When Belief Becomes ControlWelcome Back! This episode isn’t about religion versus religion. It’s about power, fear, and what happens when belief hardens into certainty.
I’m joined by Sigrin, founder of Universal Pagan Temple, to talk about Pagan revivalism, leaving Christianity as self-preservation, and why Paganism keeps getting framed as a threat in modern culture.
We discuss fear-based theology, social control inside high-pressure Christian environments, and how conformity can become more important than honesty. From there, we critically examine the book Pagan Threat, its claims about Pagan “groupthink,” and the irony of labeling Paganism as globalist when it is inherently local and decentralized.
This is a conversation about belief, authority, projection, and what spiritual responsibility looks like without coercion.
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Even just watching, liking, commenting, and sharing is a huge help!
Blessed be ✨
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Every December, the same argument shows up:
Is Christmas pagan? Is it Christian? Is it Saturnalia? Is it Jesus’ birthday? In this episode, we step past the argument and into the history beneath it. We explore how winter was understood long before Christianity. Why solstice mattered for survival. How land, hearth, and household ritual shaped meaning. And how pre-Christian traditions like Yule and Mother’s Night weren’t gently inherited, but actively suppressed, erased, and selectively absorbed.
This isn’t about aesthetics or trend-based paganism.
It’s about memory. What was buried. What survived.
And why it’s stirring again. 🕯️🌲
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Music: “An Acoustic Guitar” by StepanBel Licensed for use
Welcome back to Taste of Truth Tuesdays! Today's episode is Part Two that dives into the final five “Historical Jesus” myths people love to repeat, plus a quick reality check for the mythicist side too.
In this episode:
Myth #6–7: “Archaeology & Non-Christian Sources Prove Jesus”
What the evidence actually shows — and what it doesn’t. Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, archaeology… none of it confirms a historical Jesus.
Myth #8: “Paul Supports the Gospel Jesus”
Paul’s Jesus is visionary and scriptural, not biographical. His silence tells its own story.
Myth #9: “Christianity Began With Jesus and His Disciples”
Early Christianity was a swirl of competing revelation cults, not a unified movement led by a Galilean teacher.
Myth #10: “Christianity Spread Too Fast to Be a Myth”
The real timeline: tiny, scattered growth for two centuries — then a political supernova under Constantine.
Also: A Critical Look at Mythicists
Why agreement on the conclusion doesn’t mean agreement on the methods. We talk about:
• where Fitzgerald’s arguments fall short
• why Tim O’Neill’s critique matters (even with his own biases)
• how atheist spaces often recreate the same purity culture they mock
This episode isn’t about choosing sides — it’s about evidence, clarity, and refusing to trade one orthodoxy for another.
📚 Sources & Notes:
Full citations are here: EPISODE BLOG
💬 Join the conversation:
Thoughts, questions, pushback? I want to hear it.
Have thoughts? Pushback? Questions?
I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
If you enjoy the show, hit follow and share with someone who’s tired of inherited narratives.
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review, or if on YouTube please like the video and subscribe!
Aaand as always…Maintain your curiosity, embrace skepticism, and keep tuning in. 🎙️🔒
🎧 Thank you for listening
Welcome Back! In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with my friend & researcher Stephinity Salazar to explore her new paper Social Miasm Theory. A framework that connects suppression, chronic illness, psychological stress, and the breakdown we’re seeing in society.
We talk about the roots of miasm theory in homeopathy, what “suppression” actually means (beyond symptoms and meds), and how emotional, environmental, and social forces shape the terrain we live in.
We also get into:
• how chronic stress and toxic exposures shift the body's internal environment
• why suppressed trauma doesn’t stay “internal” — it shows up everywhere
• the idea of mind parasites (Dennett) and biological parasites that alter behavior
• what happens when ideas hijack human psychology
• the role of censorship, scientism, and materialist dogma
• how emotional honesty and terrain support can change everything
• what healing looks like on a personal and collective level
Whether you’re skeptical, curious, or somewhere in-between, this episode offers a different lens for understanding why our world feels the way it does and how suppression might be driving more of it than we realize.
Listen with an open mind, hold onto your critical thinking, and take what resonates.
Stephinity’s website: YOUR BODY ELECTRIC YOUR BODY ELECTRIC | FULL SPECTRUM FREQUENCY MEDICINE
Find her on Linkden And Instagram
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
The “Truth” Trap: How Apologetics Stops You From ThinkingIt's a bonus edition episode: Taste Test Thursdays! Modern apologetics loves to dress itself up as “investigation” but the deeper you look, the more it functions like a thought-management system. In this episode, we unpack why so many Christians mistake certainty for truth, how group identity hijacks reasoning, and why apologetics relies on psychological shortcuts to keep believers inside the frame.
We dig into:
How beliefs fused to group identity make truth optional
Why apologetics doesn’t encourage questions — it funnels you toward the “right” ones
Charles Freeman, Mark Noll, and the long lineage of Christian anti-intellectualism
The cultural world early apologists were actually arguing against (spoiler: Christianity wasn’t unique back then)
How credence works differently from factual belief — and why rituals override reality
Why modern “case for Christ” narratives still lean on authority, not evidence
Including examples like churches renting out gymnasiums and declaring the bleachers “sacred,” or how rituals temporarily suspend our grasp on everyday reality the same way stage actors inhabit a world that isn’t real — without ever breaking the physics of the stage.
If you’ve ever felt like Christian “investigations” were stacked decks, curated evidence loops, or ready-made conclusions packaged as inquiry, this episode will make the whole structure visible.
A sharp, honest conversation about belief, identity, and why the modern apologetics machine isn’t broken-- it’s functioning exactly as designed.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back! In this episode of Taste of Truth Tuesdays, I sit down with author and researcher David Fitzgerald to unpack Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All. We focus on:
Myth #1: “The idea that Jesus being a myth is ridiculous” → Why the historical evidence for Jesus doesn’t match the hype (think Caesar crossing the Rubicon).
Myth #4: “Eyewitnesses wrote the Gospels” → How the timeline and authorship reveal a different story.
Myth #5: “The Gospels give a consistent picture of Jesus” → How each Gospel portrays a radically different Jesus.
David also shares his 25+ year research process, the myths that get the most pushback, and what it’s like to challenge cultural assumptions about Jesus.
For infographics, timelines, biblical quotes, and historical references, check out the episode blog!
📚 Books by David Fitzgerald:
Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All
Jesus: Mything in Action
The Complete Heretic’s Guide to Western Religion
💬 Your Turn: David wants to hear from you! If you have questions or theories to explore, drop them in the comments on the blog or send them to me. We’ll bring a few of your questions into Part 2, where we’ll tackle Myth #7: “Archaeology Confirms the Gospels.” What else should we cover?
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
How Myths, Consciousness, and Integration Teach Us to Grow
Welcome Back! What if your worst moments could actually teach you? In this episode, I sit down with Melissa Monte, host of Mind Love, to explore how chaos becomes consciousness medicine.
We dive into:
How to read life’s toughest experiences as sacred curriculum
Why myths repeat across cultures and what that tells us about human consciousness
The difference between spiritual bypassing and true integration
Melissa shares her personal journey, her seven-step framework inspired by The Hero’s Journey, and how to metabolize life’s lessons instead of just “vibing higher.” We also talk cultural myths, the collective unconscious, and why integration feels more like returning to wholeness than transcending reality.
If you’re curious about turning chaos into clarity and exploring consciousness in a grounded, practical way, this conversation is for you.
Listen in and learn how to transform your pain into insight, your stories into meaning, and your chaos into growth.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back! What if the clothes we wear...even the ones labeled clean, organic, or sustainable are quietly harming us?
In this episode of I sit down with Arielle Loupos, founder of Flower Girl, a brand reimagining period underwear with natural, breathable fibers
Together, we unpack:
The invisible toxins hiding in our fabrics— from PFAS to formaldehyde
How “performance” fabrics and “clean” marketing can both distort our sense of safety
Why sovereignty over our bodies starts with what we wear— not shame, but awareness
Fashion isn’t just self-expression— it’s chemistry, history, and sometimes… poison.Episode BLOG! 🔗
Support Arielle Loupos: Check out her products here! https://flowergirl.co/
Find her on social media! Insta, Pinterest, Substack
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back to Taste of Truth Tuesdays! Last week, I got really personal and shared my own experience with multi-level marketing—why I joined, why I believed in it so fully, and what it really cost me—emotionally, spiritually, and financially. I even tattooed “trust the process” on my body because I truly thought I was stepping into freedom and empowerment.
But as I dug deeper, I realized the cracks: the emotional manipulation, the magical thinking, the ready-made stories to silence doubts. And that’s why today’s conversation is such an honor.
I’m joined by Robert L. FitzPatrick, author of Ponzinomics and False Profits, who has spent decades exposing MLMs for what they really are—predatory business models disguised as opportunity. Today, we’re diving into:
How MLMs exploit cultural and spiritual hooks, from hustle culture to prosperity theology
The brutal economic reality and why nearly everyone loses
The ways narrative control and emotional manipulation keep people invested
The deeper personal and societal consequences of MLMs beyond just money
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this episode are solely those of me and my guest and don’t necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any company, organization, or individual mentioned. This episode contains personal opinions and interpretations protected under fair use for commentary and critique. Any claims about MLM companies are intended to address industry-wide practices and may not apply to the specific company discussed. Statements by distributors or former distributors reflect personal experiences, not official company views. Sources discussed are publicly available. Listeners are encouraged to do their own research.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations –
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
✨ Let’s talk Manifestation & MLMs ✨
The Law of Attraction isn’t just a feel-good mantra—it’s a tool MLMs use to control, recruit, and profit from their distributors. In this episode, I unpack how motivational materials, mindset courses, and “personal development” hype keep participants chasing success while the system benefits, not them.
I share my own journey from wellness fanatic in MLMs to high-control religion, revealing the psychological hooks, endless product requirements, and hype events that masked financial strain and metabolic burnout as “commitment.”
We dive into:
How MLMs weaponize optimism and mindset thinking
The connection between New Thought philosophy, prosperity consciousness, and MLM culture
The emotional, financial, and physical toll of chasing MLM “success”
Why belief itself becomes the product
This is a look at more than scams—it’s an exploration of how culture, community, and ideology can shape lives in ways we rarely notice.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the host and guest and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any company, organization, or individual mentioned. This episode contains personal opinions and interpretations which are protected under fair use for the purposes of commentary and critique. Any claims made about multi-level marketing (MLM) companies in general are intended to address industry-wide practices and do not necessarily apply to the specific company discussed in this episode. Furthermore, statements made by distributors or former distributors are their personal opinions and experiences and do not represent the official views or positions of the company in question. The sources we discussed are publicly available. Listeners are encouraged to conduct their own research and form their own opinions. Thank you for tuning in.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Hey hey, Welcome back. Today we’re unpacking why people get drawn into high-control environments and how forgiveness in evangelical culture is often weaponized—not for healing, but to silence victims and protect institutions. This isn’t just personal; it’s systemic.
We dive into:
Situational Vulnerability: Sociologists and psychologists note that moments of disruption—loss, grief, illness, or even daily stressors like hunger or exhaustion—leave us open to influence. Laura Dodsworth calls this a “blip,” a crack in our defenses where new narratives and ideologies can rush in.
Recruitment in Real Time: Funerals, memorials, and grief are fertile ground for high-control groups. Jehovah’s Witnesses admit targeting the recently bereaved, while social media love-bombing mimics the same tactics digitally.
The Myth of “Christlike” Forgiveness: Evangelical culture often expects forgiveness before healing. Pete Walker reminds us in The Tao of Fully Feeling that true forgiveness is a consistent choice, only possible after grief, rage, and hurt are processed. Premature forgiveness becomes compliance, not empowerment.
Institutional Abuse: From SBC leadership shielding abusive pastors to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ impossible “two-witness rule,” forgiveness is used as a tool to maintain power, silence victims, and protect institutions.
Philosophical Context: Nietzsche and Freud both observed how religious systems can channel human vulnerability into cycles of obedience and guilt. Freud’s psychoanalysis may even mirror these patterns in secular form.
The “Blip” in Action: High-control movements—religious, political, or MLMs—exploit moments of crisis, knowing vulnerability plus orchestrated belonging equals fertile ground for influence. The real question isn’t should we forgive, but who benefits when forgiveness and emotional openness are demanded at the exact moment people are least able to resist?
For a deep dive, read the full blog here: Weaponized Forgiveness in Evangelical Spaces
Welcome back. This week’s episode is heavier. I’m reflecting on a shocking event and the reactions it sparked—celebration, grief, and moral outrage. It’s a moment that shows how divided we are and how morality shapes what we see as right or wrong.
Using Jonathan Haidt’s moral foundations, I explore why different groups interpret the same event so differently, and how images, narratives, and online culture amplify those reactions.
I also dive into the rise of revivalist movements, the risks of mixing religion and politics, and why recognizing our moral blind spots is essential.
The takeaway: grief, polarization, and moral certainty can bind us—or blind us. Strong democracies need trust, institutions, and stories that unite rather than divide.
Maintain your curiosity, embrace skepticism, and keep tuning in. 🎙️🔒
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
In this bonus episode of Taste of Truth Tuesdays, we’re stepping away from our usual deep dives into spirituality and politics to take a hard look at something just as powerful: how media shapes our bodies, minds, and behaviors.
We break down the Netflix documentary Fit for TV, revealing the extreme methods behind reality dieting shows like The Biggest Loser from grueling exercise and near-starvation diets to illegal caffeine pills and the shocking metabolic consequences for contestants years later.
Drawing on research, my experience as a personal trainer and former competitive bodybuilder, and insights from Laura Dodsworth’s Free Your Mind, we explore:
How TV and social media train us to chase impossible body ideals.
The hidden costs of extreme dieting and overtraining on metabolism and hormones.
Why fitness culture often ignores genetics, creating unrealistic expectations and self-blame.
The link between fitspiration, self-objectification, and broader societal pressures on appearance.
We also unpack the science in layman’s terms—like why Biggest Loser contestants burned hundreds fewer calories per day years after the show—and discuss how screens can subtly shape what we believe about ourselves.
If you’ve ever wondered why dieting feels harder over time, why fitness culture can feel exhausting, or how media programs our behaviors without us even realizing it, this episode is for you.
Episode BLOG! 🖇️🔗
Resources & References Mentioned:
Fit for TV (Netflix Documentary)
Laura Dodsworth, Free Your Mind
Biggest Loser long-term metabolic study (2015)
Computers in Human Behavior (2023), study on fitspiration and body dissatisfaction
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X! 🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
Welcome back! In this episode, we dive into a viral clash between two major media figures: Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes and explore the deeper forces shaping what we’re allowed to talk about in today’s political landscape.
We unpack insights from The New Jerusalem by Michael Collins Piper, a revealing look at decades of influence in American politics, media, and foreign policy. Then, we break down why Nick Fuentes publicly challenged Tucker Carlson on Rumble, exposing the invisible boundaries that shape public discourse.
Plus, we discuss Ian Carroll’s call for a national conversation about censorship, free speech, and the importance of open dialogue in a healthy democracy.
This episode is about more than personalities...it's about who gets to decide what’s okay to say and why that matters for all of us.
Links to Nick Fuentes’ full two-part response on Rumble
Tune in, listen critically, and join the conversation.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back! In this episode, I challenge the popular belief that the Bible should be treated as a literal historical document and explore how that mindset has influenced not just faith, but politics.
I also dig into the troubling connections between high-level figures, media distractions, and hidden influence in U.S. leadership. What opened my eyes? A closer look at past events involving the modeling world, foreign policy, and long-standing power dynamics few want to talk about.
Plus: why the Protestant tradition isn’t the “original” Christianity it claims to be, and how fundamentalism led us to the fractured, confused state of modern faith.
This episode is about reclaiming clarity, staying curious, and refusing to worship systems that thrive on control.
🔗🖇️Episode blog
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
🚨 Bonus drop – because some things can’t wait for Tuesday.
Anti-ICE riots. Masked agitators. American flags burned. Chaos in the streets of LA, Austin, and New York. Meanwhile, a group called the Revolutionary Communists of America has officially declared war on the United States.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
This episode dives into the war you’re not supposed to notice—because if you do, they’ll call you paranoid, bigoted, or worse…. Today's guest is Karlyn Borysenko and
We break down:
🔥 The five-tier map of the modern Left—from normie Democrat to full-blown revolutionary🚩 The rise of “Queer Marxism” and why it’s not about inclusion—it’s about erasure🧠 How language is being weaponized to dissolve truth, biology, family, and even identity📚 Why Democratic Socialists are the soft bridge to hard collapse🧨 And how radicals have rebranded destruction as “compassion”
This isn’t liberalism. It’s not even progressivism.It’s a bulldozer—and it’s flattening everything that makes society function.
SOURCES
A Brief History of Racism - Kindle edition by Borysenko, Karlyn. Politics & Social Sciences
Socialism Saturday Stream from Red May out of Seattle
Democrats Are Not The Same As Communists. Know The Difference.
BREAKING: Communist Group Declares War On America
I’m gay, but I’ll pass on Pride Month - Washington Examiner
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back! Today, we take a break from the present-day chaos and time travel into a darker, hidden chapter of American history—where science, psychiatry, and ideology collided in horrifying ways.
You’ve heard of the Nazi doctors and eugenics experiments. But what if I told you America wrote the first drafts?
In this episode, we uncover:
The roots of American psychiatry in racial theory, slavery, and eugenics
How Benjamin Rush—yes, a signer of the Declaration of Independence—laid the ideological groundwork for mental illness as hereditary degeneracy
The forced sterilizations upheld by Buck v. Bell (1927) and how the U.S. became the model for Nazi policies
The chilling story of Letchworth Village and its anonymous mass graves
And how psychiatry, once cloaked in "healing," has long been used to pathologize difference, enforce control, and erase dissent
We also connect these early systems of medical authoritarianism to today’s ideological capture of biology, medicine, and mental health.
If you care about history, truth, and the unseen roots of the institutions shaping our world, this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen now and share with someone who thinks “that could never happen here.”
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations – Taste0ftruth Tuesdays
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
Welcome back to Taste Test Thursdays! What if the very institutions we called oppressive… were also protecting us?
In this episode, I explore a deeply uncomfortable question: Have we mistaken structure for tyranny—and in doing so, created chaos where there was once cohesion?
We’re living in an age of extremes. On one end: Quiverfull-style fundamentalists preaching barefoot-and-pregnant submission as salvation. On the other: a postmodern free-for-all where “gender is a vibe” and all structure is labeled violence.
If you've been caught between both—wounded by control but wary of collapse—you’re not alone.
📉 Because here’s the spoiler: freedom without form doesn’t lead to liberation. It leads to instability.
We dig into:
The rise of The Panic Playbook: Project 2025, handmaid hysteria, and the media’s latest obsession with “Christian nationalism.”
Why not all “Christian nationalists” are theocrats—and why lumping them together fuels fear instead of clarity.
Hillary Clinton’s comments that exposed modern feminism’s blind spot.
Why pro-natalism ≠ Quiverfull—and what the demographic data is really telling us.
The inconvenient questions raised by secular feminists like Louise Perry and historians like Joan Brumberg about what’s actually protective for women.
This isn’t a call to go backward. It’s a call to pause—and ask what was lost in our so-called “progress.”
Because maybe—just maybe—not all boundaries are cages.
Some are guardrails.
Hit play, and let’s rethink what we’re calling progress.
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations –
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
I recently sat down with Balance Banter to share a very personal part of my story — my unexpected entry into religion during the pandemic, what pulled me in, what made me question, and how I began to deconstruct without losing my curiosity. We talk faith, control, community, and what it really means to rebuild your worldview from the ground up. If you’ve ever felt like you’re standing at the crossroads of belief and disillusionment, this one’s for you.
Welcome back to Taste of Truth Tuesdays, where we maintain our curiosity, embrace skepticism, and never stop asking what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Last week, in The Deluded Brain, I set the stage for today’s conversation by exploring why control feels safe, certainty feels holy, and complexity feels threatening. If you missed it, go back and give it a listen — it’s short, sharp, and sets the context beautifully.
Today, we’re unpacking the deep neurological and emotional roots of Complex PTSD — and why healing isn’t just about mindset shifts, talk therapy, or being more “resilient.”
We explore:
The critical differences between PTSD and Complex PTSD — and how each impacts the brain and body
Why CPTSD isn’t just a fear response, but a full-body survival adaptation that reshapes your identity
What it means to heal from the bottom up — and why insight alone won’t cut it
How books and language can validate our experience — without replacing the need for somatic work
The push-pull of relational safety: why CPTSD makes connection feel risky, even when we crave it
And how trauma affects the Default Mode Network — making healing feel like rediscovering who you really are
Last season, we dove deep into Pete Walker’s From Surviving to Thriving, exploring how childhood neglect, emotional abuse, and developmental trauma shape adult behavior.
But today? We’re going deeper. Through the lens of neuroscience.What if your brain and body are actually doing their best to protect you — through adaptations wired by Complex PTSD?
My guest today is Cody Isabel, a neuroscience researcher and writer whose work is shifting trauma conversations in powerful ways. He holds a degree in Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience, has training in Internal Family Systems psychotherapy, and specializes in Psychoneuroimmunology — the study of how your thoughts, brain, and immune system all interact.
His Substack article “PTSD & Complex PTSD Are NOT the Same Thing” is one of the clearest, most validating reads I’ve come across — and it forms the backbone of today’s discussion.
So, if you’ve ever felt stuck, shut down, reactive, misunderstood, or like your nervous system has a mind of its own… Click PLAY!
LINKS
About - The Mind, Brain, Body Digest
The Top 5 Childhood Core Wounds in Overachievers 🧠
No Bad Parts | IFS Institute | Schwartz
Transcending Trauma Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems Therapy
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
I recently sat down with Balance Banter to share a very personal part of my story — my unexpected entry into religion during the pandemic, what pulled me in, what made me question, and how I began to deconstruct without losing my curiosity. We talk faith, control, community, and what it really means to rebuild your worldview from the ground up. If you’ve ever felt like you’re standing at the crossroads of belief and disillusionment, this one’s for you.
Welcome back to Taste Test Thursday! Today, we’re diving into how your brain reacts when your beliefs are challenged and why some people go into full defense mode.
Here’s what we’re exploring:
Amygdala Hijacking: When our brains get triggered, the amygdala takes over, sending us into fight-or-flight mode, even when it’s not needed.
The Need for Certainty: Our brains crave clarity, and ideologies give us that. But this need for certainty often locks us into rigid belief systems.
Why Rigidity Feels Safe: Having a fixed belief system provides comfort and control in a chaotic world—even if it’s overly simplistic.
Trauma’s Role: Stress or past trauma can heighten these emotional reactions, making it harder to stay calm or logically evaluate new information.
Stay tuned to see how all of this connects to the way we argue, believe, and defend our positions in today’s polarized world!
🆕🆕This collection includes books that have deeply influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, and shaped my content. Book Recommendations
🙏 Please help this podcast reach a larger audience in hope to edify & encourage others! To do so: leave a 5⭐️ review and send it to a friend! Thank you for listening! I’d love to hear from you, find me on Instagram! @taste0ftruth , @megan_mefit , Pinterest! Substack and on X!
I recently sat down with Balance Banter to share a very personal part of my story — my unexpected entry into religion during the pandemic, what pulled me in, what made me question, and how I began to deconstruct without losing my curiosity. We talk faith, control, community, and what it really means to rebuild your worldview from the ground up. If you’ve ever felt like you’re standing at the crossroads of belief and disillusionment, this one’s for you.