This is a bonus episode connected to the last full episode, "Karin: Pitying Voldemort."

Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

I will be taking a hiatus in January, but I will see you again in the New Year!

In this episode, Karin talks about incredibly difficult subjects, such as generational and sexual trauma, and yet is able to talk eloquently and with surprising empathy and groundedness.

Content Warning for talk about self harm and emotional, physical, religious, and sexual abuse, as well as rape. Also talk about genital disease and damage, and a mention of BDSM. I also recognize that hearing two trans folk talk about Harry Potter may be difficult for some.

Spoilers for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Harry Potter, and A Very Potter Musical.

References:

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, anime show by Yasuhiro Irie

"Do not pity the dead, Harry, pity the living, and above all those who live without love." Dumbledore from Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows

"And you think that killing people will make them like you, but it doesn't! It just just makes them dead." Voldemort to Quirrel in A Very Potter Musical, by Starkid

James Dobson: Conservative Evangelical leader who wrote books, did radio, other forms of media about traditional views on sexuality, gender roles, family, and discipline.

Acroynyms/Definitions:

BPD: Borderline Personality Disorder, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/borderline-personality-disorder

OCPD: Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-personality-disorder

Cluster B: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cluster-b

Responding to internal stimuli: When someone is not responding to the world or people around them, but to what is internal, sometimes to hallucinations

Miracle Question: psychological tool where a client is asked to imagine what their world would look like if their problems were solved.

In this episode, Erik talks about exercise, aging, his complicated relationship with masculinity, as well as his strong belief in growth and change.

Content Warnings for talk about bullying.

This episode was recorded October 14, 2023.

No episode will release on Thanksgiving.

Next episode will be released December 7, 2023.

References:

White Fragility, book by by Robin DiAngelo

"There’s something curious about professors in my experience... typically, they live in their heads... They look upon their body as a form of transport for their heads." - Ken Robinson, speech "Do Schools Kill Creativity"

Younger Next Year, book by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge

Sonic talks about hiking the Appalachian Trail, caring for himself and his community, and learning to stop caring about how other people perceive him.

This episode was originally recorded on September 30, 2023.

Next episode will be released November 9, 2023.

In this episode, Miche talks about her intersecting identities as a Jewish and Christian Asian transwoman, as well as how she has learned to work with her emotions and difficult upbringing.

This episode was originally recorded on August 31, 2023.

Next episode will be released October 26, 2023.

Content Warnings for talk about bottom surgery, sexual abuse, incest, physical abuse, mental health, emotional abuse, extreme anger, transphobia. In this episode Miche mentions the war in Israel in the late  80s, and I recognize I'm releasing the episode less than a week after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

References:

Queer Christian Fellowship: an organization that provides support for queer Christians

Study about opinions on trans folk by Evangelical Christians vs mainline Christians - PRRI study America's Growing Support for Transgender Rights, 2019

Circumference of the Earth - Around 250 B.C., Eratosthenes used the formula (360° ÷ θ) x (s) to say that the earth's circumference was 25,000 miles. Today it is accepted that the Earth's circumference is about 24,855 miles. From: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_geodesy/geo02_hist.html

Acronyms:

DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

CMA church: Christian and Missionary Alliance

APA: American Psychological Association

WPATH: World Professional Association for Transgender Health

In this episode, Hope talks about her strange relationship to her body, asexuality, being single, and her struggle with illness.

Content Warnings for mentioning war and homophobia.

This episode was originally recorded on August 1, 2023.

The next episode will be released October 11, 2023.

References:

"Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars." - possibly a Serbian Proverb, but origin is unknown

Brothers Karamazov, book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Mysterium: cooperation board game found here https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181304/mysterium

“Never tell a child: you have a soul. Teach him, you are a soul; you have a body." - Quote often misattributed to C.S. Lewis, but in fact said by George Macdonald to people he viewed as mourning too much at funerals. Found in The British Friend, Volume 1, a collection of monthly Quaker journals

"The Aunties" short story from Traveling Mercies, book by Anne Lamott

"The Time I have Alone," poem by Hope:

something sharp sits within me;

a longing without direction,

a dream I crafted without meaning to.

the love I picture is so beautiful:

perfect in its blur, a lovely and uncertain shape.

I believe in it whenever it seems

not wholly impossible

keep it small:

a hand that holds mine,

somewhere for my loyalty to land.

.

I know I'm not the only one

whose potential for romance is still a seed

It's not heartbreak, but

our hearts continue to ask without receiving

as we grow, we find we are not promised

a particular happiness just because

we can imagine so vividly its sweetness

.

I pick up the lonesomeness

and put it down again

there's still life to be lived (not said in the interview)

Definitions/Acronyms:

CRC: Christian Reformed Church, a Calvinist Christian community

Katie talks about the impact of chronic pain and sexual harassment on her life, as well as the importance and consequences of bodily autonomy.

Content Warnings for talk about suicidality, suicide, and sexual harassment.

This episode was originally recorded July 18, 2023.

Next episode will be released September 28, 2023.

References:

Myth of Normal, book by Gabor Mate

When the Body Says No, book by Gabor Mate

In this episode, Ben talks about their experiences with abuse, gender identity, recovery, and how he has been finding ways to love their body.

Content Warnings for mentions of sexual abuse and physical abuse, talk about Covid, AIDs, addiction, homophobia, accentism, spiritual abuse, and suicidality,

Definitions:

Cis-het: cisgender and heterosexual, meaning non-trans and straight

References:

"Poem 5" from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

"Chinar Es," Armenian traditional folk song noted down by Komitas, a composer and folk song collector who was arrested and exiled during the Armenian genocide

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Master who spoke out against the Vietnam War

Patrick Carnes, writer and researcher of sexual recovery

Myth of Normal, book by Gabor Mate

"Don't live up to your stereotypes." Quote from "The Toughest Indian in the World," a CBS interview of Sherman Alexie

The idea that American car businesses plotted to get rid of public transportation - from 1996 documentary Take for a Ride.

Poem 6 in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest who writes on spirituality

Tender Heart of Sadness, book by Roger Guest

"On Joy and Sorry," poem by Kahlil Gibran

"I'm Gonna Live Forever," song by Irene Cara

Mention of mutual friend who was on this podcast and has since died - "Diana: Telling My Story"

"A Wounded Deer--leaps highest," poem by Emily Dickinson

In this episode Jacob talks about anger, racism, addiction, sexuality, and exploration.

Content Warnings for talk about racism, transphobia, suicidality, head injuries, as well as extended talk about substance use and sex

This episode was originally recorded March 25, 2023.

Next episode will be released August 31, 2023.

References:

Prince Valiant haircut: https://www.princevaliant.org/movie1.html

A Brief History of Time, book by Stephen Hawking

"The Host," episode of Star Trek: Next Generation, show created by Gene Roddenberry

Yearnings, book by Rabbi Irwin

Realm of Hungry Ghosts, book by Gabor Mate

Good As it Gets, film directed by James L. Brooks

21 grams (incorrectly called 23 grams), film directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

In this episode, Amanda talks about her spiritual journey, motherhood, and her changing views on sacrifice.

Content Warning for a brief mention of rape, and also talk about racism, classism, and spiritual trauma.

This episode was recorded March 30, 2023.

Next episode will be released August 17, 2023.

References:

Harry Potter Book 5: Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (incorrectly said to be from Harry Potter Book 6: Half-Blood Prince)

Matthew 5:27-30, removing your eye if you look at someone with lust

"Curled in on yourself": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incurvatus_in_se

Scrupulosity: https://iocdf.org/faith-ocd/what-is-ocd-scrupulosity/

Princess Bride, film directed by Rob Reiner

Orthodox view of Salvation, youtube video by Steve Robinson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WosgwLekgn8