Poema S12 003 | Darkness Is Its Own Undoing with Trace Bell

This week sees the first of consecutive episodes with my friend Trace Bell. In this episode, we discuss the idea that the seeds of transformation and change, are somehow embedded in the darkness we're experiencing. Trace and I look at the world as it is, at history both in terms of politics, culture, and consciousness, and explore how darkness is and always has been its own undoing. We also discuss the work of William Strauss & Neil Howe, about the four turns of society. We examine what cycles of history can teach us about what is happening now and will happen in the future - and how this can give us hope.

Becky Castle Miller joins me today to discuss and explore Jesus emotions. We focus in on several stories of Jesus where we see his his vulnerability and where he expresses the deepest of human emotion. We talk about how he expresses grief, fear, anxiety and love during the course of his life, and his darkest moments. Becky and I also explore how he turns the power of grief to perform his biggest sign, and how we see that it is in his most human, vulnerable moments, his true divinity is expressed .

The podcast returns with one half the musical duo JulyDa joining me to talk about their upcoming album Refuge, and the creative and spiritual journey behind it.  We delve into the connections between creativity and spirituality, how art connects us with the divine and ourselves, creative risk & how making art can heal us & help us grow.  Plus, there's also a small exclusive clip of the first single from their new album, called "Wait for the Lord". 

(Trigger Warning: Spiritual Abuse) Today is the 400th episode of the Poema Podcast! In September 2015 I began this show out of pure curiosity to explore a new creative medium. 10 years and a name change later, I've interviewed many many people on all sorts of topics ranging from grief, movies, music, death, mental health, spirituality, demisexuality and more. Today, in an extended anniversary episode, my beloved friend MJ Weissenberger interviews me about the origins of the podcast, why I chose the name, the numerology around 4 and 400, as well as my creative journey. I also share my story of spiritual abuse with YWAM for the first time publicly, and how this impacted my life & was impacted by grief. It's been a wild ride to 400 episodes, and there's more to come! This is the last episode of 2025, but there's new episodes coming in 2026. 

Trigger Warning: Narcissistic abuse.   This week, qualified counsellor and therapist Aly Rae joins me to discuss behaviours related to autism, and to narcissism. From their own lived experience of narcissistic abuse, and professional experience of working with autistic people, they share what the lived experience of autism can be like, and how some autistic traits can be confused with narcissism.  They also explain the difference between narcissism and narcissistic behaviours or traits, which can be displayed by certain personality types separately from an actual diagnosis of narcissism.  Finally, Aly provides helpful tools for autistic people - like her, myself and many others - to navigate the world we all live in, and a system which is not designed for us.

Author Alice Hewson returns to the podcast today to go deeper into exploring and discussing our lived experiences as autistic people and with rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD). Today we go deeper into RSD, something common in autistic people. We talk about what it is, and our lived experiences of it, and how we have learned to live with it, and even find joy in the midst of all the challenges it and being autistic can bring. 

This week my friend Jenna returns to the show and in this episode we discuss the most recent series of Doctor Who, and the show as a whole. Jenna and I explore the themes of grief, fear and power which come up in the recent series and the 15th Doctor's journey.  We also talk about how we've seen these themes come up in the show with previous Doctors and how they impact the Doctor's overall story. And how seeing the Doctor experience these things inspires and encourages us on our journey. We then move on to share the reasons we love the show and what it means to us and to many others, and our hopes for its future.

This week we're talking James Gunn's "Superman" with my friend, podcaster Mario Francesco Robles, host of the "Superman on Film" podcast. We talk about the themes of hope, identity, and being human which Superman embodies and are explored in the movie. We also discuss our own experiences of the movie, how it inspired us & where it stands in the echelon of Superman movies. This was such good fun!

My friend Jonathan Bregel is a filmmaker and creator. He's recently shot a documentary on a retreat designed solely to help people grieve, which he's hoping to release soon. He's also made a short film about grief about 18 months ago. Today we discuss his experiences making these films, and his own experiences of grief. Jonathan shares what he has learned about grieving and death, and how its impacted him and his own journey, and relationships with others. This episode is a moving insight into one man's personal journey of grief.  ***** You can support the movie and see the trailer here. 

Author and friend Jim Woods returns to the podcast today, to discuss his latest work, the creative process, power of story and what he's learned as an author coach.  We talk about the challenges which every creative person faces, with Jim sharing some of his own story, why these happen, and how to overcome them. We also explore the dangers of pursuing our art and how we can keep our integrity whilst still creating great art to share with the world. He shares his inpsiration for his recent series of novels and how the research and writing of these books changed him. This was such a fun conversation, and I'm sure you're going to love it. ___________ You can find Jim's books on Amazon, and access to all his work at JimWoodsWrites.com   Jim's books, including several nove are all available on Amazon