(This episode is a collection of voice memos that took place from June 30th through July 21st. That’s right witches, the timeline of these conversations is perfectly sandwiched by Mercury going retrograde, give a day or two on each end. It feels significant to mention that June 30th was the day that Carmen’s beloved dog Mona became an ancestor)

In this episode, Kristyn presents a suggestion for discussion topics honoring Mercury’s retrograde and Carmen responds that she does not have capacity to engage as she is tending her grief over the death of her canine companion, Mona. We reflect on how important it is to honor ourselves when our capacity is low and how we as friends can honor the push and pull of conflicting needs and desires.

Kristyn shares her shorthand she uses with her friends- “tell me to f*** off” and a song that she and her partner Kevin wrote inspired by Carmen’s podcast about Mona’s life and the rituals performed after her death.

Season 7 is a collection of voice memos between Kristyn and Carmen in the lead up to the release of Carmen’s book, How to Connect: Build Strong Bonds and Deep Connections Through Contact Nutrition (No Matter Your Attachment Style, Trauma History, or Neurotype) and the incremental release of Kristyn’s Empyrean Fanfic “Feral Diaries.” The intention of this season is to document the transition of a relationship from a mentor/mentee and provider/client to friend. In it, we commit to practicing secure attachment through an exchange of voice memos during a time when we are both releasing written works into the world. You can listen to the previous episode, Episode 1 here.

Carmen’s previous appearances on Stoner Story Witch include: Season 1 of Severance, Season 2 of Severance, and Heated Rivalry Season 1.

Preorder Carmen’s Book

Follow the podcast on Substack & Instagram!

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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Join Kristyn and Carmen on Carmen Spagnola’s online Numinous Network

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)

From 2024-2026, I have facilitated an ever-emerging Sourdough Swap- an attachment oriented and trauma informed anti-capitalist community building practice. The skills I have used as a facilitator are a blend of what I learned from Carmen Spagnola’s Facilitation Training as well as through facilitation training with the Offers and Needs model through the Post Growth Institute. Aside from being featured on Asteria’s Convos, I have not shared much publicly about “the swap.”

Until now.

As the podcast and the swap are both entering into their third year, it is increasingly evident that the time has come for the two to merge- to allow Stories from the Swap to be shared publicly. As season 6 of the Stoner Story Witch podcast.

This episode features a conversation with Sarah and Dina, two swappers who graciously accepted the invitation to record a conversation with the following prompts:

-How would you describe the swap to someone who has never heard about it?

⁠-What is your “swap story?”/what has been your experience of the swap so far?

-What do you enjoy most about the swap?

-What has been/is your intention/practice of the swap?

-A favorite swap moment

-How has your experience in the swap impacted you/ what shifts have you noticed within yourself since joining the swap?

-Hopes/dreams/visions you have for the future of the swap?

Specifically, in this conversation we discussed how we practice identifying our internalized patriarchy, the importance of a council of elders, and parsed out how community building is both resource sharing and intimacy building, and grappled with the messiness of it all.

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Camen Spagnola’s Numinous Network, Facilitation Training, and PreOrder her Book

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)

I am so excited to share that the Empyrean fanfic that I have been working on for a year and a half is finally coming out! Part 1 is released TODAY in honor of the June Solstice, Part 2 will come out on July 15 (Conscription Day) and Part 3 will release on October 1 (Threshing day).

This book is a compilation and integration of my own favorite theories for the series and I have tried as hard as I can to make it align with the existing canon. I want it to feel like it is book 4! (or I guess we could say, book 3.5).

This is a labor of love for all of the Empyrean fans, but especially those of you on Reddit.

Note: This Writers Group episode is more of a diary entry documenting our creative process rather than a well-researched audio essay about a theme or an outlined interview. Transitions may feel jarring or confusing since the priority is consent and privacy over elements of our work.

For the first time ever, I am including the part of our gathering where I read an excerpt of the book in progress (!), and this conversation also includes: how language (especially pronouns) shapes our worldview, edgewalkers and fugitives, and Kristyn discusses again how Birdbox (2018) is really just about collapse.

(This conversation happened on January 20, 2026)

You can find Matt here and here

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Jeanna Kadlec: “Embrace the Cringe” and “No new stories”

People’s Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls “Liberation is Collective Imagination”

Thanks to Sophie Strand for “Compost Heap” and “Sexy Inventory” on Substack

Bayo Akomolafe

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)

Note: This Writers Group episode is more of a diary entry documenting our creative process rather than a well-researched audio essay about a theme or an outlined interview. Transitions may feel jarring or confusing since the priority is consent and privacy over elements of our work.

Much of this conversation was omitted to protect details of our writings in progress, but in this conversation we discussed Matt embarking on his 2026 goal of self-publishing his book “Prayer Warriors” (anticipated release on August 3rd) while Kristyn (accurately) predicts the day (it is upon us) where she is gonna just click “publish” on the fanfic as Pass/Fail.

(This conversation happened on January 13, 2026)

You can find Matt here and here

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

—---------------------------------------------

Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Jeanna Kadlec: “Embrace the Cringe” and “No new stories”

People’s Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls “Liberation is Collective Imagination”

Thanks to Sophie Strand for “Compost Heap” and “Sexy Inventory” on Substack

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)

Note: This Writers Group episode is more of a diary entry documenting our creative process rather than a well-researched audio essay about a theme or an outlined interview. Transitions may feel jarring or confusing since the priority is consent and privacy over elements of our work.

Much of this conversation was omitted to protect details of our writings in progress, but in this conversation we discussed writing as prophecy, life with EDS, how to work through Mercury Retrograde, how collapse brings clarity, and the power of collective imagination inherent in fanfic (as well as in pentagrams of human-dragon relationships.)

(This conversation happened on November 25, 2025, between publishing S5E3 and Repairing Relational Rupture w/ Kevin)

You can find Matt here and here

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

—---------------------------------------------

Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Jeanna Kadlec: “Embrace the Cringe” and “No new stories”

People’s Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls “Liberation is Collective Imagination”

Thanks to Sophie Strand for “Compost Heap” and “Sexy Inventory” on Substack

Resources in the “Compost Heap”: Stranger than Fiction (2006 movie), Mistborn

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)

Note: This Writers Group episode is more of a diary entry documenting our creative process rather than a well-researched audio essay about a theme or an outlined interview. Transitions may feel jarring or confusing since the priority is consent and privacy over elements of our work.

Much of this conversation was omitted to protect details of our writings in progress, but in this conversation we chatted a little bit about the Sourdough Swap (a community centered around practicing mutual aid) that Kristyn facilitates and about “The Season of Doubt” that inevitably creeps into a creative practice. Kristyn also pulls a three card oracle spread for Matt, because sometimes that is what is called for in a season of doubt.

(This conversation took place on November 4, 2025 in between the episodes S5E3 and Ep33: V for Vendetta)

You can find Matt here and here

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

—---------------------------------------------

Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:

Jeanna Kadlec: “Embrace the Cringe” and “No new stories”

People’s Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls “Liberation is Collective Imagination”

Thanks to Sophie Strand for “Compost Heap” and “Sexy Inventory” on Substack

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

As always:----------------------------------

Thankful for the musical inspiration for the theme song:

Hadestown by Anais Mitchell, specifically “Our Lady of the Underground” and Orpheus’ Song

“Hedwig’s Theme” by John Williams

Shout out for the artistic assistance of:

Matt Schubbe (Logo)

Kevin Carlow (Music)