PODCAST · society
The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast
by Ethan C. Lewin
Join me as I confront what terrifies me—including launching this podcast—in hopes of unearthing truths that set us free and help recover personal authority to forge a path uniquely our own. This podcast exists to raise to light the stories, life experiences, and messages of people from everyday walks of life. No single topic—just a shared journey aiming upward. I invite you to come alongside me as I live out this journey. After all, there’s no better time than the now.
Episodes
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#69 - ANC Class of 2021 - Our 5 Year Reunion Time Capsule
Every year, friends, families, and alumni from near and far return to Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, for Charter Day—an annual celebration commemorating the founding of the Academy of the New Church, its rich history, and the community it has brought together across generations. This year, as classes...
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#68 - Mark Swiski - Moving the Needle
As Mark Swiski was packing up his home and preparing to leave the community he once prayed to find, we sat down to unpack his life. A thread running through Mark’s life is his desire to give others what he wished he’d received growing up: as a father, giving his daughter the hugs he longed for as…
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#67 – Dr. Saul Fisher – Follow Your Loves & See Where They Take You
Saul Fisher has spent much of his life trying to understand why we are the way we are—and how paying closer attention might help us better understand and love both ourselves and one another. Born into a close-knit Jewish family and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Saul grew up sensitive, curious…
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#66 - Christopher Augustus Barber - Taste & See for Yourself
Chris Barber is an ordained New Church priest, religion teacher at the Academy of the New Church, and President of the Swedenborg Foundation. He has dedicated much of his life to studying Emanuel Swedenborg—not just his theology, but the man behind it. Chris helps bring consciousness to the...
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#65 - Barbara d’Amato - What Birth Can Be
Barbara d’Amato has spent nearly 50 years welcoming babies into the world—many of them from my hometown of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. She had already delivered roughly 6,000 babies by the time she closed her private practice in 2018, and one colleague estimates her lifetime total may now be closer...
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#64 - Lori Odhner - Peel Back the Foil
Many know Lori Odhner as the voice behind the songs that shaped their childhood, filling generations of church services and bedtime routines. Underneath that is a discipline she's practiced even longer: paying attention to the person in front of her. In this conversation, Lori traces that…
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#63 - Erica Cantley - Between the Ideal and Real
There is often a gap between the way we are taught life is supposed to look and the way life actually looks. In celebration of her 60th birthday, I sit down with Miss Erica Cantley, a longtime ANC teacher and Maître D, to explore that space between the ideal and the real—and what happens when…
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#62 - Anne Grace Glenn - Birth Day Presence
When I found out that Anne Grace Glenn had recently given birth in front of 24 people, I said, "I need to interview her!" Anne grew up bilingual in Ottawa, spent a year in Japan as a kid, and was raised watching her parents actively live out their faith, one she'd spend years wrestling with...
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#61 - Greg Henderson - Just A Blip, A Lesson in Perspective
It takes a village to raise a child, and Greg Henderson has been a piece of that village for our whole town for nearly three decades, first as many of my peers' 8th grade teacher, then as my elementary school principal. In this episode, we trace his own story: how he became one piece of that...
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#60 - Penny Rhodes - A Sojourn in Hell, On the Way to Heaven
The first time I encountered Penny Rhodes was from afar through her 2024 General Church Assembly Talk. That eight-minute talk can be listened to here: Penny’s Talk. The first time we officially met in person was when I arrived at her front door to record this episode. Before we had even sat down,...
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#59 - Barrett Smith - Inside the Mind of a Painter
Ever wonder what goes on inside the mind of a painter after a lifetime of working quietly on a canvas? Barrett Smith gives voice to his life and his work. In February, Barrett was told he didn't have years left. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he's been, in many ways, catapulted into reflecting...
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#58 - Rich & Mary Tate - Angel Eyes
Rich and Mary Tate both grew up Catholic, but neither expected the path that would eventually bring them together. Rich grew up in a large Italian Catholic family and spent years on autopilot—go to school, work hard, get married—until his first marriage came to an end and gave him the awakening…
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#57 - Scott Daum - What Nobody Knew About the Principal
Scott has a powerful story, and it starts with basketball saving his life and winds through becoming a teacher, coach, and principal at the Academy — until the desire to isolate from that role took over and he pulled away from people entirely. This past year, he started coming back. Why? Because…
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#56 - Angus & Kaylene Glenn - An Aussie-American Love Story
The Glenns are back in town, which made for the perfect 4th of July weekend and a golden opportunity to finally ask something I've been curious about for years: who was Angus before Kaylene, and who was Kaylene before Angus? We talk about childhoods on opposite sides of the world, family, loss,...
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#55 - Graham Bier - Couldn't Not
Graham Bier, the man behind the music at the Cathedral, has always been a bit of a mystery to me. So I tried to solve it. Graham grew up hands in the earth — free range, with miles of woods and wild to roam. The son of a conservation biologist who brought him through Pennsylvania forests hunting...
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#54 – Edmund Rhodes – Is An Honest Agnostic Closer to God Than a False Believer?
Edmund Rhodes or “Mundo” doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. He feels comfortable to say what he thinks, even if it rubs you the wrong way — and if you disagree, good. He invites it. He doesn't back down from conflict, and he's not above stirring the pot. But he wasn’t always comfortable in his own skin....
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#53 - Major General Ronald K. Nelson - Good & Faithful Servant
At 94 years young, Major General Ronald K. Nelson reflects on nearly a century of experiences — from flying President Eisenhower as a young Marine helicopter pilot, to simultaneously building two careers over four decades: rising to the rank of two-star general in the Marine Corps Reserve while...
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#52 — Tony Rose - Turns the Tables on Ethan
I would like to say 52 weeks and 52 episodes flew by but I really can't. It's been long, rewarding, uncomfortable at times, and... really, really good for me. I was reluctant to be in the guest seat but Tony refused to let me off the hook and I'm glad he didn't. Tony did a great job keeping it...
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#51 - Ben Pendleton - Milk & Honey
“This is going to be a pretty dark interview… with suicide, Islamic dreaming, jihad… it may get a little dark. But anyhow, it is what it is, I guess. Welcome to my life.” There you have it — straight from Ben himself. Hard to top an introduction like that. But I will add this: beneath all the...
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#50 - John Rienstra - Under the Helmet
John Rienstra was drafted ninth overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and later played for the Cleveland Browns. He played under Chuck Noll, Bill Belichick, and Bruce Arians — coaches who combined for 11 Super Bowl rings. He was nicknamed The Raging Rhino. At his peak, he could...
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#49 - Martha Pitcairn - Too Soon to Tell
Martha is a coach, a listener, and what she calls a "lay midwife for women's spirits" — someone who helps people come home to themselves. She’s also my godmother. She's known me since before I knew myself. That should be enough said. In this episode, we talk about what it means to truly see...
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#48 - Lach Brown - The Noble Warrior
If you asked a room full of ten-year-old boys what they wanted to be when they grew up, Lach Brown became all of them: a Vietnam War Cobra attack helicopter pilot, police officer, firefighter, and decorated veteran, holding the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and Air Medal...
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#47 - Shawn Rose's - 5 Primal Medicines
Shawn Rose has lived a quiet, intentional life that looks a lot like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, and in this episode he shares just how that path unfolded. Shawn has built his life around music and nature: perhaps best known as the piano accompanist to many generations, but there is more to…
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#46 – Dr. Marcia Perretto – Hypermobility as a Superpower
Marcia Perretto grew up in Brazil surrounded by physicians, fell in love with medicine early, and spent years becoming one of the most globally recognized specialists in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility disorders. But through all that training, she kept noticing the same flaw in the…
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#45 - Darryl Hasen - Underdog
On the surface, it’s easy to assume Darryl is fulfilling a predestined path, given he is the descendant of many Bryn Athyn “Greats.” But that version of the story misses the point entirely. To truly understand Darryl today, you have to meet the 16-year-old version of him in the mid-90s—a shorter,...
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#44 - Brenna Synnestvedt - Cure Chiroptophobia
My friends and I love to thrift, and Brenna Synnestvedt has been part of The Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop (better known as BATS), my personal favorite, for the past 25 years, recently taking on management. She thrives on supporting the 90 volunteers and 7 staff to find their niche, transforming a…
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#43 - Stephen D. Cole - The Polymath Pastor
Stephen D. Cole is a jack of all trades, descended from a lineage of brilliant minds. His father, Dandridge MacFarlan Cole, was a notable rocket scientist and futurist (look him up on Wikipedia!) who focused on practical space colonization concepts like hollowed-out asteroids for human habitats....
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#42 - Mare Odhner - La Regina e il Cuore dell’Accademia
For more than 30 years, Mare Odhner was the heart of the Academy school store. From behind the counter, she ran more than a place to buy books and grab snacks — it became a hub of student life. A place where students came to laugh, vent, get advice, and feel at home. Generations of students knew...
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#41 - Brendan Pitcairn - Create A Village
Brendan Pitcairn grew up as the kid who didn’t quite have his tribe yet. So he went into the woods—spending his time fishing and hunting. What began as isolation and escape slowly became mastery—and eventually purpose. Today, Brendan is a husband, father, outdoorsman, and mentor passionate about...
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#40 - Owen Frazier - "When I'm Ready" Is Too Late
Owen Frazier might seem like just the guy you bring your car to but he’s built a life far beyond that. As the oldest of nine, Owen learned early that if he wanted something, he had to go out and get it. His love for cars and career obsession started around five years old in Austria, flipping...
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#39 - Brian Horigan - Built on Oil Rigs
Before 40 years at the Academy as a teacher, coach, house master, and assistant principal, Brian Horigan earned his work ethic the old-fashioned way. At 10, he was a paperboy. Later, he packed cans for Castrol Motor Oil. By his late teens, he took a leap — boarding a three-day train across Canada...
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#38 – Blane Bostock - P2: The NDE & Twilight Zone That Followed
In Part 1, we explored Blane’s life before and after his near-death experience. In Part 2, we dive deep into the NDE itself—crossing the great divide, encountering angels, meeting “the light,” and navigating the strange and sacred aftermath. Along the way, we touch on TBIs and PTSD, getting saved...
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#38 - Blane Bostock - P1: Before & After the NDE
I grew up dancing my heart out at Bostock Band concerts—a band of siblings who’ve been jamming since childhood. Some of you might remember Swirled Whale. What I didn’t know back then was just how wild the eldest of the six, Blane Bostock’s, full mosaic really was. This is a long episode—and for...
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#37 - Thorne Pendleton - Brain Surgery to Bali
Although just 28, Thorne Pendleton has already lived a few lifetimes. At 14, he survived a giant fusiform brain aneurysm. By sophomore year of high school he had missed nearly 100 days of school. Detached and looking for discipline, he left home to attend an all-boys boarding school in New…
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#36 – Carol Buss – Apartheid to the Statue of Liberty
From road-tripping across Europe with infants in diapers to immigrating from South Africa to the United States during Apartheid, Carol and her husband Neil — with their three boys in tow — left everything they knew behind. They crossed the ocean by ship, arriving in New York Harbor at sunrise…
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Note from the Host
A quick note from me!
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#35 - Nina Dewees - Looking for the Good
While it’s essential to focus on what needs improving, it’s equally important to acknowledge what’s already going right. Nina Dewees lives this practice. Despite real challenges, she makes a deliberate, lifelong effort to look for the good. In the spirit of Rise Above It, Nina honors her parents...
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#34 - Rev. Scott Frazier - Calling All Men
Some conversations just click—thanks to Mr. Frazier, this may be one of my favorite dialogues yet. Scott Frazier is the Dean of the Theological School at Bryn Athyn College, and the only professor to ever give me a B. Scott’s journey of finding his calling is unique: from being homeschooled in...
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#33 - Dr. Phil Feerrar - Part 2: The Art of Teaching
Picking up where Part 1 left off, we continue our conversation with Dr. Feerrar, diving into his approaches to classroom management, mastery of the material, and the strategies that made him an effective educator. We discuss his dissertation and parent-of-the-bride speech — both with fun Harry...
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#33 - Dr. Phil Feerrar - Part 1: Formative Years (1st Grade - PhD)
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, I sit down with Dr. Feerrar, my 8th-grade teacher, longtime mentor, and dear friend — a legendary educator whom anyone who had the opportunity to learn from was lucky to have. We explore how his early experiences at home and in school shaped his eventual...
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#32 - Jeanne Alix Smith - Child of WWII Spies
Jeanne Alix Smith grew up shaped by a chapter of World War II few people know. Born in Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar, she was raised by unsung heroes of the war—her parents, Percy and Berthe Mayer—who served as covert intelligence agents in Madagascar, a region critical to Allied…
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#31 - Ric Asplundh - Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
If you grew up in Bryn Athyn and love cars, you probably remember Ric’s blue-and-white striped Shelby Cobra rolling through the Fourth of July parade or, years later, seeing him fly his original PA-18 Pitcairn autogiro over town. But if you don’t really know Ric, this episode is the perfect...
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#30 - Gregg Swierczynski - Ramshackle Lamb
Gregg had to grow up quickly in the concrete jungle of Philadelphia. His home life was shaped by the weight his father carried home from Vietnam, and by age 13 he was already working. Struggling to find acceptance and belonging, he turned to drugs and alcohol to disconnect. Things began to shift...
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#29 - Dr. Kathy Dooley - Immaculate Dissection
Kathy has been my health guide and guru for the past five years, walking a unique path: chiropractor → physical therapist → Chinese medicine → anatomy educator → lifelong student. She’s suffered 7 concussions, dissected over 2,700 cadavers, faced the valley of the shadow of death in her 20s, and...
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#28 - David Norman - Iraq War: Marine Anesthesiologist
David Norman has worn three uniforms—Navy, Air Force, and Marine—serving as an anesthesiologist and senior medical officer. From landing in the Philippines during an active coup to witnessing the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and later serving in one of the hottest zones of the Iraq War in...
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#27 - Conrad Burnett - Second Chances
Five days after birth, Conrad Burnett was taken by DCFS with heroin in his system and adopted into the Burnett foster home. By 12, life started going downhill, and by 18, he was homeless, struggling with depression, and eventually incarcerated. Through serving the homeless, someone gave him a...
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#26 - Rev. J. Clark Echols, Jr. - Fear Hurting, Not Being Hurt
Do you want to love authentically — and live fearlessly, with joy and confidence in your salvation? Today, Clark Echols and I dive into how that life is promised through following the Lord, and how Jesus shows us what secure attachment with God really looks like. Clark is a…
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#25 - Bri Kern – Grief: A Mind-Body Connection
Today, we explore the story behind the therapist — how Bri Kern’s own experiences, including a devastating series of losses and lessons no one ever wants to face, led her to the work she does today as a licensed mental health professional and founder of Mind Body Heart Counseling. We explore how...
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#24 - Curtis Childs - Spiritual Warfare
Why would your own mind try to tear you down? Curtis Childs and I explore that question through the lens of spirituality, mental health, and the unseen influences that shape our inner world. Curtis—host of Off The Left Eye and a lifelong student of Emanuel Swedenborg’s teachings—shares how faith,...
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#23 - Esther Yardumian-Smyth - Don't Be a Lemming!
Oh, Esther—where do I even begin?! Following our recording, Esther shared two guiding teaching philosophies that have guided her life and work: 1) “Don’t be a lemming!” — her daily mantra urging students to think independently and resist the pull to conformity. 2) “Climb the lexicographical…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Join me as I confront what terrifies me—including launching this podcast—in hopes of unearthing truths that set us free and help recover personal authority to forge a path uniquely our own. This podcast exists to raise to light the stories, life experiences, and messages of people from everyday walks of life. No single topic—just a shared journey aiming upward. I invite you to come alongside me as I live out this journey. After all, there’s no better time than the now.
HOSTED BY
Ethan C. Lewin
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast have?
The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast currently has 74 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast about?
Join me as I confront what terrifies me—including launching this podcast—in hopes of unearthing truths that set us free and help recover personal authority to forge a path uniquely our own. This podcast exists to raise to light the stories, life experiences, and messages of people from everyday...
How often does The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast release new episodes?
The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast has 74 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast?
You can listen to The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast?
The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast is created and hosted by Ethan C. Lewin.
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