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Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. I don’t personally identify with any particular religious label, but one thing I know is for certain: Western religion, or at least the way it is often practiced, has never felt like it was made for me. For many people who feel similarly, it is easy to turn this divide into resentment or even hatred. Sometimes, that divide can feel inevitable. When I look at the state of the world and see the ways that religion can intersect with higher institutions, politics, and the lives of people like me, it can feel difficult not to feel entirely disconnected from those who hold different beliefs. However, I believe it is more important than ever to communicate and have conversations with people who see the world differently and listen to their beliefs in order to find a space where we are all comfortable enough to share. In this second segment with Deborah, a pastor at the Church of the Good Shepherd, we continue our conversation about this divide and explore its deep roots in American and international politics. If you haven’t listened to the first part yet, I recommend taking a look.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. Especially within my generation, I can feel a divide forming; one that has always existed but is becoming especially apparent as politics and society continuously exacerbate it. That divide being the debate of whether or not religion should play a role in higher institutions, and especially in political spaces. On one hand, religion is an inevitable part of people’s worldview and who they are, something that is always going to be represented in politics. On another hand, religion is not everybody’s worldview, and a neutral ground where no religion is involved is just as necessary. This past month, I met with Deborah, a pastor at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In this first segment, we discuss the secularization of American society, right-wing Christian Nationalism, and most importantly, the delicate balance between church and state. Without further ado, here’s Deborah.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. I could feel Linda’s eyes on me as I packed up my podcast equipment, hurrying to leave the dim-lit room for my next endeavor. At 83-years-old, Linda had been sober for over 40 years after near decades as an active addict, a journey she had shared in her thirty-minute interview in which we discussed God, happiness, and alcohol. Through her smile, she offered one last piece of her wisdom. “I feel like, in some way, you understand it all a little more than the average person,” she said to me. “You’re a minority. It’s similar to being the child of an addict—we were born with a price to pay.” As I left, her words still imprinted in my mind, I was firmly reminded that there are no differences that can separate us from wanting to understand each other in any means possible; that being said, there is always a way to empathize with anybody no matter how different you believe you may be. Beyond the topic of addiction was an incessant reminder of humanity and how empathy and a desire to understand somebody who shares little in common with you can help those who might be struggling. In the wise words of Maya Angelou, we are more alike than we are unalike. Without further ado, here’s Linda.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast. A few weeks ago, I got the chance to sit down and talk with Joe Halsch, the director of the Jim Toy Center in Ann Arbor, a community for queer folk and allies, as you might recall from our previous episode. In this continuation of Joe’s story, we further discuss nuances found within modern day queer media and its connection to capitalistic drive, as well as its complications within a hetero-normative society. If this is your first time listening to Joe, I suggest you to also take a listen to the first part of his segment as well before you continue here. Without further ado, here’s Joe.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast. Since the release of Heated Rivalry, a show commissioned by Canada’s Crave and distributed by HBO Max originally written by Rachel Reid, queer media has had some of the greatest visibility I’ve personally ever seen in my life. From Young Royals to Red, White, and Royal Blue to Girls Like Girls to Leviticus, it seems as if, finally, queer folk are being eagerly represented. Sometimes, though, I cannot help but wonder if representation is inherently progressive, or if the undertones to the sudden intent from large corporations to depict queer folk could be sinister. How does capitalistic demand drive which “type” of queer person is shown in media? Where is the line drawn between fetishization and appreciation? Is there even a “right” way to create and market queer media to a predominantly straight audience? Joe Halsch, the director of The Jim Toy Center in Ann Arbor, a community for queer folk and allies dedicated to advocacy and community engagement, helps answer these questions during this 2-part segment in which we discuss the history of queer representation and its implications in modern day media, as well as his own thoughts and experiences regarding queerness. Without further ado, here’s Joe.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast. Tucked in a quiet corner of Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Safehouse is a refuge for any who may be facing intimate partner violence. At the head of the Safehouse is Christine Watson, who has long been an advocate for the protection and understanding of victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and other forms of intimate partner violence. Despite resources like The Safehouse being readily available, many misunderstandings still plague our knowledge of how to approach victims, a topic that Christine and I dive into as she discusses the careful intersection between gender, race, sexuality, and more when it comes to her work. How do you ensure all feel heard, no matter their story and background? Can you acknowledge all sides of a spectrum while still realizing that one demographic may be disproportionately affected? How do you make room for nuance in a topic as sensitive as intimate partner violence? In this episode, Christine and I discuss how she navigates her own understanding of her work and its intricacies, and more importantly, how we can change the conversation surrounding intimate partner violence to better help those without a voice. Without further ado, here’s Christine.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I'm the host of this podcast. Following Judith, the founder of Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor who starred in the previous segment, it seemed as if new perspectives could be incorporated in order to gain a better understanding of the increasingly prevalent issue at hand: disordered eating. While many may know textbook knowledge based on internet think pieces and middle school health classes, it is all too often that when we are faced with helping someone struggling with an eating disorder, we do not know what to do. People cannot be read like articles on the internet or vague social media posts. Unfortunately, they cannot be treated and supported simply based on the quotes you see when you google “what to say if my loved one might be struggling with an eating disorder.” Eating disorders are different for everybody. Some may want advice and a shoulder to lean on during worse episodes. Some may just want an ear to listen. For parents of children with eating disorders, the issue of how to spot, help, and alleviate becomes increasingly difficult as they try to grapple with the nuance of the situation and the individuality of their child. In this segment, a parent will share their perspective on how an eating disorder made its way into their daughter and the aftermath of its destruction.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. About 28.8 million Americans are currently affected by an eating disorder. That’s about 9% of the entire US population. And yet, nobody seems to truly understand what they are unless they actually struggle with one. Even then, stigma prevents many from ever reaching out and seeking support, or even realizing that they might have one. As you’ll be able to tell by my comments during this segment, the topic of eating disorders is a little personal to me. Not because I suffered from one, but because one of my close family members did, which eventually led to her hospitalization. And so, this episode is dedicated to one simple question: defining an eating disorder. Talking to Judith Banker, the founder and president of Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, Michigan, felt like I was in a counseling session myself. Even as somebody who witnessed the spiral in somebody else in such close proximity, I quickly realized through our conversation that the complexity of an eating disorder is not something that can quickly be unpacked. Today, I still struggle to understand what happened to my family member and why it did. Despite this complexity, it remains ever important for further treatment, research, and support to be developed for the millions that need it. Treatment is a necessity for saving millions of lives, people that could potentially be your parent, sibling, or neighbor…eating disorders do not discriminate, and they are unafraid to tear through one’s life and harm them in ways that are still misunderstood. Without further ado, here’s Judith.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast. If you don’t know, this is the second part of Nikki’s story, where she dives into how she turned a past of abuse and trauma into what she describes today as “intentional living.” Nikki doesn’t hide from her past: she builds onto it and uses it as proof that she is worthy of all the happiness she has today. Now in her 50s, she fights for others like her who deserve to heal and build their own future on their own accord with her education in social work, nonprofit called the Worthy Brown Girl Network, and podcast, The Worthy Well by Nikki G. If you haven’t listened to the first segment, now’s the time to do so. Without further ado, here’s the last part of Nikki’s story.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast. When I approached Nikki, the first thing I noticed was how well spoken she was. Words flowed from her mouth so naturally and so coherently that I found it hard for me to keep up. However, behind her demeanor was a story riddled with trauma that made her the woman she is today, building a story that does not let her past define who she is now. Nikki, now working with A Brighter Way, an organization helping the previously incarcerated, turned her past into the change she wants to see today as the founder of her own nonprofit, the Worthy Brown Girl Network and even her own podcast, The Worthy Well Podcast with Nikki G. Her story reverberates one powerful message: all of us are worthy of healing and building a future dedicated to personal happiness, no matter our past and the trauma we believe we will never be able to move past. Due to the length of her segment, Nikki’s story will be split into two episodes: one tackling her background and past traumas, and another where we discuss what she has learned and how she is moving forward as she shares insights on self-worth.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to sit down with Uzochi Nwauwa to talk about a topic that most of us avoid despite its inevitably: grief and the concept of death. Specifically, we talked about the scary, unavoidable thing that most of us will have to face at least once in our lives, grief, and how it impacts children. This is the second part of Uzo’s story, where we dive into specifics on how society can better approach those who are grieving and slowly take down the barriers that prevent us from facing death not just for ourselves, but for the sake of others. If this is your first time listening to her, I suggest you take a look at the first part of this segment. Without further ado, here’s Uzo.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. On my first snow day of the season, I drove 30 minutes to Ele’s Place, braving the iced highways to sit with Uzochi Nwauwa. Uzo, the bereavement coordinator for Ele’s Place, talked to me for nearly an hour about a topic that many, including me, shut our ears to: grief and death. Ele’s Place was founded by Betsy Stover and her husband following the death of their daughter, known as Ele. The organization was created in the interest of youth dealing with grief and the concept of death, an idea that many young minds have yet to truly define and absorb. Death is the thing that we do not talk about. It’s “passing away,” “kicking the bucket,” “biting the dust,” but it truly is just what it is. Dying. In this episode, Uzo talks about how grief differs from person to person, and specifically how it affects children. She is blunt about death and how to go about helping those dealing with grief, those existing on, as she said, “a completely different timeline” as those that are not. The world moves on when a loved one dies, but how do you move with it when the one who you loved is no longer in the same world that is still pushing forward? What does existing in this new timeline without them look like? And to a child, what does this feel like, and how can we support those who have yet to formulate even the idea of death? Due to the length of our conversation, this will be the first of two episodes dedicated to Uzo and her work. Without further ado, here’s Uzo.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I'm the host of this podcast. Jaenika, like many others in the Delonis shelter in Washtenaw County and shelters around the country, never had a chance to run from unstable housing because she was born into it. The homeless issue within the United States has only grown since the pandemic, surging to record highs in 2024 of around 770,000 homeless persons in the country. When I first saw Jaenika coming through the door to the interview room, I noticed she had a notepad full of notes she had taken to prepare and was ready by the first question, which surprised me, because most interviewees came empty handed except for the experts. She looked well put together and proper. She mentioned holding jobs in the medical field and having children who went to good universities and who had successful families of their own. To me, she seemed like a regular person I might meet at the supermarket. And yet, her story reverberated the simple message of empathy in a raw way that I admittedly have never truly opened myself up to to hear in such a light, and her words begged that humanity choose to be kind, to listen to others, and to help those who were never given the opportunity to help themselves. After our interview, I continued my conversation with Jaenika and I asked her if there was anything else people like me could do to help. She told me to listen. To see with my own eyes the struggle of others, and to hear the stories of those less fortunate. To give warmth not just through blankets and donations of food, but empathy. The simplest and most seemingly obvious answer that has been drilled into us since we were kids, one that we as a society have yet to embrace as not just a concept, but a necessity.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I'm the host of this podcast. As you may have inferred from the title, this is the second part of "The Business of Being," our segment dedicated to a certain member of Unlock Highest Dimension, a nonprofit for "gathering people with spirit gifts around the world and opening their connection with the high dimensional wisdom of the Universe so they can complete their calling and return to the N-dimensional Universe," as stated in their mission statement. In this episode, we continue out conversation on the necessities of such an organization in a time where it seems as if modern beliefs trump spiritual ones and dive into the intricacies of both managing and enjoying being part of such an organization. This will be the final part of her story, closing off this unique segment.

Welcome back to this person I met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast. Recently, I had the chance to meet up with a close family friend. Upon first meeting her, it was easy to make assumptions in my head. She graduated from MIT with a degree in business. She’s worked with one of the largest investment banking companies in the US. She talks a lot about investing in stocks and advises me to start saving when I am young. By the end of our first few days together, I naively thought I knew her entire character. It turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. In this episode, she talks of her interest in the higher dimensions of the universe, as well as her role in the nonprofit “Unlock Highest Dimension,” which helps discover individuals with special gifts. As our conversation progresses, she dives into the idea of the “N-dimension,” as well as soul and spirit, which help forge the connection between our physical bodies and the infinite universe. Despite my months of work with this podcast, her story served as another reminder that I never truly know until I ask. As a quick heads up, due to the length of our conversation, this story will be split into two segments.