From the Belly (Archived Episodes)

FtB host Doug Wheeler flips the script and sits down with guest host Scott Burnett to discuss his five-year journey with the Jonah story that produced deeper self discovery, a forthcoming book, and a multi-season podcast.

Authors and Psychotherapists, Susan Miller & Chuck Strozier, discuss the psychological fractures and futuristic thinking of both religious and non-religious fundamentalism, resulting in a dualism that breeds fear, social unease and violence toward the “other.”

Successful author James Shipman shares his luminous journey of becoming a writer of fictions while disclosing some practical steps to sharpen one’s writing skills and move succinctly toward getting published. 

Adventure Travel Trade Association CEO Shannon Stowell shares what makes adventure travel different from mass travel, and the powerful good that tourism done right can do for people and the planet.

Sienna Burnett, Ethan Coomer & Gabriel Wheeler return to FtB to share their colorful journeys of making music, weathering the wins and woes of dream-chasing and how cultivating a craft can reveal purpose and identity.

Veteran psychotherapist, historian and prolific author Chuck Strozier, with expertise of soul, brings Heinz Kohut’s “psychology of the self” into brilliant focus for the twenty-first century.

Warren Postma, a key catalyst for the popular Mark Heard Fans Facebook group, joins Doug for a rich talk about the folk rock singer's musicianship, cultural impact and lyrical vigor that since his untimely death have left a lasting imprint of truth for a world in need of reconciling love.

Creative music entrepreneurs Dan Russell & Jim Goodwin return to FtB, sharing their rich friendship along with fascinating stories about band "The Call," touring on the road in the 1980s, and how deeply they miss lead singer Michael Been, who passed in 2010.

Senior staff scientist and UWA clinical professor Dr. Michele Andrasik returns to field questions about the COVID-19 vaccinations, their success rate vs. continued skepticism, and how misinformation and miseducation have endangered the truth.

In the second half of last week’s conversation, Don and Doug cover the American propensity toward zionism, both socially and politically, and the conundrum of how to judge a one-sided war.

Professor of Religious Studies Don Michael Hudson shares his learned perspective on the history, terminology and latest chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as how having once lived in a Palestinian village shapes his views.

Celebrated artist and local pastor Scott Burnett returns to discuss the interplay of working with colors on canvas and spiritual practices along with musings by sage scholar and friend of the show, Walter Brueggemann.

Artwork titled "Chosen" by Scott Burnett

Young, loving mother of two little daughters, Jess Hanson shares her incredible journey raising nine-month-old Ruby, who was born with a brain injury and diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

Daring filmmaker & photographer Frederick Taylor joins LA-based multi-talented musicians Marvin Etzioni & Willie Aron in a brave conversation about oppression and the creative acts that disrupt unchecked power.

Bestselling author and professor Kristin DuMez, seminary professor Jay-Paul Hinds, and independent filmmaker Caleb Wheeler deconstruct the many forms and origins of toxic, militant masculinity.

Professor and author Soong-Chan Rah, Bereavement Researcher Lynn Gibson, and Pastor Scott Burnett critique societal violence by identifying the lack of lament practices in our communities and offer remedies for restoration.

Paul Pearson, director of the Thomas Merton Center, talks about the late monastic monk’s most impassioned foresights about civil rights, non-violence and spirituality that resonate in 2021.

We at From the Belly want to let you in on some recent shifts in the show’s direction. 

This podcast was initially a way to introduce and build an audience around Doug’s study and reinterpretation of the biblical story of Jonah, and his forthcoming book, Reimagining Jonah. Using music, philosophy, and academia to guide us, the vision was to distill the book’s intent through conversation with guests of all kinds and across all walks of life. What came of that intent was an effortless evolution toward wider themes of spirituality, social activism, racial inequality, grief recovery, toxic systems of power, and the ways art can embody it all. 

We’ve expanded beyond the Jonah framework as we’ve seen how this greater spectrum of remarkable people and modern movements is something that cannot be ignored or rendered through a narrow perspective. Different beliefs systems, radical cultural thinking, passionate niche vocations… these diverse persuasions are the stuff of life and truly shape our world. Our pursuit is to help harmonize our existences and combat fragmentation, to mine the minds of fascinating people and discover the soul of creativity. 

Thank you so much for learning and relearning alongside us in the name of exploration and love! The journey continues.

Scott Burnett describes the complex physicality of painting, finding redemption through "ruined art," and the importance of being stirred by our own creations.

Dr. Michele Andrasik talks about racial bias in healthcare, and the historical trauma and violence surrounding inhumane study of the "Black Body."