Rejected Central

Actor, writer, director, producer, and life-lover Carrie Schiffler joins us to talk about her memoir From the Corner of Bad and Ass (and the forthcoming Beyond the Corner of Bad and Ass) rejection and perseverance and how a life in the arts can carry a person forward. In a wide-ranging conversation, we get real about all of it: laughter, pain, trauma, and joy, and how creativity is sometimes the only response.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

Our instincts might say otherwise, but uncertainty can indeed be a safe space. Therapist and writer Jen Watt joins us in studio to have a wide-ranging and revealing conversation about creativity, parental kid-shaping, religious questioning, and creating safety. 

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

Marissa Stapley is a bestselling novelist and fabulous human, and the author of the newly released The Lightning Bottles. She is the only Canadian writer ever to have been chosen for the prestigious Reese's Book Club, a massive nod to her craft and storyweaving, and she has gotten the chance to work with some big, big names as a result. Still, life is life, and rejection finds even those who earn successes and accolades: for Marissa, family and staying present are the keys to keeping a successful life on the ground.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

In the middle of another chaotic week in Washington, Brent chats with Ukrainian political strategist Kateryna Odarchenko about shepherding the challenges of post-Soviet democracy through DC's halls of power, navigating the polarized atmosphere in the media, and the power of gratitude amidst global conflict and upheaval.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by award-winning and bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

Lana Starchuck is an author, speaker, motivator, producer, screenwriter, and record-holding skydiver with a dream of helping others. She sits down with Dave and Brent to talk about what happens when a parachute fails, life gets complicated, and how rejection can give you a new perspective on life. The answer, of course, is to turn those rejections into something better, of course, and fill the gaps with creative and artistic things.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

When Caroline Topperman returned to her ancestral homeland of Poland, she discovered that having heritage from a place and being from the place don't always line up, and that one can feel like a reject in places that seem familiar from that familial connection. We sit down and talk dancing, pilates, Poland, famous clients, and her fabulous memoir Your Roots Cast a Shadow.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

American professor and author Randall J Stephens joins us from his home in Norway to talk about exploring pop and Christian Contemporary music, his creative resistance on BlueSky, and using graphic design to help us assess the present by illuminating the past. He can be found on BlueSky, Facebook, and Instagram.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by award-winning and bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

As we move through the deepest, often gloomiest part of the winter, Dave and Brent sit down with psychotherapist and counsellor Stephen Doucet Campbell to talk about why this season can affect us more profoundly than others, and what we can think about, do, and say to each other to process the winter moods and feelings that challenge us.   

Note: this episode contains discussions of mental health challenges, which can be activating for some people: if you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please know that there are real life and online resources available to you, so do reach out and talk to someone: you're not alone.

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

Actor Richard Willis has seen a few things along his TV, stage, and film journey. We chat with him about his creative bio-pic Strolling Player, love, and acceptance. He has also made Strolling Player available for our listeners to view: click here to watch. 

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by award-winning and bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!

On inauguration day, Elon Musk delivered not one, but two Nazi/Fascist salutes, solidifying his increasingly vocal position that whites should work harder than ever to grab power, and demonstrating with perfect clarity that he is a white supremacist. This should be horrifying to anyone with a conscience, and yet very few influential voices in the US convincingly condemned his actions. Well, we at Rejected Central decided that Nazi Elon is a clear and present danger to the globe, and are calling out his racist dogwhistling (and all his horribleness).

Rejected Central is a human podcast hosted by bestselling novelist Brent van Staalduinen and educator and life-embracer Dave Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, follow us online and social media, and let us know what you think. Thanks for listening!