Thousands of children are believed to be born to Catholic priests, yet their stories have been buried under decades of secrecy and shame. On this episode of the Your Radical Truth Podcast, I sat down with Linda Kelly Lawless, an Australian genealogist who discovered through DNA testing that her biological father was a Catholic priest. What followed was a six-year uphill battle to have the Church simply acknowledge the truth.

Her story is one of courage, perseverance, and the deep trauma caused by institutional denial. Linda is now the first person in Australia to have her birth certificate legally corrected in such a case. This episode isn’t just about her, it’s about a silenced population finally being heard.

www.yourradicaltruth.com/038-Linda-Kelly-Lawless
#CatholicChurch #DNAJustice #YourRadicalTruthPodcast

Only a small fraction of military veterans become priests, and fewer still find their calling in an independent Catholic tradition like the Celtic Christian Church. In this inspiring episode of Your Radical Truth, host Margaret Mary O’Connor welcomes Father Thomas Marble, a combat medic turned priest, healer, and author.

Father Thomas shares how a life of constant relocation, 22 years in the military, and a deep yearning for spiritual truth led him to Celtic Christianity. He opens up about his experiences in Bosnia, his training in psychiatric nursing and chaplaincy, and how divine guidance pointed him toward a more inclusive, healing-centered form of faith.

Discover how his novel The Mission blends fantasy with Celtic wisdom, why radical hospitality is central to his ministry, and how his current studies in herbalism are helping him prepare for a new chapter of holistic healing.

Tune in for a moving conversation about service, sacred calling, women priests, and the power of spiritual authenticity.

Learn more at www.YourRadicalTruth.com/037-Father-Thomas-Marble

Did you know nearly 12 million adults in the U.S. are misdiagnosed annually, with some errors leading to serious harm or death? This staggering fact set the stage for a jaw-dropping episode of the Your Radical Truth Podcast, hosted by Margaret Mary O’Connor. In this deeply moving interview, guest Jessica Summers shares her harrowing and ultimately redemptive journey from thriving fashion designer to near-death patient, addiction, institutionalization, and homelessness - and how she reclaimed her voice, power, and purpose.

Jessica Summers appeared to have it all: a successful career, a family, and a vibrant life. But her second pregnancy marked the beginning of a downward spiral. What began as routine prenatal care turned catastrophic when a medical oversight - retained placenta - set off a cascade of chronic infections, pain, and overprescription. “I was doing everything I was told,” Jessica recalls, “but instead of healing, I got sicker.” Each new symptom was met with a new medication - antibiotics, painkillers, antipsychotics - each pulling her deeper into the system that was supposed to help her.

Jessica’s story highlights what many women in medicine quietly endure: being dismissed, overmedicated, or misdiagnosed. Diagnosed with conditions she didn’t have and subjected to medications that made her worse, she was labeled “non-compliant” when she tried to advocate for herself. “If you don’t have an eyeball hanging out, they don’t believe how sick you are,” she says. At her lowest, Jessica found herself in a psychiatric facility, forcibly medicated, ignored, and punished for asking questions.

This episode of Your Radical Truth is essential listening for women navigating healthcare, particularly those in the marginalized, chronically ill, or overmedicated communities. It’s a wake-up call to question blind trust in a system that often gaslights women’s pain.

Full post: www.YourRadicalTruth.com/036-Jessica-Summers

According to Statistics Canada, nearly 1 in 5 Canadians aged 15 and older live with one or more disabilities—yet many of their stories remain untold. On this episode of Your Radical Truth, host Margaret Mary O’Connor shines a spotlight on one of those voices. Meet CJ Janzen—“The Singing Speaker”—a queer, disabled advocate, storyteller, and artist living with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a severe chronic illness that leaves them mostly bedbound.

From working as a paramedic and scuba instructor to launching {dis}ABILITY Unleashed, CJ’s life defies convention. Their journey of surviving childhood abuse, alcoholism, and complex chronic illness is matched only by their resilience and determination to create inclusive spaces where disabled artists can thrive.

With a mantra of “Choose to live joyously within the tempest of adversity,” CJ uses story, song, and strategy to challenge stigma and ignite hope. In this heart-opening interview, they speak candidly about brain fog, living with limited energy, and finding purpose in creative advocacy.

Whether organizing Disability Pride Month events from bed or writing for anthologies like Start Over and Pillow Writers, CJ is committed to amplifying the voices too often left out. They remind us that joy, connection, and meaning are still possible—even in the hardest moments.

To learn more, visit www.YourRadicalTruth.com/035-CJ-Janzen

Despite selling over 90 million books worldwide, Judy Blume remains one of the most banned authors in America. On Your Radical Truth, host Margaret Mary O’Connor welcomes bestselling author and cultural commentator Rachelle Bergstein to explore Blume’s fearless legacy - and the fierce censorship she faced.

In this powerful episode, Rachelle, author of The Genius of Judy, shares why Blume’s honest portrayals of puberty, sexuality, and family life resonated so deeply with generations of readers - and why her books continue to spark controversy today. From the 1970s battles over Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to today’s alarming surge in modern-day book bans, Judy Blume’s story remains more relevant than ever.

Rachelle and Margaret Mary dive into:

• How Blume’s books became lifelines for young readers when adults stayed silent

• Why today’s censorship battles are even more dangerous than those of the past

• The chilling rise of historical erasure through modern legislation

• How Blume’s creative rebellion helped fuel the modern feminist voice

Rachelle also discusses her new book, The Genius of Judy, a USA Today bestseller praised by BookPage, The Los Angeles Times, Kirkus Reviews, and more. Learn why Blume’s timeless stories still matter - and why protecting the freedom to read has never been more urgent.

Find The Genius of Judy wherever books are sold and follow Rachelle’s work on her Substack newsletter, Banner Year, where she tracks the escalating crisis of book banning in America.

Full shownotes: www.YourRadicalTruth.com/034-Rachelle-Bergstein

You Change Your Frequency, You Change Your Life
Featuring Selina Maitreya on Your Radical Truth Podcast

www.YourRadicalTruth.com/033-Selina-Maitreya

What if the key to transforming your life isn’t outside of you—but within your energy? In this enlightening episode of Your Radical Truth, host Margaret Mary O’Connor welcomes internationally respected author and spiritual teacher Selina Maitreya to explore how shifting your vibrational frequency can radically change your life.

After a traumatic brain injury upended her successful consulting career, Selina began receiving spiritual guidance that led her to record an entire book—by voice—over five years. The result is Raise Your Frequency, Transform Your Life, a practical, powerful roadmap for anyone ready to respond to life’s challenges with love, not fear.

Together, Margaret and Selina dive into:

• The two core frequencies that shape our daily experience

• How trauma opened the door to spiritual awakening

• Why your attention is your most powerful tool

• Easy, everyday phrases that immediately shift energy

• A hands-on spiritual toolkit to navigate chaos with clarity

If you’ve ever felt stuck in emotional overwhelm or wondered how to break free from ego-based patterns, this episode is for you. Selina shares wisdom that is as practical as it is profound, helping listeners recognize that even in the hardest moments, we always have a choice.

Listen now and discover how raising your frequency could be the game-changer your life has been waiting for.

#SpiritualAwakening #YourRadicalTruthPodcast #RaiseYourFrequency #EnergyHealing #ConsciousLiving

80% of women entrepreneurs report feeling held back by limiting beliefs. That startling statistic underscores why conversations like this one with Erin Newman matter so much. On the Your Radical Truth podcast, hosted by Margaret Mary O’Connor, Erin dives deep into how unexamined beliefs can sabotage success—and how tapping, hypnosis, and somatic practices can radically transform your life and business.

Raised in the Catholic tradition, Erin Newman grew up with a set of beliefs that subtly (and not so subtly) influenced what she thought was possible, especially as a woman. Over time, she unraveled those internalized messages and began helping other women do the same. Today, she is a spiritual life and business coach for female entrepreneurs who want to embrace their soul’s calling and generate sustainable income doing what they love.

Through her unique blend of somatic, subconscious, and ancestral healing tools, Erin supports her clients in regulating their nervous systems, releasing self-doubt, and welcoming in financial and emotional abundance.

Erin shared a practical and powerful technique she calls the Belief-Shifting Magic Process, which integrates EFT tapping—a method that involves gently tapping on acupressure points while talking through limiting beliefs or emotional stress.

While tapping may seem unconventional, it's backed by science and widely recognized for calming the nervous system. “You don’t need homework or equipment,” Erin explains. “You just start tapping and talking. It’s like a deep breath for your energy system.”

Whether it’s fear of launching a podcast, anxiety about money, or feeling stuck in a career, Erin shows how even 10 minutes a day of tapping can move emotional blocks and create space for new outcomes.

In addition to tapping, Erin often guides her clients through self-hypnosis, a gentle but effective way to bypass the conscious mind and plant new, empowering beliefs. She describes it as “creating a new movie in your mind”—one where peace, joy, love, and success are not only possible but expected.

By bringing her clients into a deeply relaxed state—what she calls “the liminal space”—Erin helps them reprogram stories of not-enoughness into narratives of worth, expansion, and purpose.

Full post at: www.YourRadicalTruth.com/032-Erin-Newman

In the 1960s, as images of police dogs and fire hoses unleashed on Black Americans filled TV screens across the nation, a generation of children—Black and white—were learning, in real time, the searing reality of racism in America. It was a pivotal time, one that promised change with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, but failed to deliver on that promise for decades.

Today, those struggles echo loudly in our current climate, as books are banned, history is whitewashed, and communities once again fight for a seat at the table. On this episode of Your Radical Truth, I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Regina Vincent-Williams, a transformational speaker, author of Split Shift: Busing and Desegregation, 1954–2024, and a living witness to the trauma and resilience of school integration in Alabama.

Growing up in Alabama just miles from Birmingham, Dr. Regina experienced the fallout of a society grappling with change. In 1970—sixteen years after the Supreme Court ordered school desegregation—her high school, Talladega High, finally integrated. But what should have been a move toward equality came with devastating consequences.

Students were separated by "split shifts"—a scheduling scheme that limited educational access and fractured lifelong friendships. Some students, many of whom had never even been in a fight, were permanently expelled with no hearing, no return date, and no diploma.

“I wondered myself how I got into college,” she said. “I didn’t have advanced math, foreign language, or hard sciences. Yet somehow, I made it. Others weren’t so lucky.”

This wasn’t just Talladega—it was systemic across the South. Communities had over a decade to prepare for integration, yet when it finally came, the result was chaos, displacement, and erasure.

Full post at: https://www.YourRadicalTruth.com/031-Dr-Regina