In this episode, we talk about generational change and belonging with Denise Soler Cox. We share our own struggles to belong and investigate what it means to belong, even in the in-between space of identity and culture.

Dr. Philip Butler is an international scholar whose work primarily focuses on the intersections of neuroscience, technology, spirituality, and blackness. Dr. Butler speaks to the vital need for black folks to engage in challenging questions about current and rapidly developing human enhancement. In this episode, we talk about the changing of our bodies and technologies.

Ian is a political strategist, dad, and the first gentleman of the seventh congressional district in Colorado. We discuss the tension between incrementalism and revolutions and how religious ideologies influence our political mindsets.

Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, an interfaith practitioner of Buddhism, brings unique insights into how our understanding of God shapes the way we navigate change in ourselves and change in the world. She shares practical methods from the Zen Buddhism tradition that invites us to consider the inevitability of Change and how to navigate the disruptions.

On this season of complexified, we are exploring CHANGE. And we're asking how our ideas of God shaped the way we navigate change, personally, politically, and culturally. Today, we have Dr. Miguel De La Torre, professor of social ethics and Latino Studies at Iliff. School of Theology. Author of 42 books.

“All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God is Change”― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents. This quote in Butler's post-apocalyptic novel is the basis for our season 3 episodes. In this interview, Amanda and Lex talk about the complexities of change and what you can expect from this new season!!

Amanda and Lex talk about their favorite episodes and what they've learned in these first two seasons of the Complexified podcast! They also share the vision and what you can expect for season 3!

We are approaching the holiday season, and many folks have questions and anxieties about sharing space with family members with whom we disagree based on our political understanding and involvement in the world. Sarah Holland and Beth Silvers from Pantsuit Politics talk with Amanda, and they help us approach the holidays with family and engage them in political discussions rooted in love and care.

Reverend Dr. Jennifer Leath speaks on liberation and the AME church. We hear about her journey growing up as a Quare young person knowing that she was called to preach and how she had to make choices aligned with HER TRUTH. We also dive into her decision to move to Canada and her quest to become a mother.

Why does the government care so much about our bodies and whether we have babies? Get nerdy with us as we talk with philosophy professor Thomas Nail, and explore the history of governments forming the populations they want to govern.

Rabbi Joe Black joins us in the studio to share his moving music and poetry. Rabbi Joe helps us understand what Jewish tradition teaches about abortion and shares his own story of navigating difficult life and death decisions in his own family.

We continue our conversation about religion, politics, and abortion with biblical scholar, pastor, and professor of New Testament at Iliff School of Theology, Reverend Dr. Eric Smith. Eric and Amanda talk about some of the ways the Bible is used in anti-abortion arguments and how it shapes our society and our cultural expectations. We ask what the Bible can actually teach us to understand about abortion.

Iliff Student Lex Dunbar and host Amanda Henderson share their personal stories about their relationships with the anti-abortion movement and journies toward championing equitable reproductive health and justice. These stories are powerful and eye-opening - unveiling the truth behind the manipulation, harm, and misuse of religious ideals that uphold the anti-abortion movement in their missionary efforts. **accidents happen when you’re talking on the fly we know Mike Brown was murdered in...

Born in a Church, and raised moving between the worlds of poverty in Jamaica Queens, and private school in the wealthy Upper East Side of New York City, Ann Marie Benitez knows what access to healthcare looks like when you have resources, and when you dont. Listen in to learn about Reproductive Justice, and the realities people of color face when trying to access reproductive healthcare after the end of Roe v. Wade.

Over the last year, a number of things have happened that signal an alarming change in American life: church and state seem to be no longer separate. In this episode, lawyer, advocate, strategist, and President and CEO of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser tells the stories of those whose lives are directly impacted when the Supreme Court favors one religious ideology over the well-being of families and children. And she shares how her own family story...

What is Christian Nationalism? Why is everyone talking about it? In this episode, we wrap up our past few episodes by answering those lingering questions to dig into what is - and is not- Christian Nationalism. We share the bad news on the embrace of Christian Nationalism by mainstream Republican politicians and come back to the wisdom we gleaned in earlier episodes to fight to build communities that reject xenophobia and embrace radical love.

Ian Silverii: political strategist, Jewish dad, and Senator spouse. Ian is a wisecracking fast-talking political genius who has led the progressive fight in Colorado for 15 years. Ian speaks with clarity, passion, and always humor. In this episode, Ian and Amanda talk about his work to bring the seismic shifts that he made in the political landscape and Colorado to the rest of the country. Ian shares about his own family escape from Nazi Germany- and how the gravity of those stories drive his...

Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis is one of those people who transcends all of the categories we like to create - the first female and the first black senior pastor at a historic church in New York City that was founded in 1628. She speaks with prophetic truth. In this episode, Jacquie and Amanda talk about Christian Nationalism, the tied-up realities of the founding of the U.S., Christianity, and white supremacy. Jacquie casts a vision of a world where the radical love she preaches about becomes real.

With the first two episodes under our belt, Host Amanda Henderson and Iliff graduate student Lex Dunbar dig into the key takeaways they hope our listeners come away with after the first two episodes: 1) The idea that there are clear god-ordained, universal religious teachings about gender, sexuality, and marriage as we know them today is a myth. 2) Regulation of bodies, sexuality, and marriage relationships has been a part of the business of the State since the founding of the U.S. and...

It’s never been easy, politically or religiously, to be queer or trans in this country – but this year, politics has made it harder than it’s been in decades- state lawmakers introduced 240 anti-gay bills across the US- and some seem to think homophobia is socially acceptable again. That makes Sam Park’s job both more important and more difficult. Sam is the first openly gay state rep ever elected in Georgia…in 2016. I found him to be so thoughtful about how he looks at the conflicts he faces...

In the 2022 state legislative sessions across the U.S., 240 bills were introduced that would restrict rights and equality for LGBTQ people. A high number of these bills specifically targeted trans youth. In this episode, we talk with Brandan Robertson to learn about his own experiences growing up in Evangelical Fundamentalist Christianity. Brandon shares his own hatefulness to his LGBTQ peers, to the love and care he experienced in the church– and his own coming-out story and the rejection...

It’s been a ROUGH few years. If you’re like me, you feel overwhelmed. Why can’t we keep our kids safe from guns? Why are voting rights under attack? Why can’t we even talk about abortion, gender, sexuality, or racism? How we got here is not a mystery. For too long we have avoided talking about religion and politics. But when we avoid these hard topics, we stay stuck. On Complexified, we dig into the places where religion and politics collide with real-life, - so we can make real change. ...