the Unvarnished Edit

In season two, episode twenty one of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene continue their parenting arc with guest Ona to talk about parenting through crisis and grief. Ona shares how she became a widow overnight when her husband, Geoff, died unexpectedly in his sleep, leaving her to parent three young sons while navigating shock, trauma, and the loss of her former self. The conversation explores honesty with kids, balancing grief with daily parenting demands, self-doubt, and how Ona’s book, Between the Stitches, offers practical tools and hope for people facing loss and major life changes.
 
00:56 Why Talk Crisis
06:02 Ona Before Loss
12:02 Finding a Way Forward
14:56 Choosing Kids First
19:20 Honest Grief Parenting
31:19 Grief Needs Community
34:08 Including Kids In Choices
38:31 Parenting After Loss
51:14 Kids Witness Resilience
54:03 Closing Thanks And Wrap

In season two, episode twenty of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene continue their spirituality arc by discussing shadow work and how it connects to spiritual growth through self-relationship. They frame shadow work as examining “safety templates” formed in childhood and trauma, updating outdated beliefs that drive autopilot behaviors, and building capacity for love, accountability, joy, and authenticity in relationships. They share personal examples involving vulnerability, people-pleasing, self-abandonment, addiction shame, therapy avoidance, and being “safe to be seen,” and offer practical questions like “Is this true?” and gathering evidence, emphasizing the need for supportive community and that it’s never too late to start.
 
00:00 Welcome Back Intro
04:35 Tricking The Brain
05:57 Shadow Work Explained
11:38 Autopilot And Evolving
15:28 Shadow Work Entry Points
25:54 Power Of Self Knowledge
35:35 Digging Into The Why
39:20 When Why Becomes Avoidance
44:12 Questions For Shadow Work
54:16 Ego Threat And Safe Tribe
57:31 Never Too Late
58:40 Closing And Next Episodes

Season two, episode seven of The Unvarnished Edit continues the “joy arc” with guest Lauren, introduced as a “joyful expert” for her habit of openly sharing encouragement and connection with others. She describes how her mom’s support helped preserve her joyful nature, while later experiences taught her to set boundaries and avoid one-sided, emotionally draining relationships, especially during her divorce and her father’s hospice. The hosts discuss women’s difficulty prioritizing themselves, accountability, feeling emotions openly, and finding fun, then challenge themselves to “microdose” joy daily and report back.
 
01:13 Meet Lauren the Joy Expert
04:32 Joy Through People
12:52 Boundaries and Burnout
16:43 Joy vs Fear of Happiness
18:51 Finding Joy After Divorce
23:05 Selfish Time and Self Grace
27:21 Accountability and Emotional Efficiency
29:44 Healthy Conflict and Letting Go
34:17 Cherishing Yourself Daily
35:27 Questioning Old Beliefs
36:24 Finding Fun Again
42:38 Inner Child Joy Ideas
49:14 Emotions Make Space for Joy
50:25 Wrap Up and Next Episode

In season two, episode six of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene continue their parenting arc by discussing parenting culture and raising children who don’t fit the “standard mold,” including queer and transgender kids. They contrast parenting across generations, citing constant digital connection, social media pressure, and “performative parenting”. They emphasize letting kids make mistakes, modeling accountability and repair, regulating themselves before disciplining, and maintaining community and identity outside parenting, and they preview next week’s guest Lauren on joy and happiness.
 
00:00 Welcome Back Parenting Arc
03:41 Parenting Culture Shift
05:22 Autonomy Over Control
11:01 Parenting Across Generations
12:21 Phones Boundaries Pressure
15:47 Let Kids Fail Safely
20:42 Raising Queer Trans Kids
31:03 Self Acceptance Parenting
34:17 Community For Parents
36:33 Natural Consequences Discipline
40:42 Regulation And Leadership
46:21 Repair After Mistakes

Season two, episode five of The Unvarnished Edit continues the show’s spirituality arc with guest Brandi as Angie, Jaelene, and Brandy discuss religious trauma, hypocrisy in organized religion, and deconstruction. They emphasize accountability, self-worth, trusting one’s knowing, and the painful loss of community and rituals after leaving religion, and preview a future discussion on community and next week’s parenting-culture episode.
 
00:00 Welcome and Content Warning
03:50 Brandy on Spirituality and Deconstruction
05:19 Why This Conversation Matters
17:42 Hypocrisy, Gaslighting, and Silencing Questions
25:47 Healthier Faith Models and Choosing Connection
32:30 Trauma And Faith
47:16 Walking Away From Church
49:20 Pandemic And Awakening
59:42 Loss Of Community
01:04:06 Trust Your Knowing

In season two, episode four of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene welcome their first guest, Jessica Flowers, for the second episode in their joy arc, focusing on capturing childlike joy through creativity and “microdosing” delight. They discuss how joy can feel difficult or unsafe after adversity, how messages about being serious or inconspicuous can dampen playfulness, and how adults may lack a “window of tolerance” for big joy. Jessica shares her background in musical theater, 15 years with Free Arts/Art Heals of Arizona, and her current work supporting youth-serving nonprofits, describing creativity as both coping tool and practice. The group explores priming for joy with small moments like scavenger-hunt walks, art projects, and playful puppets, and they reflect on discomfort with others’ excitement and unintentionally tamping it down. They close by planning to share micro-moments of joy and preview next week’s spirituality episode on religious trauma with guest Brandy.
 
00:00 Season Two Kickoff
01:14 Joy Arc Setup
06:10 Was Joy Always There
08:29 Safety And Seriousness
13:43 Joy Versus Delight
19:23 Priming For Joy
26:25 Reclaiming Childlike Fun
30:57 Creativity for Others
35:11 Microdosing Delight
45:46 Let Joy Be
49:17 Closing Thanks Next Gues

In season two, episode three of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene begin a parenting arc by comparing summer break realities in modified year-round school schedules, including 50/50 custody, teens using one home as a “reset,” and the shift from an “ingredient household” to a “food household.” They reflect on their long friendship built around candid, nonjudgmental conversations about the hard parts of parenting, including parenting young adults. Angie describes parenting through the lens of raising future adults, allowing age-appropriate mistakes, and tailoring parenting to each child’s needs, while Jaelene discusses how her approach has evolved, her critique of homework, and reclaiming balance. They explore nature vs. nurture, cycle-breaking, the challenges of co-parenting with different household rules, and parenting changing across multiple “rounds” of children.
 
00:00 Welcome and Parenting Arc
08:49 Why Parenting Needs Honesty
14:54 Different Kids Different Needs
16:22 Second Time Parenting and Healing
24:54 Nature Versus Nurture
26:26 Co Parenting Boundaries
31:40 Letting Kids Make Mistakes
38:45 No Control Over Their Paths
40:48 Whats Next and Superfan Shoutout

In season two, episode two of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene begin their spirituality arc by sharing what spirituality means to them and how it differs from religion. They open with Jaelene’s excitement and anxiety about taking her youngest daughter to New York City to see Hamilton (with family joining), including worries about navigating the city and needing supportive shoes due to a knee issue. The conversation then shifts to spirituality as a personal “true north,” community, and connection to a life force (God/source/universe), often expressed through energy work, nature, breathwork, meditation, yoga, and presence. Jaelene describes leaving Mormonism, keeping spirituality private, and developing practices in prison through Buddhism-leaning teachings. They discuss spirituality’s role in resilience and self-regulation, current practices (frequency tracks, breathing, meditation, journaling, nature), grief after Jaelene’s mother’s death, and upcoming episodes on religious trauma, shadow work, and maintaining spirituality when life goes wrong.
 
00:30 NYC Trip Plans
08:16 Aging And Comfort
09:34 Spirituality Arc Begins
20:09 Prison And Buddhism
22:22 Spirituality Beyond Religion
29:58 Practices That Ground You
33:50 Grief as Spiritual Practice
36:27 Spirituality Is Personal
37:56 Woo-Woo and Joy Link
40:14 Next Episodes Preview
42:22 Closing and Subscribe

In season two, episode one of The Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene return to introduce a “joy arc,” exploring what joy means to them and why it can be hard to access after a history of adversity. They open with light banter about competitive Scrabble, loving dictionaries, and finding joy in learning, then shift to how joy and pre-excitement can feel unsafe because happiness can be taken away or dismissed. Angie shares realizing this during a Sesame Street special, while both discuss living on alert, defaulting to negative feelings as “safer,” and needing intentional practice to experience joy. They talk about “The Artist’s Way,” artist dates, permission, made-up rules that block joy, distinguishing happiness from joy, and the idea that joy requires allowing all emotions. They preview season arcs on joy, spirituality, and parenting.
 
00:00 Season Two Kickoff
06:20 Joy Arc Begins
11:56 Practicing Joy Intentionally
18:41 Too Good To Be True
25:57 Happiness vs Joy
34:24 Tiny Joy Moments
38:19 Safety and Avoidance
39:59 Season Arcs Preview
42:35 Closing and Next Week
 

In episode 12, the season one finale of the Unvarnished Edit, Angie and Jaelene recap highlights from their first season of sharing personal, public conversations about living an adversity-filled life and discuss the vulnerability and behind-the-scenes work of recording, editing, uploading, and managing clips and metrics. Angie describes how the forgiveness episode reframed the concept for her, while Jaelene reflects on learning new skills, easing perfectionism through an Eastern philosophy “becoming” perspective, and feeling proud about sharing her prison story. They talk about maintaining boundaries by not discussing current hardships, share funny moments (including a spouse listening unexpectedly), note viewer/listener platform curiosity, and announce season two’s structure: three topic arcs—joy and happiness, spirituality, and parenting—plus guests, 12 episodes, and a recap, launching Thursday, August 6th.
 
00:52 Personal Public Sharing
03:05 Lessons From Forgiveness
04:05 Learning New Skills
07:40 Becoming Philosophy Shift
12:58 Listener Feedback Joy
19:09 Bloopers And Behind Scenes
23:14 Recalling Past Episodes
24:29 Season Two Format Reveal
32:21 Thanks And Season Two Date