Circle This – Details, episodes & analysis

Recorded in New York City where it all began, Dre and Em reflect on how everything in life unfolds in systems, patterns, seasons, and cycles. 

They circle around their love–hate relationship with social media, exploring the irony of creating a podcast about connection while spending so much time in virtual spaces and what happens to our nervous systems, creativity, and sense of belonging when we finally gather in person.

They also touch on the rise of "outsourced intimacy" from dating apps to digital wellness and how we're losing the art of being with one another.  Together, they reframe what's "hard," remind us that giving and receiving are two sides of the same gift, and share stories that reveal how mindset creates reality.

They end with a call to connection: step away from the screen, gather your people, and create an opportunity to engage with one another in real life.  Because luck and love aren't random. We create them.

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Stay connected

with the Circle This team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast

@emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode, Dre welcomes actor, writer, director and all around creator, Alicia Coppola, a woman whose artistry and honesty are inseparable from her healing.  They reflect on meeting and circling in countless audition rooms, and how they intuitively unsubscribed from the narrative of competition and scarcity.  

Alicia opens up about grief, loss, and how creating art has always been her way to understand and alchemize pain.  She shares about her latest chapter: relocating her family to support her child's athletic dreams, giving away nearly everything she owned, and finding expansion in letting go. Together, Dre and Alicia explore what it means to parent with presence, how to let your children show you who they are and to truly listen.

We learn about Transmission Moms, a movement born from Alicia's desire to help families and the medical community better understand and support children navigating gender identity. Her mission is simple: to make sure every child feels heard, seen, and safe enough to live their authentic truth.

From The I'm Sorry Monologues to her work as a storyteller and advocate, Alicia reminds us that art is both medicine and message — a way to transform pain into purpose, and isolation into connection.

Follow: @Alicia_Coppola 

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Stay connected with the Circle This team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast

@emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com

In this special episode we have curated a compilation of standout conversations from our first 38 episodes.  Featuring wand drop moments from some of our many guests, from producer/screenwriter, Kristin Hahn, to astrologer/psychologist, Debra Silverman, to journalist Brooke Baldwin and many more. Stories that inspire us, lessons that stayed with us and voices that lit up the circle.  Whether you're new here or have been circling with us from the start, this is a great place to explore, reflect and experience the power of connection. 

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Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @tracenthomas

To sponsor Circle This, email: circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode of Circle This, Dre sits down with meditation teacher and author Megan Monahan to explore the question Do I want to be liked, or do I want to be loved? A layered conversation about the places where spirituality meets humanity and where our practices are tested not on the meditation cushion, but in the messy moments of real life.

Megan and Dre share about the patterns of codependency, the subtle addiction to being liked, and the uncomfortable but necessary shift toward true self-connection and interdependence. They talk about emotional bandwidth, spiritual bypassing, and how to stop outsourcing your worth to others. This episode invites you to notice your triggers, to hold yourself in discomfort, and to honor the sacred practice of being, rather than constantly doing.

They discuss what it means to embody the divine feminine, how to walk through resistance with integrity, and how to recognize the proof-of-concept moments that show you just how far you've come. Healing doesn't always look graceful and transformation rarely asks for your approval.

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Follow Megan: @megmonahan
Learn more at: meganmonahan.com
Check out her 21-day meditation series: Link Here!

Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @tracenthomas
To sponsor Circle This, email: circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode Dre is joined by psychic medium Jonathan Mark—martial artist, lacrosse player , and lifelong skeptic—whose unexpected gift now helps families and detectives across the country solve cases and find connection after loss.

He never set out to do this work. But the messages kept coming. Loud. Specific. Unshakable. And soon, so did the calls—from grieving loved ones and law enforcement agencies such as NYPD, DA's office, and FBI asking for extra insight no one else could provide.

From scientific studies at MIT and Johns Hopkins that confirm unusual brain activity during readings, to the intuitive "screenshots" spirit sends him, Jonathan's work blends the mystical with the grounded—always with humility and deep care.

Together, Dre and Jonathan explore what it means to hold space between worlds. They talk about the science behind his gift, the grief that opens us, and the symbols spirit uses to reach across the veil. And the sacred responsibility of listening to what sometimes is hard for people to hear.

Johnathan illustrates just how connected we are and continue to be even when someone has crossed over, so much love remains.

Follow Jonathan on IG & TikTok: @Jonathanmarkmedium

Learn more at: https://jonathanmark.net/

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Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @tracenthomas

To sponsor Circle This Podcast, email circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode, Dre sits down with Stephanie Ferrario, founder of SheCan—a global movement and media platform amplifying women's voices through storytelling, education, and community. With over 3 million organic listeners, SheCan has become a living archive of transformation, visibility, and purpose.

Together, Dre and Stephanie circle around the questions:
What makes a mentor?
Why is emotional wellbeing a collective issue?

How do circles help us sit with discomfort, regulate our nervous systems, and remind us we're not alone?

From sitting with women in Ethiopia to launching a digital movement, Stephanie shares how SheCan was born in circle, listening to women's lived experiences and inviting the world to be inspired by them. They explore how internalized patriarchy, ageism, and competition keep women from rising, up until now, and how storytelling dismantles those myths.

This episode is both a love letter and a call to action: to gather, to witness, to build a new archive where her story matters—because when one woman rises, she lifts many.

Follow Stephanie & SheCan: @stefferrario & @she.can.world
Learn more: www.shecan.world
Subscribe: YouTube - SheCan World

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Stay connected with us: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

To sponsor this podcast, email: circlethispod@gmail.com

Most birthday celebrations are filled with gifts, cake, and casual conversation. But what if the real gift was presence—the kind that invites everyone to connect in a deep, meaningful way?

In this episode, Dre and Em are joined by Emily's best friend, David Perlman, who shares what it was like to celebrate his birthday in a completely different way: by sitting in circle. Instead of the usual dinner and side conversations, the group dropped into something sacred—an intentional space for reflection, vulnerability, and connection.

David reflects on how simply creating space for a shared experience, guided by Dre's facilitation, allowed everyone to be seen, heard, and moved—to laughter, to tears, and to something unforgettable.

Whether you're curious about circling or already hold space for others, this conversation is a beautiful reminder: we don't need a special occasion to create sacred connection. We just need the intention.

This episode is an invitation to rethink how we gather—not just for birthdays, but for life.

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Stay connected with the Circle This Team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

To Sponsor Circle This Podcast, email circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode, Dre welcomes love coach and author Francesca Hogi (How to Find True Love) for a conversation about self-worth, connection, and what it really means to flirt with life.

Francesca redefines flirting as a way of engaging with the world—not rooted in romance, but in presence. At its core, flirting is about making others feel seen and acknowledged, creating space for possibility, chemistry, and soul-level connection.

They explore how dating can become a practice of self-love, how emotional resilience opens the door to intimacy, and how we can begin to shift from "being chosen" to choosing ourselves.

This episode touches on patterns, boundaries, AI dating agents, serendipity, the myth of scarcity in love, and the narratives we've inherited around beauty and worth.

Together, Dre and Francesca offer reflections, questions, and gentle permission to approach love—not as a game to win, but as a mirror, a teacher, and a human experience worth showing up for.

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Stay connected with the Circle This Team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

To Sponsor Circle This Podcast, email circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode of Circle This, Dre sits down with writer, speaker, and "shame loss" advocate Jen Pastiloff to explore embodiment, bravery, and becoming the most unapologetic version of yourself.

Living with hearing loss since childhood, Jen learned to listen with her whole body—a practice that's become her superpower in helping others feel truly seen. Together, she and Dre unpack the art of the apology, the radical act of claiming joy without reason, and the healing that happens when we stop minimizing our worth.

From giving yourself a medal for the smallest wins to speaking your desires out loud—especially when they scare you—this episode is a call to stop performing, stop apologizing, and start living like you mean it.

Jen shares the vulnerable story behind her new book, how rejection still echoes old wounds, and why she believes transparency is a sacred act of sisterhood. With humor, heart, and holy honesty, she reminds us: self-acceptance is a practice. And showing up—messy, honest, and whole—is more than enough.

Follow Jen: @jenpastiloff
Pre-order her new book: Proof of Life: Let Go, Let Love, and Stop Looking for Permission to Live Your Life

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Stay connected with the Circle This team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace 

To sponsor Circle This Podcast, email circlethispod@gmail.com

In this episode, Dre welcomes the luminous Debra Silverman—astrologer, therapist, and author of I Don't Believe in Astrology—for a conversation that spans lifetimes.

What begins as an exploration of Dre's chart (a double Capricorn with a Pisces sun, a powerful Saturn-Pluto imprint, and a rare Yod of destiny) unfolds into something deeper: a soul-mirroring dialogue about purpose, pain, and the poetry of being understood. Because sometimes the most sacred love language isn't touch—it's resonance.

Together, Dre and Debra explore astrology not as prediction, but as ancient medicine for modern healing. They touch on childhood wounds, spiritual assignments, and how the stars reveal what we already know deep within: there is nothing random about who we are.

This episode is for the astrology-curious and the cosmically fluent alike. It's an invitation to slow down, decode your chart, and remember the mission your soul signed up for. As Deb says, your soul is madly in love with you—and it's time you saw yourself through its eyes.

Follow: @debrasilverman_astrology

Learn more at: https://debrasilvermanastrology.com/andreabendewald

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Stay connected with the Circle This team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia

To sponsor Circle This Podcast, email circlethispod@gmail.com