Podsongs

"It's not finding the one. It's finding the many." — Meggan WattersonFlorida folk singer-songwriter Corey Kilgannon returns to Podsongs (his first visit gave us "Lost Connections") to interview Harvard-trained feminist theologian Meggan Watterson, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Mary Magdalene Revealed and The Girl Who Baptized Herself. Corey arrives with an honest question about anger and what his role is in the feminist reckoning inside Christianity. Meggan answers with a different idea of power: one nobody can ever take from you. From the pages torn out of the Gospel of Mary, to the supper clubs that kept the early Christ movement alive under empire, to why the answer to our times isn't finding the one but finding the many. Singer-songwriter Jake Wesley Rogers drops in to sing. Meggan's call for "a new song, a new story" became Corey's new single, down to the Greek word she unpacks for him: nous, the spiritual eye of the heart.New single "Herstory" by Corey Kilgannon — out 2 October. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/herstoryCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome to Podsongs00:23 Corey Gets the Assignment01:11 Gushing Over Mary Magdalene Revealed03:04 Righteous Rage and New Power09:22 One Eye Inward One Outward10:27 Cleveland Florida and Spiritual Practice15:35 Finding the Many Community20:05 Early Church Supper Clubs23:39 Contemplative Christianity and Inner Authority30:53 Artists as Mystics32:41 Missing Pages of the Gospel of Mary35:41 Mind Between Soul Matter37:11 Nous Spiritual Heart Eye38:48 Mary Secret Teachings39:46 Missing Pages Inner Work42:48 Unworthiness False Hierarchies45:34 Mercy Anchors Love48:09 Mary Magdalene Film Review53:45 Debrief Books And Practice56:37 Yoga Christianity Links01:02:17 Recording Anxiety Craft01:05:08 Closing Song New StoryGUEST & MUSICIANMeggan Watterson: https://www.megganwatterson.comCorey Kilgannon: https://www.instagram.com/corey_kilgannon// SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/$1 @ https://podsongs.com// LINKS //Website: https://podsongs.comPodcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodesSongs: https://podsongs.com/musicSpotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq// SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongsInstagram: https://instagram.com/podsongsFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs#Podsongs #MegganWatterson #CoreyKilgannon #MaryMagdalene #GospelOfMary #DivineFeminine #Herstory

"You have to hold on to hope." — Juliet MarillierDutch folk singer Sophie Janna was 14 when she read Daughter of the Forest. Twenty-four years later she finally gets to ask its author the questions she's been carrying since. Juliet Marillier — the New Zealand-born, Western Australia-based novelist behind the Sevenwaters saga and the Blackthorn & Grim novels, and winner of the 2025 World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award — talks about the marriage that ended, the office job, and the first novel she wrote over three years purely to put her feelings on the page. She talks about being a musician long before she was a writer, about belonging to a druid order, about the trees in an Irish wood she was warned away from, and about the morning she lifted a magpie off a picket fence — a moment that became the opening scene of her new novel, The Amber Owl. Sophie takes the conversation into the song, and writes it back into the book that started her: the silent sister, the needle, and the word that must not be spoken.New single "Hold On" by Sophie Janna — out 28 August. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/holdon-sophiejannaCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome to Podsongs00:40 Meet Sophie Janner01:09 Falling for Daughter02:43 Songs from the Books04:13 Juliet’s Late Start05:27 What Her Stories Are07:27 Juliet Joins the Call09:24 From Music to Writing11:15 Writing Through Crisis17:36 Music in Her Fiction20:43 Roots in Scotland25:07 Researching Wolfskin30:47 Forests and Climate35:39 Art as Activism38:19 Self Doubt Reflections40:35 Writing Battles Hard43:18 Creating Despite Doubts44:56 Rethinking Soulmates49:27 Libraries And Access52:46 Comfort Reads And Moomins54:43 Finland Research Trip58:29 Believing In Nature Magic01:04:11 Magpie Rescue Inspiration01:08:34 Signing Off And AftertalkSONG CREDITS"Hold On" performed by Sophie JannaMassimino Voza: drums, pianoLuigi Falcione: bassMaurizio Sarnicola: electric guitar, mellotronMixed and mastered at Goldmine Records, ItalyGUEST & MUSICIANJuliet Marillier: https://julietmarillier.comSophie Janna: https://sophiejanna.nl// SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/$1 @ https://podsongs.com// LINKS //Website: https://podsongs.comPodcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodesSongs: https://podsongs.com/musicSpotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq// SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongsInstagram: https://instagram.com/podsongsFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs#Podsongs #JulietMarillier #SophieJanna #folk #TheAmberOwl #druid #folklore

Joel McHale reveals his secret 5am pre-flight ritual, the secret to his marriage, and a Dave Grohl story he's never told — plus, hidden in this hour, the confession that becomes Lowland Hum's new song "Tarantula" on Friday. | Podsongs #173"I'm Irish, so I could drink turpentine and it would be fine." — Joel McHaleHusband-and-wife folk duo Lowland Hum (Daniel and Lauren Goans) guest-host Podsongs from a friend's studio near their Virginia log cabin and interview comedian and actor Joel McHale (Community, The Soup, Animal Control, Crime Scene Kitchen, Scream 7). Inside this hour: the thing he drinks at 5am before every single flight, the reason he refuses to check a bag, the backstage Dave Grohl story he's never told anywhere, the one thing his wife never does that keeps the marriage working, what cobra actually tastes like, packing procrastination as an existential crisis, an animal that "in two months could kill us all" — and somewhere in all of it, the moment that became Lowland Hum's new single "Tarantula". Even Joel doesn't know which one. See if you can spot it before the song drops.New single "Tarantula" by Lowland Hum — out Friday 24 July 2026. Pre-save it and hear the answer the moment it lands: https://ffm.to/tarantulaCHAPTERS00:00 Warm welcome and delays00:25 Log cabin heat wave chaos01:17 Woods talk and how memory fragments02:26 Joel's inside-outside portal office04:10 Seattle roots and Northwest life07:00 Meet the host, Jack08:06 Travel, airports and kid logistics10:39 Joel's 5am airport ritual and travel kit13:33 Packing anxiety and style trends19:02 The perfect pants rabbit hole23:54 Do acting roles follow you home?32:48 Flow state across standup, hosting and Scream 735:51 Lowland Hum's origin story and gratitude39:15 Therapy, the inner critic and motivation43:31 The emotional dial and tour energy46:32 Tour van naps46:53 Saying yes to everything: the hustle48:29 Pro mode onstage51:40 Collaboration chemistry and 20-year friendships54:48 The blindfolded audience experiment01:00:03 Music nerd tangents and the untold Dave Grohl story01:06:24 Tarantulas and cougars01:12:27 Food memories and Rome01:15:32 Goodbyes and the blindfold show01:19:00 Aftershow: finding the song's entry point01:24:46 Patreon and community01:28:08 Closing song teaseGUEST & MUSICIANJoel McHale: https://joelmchale.comLowland Hum: https://www.lowlandhum.com// SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/episode: @ https://podsongs.com// LINKS //Website: https://podsongs.comPodcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodesSongs: https://podsongs.com/musicSpotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq// SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongsInstagram: https://instagram.com/podsongsFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs#Podsongs #JoelMcHale #LowlandHum #Tarantula #indiefolk #Community

"You're in despair. You just don't know you're in despair." — Peter RollinsOn this episode of Podsongs, John Kunkel of The New Division takes the guest-host chair to interview Northern Irish writer, philosopher and theologian Peter Rollins as inspiration for a brand new song. John opens up on his influences — Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, Duran Duran — before the conversation turns to Rollins' work: questioning certainty, exposing the contradictions we live by, and finding freedom from the relentless "tyranny of happiness," with Los Angeles cast as a spiritual "Mecca" selling wholeness to anyone who can afford it. Along the way Rollins unpacks desire, sacrifice, work and alienation, ideology, AI and the unconscious, the films that shaped him, and the parables behind his "pyrotheology" — and the talk becomes the seed of "Idols," a song about the things we all end up worshipping, good and bad.New single "Idols" by The New Division — out 26 June. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/tnd_idolsTOPICSPeter Rollins on desire, contradiction, and ideologyThe tyranny of happiness and the demand to enjoyLos Angeles as a spiritual marketplaceLacanian psychoanalysis and the unconsciousWhy desire needs obstaclesSacrifice, meaning, and fulfillmentAI, consciousness, and the technological singularityFilms, storytelling, and creative inspirationJohn Kunkel’s influences: Depeche Mode, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, Duran DuranWriting a song live on the podcastTIMESTAMPS00:00 Intro: welcome to Podsongs01:29 Why UK music hits different (New Order, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen)04:45 Keeping new wave alive06:18 Moving abroad: music logistics09:47 Writing 150 song demos14:41 Who is Peter Rollins?28:17 Peter joins the call31:50 LA and the demand to enjoy37:01 The tyranny of happiness38:35 The superego's demand to enjoy40:19 Why fulfilling your dreams can backfire41:53 The enjoyment hidden in sacrifice44:33 Why desire needs obstacles47:39 The unconscious and Lacan's "object a"52:56 Filmmaking and prohibition57:43 Negative universality and politics01:01:16 The church of contradiction01:05:29 AI, singularity and the unconscious01:12:42 Music tastes and influences01:14:08 Film picks: They Live and ideology01:19:49 Who inspires Peter now01:20:34 Writing the song live01:21:20 The Vegas parable and unknowing01:26:02 Where to find Peter Rollins01:28:43 The profane temple and lack01:34:51 Post-interview debrief01:39:07 "Idols" — song outroGUEST & MUSICIANPeter Rollins: https://peterrollins.comThe New Division: https://www.newdivisionmusic.comGet the newsletter, support the show, and download the song for just €/$1:https://podsongs.comWebsite: https://podsongs.comPodcast Episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodesMusic: https://podsongs.com/musicInstagram: https://instagram.com/podsongsTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/podsongsFacebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs#PeterRollins #JohnKunkel #NewDivision #Philosophy #Theology #Psychoanalysis #Lacan #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Consciousness #Ideology #Desire #Happiness #Spirituality #Songwriting #SynthPop #NewWave #PostPunk #Podsongs #JackStafford

Australian singer-songwriter William Crighton joins host Jack Stafford for a remarkable conversation with legendary explorer, anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis — bestselling author of The Serpent and the Rainbow and one of the world’s leading voices on indigenous cultures, psychedelics, anthropology and human consciousness.Recorded on Wade Davis’ 70th birthday, this episode explores Aboriginal songlines, Dreamtime, psychedelics, race, optimism, creativity, music as trance, fatherhood, indigenous wisdom and the modern crisis of meaning.Before Wade joins the conversation, William discusses his evolving sound, his acclaimed album Water and Dust, collaborations with William Barton and Jeff Lang, touring in Canada and China, his prison songwriting programme and his focus on lower-carbon solo touring.During the episode, Wade says:“Despair is an insult to the imagination.”Later:“Give your destiny time to find you.”That line inspired William to write a brand new original song called Destiny, which closes the episode.Podsongs is the podcast where musicians interview inspiring non-musical guests as inspiration for a new song.Timestamps:00:00 Show Intro00:34 William Crighton’s Sound Journey04:30 Authenticity, Art & Service05:32 Why William Chose Wade Davis08:57 Wade Davis Stories & 70th Birthday10:58 Touring Canada & Musical Roots12:53 Australia, Landscape & History14:43 China, Walkabout & The New Album20:00 COVID Lockdowns & The Birth of Podsongs22:11 Wade Davis Joins The Call24:02 Aboriginal Dreaming & Songlines28:52 Why Race Is A Myth According To Genetics38:49 Optimism As A Choice43:04 Psychedelics & Phases Of Life46:44 Sacred Experience vs Religion48:07 Music As Trance & Prayer53:30 Nature, Myth & Metaphor56:45 Hope In An Age Of Change01:05:09 How Landscape Shapes Culture01:08:53 Egalitarianism & Human Connection01:17:11 Elder Wisdom & Destiny01:23:48 Lucky Breaks, Risk & Saying Yes01:28:07 Final Reflections & New Song01:32:24 “Give Your Destiny Time To Find You”Wade Davis:Wade Davis Official WebsiteWilliam Crighton:William Crighton Official WebsitePre-save Destiny:Pre-save Destiny on SpotifyPodsongs:Podsongs Official Website#WadeDavis #WilliamCrighton #Podsongs