Spiritual Practices of the Disgruntled Artist

Welcome back Spodies!

In this episode your hosts Ari Hader and Olivia Spirz, discuss the joy of noticing the small things and being a kind human, and how important it is to extend help and opportunities to others. Olivia talks about her theater filled week and her new puzzle theory. And Ari talks about her love for film and tv and how lately she's been using her magic to manifest new artistic collaborations! 

We then bring on our wonderful guest Marissa Rutka, who is an actor, editor, film maker and self proclaimed figuring it outer! We discuss topics from going to Quaker meetings and astrology.  And of course her recent show, Peacock in the Rubble, which explores her OCD how how losing her home due to the tragic Eaton Fires effected it.  We also briefly praise Pixar movies! 

FOR THE LOVE OF IT!!!

Thanks for Listening! 

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Beautiful music by: Doug Harvey 

This episode begins with an Ari/Olivia catch up discussing last episode’s spiritual practice (Alec Engerson's homework of watching “Woman Under The Influence”). We then segue into a brief but quite loud meltdown from Ari about the anger she’s harboring towards this industry rn and Olivia very kindly brings in the light.

Our interview with Max centers around his navigation of the non-meritocracy that is a career as an actor and what he’s found to make it less stressful, his take on spirituality, and how simple kindnesses to strangers can be really transformative.

Max is the co-runner of Shakespeare Forum LA, a group of artists that meets every Tuesday night (for free) to perform, get feedback, and be radically supported by other artists: https://www.theshakespeareforum.org/ 

Come through! It's a great time.

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Follow Max: @maxon.davis

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Beautiful music by: Doug Harvey 

This episode Ari and Olivia discuss how nightly praying, our last practice from previous guest Kristin Couture, goes. Then we get into Ari's new theory! Spoiler alert: it involves lotto balls!

Then we bring on our guest, a writer and former development exec, who is currently working on the reboot of Baywatch which comes out September 2026! We talk about the industry, and what it actually means when you book a job!  How Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Jurassic Park still greatly inspire his writing and of course what he loves about movies and movie making!

Thanks for listening SPODIES!!

follow us @spodapod

Beautiful music by Doug Harvey

As always, if you have the time/energy for a review, a 5 star rating, or sharing us with a friend, it helps us reach a lot more disgruntled artist! Thank you for supporting us!

The episode starts with an Ari/ Olivia Catch Up where we dissect the spiritual practice of laughing from Will Mueller's interview last time.

Then we get into Kristin's interview - her darkest year and how she got herself out of it, being raised Catholic, how her parents have shown her in action what it is to love God and love your neighbor, why hard conversations are sometimes the most important ones, and many other insights into her faith, life, and art.

We love you, SPODIES! 

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Follow Kristin @kacouture

Beautiful music by Doug Harvey

As always, if you have the time/energy for a review, a 5 star rating, or sharing us with a friend, it helps us reach a lot more disgruntled artists. Thank you for supporting us!

Hello Spodies! In this episode, Ari and Olivia recap how making art out of journaling went for them. We then discuss our reasons for choosing acting when we were younger, and if those reasons hold any meaning! 

We then bring on our first guest of season two, actor and friend, Will Mueller! Will talks about his famous LSD (Not Mushroom) trip story that has been mentioned in previous episodes! He discusses how that trip threw out years of atheism right out the door and introduced the idea of a universal consciousness. He discusses how he wants to absorb all that the human experience can offer and how acting is a way to access that on a higher level! 

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Email us [email protected]

FOR THE LOVE OF IT

beautiful music by: Doug Harvey 

Season TWO episode 1!

In this episode, Ari and Olivia catch up on the last few months. We chat about manifestation, making our own art, acting for the love of it, and Ari's magical day.

We're so happy to be back! 

xoxo,

Us

P.S.

SO sorry for the buzzing in the background of this episode- we figured out what was causing it and it won't happen again! Forgive us, we cute :)

In a fun and sing-songy intro, Olivia and Ari discuss Faryn's spiritual practice of the zoom out/zoom in meditation. Then they get into a discussion about why typically more women are into manifestation than men, Olivia's recent callback experience, and Ari's unblocking work.

Our interview is with the multi-talented Sarah Lindsley who found, lost, and re-found a renewed sense of their spirituality. Sarah talks about growing up being very involved in the church, how the 2016 election affected their beliefs, and how they've connected the dots between spirituality, sexuality and creativity and how each is informed by the other.

Follow Sarah @xoxo.ferale.fatale and @party.city.skeleton

Follow Empowerment In Heels @empowermentinheels

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We start with a very fun intro by Olivia and Ari in which we discuss last episode’s spiritual practice (Josh Brown’s artist dates) as well as crows (be nice to them) and Magick (we love Magick).

Our guest, hilarious and delightful human Faryn Pearl, gets vulnerable about how her first enormous directing opportunity drove her into her darkest days, the pressure of being a female director in a very male-dominated world, and opens up about her trying to figure out her own spirituality.

Follow Faryn for hilarious comics and more @farynheit13

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Stay sane and live well!

xo,

us

Beautiful music by: Doug Harvey

In this episode of SPODA, Olivia and Ari start with a recap of last episode's spiritual practice, indulging! They also discuss how this episode kind of messed Ari up a bit, and we continue along Ari's Questioning Journey.

Our guest, Josh Brown, delves into his upbringing with two parents of different religions, his love of "The Artist's Way," his journey from acting to writing, and how his spirituality is from the inside out - and it all starts with authenticity.

Beautiful music by Doug Harvey

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Follow Josh @joshrileybrown

Josh's Improv Teams: @croptopprenupimprov

@midnightdinercomedy

The episode kicks off with Olivia and Ari discussing Jeff D'Elia's spiritual practice from the last episode of creating a playlist to get back in touch with your inner teenager. Amidst many giggles (and Olivia's KICKASS impression of Tom DeLonge), they discover they have a song in common on their playlists (magick!). We curtail, seamlessly of course, into a discussion of if you can divorce the art from the artist.

Our guest, Kristina Mueller, discusses her life over the past few months and how it has informed her belief in her chaos theory (Kristina's Kaos Theory). She also discusses making decisions from her body and not her mind, and how overthinking has held her back.

*A note: the audio in the interview is great for our guest, but very poor for Olivia and Ari. We're sorry about that, we had a technical issue, but the next one will be better!

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Follow Kristina @itsmemueller

Beautiful music by Doug Harvey

Also, a plug of our own: if you're listening and enjoying, please drop us a little review. Reviews really make our little podcast reach more artists in need of some spiritual rejuvenation and every single review is so so appreciated.

Thank you so much!