Country Crocked: I Can't Believe It's Not Better Podcast

Cousins Unfiltered
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Society & Culture
  • Weekly

Honest conversations about trauma, memory, family systems, and the stories we inherit. This podcast centers lived experience rather than expert commentary and explores what happens when silence breaks, memory is fragmented, and truth doesn’t follow a neat recovery arc.

  1. Oct 26

    The Funny Thing About Grief

    This one was hard for me to record. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the ways I’ve been hurt, the people and relationships I’ve lost, and the things I wish had turned out differently. Lately, though, I’ve been asking myself a much more uncomfortable question: What has it been like for other people to love me while I’ve been hurting? I don’t love all the answers I’m coming up with. In this solo episode, I’m talking about the things I learned growing up, the ways I’ve carried those lessons into adulthood, and how grief has sometimes shown up in my life as anger, anxiety, defensiveness, and fear of losing people. I’m also looking at the difference between being honest about my struggles and actually making room for someone else’s. There are things I wish I’d understood sooner. Things I regret. Things I’m still trying to figure out. And some apologies I needed to say out loud, without expecting anything in return. I also talk about my faith, the peace I find in prayer, and how damn hard it is to accept that loving someone doesn’t mean I get to control what happens next. I haven’t figured all this out. I’m still grieving, still learning, and still occasionally getting in my own way. But I’m starting to understand that I can take responsibility for my behavior without taking responsibility for everything that’s ever gone wrong. And I can miss what I’ve lost without missing the life that’s still happening around me. This is probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever been on Country Crocked. I’m nervous about sharing it, but I think it’s worth the conversation. Content note: Childhood trauma, depression, grief, and difficult family relationships.

    The Funny Thing About Grief

  2. Oct 12

    Previously on Country Crocked...

    Previously on Country Crocked… Twenty-something episodes, several questionable decisions, and an impressive amount of material that probably should’ve been edited out. We’re rewinding the tape. From childhood stories and family dysfunction to faith, forgiveness, trauma, and the occasional complete derailment, we’re revisiting some of the conversations that made Country Crocked what it is. We’ve got favorite moments, unforgettable guests, accidental comedy, technical difficulties, and a blooper reel that raises legitimate questions about how we managed to produce a podcast in the first place. It’s a look back at where we started, what we’ve learned, and all the ridiculous, heartbreaking, hilarious stuff in between. Consider yourself caught up. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. 🍿  Country Crocked: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better.

    Previously on Country Crocked...

  3. Oct 5

    Garbage In, Garbage Out

    Garbage in, garbage out—and unfortunately, your brain does not come with curbside pickup. This week, Angela and Kendra are joined by their friend Melanie for a conversation about everything we consume that never comes with a nutrition label: food, stress, trauma, information, relationships, social media, fear, gratitude, faith, and the stories we tell ourselves. Melanie opens up about surviving cancer and the relationships that looked very different once she needed people to show up. From there, the conversation goes everywhere it should: listening to your body, the wellness industry, kidnapped squirrels, toxic buckets, why “just cut toxic people off” isn’t always the answer, and how to know when educating yourself has crossed over into inundating yourself. Because the body keeps receipts...and apparently so does the brain. Find Melanie at Bee Well Holistics: https://www.beewellholistics.com/ Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, cancer, trauma, difficult family relationships, and physical and mental health.

    Garbage In, Garbage Out

  4. Sep 28

    Not Drama, T-R-A-U-M-A

    When does a label help, and when does it start doing too much? This week, we’re talking PTSD, complex PTSD, and what can happen when you finally have language for things you’ve spent years trying to explain. We get into diagnoses and validation, trauma responses that follow you into adulthood, accountability when your own hurt has hurt other people, and the uncomfortable realization that understanding why you did something doesn’t undo what you did. There’s also a biopsy, an argument about pain management, an intergenerational diary investigation, and at least one animal behaving badly...because apparently that’s how we discuss trauma around here. Content note: This episode contains frank discussion of childhood and sexual trauma, including child sexual abuse, as well as blunt and explicit language.

    Not Drama, T-R-A-U-M-A

  5. Sep 21

    What Support Looks Like

    Everybody says they want to support trauma survivors. Cool. But what does good support actually look like...and how do you know when it’s doing its job? This week, we’re talking about the difference between support and access, why checking in doesn’t mean demanding a response, and what happens when the people who are supposed to help make your trauma about their feelings instead. We get into masking, capacity, consent, people-pleasing, unexpected support systems, and the surprisingly complicated business of figuring out what someone actually needs. Because support isn’t one-size-fits-all. Sometimes it’s showing up. Sometimes it’s shutting up. Sometimes it comes from the last person you expected. The important thing is that it holds up when you actually need it because we all have different bust...erm, trauma measurements.  And sometimes there are cats. 🐈  Content warning: This episode includes discussion of trauma, abuse, and the experiences of trauma survivors.

    What Support Looks Like

  6. Sep 14

    Mind Your Business

    “Mind your business” sounds like pretty solid advice…until somebody actually needs you to make their business your business. This week, Angela and Kendra wrestle with the uncomfortable line between respecting someone’s privacy and looking the other way. When are we genuinely helping? When are we judging? When does concern become interference? And when does staying out of it become an excuse for cowardice? What starts with people in glass houses turns into a much harder conversation about abuse, family secrets, gossip disguised as concern, boundaries, intervention, and the uncomfortable realization that sometimes there isn’t a clean line between doing too much and not doing enough. This one doesn’t come with a tidy answer. We’re figuring it out in real time. Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.

    Mind Your Business

  7. Sep 7

    Forgiveness? In This Economy?

    Everybody says you should forgive. Things get a little murkier when you ask what, exactly, they expect you to do after that. This week, Angela and Kendra get into forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, apologies, trust, boundaries, and the family members who seem awfully invested in deciding whether you've forgiven somebody correctly. Can you forgive someone who never apologized? Does forgiveness mean letting them back into your life? What if the harm is still happening? And what does the Bible actually say about all of this? Turns out forgiveness and reconciliation may not be the same thing—and neither one comes with complimentary access to your life. Also: no mad rebuking. Sleep on it first. Content note: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault and violence.

    Forgiveness? In This Economy?

  8. Aug 31

    DIVORCES & DEAD DADS

    Season 2 start with divorce, dead dads, and the complicated stuff families leave behind. We talk about childhood divorce, losing our fathers, complicated grief, the things we learn about our parents as adults, and figuring out which pieces of the past we actually want to carry forward. It's honest, emotional, and—as always—occasionally profane. Okay, maybe a little more than occasionally this time. And because apparently we have standards now, please stick around for our first-ever post-production Fact Czech™ . Welcome to Season 2. It's even better. 🧈

    DIVORCES & DEAD DADS
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Honest conversations about trauma, memory, family systems, and the stories we inherit. This podcast centers lived experience rather than expert commentary and explores what happens when silence breaks, memory is fragmented, and truth doesn’t follow a neat recovery arc.

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