For the People Podcast

In this deeply vulnerable and transformative episode of the For the People podcast, host Aliko Weste sits down in Boulder, Colorado, with friend, priestess, and healer Inara Sky.Taking listeners on a profoundly personal journey, Aliko opens up about his decision in October 2024 to temporarily pause his testosterone to experience a menstrual cycle once again. Navigating this reality as a man experiencing a period, Aliko unpacks his deep dive into the profound differences between testosterone and estrogen, framing these hormones not just as biology, but as completely different energetic blueprints and realities.In this episode, Aliko and Inara explore:The stark energetic contrast between hormones: experiencing testosterone as a "wall" that creates a "me and the world" dynamic, versus estrogen dissolving those boundaries to feel deeply connected to everything.The profound realization and recurring theme that "men are in the world and women are of the world".How hormonal differences can shape human empathy, attunement, and our ability to intimately feel our surroundings.A raw, real-time exploration of these themes, recorded while Aliko was actively bleeding.Join Aliko and Inara for this raw, mystical, and eye-opening conversation about the biological codes that shape our existence and what it truly feels like to live on both sides of the hormonal veil.

In this 10-minute drop-in episode of season three of the For the People podcast, host Aliko Weste sits down with friend and guest Yara Avery to explore the complex dynamics of relationships. Together, they delve into the nuanced dance between masculine and feminine energies and discuss what partners truly need from one another to thriveThe core needs of the feminine from the masculine, specifically highlighting the balance of emotional intelligence and precise leadership.The responsibility of the feminine to notice how they show up in partnerships and the importance of surrendering control to allow the masculine to lead.The systemic lack of emotional competency and relational literacy in our modern world, particularly concerning how the masculine is taught to handle conflict and discourse.The dynamic of the feminine acting as the vast, emotional wave or ocean, while the masculine must act as the grounding rock that holds space with curiosity and care rather than trying to fix the situation.The courage and vulnerability required from both partners to slow down, do self-inquiry, and express their actual needs.The necessity of creating sacred, consensual containers for vulnerability so that sensitive experiences and past resentments are not used as ammunition during future conflicts.The power of humility, letting go of the masculine urge to "know it all," and choosing to remain a committed student to your partner.Tune in for a quick but deeply resonant conversation about commitment, messy but beautiful relationship growth, and the tools needed to build true emotional presence

Somehow I’d love to emphasize that my experience in that imitation was 100% sober. I want people to know that immense healing is possible through embodiment, and the discipline of sobriety.

About Mo Washburnmo washburn is a queer bodyworker, community care practitioner, and deep listener based in Sebastopol, California — on the unceded homelands of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples.Mo's path has been anything but straight. From the corporate world to farming, from bodywork to doula care to song circles, they have spent years finding their way back to the same question: how do we heal the separation that permeates our culture? That question sits at the heart of everything Mo does — and it's exactly what brought them to this conversation.As a queer practitioner, Mo knows firsthand what it feels like when the dominant definitions of masculine and feminine don't leave room for you. Their work — whether through healing touch, circle singing, or community gathering — is an ongoing act of making more room. For bodies, for stories, and for the full spectrum of who we are and who we're becoming.Mo practices with unconditional love, deep presence, and a refusal to make assumptions. Instead, they listen. They witness. They respond.We're so glad they're here.-----------In this episode, Aliko Weste speaks with Mo Washburn about language, gender, curiosity, and the importance of getting clear about what we mean. Together, they explore how terms like masculine and feminine can both help and limit us, why slowing down creates deeper connection, and how living beyond the binary can invite greater authenticity for everyone.Through personal stories, spiritual reflection, bodywork, song, and honest conversation, Mo shares their journey of genderqueerness, self-trust, and expression. This episode is a beautiful reminder to ask before assuming, listen before defining, and meet people in the fullness of who they are.Connect with ushttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/https://www.instagram.com/mo.washburn/

Rabbi SaraLeya Schley was ordained in 2005 by the ALEPH Ordination Program, for which she currently is on the academic Va’ad and faculty. An elder and advisor, she has been involved with Wilderness Torah and its offshoots since 2007. She authored a 2020 responsum about Medical Assistance in Dying that was published by the Integral Halachah Institute and is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Hartman Institute. A resident of Sparks, NV, she is mother to 3 and savta to 5. She continues to be involved with various Renewal communities as prayer leader, teacher and elder, and is Rabbi Emerita at Chochmat HaLev, Berkeley.Connect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/

Antonia Songbird is an elemental priestess, songstress, devotional dancer, writer, earth activist, and ceremonialist devoted to the healing of humanity and the earth. She creates sacred containers for personal healing and collective awakening — bringing people together through cacao ceremonies, song circles, interactive workshops, and tea pouring to raise consciousness and restore harmony between people and the elements. Antonia is the founder of Vibe Tribe Worldwide, a ceremony circle and event production organization, a temple dancer with GodMa Rising, and an active priestess serving the Goddess Temple of Ashland — where she holds weekly sacred circles.Connect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/

Arthur Wald is a lifelong meditator, entrepreneur, and spiritual teacher who guides others in accessing flow states for personal mastery. As a Director and Lead Facilitator at Know the Self Academy, he trains students in techniques for bridging inner work with real-world impact. A queer man in a long-term partnership, Arthur brings both lived experience and professional insight to his work, supporting others in transforming their deepest struggles into the foundation of their greatest powerConnect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/

In this special episode, Aliko Weste shares a powerful talk originally given at the Conscious Growth Convergence in Lost Valley, Oregon. Titled Returning to Our Houses of Magic: A Comprehensive Historic and Neuro-Somatic Inquiry and a Cyclical Map for the New World, this workshop brings together history, healing, somatic awareness, decolonization, and visionary world-building.Aliko explores the history of capitalism in Middle Age Europe and offers three pathways for healing from its effects, drawing from personal experience in business, community work, and inner transformation. The talk also weaves in insights from Dr. Michael Yellowbird on neurodecolonization, reflections from trusted community voices, and a deeper inquiry into where the “map for the new world” may already be hidden.This episode invites listeners to consider how healing, history, identity, and collective imagination can help us return to our own “houses of magic” and participate in building a more conscious future.Connect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/

In this deeply intimate episode, host Aliko Weste sits down with Chelsea for a vulnerable conversation about pregnancy, grief, love, motherhood, and the profound transitions that shape a human life.As Chelsea enters her third trimester, she reflects on the emotional threshold between maidenhood and motherhood, the tenderness of creating life while carrying grief, and the responsibility of becoming part of a continuing ancestral line. She opens up about losing her mother to a drunk driver, navigating her father’s terminal illness, and how deep pain became a catalyst for purpose, presence, and a fuller devotion to life.Chelsea also shares the extraordinary story of meeting her partner Giordani in Costa Rica, a love that began across a language barrier and grew through trust, devotion, and deep presence. Together, she and Aliko explore what it means to feel truly held, to heal old wounds with men, and to raise a son with a new vision of masculinity rooted in safety, tenderness, strength, and love.This episode is a soulful meditation on life and death, divine timing, immigration, partnership, ancestral healing, and the sacred responsibility of bringing new life into a changing world.Connect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/

Dr. Jessica Tartaro (she/her) is a cis-gendered, able bodied, second generation Sicilian Jewish Intimacy Coach, Mediator & Connection Facilitator who draws from over 20 years of experience in the healing arts facilitating individuals, couples and groups. Through her one-of-a-kind workshops, Jessica powerfully weaves together the threads of Conscious Intimacy, Authentic Relating, Positive Psychology, Trauma Healing, Improvisational Dance and Mindful Embodiment. Plus, she loves to play. Former Fulbright scholar, Jessica has founded communities across the country dedicated to healing the collective experience of belonging. On the Olympic Peninsula of Washington where she currently lives, Jessica is facing her greatest intimacy challenges yet as a mother to her fierce and fiery toddler, Joya. To stay current on her evolving offerings, inquire about her private coaching and check out her adorable toddler photos, go towww.DrJessicaTartaro.com@doctartaro----------------------In this powerful and deeply human conversation, host Aliko Weste sits down with Dr. Jessica Tartarot, an intimacy coach, mediator, connection facilitator, and longtime healing arts practitioner, to explore what it really means to build relationships that can hold conflict, repair, parenting, and belonging.Jessica shares how becoming a mother reshaped everything she thought she knew about intimacy, nervous systems, healing, and the hidden needs we carry from childhood into adulthood. With honesty and humility, she reflects on the impossible pressure modern parents face when they are expected to meet a child’s endless needs without the village that human beings were designed to have.Together, Aliko and Jessica explore generative conflict, relational intelligence, emotional literacy, child nesting, cooperative child rearing, attachment wounds, spirituality, and the loneliness created by modern individualism. The conversation moves from parenting and community care to adult relationships, showing how much of our pain comes from never being taught how to ask for what we need, repair rupture, set boundaries, or stay present when intimacy becomes uncomfortable.Jessica also introduces her evolving work around helping couples and communities move beyond private struggle and into shared support. Through her “We Two” project, she invites couples to tell the truth about relationship challenges, not as a sign of failure, but as a way to normalize struggle, widen the pool of empathy, and remind people that they are not alone.This episode is an invitation to rethink conflict, parenting, partnership, and community as sacred places of growth. It is for anyone who has ever longed for deeper connection, more support, and a more honest way of being human together.Connect with mehttps://www.instagram.com/theealikomountain/https://www.instagram.com/doctartaro/