This was the first interview episode I ever posted over 3 years ago(!), and the first interview I had done with 2 people at once.
David and Amelia were 2 people I had started talking to on Reddit as I was developing and shaping the direction of the podcast and as both had recently left the same church, I thought it was a good idea for us to have a chat.
Amelia was only 2 months out of the Pentecostal Church, whereas David had been out a little longer. The interview took place 3 months into covid, so at a time when everyone was stuck inside with just their thoughts and the internet, Amelia (who was living with her parents – both devout Pentecostals) decided she had to leave. David’s decision to leave, however, was not entirely his own. He was shunned by the church for his sexuality – something which now invokes an exhausted eyeroll from me as this reason for shunning seems to be a common and heartbreaking practice. For the interview, this was the first I had spoken to someone who has experienced this first hand.
We talk about Pentecostalism itself, although we don’t go very deeply into the history, more into the experiences of the two guests. We talk about the common practices and some of the myths surrounding the different churches and chapters.
Both guests admit to forcing themselves to “Speak in Tongues” to fit in and to push the attention away from themselves.
Interviewing 2 people was a huge challenge that I wasn’t ready for, but I think I handled it fairly well and there is not too much talking over each other, although there is a bit!
If I was to look at my interviewing style for this talk, I would say I took a very relaxed approach and tried to let the guests stories lead me to my next questions and we meandered our way through some interesting experiences. This worked in some ways – David and Amelia both sound extremely relaxed and engaged which is always a great thing to recognise as an interviewer, but I found myself (upon remastering) wishing that I had drilled deeper into some of the practices and experiences.
Overall, I’m proud of myself for this one. I threw myself in at the deep end and I doggy-paddled my way through and it was the first step to the Kacey I am today.
These first episodes were all recorded on zoom on my old room mic and so the remastering process is a big undertaking. I was using audacity at the time to edit, which is great, but the switch to Davinci Resolve really made a difference to the speed and the mastering/post-production parts of editing. The old saying “you can’t polish a turd” may be used when looking at the audio quality of these older episodes, but I have done what I can with the tools at hand and – as an independent podcaster who is also undertaking a masters – I am happy with how it turned out!
I asked David and Amelia for an update on where they are 3 Years later and this is what David (going by Chandler today) had to say:
“I am an initiated Wiccan priest now. Aside from that, I now do tarot readings and magickal consultations for the general public in addition to my private, coven work.
My podcast, Magik and the Moon, is up and running and doing great! Here is a link to Spotify”: https://open.spotify.com/show/6FVVvdxotaTpRKYlKWnyDS?si=lrb-8T4RTGi1MF16PRHlFA
Unfortunately I am yet to hear back from Amelia!
Thanks so much for reading, and if you were already here the first time around then a HUGE thank you to you!
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