Can any good story that compels you towards a more liberated life be considered “Gospel?” If the Bible doesn’t mention Hell, what else might fundamentalist Christianity be getting wrong? Is this whole podcast made possible by Kristyn’s teenage years of evangelical somatics? If inspiration is really a godsend, then isn’t our creative practice a worship of the divine?

Kristyn with a Why chats with friend and fellow spiritual-creative Matt about story and gospel as they introduce themselves and set intentions for the stories they are working on in their weekly writer’s group.

You can find Matt here&here

Follow the podcast on Substack & Instagram!

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

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network

Sophie Strand’s novel: “The Madonna Secret”

Marcus Borg: “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time”

For more deconstructing fundamentalist Christianity, check out Tia Leving’s Instagram and Substack and Jeanna Kadlec’s “Heretic”

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)

(This episode is based off the FX show “Say Nothing” that came out in 2024, based on the non-fiction book of the same name.)

What is it that makes stories of revolution (Les Mis, Hadestown, etc) so irresistible? How is it possible that our suburban public school education in the 90s in the USA did not properly educate us on the realities of oppressed peoples overseas? Who benefits when we believe the narratives that empire tries to convince us are “too complicated” to understand? Who gets to define “terrorism?” How can we do better- individually and collectively?

Kristyn with a Why invites her friend Jamie onto the show to share a “Story History” lesson about the time of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and its echo in the revolution against colonist regimes in current day, specifically in Palestine, all through the 2024 FX show “Say Nothing.”

#Saynothing #northernireland #palestine #thetroubles

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

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

Toni Cade Bambara- “The role of the artist is to make the Revolution irresistible”

A classic example of “Drunk History”

Podcast “Millenials are killing Capitalsim” about “The Dark- Selected writings of Brendan Hughes”

More History on the Colonization of Northern Ireland featured in “Millenials are Killing Capitalsim” Podcast

Chani App for Astrology

Audre Lorde- “The Master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”

Timothy Snyder’s Book: On Tyranny

Book: “Let this Radicalize you”

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network for more on the Ace Studies & Secure attachment.

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)

(This episode is offered as a collective imagining and embodiment of better stories we can look to for guidance towards liberation)

How can we collectively pivot away from stories that demand converting or disposal rather than co-holding in community?

In what ways can wounds and embodied practices be portals offering ancestral healing? How can a practice of polyamory be a portal to an animistic practice of opening up to resourcing from energetic sources found in nature? What if every womb-having person could reclaim the “wise power” of menopause as an initiation?

Kristyn with a Why invites her anti-Zionist Jewish friend Anna Shneiderman to share her story in three acts: The Seder, Ancestral Healing, Co-Holding with Nature.

0: Intro to episode

5:00: Introduce Anna

13:20: Act 1- The Seder

23:37: Act 2- Ancestral Healing

42:00: Act 3- Coholding with Nature

1:00:00: Anna’s “Practices to Become Accident Prone”

1:12:00: Outro

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

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

blacspace.coop

Wise Power- Menopause as Initiation

Choosing Clean Pain- Resmaa Menakem’s book: My Grandmother’s Hands

Rachel Heron Yoga

Land Acknowledgment Practice- Hayden King

Somatics with the Strozzi Institute

Offers and Needs Market

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network for more on Secure attachment.

Embodied Social Justice 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 and sound editing)

(This episode was recorded before 2025’s “Summer of Love” & only contains spoilers for old seasons of #LoveIslandUK and #LoveIslandUSA)

How do humans biologically build attachment? How do popular reality shows (ab)use mammalian attachment to create dramatic moments for entertainment? What happens to our nervous systems as viewers when we watch? What are the narratives that #LoveIsland perpetuates? Who benefits when the collective believes those narratives? In what ways are reality TV shows and their viewership a high demand group? Can we collectively imagine something more liberated?

Kristyn with a Why chats with Jamie and Jason- two of her besties from high school about Secure attachment and Love Island.

0: Intro to episode

9:00: Intro to Jamie and Jason

12:51: Secure Attachment and Contact Nutrition Overview

29:00: Consent, and Contact Nutrition in Love Island

1:02:00: Suicidality, Racism, Patriarchy, and Casa Amor

1:27:45: Favorite Moments on Love Island, and Predictions for upcoming season

1:42:45: Love Village and The Boyfriend as “less culty” Love Island alternatives

1:52:36: Outro

Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!

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

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network for more on Secure attachment and Contact Nutrition, her Numinous Podcast on Fascism, & previous episodes with me here and here.

Alexandra Stein’s book: Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems

Timothy Snyder’s Book: On Tyranny

“The Boyfriend” as the antidote to Love Island

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 and sound editing)

This episode marks the podcast’s one year anniversary and to celebrate we are going to give plants some “main character energy”

What might emerge if we proceeded as though plants could grow us just as much as we grow them? In what ways can Cannabis be a competent protector, and a companion for practicing consent in times of collapse? How is the Cannabis industry “just like the Handmaid’s Tale” (which is to say it is actually just like slavery)?

Kristyn with a Why chats with her colleague, friend, and “garden witch” Kirsten about how working with plants can subvert the hyperindividualistic, human-centric narratives that are all-too-common in popular stories, and what can happen when we accept their invitation to grapple with the “cracks in the wall” they reveal to us.

0: Introduction/Episode Overview

9:56: Meet Kirsten

31:22: Cannabis, Consent, Compassionate Witnessing, Collapse, Camp Followers

56:16: Patriarchy in the Cannabis Industry

1:08:04: Stoner Somatics and Confronting “saviorism” with Psilocybin

1:15:00: Outro, seeds for future pods and your own home garden!

Follow Kirsten on Instagram @tendingnettles

Check out her seeds at https://www.goodseedhempgarden.com/

Follow the podcast on Substack & Instagram!

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

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network and Numinous podcast on Collapse

Friday Things with Stacey Lee Kong: Adriana Smith

Sophie Strand’s books: “The Madonna Secret” and “Body is a Doorway”

Naomi Klein

Cannabis as a “Camp Follower” in Dale Pendell’s Pharmako/Poeia

Rat Park: How cages create addiction

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 and sound editing)

This entire episode, not to be listened to while driving, is a guided meditation provided to help listeners practice radical rest, connection, and creativity.

In this mini-season, Kristyn discusses {Dream Productions} and offers a guided meditation practice she has done with her kids for over a year titled “Dream Place.”

Follow me on Substack to read the transcript for this meditation

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

Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network

Tricia Hersey- “Nap Ministry”

Audre Lorde

Dra Rocio Rosales Mesa

adrienne maree brown

toi smith

People’s Oracle-Dayna Lynn Nuckolls

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Sarah Faith Gottesdiener and the Moon Studio

Chani Nicholas

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

Bayo Akomolafe- The times are urgent, let’s slow down

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 and sound editing)

In this mini-season, Kristyn will be discussing {Dream Productions} and offering a guided meditation practice she has done with her kids for over a year titled “Dream Place.”

How can we practice opening ourselves up to accidental spiritual encounters? What is a witch if not someone who can shift their consciousness at will? What becomes possible when we offer our bodies rest and our spirits a sense of security?

In this episode, Kristyn provides an overview of the psychoeducation of trance journeys, sharing her experiences and offering insights before giving an overview of the upcoming episode’s meditation.

Follow me on Substack, where I share the transcript for next episode’s meditation

It is FREE WEEK on Carmen Spagnola’s ⁠Numinous Network⁠ from May 24th-30th 2025.

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

Tricia Hersey- “Nap Ministry”

Audre Lorde

Dra Rocio Rosales Mesa

adrienne maree brown

toi smith

People’s Oracle-Dayna Lynn Nuckolls

Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Sarah Faith Gottesdiener and the Moon Studio

Chani Nicholas

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

Bayo Akomolafe- The times are urgent, let’s slow down

Carmen Spagnola’s ⁠⁠Numinous Network⁠⁠

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 and sound editing)