Nomad Podcast

What does it mean to become a man? And who teaches us how? In this episode, Tim is joined by author Shannon Kearns to explore the stories, expectations and assumptions that shape masculinity. Drawing on his experience as a trans man, Shannon offers a unique perspective on what it means to consciously navigate a world that many assume comes naturally.
Together they explore male loneliness, friendship, vulnerability, violence, faith, and the quiet fear many men carry of not being enough. Rather than offering another culture-war take on masculinity, this conversation asks a more generous question: what might it look like to improvise a better way of being a man?
After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Joy reflect on their own experiences of gender, friendship and vulnerability, and wonder whether some of the familiar stories we tell about men and women are quite as simple as they seem.
Interview starts at 13m 13s
Books, quotes, links →
The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.
If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!
If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.
Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.
And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

How do you hold onto a spiritual tradition after being deeply disappointed by the people who represent it? That's a question Swami Padmanabha — a Hindu monk, teacher and author of Evolution in Divine Love — has had to wrestle with more than once. Rather than walking away, those experiences led him into a deeper exploration of authority, uncertainty, love and the possibility that healthy traditions are those that continue to evolve.
In this conversation, Tim and Swami explore what it means to stay rooted without becoming rigid, to question without becoming cynical, and to remain open to wisdom wherever it is found. Along the way they discover some surprising resonances between Hinduism and Christianity, and ask whether the future of religion might depend less on having all the answers and more on learning how to keep growing.
After the interview, Tim is joined by Nick to reflect on what stayed with them most. From caring for God as though God were a child, to learning from other faith traditions without losing your own roots, they explore where Swami's vision resonated, where it challenged them, and the questions they're still left pondering.
Interview starts at 12m 48s
Books, quotes, links →
The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.
If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!
If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.
Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.
And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

For many Christian parents, the message was simple: if you follow the biblical formula, your children will grow into faithful, flourishing adults. But what if those promises were never true? In this episode, Tim speaks with Marissa Burt, co-author of The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, about the rise of the evangelical parenting movement, the fears that fuelled it, and the hidden assumptions about authority, obedience and control that shaped generations of families.
Drawing on historical research and the stories of both parents and adult children, Marissa explores how well-intentioned families were often let down by systems that offered certainty where none could be guaranteed. Together, they discuss the relationship between love and control, the impact of shame and spiritual authority, and what healthier, more hopeful approaches to parenting and faith might look like today.
After the interview, Tim is joined by his wife Hannah to reflect on how the conversation resonated with their own experiences of growing up in evangelical families, and how it has shaped the way they're raising their son, Elliot. Together they explore themes of fear, control, corporal punishment, questioning authority, and what it means to pass on faith without trying to control the outcome.
Interview starts at 16m 19s
Books, quotes, links →
The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.
If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!
If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.
Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.
And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

In this episode, Tim talks with sex therapist and author Tina Schermer Sellers about the hidden legacy of religious sexual shame and the impact it can have on our relationships, our spirituality, and our sense of self. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Tina explores how messages absorbed in childhood can shape the way we experience our bodies, desire, intimacy, and even our understanding of God. Together they discuss purity culture, embodiment, safety, trust, and why our bodies often hold onto shame long after our beliefs have changed.
Along the way, Tina offers a more hopeful and life-giving vision of sexuality—one rooted not in fear or control, but in connection, pleasure, mutuality, and belovedness. The conversation explores eros as a life force, the possibility of healing through relationships, and how we might begin to reclaim our bodies as places of joy, wisdom, and even divine encounter.
Following the interview, Tim is joined by his wife Hannah for a thoughtful and often humorous conversation about growing up with evangelical messages around sex, dating and relationships. Together they reflect on shame, intimacy, safety, eros, and what it means to raise children with a healthier relationship to their bodies, desires and sense of self.
Interview starts at 19m 08s
Books, quotes, links →
The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.
If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!
If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.
Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.
And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

Abi Millar grew up in a charismatic evangelical church where faith once felt vivid, immediate and full of certainty. But as questions about science, belief, heaven and hell began to press in, that certainty slowly unravelled. In this conversation, Tim talks with Abi about what it cost to leave, the freedom and loss that followed, and the spiritual hunger that eventually re-emerged after a long season of atheism.
They also talk about some of the practices Abi explores in her book The Spirituality Gap — including yoga, ayahuasca, tarot and meditation — and the tension between scepticism and openness that runs through her journey. Along the way, the conversation touches on rootedness, community, cultural integrity, and the question of whether spirituality can truly flourish without a shared story or tradition.
Following the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Nick reflect on the burden of heaven and hell, the freedom and loss of leaving evangelical faith, and the search for meaning beyond certainty. They also explore what Abi’s journey raises about psychedelics, tarot, rootedness, and the limits of highly individual spirituality.
Interview starts at 10m 34s
Books, quotes, links →
The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.
If you’d like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!
If a monthly commitment isn’t possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.
Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.
And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.