Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson cover art

Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson

Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson

By: Kimberly Ann Johnson: Author Vaginapractor Trauma Educator
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Cutting-edge, pioneering conversations on holistic women's health, including sex, birth, motherhood, womanhood, intimacy and trauma with doula, certified Sexological Bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing practitioner, and author of Call of the Wild and the Fourth Trimester, Kimberly Ann Johnson.Magamama 2017 Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • EP 243: Eating the Shadow – Mythopoetic Men's Work, the Lover Archetype, and Repair in a Villageless World with Ian MacKenzie

    EP 243: Eating the Shadow – Mythopoetic Men's Work, the Lover Archetype, and Repair in a Villageless World with Ian MacKenzie
    Jun 8 2026
    In this episode, Kimberly speaks with Ian MacKenzie, filmmaker, writer, mythosomatic guide, and host of The Mythic Masculine, about what men's work looks like in 2026. A fellow Orphan Wisdom scholar, Ian traces the mythopoetic lineage back through Robert Bly's Iron John, Carl Jung, and Marie-Louise von Franz, and describes how discovering Bly's book in his late grandfather's study set him on this path alongside his film work on feminine archetypes (Amplify Her). They talk candidly about the cultural moment — the "Rape Academy," the Pelicot case, the question of where the men are, and why the issues that feel omnipresent in some circles remain invisible in others curated by algorithm. Ian unpacks the medicine of mythopoetic men's spaces: how men can "put down the masculine pole" when others hold the container, why porn functions as a "toxic mimic" of intimacy, and how the shadow we exile grows hostile and acts out. They explore the lover archetype and erotic rites of passage rooted in his time at the Tamera community in Portugal, the "road of ashes" and why real men's spaces are composed of "failed heroes," and how to tend rites of passage for our own children by building real relationships with other men long before adolescence. The conversation closes on accountability and repair in a "villageless" culture, erotic leadership, and the inaugural Cascadia Men's Conference. Bio Ian MacKenzie is a filmmaker, mythosomatic guide, and the founder of The Mythic Masculine - a platform devoted to stewarding the soul work of men. For two decades, Ian has tracked the emergence of imaginal culture - from the fires of Burning Man to the streets of Occupy Wall St - amplifying the voices of visionaries, artists, and wisdom keepers working toward a more regenerative world. A 15-year scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School, and a four-time pilgrim to the Tamera peace research community in Portugal, he has dedicated himself to expanding the terrain of what men's inner work can be: weaving ritual, ancestral story, and somatic reclamation into a living path toward sovereign purpose. He is the co-founder of The Deep Masculine Journey, a 12-week initiatory program for men, and the host of The Mythic Masculine podcast. His films include Sacred Economics, Occupy Love, Amplify Her, and The Village of Lovers. He lives on Vancouver Island with his partner and son. What He Shares The mythopoetic lineage of Bly's Iron John, Jung, von Franz and finding the book in his grandfather's study in his mid-30s How exploring feminine archetypes through Amplify Her opened the question of masculinity for him Why the "where are the men" moment is so confusing for men who want to speak but fear getting it wrong The "hungry ghost" pattern: what happens when men locate all their Eros and vitality in women Porn as a "toxic mimic" (Caroline Casey's phrase) of real intimacy and reciprocity "Putting down the masculine pole" how men can finally fall apart when others hold the container "Eating the shadow" creating space for men to reveal trespass and explore real repair Erotic rites of passage and the lover archetype, drawn from his time at Tamera The "road of ashes," failed heroes, and the difference between olders and elders Tending rites of passage for our kids and why a parent is "disqualified" from leading their own child's Accountability and repair in a villageless culture, and the vision behind the Cascadia Men's Conference What You'll Hear What "the mythic masculine" means and where the mythopoetic tradition comes from Whether the erotic is "feminine" anima, animus, and locating aliveness inside vs. outside How algorithmic bubbles make the same cultural crisis omnipresent for some and invisible for others The critique of men's work as apolitical self-improvement and the Mankind Project's stance Dyads, Forum, and psychodrama as practices for meeting the shadow The "dogs in the basement" story. Shadow, ancestors, and what we exile What an erotic rite of passage weekend actually looks like, and the core wound it surfaces A hard, honest exchange about campus assault and what real accountability could look like Erotic leadership, deep attunement, and meeting a partner stepping into her own fullness Details on the Cascadia Men's Conference "Courting the Divine Spark" Resources: Main Website: http://themythicmasculine.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ianalexanderm/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ian.mackenz/
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    57 mins
  • EP 242: Arbitrary Intelligence - Tools, Limits, and the Willies of What's Coming with Stephen Jenkinson

    EP 242: Arbitrary Intelligence - Tools, Limits, and the Willies of What's Coming with Stephen Jenkinson
    May 25 2026

    In this episode, Kimberly is re-joined by Stephen Jenkinson, author of Trembling Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse, about the moment we find ourselves in with artificial intelligence and what it asks of us. They unpack the claim that AI is merely a tool; a real tool elaborates the capacities of the human hand just enough to reveal its God-given limits. Jenkinson suggests renaming AI "arbitrary intelligence," and traces how the rollout was designed to anticipate and absorb resistance before it could even form. Kimberly shares her own encounters with AI's creep into branding, self-driving cars, dream interpretation, therapy, dating, and her daughter's experience competing against Adderall and AI-assisted classmates. Together they explore whether willful underachievement might be the truest form of resistance and why the loss of kinship with the world is the precondition for welcoming a machine as your therapist. Jenkinson describes an MIT technologist's pitch to make him immortal through AI, and his fully human reply. The conversation closes with Jenkinson's own physical limitation, that unlike any Zoom AI companion, he can't sit any longer; a poetic, human ending to the kind of overflowing conversations that we've come to expect from these two.

    Bio

    Stephen Jenkinson, MTS, MSW, is a teacher, author, culture worker, farmer, and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School. He is the author of Die Wise, Come of Age, A Generations Worth, Reckoning (with Kimberly Ann Johnson) and most recently Trembling Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse. His work explores grief, elderhood, dying, and the deep obligations of being alive in a time of unprecedented consequence. He has a master's degree in theology from Harvard and a master's in social work from the University of Toronto, and spent years as a program director in a major Canadian hospital, where his work focused on the care of the dying. He lives on a farm in the Ottawa Valley with his wife Nathalie Roy.

    What He Shares:

    – Why AI should be called "arbitrary intelligence" and why the words artificial and intelligence don't belong together

    – The MIT technologist's pitch to make him immortal through AI and why he said no

    – The shift from Lascaux to Turkey: how humans went from small stick figures to the biggest thing that ever happened

    – Willful underachievement as the truest form of resistance

    – Why he's glad he won't see the future and the two-generation rule for language loss

    – The rollout: how AI anticipated resistance and folded it into the code before anyone could articulate their concern

    – His own physical limitation as the conversation's closing teaching

    What You'll Hear:

    – Kimberly's encounters with AI creep: branding, self-driving cars, Zoom companions, Microsoft Word prompts

    – Is AI a tool? Why a tool elaborates the hand and complies with God-given limits

    – Arbitrary intelligence: renaming the thing for what it is

    – The rollout: how resistance was anticipated, folded into the code, and served back as good soup

    – The allegation that this has happened before and why he doesn't buy it

    – The microwave precedent: how fast something goes from luxury to you're-a-buffoon-without-it

    – Slow food, fast food, and what you can't recover from losing

    – Kimberly's daughter competing unassisted against Adderall and AI and reinforcing the slower pace

    – Willful underachievement and failing to qualify as resistance

    – Leonard Cohen: none of us deserving the cruelty or the grace

    – The MIT pitch: wouldn't your grandchildren want access to you after you die?

    – Love must obey the limits of time and the human frame

    – The want machine: why wanting something for someone doesn't make it good for them

    – Lascaux to Turkey: from humans as tiny stick figures to humans as the biggest thing

    – The loss of kinship with the made world as the precondition for AI

    – AI as therapy, dream interpreter, dating coach, prescription writer and the abject loneliness underneath

    – Being hurt aloud about what we're willing to submit to

    – AI as you riffing on you being true to yourself as the thing that's being sold

    – Kimberly on the inescapable attack in nervous system language and whether talking about it helps or feeds it

    – SJ's body calling time: people learning from the part of you that you wish wasn't happening

    Resources

    Website: orphanwisdom.com

    Upcoming Book: Trembling Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • EP 241: Furious or Curious - Safety and Security, Frog Farmers, and What Men Actually Need to Hear with Alison Armstrong

    EP 241: Furious or Curious - Safety and Security, Frog Farmers, and What Men Actually Need to Hear with Alison Armstrong
    May 17 2026
    In this episode, Kimberly speaks with Alison Armstrong, author of The Queen's Code, about her complex work around understanding men and women. Alison has been studying the dynamics between men and women since 1991, when she discovered she was what's called a "frog farmer:"a woman who unknowingly turns princes into frogs through culturally inherited patterns of emasculation, criticism, and control. They explore how what was once a subterranean pattern of diminishing men has become amplified in our current moment, and why nobody is fundamentally broken. Alison explains how testosterone creates single focus, why men dodge ownership of anything that will be used against them, and why the words that most motivate men to act are the same words women most avoid using. They discuss the difference between being furious and being curious, why anger is "static on the radio" that prevents the song from being heard, and how to provide actionable information without condemnation, including in sexuality. The conversation moves into breadwinning (or breadlosing) dynamics, the concept of 8,000 days, planning for finitude, and the regret of missing what matters most in the sprint of a mission-driven life. Bio Alison Armstrong is the author of The Queen's Code and the creator of widely acclaimed transformational online programs, including LUX: Liberation. Understanding. Xtraordinary Relationships, and Understanding Men, Understanding Women, Understanding Sex & Intimacy, Understanding Love & Commitment, plus Being Extraordinary as a Man/Woman. Alison asks the question: "What if no one is misbehaving—including you?" She explores the good reasons behind the behavior of men and women, such as fundamental differences in the ways we think, act, and communicate. She offers simple, partnership-based solutions to improve communication and intimacy by honoring ourselves then others. Alison is known for her insight, sense of humor, and ability to articulate the human experience and predicament of gender. She seeks practical, energy- and emotion-efficient approaches to conflict, healing, and building skills and capacities applicable to human interactions in all contexts. One of Alison's great pleasures is supporting the men and women who choose to be her students. She spends up to 30 hours per month clarifying and helping others to implement her teachings. What She Shares: – How she discovered she was a frog farmer in 1991 and what that set in motion – The shift from subterranean emasculation to loud, amplified pain on both sides – Why men dodge ownership of anything that could be used against them – The words that most motivate men are the words women most avoid using – Furious or curious: why anger is static that prevents the song from being heard – Her husband's death, grieving without notice, and the concept of 8,000 days – Her recent hysterectomy and the mystery of women's bodies to men and to ourselves – The regret of missing her children's lives in the sprint of her mission What You'll Hear: – Kimberly's personal history with Alison's work across generations – Frog farmers versus prince farmers: how women unknowingly turn princes into frogs – What Alison learned watching her mother's three and a half husbands – The 1970s addition: get a husband, keep a husband, but never need one – How testosterone creates single focus and why interrupting men derails depth – Men's instinct to provide and why they plan decades into the future without telling their partners – Why men and women both decide what the other needs without asking—and then resent not being appreciated – The word "help" as an action command and why women avoid it – How to ask without interrogating: own your desire and wait for it – Giving men three chances without shaming—and the difference between asking and condemning – Actionable information in sexuality: show me, not shame me – An hour of oral sex: what a panel of men actually said about "too long" – Honor as doing the right thing no matter how you feel—and why love can't override it – Why men leave: "It's dishonorable for me to stay when I can't make her happy" – The incel generation: Kimberly's daughter on how all the boys are influenced – Kimberly on learning to be around men after years of only working with women – Emotional labor, the victim stance, and why "I shouldn't have to" keeps us stuck – Predator, prey, herd, and pack: the animal instincts beneath human relating – Status, quantity versus quality, and why two-income zero-parenting families form – Die with Zero and 8,000 days: choosing what to spend a finite life on – Resting as a valid activity: without rest, nothing else works – Breadwinning and bread losing: honoring the provider regardless of who earns – The regret of watching home videos of moments she missed—and her children's astonishing forgiveness – Kimberly's reflection: mothering our children is also mothering the ...
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    1 hr and 8 mins
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