“You know, it comes down to a human error, but one of massive proportions because you're dealing with humanity and people's lives.”

Maria is the host of Latino USA and one of the most respected journalists in the country. She also has a new memoir. It’s called Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America.

https://twitter.com/Maria_Hinojosa/ 

https://www.instagram.com/maria_la_hinojosa 

This episode marks the end of season two, and the show going on a brief hiatus. But I promise we’ll be back with a third season three in the not too distant future.

“My attachment to success prevented me from doing the one thing that I value the most in my life, which is showing up for other black women.”

Amber is a storyteller, creative content strategist, and reproductive justice activist whose work imagines a world where Black womanhood is an expansive overwhelming experience of safety, pleasure, and joy.

https://twitter.com/amber_abundance

https://www.instagram.com/amberabundance/

The book I mention in the intro to this episode is I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown.

When you’re done listening to this one, I recommend watching this video of Sonya Renee Taylor performing her poem “What Women Deserve.”

“So what I ended up doing was being an incredible dick to my father. That's what I ended up doing.”

Jonathan Williams is the Lead Pastor of Forefront Church in Brooklyn, New York. He co-wrote his first book She’s My Dad: A Father’s Transition and a Son’s Redemption with his father Paula Stone Williams.

https://twitter.com/the_jonathanw

“But like being a father, I have to excel at that because a lot of people were expecting me not to.”

Joel was born and raised in the Bronx. He is the author of A Book About Things I Will Tell My Daughter and God Wears Durags Too. His recent TED talk on co-parenting is recommended viewing for everyone who listens to this episode.

https://twitter.com/joelakamag

https://www.instagram.com/joelakamag

“I truly believed that we had gotten Bruce Springsteen to commit to this benefit compilation. And so when I went to present that to the group, I went back through my emails and there was no such communication.”

Kasey currently serves as a program coordinator for a recovery services nonprofit in Portland, Oregon. Between around 2004 and 2013, he was best known as a recording artist, releasing a string of three solo albums and two with his band Kasey Anderson and the Honkies. 

https://twitter.com/leasdef

https://www.instagram.com/leasdef/

“I didn't feel like, oh, I need to call my lawyer or anything like that. I felt like I was totally with it. And then I did the breathalyzer and I can't remember exactly what number I blew, but it was like, I think, two times the legal limit. And I thought, this machine is broken.”

When Abby retired from professional soccer in 2015, she was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion, and the all-time leader in goal scoring for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Today, she is also known for her speaking, activism, and writing.

https://twitter.com/AbbyWambach

https://www.instagram.com/abbywambach/

“And then all the emotions sort of flowed and I started crying in a way I don't think I have since or probably didn't before. I was just sort of heaving and then I thought, wow, this is going to ruin me. This is the end of my life. You know?”

Darin lives in New York City. His memoir Half a Life won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography in 2011, and his latest book is called The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story.

https://twitter.com/Darinstrauss

“We would also be very conscious of preaching anti-communism because people were saying that the African National Congress, you know, former President Mandela's political party, they were really not liberation fighters, they were terrorists.”

Wilhelm is a facilitator and researcher based at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. A dedicated peace activist, he is also the author of several books, including most recently Verwoerd: My Journey Through Family Betrayals.

“So it's not necessarily an overnight thing. And the only person, the only person or people who get to decide if a person should be forgiven, are the ones harmed.”

Season two of The Confessional is coming very, very soon. In the meantime, I invited my good friend Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg on the show to offer a different perspective on repentance and forgiveness.

Danya is the author of seven books including most recently Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder and Radical Amazement of Parenting.

https://twitter.com/TheRaDR

https://www.instagram.com/rabbidanyaruttenberg/

“You know, it was like very hot - with that particular hotness of a terrible, terrible thing driven by desperation beyond the immediate situation.”

Melissa is a literary phenom who has won a gazillion awards for her incisive, honest, colorful writing.  Her third book, Girlhood comes out in the Spring of 2021. I was her camp counselor for 3 years when she was in middle school.

https://twitter.com/melissafebos

https://www.instagram.com/melissafebos/