Impossible Beauty

Gretchen Andrew left Silicon Valley for the art world and now refers to herself as a “Search Engine Artist.” Gretchen uses her experience as a former computer scientist at Google and her artist training in London with Billy Childish to “hack systems of power with art, code, and glitter,” as she states it, and helps make invisible parts of technology visible. Her work has been featured in outlets such as The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, and The Financial Times, among others.  

In my time with Gretchen, we discuss her latest limited series, entitled Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty, currently featured at The Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan. In this series, and in our time together, Gretchen helps us see how AI is shaping beauty standards, the pressures those standards create, and the resulting invisible scars of these developing technologies. Given the rapid pace and pervasiveness of these technologies’ impacts, this conversation is such an important one. I can’t wait for you to listen and learn more.

**Also, please know that at points this conversation includes some mature themes, in case you’d like to be mindful of when and where you listen to this episode.

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Ellen Wildman decided she didn’t want to hate her body anymore. So, she set out on a journey to heal and change that relationship. In today’s episode, Ellen tells us about her journey of healing and self-acceptance and the book that she wrote as a result.

Ellen Wildman holds an MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Denver Seminary and is the author of Single and Not Sorry and most recently, Already Whole: 90 Devotions for Being at Home in the Body God Gave You. In my time with Ellen, we discuss lies from beauty and diet culture that get in the way of partnering with our bodies, how we can shift from our bodies being a project or enemy to our partner, and what it means to be made in the image of God. As you listen to our conversation, may grace, healing, and wholeness infuse your relationship with your body as well.

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

The tricky part about diet culture is that it oftentimes masquerades as health and wellness. Given that, in today’s episode, Leslie Schilling and I discuss and even debunk some of today’s most prevalent wellness trends.

Leslie Schilling is a registered dietitian, sports nutritionist, nutrition therapist, and the author of Feed Yourself: Step Away from the Lies of Diet Culture and into Your Divine Design. Leslie also served as a performance nutrition consultant for Cirque du Soleil®, is an expert contributor to U.S. News & World Report, and has been featured in media outlets like Health, Women's Health, Self, Pregnancy Magazine,Yoga Journal, The Huffington Post, and on HGTV.

In our time together, Leslie discusses the oftentimes disordered nature of clean eating, including her thoughts on Whole 30. She also gives important insight on increased fears regarding sugar consumption, as well as artificial dyes. As you’ll hear today, Leslie is an advocate for helping her clients, and people in general, find peace with food and their bodies. I hope that’s exactly what this conversation moves you toward today.

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

After struggling with doubt for years, Zach Windahl committed to an intensive Bible study program in Australia that completely transformed his life and changed his thoughts on the Bible. Since then, he has written The Bible Study, which has since sold over 500,000 copies, and launched The Brand Sunday, a company that creates resources that help people engage with God’s Word. In short, Zach’s mission is to simplify the Bible so anyone – no matter their background – can understand it, apply it, and grow in their faith. 

In today’s conversation with Zach, we dive into his new book, The Bible Simplified and discuss why and how the Bible is relevant to and transformational for modern readers, what the Bible teaches us about authentic beauty, and how Zach maintains belief in a good and beautiful God in a world so full of struggle and suffering.

I found this conversation to be so inspiring; I hope it is for you too.

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Most often, this podcast focuses on struggles with beauty and body image among women. Today, however, I want to give us a glimpse into the widespread nature of struggles around food, exercise, and body image among men.

Eric Pothen is a Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach who works primarily with men and knows firsthand the journey of eating disorder recovery. In particular, Eric works with clients navigating eating disorder recovery, disordered eating, and body image struggles, helping them break free from the grip of food rules, body shame, and self-doubt.

In today’s conversation, Eric helps us better understand the differences between disordered eating and eating disorders, why men are often hesitant to seek help for struggles with food and body image, names some of the disordered trends he sees at work in our culture when it comes to food and body image, and gives us helpful reminders of how we might all work toward greater wholeness in these areas.

I can’t wait for you to listen in to this important conversation!

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

American culture is full of striving: hustling at work, pushing ourselves in the gym, working to be beautiful or good enough. In today’s conversation, I have the gift of talking with Kimberly Stuart about the concept of grace; how to apply it amidst our culture and why it’s entirely miraculous and worth revisiting.  

Kim Stuart is the author of eight published novels, a speaker, a writing coach alongside author Bob Goff, co-leads writing retreats, and hosts two podcasts, For Real with Kimberly Stuart and The Writing Room.  In today’s conversation, Kim shares about her latest book, Star for Jesus and Other Jobs I Quit: Rediscovering the Grace that Sets Us Free. In particular, Kim discusses what drew her to the topic of grace, how we might reframe perfectionism, what living a great story looks like, and how we can use our agency to redefine beauty in our lives.  

This was such a fun and meaningful conversation; I can’t wait for you to listen!

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

When discussing the topic of true beauty, it’s also important to talk about the times when life isn’t so beautiful. In today’s discussion, with Michelle Keener, that’s exactly what we tackle. 

Michelle K. Keener (PhD, Liberty) is an adjunct professor of Christianity at Houston Christian University, as well as associate research fellow with the Kirby-Laing Centre for Public Theology. She is also the director of discipleship for a growing church in Las Vegas and an award-winning novelist and devotional author.  

In our time together, we discuss Michelle’s latest book, Comfort in the Ashes: Explorations in the Book of Job to Support Trauma Survivors. Michelle helps us see how we can be a loving, healing presence to those undergoing struggles, how the church can be more helpful and attentive to those undergoing or recovering from trauma, and what Job teaches us about the beauty of God amidst suffering. 

My hope is that this conversation will help you feel less alone in any struggle you may be undergoing and, as Michelle says, may we experience God to be our place of refuge.


Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

About ten years ago, Elise Hu moved to Seoul, South Korea and took a deep dive into the world of K-Beauty culture. Elise is a journalist, podcaster, and the author of Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. She is the host of TED Talks Daily, a co-host of Forever 35, a host-at-large for NPR, and the host of Accenture’s award-winning Built for Change podcast. She is also the co-founder of the podcast production company Reasonable Volume. 

In today’s conversation, Elise opens our eyes to South Korea’s intense appearance expectations and how some of those same K-Beauty trends have now made their way into American culture. She discusses how the digital world is impacting beauty standards, including increasing the pressure on all of us to “optimize” our appearance, and how K-Beauty culture’s emphasis on flawless skin has made its way into Western beauty culture in significant ways.

Most importantly, Elise reminds us that beauty is so much bigger than societal standards and that our worth has nothing to do with our appearance. This is such an important episode; I can’t wait for you to listen!

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Do you ever struggle with fear or anxiety? In today’s episode, author and pastor, Naeem Fazal shares how beauty can help us overcome fear in our lives.

Naeem Fazal is the founding and lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a Pakistani, born and raised as a Muslim in Kuwait. He came to the United States shortly after the Gulf War and had a supernatural experience with Jesus that changed the course of his life.  

In our time together, Naeem shares about his unexpected and life-changing conversion experience, as well as about his new book, Tomorrow Needs You: Seeing Beauty When You Feel Hopeless. In particular, he discusses his belief that beauty is the antidote to fear, why we need to put fear on a leash, and how we can practically allow beauty to speak loudest in our lives.

This is such an inspiring episode; I can’t wait for you to listen!

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Bruce Herman is a painter, writer, speaker, and the author of Makers by Nature: Letters from a Master Painter on Faith, Hope, and Art. Bruce also taught studio art for nearly four decades at Gordon College and his art has been exhibited internationally and is in public and private collections worldwide.

In our time together, Bruce reminds us that, being made in the image of the Creator God, we have all been created to create. He also awakens us to the miracles all around us, discussing how God’s own being is revealed in the things He’s made. As a master painter, Bruce’s insights on beauty in the human face and figure, as well as in the world around us, are profound and distinct. I found this interview to be deeply inspiring; I hope it is for you as well. 

Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.