Potstirrer Podcast

By Jaye Pool

Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's Potstirrer Podcast about?

Where politics, religion and history collide - and it's not always polite! Political opinion podcast hosted by former political science instructor and current political observer Jaye Pool. Left-leaning yet not perfectly bound by ideology. Historical context with a dose of progressive Christianity in the mix. #StirThePot #Resist #p2 #progressiveChristian #Exvangelical

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LAST EPISODE

106 - From the Moon I Watch...

09.02.2022

CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes discussion of trauma, mental illness and sexual assault, including the sexual abuse of children. Listener discretion is advised. Novelist Emily English Medley joins Jaye for a conversation about her debut book, From the Moon I ...

Potstirrer Podcast episodes:

09.02.2022 106 - From the Moon I Watched Her: Conversation with Emily English Medley CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes discussion of trauma, mental illness and sexual assault, including the sexual abuse of children. Listener discretion is advised. Novelist Emily English Medley joins Jaye for a conversation about her debut book, From the Moon I ...
07.31.2022 Bonus - Harder Core Urban Legends In a public release of this bonus episode originally released on Patreon in November 2019, Jaye talks more urban legends by discussing a couple of processed food-related legends. Is McDonalds adding animal byproducts and other gross fillers to their hamburgers? ...
06.30.2022 105 - My Gay Church Days: Conversation with George Azar Author and former evangelical pastor George Azar joins Jaye to discuss his new book, My Gay Church Days, his memoir about his life while in evangelical Christianity, where he eventually joined church leadership, while keeping secret his truth as a ...
06.22.2022 104 - They Will Not Stop at Roe In this episode of Potstirrer Podcast, Jaye reacts to the leaked draft US Supreme Court Opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Written by Justice Samuel Alito, the draft majority opinion signals an overturning of the Roe v. Wade ...
05.30.2022 Bonus - The Bill Clinton Impeachment Scandal in the Age of #MeToo CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains content discussing explicit sexuality, sexual assault and harassment, violence, and suicide. Listener discretion is advised. In this public release of a Patreon bonus episode originally released in November 2018, Jaye goes back in time to ...
04.30.2022 103 - Speaking Up About Religious Trauma: Conversation with Andrew Pledger Activist, artist and podcaster Andrew Pledger joins Jaye on this episode of Potstirrer Podcast to share his compelling story about growing up in Christian fundamentalism and his road to recovery from spiritual abuse. The conversation includes discussion of mental health, ...
04.09.2022 102 - Potstirrer SCOOPS!: National Deflection In this episode, Jaye focuses on a particular argument politicians and pundits make when countries reckon with past and present incidents of national shame, which is that other countries also have shameful incidents in their histories. Jaye discusses why - ...
03.05.2022 101 - Finding Paz: Conversation with Allison K. Garcia Christian fiction author Allison K. Garcia returns to Potstirrer Podcast to discuss the final installment of the Buscando Home series, Finding Paz. Allison and Jaye's heartfelt discussion includes some of the themes in the novel, such as grief, separation from ...
02.17.2022 100 - The Truth is Cancelled In Episode 100, Jaye celebrates the milestone by taking on the topic of cancel culture. Cancel culture is praised by advocates and maligned by critics, but is often ill-defined. Jaye delves into the origin and types of cancel culture, including ...
02.03.2022 99 - Undoing the Knots: Conversation with Maureen O'Connell, PhD Christian ethicist, associate professor and author Maureen O'Connell, PhD joins Jaye on this episode of Potstirrer Podcast to discuss her new book, Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness, a in-depth, historical and introspective examination of Philadelphia's Irish ...
12.24.2021 98 - War on Christmas 2021 In the annual Potstirrer Podcast holiday special War on Christmas 2021, Jaye's husband Chuckles joins to discuss walking away from political conservatism and the Republican Party. Chuckles and Jaye discuss issues such as the Second Amendment, broken governance, and more. ...
12.10.2021 97 - Voter Suppression Part 3: Undefeated This multi-episode series is about efforts to suppress or limit the vote in certain communities across the United States in order to achieve specific outcomes. In Part 3, Jaye talks about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the voting ...
11.04.2021 Bonus - The Pied Piper of R&B CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse, including that of children. Listener discretion is advised. This public release of a bonus episode originally released on Patreon in April 2019 includes extra bonus segments ...
10.21.2021 96 - Potstirrer SCOOPS!: The Great Resignation In this episode, Jaye discusses "The Great Resignation," the abnormally high number of American workers voluntarily walking away from work, which has been a constant trend since April 2021. Why are so many workers leaving their jobs or even careers? ...
10.07.2021 95 - Potstirrer SCOOPS!: Illusion of Safety Jaye announces a move to a Thursday fortnightly schedule, and introduces Potstirrer Scoops! - a shorter, commentary-based format that will be used for some episodes going forward. In the first episode of Potstirrer Scoops!, Jaye discusses the recent arrest of ...
09.23.2021 94 - Distinction Without a Difference CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of pregnancy termination, sexual assault, gun violence and domestic terrorism. Listener discretion is advised. Jaye gives her thoughts on the recently-implemented Texas law restricting abortion past six weeks gestation. The discussion includes maternal ...
08.24.2021 93 - Christians Against Christianity: Conversation with Obery M. Hendricks Jr., Ph.D. Theology professor, author, and African Methodist Episcopal elder Obery M. Hendricks Jr., Ph.D. joins Jaye on this episode of Potstirrer Podcast to discuss his historically rich and theologically informative book Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation ...
08.18.2021 92 - Voter Suppression Part 2: Woman Suffrage in Color This multi-episode series is about efforts to suppress or limit the vote in certain communities across the United States in order to achieve specific outcomes. In Part 2, Jaye discusses the history of voting rights in the United States based ...
07.27.2021 Bonus - America's Drug War: Turn On Tune In Drop Out In this public release of a bonus episode originally released on Patreon in December 2019, Jaye discusses the life of Dr. Timothy Leary, the "Godfather of LSD." How did someone so apolitical (in the height of an extremely political era!) ...
07.06.2021 91 - Disrupting Whiteness: Conversation with Drick Boyd, Ed.D. Activist, former pastor, and professor emeritus Drick Boyd, Ed.D. joins Jaye on this episode of Potstirrer Podcast to discuss his thought-provoking book Disrupting Whiteness: Talking With White People About Racism. This riveting conversation includes themes that are a part of ...
06.22.2021 90 - Voter Suppression Part 1: Stolen Seats, Stolen Lives CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes brief discussion of physical violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. This multi-episode series is about efforts to suppress or limit the vote in certain communities across the United States in order to ...
05.16.2021 Bonus: Heart & Mind CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion of homophobia and mental illness. Listener discretion is advised. In this public release of a bonus episode originally released on Patreon in August 2019, Jaye discusses the divorce announcement of Joshua Harris, the author ...
04.24.2021 89 - The Atlanta Spa Shootings The Atlanta spa shootings on March 16, 2021 were one of many large-scale shooting incidents that occurred after a lull in mass gun violence due to the pandemic. But this spree shooting stuck out due to the various issues the ...
03.31.2021 Bonus - Graphic Images & Content Warnings CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of physical violence, physical suffering and death. Listener discretion is advised. In this public release of a Patreon bonus episode originally released in July 2019, Jaye discusses graphic images of suffering and oppression. ...
03.21.2021 88 - A Kinder, Gentler Caging It is the middle of President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office, and his administration has been hard at work attempting to end the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, as well as other policy priorities. But actions on ...
02.16.2021 Bonus - The Black 14 In this public release of a Patreon bonus episode originally released in January 2020, Jaye tells the story of the 1969 University of Wyoming Cowboys football team. Fourteen African-American players on the team were dismissed by their head coach in ...
02.03.2021 87 - Always Tomorrow, Never Today How could seemingly normal Americans end up becoming right-wing extremists? Jaye discusses the role of extremist Christianity as a gateway to radical right-wing movements. Does the fact that Christianity is the dominant religion in the United States blind us to ...
01.11.2021 86 - This Is America The year 2021 has begun in the United States with a tragic attack on democracy. On January 6, pro-Trump rioters who were taking part in a protest stormed the US Capitol Building in Washington DC, during a joint session of ...
12.25.2020 85 - War on Christmas 2020 In the fourth annual Potstirrer Podcast War on Christmas Special, Jaye reflects on the strange, horrifying year that was 2020. Would a decently better response to the pandemic have netted Donald Trump a second term? And does incoming president Joe ...
12.08.2020 Bonus - Jaye's Top Five Terrible Humans In this flashback bonus episode - originally a two-parter first released in May and June of 2019, Jaye shares her Top Five Terrible Humans List. These are influential Americans, dead or alive, who made a negative contribution to their sphere ...
11.25.2020 84 - A Republic, If You Can Keep It The 2020 US general election has taken place, and after days of counting in several swing states, former Vice-President Joe Biden has won the election decisively over Donald Trump. However, the expected gains for Democrats in Congress - the "blue ...
10.30.2020 83 - The Last Stand The 2020 US general election is coming up, and it's time to get ready! Jaye discusses political polling - including why the 2016 presidential poll predictions were not as much of a failure as it has been reported in the ...
10.12.2020 82 - 1984 In the runup to the 2020 US general election, many events have occurred on local, state and federal levels that point to an authoritarian slide for the United States. Jaye discusses some of these events, including the presidential and vice-presidential ...
09.22.2020 81 - Finding Seguridad: Conversation with Allison K. Garcia Christian fiction author Allison K. Garcia returns to Potstirrer Podcast to share with us about her upcoming novel, Finding Seguridad, the second in the Buscando Home series. The conversation includes discussion of themes in the book, as well as a ...
09.20.2020 80 - US-Middle East Relations, Part 3: Partition CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of violent themes, specifically war and genocide. Listener discretion is advised. This multi-episode series is about the history of relations between the United States and the Middle East, including both US foreign policy ...
08.29.2020 79 - Exposed CONTENT WARNING: The following episode involves discussion of crime, police brutality and bigotry, including physical violence, murder, and racism. Listener discretion is advised. In this commentary episode, Jaye shares her reaction to the events during the week of the 2020 ...
08.04.2020 Bonus - For the Bible Tells You So CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of physical and sexual abuse, including the abuse of children. Listener discretion is advised. In this flashback bonus episode first released as a Patreon bonus episode in August 2018 originally entitled "Abuse: Endorsed ...
07.23.2020 78 - Policing, Part 2: Solving the Police CONTENT WARNING: The following episode involves discussion of crime, police brutality and bigotry, including physical violence, sexual assault, murder, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia and transphobia. Listener discretion is advised. In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands ...
07.06.2020 77 - Policing, Part 1: Working as Intended CONTENT WARNING: The following episode involves discussion of crime and police brutality, including violence, injury & death. Listener discretion is advised. In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, and the resulting Black Lives ...
06.16.2020 Bonus - Affluenza In the public release of February 2019's Patreon bonus episode, Jaye discusses the news story from January 2019 about the confrontation in Washington DC, between Catholic high school students from Northern Kentucky and a Native American elder. How does a ...
06.02.2020 76 - May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor CONTENT WARNING: The following episode involves discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, police brutality, and historical events related to racial, ethnic, disability and class discrimination, including discussion of violence, illness, injury & death. Listener discretion is advised. Against the backdrop of ...
05.16.2020 75 - US-Middle East Relations, Part 2: Make Room for Other This multi-episode series is about the history of relations between the United States and the Middle East, including both US foreign policy and the Middle Eastern immigrant experience. In this episode, Jaye recounts the early history of relations between the ...
04.25.2020 74 - US-Middle East Relations, Part 1 CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of war, with references to physical and sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised. This multi-episode series is about the history of relations between the United States and the Middle East, including both US ...
04.07.2020 Bonus - End Times MacGuffins In the public release of the September 2019 Patreon Exclusive, Jaye discusses Donald Trump's "disloyalty" comments regarding Jewish Democrats. Why would Trump rely on an anti-Semitic trope while stating he is an ardent supporter of Israel? Jaye also outlines reasons ...
03.26.2020 73 - The Equalizer CONTENT WARNING: The following episode includes discussion of terrorism, hate crimes, disasters, & public health crises that have involved illness, injury & death. Listener discretion is advised. None of the content of this episode is a substitute for professional medical ...
03.12.2020 72 - Return to Normalcy? After a strong showing by US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the early contests of the Democratic nomination season, former Vice-President Joe Biden has gained a great deal of momentum, starting in South Carolina and thru Super Tuesday. Is ...
03.03.2020 Bonus - Editorial by Jaye: The Case for Socialism In the public release of the October 2018 Patreon exclusive, Jaye discusses socialism - what is socialism, why is it so misunderstood, and why would it - in some form - benefit American society? The Cold War, entitlements and more ...
02.28.2020 71 - Do the Work The 2020 presidential nomination season is underway, and the Democratic race is heating up. As US Senator Bernie Sanders has received some early momentum, many Democrats, especially moderates, are concerned about Sanders, who is not a Democrat, and his democratic ...
02.12.2020 70 - Resist Potstirrer Podcast is back! In the first regular episode of 2020, Jaye discusses the acquittal of Donald Trump in the US Senate removal trial, after being impeached by the House of Representatives. What does Trump's acquittal mean for democracy, the ...
12.31.2019 69 - Best of 2019 In the final episode of 2019, Chuckles joins Jaye for a countdown and discussion of the most downloaded episodes of 2019. They also talk about the 2020 presidential election, including the Trump impeachment, predictions for the Democratic nomination, and if ...

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