Spill The Spirituality

Hey Y'all,

After four remarkable years, 129 episodes, and over 1.3 million listeners, Trey and Jaz sit down together - from their own homes - to say a heartfelt farewell to Spill the Spirituality. This final episode is not a sad montage (no candlelit interpretive dance either, despite Trey's best efforts). It's a celebration - of friendship, of extraordinary guests, of the conversations that changed both hosts from the inside out.
They reflect on the guests who left a lasting mark, the unlikely friendship that sparked all of this, and what comes next as they step into a new season with curiosity and open hands.
"It's a brave thing to start something new — and it can be a brave thing to have a good ending too."
Timestamps
0:00 — Welcome & the announcement: this is the final episode
2:08 — How Jaz accidentally ended up on a Methodist podcast (she thought it was something else entirely)
6:58 — Trey's origin story: the lockdown Facebook Live "Graham Norton show" that planted the seed
8:30 — Why this podcast matters: celebrating difference rather than weaponising it
9:39 — Standout guests: Mike Bates (counter-terrorism operative) and Jamie Jones-Buchanan
10:22 — Mike's story: solo rowing the Atlantic — and the 100 dolphins
13:08 — Rowan Williams at Cheltenham Literary Festival: whales in dry rivers
15:23 — Kelechi Okafor: ancestral trauma, embodiment, and twerking in the studio
18:10 — Nadia Bolz-Weber: fangirling, prison ministry, and the woman with "savage" tattooed on her face
22:20 — Looking back over all 129 episodes; Jas's "gateway drug" into spirituality
25:54 — Jaz opens up: her painful history with church, a toxic marriage to a vicar, and finding her way back
28:35 — The DM that started it all: how Jas reached out — and Trey was already writing the same message
31:00 — Trey's personal spiritual shift: learning to lead alongside others, not alone
35:24 — The surprise Pentecost Sunday sermon — and being "preacher adjacent"
39:58 — Jaz's vision for what's next: a sofa on the street in Edinburgh (and Milton Keynes)
41:27 — Trey's next season: rest, silence, and resisting the urge to start another project immediately
44:40 — Final thank yous to 1.3 million listeners, and what comes next
All 129 episodes remain available wherever you listen. Thank you for journeying with us. Until our paths cross again — peace.
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Hey Y'all,

Recorded live at the Cliff College Festival on Pentecost Sunday in Derbyshire, hosts Trey Hall and Jaz Ampaw-Farr are joined by two brilliant guests - Methodist kayaker and dementia support worker Mary Sharples, and singer-songwriter Rob Halligan - for a deeply human conversation about change, faith, identity, and the songs that transport us through it all.

Whether you're mid-transition or settled in a comfortable rut (and secretly love Last of the Summer Wine), this one's for you.

Timestamps:
0:00 — Welcome & introducing the show: what is *Spill the Spirituality*?
1:38 — Live at Cliff College Festival: Pentecost, bank holidays, and "male adjacent activities"
2:53 — Today's theme: life transitions — big and small
4:02 — Introducing guests Mary Sharples and Rob Halligan
5:25 — Mary on being 27: constant change, accidental careers, and feeling transient
7:53 — "At what point do you feel grown up?" — pensions, volunteers, and the approval of teenagers
8:42 — Mary on needing roots: change is easier when you have a network around you
9:18 — Rob on 25 years as a self-employed musician: the constant life of change on the road
10:54 — Rob's project on liminal spaces: learning to value the in-between moments
11:56 — Spirituality across difference: how do you identify on the spiritual spectrum?
12:25 — Mary: "I say Methodist before Christian" — a denomination built on justice and action
13:22 — Rob: "I'm a musician who is a Christian" — still learning what it means to follow Jesus
15:00 — Rob's defining moment: losing his father in the 9/11 attacks on the 99th floor of the South Tower
15:36 — Standing in Coventry Cathedral: "Father, Forgive" — anger, faith, and a giant reality check
16:21 — Choosing to believe: "I think this God likes us"
17:31 — Injustice, Operation Enduring Freedom, and where Rob sees God *not* present
18:25 — "I love you in the Lord" — what it means when love is really just tolerance
19:18 — Mary on working in dementia care: it's not a sad job — it's a joyful one
20:16 — Weekly community groups, uninhibited characters, and the gift of being present
21:22 — "It's a lesson in just being present" — freedom from embarrassment and cringe
22:18 — Where Mary sees God: in diverse communities drawn together by care
23:12 — East Manchester's mishmash of volunteers and the intergenerational miracle of showing up
24:33 — Trey's aunt, Frank Sinatra, and the power of music for people with dementia
25:17 — Rob on music after 9/11: "I had something to say"
25:42 — The strange thing about songs: listeners hear something completely different to what you wrote
26:00 — Rob's song *It's Strange What a Song Can Do*: Flowers in the Rain, Radio 1, and a dad singing badly in a Toyota Avalon
27:23 — The panel's musical memory lane: The Bangles, Kids from Fame, Sharon Shannon, and Showaddywaddy
30:48 — Mary on body memory: why people with dementia remember how a song *feels* even when words are gone
32:29 — What takes you to a deep spiritual place? Folk music, R&B brunch clubs, and collective dancing
33:59 — Jaz on "Grace" in Tottenham Court Road: dancing in an old church at 3pm as a spiritual act
35:05 — Rob on art, creativity, and crying at a pot on the Great Pottery Throw Down
35:31 — Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Honors: when art does something you can't explain
36:40 — Coming in to land: what do you want to take into the next chapter — and what do you want to leave behind?
37:45 — Trey: leave the judgment, keep the good stories
38:10 — Jaz: hard-earned humility in, imposter syndrome out
39:06 — Mary: leave behind the constant questioning of every decision; go forward freely and tread lightly
40:17 — Wrap-up, thanks, and the parting benediction: "Go forward and eat toast with heavy amounts of butter. And be at peace."

Featured guests:
Mary Sharples — Methodist, kayaker, chaplain-turned-dementia-support-worker, champion of heavily buttered toast
Rob Halligan — Singer-songwriter and storyteller; on his 25th anniversary tour; described by the BBC as "Bruce Springsteen having English tea with Billy Bragg"
Hosts: Trey Hall & Jaz Ampaw-Farr
Recorded live at: Cliff College Festival, Derbyshire
Produced by: Rachel Matthews | A project of the Methodist Church
Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!
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Hey Y'all,

What happens when a vet, wildlife broadcaster, and nature mystic sits down with Jaz and Trey? This. Sean McCormack - known to many as That Vet Sean, familiar from Springwatch, The One Show, and his Sunday Times pets column - takes us on an extraordinary journey from cocaine-swallowing puppies to urban beavers, from speciesism to secret grief, and from Catholic Ireland to finding his church in the natural world.
Expect big laughs, unexpected tears, and a conversation that might just change how you think about animals, the planet, and what it means to be human.
Timestamps:
0:00 — Intro & welcome: Who is Sean McCormack (That Vet Sean)?
1:28 — Exotic pets, zoo vets & the wild beginning of Sean's career
3:00 — The late-night call: cocaine, a puppy, and a kitchen surgery request
4:11 — What drives a child to become a vet? Nature, family & being the "weird kid"
5:32 — The hidden mental health crisis in veterinary medicine
6:33 — Vets have the highest suicide rate of any profession — why?
6:39 — How our relationship with pets has transformed in one generation
8:19 — Do pets truly serve the animal, or just us? The ethics of pet-keeping
9:54 — Speciesism: Why do we eat cows but not dogs?
10:49 — Grass-fed beef vs. dairy and eggs: the counterintuitive truth about animal welfare
12:50 — "It's not the cow, it's the how" — regenerative agriculture explained
14:45 — Kids who don't know where potatoes come from: our disconnection from nature
15:20 — Nature is everywhere, even in cities — but we've stopped noticing
18:05 — The Ealing Beaver Project: bringing beavers back to zone 4 of London
19:51 — Beavers solving urban flooding better than engineers — and David Attenborough's reaction
20:16 — Working alongside Sir David Attenborough on *Wild London*
21:10 — Shifting to spirituality: what does nature mean to Sean?
22:13 — Trey's seal colony encounter on Caldey Island (and being gently told off by Sean)
23:47 — Sean's spirituality: "My church is the natural world"
29:37 — No Mow May, dominion, and why human superiority is destroying the planet
31:22 — The hypocrite's dilemma: flying to Costa Rica as a conservationist
33:06 — Grief, loss, and the partner who wasn't out: Sean opens up
34:23 — The Irish relationship with death, wakes, and why grief shouldn't be hidden
38:20 — Three years of secret grief — and why speaking his name finally brought healing
43:35 — The forest walk video that went viral: "There's no shame in this"
45:52 — Growing up gay in Catholic Ireland: denial, self-preservation, and coming out at 18
47:35 — A second coming out: burnout, identity crisis, and hating a career he'd built his life around
50:49 — Sean's advice for anyone stuck on the wrong path: listen to that voice sooner
53:34 — "You're only as sick as your secrets" — on sharing, therapy, and moving forward
54:07 — Closing reflections: spirituality, openness, and honoring connection

Follow Sean: Instagram @thatvetSean
Wild London (with David Attenborough) - available on BBC iPlayer
The Ealing Beaver Project - Paradise Fields, Greenford, London
Spill The Spirituality is a project of the Methodist Church in Britain. New episodes every week - subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen.
Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!
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Hey Y'all,
In this episode, Trey and Jaz sit down with Scottish writer, broadcaster, and paranormal psychologist Evelyn Hollow — known for her work on Uncanny and The Battersea Poltergeist — for a wild, wide-ranging conversation about what ghosts might actually be, why consciousness is science's last great mystery, and whether the paranormal and the spiritual are closer than we think.
Evelyn takes us from the Battersea poltergeist case that became the number one podcast in the world, to modern-day ghost sightings (yes, there are ghosts in hoodies), to a fascinating theory that what we call ghosts might not be dead people at all — but glimpses through time. Along the way, the conversation moves into quantum physics, the politics of who gets to define the sacred, why so many women are drawn to paganism, and what it means that every culture on Earth seems to be accessing the same mysterious thing and calling it by different names.
Jaz also finally tells her abbey ghost story to an actual expert. The verdict? It's complicated.
Funny, mind-bending, and unexpectedly moving — this one will have you side-eyeing empty rooms for weeks.
Timestamps:
2:41 — Introducing Evelyn Hollow: paranormal psychologist and broadcaster
3:00 — Growing up in Scotland; swapping forensic psychology for parapsychology
5:05 — The Battersea Poltergeist and becoming the number one podcast in the world
7:46 — Why aren't there modern ghosts? (There are — one wears a Nirvana T-shirt)
11:28 — Do ghosts have an expiry date? The half-life of consciousness
12:59 — Jaz's abbey ghost story: the woman at the foot of the bed
15:00 — Sleep paralysis, the priming effect, and why Jaz's story is hard to explain
20:15 — The Salem witch trials: mass hysteria or something more calculated?
23:48 — Is everyone accessing the same spiritual reality?
27:34 — Could consciousness be quantum? Why ghosts make scientific sense
29:00 — Weighing the soul and the 0.7 gram preacher's tale
32:24 — Paganism: pre-Christian faith and the power of the land
34:56 — Feminism and faith: who wrote the book?
38:09 — Local gods vs. universal truth
41:29 — What comes after death? Where consciousness might go
-----
Guest: Evelyn Hollow
Find her: Instagram @EvelynHollow
Spill the Spirituality is a project of the Methodist Church in Britain. Produced by John Ryan and Rachel Matthews. Hosted by Trey Hall.
Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!
Learn about Spill the Spirituality Podcast, Community & Events
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Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!
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Hey Y'all,

In this episode, Trey Hall sits down with poet, author, and educator Jaspreet Kaur - also known as Behind the Netra - for a rich, wide-ranging conversation about identity, faith, creativity, and what it means to go deeper than the surface of things.
Jaspreet opens with a stunning reading of her poem Lost in Translation, a tribute to her mother and the experience of navigating intersectional identity as a British South Asian woman. From there, the conversation weaves through the healing power of poetry, the feminist roots of the Sikh faith, the book Brown Girl Like Me, and a deeply personal account of finding spirituality not in a place of worship — but in a library, a research project, and a girls' home in Punjab.
Timestamps:
2:29 — Introducing guest Jaspreet Kaur / Behind the Netra; reading of Lost in Translation
5:07 — Why do people love or hate poetry? How it was introduced in schools
6:50 — Rediscovering poetry through the Sikh faith: scripture written entirely in poetic form
7:31 — Poetry as therapy: using writing to manage anxiety at age 13
8:28 — The stigma around mental health in South Asian (and wider) communities
9:06 — Anxiety attacks at 13, the journal she still has today, and the move from free writing to poetry
9:46 — Pen to paper vs. typing: why handwriting feels therapeutic
13:13 — What spirituality looks like in everyday life; lessons from a toddler noticing a snail
16:14 — Brown Girl Like Me: writing the book, interviewing 150 Asian women, and why it was therapy
22:44 — Spirituality and Sikh heritage: growing up in a Sikh household
23:59 — The difference between practice and truly feeling faith
25:39 — A master's in gender studies and researching son preference in South Asian communities
26:24 — Finding spirituality through feminist research: the Sikh faith's founding principle of gender equality
26:52 — Why Sikh women keep the name Kaur; removing caste through naming
30:54 — Trey shares his own story: coming out as gay through scripture and direct experience of God
32:09 — When faith and culture conflict: a shared challenge across all traditions
33:23 — "Don't worry, next time you'll have a boy" — the rage of hearing that after a daughter's birth
34:11 — Channelling holy rage into writing and advocacy
39:18 — What does God feel like? Sun on your eyelids — a poetic description of the divine
41:17 — Trey shares his 12-step recovery journey and experiencing God in the rooms of recovery
41:59 — Powerlessness and surrender: the first steps and why a powerful God matters
45:04 — Can you be a feminist and surrender to God? Yes — we are contradictions
47:22 — Names for God that take energy and alertness to say; divine names across traditions
Guest: Jaspreet Kaur — poet, author, educator
Find her: Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook — @BehindtheNetra
Book: Brown Girl Like Me
Spill the Spirituality is a project of the Methodist Church in Britain. Produced by John Ryan and Rachel Matthews. Hosted by Trey Hall.
Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!
Learn about Spill the Spirituality Podcast, Community & Events
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