A short announcement about my upcoming surgery and when you can expect more great episodes as we get back to Season 3 on the WiMP Podcast.

In this episode I'm honored to have Dr. Sara Moslener on the show. Despite a bout with Covid-19, Sara was gracious to join me over Zoom to talk about White Purity Culture, specifically: how it manifests itself in Evangelical notions of sexual purity; racial purity and how the defense of white women's purity in the 19th century helped harden racial discrimination, ultimately leading to the horror of lynching; and finally the White Christian Nationalism is rising in America today and has really always been with us.

Get Dr. Moslener's book, Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence here.

Also be sure to check out her new podcast from Axis Mundi, Pure White, wherever you podcast.

In the podcast we also talked about a great digital exhibit that you can access here: Truth Telling - Frances Willard and Ida B. Wells

In this episode I'm joined by Ayana Feyissa, an Ethiopian national living and working in the Lansing area who is making waves on TikTok as a driving force behind the #1NoWar campaign for peace in his homeland. We go over the history of Ethiopia's modern national era and the ethnically-driven political power dynamics that continue to divide the country through violent conflict. Ayana also shares his hope for a united Ethiopia that can serve as a model for a broader Pan-African unification on across the continent.

In this episode we talk with Chef Kari Magee, the Executive Chef and creative mind behind Veg Head, Lansing Michigan's premier vegan restaurant and the newly reimagined Exchange, a gay cocktail bar recently opened downtown serving Veg Head food.

Kari talks about her path to becoming a chef and ultimately adopting a plant-based lifestyle; the challenges and heartbreak of coming out gay within an Evangelical Christian community; and finally, how those experiences led to an incredible opportunity to provide an exciting space for Lansing's gay community to thrive and connect.

In this first episode of the all-new, relaunched WiMP podcast, I sit down with Morgan Shipley (Ph.D.), the Inaugural Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University to talk about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

We start with a macro view of the conflict, looking at the long history and heavily nuanced forces and events that brought us to this point in Middle East history. Then we bring the conflict home and embody it in the lived experience of the many impacted students and faculty at MSU. Finally we discuss how we might try to grow beyond the dualisms that seem to doom us to the endless conflicts between "us" and "them."

Looking ahead to Season 3 on the WiMP Podcast with Jesse Draper.

In this episode I'm joined by Brian Daniels, owner of Empower Lansing, a boxing gym in Lansing Michigan. Brian shares an inspirational story about his struggles growing up, his decision to join the army after 9/11, and how he had to rebuild himself after an explosion on the battlefield changed his life forever.

A follow up to episode 17 - No More Boxes, and yet something all it's own. This episode is about learning to embrace and experience a new way of being. It starts with a celebration of one year of sobriety and walks through some of the powerful ways I've learned to integrate new ways of thinking and being to live a fuller life of flourishing and expansion.