The Downward Facing Spiritual Spiral

Is it Your Choice and Our Version of Chernobyl?

Are we ever truly making our own decisions? Is social media, the media and the government influencing us and making decisions for us? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I wonder if we're ever capable of objectively making our own decisions? I talk about the power of fear and guilt and how the media and social media are using these two powerful emotions to get people to stay home and wear a mask. I also read an excerpt from a powerful book called Voices From Chernobyl and I think to myself, is the government being honest about what's really going on? If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks so much. 

Fe Burkley

Do you ever walk by a stranger and feel their energy? Do you ever hear a voice inside of your head that gives you a warning or tells you everything is going to be okay? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I am stoked to welcome my friend Fe Burkley to the show. I met Fe almost five years and right away I was instantly drawn to her uplifting energy and smile. Fe is a healer who specializes in reiki, acupuncture and Chinese medicine and I am positive you'll feel more energized after you listen to our chat. Fe and I talk about the current climate in the world and how confusing life can feel sometimes. Is the world good or bad or are we in a constant state of trying to navigate life's complexities. We discuss body energy, being more aware, the yin and the yang of social media and the world of reiki. I ask Fe if the ego is at the root of our culture's problems and she tells us how she tries to remain positive despite the world's chaotic tendencies. Be sure to follow Fe on Instagram @goddessadorned or @sacredtwerks.  If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks so much. 

Help Ryan Murphy And A Photo Op

Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I have a lot of interesting topics I felt inspired to talk about. I first discuss a fantastic article in LA Magazine where the writer wonders if Netflix should ask Ryan Murphy for their money back. Instagram and social media are creating a world where story, character and depth doesn't matter as long as everyone "looks good" and I can't help but think how pathetic that trend is for the movie and TV industry. I continue to question the narrative surrounding the coronavirus and I get frustrated by how seemingly no other health condition matters anymore. I talk about a fantastic and powerful article by Skyy Hook that just came out in Medium called Fighting Cancer and a Pandemic. Do people with cancer even matter anymore? I am so tired of all the attention the virus is getting and meanwhile depression, anxiety, heart disease and cancer rates continue to rise. I also talk about a crazy story where a woman seemingly stages a photo op in Santa Monica and now she's getting death threats. You can read about it by clicking HERE. I play a quick clip from the Joe Rogan Show where he and his guest talk about the ineptitude of Donald Trump and Joe Biden and I end the show by playing a song I just recorded yesterday in the studio. It's not mastered yet so you may have to turn up the volume a bit but I'm excited to share a world premiere of a new song. I hope you dig it! It should land on iTunes next month. If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. 

Jake Reed (Visit #2)

Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I am thrilled to welcome musician, drummer and producer Jake Reed back to the show. Jake has been the drummer for some of the new music I am currently working on and when he told me he had a new record coming out, I wanted to have him back on the podcast. The record is called Reed Between the Lines and it's available on all streaming platforms but you can also visit his website by clicking HERE and pick up a vinyl copy or a CD. The album is part rock and part jazz and we talk about what inspired him to produce an album of his own. He talks about what differentiates the two sides of the record and who inspired this "AM/FM" concept. We also talk about the history of drums and how technology and Covid-19 are possibly impacting the future of making records. You can watch the episode on Youtube by clicking HERE. If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. 

Olivier Ozoux (Visit #2)

Are there too many cameras? Is there too much at stake by going "live" without a script? Is the chaos enveloping the world only going to get worse? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I am stoked to welcome my friend Olivier Ozoux back to the show. Olivier is an incredibly thoughtful and talented musician, producer and videographer and I definitely suggest you check out his super cool YouTube channel by clicking HERE. All the music you hear on today's episode was performed and written by Olivier and this was the FIRST episode of the podcast that I recorded live on Youtube. You can watch the episode by clicking HERE. Olivier and I talk about some very topical issues including the risks and rewards of posting live on social media and the good and bad of having cameras seemingly everywhere we go. Olivier lives in Santa Monica so we discuss what he was feeling emotionally after witnessing his city get ransacked by looters. We also share thoughts about Covid-19, George Floyd and we wonder if life will ever feel like normal again. If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. 

Pejman Roozbeh

Does craft or musicianship matter anymore? Are the most "successful" artists the ones who can navigate and toggle between artistry and social media? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I am thrilled to welcome Los Angeles based musician/producer and friend, Pejman Roozbeh, to the show. Pejman's stage/artist name is Funk Fiction where he produces and blends 80's, disco, funk and fusion all into a unique musical style that is fresh and super cool. I spent the weekend listening to his catalog of music and I was instantly hooked. Pejman just released a new record called Dystopian Waters which is influenced by the book, The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina. I met Pejman almost five years ago at a DJ mixer and I was immediately drawn to his thoughtful demeanor and approach to music and artistry. Pejman and I have a wonderful talk about music, his process as an artist and where he draws his inspiration from and we also talk about the often head-scratching world of social media and its impact on creativity. We also discuss some of the topical issues happening in our culture and the influence the media may have on the global narrative. Be sure to follow Pejman on Instagram by clicking HERE where he's known as @funkysynths. Also be sure to listen to his band Funk Fiction which is available on all streaming platforms. If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting live content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. 

Who's Controlling Your Narrative

Who is controlling the narrative in your life? The media? Social media? Are you able to navigate your life with very few distractions? And in a world where cameras are seemingly rolling in every direction, can people ever reconcile that human beings are inherently complicated AF? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I am obviously disheartened and troubled by the direction our country is headed. We need to live in a world with less racism and less police brutality. I crave a world of equality where everyone has the same innate freedoms but I also want a world where people don't overreact, can think clearly and the response isn't more violence and egregious behavior. I talk about Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy as well as the narrative swirling around that all police officers are bad. I talk about the ever-present dystopian world and try to examine this concept that no matter what we do, evil has this powerful way of blanketing the world. I also read an excerpt from Ezra Klein's latest book entitled, Why We're Polarized and I wonder if the media, whether consciously aware or not, is merely adding more fuel to the fire. If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE where I'm going to begin posting more content and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions. 

Say Good-Bye To Context and Even Ryan Murphy Is Doing It

There is less talking. More texting and DM's. Less listening with more people shouting and everyone has their phone out with the camera always rolling. It's a crazy and often toxic world we live in and it seems to make less sense every single day. Today on the Spiritual Spiral Podcast, I felt inspired to talk about what happened yesterday in Central Park with Amy and Christian Cooper. Of course Amy overreacted and was glaringly idiotic and racist when she shouted and called the cops. But I can't help but want to look at the situation from a different perspective. Why didn't Amy just leash her dog after Christian asked? Has she been racist for most of her life or was she just having a bad day? And why did Christian ask Amy to leash her dog? Was the dog threatening him or making too much noise disrupting his birdwatching? Did he ask her nicely? Was he trying to provoke her when he took out his phone and why did Amy feel like she had to call the police? Why didn't she just listen, leash her dog and just move on with the rest of her day? Do any of these subtle points of context even matter anymore? I also talk about a fantastic interview Ryan Murphy had with Kara Swisher on Recode Decode. Ryan was talking about how he's no longer writing series that are over 20 episodes. He describes the cultural trend with people having lesser attention spans as "interesting" but maybe there's nothing interesting about it. Maybe it's pathetic and instead of creating content that is so well done that viewers want to watch MORE, creators are feeling forced to write smaller clips of content knowing that people have dwindling attention spans. Also, is anyone out there watching the credits when an episode ends or do you just quickly click to the next episode? If you enjoy the show, there are a few things you can do that would be incredibly helpful. Please share the show with your friends or head over to iTunes and write a quick review. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page at patreon.com/eddiecohn. Visit my website which is www.iameddiecohn.com and sign up for my email list and newsletter. You can also find me on Substack by clicking HERE . You can subscribe to my Youtube channel by clicking HERE and as always, thanks so much for listening and supporting the show. Please reach out on Twitter @eddiecohn with any questions.