Light Work by Dear Patriarchy Jennifer Audrie & Lisa Lynn

Welcome to season 5 of the Dear Patriarchy Podcast -  we're back, baby!

Season 5 is the beginning of our evolution of the Dear Patriarchy offering. A year and a half ago, we stepped away to start healing and we're bringing back what we've learned and want to continue the healing journey with you.

Our first conversation is with the incredible Kat Courtney, founder of Plant Medicine People, who has been involved in the plant medicine and shamanism communities for the last 2 decades. She is a loving source of wisdom and this episode is an outpouring of her knowledge, gained through 20+ years of experience in ceremonial healing.

In this episode, we discuss what plant medicine actually is, specifically focusing on ayahuasca, and discuss Kat's journey with this beautiful medicine. Kat deep dives into her experiences of finding patriarchy within plant medicine & shamanism communities, and gives us a guideline of how to find safe retreat spaces, including things to look out for and red flags to be aware of. She shares her decades-long experience of sitting in, and holding, ceremony space and how plant medicine can not only heal, but also offer support and wisdom in helping you find purpose in the work that you're most passionate about. Towards the end of the episode, she offers up a powerful process for transmuting anger into purpose which we hope will help you as profoundly as it has helped us.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode once you've listened - share with us on Instagram or at patriarchypod@gmail.com

If you want more Kat Courtney in your life (because of course you do!), find her here:
Discover the Plant Medicine People communityDive into excellent articles by Kat here & hereRead Kat's fantastic book "Plant Medicine Mystery School Volume I"Connect on Instagram with Kat here and with Plant Medicine People hereRetreat scholarship information

Welcome to the ninth episode of series 4, where we’re focusing on the educators, activists, and influencers who inspire and guide us.
In this week’s episode, Lisa chats to the fabulous Nila Varman, host of the Nila Extract, an award winning radio show and educational platform that amplifies the voices of those from minority ethnic communities, dispels stereotypes and navigates socially pressing issues that are not spoken about enough. Nila has won many awards for her work, including a Diana award, Frontline 50 award, and SRA & BBC Award for Best Student Radio Presenter. 
We dive right into how Nila’s journey into activism was accelerated by the surge in global awareness of social justice issues at the start of the pandemic. Nila shares how, as a “British Tamil gal”, clearly seeing the everyday racism directed towards Tamil and South Indian communities, as well as occurring inside them, made her eager to speak out about its impact as well as other “taboo” topics.
Nila is a passionate creative and speaks beautifully about how her work affects her own life and the lives of those around her. She talked about the constant pressure to create and how she finds balance on platforms that demand continuous content production.

Listening to Nila, it’s impossible to miss the joy that infuses her work which, a lot of the time, is focused on heavy, hard issues. Nila consistently brings lightness to these important conversations, an invaluable skill which sets her apart as a truly joyful activist.
You can find Nila & her award winning work here:
- Nila’s website 
- Find Nila on Instagram at @the_nila_extract and on TikTok at @thenilaextract
- Listen to The Nila Extract podcast, available on all major streaming platforms!
-  Continue the conversation by picking up our book Dear Patriarchy: The Gaslit Women's Guide to the (Corporate) World
International ordersNorth American orders- Please check out our "Feminism 101" suggested reading list here if you're at a loose end for a great read from an incredible female author.

- Find out more about Nubefy, the amazing artists behind the graphics we use, here.

Welcome to the eighth episode of series 4, where we’re focusing on the educators, activists, and influencers who inspire and guide us.
In honor of Beltane (roll on summer!), this week’s episode is a re-release of our amazing conversation with Shifra Nerenberg (she/ her), owner of Spiral Intuitive & an intersectional feminist based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. 
With more than 20 years experience as an Intuitive Advisor, Shifra guides clients all over the world in connecting with their own powerful inner wisdom. Shifra does her best to increase the kindness & hope in our world. Her work is centered around helping intuitive folk trust themselves & shine their individual lights, spreading more of the bright light needed in the world. 
We talked with Shifra about the importance of connecting back to our bodies and grounding ourselves so that we can connect to our communities and work against capitalism and oppressive systems of control, which work best when we are isolated and alienated from each other. We discussed how knowing yourself and leaning into your intuition is an important tool to battle patriarchy, systemic racism, heteronormativity, ableism, and xenophobia.  We end by working through Shifra’s techniques and strategies to keep from getting stuck in heaviness while remaining rooted in your power and plugging back in to your community with love.


- All things Shifra:
Find her on Instagram: @spiralintuitiveSpiral Intuitive Website-  Continue the conversation by picking up our book Dear Patriarchy: The Gaslit Women's Guide to the (Corporate) World
International ordersNorth American orders- Please check out our "Feminism 101" suggested reading list here if you're at a loose end for a great read from an incredible female author.

- Find out more about Nubefy, the amazing artists behind the graphics we use, here.

Welcome to the seventh episode of series 4, where we’re focusing on the educators, activists, and influencers who inspire and guide us.
Due to the unprecedented onslaught of anti-trans legislation and the steep rise in anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in the United States of America, we’re re-releasing our last episode in the hopes that it will spread some much needed truth about trans youth and the support they require. 


In this episode we speak to the incredible Joshua Jernigan, a trans rights activist and philanthropist based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Josh started the GEN (Gender Education Network) organization which helps transgender and gender diverse kids aged 12 and younger. As you’ll hear in the episode, Josh is a born educator and is deeply passionate about ensuring every child has a safe and loving home to nurture their growing identities.

In this episode, we’re breaking down myths about the experiences of trans youth: What does gender affirming care REALLY look like for kids 12 and younger? What can adults actually do to actively support trans youth? Josh also dives into where he sees parents of gender diverse kids get tripped up or stuck when trying to educate themselves and support their kids as well as giving advice to parents and family members of gender diverse kids in order to help them survive and thrive. 

We talk about the importance of trans kids having a consistent affirming, loving adult presence in their lives and how we all have it in us to be that person. With the rise of anti-trans policies being brought forward in the United States, the UK, and around the world, Josh shares his hopes for the future: That we all be cycle breakers for our children and parent our children in ways which are right for them, ignoring what doesn't fit or is outdated and dangerous. We hope this educational episode sparks your activism - trans and gender diverse kids need your voice!

How you can find Josh & GEN:
Gender Education Network website (donation link at the top of the page!)GEN on Facebook - Josh mentions the Gender Spectrum website during our conversation which is a fabulous resource for parents, educators, therapists, WHOEVER, to learn more about how to support the health & wellbeing of gender diverse children & teens.

-  Continue the conversation by picking up our book Dear Patriarchy: The Gaslit Women's Guide to the (Corporate) World
International ordersNorth American orders- Please check out our "Feminism 101" suggested reading list here if you're at a loose end for a great read from an incredible female author.

- Find out more about Nubefy, the amazing artists behind the graphics we use, here.

Welcome to the sixth episode of series 4, where we’re focusing on the educators, activists, and influencers who inspire and guide us.
In this week’s episode, we’re hosting the incredible Joshua Jernigan, a trans rights activist and philanthropist living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Josh started the GEN (Gender Education Network) organization which helps transgender and gender diverse kids aged 12 and younger. Josh is a born educator and is deeply passionate about ensuring every child has a safe and loving home to nurture their growing identities.

In this episode, we cover big topics: What does gender affirming care look like for kids 12 and younger? What do parents of gender diverse kids get tripped up by or stuck on when trying to educate themselves and support their kids? Josh expertly breaks these topics down and gives advice to parents and family members of gender diverse kids and also what gender diverse kids need in order to survive and thrive. We talked about the importance of trans kids having a consistent affirming, loving adult presence in their lives and how we all have it in us to be that person. With the rise of anti-trans policies being brought forward in the United States, the UK, and around the world, Josh shares his hopes for the future: That we all be cycle breakers for our children and parent our children in ways which are right for them, ignoring what doesn't fit or is outdated and dangerous. We hope this educational episode sparks your activism - trans and gender diverse kids need your voice!

How you can find Josh & GEN:
Gender Education Network website (donation link at the top of the page!)GEN on Facebook - Josh mentions the Gender Spectrum website during our conversation which is a fabulous resource for parents, educators, therapists, WHOEVER, to learn more about how to support the health & wellbeing of gender diverse children & teens.

-  Continue the conversation by picking up our book Dear Patriarchy: The Gaslit Women's Guide to the (Corporate) World
International ordersNorth American orders-  Check out our website AND our new feminist merch collection
Dear Patriarchy Podcast Website- Please check out our "Feminism 101" suggested reading list here if you're at a loose end for a great read from an incredible female author.

- Find out more about Nubefy, the amazing artists behind the graphics we use, here.

Welcome to the fifth episode of series 4, where we’re focusing on the educators, activists, and influencers who inspire and guide us.
In this week’s episode, we’re hosting Jessica Olzak and Shannon Collins, creators and co-hosts of Rainbow Connections from the Abington library, a program designed to give youngsters a safe space in which to discuss LGBTQ+ themed books and topics.

We started our love fest by chatting with them about the origins of their ground-breaking youth program: How & why they set it up, the challenges they faced, and how you, too, could get a program going in your community. We spoke with Shannon about their Youthphoria program and how they use photography as activism. We discussed how they keep their cups full while doing their important work, the statistics for LGBTQ+ youth & how just one affirming adult in the life of an LGBTQ+ child is a game changer. 

We hope you love the episode as much as we do: It’s an emotional & gratitude-filled journey. 
Abington Library website Rainbow Connections Next EventRainbow Connections LGBTQ+ ResourcesLink to the Rainbow Connections Webinar via the PLA Jessica Olzak contact - jolzak@mclinc.orgShannon Collins contact - shannon@shannoncollins.com Youthphoria website Rainbow Connections Guests include:
03/2022 - Vanessa & JR Ford, authors of Calvin05/2022 - Lily Freeman, teen trans activist and creator of the IG campaign, @projectuncensored07/2022 - Lindz Amer, CEO of Queer Kid StuffIG:  @lindzamerQueer Kid Stuff website08/2022 - Amy Schneider, 40-time Jeopardy champion and writerTwitter: @Jeopardamy10/2022 - C.K. Malone, author of A Costume for CharlyTwitter: @CKMalone211/2022--Kyle Lukoff, authorKyle's website11/2022--Gavin Grimm, trans activistTwitter: @GavinGrimmVA -  Pick up our new book here:
International ordersNorth American orders-  Check out our website to pick up our new book or via our IG: @dearpatriarchypod