Between the Covers Podcast

Marcus Spaur
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Weekly

Join me on a journey discovering what it means to become the hero of our own stories by addressing the self-limiting beliefs that are keeping us from being our best selves. No topic is off the table as I look into my own story and others’ to find the nuggets that help us step into our own power.

  1. 1d ago

    170 - Spiritual Violence with Alba Onofrio

    Let's talk about spiritual violence, and today we have the first ever returning guest to share with us her expertise on this episode: Reverend Alba Onofrio! The company she works for, Soulforce, recently released a book titled Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena That Defile The Faith. We talk about spiritual violence, spiritual trauma, religious abuse, spiritual terrorism, and white Christian supremacy. When we set this up, I was looking forward to the conversation and dreading it all at the same time. This is real and happening now, and as someone who once propagated this kind of b******t, I can still hold some shame on how I've harmed others with my previous religious beliefs. It gets raw and the anger comes out at times, but Alba creates such a compassionate space to discuss these topics. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  2. Oct 23

    169 - Love Yourself

    Let's talk about loving ourselves. This is still a lesson I'm learning and it's important that we show ourselves the love and care that we often give to so many others. What does it loving yourself look like? Be creative with it. You're worthy of love. Photo by Moe Magners from https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-holding-a-slogan-6670116/ Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  3. Oct 16

    168 - More Things I've Learned from D&D

    Let's talk about some more things I've learned over the years while playing D&D and other tabletop role playing games. Look at that! I finally finish the original ten for one of these episodes. There will be more to come, I'm sure. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  4. Oct 9

    167 - Hero Study: Van Helsing

    For this month's hero's study, let's look at the character of Van Helsing. Well...a couple of characters names Van Helsing. I went into this expecting that we would be talking about the same person, but if you look up Abraham Van Helsing and Gabriel Van Helsing, you're going to get two very different people. However, these are people who both stand up to the forces of darkness (aka Dracula), though one is a mentor and the other is the front line hero. I go into more detail about the Van Helsing movie from 2004 as that's the one I'm more familiar with, but both examples of this character are badass in their own ways and aren't afraid to go toe-to-toe with one of the most villainous vampires of all time. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  5. Oct 2

    166 - If There's No Delight, Get Rid Of It

    Let's talk about how we can trim out the things in our lives that aren't bringing us delight and joy. Maybe these are even ideas that are holding you back and keeping you down. This conversation came about from my friends who are trying to sell their house saying that they want to be brutal with what they are deciding to keep. Sometimes, I have to be brutal about whether or not a game is actually fun to play or if I'm trying to finish it because if I don't, I'll shame myself for wasting the money on it. This conversation is also inspired by the concepts of minimalism and Hygge, things that my partner Libby has helped me experience within our marriage and home. Image by succo from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/recycle-bin-paper-garbage-remove-1779984/ Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Follow me on Bluesky! @marcus-spaur.bsky.social Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  6. Sep 25

    165 - What You Feed is What You Grow

    Let's talk about what grows within us. It's probably no surprise, but what inevitably grows is what we give time and attention to, AKA food. Are the thoughts playing in your head ones that are tearing you down, self-deprecating, and harsh? Then what will grow is a spirit of resentment, disgust, and judgement that makes people challenging to be around at best, and brutal critics and Debby Downers at worst. If we can change what we feed to be messages of hope, self-love, encouragement, and gratitude, that can grow a spirit of tenderness, joy, and contentment. What is fed within is entirely based on the words and thoughts we are taking in. If you want to change what grows, start to change what food your taking in on a regular basis. Thumbnail image from https://www.kevinleepalmer.com/articles/what-you-feed-grows Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Follow me on Bluesky! @marcus-spaur.bsky.social Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  7. Sep 18

    164 - Maga is Not a Paragon

    Let's talk about probably the worst thing to happen in modern American history: MAGA, or Make America Great Again. It's a fascist movement that is trying to revert the country to the 1950s, if not the 1920s or even earlier. Removing voting access, deporting legal immigrants, blatant disregard for the rule of law, and using the political machine to serve their desires rather than listen to their constituents. Since recording, we can also add destroying the economy, going to war with a sovereign nation without Congress approval, and blatant attempts to cheat in the midterm elections. For that last one: Trump is doing this because he knows he will be held accountable for his actions and he doesn't want that. MAGA is not a paragon, and I use the paragon/renegade metaphor from the Mass Effect trilogy as a model for this analysis. Below are all the sources I used for the claims I make in this video: https://abcnews.com/Politics/comparings-trump-obamas-irandeals-knowanalysis/story?id=134014979 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/29/supreme-court-mail-in-ballots-election-ruling https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act/ https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy59p92g1qvt https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-explained/ https://didtrumpgolftoday.com/ https://www.kcra.com/article/venezuela-drug-trafficking-cocaine-fentanyl/69676930 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/05/government-shutdown-length-days-record-trump https://www.pgpf.org/article/a-brief-history-of-us-government-shutdowns-and-why-other-countries-do-not-have-them/ https://capitalbnews.org/trump-national-guard-city-updates/ https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-deaths-shootings-2026/ https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/05/us/ice-death-reports-recently-released-detainees-hnk https://www.aclu.org/issues/religious-liberty/religion-and-public-schools/religion-and-public-schools-school-vouchers https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-much-of-project-2025-has-trump-enacted https://www.desmog.com/2025/06/02/map-70-percent-trump-cabinet-tie-project-2025-heritage-afpi-convention-states-dunn-doge/ https://www.axios.com/2025/03/20/trump-anti-dei-purge-erasing-military https://www.aclu.org/trump-on-dei-and-anti-discrimination-law https://www.newamerica.org/insights/the-assault-on-higher-education-is-an-assault-on-democracy/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10472/ https://www.cbpp.org/blog/the-trump-administration-is-engaging-in-increasingly-blatant-efforts-to-misuse-federal-funds https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/06/23/trump-gets-negative-reviews-internationally-as-fewer-say-u-s-is-a-reliable-partner/ https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/americas-reputation-drops-across-the-world https://www.rollingstone.com/p/trump-destroy-economy-democracy-backward/ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/06/trump-is-marching-into-2026-with-the-worst-cabinet-in-history https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-cabinet-worst-ever Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Follow me on Bluesky! @marcus-spaur.bsky.social Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  8. Sep 11

    163 - Hero Study: Cecil Cicirello

    For this month's hero study, I had the privilege to speak with Cecil Cicirello, one of the cohosts for Cognitive Dissonance and Citation Needed, two of my favorite podcasts to listen to. He's also the cohost on the Know Rogan Experience podcast, an interesting listen especially if you are Joe Rogan curious, which I am not. I tried my best to not point out parallels every five minutes, but our stories have so many similarities. That being said, he also had some great pushback to some of my ideas that I greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this conversation with an awesome person and podcaster. Check out his work! Citation Needed is my favorite comedy podcast, and if you want more political takes, then give Cognitive Dissonance a listen. Cognitive Dissonance: https://www.dissonancepod.com/ Citation Needed: https://www.citationpod.com/ The Know Rogan Experience: https://www.knowrogan.com/ We also talk about his endeavors in cooking and he has an abandoned channel where he shares some recipes, but the content is still there! There are some good recipes I want to try in the future. https://www.youtube.com/season%20liberally Please rate and review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Follow me on Bluesky! @marcus-spaur.bsky.social Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com. Website: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/ Interested in working with me? Schedule a free discovery call: https://calendly.com/marcus-spaur/discovery-call Free Recovery Resources: https://www.betweenthecoverscoaching.com/free-resources "Nonstop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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About

Join me on a journey discovering what it means to become the hero of our own stories by addressing the self-limiting beliefs that are keeping us from being our best selves. No topic is off the table as I look into my own story and others’ to find the nuggets that help us step into our own power.

Information

  • Creator
    Marcus Spaur
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Between the Covers Podcast