Madness Cafe Raquel Howard and Jennifer Bolanos

In this week's episode, Raquel and Jennifer speak with guest April Brenneman about her transformation from evangelical Christianity to a wider, inclusive, and liberated spirituality. They also discuss April's work as a Somatic Spiritual Companion and her enthusiastic embrace of The Wise Crone.

April Brenneman is a Somatic Spiritual Companion, a Hatha Yoga teacher, and an Embodied Spirituality Teacher. Her passion is for wholeness and healing: physically, spiritually and emotionally. April understands that to be human is to be on a journey of continued growth and transformation. Her own spirituality can be described as Earth Spirituality and Embodied Christic Contemplation.

Where to find April Brenneman:
Email: thecontemplativspace@gmail.com, aprilann.brenneman@gmail.com
Website: www.thecontemplativespace.com 
IG: @thecontemplativespace, @aprilannlife
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Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!

In this episode, Raquel and Jennifer discuss reparations - what they are, why they're needed, when they've been paid, what needs to come next, and so much more. It's a big topic fraught with emotional and societal landmines, but that doesn't have to stop the conversation from happening.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about reparations, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation.

Mentioned in the episode:
America Has Tried Reparations Before. Here Is How It Went

Why We Need Reparations for Black Americans

Into America Presents Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations

Brickz Black Power Podcast - S1 E12 - What If We Got Reparations


Support the Show.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!

In this episode, Raquel and Jennifer speak with Jezz Chung about their debut book, This Way to Change: A Gentle Guide to Personal Transformation and Collective Liberation, an inspirational roadmap to changing yourself and the world through self-healing, transformation, and decolonization. Listen in as they talk about the importance of poetry, healing, transformation, and liberation.

Jezz Chung is an artist, poet, and public speaker focusing on cultural change through personal transformation. Their neurodivergent, queer, Korean American experiences shape their work and beliefs in personal transformation as a practice of collective change. They are celebrated not only for their commitment to change, but for their practice of honesty and vulnerability. The mission behind their work comes back to two main intentions: help people feel less alone and more alive. Jezz has been named a Melanin Unscripted 2021 Social Shaper, a Pride Logo 30 honoree, and a Made of Millions mental health advocate.

Where to find Jezz Chung and their work:
Website: jezzchung.com
Instagram: @jezzchung
Book: This Way to Change: A Gentle Guide to Personal Transformation and Collective Liberation—Poems, Prose, Practices (smarturl.it)
Digital zine: HOW TO BUILD A WORLD: an imperfect guide by Jezz Chung by jezzchung - Issuu
Podcast: Dreaming Different
Support the Show.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!

Girl dinner, girl boss, girl math, cool girls. There's so much more to girlhood than these (and other) phrases would have us believe. There is a power and greatness in girls, and in the way they show their resistance. Girls resist in big and small ways - at home, in society, around the world. Jody Myrum's and Ayat Mneina's work shows that resistance is not reserved for exceptional girls. In Stories of Girls' Resistance, a global feminist storytelling project dedicated to documenting a true recount of history grounded in the role of girls’ resistance across social movements, they are working to create a new dialogue around girlhood that puts girls’ words and experiences at the center. Resistance, they argue, is part of what it means to be a girl.

Stories of Girls' Resistance launched a digital campaign on April 8th, encouraging girls and women to share their own stories of girlhood resistance on TikTok and Instagram. Please share your own story of girlhood resistance.

Where to find Stories of Girls' Resistance:
Website: https://girlsresistance.org/
Instagram: @girlsresistance
TikTok: @girlsresistance 
Support the Show.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!

Coming into your own and being your authentic self. Living a double life out of fear of losing your job. Both of these were true for this week's guest, Cory Allen. He writes about all of this and more in his debut memoir, Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent. In this week's episode, Raquel and Jennifer speak with Cory about his motivation to write the book, the effect it's having, and where his life is now.

Where to find Cory Allen:
Website: www.CoryAllenBooks.com
Instagram: @AuthorCoryAllen
Facebook: @AuthorCoryAllen
X: @AuthorCoryAllen
TikTok: @AuthorCoryAllen
Medium: @AuthorCoryAllen
Support the Show.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!

In this week's episode, Raquel and Jennifer are joined by Dana Diaz, author of Gasping for Air: The Stranglehold of Narcissistic Abuse - the true story of her decades-long marriage to an emotionally and psychologically abusive narcissist. Despite the trauma, Dana emerges as a feisty, triumphant bad ass! Listen in to hear about survival after narcissistic abuse.

Where to find Dana:
Website: Dana S Diaz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/danasdiazauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/danas.diaz
The book: Amazon.com: Gasping for Air: The Stranglehold of Narcissistic Abuse: 9798988115502: Diaz, Dana S.: Books
Support the Show.

Be part of the conversation by sharing your thoughts about this episode, what you may have learned, how the conversation affected you. You can reach Raquel and Jennifer on IG @madnesscafepodcast or by email at madnesscafepodcast@gmail.com.

Share the episode with a friend and have your own conversation. And don't forget to rate and review the show wherever you listen!

Thanks!