Ben: Making Friends with My Body

In this episode, Ben talks about their experiences with abuse, gender identity, recovery, and how he has been finding ways to love their body.Content Warnings for mentions of sexual abuse and physical abuse, talk about Covid, AIDs, addiction, homophobia, accentism, spiritual abuse, and suicidality,Definitions:Cis-het: cisgender and heterosexual, meaning non-trans and straightReferences:“The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.” - this is thought to be from from St Augustine, but appears to not be misattributed. It is likely from Charles Spurgeon who said this: "Open the door and let the lion out; he will take care of himself. Why, they are gone! He no sooner goes forth in his strength than his assailants flee" from his book Speeches, at Home and Abroad."Poem 5" from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman"Chinar Es," Armenian traditional folk song noted down by Komitas, a composer and folk song collector who was arrested and exiled during the Armenian genocideThich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Master who spoke out against the Vietnam WarPatrick Carnes, writer and researcher of sexual recoveryMyth of Normal, book by Gabor Mate"Don't live up to your stereotypes." Quote from "The Toughest Indian in the World," a CBS interview of Sherman AlexieThe idea that American car businesses plotted to get rid of public transportation - from 1996 documentary Take for a Ride. There are articles that criticize this idea, such as https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gm-trolley-conspiracy-what-really-happened/."To thine own-self be true," quote misattributed here to Buddha, is actually a quote from the Shakespearean play Hamlet.Poem 6 in Leaves of Grass by Walt WhitmanRichard Rohr, Franciscan priest who writes on spiritualityTender Heart of Sadness, book by Roger Guest"On Joy and Sorry," poem by Kahlil Gibran"I'm Gonna Live Forever," song by Irene CaraMention of mutual friend who was on this podcast and has since died - "Diana: Telling My Story""A Wounded Deer--leaps highest," poem by Emily Dickinson