John Christian Phifer joins host Mariah Rooney to talk about death and grief and the ways he is radically reimagining those with Larkspur, a revolutionary conservation burial ground in Tennessee. John Christian reminds us that death is a part of life and that our cultural distancing from death and from grief mirrors our disconnection from the earth. He also shares with us a path back to reconnection.

Learn more about Larkspur and consider contributing to their important conservation work. 

Make sure you’re following the podcast wherever you listen and follow along on Instagram at @MOVDpodcast.

MOVD is created by host Mariah Rooney. Production by Isabel Robertson. Music by Joshua Roman. With writing support from Emily Long and community building support from Rachel Hornstein.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

World-renowned musician Joshua Roman joins Mariah to talk about his art and his life-changing journey with chronic illness. Joshua has brought the healing power of music to communities around the world as a cellist and composer.

Read the story behind Joshua’s piece Drive that scores every episode of MOVD and listen to his latest album Immunity. 

Make sure you’re following the podcast wherever you listen and follow along on Instagram at @MOVDpodcast.

MOVD is created by host Mariah Rooney. Production by Isabel Robertson. Music by Joshua Roman. With writing support from Emily Long and community building support from Rachel Hornstein.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Mariah Rooney speaks with Kai Cheng Thom: somatics practitioner, mediator, and teacher. Kai Cheng is the author of five books, including most recently, Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls.

Kai Cheng invites us to find the beauty in the grotesque and the monstrous. She evokes Frankenstein and trans scholars, speaking about monsters as harbingers of a new world.

Learn more about and donate to Kai Cheng’s organization of choice, the Trans Women of Color Collective.

Make sure you’re following the podcast wherever you listen and follow along on Instagram at @MOVDpodcast.

MOVD is created by host Mariah Rooney. Production by Isabel Robertson. Music by Joshua Roman. With writing support from Emily Long and community building support from Rachel Hornstein.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mariah Rooney talks with Willow Defebaugh: host of The Nature Of podcast, author of The Overview: Meditations on Nature for a World in Transition, and editor-in-chief of climate and culture magazine Atmos.

In this conversation, Willow invites us to step into wonder and reclaim intimacy with ourselves, each other, and the Earth. She shows us what we can learn about relationship and healing through the study of queer ecology and deep ecology, through bridging science and spirituality in discovering the natural world.

For her organization to support, Willow chose Healing for Gaza. Learn more about their emergency mental health intervention work for those affected by the ongoing violence in Gaza on their website and at @healing_for_gaza.

Make sure you’re following the podcast wherever you listen and follow along on Instagram at @MOVDpodcast.

MOVD is created by host Mariah Rooney. Production by Isabel Robertson. Music by Joshua Roman. With writing support from Emily Long and community building support from Rachel Hornstein.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first episode of MOVD features host Mariah Rooney's conversation with Prentis Hemphill: organizer, teacher, and somatics practitioner and author of the incredible book, What It Takes to Heal.

Prentis embodies a presence that invites us all into deeper connection with our bodies and with one another so that we can show up more fully in our lives and in the world. In this conversation, they remind us of the transformative power of friendship, the liberating work of becoming embodied and how by doing the work to intentionally connect with our ancestors we can move forward more wholly.

Learn more about Prentis's organization The Embodiment Institute and their book, What It Takes to Heal. 

MOVD makes a donation on behalf of each guest and Prentis’ organization of choice is the Carolina Federation. We invite you to check out their important work and also consider a donation..

Make sure you’re following the podcast wherever you listen and follow along on Instagram at @MOVDpodcast. You can support us on our Patreon page, where our community members will also get access to additional content such as our Minne-Series, short interviews with inspiring people on the frontlines in Minneapolis.

MOVD is created by host Mariah Rooney. Production by Isabel Robertson. Music by Joshua Roman. With writing support from Emily Long and community building support from Rachel Hornstein.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we move through the turn of the new year, we are sharing a few brief sneak peeks from our upcoming season – exclusive clips that we hope will inspire connection and conversation.

Here’s a moment from our conversation with Willow Defebaugh, author, podcast host, and editor-in-chief of climate and culture magazine Atmos. She shares a story about a fortuitous wander, a pigeon, and the ripple effects of a single choice.

Our season of full episodes will begin on January 22.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we move towards the new year, we are sharing a few brief sneak peeks from our upcoming season – exclusive clips that we hope will inspire connection and conversation.

Here we offer a moment from our conversation with author, somatics practitioner, mediator, and teacher Kai Cheng Thom on what it means to be "monstrous": misunderstood, wrong, or a harbinger of change?

Our season of full episodes will begin on January 22.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we move through the end of the year, we will be sharing a few brief sneak peeks from our upcoming season of MOVD – exclusive clips that we hope will inspire connection and conversation.

The first of these is a moment from our conversation with organizer, teacher, and somatics practitioner Prentis Hemphill on the pursuit of embodying friendship and healing through relationship, rather than in isolation.

Our full conversation with Prentis will be yours on January 22.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to MOVD, a podcast that explores how storytelling builds empathy and reconnects us with ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

At MOVD, we use storytelling to strengthen our collective connective tissue. We believe that when shared, micro moments, ephemeral experiences, and everyday miracles have the power to connect us more deeply to ourselves, each other, and the world around us. 

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Coming January 22, 2026, a podcast that will move you.

Strengthening the connective tissue that binds us—to ourselves, each other, and the world around us—one story at a time.

Mindful. Messy. Movd. Human.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.