#23.5 || WHERE IS RECKONINGS GOING?
TRANSCRIPT
STEPHANIE
So I wanna bring y’all behind the curtain a little bit -- on a few things:
First, the ripple effects from Reckonings episode 21 with Anwen and Sameer
Second, what was up with the imaginary pope in episode 22
And finally, where is Reckonings going?
-
So first up: what’s been going on with Anwen and Sameer?
Well after they told their story on Reckonings, it got picked up quite a bit, actually :)
Their episode got featured on Snap Judgment and Love+Radio
Which is a big deal in podcastland
AND their story also landed in a book by feminist writer Peggy Orenstein, which will be coming out next year
And remember how high schools rejected Sameer’s bid to talk to their male students as part of their sex ed programs?
Well, an organization that works on gender equality with youth just reached out to him / to possibly tell his story at schools through them
So this episode did make a splash, and the ripple effects continue :)
-
Next up:
————--
IMAGINARY POPE
Well, perhaps I need to be humiliated in order to become humble.
————--
STEPHANIE
Ya so what in the world made me think I could put words into the mouth of the Pope?
I’m talking about Reckonings episode 22 – which is an imaginary reckoning with Pope Francis…written by yours truly and performed by a voice actor
-
Ya, so WHY did I do this?
Well, part of my intention for Reckonings is to showcase the power and the beauty of critical self-reflection
I want to make critical self-reflection look so powerful and so beautiful that more of US are moved to do it
That our public figures are moved to do it in public
And that we make ROOM for them to do it
Because I believe that by seeing ourselves more clearly…we gain the opportunity to learn, and grow, and EVOLVE
-
And so I’d been waiting for Pope Francis to call me and say he wants to show off his muscles of critical self-reflection on the show
But he didn’t call me :)
And it struck me: why not write his reckoning for him?
Could I write something that IF the Pope heard it, it would move him to say: now THAT is the me I want to be?
Can we use our imaginary selves to elicit our better angels?
-
Aaand that line of inquiry is what became episode 22
And I actually got pretty amazing feedback from listeners including from survivors
(My favorite feedback: your Pope was Dope :)
And the imaginary Pope actually led me to the very real Susan Pavlak, the survivor you heard in episode 23, the latest episode on clergy sex abuse,
because I was looking for someone to give feedback on my script for the Pope, which she did
Anyway so there may be more imaginary reckonings to come
-
Which leads us to the last thing I wanted to peel the curtain on, and that is: where is Reckonings going?
-
Backing up for a sec: I take walks with drafts of each episode, to really take it in and figure out what edits I want to make. And by the time I’m at the final draft and there’s music and everything, I’ve heard it so many times, I literally know the words. Like I’m speaking along with the episode the same way you sing to a song you know. And still, even though I’d heard it so many times, the morning I released Susan and Gil’s episode and took my final walk with it, I cried. I knew exactly what was coming and I still cried!
-
Not just because the story made me sad but because it moved me, and helped me see a way through clergy sex abuse….everything we hear about children being sexually abused by supposed spiritual leaders, that just drags my heart through the mud and this! This is so helpful...
To hear that Susan was able to recover, and to forgive her abuser for her own sake and to go on and live a wonderful life!
And that for Gil there was not a lot consciousness around the abuse….but that he still takes full responsibility and embraces the consequences, and that of course having too much power is part of the problem but that having less power actually made him a better and more fulfilled priest!
-
People ask me if I’m traumatized by my guests
I’m more disturbed by the news — my guests give me hope!
My guests are a testament to our human capacity to evolve, especially during an otherwise incredibly challenging political time - THAT’S why I make Reckonings
Ya and so where is Reckonings going?
-
Well I envision it going into real-time
I envision it becoming a place for real-time reckoning
A place in our public sphere where Senator Al Franken and Mark Zuckerberg can go / to take a look in the mirror, and grow from what they see
-
And I think THAT should live at the New York Times
Or perhaps On Being
Or somewhere that can set Reckonings up with the resources to fulfill its potential in a way that I haven’t been able to do on my own
And so, that’s what doing: I’m looking to find Reckonings a home where it can fulfill its potential as a place in our public sphere for self-reflection and growth
-
And if I find that home within the next three episodes, then that will be where Reckonings goes
And if not, well then these might be the last three episodes….
Because (speaking of CHANGE), at this point in Reckonings’ life, something has to change
-
I still have so many ambitions for the show
So many episodes I want to do
So many imaginary reckonings I want to imagine
I fantasize about getting all my guests together on a panel – imagine that!
Imagine Anwen and Sameer with Susan and Gil and Jerry Taylor and Frank Meeink and Lewis Wallace and….
What a motley crew of people whose common thread is…that they know how to grow!
-
So what can you do to keep Reckonings going?
Well you can reach out to wherever YOU think the show should live – the New York Times, On Being, Radiotopia, The Atlantic, wherever – and you can say, hey! You want Reckonings. Listen to my favorite episode and you’ll see what I mean :)
-
Thank you all for being on this ride with me
It really is your love and support and tweets and Patreon donations that keep me and Reckonings going
-
As you know, I’m Stephanie Lepp, and you’ve been listening to Reckonings :)
STEPHANIE
So I wanna bring y’all behind the curtain a little bit -- on a few things:
First, the ripple effects from Reckonings episode 21 with Anwen and Sameer
Second, what was up with the imaginary pope in episode 22
And finally, where is Reckonings going?
-
So first up: what’s been going on with Anwen and Sameer?
Well after they told their story on Reckonings, it got picked up quite a bit, actually :)
Their episode got featured on Snap Judgment and Love+Radio
Which is a big deal in podcastland
AND their story also landed in a book by feminist writer Peggy Orenstein, which will be coming out next year
And remember how high schools rejected Sameer’s bid to talk to their male students as part of their sex ed programs?
Well, an organization that works on gender equality with youth just reached out to him / to possibly tell his story at schools through them
So this episode did make a splash, and the ripple effects continue :)
-
Next up:
————--
IMAGINARY POPE
Well, perhaps I need to be humiliated in order to become humble.
————--
STEPHANIE
Ya so what in the world made me think I could put words into the mouth of the Pope?
I’m talking about Reckonings episode 22 – which is an imaginary reckoning with Pope Francis…written by yours truly and performed by a voice actor
-
Ya, so WHY did I do this?
Well, part of my intention for Reckonings is to showcase the power and the beauty of critical self-reflection
I want to make critical self-reflection look so powerful and so beautiful that more of US are moved to do it
That our public figures are moved to do it in public
And that we make ROOM for them to do it
Because I believe that by seeing ourselves more clearly…we gain the opportunity to learn, and grow, and EVOLVE
-
And so I’d been waiting for Pope Francis to call me and say he wants to show off his muscles of critical self-reflection on the show
But he didn’t call me :)
And it struck me: why not write his reckoning for him?
Could I write something that IF the Pope heard it, it would move him to say: now THAT is the me I want to be?
Can we use our imaginary selves to elicit our better angels?
-
Aaand that line of inquiry is what became episode 22
And I actually got pretty amazing feedback from listeners including from survivors
(My favorite feedback: your Pope was Dope :)
And the imaginary Pope actually led me to the very real Susan Pavlak, the survivor you heard in episode 23, the latest episode on clergy sex abuse,
because I was looking for someone to give feedback on my script for the Pope, which she did
Anyway so there may be more imaginary reckonings to come
-
Which leads us to the last thing I wanted to peel the curtain on, and that is: where is Reckonings going?
-
Backing up for a sec: I take walks with drafts of each episode, to really take it in and figure out what edits I want to make. And by the time I’m at the final draft and there’s music and everything, I’ve heard it so many times, I literally know the words. Like I’m speaking along with the episode the same way you sing to a song you know. And still, even though I’d heard it so many times, the morning I released Susan and Gil’s episode and took my final walk with it, I cried. I knew exactly what was coming and I still cried!
-
Not just because the story made me sad but because it moved me, and helped me see a way through clergy sex abuse….everything we hear about children being sexually abused by supposed spiritual leaders, that just drags my heart through the mud and this! This is so helpful...
To hear that Susan was able to recover, and to forgive her abuser for her own sake and to go on and live a wonderful life!
And that for Gil there was not a lot consciousness around the abuse….but that he still takes full responsibility and embraces the consequences, and that of course having too much power is part of the problem but that having less power actually made him a better and more fulfilled priest!
-
People ask me if I’m traumatized by my guests
I’m more disturbed by the news — my guests give me hope!
My guests are a testament to our human capacity to evolve, especially during an otherwise incredibly challenging political time - THAT’S why I make Reckonings
Ya and so where is Reckonings going?
-
Well I envision it going into real-time
I envision it becoming a place for real-time reckoning
A place in our public sphere where Senator Al Franken and Mark Zuckerberg can go / to take a look in the mirror, and grow from what they see
-
And I think THAT should live at the New York Times
Or perhaps On Being
Or somewhere that can set Reckonings up with the resources to fulfill its potential in a way that I haven’t been able to do on my own
And so, that’s what doing: I’m looking to find Reckonings a home where it can fulfill its potential as a place in our public sphere for self-reflection and growth
-
And if I find that home within the next three episodes, then that will be where Reckonings goes
And if not, well then these might be the last three episodes….
Because (speaking of CHANGE), at this point in Reckonings’ life, something has to change
-
I still have so many ambitions for the show
So many episodes I want to do
So many imaginary reckonings I want to imagine
I fantasize about getting all my guests together on a panel – imagine that!
Imagine Anwen and Sameer with Susan and Gil and Jerry Taylor and Frank Meeink and Lewis Wallace and….
What a motley crew of people whose common thread is…that they know how to grow!
-
So what can you do to keep Reckonings going?
Well you can reach out to wherever YOU think the show should live – the New York Times, On Being, Radiotopia, The Atlantic, wherever – and you can say, hey! You want Reckonings. Listen to my favorite episode and you’ll see what I mean :)
-
Thank you all for being on this ride with me
It really is your love and support and tweets and Patreon donations that keep me and Reckonings going
-
As you know, I’m Stephanie Lepp, and you’ve been listening to Reckonings :)