Firestarters with Shannon Watts

“I tell people you don't have to say, ‘I'm just a drop in the bucket.’ Well, take care of your drop. Your drop affects so many other people and whenever you speak or are in contact with people, you're shaping and changing every day.”

Sandra is a prolific poet, author, and artist, perhaps best known for her book The House on Mango Street, originally published in 1984, which has gone on to sell over six million copies and is required reading in schools across the world. Recently, Sandra published her first book of poetry in 28 years called Woman Without Shame, a brilliant collection of songs, elegies, and declarations.

She has received a number of awards and honors including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships in poetry and prose. Sandra has also founded the Macondo Foundation, an association of socially engaged writers, and the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, a grant-giving institution that served Texas writers for fifteen years.

Join us for a conversation about the ways in which we all have a gift to give, how invested teachers can really change a life, taking darkness and transforming it into a path out, and being courageous enough to taking the next step.

In this conversation you’ll find:

Being the only girl with six brothers

Her struggles in school to stay engaged and reign in her imagination

Growing up sensitive, and later realizing it was a gift

Writing in secret out of shame

The power dynamics and damage of an affair with a married professor

A 20 year “overnight” journey to success

Learning more from disasters than accolades

Having exactly what we need to make change

Not wasting our time in life

This full video interview is available for paying subscribers of Playing with Fire. The audio version of this conversation will be available on all podcast players on January 16, 2024.

“So I am silenced. I do not own my own truth. I do not own my own reality. I've had movies and miniseries made about me. I couldn't participate. I can't even tell you if t...

“One of the metaphors that I use is imagining guilt is a faulty check engine light on your car dashboard. Your car has just been serviced, the oil is changed, everything's fine, but the stupid light just keeps going off. It doesn't actually give you any meaningful information, so you can ignore it. You can just say it's broken. Guilt is not a moral compass.”

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin is a clinical psychiatrist in Austin, Texas, specializing in women's health. She's also an assistant professor of psychiatry. During our discussion, we talked about how she differentiates between faux self-care and real self-care, including the obstacles women face internally and externally, and to overcome them. We also discuss how real self-care can help women live lives that are more authentic and more audacious. And Pooja shares her insights about how self-care can help women find their spark and protect it throughout their lives.

What you’ll find in this conversation:

She talks about her disillusionment with the practice of psychiatry and mainstream medicine.

Being raised in a patriarchal society.

How she identifies her spark.

How toxic and “faux self care” from the wellness industry actually harms us.

The four principles of real self care.

How guilt stops women from setting boundaries.

How to practice real self care.

For more inspiring conversations like this one, be sure you’re a subscriber to my Substack, Playing With Fire.

“I fell into flying as a flight attendant. And it was probably the best thing for me at that time, my love for travel, my love for other cultures, and ethnicities. And it's the best training ground for the work that I do now.”

After hearing your enthusiasm about the first three episodes of the Firestarters Podcast, I’m excited to tell you that I’ll be continuing to share one new episode of the podcast per month.

And today I’m talking with my friend Lucy McBath, a gun violence survivor, former Moms Demand Action spokeswoman, and three-term Georgia Congresswoman. Since 2019, Rep. McBath has advocated for bipartisan solutions to end gun violence, uplift small businesses, protect veterans, and lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs.

What you’ll find in this conversation:

What growing up was like as the daughter of a civil right’s activist and a nurse

How being a flight attendant prepared her for her current career

The ways in which she’s gained confidence in herself to go after what she wants

External obstacles she’s faced in running for office

How her son Jordan’s murder made her completely change course to protect other families

The women that helped push her to new heights

For more inspiring conversations like this one, be sure you’re a subscriber to my Substack, Playing With Fire.

"I say all of my work comes from pain. I think it's really important to figure out the things that hurt and then work towards making it hurt less for the next person." - Gisele Fetterman

Gisele Fetterman is a Brazilian born activist, philanthropist, and non profit executive. When her husband, John Fetterman, was a mayor and then lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania, she was the first lady of Braddock and the second lady of the Commonwealth. Her husband is now a U. S. senator.

Gisele has helped found several nonprofit organizations that focus on the needs of lower income families. She's also an advocate for diversity and inclusion, pushing Congress to take a more humane and compassionate approach to immigration. Gisele is kind and courageous, she is empathetic and effective, and she is passionate and persuasive.

In this conversation we talk about Gisele’s childhood journey from Rio de Janeiro to America, what brings her joy, her experience of becoming a firefighter at age 40, and her commitment to helping others through her work.