Episode 64 - Embodied Solidarity

How do you honor the ways in which you’ve grown while having grace for your past self? Lindsy Wallace interviews Kayla Craig, the “Day One” of the Upside Down Podcast, along with fellow co-hosts Patricia Taylor and Alissa Molina for our final episode.

In this episode, we:

• Hear from Kayla about how she sees God in a more vibrant, beautiful way since the podcast first started
• Reflect on how different conversations and guests have expanded her language and helped her shape her questions
• Discuss Kayla’s vocational discovery of deep spiritual writing that is accessible and maintains an eye for wonder and beauty
• Hear about her current and upcoming projects, including two books and a new podcast
• Talk about her hopes for five years from now: less burnout, more communal rest, and more tenderness
• Learn about Kayla’s fascination with the Titanic

Join us for the very last episode of our little podcast that could! Let us know what one word would describe your journey with this community. Thank you so much for being a part of the conversation all these years.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Follow Liturgies for Parents on Instagram, subscribe to the podcast, and grab Kayla’s book, To Light Their Way.
• You can continue to support the Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help keep this podcast accessible.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’ll still be on Instagram. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.

What happens when you step into your truest self? Kayla Craig interviews fellow Upside Down Podcast host Patricia (aka Patty) Taylor with Alissa Molina and Lindsy Wallace in our second-to-the-last episode.
 

In this episode, we:

• Hear Patty describe the growth she has experienced since becoming a co-host and how it’s deepened her confidence in who God created her to be
• Talk about how the podcast has provided a space to show up fully as yourself and what it’s like being with people who are not just willing but eager to be on the journey with you
• Discuss her significant shift on social media to becoming an anti-racism educator with #somethoughtsfromyourblackfriend
• Hear the wisdom she has to impart to those who resonate with her story
• Acknowledge the sacrifices and losses that can come from walking out one’s convictions—and how it’s still worth it
• Learn what episodes inspired her, affirmed her, and broadened her faith
• Discover everyone’s hot takes on raw tomatoes 

 
Join us for our last couple of episodes and hear insights and stories from our hosts that you don’t get from our regular episodes or social media. 
 
News, Notes, and Links:

• Want to listen to or revisit some of Patty’s favorite episodes? Check them out here: The Enneagram For Justice Seekers, The Gender & Ethnicity of God with Dr. Christena Cleveland, Native with Kaitlin Curtice, and Maternal Justice with Cessilye Smith.
• You can continue to support the Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help keep this podcast accessible.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.

How does being in an ecumenical space expand and enrich our spiritual lives, within and beyond the walls of the church? Patricia Taylor, along with Kayla Craig and Lindsy Wallace, put Upside Down Podcast co-host Alissa Molina in the hot seat in the second of our final four episodes.

In this episode, we:

• Hear from Alissa as she explains what the podcast has brought to her life and how it has helped her embrace Catholicism even more
• Reflect on how the podcast brought up questions of the heart that forced her to see how she’s embodying faith beyond the space of worship
• Discuss how past topics and guests revealed that there are so many places to experience God
• Talk about the unique ecumenical space the podcast has offered over the years and the impact of it on her faith
• Learn more about From Here, the nonprofit media organization that Alissa started to encourage the love of God, neighbor, and self

Join us for our remaining episodes to hear more from our hosts and learn about their journey over the years with the Upside Down Podcast. We’re so grateful to have you along. 

News, Notes, and Links:

• Be sure to check out From Here and all of its offerings. 
• You can continue to support the Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help keep this podcast accessible.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.

What happens when our view of God becomes more expansive, and what does it reveal to us about ourselves and others? Lindsy Wallace is the first Upside Down Podcast host in the hot seat, as she’s interviewed by fellow co-hosts Alissa Molina, Patricia Taylor, and Kayla Craig. 

In this episode, we:

• Talk about Lindsy’s personal and spiritual growth over the duration of the podcast, including connecting with a more expansive view of God
• Reflect on finding the Divine at the end of ourselves, when so much has been stripped away
• Hear about Lindsy leaning into her 7 wing (as an enneagram 8)
• Discuss what it means to live all of it—the exciting and the terrifying—as she’s going through all the things
• Learn what topics and people Lindsy wishes we had time to cover and interview
• Talk about hope for the future (hint: it’s in the margins) 

Join us for part one of four episodes in which we interview each host, sharing personal stories, reflections, and responses to an array of rapid-fire questions as we wind down The Upside Down Podcast.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Check out Mary Graham on Instagram. 
• Have you ever listened to our interview with Father Gregory Boyle? Find it here.
• You can continue to support the Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help keep this podcast accessible.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.

We’ve got a special announcement to share. Co-hosts Kayla Craig, Lindsy Wallace, Alissa Molina, and Patricia Taylor come together to bring you an important update about the future of the Upside Down Podcast. 

News, Notes, and Links:

• You can continue to support the Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help keep this podcast accessible.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.

What does hope mean to you, and how do you practice it? Lindsy Wallace talks with award-winning musician, writer, and activist Andre Henry about sustaining hope, translating it into action, and how art can help dismantle empires. 

In this episode, we:

• Talk about his newly released book, All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep, and who he wrote it for
• Go over Andre’s practice of always reading something about hope to remind himself of what’s possible
• Ask what the role of art is in the work of justice
• Talk about how artists can play so many roles in the movement: creative strategist, messenger, morale keeper, and so on
• Discuss what it means for Andre to be an artivist
• Consider the power of a committed minority working toward social progress
• Talk about relationships he’s lost and what he’s gained in community, hope for change, and space for himself to truly be
• Discuss the connection between hope and action, as well as the role has faith played in sustaining hope
• Go over Andre’s hope regimen to stay healthy and mitigate despair

Join us in this rich conversation as we dive into how hope is more than optimism: it’s about imagining and creating a better world and writing history. Let us know what you think and what hopeful action you can take in your own communities. 

News, Notes, and Links:

• You can find Andre on the web, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and SoundCloud. 
• Order your copy of Andre’s book, All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep, here.
• Check out the book Andre mentioned, Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit, here.
• Learn more about the work of Erica Chenoweth, Ph.D. on civil resistance. 
• Support more conversations like this on Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help us pay our bills and keep the conversations going.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.
• Join the Upside Down Together listener group on Facebook!

How do we know when we are in a space of true belonging, where our whole person can be welcome, present, and safe? Co-hosts Patricia Taylor, Kayla Craig, and Lindsy Wallace talk with writer, liturgist, and speaker Cole Arthur Riley about freedom and belonging—the good and the bad kind.

In this episode, we:

• Discuss how Black Liturgies came to be and why Cole chose to initially remain anonymous
• Share definitions of true belonging: spaces where we have the freedom to question, doubt, and change our minds without our status of belonging being at risk
• Consider how our bodies know what belonging is as opposed to assimilation or conformity
• Talk about the importance of solitude to better understand what belonging is for each of us
• Point out how not all belonging is good and that there are consequences for both staying and leaving
• Ask what our ancestors teach us about belonging and liberation from harmful spaces
• Wonder what it looks like for there to be a space of belonging for everyone and how, perhaps, it starts with the least of these to shape that space

Join us in this conversation about finding belonging and the community that comes with it. We hope it gives you more language for your journey and imagination for what could be.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Follow Cole and her work on her website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and be sure to grab a copy of her new book, This Here Flesh.
• Add Toni Morrison’s Beloved to your bookshelf, if you haven’t already.
• Support more conversations like this on Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help us pay our bills and keep the conversations going.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.
• Join the Upside Down Together listener group on Facebook!

It’s our 100th episode! Co-hosts Kayla Craig, Alissa Molina, Patricia Taylor, and Lindsy Wallace celebrate this milestone by looking back on where they’ve been, what they’ve learned, and what they hope for this little podcast that could and the community that’s grown from it. 

In this episode, we:

• Hear from listeners, former guests, and past hosts about their Upside Down Podcast memories and reflections 
• Talk about how the podcast came to be: to create a space for honest conversations about faith, justice, and culture
• Remember how each of us got to a point where we needed these conversations and why
• Discuss how caring for ourselves is a communal act and necessary for dismantling unjust systems
• Recall pivotal moments with different podcast guests that stayed with us and even shaped our thinking
• Celebrate the over five years of building and being a part of this incredible community

Thank you so much for being a part of this space, whether you’ve been a longtime listener or you’re just joining us. We’re honored you’re here.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Support more conversations like this on Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help us pay our bills and keep the conversations going.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.
• Join the Upside Down Together listener group on Facebook!

How do you break up with American Christianity and meaningfully make space for those in deconstruction? Co-hosts Alissa Molina, Patricia Taylor, and Kayla Craig talk with Jonny Craig, Kayla’s husband, our podcast editor, and the host of The Digital Community—an online space for sharing questions, doubts, and wonderings about God and culture.

In this episode, we:

• Dive into what deconstruction means for many and the experience of realizing that the world we learned about in church is different from the actual world we inhabit
• Talk about the creation of The Digital Community and how it’s for people who are looking to find spiritual fullness and safety beyond the walls of the church
• Point out the effort to preserve power by criticizing deconstruction and vilifying people of color and women
• Consider the lonesome, lonely journey of being in deconstruction and how much we need to connect with each other
• Ask the question, “What is culture, and what is Christ?” when unpacking church, biblical translations, and so on
• Talk about the need to divest from whiteness and sit under the leadership of historically marginalized groups

Join us for this conversation about finding and holding space for deconstructing and dismantling. Our hope is that you come away encouraged to persist in unlearning and learning, wherever you are.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Check out The Digital Community’s website and on Instagram! Want to hear more? The Digital Community also has a podcast.
• You can follow Jonny on Twitter here.
• Support more conversations like this on Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help us pay our bills and keep the conversations going.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.
• Join the Upside Down Together listener group on Facebook!

Have you ever considered just how paradigm-shifting grace is? Co-hosts Kayla Craig and Lindsy Wallace have a conversation with New York Times bestselling author, USA Today columnist, and CNN Senior Political Analyst Kirsten Powers about her new book, Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts. Together, they talk about what grace is—and what it isn’t—and what it can do.

In this episode, we:

• Point out that practicing grace is far from passive or weak and that it’s more for ourselves than for those we extend it to
• Go over what grace looks like as an enneagram 8
• Talk about how trauma influences our relationship with the world and people
• Discuss the trap of dualistic thinking and how it prevents us from empathizing and seeing possibility in others
• Consider how learning from other cultures and belief systems that do not adopt dualistic thinking can help inform us about grace
• Talk about the misappropriation and spiritual bypassing around grace in faith spaces
• Dive into the humanizing effect of grace and how it can dismantle polarizing thinking

Join us for this conversation about the practice of grace and how it can move us toward wholeness and a more just society. We hope it encourages you to live into it more fully and deeply.

News, Notes, and Links:

• Want to follow along with Kirsten? You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and (sometimes) Twitter!
• Be sure to check out her book, Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts.
• Support more conversations like this on Upside Down Podcast! Please visit us, where you can pledge a few dollars of monthly support to help us pay our bills and keep the conversations going.
• Learn more at Upside Down Podcast.
• We’re on Instagram, too. You can find us individually at @patricia_a_taylor, @kayla_craig, @from_here_sessions, and @lindsy.wallace.
• Join the Upside Down Together listener group on Facebook!