Season two, episode five of The Unvarnished Edit continues the show’s spirituality arc with guest Brandi as Angie, Jaelene, and Brandy discuss religious trauma, hypocrisy in organized religion, and deconstruction. They emphasize accountability, self-worth, trusting one’s knowing, and the painful loss of community and rituals after leaving religion, and preview a future discussion on community and next week’s parenting-culture episode.

00:00 Welcome and Content Warning

03:50 Brandy on Spirituality and Deconstruction

05:19 Why This Conversation Matters

17:42 Hypocrisy, Gaslighting, and Silencing Questions

25:47 Healthier Faith Models and Choosing Connection

32:30 Trauma And Faith

47:16 Walking Away From Church

49:20 Pandemic And Awakening

59:42 Loss Of Community

01:04:06 Trust Your Knowing

In season two, episode four of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene welcome their first guest, Jessica Flowers, for the second episode in their joy arc, focusing on capturing childlike joy through creativity and “microdosing” delight. They discuss how joy can feel difficult or unsafe after adversity, how messages about being serious or inconspicuous can dampen playfulness, and how adults may lack a “window of tolerance” for big joy. Jessica shares her background in musical theater, 15 years with Free Arts/Art Heals of Arizona, and her current work supporting youth-serving nonprofits, describing creativity as both coping tool and practice. The group explores priming for joy with small moments like scavenger-hunt walks, art projects, and playful puppets, and they reflect on discomfort with others’ excitement and unintentionally tamping it down. They close by planning to share micro-moments of joy and preview next week’s spirituality episode on religious trauma with guest Brandy.

00:00 Season Two Kickoff

01:14 Joy Arc Setup

06:10 Was Joy Always There

08:29 Safety And Seriousness

13:43 Joy Versus Delight

19:23 Priming For Joy

26:25 Reclaiming Childlike Fun

30:57 Creativity for Others

35:11 Microdosing Delight

45:46 Let Joy Be

49:17 Closing Thanks Next Gues

In season two, episode three of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene begin a parenting arc by comparing summer break realities in modified year-round school schedules, including 50/50 custody, teens using one home as a “reset,” and the shift from an “ingredient household” to a “food household.” They reflect on their long friendship built around candid, nonjudgmental conversations about the hard parts of parenting, including parenting young adults. Angie describes parenting through the lens of raising future adults, allowing age-appropriate mistakes, and tailoring parenting to each child’s needs, while Jaelene discusses how her approach has evolved, her critique of homework, and reclaiming balance. They explore nature vs. nurture, cycle-breaking, the challenges of co-parenting with different household rules, and parenting changing across multiple “rounds” of children.

00:00 Welcome and Parenting Arc

08:49 Why Parenting Needs Honesty

14:54 Different Kids Different Needs

16:22 Second Time Parenting and Healing

24:54 Nature Versus Nurture

26:26 Co Parenting Boundaries

31:40 Letting Kids Make Mistakes

38:45 No Control Over Their Paths

40:48 Whats Next and Superfan Shoutout

In season two, episode two of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene begin their spirituality arc by sharing what spirituality means to them and how it differs from religion. They open with Jaelene’s excitement and anxiety about taking her youngest daughter to New York City to see Hamilton (with family joining), including worries about navigating the city and needing supportive shoes due to a knee issue. The conversation then shifts to spirituality as a personal “true north,” community, and connection to a life force (God/source/universe), often expressed through energy work, nature, breathwork, meditation, yoga, and presence. Jaelene describes leaving Mormonism, keeping spirituality private, and developing practices in prison through Buddhism-leaning teachings. They discuss spirituality’s role in resilience and self-regulation, current practices (frequency tracks, breathing, meditation, journaling, nature), grief after Jaelene’s mother’s death, and upcoming episodes on religious trauma, shadow work, and maintaining spirituality when life goes wrong.

00:30 NYC Trip Plans

08:16 Aging And Comfort

09:34 Spirituality Arc Begins

20:09 Prison And Buddhism

22:22 Spirituality Beyond Religion

29:58 Practices That Ground You

33:50 Grief as Spiritual Practice

36:27 Spirituality Is Personal

37:56 Woo-Woo and Joy Link

40:14 Next Episodes Preview

42:22 Closing and Subscribe

In season two, episode one of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene return to introduce a “joy arc,” exploring what joy means to them and why it can be hard to access after a history of adversity. They open with light banter about competitive Scrabble, loving dictionaries, and finding joy in learning, then shift to how joy and pre-excitement can feel unsafe because happiness can be taken away or dismissed. Angie shares realizing this during a Sesame Street special, while both discuss living on alert, defaulting to negative feelings as “safer,” and needing intentional practice to experience joy. They talk about “The Artist’s Way,” artist dates, permission, made-up rules that block joy, distinguishing happiness from joy, and the idea that joy requires allowing all emotions. They preview season arcs on joy, spirituality, and parenting.

00:00 Season Two Kickoff

06:20 Joy Arc Begins

11:56 Practicing Joy Intentionally

18:41 Too Good To Be True

25:57 Happiness vs Joy

34:24 Tiny Joy Moments

38:19 Safety and Avoidance

39:59 Season Arcs Preview

42:35 Closing and Next Week

In episode 12, the season one finale of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene recap highlights from their first season of sharing personal, public conversations about living an adversity-filled life and discuss the vulnerability and behind-the-scenes work of recording, editing, uploading, and managing clips and metrics. Angie describes how the forgiveness episode reframed the concept for her, while Jaelene reflects on learning new skills, easing perfectionism through an Eastern philosophy “becoming” perspective, and feeling proud about sharing her prison story. They talk about maintaining boundaries by not discussing current hardships, share funny moments (including a spouse listening unexpectedly), note viewer/listener platform curiosity, and announce season two’s structure: three topic arcs—joy and happiness, spirituality, and parenting—plus guests, 12 episodes, and a recap, launching Thursday, August 6th.

00:52 Personal Public Sharing

03:05 Lessons From Forgiveness

04:05 Learning New Skills

07:40 Becoming Philosophy Shift

12:58 Listener Feedback Joy

19:09 Bloopers And Behind Scenes

23:14 Recalling Past Episodes

24:29 Season Two Format Reveal

32:21 Thanks And Season Two Date 

In episode 11 of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene discuss connecting the topics of forgiveness and boundaries, emphasizing that forgiveness without boundaries can be abusive, and define a boundary (via Prentis Hemphill) as “the closest distance at which I can love both you and myself.” They contrast boundaries with controlling requests (e.g., not “don’t text me after 9,” but “I won’t respond after 9”), discuss how boundaries shift by context, and describe codependency as protecting others from consequences. They share sensory boundaries for CPTSD, using guardrails with kids, practicing boundaries with safe people, and using therapy to craft responses instead of reacting, ending with interest in exploring hyper-independence and interdependence.

00:00 Sleepover Text Panic

03:00 Kids And Boundaries

05:55 What Boundaries Really Are

13:06 Guardrails And Self Care

23:54 Sensory Overload Signals

25:28 From Shame to Self Care

27:03 Practicing Boundaries in Real Life

36:25 Boundaries Love and Closing Thoughts

In episode 10 of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene discuss their recovery journeys with an activation warning for substance use, ideations, and mental health topics. They talk about needing privacy to speak openly, then explore how recovery differs from sobriety and why addiction can include both substance use disorders and process addictions like fasting, exercise, eating, phones, or relationships. Angie describes long-term exposure to addiction in her family, her alcohol and opioid use disorders, a crisis point involving thoughts of leaving her family with her, and later opioid addiction after being prescribed pain medication. Jaelene shares how a strict, sober religious upbringing left her without guardrails, how she recognizes emotional triggers for drinking, and how dissociation affects her relationship with alcohol. They emphasize that recovery is individualized, requires accountability and coping skills, and that shame-free support matters.

00:00 Welcome and Content Warning

00:44 Library Recording Nerves

03:51 Angie Recovery Story

15:45 Sobriety vs Recovery Nuance

22:58 Finding the Alcohol Line

25:06 Control and Dissociation

29:05 Recovery Beyond Substances

34:18 Lifelong Coping and Compassion

In episode nine of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene discuss forgiveness, beginning with parenting stories and the stress of last-minute elementary school events. The conversation shifts to how forgiveness has been weaponized—especially in high-control religion—often demanding “forgive and forget” without accountability or changed behavior, placing the burden on the injured party. They argue some actions are unforgivable, and define forgiveness as “giving up the hope of having a better past,” describing it as an internal process distinct from relationship repair. They emphasize that forgiveness without boundaries and accountability is abuse, that actions matter more than words, and that repaired relationships require active repair, responsibility, and behavioral change.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

02:12 Calm in a Crisis

07:19 Parent Guilt Spiral

08:20 Why Forgiveness Is Hard

11:45 Unforgivable Things

12:29 A New Definition

13:55 Boundaries and Accountability

15:49 Repair vs Forgiveness

19:37 Forgiveness Is Not A Pass

20:50 Letting Go Without Forgiving

23:09 When Forgiveness Is Weaponized

28:36 What Forgiveness Looks Like

30:32 Boundaries And Repeated Harm

34:35 Episode Takeaways And Closing 

In episode eight of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene discuss Jaelene’s experience with the criminal justice system and how it changed her, with content warnings for substance abuse and maternal trauma. Jaelene describes how a traumatic maternal trauma contributed to her turning to Xanax, Ambien, and Percocet, escalating into a hidden, high-functioning prescription drug addiction. She explains how this escalated to criminal charges and eventually took a plea for 2.5 years, serving 22 months in prison during COVID with no in-person visits. She reflects on anxiety, survival, personal growth, and the ongoing stigma as a felon.

00:00 Episode 8 - From the Playground to the Prison Yard

00:21 Introduction

04:26 Why this story is important to tell

07:13 Maternal Trauma and the Start of Substance Abuse

16:37 Getting Clean and Coming Clean

23:26 The Police, The Plea and Prison

33:27 Prison Lockdown and COVID Lockdown

39:32 Friendship Through This Process

45:05 Privilege and Criminal Justice

51:06 Post Prison and The Stigma