The Thought Atlas Podcast

What happens when faith stops being something you simply inherit and becomes something you experience personally?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, I sit down with Marcia West to explore her journey from growing up in a largely secular home with a Presbyterian background to developing a deeply personal relationship with Jesus.

Marcia grew up as the fifth child in a family of nine. Although her family identified with a Presbyterian background, she says her parents did not regularly practice religion. Her grandparents, however, were very religious, giving her an early exposure to a more rule-centered form of Christianity.

As a young adult, Marcia experimented with drugs during college and later spent 17 years married to a man whose government work took them to different cities across the United States, as well as Bangkok, Thailand. She describes Bangkok as one of the most interesting and exciting periods of her life, while her time in Oklahoma City exposed her to a culture she associated with materialism.

Eventually, after her marriage ended, Marcia returned to Atlanta, where she says spiritual conversations with a friend who became a spiritual mentor helped lead her toward extraordinary experiences that she describes as encounters with God.

One of those experiences occurred in the mountains of Appalachia. Marcia calls it her “perfect glory” experience and says she received words of wisdom and encouragement that eventually became the foundation for her book, Perfect Glory: 21 Spiritual Insights from the 21st Century.

In our conversation, we explore what personal spiritual experiences can do to someone’s understanding of God, why Marcia believes faith should move beyond restrictive religious rules, and what it can mean to develop a genuine relationship with Jesus in everyday life.

We also discuss the spiritual challenges of living in the 21st century, the distractions of modern life, the importance of quiet reflection, reading the Bible, and making room for God amid everything competing for our attention.

Marcia shares what she would tell someone who feels spiritually distant, why she believes extraordinary spiritual experiences are not an everyday occurrence, and where someone interested in exploring Christianity might begin.

At the heart of the conversation is her belief that faith isn’t merely something we think about. It is something we experience, live, and continually grow into.

Connect With Marcia

Marcia gives her website as:

Author Marcia McFarland⁠

She says the book is available on Amazon and other booksellers, in physical, audiobook, and Kindle formats. She also says her website has a place where listeners can leave comments and get in touch with her.

Connect With Thought Atlas

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What can a chaotic career teach you about yourself, other people, and the world?

For Houston Pierce, the answer is: quite a lot.

Houston is the host of 1,000 Crazy Questions, a film critic and movie enthusiast whose interests stretch from pop culture and storytelling to technology, science, philosophy, spirituality, and everyday life.

His own path has been anything but predictable. After pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, he worked across a surprisingly wide range of roles—including tour guiding, being a school mascot, radio, driving for Uber and Amazon, restaurant work, software testing, construction, and DJing.

But Houston says he never deliberately set out to collect all those experiences. Most of the jobs were simply what his circumstances required at the time.

In this conversation, we explore what those experiences taught him in retrospect, why his tour-guide job unexpectedly prepared him for podcasting, and how even a job he once considered terrible eventually taught him something about what he was capable of.

Houston also explains how he uses unexpected questions on 1,000 Crazy Questions to learn how people think. Rather than focusing only on what someone answers, he pays attention to how they arrive at their answer.

We talk about why movies can be such powerful mirrors of reality, what people’s fandoms might reveal about their personalities, and why Houston finds it fascinating when someone sees the world differently from the majority.

The conversation then moves into artificial intelligence, the questions Houston believes we should be asking about increasingly capable technology, and his concerns about the possibility of AI becoming self-aware.

We also discuss his Christian faith, his self-described cynicism, the question of why anything exists at all, and the enormous question he says he would ask God:

Why?

Why this world? Why existence? Why this way?

And ultimately, we return to the idea at the heart of Thought Atlas: sometimes the most interesting part of an answer is the question that made us ask it.

Connect With Houston

Houston says listeners can find his podcast, 1,000 Crazy Questions, by searching for it online. He says it is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and other podcast platforms.

He also says to search Houston Pierce on YouTube and TikTok for his movie-review content.

What can a dance reveal about a relationship that a conversation might hide?

According to Linda Sutton, quite a lot.

Linda Sutton is a world dance expert with a specialty in African dance throughout the diaspora and Argentine tango. She is also an international performing artist, inspirational speaker, instructor, and the host and executive producer of The 22 Tango Show with Linda Sutton.

In this episode of Thought Atlas, Linda explains how she uses tango as a lens for understanding human relationships. She describes how, by watching a couple dance, she can observe things like power dynamics, conflict, awareness, trust, and how partners respond to one another without words.

We explore the enormous role of nonverbal communication in relationships, including what our posture, pace, movement, and physical responses can communicate when our words say something else.

Linda also explains why she sees tango as a “permission-based” partnership—one where you can maintain your individuality while simultaneously discovering new ways to express yourself through connection with another person.

We talk about trust, why it takes time to build, why broken trust can take even longer to rebuild, and how the dance floor can make these dynamics visible.

Linda also shares her idea of the upward spiral: the possibility that deeper familiarity and trust can actually create more room for curiosity, exploration, and playfulness rather than making a long-term relationship stale.

And ultimately, we explore one of the biggest lessons tango has taught her: the power of interdependence.

You don’t have to disappear into another person to be deeply connected to them. In Linda’s view, a harmonious partnership can actually unlock dimensions of yourself that you could never discover alone.

Her final thought is equally powerful:

There is no leader without a follower. Both are required in order to make the dance work and shine.

Connect With Linda

Linda says the best place to learn more about her work, connect with her, attend a dance class, and find information about her books is her website.

Everyone has a story.

But what happens when we actually slow down enough to listen to it?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, I sit down with Nancy Jasin, a nurse, writer, educator, and lifelong observer who has spent much of her life paying close attention to people, relationships, health, and the moments that often go unnoticed.

Nancy shares how growing up in New Jersey, her parents’ artistic influence, becoming a nurse in her early twenties, working in healthcare coding, and later working in hospice shaped the way she observes the world.

For Nancy, observation isn’t just about seeing. It’s about listening, empathizing, documenting, and understanding what may be happening beneath the surface.

We explore why she believes everyone has a story—even people who don’t consider themselves writers—and why journaling can become a way of discovering things about ourselves that we might otherwise overlook.

Nancy also reflects on hospice and what being around people at the end of life taught her about mortality, forgiveness, family, and the importance of leaving something meaningful behind.

She shares how she turned old journals and notes from her teenage years into her memoir, The Tire Swing, and how writing became a way of processing experiences and preserving memories.

We also talk about family, her great-grandchildren, her children’s book Isla and the Imaginary Iguana, faith, self-forgiveness, and the importance of continuing to find “a bit of sunshine” even on difficult days.

Nancy’s message is ultimately simple:

Listen. Write. Forgive. Keep growing.

Connect With Nancy

Nancy says her books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. Her new website contains information about her books, new covers, story synopses, more about her, and links to her social media and booksellers. She also says listeners can find a way to speak with her or email her through the website.

Nancy Jasin’s website

Connect With Thought Atlas

Thought Atlas on PodMatch

What if the way you think, feel, and relate to other people isn’t simply “who you are” — but something you can deliberately train?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, I sit down with Arnold Beekes, who describes himself as a global citizen and the creator of the Brain Athletes approach.

Arnold shares how growing up in what he describes as a fear-dominated, highly authoritarian environment shaped him, and how his later experiences in the military, technology, corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, and personal development eventually led him toward his current work.

At the center of his philosophy is the idea of the brain athlete: someone who intentionally develops their potential rather than simply functioning within the limits they’ve inherited.

We explore neuroplasticity, awareness, pain, emotional states, conditioning, individuality, leadership, and nervous-system regulation. Arnold introduces three concepts within his framework: unconditioning, aspiration, and united uniqueness.

We discuss the invisible “straight jackets” he believes can come from family expectations, organizational structures, marketing, social conditioning, and other systems—and why he believes recognizing your uniqueness doesn’t mean separating yourself from other people.

Instead, Arnold argues for a “better for all” approach: developing your own talents and potential while applying them in ways that benefit other people, nature, and the wider world.

We also explore why Arnold believes age isn’t the primary barrier to change, why he sees pain as a driver of transformation, the difference between brain fitness and becoming a brain athlete, and why he believes our definition of success should move beyond individual material achievement toward well-being and community.

His final food for thought is simple:

Take care of your nervous system.

Learn more about Arnold’s work, his Brain Athletes manifesto, training, books, and “Getting Started” program at:

Brain Athletes⁠

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What happens when the life you thought you had built collapses almost all at once?

For Troy Haslinger, April 2011 became a dividing line. After returning from a trip to the Caribbean, he learned that he was being placed on a performance improvement plan at work. Shortly afterward, he learned that his 38-year-old sister, Holly, had metastatic colon cancer.

Eighteen months later, Troy had lost Holly, gone through a divorce, and lost his job.

But that wasn’t the end of the story.

In this episode of Thought Atlas, Troy opens up about grief, addiction, mental health, identity, failure, recovery, relationships, and the complicated process of rebuilding yourself after life changes direction.

We discuss why Troy created the charity Life Is Good No Matter What after losing his sister, how the charity eventually became intertwined with his identity, and what happened when he was ultimately fired from the organization he had helped create.

Troy also shares how hiking, therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous, writing, exercise, and an ultramarathon became part of his journey. He explains why he believes doing difficult things can teach us that we’re capable of more than we think.

His memoir, Beautifully Dysfunctional, grew out of years of journaling and personal experiences. The central message is one Troy repeatedly returns to throughout the conversation:

You are not alone.

This is a conversation about what happens when success doesn’t protect you from loss, why difficult experiences can force us to reconsider who we are, and why Troy believes we should celebrate life today like there is no tomorrow.

What would you do if you left home with a $50 bill, a one-way ticket, and no clear idea of what your future would become?

Frank McKinney did exactly that.

After being asked to leave four high schools, leaving his final high school with a 1.8 GPA, and spending time in juvenile detention, Frank left Indiana for Florida at 18 with $50 and a one-way ticket.

What followed was a life built around taking risks, testing limits, creativity, business, writing, philanthropy, and endurance.

In this episode of Thought Atlas, Frank explains why he believes you sometimes have to “kill the person you were born to be” to become the person you want to be. He shares how he developed his tolerance for risk step by step—from starting in real estate with a $50,000 home to eventually building and selling a $50 million oceanfront house in Palm Beach.

We explore why Frank calls himself a “real estate artist,” why he believes reputation should sometimes come before profit, and why he stopped using the word “wish” in his vocabulary.

Frank also discusses his approach to philanthropy, which he calls “philanthrocapitalism,” and the 32 self-sustaining villages in Haiti that he says his work has helped build.

We talk about fear, the difference between fearing the unknown and fearing leaving what you know, his three I’s—the insurmountable, the incomprehensible, and the impossible—and the lessons he has learned from repeatedly entering unfamiliar territory.

Frank also takes us inside Hell’s Heaven, Is It Really Forever, his “psycho-spiritual thriller” and nonfiction/fiction hybrid, and explains why optimism sits at the heart of the story.

This is a conversation about reinvention, risk, ambition, faith, generosity, and what might happen when you stop accepting the limits you’ve been given.

https://frank-mckinney.com/

What happens when you refuse to fit yourself into just one box?

Prince George has spent more than two decades moving across creative worlds including comics, music, television, radio, film, entrepreneurship, and more. But his journey isn’t really about collecting titles. It’s about recognizing different gifts, developing them, and finding ways to let them connect.

In this episode of Thought Atlas, Prince George explains how his journey into entertainment began at 14, how his work with comics opened doors into television and radio, and how a character created with friends eventually became part of a larger company and commercial venture.

We also explore the creative thinking behind his “Rap Rock Renaissance” approach to music, why he believes consistency matters more than immediate fame, and how combining different talents can create something entirely new.

But creativity isn’t the only part of his story.

Prince also shares what inspired his humanitarian work through Prince House, including his desire to help abused children and people experiencing homelessness. He explains how seeing gaps between existing community resources motivated him to think about how those resources could be connected.

Throughout the conversation, one idea keeps returning: you don’t necessarily have to choose between the different things you’re capable of doing. You can develop your gifts, stay consistent, and discover where they fit as opportunities appear.

And his final message is simple:

Believe in yourself. Find who you are. Don’t let someone else tell you that you can’t.

Learn more about Prince George’s work through the website he shared during the episode: WZC.com.

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What happens when you repeatedly leave behind everything familiar and force yourself to begin again?

In this episode of Thought Atlas, I sit down with Huw Evans, an author, professional editor, photographer, real estate investor, and self-described “jack-of-all-trades.” Born in the UK and raised across different countries because of his father’s military career, Huw grew up repeatedly entering unfamiliar environments.

After university and working in Spain, Belgium, Greece, and London, he eventually made another major leap: emigrating to North America in his 20s with only a few thousand dollars, no job, nowhere to live, and no established network.

We explore what those experiences taught him about confidence, adaptability, identity, belonging, and the psychology of starting over.

Huw also takes us behind the creation of Retrospective, the first novel in his Graeme James trilogy. Drawing from personal experiences, childhood memories, nostalgia, and his fascination with 1980s London, the novel explores crime, memory, identity, morality, and the relationship between the past and present.

We talk about why Huw chose 1980s London as the setting, why crime fiction can be such an interesting lens for examining human behavior, how he taught himself writing, editing, and photography, and what his different careers have taught him about learning without waiting for permission.

And perhaps most importantly, we discuss reinvention.

What happens when you feel trapped by the identity you’ve already built? Huw’s answer is simple: change doesn’t always have to begin with something dramatic. Small changes can compound into much bigger transformations.

His message at the end of the conversation is equally simple:

Never give up.

Learn more about Huw and Retrospective through his official website: https://www.huwevans.me/

You can also find Retrospective through the booksellers Huw mentions in the episode.

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What happens when being strong for everyone else becomes a reason you stop showing up for yourself?

Anjelis Oliveira is a mother, grandmother, nurse of 20 years, and wellness coach who focuses on wellness and transformation. Her own journey led her to rethink what it means to survive, care for yourself, and make sustainable changes.

In this conversation, Anjelis explains how becoming a teenage mother and focusing heavily on her children, career, and responsibilities taught her to keep moving—but also led her to overextend herself and neglect her own wellness.

At 39, she experienced a stroke. The following year, her 20-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery. While sitting with him during that frightening period, Anjelis realized she wanted to become the best version of herself so she could be there for him. But she also discovered something deeper: she was worthy of showing up for herself.

We explore self-trust, minimum daily actions, boundaries, sustainable behavior change, self-talk, resilience, and her philosophy of “progress, not perfection.”

Anjelis also explains her perspective on GLP-1 medications, emphasizing that they are medications with potential side effects and risks and that treatment should be ordered and monitored by a healthcare provider. She stresses that medication does not replace the need for nutrition, movement, hydration, sleep, and intentional habits.

Her message is ultimately about changing the relationship you have with yourself:

Love. Practice. Progress.

Learn more about Anjelis and Rising Star Wellness: Rising Star Wellness⁠

Instagram: @GLP1LifestyleSupport and @Anjelis_RSWCoach

Anjelis says her book has not yet been published, so I have not listed a book that doesn’t exist in the transcript.

Explore more from Thought Atlas: Thought Atlas on Podmatch⁠