And Now Love Podcast

Cynthia Marks
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Monthly

New episodes of And Now Love arrive every Friday at 9:00 AM PST. Each week, Cynthia Marks carries forward the work of Dr. Bernard Bail — exploring dreams, the unconscious, and the imprint we carry — while also shining a light on the nonprofits and wellness organizations across Los Angeles that lead with love. Follow the show so a new conversation reaches you every Friday. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart.

  1. 6d ago ·  Video

    Finding the Soul of the City: Street Photographer Suitcase Joe on Skid Row, Dignity, and Seeing Every Person

    Book link: https://www.burnbarrelpress.com/product/grey-flowers-by-suitcase-joe Website: https://www.suitcasejoe.com/ For over a decade, the anonymous Los Angeles street photographer known only as Suitcase Joe has walked Skid Row and the fringes of the city, photographing the people the rest of the world tends to look past. In this moving episode, Cynthia Marks sits down with Joe to talk about what he's learned in that time — not just about the community he's come to love, but about himself. What began as a project to document Skid Row "for historical purposes" slowly became something far more personal, as strangers became friends, encampments started to feel like homes, and Joe's own hardwired assumptions about people quietly fell away. Joe shares stories from the streets, including his close friendship with a man named Cricket and the complicated reality of what happens after someone finally gets housing. He reflects on the "birth lottery" that shapes so much of our lives, how following his passion pulled him out of his own darkest chapter, and the freedom he found by letting go of what society told him he was supposed to be. It's a conversation that lands, again and again, on the theme at the heart of this show: that beneath our circumstances and our trauma, we are far more alike than different — and that seeing another person with compassion can change everything. Joe's new book, City and Soul, continues that work, honoring the people who give the city its real soul. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. You can find Suitcase Joe on Instagram @suitcasejoe and at his website, and look for his forthcoming book City and Soul, published by Beyond the Streets. This episode includes a candid discussion of depression and past suicidal thoughts, shared in the spirit of hope and healing. If you or someone you love is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text at 988.

    Finding the Soul of the City: Street Photographer Suitcase Joe on Skid Row, Dignity, and Seeing Every Person

  2. Sep 4 ·  Video

    Rebuilding From Nothing: Rabbi Amy Bernstein on Loss, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Holding Life a Little Lighter

    What happens when everything you built your sense of security on is taken overnight? In this profoundly moving episode, Cynthia Marks welcomes Rabbi Amy Bernstein, who has weathered an extraordinarily heavy couple of years — losing her home in the Palisades Fire alongside many of her congregants, and facing a cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy soon after. As a spiritual mother to a community of hundreds of families, Amy found herself holding others through the very catastrophe she was living herself. Drawing on Dr. Bernard Bail's idea of the mother's imprint — the unconscious blueprint we inherit before we have words — she and Cynthia explore what it means when a crisis shatters that blueprint and forces us to rebuild from scratch. At the heart of the conversation is post-traumatic growth: the surprising, science-backed truth that trauma can lead not only to suffering but to profound transformation, when we intentionally reframe the story we tell about how the world works. Amy shares what she learned traveling to Lahaina to sit with fire survivors further down the road, why community and connection became her new ground when her possessions were gone, how she's learning to hold everything more loosely, and why our culture so badly needs to honor pain — and aging — as rich and meaningful parts of being human. It's a testament to resilience, love, and the unexpected freedom that can come when we stop grasping so tightly. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. You can find Rabbi Amy Bernstein's weekly Torah study wherever you get your podcasts, and learn more about the organization After the Fire, which supports communities recovering from wildfire.

    Rebuilding From Nothing: Rabbi Amy Bernstein on Loss, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Holding Life a Little Lighter

  3. Aug 28 ·  Video

    Why We Stop Feeling: Dr. Loren Weiner on Numbing, Dreams, and the Journey Back to Our Emotions

    We tend to assume that of course everyone has feelings — but Dr. Loren Weiner explains that this simply isn't the case. In this fascinating episode, Cynthia Marks welcomes back Dr. Loren Weiner, a Los Angeles psychotherapist whose work is grounded in the methodology of the late Dr. Bernard Bail, for a deep look at why so many of us quietly shut our feelings down. Beneath the surface, and entirely unconsciously, we are constantly modulating emotion — allowing it, blocking it, sometimes killing it off to survive pain we couldn't tolerate, often beginning very early in life and sometimes passed down by caregivers who couldn't feel either. Following the arc of real healing, Loren walks us through a series of remarkable patient dreams that reveal the whole journey: how the unconscious first signals that feeling has been cut off, what dreams look like as emotion begins to return (a hat lifted, an engagement between the masculine and feminine within), and the resistance that naturally comes with change. She and Cynthia explore why feelings are actually our protection and our guide, how numbing distorts our relationships with partners and children, and why reclaiming our emotions is the essential step toward knowing ourselves, connecting with others, and living fully. It all lands on a beautiful closing dream about a patient who discovers that what looked like a fake name was really a new name — the name of the person who finally has access to feeling. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it.

    Why We Stop Feeling: Dr. Loren Weiner on Numbing, Dreams, and the Journey Back to Our Emotions

  4. Aug 21 ·  Video

    We See You, We Affirm You: Elya Braden on HaGomel, Expressive Arts, and Healing From Trauma Through Community

    True healing means breaking through isolation to know ourselves without the weight of our trauma — and it's rarely something we can do alone. In this deeply moving episode, Cynthia Marks welcomes Elya Braden, founder and president of HaGomel, a Los Angeles nonprofit providing expressive arts programming for women healing from sexual trauma. The name comes from Birkat HaGomel, an ancient Jewish prayer of gratitude spoken aloud after surviving a life-threatening danger — one that must be witnessed by community, so that others can answer back: we see you, we affirm you, and we are so glad you are alive. Elya shares her own remarkable journey with grace and candor — from a childhood where writing became her secret refuge, through a career in law that quieted her creative voice, to the long road of confronting her past and finding her way home to herself through art and poetry. Together, she and Cynthia explore how creativity heals, why being witnessed by a supportive community is so transformative, and how each of us, once we've healed enough, can offer that healing to others. It's a conversation about self-love, courage, and the truth Elya returns to again and again: you are not alone, you are loved, and you absolutely deserve joy. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. To learn more, get involved, or support this work, visit the HaGomel community online and at Elya Braden's website, where you can also find her poetry collections Open the Fist and the forthcoming The Dragonfly Puzzle Box. This episode includes candid discussion of childhood sexual abuse, shared in the spirit of healing. If you or someone you love needs support, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673.

    We See You, We Affirm You: Elya Braden on HaGomel, Expressive Arts, and Healing From Trauma Through Community

  5. Aug 14 ·  Video

    Learning to Love the People in the Picture: Photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally on Trauma, Truth, and Unconditional Love

    Brenda's Books: Money, Power, Respect: Pictures of My Neighborhood Upstate Girls For acclaimed documentary photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, love has always been inseparable from truth. In this deeply moving episode, Cynthia Marks welcomes Brenda — a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine and an award-winning photojournalist known for living among the families the world has left behind. Rather than observing poverty and hardship from a distance, Brenda moves into the margins and stays for years, decades even, becoming family to the people she photographs. Her images are raw, honest, and profoundly loving — doing much of the same work this show does: stripping away the armor, breaking down the stigma, and helping us see beyond our trauma. Brenda shares her own remarkable journey with striking candor — a childhood without unconditional love, her role as the "family truth teller," early addiction and the long road through recovery, and how a camera became her way into love and connection. Together, she and Cynthia explore how trauma shapes our idea of love, why understanding "how things got that way" is the path to compassion, and why, for Brenda, all that chaos and disorder is love. It's a conversation about service, healing, and the families we create when we finally build the safe space we always needed. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it.

    Learning to Love the People in the Picture: Photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally on Trauma, Truth, and Unconditional Love

  6. Aug 7 ·  Video

    Pets in Recovery: Ken Moses on Fostering Pets for Folks in Rehab

    The Official And Now Love Website: www.andnowlove.com Pets in Recovery: www.petsinrecovery.org The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger What Happened to You? by Bruce Perry (Co-authored with Oprah Winfrey) The Second Mountain by David Brooks For many people struggling with addiction, one heartbreaking barrier stands between them and treatment: they have a beloved dog or cat, and nowhere for them to go. Faced with an impossible choice — get help and abandon their best friend, or stay in the dark to keep them safe — too many never walk through the door. Ken Moses decided no one should ever have to make that choice. In this deeply moving episode, Cynthia Marks welcomes Ken, founder of Pets in Recovery, a volunteer-driven, free fostering network that shelters and loves people's animals while their owners get the treatment they need. Ken, who is in long-term recovery himself, shares his own story with remarkable honesty — from childhood trauma and decades of addiction to the hard, sacred work of healing, and the devastating personal loss that gave birth to his mission. Together, he and Cynthia explore what it means to carry your story without living in it, forgiveness as "giving up the hope that the past could have been any different," and the quiet grace of being told: we have your back, you matter, and your companion will be waiting for you on the other side of your healing. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. To learn more or get involved with Pets in Recovery, reach out through their community in the Coachella Valley and Southern California. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, help is available through the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

    Pets in Recovery: Ken Moses on Fostering Pets for Folks in Rehab

  7. Jul 31 ·  Video

    Saving Innocence: Sara Elander and Jasmine McDonald on Fighting Human Trafficking With Compassion and Care

    Human trafficking is often described as the exploitation of unmet needs — the universal human longings for love, belonging, safety, and to be truly seen. In this powerful episode, Cynthia Marks sits down with Jasmine McDonald, Clinical Director, and Sara Elander, Director of Programs and Coordinator of Victim Services for the LA Regional Human Trafficking Task Force — both leading forces at Saving Innocence, a Los Angeles organization that has been restoring lives since 2010. Together they shed light on a difficult reality with remarkable warmth, and on the trauma-informed, survivor-centered work being done every day to bring hope and healing. Sara and Jasmine explain what trafficking actually looks like, why survivors are far more like the rest of us than we assume, and how "voice and choice" guides everything they do — from their 24-hour crisis response to their survivor-led leadership programs. They also offer a candid, important warning for parents about how children are targeted online, and share simple, practical ways every one of us can help. Woven throughout is a theme close to this show's heart: that healing begins when we separate who a person truly is from what was done to them, and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. To learn more, get involved, or support their work, visit savinginnocence.org. If you see something that doesn't feel right, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is available by phone at 1-888-373-7888 or by texting 233733.

    Saving Innocence: Sara Elander and Jasmine McDonald on Fighting Human Trafficking With Compassion and Care

  8. Jul 24 ·  Video

    The Human Story Behind LA's Vehicle Residents: Sam Lutzker on Homelessness, Compassion, and Real Solutions

    If you live in Los Angeles, you see it every day — people living in RVs, vans, and cars on our streets — but you rarely hear the real story behind it. In this episode, Cynthia Marks sits down with Sam Lutzker, a PhD candidate in sociology at UCLA and co-author of the recent "Keep Moving" report, whose ground-level research on vehicle residency has been featured in The New York Times. Sam's work looks past the politics and the neighborhood complaints to actually talk with our unhoused neighbors, bringing rare empathy and nuance to a deeply complex issue. Together, Cynthia and Sam explore the stereotypes that distort how we see people living in vehicles, what the official statistics really reveal about encampment sweeps, and why "service resistance" is often a mismatch between what's offered and what people actually need. They discuss the toll on caseworkers and outreach workers, the promise of street medicine and Housing First, and practical ideas like safe parking and stable parking that could genuinely help. Running through it all is a reminder close to this show's heart: that seeing one another as human — past the trauma, past the labels — is where real change begins. This is And Now Love. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart. Please follow, rate, and share the podcast, and pass this episode along to someone who might need it. To learn more about Sam's work, you can find him through the UCLA Sociology department. Organizations mentioned include Safe Parking LA (safeparkingla.org).

    The Human Story Behind LA's Vehicle Residents: Sam Lutzker on Homelessness, Compassion, and Real Solutions
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

New episodes of And Now Love arrive every Friday at 9:00 AM PST. Each week, Cynthia Marks carries forward the work of Dr. Bernard Bail — exploring dreams, the unconscious, and the imprint we carry — while also shining a light on the nonprofits and wellness organizations across Los Angeles that lead with love. Follow the show so a new conversation reaches you every Friday. Listen to your dreams and live from your heart.

Information

  • Creator
    Cynthia Marks
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    And Now Love Podcast

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