Aug 4

From Survival to Self: Shawnte’s Journey to Authentic Joy

Send us Fan Mail Shawnte didn’t set out to become a yoga teacher or a community healer, she just knew she couldn’t keep living the way she was. In this episode, she sits down with Siobhan to trace her journey from social work and wilderness programs with deeply traumatized youth, to remote-care burnout, to finding an unexpected lifeline in yoga and community. They talk about moving from Virginia to Florida to Alameda, the loneliness of caregiving and working from home, and what happens to your nervous system when life keeps demanding more than you have. Shawnte shares the story of crying on her mat, asking the universe for an answer, and the stranger who unknowingly nudged her straight into teacher training. Together, they unpack performance vs. presence, why “comparison is the thief of joy” hits different when you’re reinventing yourself, and how real community, especially among Black and Brown women, can rewrite old narratives about worth and belonging. If you’ve ever felt stuck between who you were told to be and who you actually are, this one’s for you. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jul 28

Hella Tired, Wicked Honest:Tism 10

Send us Fan Mail It’s episode 10 of Touch of the Tism and your favorite tired bartenders are back: Siobhan, Holly, and Dani. What starts as a delirious catch-up about sleep deprivation, weird days off, and bar bathroom emergencies quickly opens into a deeper conversation about Juneteenth, white supremacy, policing, and why education, not “wokeness”, is the real threat to people in power. The crew unpacks mispronounced names, Irish and Scottish roots, Boston vs. Bay Area accents, and the thin line between cultural appreciation and appropriation. They share what Juneteenth looked like growing up, how Black history keeps getting paved over (literally and figuratively), and why the World Cup’s joy feels so precious against rising hate groups and protests. Along the way, you’ll get unhinged bar stories about underage IDs, kids sleeping in bars, waving cash at bartenders, and why “Can I please have…?” will always get you further than “Gimme.” They close with grief, dads, Buffalo Soldiers, and a sharp reminder to lead with kindness while still holding the line. If you’ve ever felt bone-tired, overwhelmed by the news, and still determined to care about people, this one’s for you. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jul 28

Making Noise and getting loud with Dr Margaret Jones

Send us Fan Mail Music doesn't put food on the table, but it feeds something just as important. This week, Siobhan welcomes Dr. Margaret "Marge" Jones, classical guitarist, rock frontwoman of M. Jones and the Melee, teacher, and lifelong student of music, for a conversation that starts with microphones and somehow ends with the meaning of art. They talk about earning a PhD in music, touring in a minivan, teaching nearly 50 students, surviving layoffs, and why perfection is wildly overrated. Marge shares what it's like being the only woman in the room, how stage fright never completely disappears, and why stepping on stage feels like putting on a superpower suit. Along the way, they celebrate happy mistakes, unpack the roots of rock and roll, nerd out over music history, and ask a bigger question: if music doesn't technically meet our basic needs... why has every culture throughout history made it anyway? This episode is for anyone who's ever wondered if their creative life matters. (Spoiler: it does.) Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jul 14

History, Hustle & Big Nu Energy with Nu Nu

Send us Fan Mail Alicia—aka Big New Energy—is a Bay Area storyteller, single mom, and content creator who somehow makes history nerdy, small businesses, and quiet streets feel cinematic. She’s helped local shops hit their best sales in years, turned hidden corners of Richmond into destinations, and built a community off the strength of her voice and curiosity. In this episode, we dive into how she got here: growing up bullied, wrestling with self-doubt, and deciding, at some point, to stop letting other people’s opinions drive her life. We talk about having kids who were never supposed to walk or talk—and grow up speaking Mandarin. We unpack the “I don’t give a f*ck” mindset, navigating online hate, and the very real fear of putting your face (and heart) on camera. Alicia walks us through her content process—from explore days with her kids to late-night scripting and editing—and how she’s slowly turning that work into a business and future as a social media manager and consultant. This is a conversation about resilience, creativity, community, and giving yourself permission to be seen. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jul 7

Friendship, Hard Conversations, and Community Healing with Karen and Leia

Send us Fan Mail Some friendships change your life. Others change the lives of everyone around you. Karen Beckles returns to Ducking Realitea for her third appearance, this time joined by her longtime friend, collaborator, and "chum," Leia Mitchell. What started as conversations between two roommates during COVID slowly evolved into a partnership built on trust, personal growth, and a shared passion for helping people reconnect, with themselves and with each other. Together they talk about leaving careers that no longer aligned with their values, becoming certified life coaches, navigating entrepreneurship, and why healing doesn't always happen in therapy offices, it often happens over tea, honest conversations, and communities that make people feel seen. Karen also shares how Let's Gather & Sip grew from intimate gatherings in her apartment into a thriving community event in Alameda, while Leia explains the behind-the-scenes role she plays helping transform creative ideas into sustainable businesses. This conversation is funny, heartfelt, and full of reminders that healing isn't about having all the answers. Sometimes it's simply about finding people willing to ask better questions. If you've ever wondered how community gets built, or wished you had people who truly "get" you, this episode is for you. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jun 30

Touch of the Tism 9 : Just Don't Be an A$$h-le

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Ducking Reality Presents: Touch of the Tism, Siobhan, Holly, and Danielle take you from sticky bar floors to heavy-hearted truth in under two hours. They start with pure chaos: flip flops in dive bars, near-death toe incidents, and why melty cheese might be the only thing holding us together. Quickly, the tone shifts into something deeper—navigating parents’ depression, estate planning, and the brutal reality of watching the people who raised you fall apart. There’s inheritance drama, life insurance weirdness, and all the unsexy logistics of “grown-up” survival. Holly then unveils her darkly funny “apocalypse kill list” (spoiler: sports hooligans are in danger), which launches a wider conversation about entitlement, destructive fandoms, and performative attention-seeking. From there, they dive into queer history, Pride, pronouns, labels, and the tension between wanting to be respected and just wanting to buy groceries without a full identity interrogation. It’s raw, it’s irreverent, it’s political, and it’s full of belly laughs—exactly the kind of conversation you overhear at a bar and secretly wish you’d been invited into. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jun 23

The Beautiful Mistakes with Dismal & Paine

Send us Fan Mail This episode starts with Brian photographing 25 bands in 48 hours and somehow ends with swinger hotels, Japanese punk bands, AI, strip club playlists, and one of my favorite conversations we've had about creativity. Brian Paine and Johnny Dismal join me to pull back the curtain on what it's like to document a music scene from both sides of the stage. Brian talks about the obsessive post-production that helps him remember every band he shoots, why he never points out performers' onstage habits, and how social media and consent have completely changed candid photography. Johnny brings the performer's perspective: unsolicited feedback from strangers, the curse of hearing every wrong note, and why some of the best moments in music happen because someone didn't stop after making a mistake. Along the way we wander through Meta glasses, AI editing, Japanese punk hospitality, Bay Area music history, and how local scenes have evolved from competition to genuine community. We also spend some time talking about supporting opening bands, documenting local artists, and why the people behind the camera are just as much a part of the scene as the ones on stage. But somewhere in the middle, this conversation becomes about something much bigger than music. It's about making things because you love them. Leaving the mistakes in. Showing up for your community. Supporting each other instead of competing. And remembering that nobody creates anything worthwhile alone. Whether you've ever picked up a camera, started a band, written something, launched a business, or wondered if your work was "good enough," this episode is a reminder that perfection was never the goal. Sometimes the beautiful mistakes become the reason people remember you. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Jun 12

Big Bartender Energy - Not Pregnant! Tism 8

Send us Fan Mail Well, Touch of the Tism is two weeks late. Before anybody asks... no, none of us are pregnant. 😂 Honestly, we've just been busy being adults, which frankly feels like a design flaw. Between BottleRock, gallery resets, work, chronic pain, family stuff, and trying to remember where we left our keys, this episode took a little longer to make it out into the world. This one starts with us catching up and quickly devolves into the usual chaos. We talk about weird things people say when they think nobody is listening, what your bartender is probably thinking when you don't tip, breaking expensive things at work, leading teams when you're exhausted, and the weird guilt that comes with asking for grace when your struggles aren't always visible. There's also a conversation about chronic pain that hit a little harder than I expected. Because sometimes you're doing your absolute best and from the outside it just looks like you're running late. If you've ever been overwhelmed, underestimated, overworked, in pain, or just trying to hold your shit together with duct tape and caffeine, this one's for you. Thanks for hanging in the pond with us, my ducks. 💜 Listen now. Support the show Thanks for hanging in the pond, my ducks 🐤 Where we keep it honest, casual conversations about serious sh*t, and somehow still find a way to laugh through it. If you felt something, send it to someone you love… or someone who might need a little push. Follow along: https://www.instagram.com/duckingrealitea/ And go out there and find your joy, even if it’s a little chaotic. Stay curious, stay joyful… you’re deeply loved, my ducks.

Ducking Realitea

From Survival to Self: Shawnte’s Journey to Authentic Joy

Hella Tired, Wicked Honest:Tism 10

Making Noise and getting loud with Dr Margaret Jones

History, Hustle & Big Nu Energy with Nu Nu

Friendship, Hard Conversations, and Community Healing with Karen and Leia

Touch of the Tism 9 : Just Don't Be an A$$h-le

The Beautiful Mistakes with Dismal & Paine

Big Bartender Energy - Not Pregnant! Tism 8

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Ducking Realitea

Episodes

From Survival to Self: Shawnte’s Journey to Authentic Joy

Hella Tired, Wicked Honest:Tism 10

Making Noise and getting loud with Dr Margaret Jones

History, Hustle & Big Nu Energy with Nu Nu

Friendship, Hard Conversations, and Community Healing with Karen and Leia

Touch of the Tism 9 : Just Don't Be an A$$h-le

The Beautiful Mistakes with Dismal & Paine

Big Bartender Energy - Not Pregnant! Tism 8

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

About

Information