Willow Defebaugh is a writer who transmutes the teachings of nature for this era of climate crisis. As Editor-in-Chief of Atmos Magazine, author of The Overview, and host of The Nature Of podcast, she has a remarkable ability to hold darkness and light in tandem, re-enchanting the natural world for those who wish to see the magick in it.

In time for summer solstice, Willow joins us by the riverbank to discuss the ritual that allows her to take a meaningful pause, how she tells the difference between instinct and intuition, and how it feels to age into becoming more and more herself. 

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

Writer, playwright, and dramaturg Ashley Thomas is no stranger to the gift of presence - embracing the stillness of life, even in the midst of chaos. Ashley reminds us that beautiful things call upon us to dream big. She joins Rebecca to reflect on the meaning of the Earthkeeper, the importance of stillness, and the power of love and freedom in sparking our creativity. 

Read more about Ashley here. Subscribe to her newsletter here.

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

We will be back on the next new moon, May 26th, 2025 with a new episode! In the meantime, Rebecca shares how you can contribute to our show, so we can keep making these conversations about power and intuition accessible to all. 

Click here to support the show.

Writer Chloe Garcia Roberts describes translating as the practice of doing divination with a dictionary. As she carries meaning from one language to another, or from the spirit world to her original writing, she steps outside of societal structures to channel a fundamental kind of mystery, resisting dogma and letting herself be led by instinct. Chloe joins Rebecca to talk about the difference between religion and spirituality, translation as a spiritual act, and how she taps into the language of trees. 

Link to Chloe’s latest book, “Fire Eater”: https://asterismbooks.com/product/fire-eater-a-translators-theology

And her website:

https://www.chloegarciaroberts.com/

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

Special thanks to Annie Quigley.

Valerie June is a star being. Her music invites us to trust the path, to live with our whole hearts, and to embrace joy and attunement while navigating darkness. Celebrating the release of her new album, “Owls, Omens, and Oracles”, Valerie joins Rebecca to share how she connects to plants, neighbors, owls, ancestors, power, breath, and her own spirit, which she calls upon and even seems to pray to in her celestial songs. 

Rebecca and Valerie mention writer and activist adrienne maree brown, whose books include “Pleasure Activism” and “Emergent Strategy.” Rebecca quotes from adrienne’s moving bio of Valerie.

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

Anna Sale, host of “Death, Sex & Money,” was at a professional and personal turning point in January of 2024. As she was trying to predict what the new year had in store, she came to Rebecca for a “year ahead spread”—a tarot reading that would tell her what to expect and what to tap into in a time of tumult and transition. A year later, Anna joins Rebecca on the show to reflect on how last year’s reading manifested in her life, while also exploring her wishes for the present and future. 

Anna’s podcast is Slate’s “Death, Sex & Money,” a show about “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more.” Last spring, Anna had Rebecca on the show: “A Tarot Reader Explains Why Intuition is So Tricky”. Anna’s book is “Let’s Talk About Hard Things: The Life-Changing Conversations That Connect Us”.

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

Comedian Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock) never wanted to be seen as just another “woo-woo” Hollywood actress. She prefers to hold the idea of magick lightly, treating it with her characteristic curiosity and humor. Even so, when she visited a channeler whose uncanny predictions came true, Rachel started to pay more attention to signs, as well as what the woo can tell us about being human. 

Now, Rachel hosts a podcast fittingly called “Woo-Woo With Rachel Dratch.” You can hear Rebecca’s appearance on “Woo-Woo” here and actor Jeff Hiller (and his impression of Rebecca) here. 

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River was created and produced by Theo Balcomb. Our story editor is Sara McCrea.

Throughout the political tumult of the mid 20th century, painters Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo made deeply spiritual, surreal, and mythic art, drawing from a dream world to envision a distinctly feminine form of power. Their stories inspired our guest Claire McMillan to write “Alchemy of a Blackbird,” a novel that follows the geographical and spiritual journeys that led Carrington and Varo’s lives to intertwine. Rebecca and Claire channel the wisdom of the two artists to discuss the power of surrendering to flow in all its forms and what it takes to bring our full selves to making art.  

You can learn more about Claire’s work at https://clairemcmillan.com.

Paintings mentioned:

“The Call” by Remedios Varo

“Exploration of the Sources of the Orinoco River” by Remedios Varo

Podcast episode with Meredith Emmett mentioned:

Friendship as a Source of Power

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River is created by Theo Balcomb, and it is produced with help from Sara McCrea.

Throughout her time co-hosting and producing NPR’s “Code Switch,” Shereen Marisol Meraji has reported countless stories that complicate American narratives about race and identity. Now a journalism professor, Shereen reflects on how she has stepped into her own power as a listener and a leader. And, prompted by a card pull, Shereen and Rebecca look to the past, discussing ancestral relationships as a source of strength and support. 

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River is created by Theo Balcomb, and it is produced with help from Sara McCrea. 

Special thanks to Craig Eley.

Rachel Khong’s 2024 novel Real Americans is a gorgeous and sweeping portrayal of an American immigrant family. It is also, in a sense, a novel about magick, about what it means to stop time, and about connections that reverberate across generations. Joining Rebecca as a voice in the river, Rachel explains her use of intuition in facing the blank page and her use of prayer in facing publicity, as well as how she relates to her ancestral past. 

Learn more about Rachel on her website.

This independent show is a delight to make, and it also takes a lot of time and care. If you’d like to support our work with a gift of $33, click here. If you would like to reach our team, you can write to us at [email protected]. 

Rebecca helps women remember who they are and become leaders of their own destiny. If you’d like to work with Rebecca, her website is rebeccaauman.com.

Voices in the River is created by Theo Balcomb, and it is produced with help from Sara McCrea.