Fresh Aesthetic with Stephen Garton

Today’s episode is my interview with Andy Dickson.

Andy describes himself firstly as a husband, a dad and a son. But he is also a spoken word poet, a writer, a podcaster, a business director and has a Masters in Theology.

Andy’s podcast is called Down to Earth Conversations where he talks to ordinary people who are doing good in the world, or as he likes to say, are "bringing a bit of heaven Down to Earth."

This conversation is a raw and real look into what it means to be inclusive of minorities and not exclude anyone based on belief.

For more of Andy’s work, make sure to check out his podcast:

- Down to Earth Conversations - https://www.downtoearthconversations.com/

- His spoken word poetry - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8HaoksLx4-CQpnLzoeUTsg

- His book, Three Things to Know: An E Tū Tāngata Story - https://shop.etutangata.nz/collections/books/products/three-things-to-know-an-e-tu-tangata-story

Today’s episode is my interview with Mason Mennenga. Mason is a theologian, podcaster, YouTuber, and self-identifies as the "Internet's youth pastor.” He has an impressive academic background with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Theology.

Through his platforms, Mason mixes theological concepts with a dose of fun and approachability. His content is clever and thought-provoking, sparking discussions and challenging conventional thinking within theological circles and beyond.

For more of Mason’s work, make sure to check out his podcasts:

A People’s Theology. A People’s Theology explores inspiring and liberating theologies that transforms you and the world.

The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine. Mason and his co-host and best friend, Cullen, interview musicians, artists, and other creatives about their art, life, faith, and much more.

Welcome to Season 4 of Fresh Aesthetic! Join in the conversation as we explore the vastness of the human experience through creativity, authenticity, science and spirituality.

Today’s episode is my interview with Phil Drysdale. Phil helps people who are going through radical shifts in what they believe. He works online doing one to one coaching, academic research, and is now training to be a therapist.

One of the key themes that keeps reoccurring in this conversation is the way that humans crave safety, security and comfort and how this can often limit our potential to grow and evolve.

Questioning what you believe can seem scary at first, but is a completely normal part of what it means to be human.

For further learning I would recommend digging into some of the psychological models referenced in the episode. These are:

Spiral Dynamics (Beck and Cowan) - A model of evolutionary development that describes how value systems and worldviews emerge from the interaction of "life conditions" and capacity of the mind.

Stages of Moral Development (Kohlberg) - A theory that asserts that individuals progress through 6 stages of moral reasoning as they move from infancy to adulthood.

Ego Development Theory (Cook-Greuter) - A theory that outlines how individuals journey through existence by using navigational lore, common sense, increasingly complex maps, algorithms, and intuition.

In this special episode I roll back the clock to look at the highlights of Fresh Aesthetic in 2023. There were some amazing guests that came on the show last year and I am grateful to all of them for their time and wisdom they shared. This episode is a little late as January is nearly over, but I still wanted to put it out there before heading into season 4 of the show.

This episode is my interview with Katie Brookfield. Katie has a Degree and Masters in Theology and is a deep thinker with a passion for women’s rights, sexual ethics and empowering others through sharing her experience. Katie has a clear and concise way of sharing her perspective that holds space for nuance and compassion for the journey.

Katie is extremely humble, and has a very balanced way of looking at the world. I’m so grateful to have had this conversation and hope that it encourages others to think critically while still being loving, kind and compassionate of the human experience that we are all going through.

This episode is my interview with the one and only Kevin Garcia. Kevin is a spirituality coach, mystical theologian, content curator and is the author of 2 amazing books - Bad Theology Kills and their brand new book, What Makes You Bloom, which releases January 9th 2024. This episode is so fun, so raw and so real, and I am incredibly grateful for to be able to share it with you.

This is part 2 of my conversation with Matt Guddat where he flips the script to interview me about my journey through faith and existential dread. If you haven’t already listened to part 1 then I would highly recommend you go back and listen to that first before coming back to this episode.

In today’s episode my co-host Matt Guddat flips the script and interviews Stephen about his journey so far and some of his struggles with faith and the meaning of existence.

Matt asks some really insightful questions about faith, culture, art and the human experience. Part 2 of the conversation is on the way in the coming weeks.

Today’s episode is a follow up interview with Sarah Norquoy after her interview with Matt about a month ago. In this interview I go deeper with Sarah about her faith journey and some of the struggles and triumphs she’s had along the way. Over the conversation we talk about things like death, loneliness, isolation, evolving beliefs, critical thinking and a whole lot more.

Today I’m sharing the last of the special unreleased interviews that my co-host Matt Guddat recorded for another podcast a few years ago. This episode is an interview with Mattieu about his thoughts on religion, psychedelics, and whether or not there might be a god out there. Matt and Mattieu also discuss heaven and hell, reason vs experience and being okay with not knowing the meaning of existence.