Episodes
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In this new episode, recorded pre-election 2024, Amanda Held Opelt joins me again, this time for a conversation about some major events in history & their impact on how our culture processes grief.
We talk at length about the two World Wars, and how different outcomes for different nations impacted how their cultures responded to them, and how it changed their culture. We explore how one bad response from WWI may have led to WWII and how the outcomes of both may have contributed to where we are now.
We also look at Queen Victoria, a monarch who experienced deep grief, which changed her life, her behaviour and relationships with others.
This episode is a fascinating insight into how grief shapes us individually and culturally.
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This week Virginia Spotts returns to the podcast to talk about her acting and creative career, and her experiences of trauma.
We talk about the various roles and different types of characters she's played, and how these have helped her process trauma and grief. She also shares the challenges of playing certain types of characters & how she tries to seperate herself from characters she plays.
She also shares how her creative journey, which includes writing as well as acting, has helped her understand and process the trauma and grief she's experienced - and the power of art to help us heal.
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Missing episodes?
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Jenna DeWitt returns to the podcast this week to discuss Taylor Swift's latest album, the "Tortured Poets Department".
We explore several of the tracks and how they relate to the deconstruction journey, living as an LGBTQI person and the experiences of grief and trauma. We look at them in the context of our own journeys and Taylor's own story, and what we can learn from them.
This again is such a fun episode, and another example of how great art can connect with our stories & help our healing.
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This week I welcome back my friend, poet and author Marla Taviano, to talk about her latest collection of poems, "Whole".
"Whole" is the third in a series of 3 compliations of poetry exploring Marla's own deconstruction journey, and all the grief, doubt conflict, challenges and healing of this journey. We talk about the creative process both behind "Whole" and the series of poetry books about her journey, and how this shaped Marla herself.
We also explore how creativity has helped Marla in other ways, including some other creative projects she's been involved in, making new things out of old.
And we talk about how creativity as a whole is a healing process which liberates us from the past and brings something new and hopeful into the world.
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Today, my friend, qualified IFS practitioner Becky Castle Miller, joins me to discuss and explore Internal Family Systems therapy, how it works, and how it can benefit us.
Becky and I both shares our own experiences with this kind of therapy and we also discuss internal managers, exiles and firefighters. We explore who they are, why they exist and how they were formed - and how we can work with them to help heal our truama wounds.
Becky and I also do a small demonstration of how this therapy works, in real time. This episode is a great insight into a powerful form of therapy.
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*Please do not attempt IFS for the first time without a licensed practitioner.
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My friend Trace Bell returns to the podcast this week to have a discussion about the mysterious power of music.
Together we explore how music can tap in to both our consciousness, our subsoncious and our bodies and help us somehow connect with the wider energy of the universe. We explore the mystery of how it unlocks emotions, energy and even desire, and helps us become more in tune with our bodies and our truest selves.
We also talk about how certain songs or pieces of music can take on new meaning when related to certain moments, events or people. In so doing they can help us heal, and grieve well.
This was a fascinating and interesting discussion, come join us!
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Today I talk to creators and filmmakers Ien Chi and Jon Bregel about Jon's recent documentary, the short film "I Do" which tells the grief story of a married man, from diagnosis, through loss, to grieve and finding life after death.
Ien and Jon share their own experiences with creating and producing the movie, and how this exploration of grief in a creative format impacted their own perspective on grief.
The both share the way their perspectives on life and death, and spirituality, and their personal journeys, were impacted with this encounter with grief, and together we discuss how powerful grief can be, and how it's power can be used for great good and healing, but can also abused and manipulated.
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You can find out more information about the short fulm "I Do" and how to watch it here.
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Friend of the podcast Rob Bell returns today to discuss his new latest work, a novel, "Where'd You Park Your Spaceship? An Interplanetary Tale of Love, Loss and Bread: Book One, Welcome to Firdus."
(Yes this is the title).
It's an incredible novel, which explores grief, identity, toxic systems, all from the perspective of someone outside of earth learning it for the first time.
Rob tells me his creative process in writing the novel, how the experience changed him, and how he discovered joy and fun in the creative process, and we talk about a WHOLE lot more too.
What we hear from Rob here is truly inspirational, and speaks a lot to those going through healing, awakening, embodiment and finding freedom in their creative, personal and spiritual lives.
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This week my friend MJ joins me to discuss Dan Levy's movie director debut, 'Good Grief', which is available on Netflix.
The movie is about a person who loses their mother and husband in the space of the year, and their grieving process which reveals a lot of secrets and surprises, and how it impacts his life.
MJ and I, who both have lived experience of grief, watched it together and in this episode we share our own reflections, insights and lived experiences. We talk about the ways the movie covers and explores grief so well and tenderly, and what we learned.
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This week my friend Jenna DeWitt returns to discuss Taylor Swift's "1989 - Taylor's Version" which released earlier this year.
Jenna shares her own experience with the album - both the new version, and the original - and what these meant for her as she explored her own identity.
Then together we explore various tracks on the album and the stories behind them. We discuss how these songs and their stories, and art in general, can help us as we process issues of grief, transformation and identity.
As we do so, we see more of how the creative process can heal and transform us.
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My guest today is Virginia Spotts. She is a writer, actor, fiction podcaster, and aspiring death doula.
In this episode she shares her experiences of grief and how they impacted her. As a writer, actor and fiction broadcaster, she shares unique experiences of how witnessing death and going through the grieving impacted the creative aspects of her life and identity.
Virginia also shares her experience of training as a death doula, helping people prepare for death. Its' a fascinating and unique insight into death and grief.
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Today we begin another series exploring grief on the podcast, with Andrea De Ward talking about her experiences of doing pastoral work with the dying, as chaplain of a care home.
Andrea talks about how this impacted her perspectives on death and grief, as she then herself had experiences of grief and loss. She tells us how these impacted her life, her relationships and her personal/spiritual journey.
Andrea's story gives us a very unique perspective on death and grief, and can help us understand these experiences much better.
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Today I'm joined by writer, advocate and podcast host Shari A Smith. She talks to us about her advocacy works with trauma victims and survivors, and the importance of sharing our stories.
Shari shares her experiences of sharing and bearing witness to trauma and grief stories, and how its' impacted her and the people sharing those stories. She tells us how sharing stories can provide solidarity to those hearing, and a voice to those who share them, and help us in the road to healing.
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Today I'm joined by therapist Heidi Dennis, MS LPC, to discuss her new book, "Hello Anxiety", and explore a new approach to dealing with anxiety.
Heidi shares how we can learn to say "hello" to our anxiety. Heidi shares what anxiety is, why it’s there and how to respond to it instead of distracting from it.
She tells us how listen to our anxious feelings and work with them instead of against them, and find our way towards peace.
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This week I'm joined by activist and writer Justin Ancheta. In this episode they share their own story of discovering they were a biromantic demisexual & the prejudice they faced as a Filipino-Canadian, queer man with a stutter.
They also talk about the connections between asexuality and tarot, and how discovering tarot helped them feel more at peace with their own identity, and discovering that liminal space of acceptance and belonging.
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In our first episode of 2024, my friend Cat Dean joins me for a fun conversation about being human in the changing seasons of life.
We discuss how the changes in the movement of the earth can impact our lives so directly, how we process change and the grief involved, and how it can impact our connection to our own humanity, and our creative lives.
We also explore how growth and healing increase connection to our bodies, and awaken us to the falseness of the systems we live in, connecting us more to our humanity, and to the earth.
This was such a fun, relaxed and often spontaneous conversation between friends, with great insights. Enjoy!
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For Grief Awareness week this week, I'm joined by Vicky McQuarrie, who works for AtaLoss Charity, a non-profit organization that signposts bereaved people to support.
TW: Suicide, grief, loss of spouse
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Vicky courageously shares her stories of loss and grief, both being widowed and losing her sister in the space of a year. She shares the impact this had on her life, the rituals and practices she discovered to help her grieve well.
She also discusses how her first experience of processing grief impacted her second, and the biggest lessons she's learned, as well as the work of the bereavement charity AtaLoss.
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Find out more about Vicky's work at Ataloss.org
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A new Poema podcast special episode with myself and Douglas Humphries - recorded during the strike specifically for a post-strike release.
In this episode we discuss Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer". We explore the various themes of the movie, how the movie impacted both of us, and the biggest lessons we can learn from the movie.
We also talk about the storytelling in the movie, and the creative/storytelling lessons we can learn from Chris Nolan.
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I'm honoured today to be joined by author and speaker Daniel Finklestein. Daniel tells us the story about his parents and grandparents, Jewish families caught up in the growing anti-semitism of the 1920's & 1930's, ultimately leading to their imprisonment in concentration camps by the Nazi's.
But the story doesn't end there, they survived these camps and eventually moved to England where they raised a family. And of course there are shades of the shift to the hard right we've seen in the US & UK recently.
It's a story of struggle, grief, courage and hope, and Daniel shares it beautifully.
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This week my friend Jenna DeWitt returns to the podcast to discuss two songs - "You're Losing Me" by Taylor Swift and "Faith" by Selmer - and exploring them in detail, in relation to their respective messages about queer liberation and owning your gender and identity.
We breakdown the lyrics of each song and discuss them in depth, and Jenna gives great insight into the deeper meaning of these songs, how they've impacted her, and how they can speak to us too.
We also touch on how despite one piece of art being labelled 'secular' and one more overtly, 'Christian', both can impart equally powerful messages about these issues.
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