI

To see more of David’s work, be sure to check out his website nakedpastor.com. You can also find him on Instagram at @davidhayward_art and @nakedpastor

Today's episode is an interview with writer, podcaster, life coach, teacher, LGBTQ+ advocate and queer theology enthusiast, Mike Maeshiro. Mike is also the founder of Numa, an organisation that supports people recovering from religious toxicity.

Mike has a powerful quote that summarises what he stands for: “HUMANS MATTER MORE THAN THEOLOGY.” The ethos behind that quote comes across loud and clear in this conversation as we take a deep dive into the human experience of being gay.

We also discuss other things over the course of the conversation, such as Mike’s writing, how he stays emotionally regulated in the midst of horrendous bullying and backlash, why he currently uses the word pastor in his bio, and a look into his journey into self-acceptance and embracing every aspect of who he is.

For more of Mike’s work, be sure to check out his podcast, Confessions of a Reformer, which can be found on all the platforms where you get your podcasts. You can also check out his website, mikemaeshiro.com. He is also active on Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and YouTube.

This podcast is edited and produced by Stephen Garton. All the music is original work composed for the show by Stephen Garton.