Stoner Story Witch

Ep33:🌕♉️ V for Vendetta, Gentrification of the Pura Vida, and Solidarity w/ Adri of the iGuana Collective

Remember, Remember the 5th of November!  The movie V for Vendetta is now 20 years old, and it is clear from looking around that the dystopia has arrived!
 
Why is it important to listen to and follow native Voices in the reVolution? How can we all be a little more mischieVous in how we disrupt the status quo?  What is it that makes Costa Rica a Blue Zone anyway?  Just how many layers of symbolism are there to the Guy Fawkes mask in the 2005 movie {V for Vendetta} anyway?
 
Kristyn with a why chats with Adri Leiton about the importance of being in solidarity with indigenous people everywhere, the importance of community and mutual aid with the iGuana Collective, historical and cultural insights about Costa Rica (specifically the Guanacaste province), and grappling with power and privilege, all through the lens of the story {V for Vendetta}.
 
Follow La Colectiva de La iGuana on Instagram and Facebook
 
Follow the podcast on Substack and Instagram!
 
#vforvendetta  #rememberrememberthe5thofnovember #guyfawkes #PuraVida #costarica #colectivadelaiguana
 
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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:
 
Desiree Stephen’s Substack: No Kings, just Kinship: From March to Momentum
“Disruption leads to Risk”
 
For more on protecting yourself from the Empire's mass surveillance, YK Hong’s Liberation Toolbox is a must!
 
Timothy Snyder’s Book: On Tyranny
“Do not obey in advance”
 
The Flag that Adri mentions from the scene he watched on TikTok
 
Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network for practicing grappling with settler identities and land acknowledgments
 
Cosmic Anarchy is a great substack to follow, like this piece on revolution and mutual aid
 
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)

S5E2: 🌑♎️ Writer’s Group Ch 2: Confronting the Creative Wound & Co-Creating Corrective Experiences w/ Matt

Note: This Writers Group episode is more of a diary entry documenting our creative process rather than a well-researched audio essay about a theme or an outlined interview. Transitions may feel jarring or confusing since the priority is consent and privacy over elements of our work.  If you have a pressing question, feel free to ask on substack!
 
Today’s episode is about Kristyn’s attachment issues that came up as she is diving into a journey alongside her friend Matt (to see the Wizard of Oz? Deliver the ring to Mordor? For Kristyn, it is finishing and publishing a fanfiction!) and what it looks like to create a corrective experience as we confront the wounds of being earnestly creative in a capitalistic system that would rather us be numbed out cogs.
 
You can find Matt here and here
 
Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!
 
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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:
 
Little Women: Scene where Jo shares her work with Friedrich
 
Jeanna Kadlec: “Embrace the Cringe” and “No new stories”
 
Sarah Faith Gottesdiener ‘s  Moon Studio & Moonbeaming Podcast
 
People’s Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls “Liberation is Collective Imagination” 
 
Thanks to Sophie Strand for “Compost Heap”
 
Books in the “Compost Heap”: Dracula and The Dispossessed 
 
For more deconstructing fundamentalist Christianity, check out Tia Leving’s Instagram and Substack and Jeanna Kadlec’s “Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies we are Sold”
 
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)

Ep32: 🌕♈️ Memoir as a Map: Finding, Redefining, and Resourcing Ourselves to Make our Way in the Revolution against Empire w/ Jeanna Kadlec

How can astrology help us give ourselves permission to do the things we deeply yearn to do and live the lives we would prefer?  What is the connection between a creative practice and a spiritual journey in helping us to process shame, and how can practices like playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends or baking sourdough for our community resource our somatic capacity in the revolution?  
 
Kristyn with a why chats with Jeanna Kadlec about her memoir- "Heretic: A Queer Revolt against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies we are Sold;" astrology; the role of queerness, creativity, and community in the revolution; the importance of being cringe earnest; and why it is imperative to prioritize and keep personal our playful pleasure practices to stay grounded and resourced in capitalism.
 
Jeanna Kadlec’s Disney column at Longreads
You can follow Jeanna’s substack "Astrology for Writers."
 
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 
Listen to Jeanna and friends on their podcast Call your Coven- Coming out of the broom closet
Audrey Lourde “Uses of the Erotic”
Kristyn’s Intro to Astrology →Diana Rose Harper 's Podcast with JVN
 
Looking for a personalized astrology reading?  Check out:
Maeg Kaene*
Pallas K. Augustine
Mecca Woods
Sasha Ravitch
ET Shipley*
*Kristyn has had readings with Maeg and ET and highly recommend them both <3
Memoirs
Melissa Febos.
Lilly Dancyger
Mary Karr
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Ashley Ford's “Somebody’s Daughter”
 
For more deconstructing fundamentalist Christianity, check out Tia Leving’s Instagram and Substack
 
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)

S5E1: 🌑♍️Writer’s Group Ch 1: Introductions & Intentions- The Seeds & Sparks of Spirit Stuff w/ Matt

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)

Ep30: 🌕♒️Working on a Song: Unpacking the Liberation and {Hadestown} Vibes in the 🌿📖🧙‍♀️Theme

(This episode is inspired by and heavily discusses the 2019 Tony Award Winning Musical Hadestown.)
 
Why is Kristyn so obsessed with Hadestown, really? What becomes possible when we treat stories as animist beings?  What can be gleaned in reviewing the previous year of the podcast, and what are we inviting for the next year?  Can we grapple with the fact that TERFs can create meaningful art and can that practice help us navigate collapse?
 
Kristyn with a Why shares the story of creating the song for the podcast and in doing so essentially explains the entire musical of Hadestown, singing and referencing over 9 songs.
 
#hadestown songs and vibes:
-Wedding Song as Indigenous Wisdom, and the connection of creativity and spirituality.
-Wait for Me- Orpheus’ hymn cracking the wall
-Come home with me (reprise) The animism of stones who wept to Orpheus’ beautiful song
-Our Lady of the Underground The Stoner Story Witch theme, Psychopomp Persephone breaking the 4th wall
-Living it up on Top- May the World we dream about be the one we live in now
-Road To Hell- “It’s a sad song and we are gonna sing it again”
-We Raise our Cups: “To Orpheus and all of us”- Psychopomp Persephone breaking down the 4th wall again!
-Chant: How Capitalism conditions us to “keep our head low if you wanna keep your head”
-Doubt comes in: The Loneliness of the Creative/Liberatory Path
 
My early blog posts on Hadestown
 
Follow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!
 
Stoner Story Witch: The tattoo episode 
 
Stoner Story Witch: Secure Attachment and the Male Gaze
 
More about the sourdough practice on Asteria’s Convos Podcast
 
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Grateful for all the learning and inspiration alluded to in today’s episode:
 
How Hadestown introduced Kristyn to the work of Carmen Spagnola?  (Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network and episode on Persephone.
 
Contrapoints’ Video on JK Rowling
 
 Sophie Strand’s “Flowering Wand” for more on Orpheus as a role/title
 
Bonus Content at the end from Kirsten- @tendingnettles
 
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)

Ep29: 🌑♌️Witnessing the Stories Empire Tries to Hide: {Say Nothing} Northern Ireland w/Jamie

(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)

Ep28: 🌕♑️ Perimenopause & Palestine: Practicing Co-Holding on the Journey of Jewish Eldership w/ Anna

(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)

S4E1: 🌑♋️Reality TV & Secure Attachment in {Love Island} w/ Jamie and Jason

(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 episode9:00:  Intro to Jamie and Jason12:51: Secure Attachment and Contact Nutrition Overview29:00:  Consent, and Contact Nutrition in Love Island1:02:00: Suicidality, Racism, Patriarchy, and Casa Amor1:27:45: Favorite Moments on Love Island, and Predictions for upcoming season1:42:45: Love Village and The Boyfriend as “less culty” Love Island alternatives1:52:36:  OutroFollow the podcast on Substack or Instagram!—---------------------------------------------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 SystemsTimothy Snyder’s Book: On Tyranny“The Boyfriend” as the antidote to Love IslandAs 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 WilliamsShout out for the artistic assistance of:Matt Schubbe (Logo)Kevin Carlow (Music and sound editing)

Ep 26: 🎂🥳 “Stoner” Solstice: Animism & Plant Stories w/ Kirsten

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 Overview9:56: Meet Kirsten31:22: Cannabis, Consent, Compassionate Witnessing, Collapse, Camp Followers56:16: Patriarchy in the Cannabis Industry1:08:04: 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!—---------------------------------------------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 KleinCannabis as a “Camp Follower” in Dale Pendell’s Pharmako/PoeiaRat Park:  How cages create addictionLiberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williamsAs 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 WilliamsShout out for the artistic assistance of:Matt Schubbe (Logo)Kevin Carlow (Music and sound editing)

S3E4: 🌕♐️ Dream Place Meditation

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 —---------------------------------------------Grateful for all the learning and inspiration in today’s episode:Carmen Spagnola’s Numinous Network Tricia Hersey- “Nap Ministry” Audre LordeDra Rocio Rosales Mesaadrienne maree browntoi smithPeople’s Oracle-Dayna Lynn Nuckolls Liberation with Rev. angel Kyodo williamsSarah Faith Gottesdiener and the Moon StudioChani NicholasLate Fragment by Raymond CarverBayo Akomolafe- The times are urgent, let’s slow downAs 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 WilliamsShout out for the artistic assistance of:Matt Schubbe (Logo)Kevin Carlow (Music and sound editing)