Pod and Country

About Pod and Country

Pod and Country, is an entertaining, magazine-style listening experience where Unitarian Universalist values of democracy, liberty and justice are elevated. Each episode features interviews with leading thinkers, artists and activists interlaced with comedy sketches, music and poetry. Join us to lift and fortify your spirit as we fight against tyranny. The lights are on. Come on in!

Publisher

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

Category

religion & spirituality · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Apr 2025

Latest episode

23 Oct 2025

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Oct 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.7 It's Halloween!

   We recently completed our first season but with the holidays upon us, we wanted to put out a bonus episode focused on Halloween.  We hope you enjoy this bit of fun from The Mike and Mari Show featuring our hosts, comedians Michael Bossier and Mari Magaloni Ramos.  The Mike and Mari Show was recorded and broadcast during the pandemic and was on the air for three years.  Here are a few sketches that we hope will make you smile and lift your spirits.  As always, the lights are on.  Come on in. Here are few links to explore: www.themikeandmarishow.com

2. 

   1 Oct 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.6 Deja Coup

   With this episode we conclude our first season by talking with Bruce Neuburger, activist, educator and author of “Lettuce Wars: Ten Years of Work and Struggle in the Fields of California” and “Postcards to Hitler” which draws on his family’s extraordinary history of resistance to the Nazi regime and reminds us of the importance of confronting hatred and injustice in our own time. We also include a satirical sketch (just a hint: she's back...) and a musical segment.  We end with a conversation with the podcast creators as they reflect on the season: what they learned, their favorite moments and what they will take with them from this work. We hope you enjoyed all of our episodes and would love to hear from you at podandcountry@uusf.org.  For now, come and join us for our season finale.  As always, the lights are on...come on in! Here are a few links to explore: Bruce Neuburger https://sfseniorbeat.com/2024/10/21/bruce-neuburger-the-life-of-a-student-radical-turned-farmworker-turned-author/ Vanessa Ruth Southern https://vanessarushsouthern.com/ The Mike and Mari Show :www.themikeandmarishow.com The Tiger Club www.tigerclubband.org First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco https://www.uusf.org/ YouTube Channel Playlist https://t.ly/Pod&Country-YouTube Other Pod and Country episodes http://bit.ly/3TDFpmv

3. 

   16 Aug 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.5 - R-E-S-P-E-C-T

   Last month, we interviewed Professor Bill Ong Hing, founder of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic. Professor Hing had a lot to say about our broken immigration system. He suggested things we can do to participate in the fight against mass deportations including showing up for protests, accompanying immigrants to their scheduled court hearings and perhaps most important, to keep humanizing the issue by sharing the stories of the people most directly affected by the MAGA immigration policies. So in addition to our usual satire, music and final reflection from Rev. Vanessa, we decided to devote this episode to sharing a few of these stories.  We collaborated with Guillermina Castellanos and Francisco Herrera, Co-founders of  Nuevo Sol Day Labor and Domestic Worker Center, who introduced us to some friends that generously agreed to share some stories of overcoming, of what it means to hope and dream, and what it takes to build a good life. Our goal isn’t to explain, or argue -for or attempt to prove the worthiness or the humanity of the people whose stories you will hear.  What is in question at this moment in our history, is our own humanity. So breathe, settle and come on in! Here are a few links in case you want to dive a little deeper: Nuevo Sol https://www.instagram.com/nuevo_sol_sf/ “I Cannot Sleep” Jon Fromer and Francisco Herrera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNR2o2DPCrA Francisco Herrera https://franciscoherreramusic.com/ https://eltecolote.org/content/en/sf-immigrant-undocumented-workers-defend/ Jon Fromer https://www.youtube.com/JonFromer First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco https://www.uusf.org/ Vanessa Rush Southern https://vanessarushsouthern.com/ The Tiger Club www.tigerclubband.org The Mike and Mari Show www.themikeandmarishow.com Pod and Country YouTube Channel Playlist https://t.ly/Pod&Country-YouTube Other Pod and Country episodes http://bit.ly/3TDFpmv

4. 

   15 Jul 2025

   Pod and Country Ep. 4 - Justice Not Just ICE

   In this episode we continue in the best tradition Unitarian Universalism to take it to the streets.  We speak with Bill Ong Hing, a leading voice in the struggle to ensure that immigrants are treated with dignity and fairness under the law that serves all of us regardless of our immigration status.  Bill is a law professor and Associate Dean at the University San Francisco and is the founding director of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic. We also have a delightful conversation with the Rev. Stacy Craig who serves as the minister to both the Chequamegon Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wisconsin and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Chico in northern California. As with every episode, we offer a bit of comedy (hard to do in these times!), poetry and music. Come on in! Links Bill Ong Hing - https://www.usfca.edu/law/faculty/bill-hing Rebellious Lawyering - https://rebelliouslawyeringinstitute.org/what-is-rebellious-lawyering/ Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Chico: https://uuchico.org/ Chequamegon Unitarian Universalist Fellowship: https://www.chequamegonuuf.org/ The Tiger Club: www.tigerclubband.org The Mike and Mari Show:www.themikeandmarishow.com Francisco Hererra: https://franciscoherreramusic.com/ Other Pod and Country episodes: http://bit.ly/3TDFpmv

5. 

   16 Jun 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.3 - Equity and Other Dirty Words

   Our previous two episodes gave us a firm grounding in both theological and historical ideas animating Unitarian Universalist thinking and actions in the fight against oppression and tyranny.  With this episode 3, we move out into the world and into our communities.  We seek to listen and learn how best to support the heroes and saints among us on the front lines of resistance and explore how we can take action in service of those least able to defend themselves against systemic injustice. Our interview segment features Adrian Tirtanadi, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Open Door Legal. Open Door Legal has created an innovative place-based general practice to demonstrate that universal access to legal services is possible. In the first community that they served, homelessness dropped in half within a decade. In our State of the UUnion segmant, we travel to Baton Rouge Louisiana to visit with Rev Nathan Ryan, Senior Minister of The Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge.  We talk about gumbo, crepe myrtle trees and the importance of always including a cultural context in our dialogue with each other.  We also have music from Francisco Hererra, a little comedy and poetry along with a final reflection from Rev Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister of First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco.  As always, we invite you to come on in! After listening, here are a few links to explore more about this episode: Open Door Legal - https://opendoorlegal.org/ Open Door Legal Case Study - Citizenship and Safety After Fleeing El Salvador:  https://youtu.be/oUCzxpKk6_g SF Board of Supervisors:https://sfbos.org/roster-members The Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge - https://unitarianbr.org/ More about Bacon’s Rebellion - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Rebellion Paula Cole Jones - Community of Communities -  https://www.uua.org/leaderlab/community-communities The Tiger Club - www.tigerclubband.com Francisco Herrera - https://franciscoherreramusic.com/

6. 

   15 May 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.2 - Naming Evil

   Welcome to Pod and Country, an audio magazine for the spirit! In this episode we’ll continue our conversation with the Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern and the Rev. John Buehrens. In the previous episode they looked at the theological grounding of the Unitarian response to tyranny and oppression. This time they will take a deep and honest dive into the history of the Unitarian response to tyranny and oppression and what it might inform us about how to confront it today. We’ll have some comedic sketches and a song from singer/ songwriter Baxter Robertson and we’ll interview Rev. Laura Shennum, UUSF Minister of Congregational Life and former Minister of the Cascade Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Wenatchee, WA. So get a cup of tea, relax and enjoy this month’s edition of Pod and Country.

7. 

   15 Apr 2025

   Pod and Country Ep.1 - Resisting Tyranny

   In this episode. we speak with the Rev. John Buehrens. John was the 6th President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993 to 2001 and is the author of several books about the history of Unitarian Universalism. His most recent book is "A Religious Center with a Civic Circumference: Unitarians in San Francisco Since 1850". He also published "Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender and Social Justice in 2020". We'll also feature a comedy sketch and a song from Jon Fromer as well as an interview with Jay Wolin, Senior Minister, UU Church of Sarasota Fl as we reach out to connect with UU churches across the country and hear how they are navigating these uncertain times. The lights are on - come on in! Resources: Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern. https://vanessarushsouthern.com Rev. John Buehrens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Buehrens Rev. Jay Wolin. https://www.uusrq.org/rev-jay-wolin.html Brian Leonard https://www.brianleonard.website/ The Jon Fromer Estate—- https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/jon-fromer-a-political-life-in-song/ The Tiger Club https://tigerclubband.com/ The Mike and Mari Show https://themikeandmarishow.com/ Comments: podandcountry@uusf.org

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Contact Pod and Country

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.