Curiously with Ericka Graham

Ericka Graham
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I’m Ericka Graham, and I am so honored to be your host for this podcast. Nearly a decade ago, I graduated from Rice University, while focusing my masters research on sexuality in the Bible. More recently, I graduated from seminary and completed my thesis on soul-body integration (and embodiment). Although graduate school is over for me (at least for the time being), I still have an insatiable desire to continue learning from the wisdom and lived experiences of others. I also believe that I am never alone in my need and desire for connection, through authentic conversation. So here I am, pursuing my own curiosity, incase you are longing to do the same. My hope is that together, we can learn to take this life a tad more “curiously,” while having conversations at the intersections of faith, religion, science, mental health . . . and so much more! Thanks for being here!

  1. 3 days ago

    Learning to Live with Uncertainty with Dr. Cali Werner

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Dr. Cali Werner for an honest conversation about OCD, anxiety, uncertainty, and what healing can actually look like. Together, they explore the difference between managing symptoms and finding freedom, how intrusive thoughts and perfectionism can quietly shape our lives, and why healing is often less about eliminating anxiety and more about learning how to live alongside it. Dr. Cali shares from both her clinical experience and personal journey with OCD, reflecting on therapy, motherhood, faith, and the long process of learning not to let fear make decisions.   Show Notes:    instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caliwerner1/ https://www.athleterising.org/

    37 min

  2. 28 May

    Art, Grief, and Becoming with Lanecia Rouse

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Lanecia Rouse for a beautiful conversation about art, faith, grief, and living with wonder. Together, they explore Lanecia’s journey as an artist and how beauty, memory, and loss shape the work we make and the lives we live. Lanecia reflects on growing up in the church, how her faith has evolved over time, and what it looks like to embrace uncertainty instead of chasing certainty. Along the way, they talk about creativity as a spiritual practice, paying attention to what is unfolding within us, and finding deeper meaning through art, community, and everyday moments of beauty.   Show Notes Bio: Lanecia A. Rouse, is an artist based between Richmond, Virginia, and Houston, Texas, whose multifaceted practice encompasses collage, abstract painting, photography, and curatorial work with non-profit organizations.  Her practice lives at the intersection of art and spirituality, drawn to the questions that surface when image-making is understood as a contemplative act.  Rooted in an ongoing curiosity about history — personal, inherited, and collective — her work turns toward ancestral memory, matrilineal knowledge, and the remnants of lived experience as primary material.  She approaches art as a space to notice, to gather and to reconsider the narratives that shape us and the ones we choose to carry forward.  Through collage, she re-contextualizes photographs, family archival materials, found objects, and abstracted language.  Language operates in her work as both mark-making and verse, contributing to the visual and conceptual layering of each work. Rouse has participated in residencies at the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts, Charleston, SC (2023); Asia Society HTX, Houston, TX (2022); Rice University's Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (2020–2021); and served as the Inaugural Berg Global Artist-in-Residence Fellow at Vanderbilt University (2025). She has shared her practice through workshops at SnowFarm New England Craft School, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Shakerag Workshops, and The Glen Workshop. Rouse serves as Artist-in-Residence partner at Holy Family HTX Episcopal Church, where she guides the curation team for the Lanecia A. Rouse Gallery, and sits on the Board of Directors for Image Journal and 1708 Gallery in Richmond, VA. She is a graduate of Wofford College and Duke University Divinity School.   https://www.theoed.com/laneciarouse http://www.laneciarouse.co/

    38 min

  3. 21 May

    The Creative Life We Choose with Aimée and Edward Sanchez

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Aimée and Edward Sanchez for the podcast’s first-ever couples interview, exploring their shared life as artists, parents, and partners navigating creativity, homeschooling, and intentional living. Together, they reflect on what it looks like to build a family rhythm outside of cultural comparison, choosing instead to shape their lives around presence, curiosity, and a deep commitment to raising emotionally aware children. Aimée shares about her work as an illustrator and her instinct toward a slower, more grounded way of living, while Edward speaks to his practice as a creative director and the ways their different creative processes both challenge and strengthen their work together. Along the way, they also reflect on parenting through openness and vulnerability, the role of nature, surfing, and simple rituals like candlelit dinners in anchoring their daily life, and what it means to stay present in the midst of a chaotic world.   show notes:   Aimée is an artist and illustrator who plans to always live near a coast. Her work is held in private collections on 4 continents. She is a bibliophile and loves a proper tiramisu.  Her dog is named for a Southeast Asian Island.   Inquiries to: aimeesanchezart@gmail.com or find her (rarely) on IG @aimeesanchez_art   Edward is an interdisciplinary creative director exploring art, design, and culture. His eye has long stretched beyond visual design, spanning mediums like objects, wearables, and spaces. He's dedicated to an intentional life in proximity to the sea, influenced by ebb and flow, and the vastness of the horizon.   IG: @edward_crea_arte https://www.createwithedward.com/

    52 min

  4. 14 May

    Shame Free Sex and Body Talks with Dr. Valerie Akinwande and Dr. Kelly Edmiston

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Dr. Valerie Akinwande and Dr. Kelly Edmiston for a conversation about women’s bodies, sexuality, and the shame so many of us inherited around both. Together, they explore the importance of honest, ongoing conversations about puberty, pregnancy, postpartum, and sex, especially within families and faith communities. Dr. V shares from her work as a pelvic floor physical therapist helping women better understand and care for their bodies through every stage of life, while Dr. Kelly talks about her upcoming book Shame-Free Sex Talks and creating healthier, more open conversations around sexuality. Along the way, they reflect on embodiment, motherhood, faith, and what it looks like to reconnect with our bodies as something good.   Show Notes:    https://www.pelapy.com Pre Order Shame-Free Sex Talks

    46 min

  5. 7 May

    The Wisdom of Your Body with Dr. Hillary McBride (REWIND)

    Hillary McBride, PhD, is a Registered Psychologist, researcher, podcaster, and author, but underneath all of that she is a human, who loves asking questions about what it means to be human, how we heal and grow, and what it means to be a body. In this interview, Dr. McBride and Ericka Graham discuss eating disorders, mother-daughter relationships, and what it means listen to the wisdom of our bodies.       More info on Hillary McBride:  She publishes written works for community and academic audiences about embodiment, trauma, eating disorders, mental health and spirituality; her bestselling book The Wisdom Of Your Body was released in 2021, and her next book, Practices for Embodied Living will be released in 2024. Her award-winning CBC podcast Other People's Problems was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times as essential listening, and she is the co-developer of Katalyst Mental Health Ketamine Assisted Therapy program. What makes her feel alive is her daughter's laugh, her love for her partner and close friends, asking unanswerable questions, and spending time in or near the ocean.       book :  The Wisdom of Your Body   instagram :  @hillaryliannamcbride   website : https://hillarylmcbride.com/

    54 min

  6. 30 Apr

    The Spiritual Practice of Creativity, Trust, and Play with Rev. Will Parker

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Reverend Father Will Parker and explores how improv can become a spiritual practice. What begins as a conversation about creativity opens into something deeper about listening, presence, and the way we learn to love each other in real time. Along the way, Will shares about grief, mental health, and the experiences that shaped his path to priesthood. Together, they hold a simple but meaningful idea. That maybe the work is to show up, pay attention, and respond honestly to what is in front of us.   Show Notes:   Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@zisel website: https://www.willparker.com/ Houston Musical Improv Group

    35 min

  7. 24 Apr

    Belonging, Faith & Mystery with Matt Russell

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Matt Russell for a conversation that moves between story, faith, and the question of what actually changes us. Matt shares pieces of his own journey, from early experiences in the church to the work he’s done alongside people in recovery, where he began to see that connection often matters more than having the right answers. Together they explore the difference between service and justice, and how belonging often comes before belief. The conversation also touches on the tension many feel with the church today, and the desire for spaces where people can be more honest about their lives. As they talk, there’s a vision of faith that feels more human, where curiosity, vulnerability, and shared experience create room for something deeper to unfold.   Show Notes:  Project Curate Iconoclasts One, by Birdtalker   Upstream Parable is credited to Irving Zola fact check: the name of the Christian ethicist is Dallas Gingles

    56 min

  8. 16 Apr

    Can We Teach Love? With Irene Greaves

    In this episode of Curiously, Ericka sits with Irene Greaves and traces a deeper question beneath everything we think we know about love: where did we actually learn it? Irene shares how growing up and her global work in education helped to cultivate her practice, Lovescaping, a framework that sees love as something we practice through action. As they talk, the conversation moves between the outer work of building connection through  shared experiences and the quieter inner work of learning to regulate ourselves, to pause, to breathe, and return to our bodies before reaching for others. Irene shares her beautiful vision of a teaching of love that is mutual, grounded, and freeing, something we can keep learning together.   Website: https://lovescaping.org/   Books: I am a Lovescaper Lovescaping

    42 min
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About

I’m Ericka Graham, and I am so honored to be your host for this podcast. Nearly a decade ago, I graduated from Rice University, while focusing my masters research on sexuality in the Bible. More recently, I graduated from seminary and completed my thesis on soul-body integration (and embodiment). Although graduate school is over for me (at least for the time being), I still have an insatiable desire to continue learning from the wisdom and lived experiences of others. I also believe that I am never alone in my need and desire for connection, through authentic conversation. So here I am, pursuing my own curiosity, incase you are longing to do the same. My hope is that together, we can learn to take this life a tad more “curiously,” while having conversations at the intersections of faith, religion, science, mental health . . . and so much more! Thanks for being here!

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