Trauma Bond with Theresa Bateman

With breath so bated, we lovingly present our episode with pod royalty himself, Steven Ray Morris! With his tender reflections, he guides Theresa through the end of the grindcore mindset, making plans as an adult, covid move ins, breakups, and the terror of our healthcare system. This one is for all those who are gentle hearted. Steven Ray Morris is a Los Angeles-based podcast producer (formerly Ologies with Alie Ward and My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark). Host of See Jurassic Right (a podcast for curious adults), he has three beautiful cats named Ripley, Wendy, and Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.

Heeey Trauma Bonders - tune in for a special announcement that our episode cadence will officially be switching to biweekly! We gotta keep up this good quality and not burn out but we'll be back to weekly as soon as we're able. Stay tuned! And tune in for next week's very special guest. Some might say they're...Podcast royalty :)  We also wanna hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your trigger of the week or a story that would answer one of the questions we as on the pod and maybe we'll read it on air and give you a lil shout out!

As far back as we can remember, we always wanted Kari Dramé on the pod. In this explorative episode Theresa and Kari sit at the intersection of glimmers and triggers—diving into Philadelphia, first lesbian heartbreaks, and imagination as a radical act. So sip on some mugwort tea (or original recipe 4loko) and keep your journal handy, because class is in session.   Kari Dramé is a shooting star who upon falling to earth transformed into a sentient dewdrop in the shape of a human being. Jury is still out on which mode of existence they prefer, but being a sentient dewdrop has its perks: number 1 being having a form which allows them to make music, dj, write poems, go on long walks, smell flowers, flirt, have beautiful meals, experience the feeling of warm sun and cool breeze etc.

123 focus on this episode because producer Ali Giordani steps up to the mic. Together, Theresa and Ali commiserate on what it means to grieve best friends, the need for ugliness, and the joy of curating lives worth living. Ali Giordani is a film programmer and writer based in Los Angeles. Their passions include loud music, slow cinema, and gossiping. She co-produces Trauma Bond with Theresa Bateman, a podcast exploring things we aren't supposed to laugh about. Her writing can be found in Full Stop, New Life Quarterly, and on the zine shelf at your local bookstore. If you're down to clown, find them curating chaos on substack @flickswithbenefits, instagram @agony_varda, and letterboxed @lighted_match. Content Warning: Dicussions of sexual assault.  

How whacky and wise can one guy be? On this episode, Pete Zias drops in to tell Theresa some of the wildest anecdotes in pod history. From driving around with a baby monitor to calling in bomb threats to school dances, Pete leaves no stone unturned in his divine quest for revenge.    Pete Zias is an alum of and regular performer at The Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles. He performed his solo show, The Teddy Teddy Show, at the NYC International and Hollywood Fringe Festivals. He hosts his IG Live and stage show "Total Trash Live!" where he reads from his extensive tabloid collection, which The Hollywood Reporter listed as one of their guilty pleasures! Pete has appeared on OUT TV's "Dr. Jackie" and The Sherry Vine Variety Show. His film credits include "Grandmother's Gold", "The Never List", "Cock N' Bull 3", "Pig Hag" and  "Ganymede!" He studied Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. You can follow him @petezias

This one is for the ADHD girlies! This week, Theresa sits down with LA based actor, dancer, writer, producer and community organizer Leonora Pitts to talk responding to texts in your head, the art that shaped them, the beauty of their dance community, and the ADHD rabbit hole of wanting an answer to a simple question, but somehow landing on an anti glyphosate campaign as you creep on Ryan Cabrera's wife's instagram. 

The boy is back in town! This week our inaugural guest Tolliver returns for some truly unhinged gossiping. Did you know RuPaul watched someone drown? What about a piping hot take on Sinners? Or curious about what it's like to see sex on screen way too young and a little thing called being "bricked up in the living room"? This is the episode for you!   Tolliver is an LA based funk singer, journalist and DJ drawn to the humor in every story, the dance floor and the best BBQ spot in every city. He's written for Reuters, produced video for LA Times, Glamour, Vogue, TOMS shoes and OutTV, interviewed some of the biggest celebrities of our time, and hosted a weekly radio show at KQBH in Boyle Heights dedicated to afrofuturism. Musically, he's appeared on the Late Late Show, gave a TED Talk and performance at the 2023 conference, has toured all over the US and Europe and is in constant rotation on KCRW. He's also the founder and executive producer of Exotic Fruits Fest, an annual music and film event that benefits local non-profits. He loves his cats (Jean-Michel Basquicat and Nina Simeown) more than anything and works only to buy them the finest pate. You can catch him every Thursday on NPR's "The Middle" with Jeremy Hobson, performing in LA and around the country, or haunting Akbar's halls.   Do you love trauma bonding with Theresa every week? Drop us a review!

Do all roads lead back to stand up? Or is there a path that will take us to a peaceful village with Totoro? This week comedian and known communist Brodie Reed ponders being the strongest personality at the party, how to process trauma artistically, and whether it's normal to never see your parents kiss. Brodie Reed is an LA based comedian, writer, actor, filmmaker and sword enthusiast. He wrote and starred in the short films $16,000 and Take Me to Your Merch. Follow him @brodie.reed.okay Do you love trauma bonding with Theresa every week? Drop us a review!

This week, Theresa sits down with stand up comedian, improvisor, writer and actor Pallavi Gunalan to talk the world of stand up comedy, mental health, animal rescue, what it was like to grow up as one of very few brown girls in a sea of white mormons, and a very important message... #NotAllComedians. Tune in and laugh with us, it's real nonstop giggles on this one. Pallavi Gunalan is a stand-up comedian, improviser, writer, and actor. She's written for Lovett or Leave It with Crooked Media, has been featured on Dropout.tv and Pretty Gay, and has performed all over the US and India, including in festivals such as SF Sketchfest and New York Comedy Fest. She's been on house improv teams at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, and The Pack Theater, and has opened for Bassem Youssef, Sammy Obeid, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, Maria Bamford, and Adam Conover. She co-produces live monthly stand-up shows Facial Recognition Comedy (The Comedy Store) and Second Screens Comedy (The Elysian) in LA. Pallavi loves comedy, animals, and mutual aid. You can follow her everywhere @PallaviGunalan

This week, Theresa sits down with LA based writer, performer, and psychotherapist Lena Morgana to discuss their pre-covid time in the LA Stand up comedy scene, how Covid has changed us, why it's ok to bully cis gay men, and the real way to measure life and time: by the amount of existential crises you've had since you last saw each other.  Lena Morgana is a writer, performer, and psychotherapist raised and based in Los Angeles. She is transgender, intersex, and neurodivergent. Her comedy has been featured on Amazon Prime and at live shows and festivals across North America. She provides liberation-focused psychotherapy free of cost to transgender, gender-expansive, and intersex folks across the state of California through the Transgender Health & Wellness Center. For more information about free therapy available to TGI+ folks in California, visit the Transgender Health & Wellness Center at www.trans.health You can support Lena's gender-affirming surgery fundraiser at www.gofundme.com/Lena4Liberation

Tune out all noise that doesn't come from your body, because we have the Arrowyn Ambrose in the house today. The lessons gleaned from our conversation with this purveyor of healing overflow throughout - from reclamation of self after trauma, creating practices with death, and whether it's worth it to buy off brand Heated Rivalry merch. An episode meant for all the animals looking for a home, we hope you enjoy your time with her. Arrowyn Ambrose is a Los Angeles–based writer, facilitator, and interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of the erotic, the mythic, and the embodied. Drawing from depth psychology, mythology, alchemy, and lived experience, her work explores intimacy, desire, heartbreak, and neurobiology—where humor lives alongside the sacred. She is completing her MA in Depth Psychology & Creativity at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where her thesis and performance project, This Sex Which Is Not One, merged spoken word, movement, mimesis, and ritual exploring femme pleasure beyond patriarchy. She believes the erotic is creative intelligence: messy, holy, and alive. Arrowyn writes the Substack Abundance Whore, a mythic memoir-in-progress about CPTSD, longing, motherhood, and the strange alchemy of staying awake inside desire. You can follow her on ig @arrowynambrose

This week Theresa is joined by LA based comedian, writer and host of the V Single podcast, Alison Stevenson. They talk Heated Rivalry, the world of stand up comedy and what it's like to get an "aww" instead of a laugh, the toll the superstition of the evil eye took on Alison's mental health, and how the words fat and ugly are NOT synonyms.  Alison hosts the weekly LA comedy show Loose at Nico's Baby Battista, the monthly comedy show Blessed at Zebulon and the bi-monthly comedy show "What Does it All Mean?" at the Philosophical Research Society. You can find her on instagram at @justaboutglad

Follow comedian and writer Ashley Ray as she takes Theresa through a labyrinth of bisexual cliches, the ethics of canceling Italians, and when the stranger you find on tinder is just a bit too strange. While we omitted some gossip that was for our ears only, trust us - there's plenty left for you. Ashley Ray is a comedian and writer based in LA. You may have seen her stand up on Cracked or HBOmax, or her writing on Adult Swim's Alabama Jackson. You can follow her @theashleyray

This week, Theresa is joined by nonbinary, queer, black performer & astrologer Camirin Farmer for a much needed talk on the current state of this country, the process of birthing a new world, reminders to slow down, reflections on the cycle of life, how we cannot separate ourselves from nature and a little thing called The Color Purple Breakfast.    Camirin Farmer is a nonbinary, queer, black performer & astrologer based in Los Angeles, CA. Core to all of their comedy is the desire to explore, and articulate their experience as a marginalized person specifically through the lens of living with faith in a Higher Picture. Camirin believes that comedy can be a pure container for strong truths. You can follow them @camirinfarmer

This week join Theresa as she sits down with comedian, writer, stylist and interior designer Caitlin Ackerman. Together they take a journey through the highs and lows of their years in the stand up scene, sex, gender roles, and why people texting you feels like being hunted for sport.  Caitlin Ackerman is a West Coast Girlina, born and raised, a lifelong artist, actor and writer, now branching into creative directing, styling and interior design. You can find her on socials @las_bestgoth

In this week's episode, Theresa sits down with comedian Cara Connors to discuss their feeling on cybertrucks, why straight people should be arrested for the way they light a room, the art of telling dark jokes and some of the gorgeously inappropriate media their parents let them consume as children.  Cara Connors is a comedian, actor, and writer originally from Chicago. Her debut stand-up comedy special, Straight for Pay, is streaming now on Amazon Prime. The hour was recently named one of "6 Terrific Specials From 6 Very Different Comics" by the New York Times and one of Paste Magazine's best comedy albums of the year.

In the first episode of 2026, Theresa sits down with comedian, actor, dancer, and soup enthusiast Erin Lampart. They cover a LOT of ground here as they wade through the difficulties of experiencing so much death at such young ages, dating LA actors, the perfect way to enact revenge on men who have ghosted you, the beauty of the LA dance community, and how no one rallies quite like the comedy community in crisis.  Based in Los Angeles, Erin has been bringing her unique brand of dark and silly physical comedy to stages all over the country. You may have seen her open for touring musician Marco Benevento, or on TV acting her face off (Comedy Central, TruTV) or simply stuffing her face full of soup in the corner of a dark diner.  If you're in the LA area, check out her monthly movement class Lamp Heart Moves coming up on Sunday January 18th 1:15pm at the Pickle Factory in Frogtown.

On this week's episode, Theresa sits down with multi-hyphenate actor, playwright, writer and clown Orin Calcagne. This discussion is a truly wild ride along a range of topics including the toxicity of Coporate Gays, how Orin almost ended it all over a rejection from NYU, cyber bullying, and whether or not ADHD is technically real.   Orin is a playwright and actor. His first play "A Finger Pointing At The Moon" had two sold out runs last year and his most recent work "Mommy" was presented at REDCAT November 2025.

In this episode writer Alex Torres divulges his indulgent strategies of handling the grief he's encountered. Theresa follows him through a maze of Berlin kink clubs, mismatched lovers, and literary praxis to uncover how he nurtures a life of joyful satire. Alex Torres (@alex.g.torres) is an LA-based writer. He co-hosts the podcast Gay, Interrupted with his gay bestie, Davis Benz.   Content Warning: Drug Use, Overdose

Join Theresa as she explores the rich tapestry of Brent Peter's life. From his experience as a teen in a doomsday cult to the sublime moment of accepting his gayness while half drunk on sacramental wine, this episode is for all those perpetually curious.

This week Theresa sits down with Rachel Lindemann, whose friendship was forged on the dance floor. Tune in as these divas discuss crying at Magic Castle, encountering a Stanley Tucci lookalike in a psych ward, how to have the most fun, dating comedians, and way more!

In this premiere episode of Trauma Bond with Theresa Bateman, she sits down with multi-hyphenate (Musician, journalist, filmmaker, host, etc) Renaissance man AND her ex-boyfriend Tolliver. They run the gamut from bombing on stage, to dead dads, to pun-based Halloween costumes, to Raygun ruining breakdancing in the Olympics. Sit back, listen and trauma bond with them!