Seasons: A Year Of Movies is a (mostly) weekly podcast where Emma Ramirez and Jacob Benfell talk about a series of films for each season of the year. The movies can be directly connected (a franchise, a director/writer/whatever’s filmography) or loosely connected (a thematic through-line.) We alternate picking the season’s theme, so the movies will be as varied as our thoughts are. We’ll explore why we watch the movies we do when we do, how context changes our understanding of art, geek out, ...
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Welcome to the “Connecting Goodness” podcast! We are going to be connecting with people from all different backgrounds and hearing about how Jesus Christ has impacted their life story. We hope listeners will learn more about Jesus Christ and how He can impact every part of our lives.
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A podcast for and about marginalized actors. Interviews with actors who identify as plus-size, BIPOC, queer, gender non-conforming, trans, parents, Asian...the list goes on. Working together to foster inclusivity and representation, one conversation at a time.
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Be prepared for a fabulous episode with Elyse Hales! Elyse shares her experience working as a sideline reporter for the Utah Jazz and how she saw God show up in the NBA. She also shares impactful stories about learning to walk again as a young girl, and church service in Hollywood. Elyse delves into how to trust Jesus in the midst of a challenge, t…
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EP#17 Suzie Trepanier: Working with God in Marriage and Family Therapy
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Join Suzie Trepanier for a special episode about how she has seen God in her work with marriage and family therapy. Suzie is a counselor at Family Services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is a doctoral candidate of Marriage and Family Therapy at Alliant International University and has her M.A. in Couple and Family Therapy …
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EP#16 Jessica Capito Dolberg: Feeling God’s Love Through Depression
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In this episode of the "Connecting Goodness" podcast, Jessica Capito Dolberg shares her experiences with depression, chronic pain, and feeling the God’s love amidst the challenges in her life. Jessica shares many lessons she has learned in her mental health journey including how individuals with depression can talk about depression with their loved…
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EP#15: Victoria Burnham: Being Led by the Spirit to Follow Christ
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In this episode of the Connecting Goodness podcast, Heidi talks with her Boston bestie, Victoria Burnham! Victoria shares her truly unique story that has taken her to Armenia, England, India, and across the Unites States. Victoria shares how God has guided her to move to these myriads of places and how the more she has done what God asks, the more …
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EP#14: Boanerges Alcántara y Awilda Karina Pineda Acosta: Conociendo a Cristo en la República Dominicana, Barahona
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Boanerges Alcántara (Yúnior) y Awilda Karina Pineda Acosta (Karina) son una familia muy especial de la provincia de Barahona en la República Dominicana. En este episodio comparten sus historias conociendo a Jesucristo. Hablan de su experiencia perdiendo un bebe y como su creencia en Jesucristo y su enseñanza de las familias eternas les ha fortaleci…
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EP#13 Jake Edwards, Jon Van Tassell, and Katie Robison: Serving with Christ in the Dominican Republic
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Join Jake Edwards, Jon Van Tassell, Katie Robison, and Heidi as they remember their experiences serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic (DR) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They talk about adjusting to life in the DR-including showering with cockroaches, learning Dominican slang, and constant blackouts! Jake talks abo…
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EP#12 Rachel Chesney: Jesus Christ Is Our Advocate
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In this episode, Rachel Chesney shares the incredibly personal story of her father leaving her family after 32 years of marriage and how she was able to see him as God does once she understood that Jesus Christ is our Advocate. Rachel talks about how her family embraced the idea that “the story is not over yet” and how God gives us grace and space …
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EP#11 Amber Olsen & Andrea Hardy: Having Christ-Centered Friendships
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Amber Olsen and Andrea Hardy talk with Heidi about growing up in San Diego, California together and how having friends that believed in Christ made all the difference during their childhood and teenage years. They remember watching the San Diego temple be built, attending seminary at 6:00 am every day, and how they supported each other growing up. …
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EP#10 Narcisa Ramirez Sanchez: Como Tener Fe en Jesucristo Durante los Desafíos
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Narcisa “Manuela” Ramirez Sanchez comparte un testimonio sincero y sencillo de Jesucristo y cómo tener fe en Él durante los desafíos. Narcisa vive en la provincia de San Juan en la República Dominicana. Trabaja como maestra, tiene tres hijos, y es miembro de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días. Narcisa habla de cómo Dios le h…
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EP#9 Emma and Morgan Mitchell: Ministering Like Jesus Christ
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If you want to learn about how to minister like Jesus, listen to this episode! Emma and Morgan Mitchell are an Apartment Life Team at Shift Apartments in San Diego. They have worked in ministry together for 7 years. Emma and Morgan share memorable experiences from their work in ministry with youth and young adults. Morgan talks about ministering in…
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EP#8 Citra: Navigating Divorce and Family Relationships with God
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In this episode, Citra shares her journey of growing up in Indonesia in a family with different belief systems. She shares how her mother provided a faithful example of navigating family relationships and remaining true to her faith in Christ. Citra also speaks about her experience with divorce. She shares the difficulties and hardships of that exp…
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EP#7 Dirk Oliver: The Power to Change Through Jesus Christ
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Heidi sits down to chat with her dad, Dirk Oliver! They dive into his story of choosing to follow Jesus Christ and how that decision changed his life and the lives of many others. Dirk talks about how to become dependent on Christ and how Christ helps us see that we are all part of God’s family. Heidi asks Dirk about his experiences as a bishop and…
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EP#6 Sheryn Shahwan-Solórzano: Muslims and Latter-day Saints, A Conversation Between Friends
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In this episode, Heidi and Sheryn Shahwan-Solórzano have a conversation about their faith traditions. Sheryn is Muslim and Heidi is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sheryn shares what she believes about God as a Muslim and how one of God’s names in Islam, is “The Most Merciful.” Heidi and Sheryn talk about shared beliefs…
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EP#5 Char Oliver, Chris McKendrick, and Karen Freeman: Raising Children of God with Special Needs
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During this episode Heidi talks with three mothers of children with special needs-her mom, Char Oliver, Chris McKendrick, and Karen Freeman. They share about how God prepared them to raise children with special needs. Char shares about praying for help when her daughter, Whitney, was born. Karen discusses the challenge of handing our problems over …
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EP#4 Shaina Partlow: Being Guided by God
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Certified health coach and group fitness instructor, Shaina Partlow, shares about how she has seen God move her to many places to be used in specific ways. Shaina talks about her journey to becoming a health coach, including all the work she put in along the way! Shaina also discusses her “why” for being a health coach and how God has given us our …
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In this inaugural episode of the Connecting Goodness podcast, Nicole Lyles shares her journey with the chronic illness of her daughter, Bri. Nicole tells about the life-altering moment when Bri received her diagnosis and what she has learned about trusting God and His plans for our lives. She highlights the importance of having faithful people in y…
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In this episode with Zil Eiler, Zil talks with us about walking in the dark and following a spiritual prompting that led her to marry her husband, Steve. Zil discusses trusting in God and His image of us rather than the self-image we paint for ourselves. She shares how each of us are born for a purpose. Zil also tells us about being led to a career…
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Today's episode is a little different than the others! Heidi shares a message about how she was prompted to get certified in skydiving and how learning about who God is helps us to trust and act on ANY prompting that we get from Him.By Heidi Oliver
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Welcome to the “Connecting Goodness” podcast! We are going to be connecting with people from all different backgrounds and hearing about how Jesus Christ has impacted their life story. We hope listeners will learn more about Jesus Christ and how He can impact every part of our lives.By Heidi Oliver
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07/27/2022 Big Bones, Thick Skin Episode 7 - Julia Skeggs Julia Skeggs has been both an actor and casting director here in Chicago for a number of years. In this episode she opens up about eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and how the industry perpetuates many negative feelings about both.By Claire Alpern
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Karissa Murrell Myers (she/her) is a Filipino-American theatre artist based out of Chicago. She was also named American Theater Magazine's 2020 Roll Call: 13 Theatre Workers You Should Know for her work in casting. In our conversation, we cover the differences between NY, Hawaii, and Chicago theater scenes, why diversity is so important to her, goi…
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02/23/2022 Big Bones, Thick Skin Episode 5 - Jen Bosworth-Ramirez Jen-Bosworth-Ramirez is a writer and an actor from Chicago who now lives in Los Angeles. In this episode, Jen talks about the impact her mother and family had on her feelings about being in a bigger body, how she wound up auditioning for theater school, how she handles the dreaded co…
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01/13/2022 Big Bones, Thick Skin Episode 4 - August Forman August Forman (they/them) is a trans, non-binary actor who shares stories about navigating transitional life and how it has affected (or not) their experiences as an actor. In this conversation - one of the most joyful I've had - August talks about Safe Trans Travel (a charity that they sta…
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12/03/2021 Big Bones, Thick Skin Episode 3 - Emma Meyer Incredible plus-sized model and photographer Emma Meyer talks about how she got into modeling, Rachel Bloom's many assets, training with the National Youth Drama School of New Zealand, her internal struggles when seeing bodies like hers portrayed on the screen, Lena Dunham, and how her love of…
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10/01/2021 Big Bones, Thick Skin Episode 1 - Ashlie Atkinson Powerhouse actress Ashlie Atkinson talks about working with Spike Lee, Craig Zobel, and Morgan Gould, as well as being on Mr Robot, One Dollar, and Rescue Me. We cover fatphobia in casting and costuming, intimacy as a fat actor, having more than one fat actor on the stage at a time, and m…
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What to Expect on the #BigBonesThickSkin podcast
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By Claire Alpern
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Grace and Emma join together for this workplace comedy that is not quite what it seems and find a very funny movie with a lot going on. We discuss shifting violence to mythological, colonized others, the role and limits of comedies about working and living in capitalism, as well as some truly wild facts about this film. Follow Grace on Twitter @gra…
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Grace and Emma watched a movie two months ago, recorded an episode about it one month ago, and are finally presenting you with the gift of this short episode. Emma likes handsome men, Grace does not like the Stephen King short story “Battleground,” and we really just love Salt of the Earth. Watch this movie or don’t; it’s rough out there. Follow Gr…
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Emma and Grace watched Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Marble the dehumanizing and humanizing process of filmmaking, the act of depicting labor on screen, and questions of what it means to watch a film that critiques non-capitalist societies. Emma makes a killer point about how abstract art is deployed in this film and Grace goes on a long tangent about Wal…
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Grace and Emma discuss the film the US Government didn't want you to see, Salt of the Earth!!! They loved this antithesis to How Green Was My Valley and talk about the material conditions of the movie, its honesty and intensity around gender dynamics, and the joy found in community organizing. You can watch this piece of union propaganda on YouTube…
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Seasons 30: How Green Was My Valley
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Grace and Emma talk about the 1941, John Ford directed classic that reeks of gender. We discuss the movie’s surprisingly absent labor politics, its compassion for working people, and its cruelty towards the disabled. In other news, Emma gets excited about birds and Grace thinks a lot about set design. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow E…
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To start off our season about work and labor, we watched the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times. By leaning into artifice and exaggeration, the movie is able to highlight the very real issues of its day (and ours). Grace notices the oppressive authority of sound, Emma notices a certain lack of shoes, and we both display an incomplete knowledge…
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It’s a Ghibli finale! In the final episode of this season, Grace and Emma talk the limits of capitalist art, the beauty of horrible things, gender, clothes, and the joy of dreams. It’s Miyasaki’s most sober and self-reflective movie, so prepare for a lot of sad talk about movie production itself. They also rank every Miyazaki movie and introduce th…
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By Emma and Grace
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By Emma and Grace
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By Emma and Grace
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Emma and Grace expose their dirty Marxist roots while they talk about this movie filled with images of childhood and class. They also discuss kids’ movies as a genre, whether the main character’s trust in others is naïve or important or both, and even dip in discourse about setting boundaries. The next movie is Howl’s Moving Castle Follow Grace on …
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In this episode, that is nearly as long as the movie it discusses, Grace and Emma attempt to break down this fantastical samurai epic. As this is masterful film with many questions and few answers, most of this episode’s runtime is existential and ambiguous. At first we try to contextualize its depiction of indigenous peoples and the Muromashi peri…
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In this extra-long and rowdy episode, Grace and Emma talk over the politics of labor and creativity, their relationship to both the themes and production of this movie, and the anxieties of growing up. Grace is anxious about a missing lunch. Emma is agape over the animation’s small details. It all builds to a final conversation about… what else? Cr…
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In this episode, Emma and Grace discuss whether Porco Rosso complicates the idealized Europe often found in Ghibli films, the strong ladies who are definitely not moms, and the film’s interest in an inevitable turn of history that will consume all the characters. Come for our disdain for libertarianism, stay for the seaplane full of schoolgirls and…
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In this episode, we talk about girlhood, queerness, and critiquing media as queer people. Grace has a truly cursed realization about Tombo. Emma gushes about an incredible dog. We also talk about the movie’s depiction of an idealized, almost utopian, Europe and its portrayal of magic as both wondrous and mundane. The next movie is Porco Rosso. Foll…
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This episode gets very personal as Grace and Emma talk over the innumerable childhood feelings this movie gave us. We talk about taking the emotions of children seriously, have our shortest summary yet, and get on a surprising number of tangents, including the unforgivably bad Totoro death God theory. The next movie is Kiki’s Delivery Service Follo…
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Brimming with mystery, Laputa beckons to us! Grace and Emma rediscover the magic of this film and discuss its ecological worldview, condemnation of patriarchal power, and warm kindness. We also get off on several tangents including feminist discourse about mainstream video games and film, insecurity about liking movies that are cute and fun, what m…
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Apologies for the technical difficulties in this episode. After the whirlwind heist of Cagliostro, Grace and Emma settle in for the ecological science fiction of Nausicaä. They talk over the movie’s approach to political violence and protest, of mankind’s relationship to the natural world, and its complex gender politics. Next movie is Castle in th…
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Emma and Grace talk over the rip-roaring heist adventure that is Miyasaki’s debut. They delve into the movie’s abstract menace, expressive charm, immaculate cinematography, and messy deception of monarchy and class. They also read a reader letter and talk about their plans for the next season.By Emma and Grace
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This adaptation of part of the Ramayama was directed and animated entirely by Nina Paley. We discuss its layered approach to storytelling, the perils of working through stories from other cultures, and how even incredibly old religious stories are personal. Sita Sings the Blues is under creative commons and can be watched for free on YouTube or on …
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In which we discuss this nearly perfect film about growing up, being awkward, and the simple joy of creativity. We talk over the film’s intimate cinematography, its moments of total euphoria, and its quiet honesty. We get off on a tangent about Whiplash, La La Land, and music movies obsession with excellence, but then wrap it back to how We Are The…
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*white voice* CINNABON!!! In which Emma and Jacob get way too deep on Walter Mitty’s depiction of art, labor, its surprisingly inoffensive showing of other cultures, its obnoxious product placement, and its melancholic core. A surprisingly thoughtful episode about a surprisingly thoughtful movie (that probably still doesn’t deserve the amount of ti…
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CW: Brief Discussion of a suicide around 21:15 This month we’re talking about some of our favorite movies that the other host hasn’t seen. For this episode, Jacob introduces Emma to 1987’s Wings of Desire, a movie about angels in Berlin falling in love. We explore the movie’s profound rejoicing in the physical experience of life, its marvelous port…
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In this episode, named only for convenience and stubbornness, Emma and Jacob talk through their newly formed Star Wars rankings, and their plans for the rest of the year. Just a bite-sized pod until we start talking about our favorite movies later this month. Here is the schedule for the rest of the year. It will be more fully updated soon! Theme M…
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