Episode 10

About

🎙️ A Live Studio Finale with Chris & Soren

In this special live-recorded finale, Inspired Insights Podcast celebrates the end of an unforgettable chapter. Chris and Soren sit down in front of a studio audience filled with family, friends, and past guests to reflect on three seasons and 30 powerful episodes of storytelling, vulnerability, and intergenerational insight.

What began as a mission to bridge generations and destigmatize mental health, LGBTQ+ experiences, and the messy beauty of personal growth has grown into a deeply impactful platform. In this heartfelt goodbye-for-now, Chris and Soren revisit favorite moments, lessons learned, and the episodes that meant the most—while also answering questions from the audience.

As Soren embarks on their next big journey to university in Scotland, this episode marks their final bow as cohost. But the story isn’t over—stay tuned for Inspired Insights Podcast 2.0, as Chris carries the torch into the next era.

Grab a tissue (or two) and join us for a celebration of endings, beginnings, and everything in between. 🌈💬✨

Tune in and be inspired to show up, speak out, and stay grounded.

www.inspiredcg.com

https://www.youtube.com/@InspiredInsightsPodcast

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*Please note that this episode contains sensitive behavioral health topics such as suicide and substance use. If you are experiencing a behavioral health crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling 988 or visiting www.988lifeline.org.

**This podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered health advice. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.

Transcript

The Inspired Insights podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered health advice. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.

Please note that this podcast may contain discussions on sensitive topics such as mental illness, suicide and substance use. If you are experiencing a behavior health crisis or need support, please contact the 988-SUICIDE-AND-CRISIS-LIFELINE by calling 988 or visiting www.988-LIFELINE.ORG.

Soren:
Welcome all to the final episode of season three of the Inspired Insights podcast.

Chris:
We are live, Soren, at the stage door in Bangor, Maine.

Soren:
Indeed, with all of our lovely guests from our past, present, and future.

Chris:
Yeah, yeah, it’s awesome to be here. This is the end of an era for us.

Soren:
Yes, a dynasty created by me and Chris, and it’s crumbling, falling, and coming to an end.

Chris:
But something will come from the ashes, I’m sure.

Soren:
Like a phoenix.

Chris:
All the way from the UK.

Soren:
Hopefully, fingers crossed.

Chris:
So people on camera can’t see our audience, but welcome audience. It’s lovely to have so many friends and family and former guests here. I’m seeing folks now.

Yeah, it’s awesome to be here.

Soren:
Indeed.

Chris:
And sad.

Soren:
You know, it’s slightly bittersweet, and yet at the same time, that sadness brings forth excitement, in my opinion. I feel that when one sees something crumble, they can’t help but foresee something grow in its stead.

Chris:
Yeah, well, you have an Inspired Insight that might be a little reminiscent of that piece. So do you want to start us off with your Inspired Insight for the week? It’s true.

Soren:
My Inspired Insight today, as many of my Inspired Insights have been, is inspired by Karl Marx. Technically Hegel, but Karl, my boy, grabbed the idea and made it better and applied it to social theory more directly. But my Inspired Insight is branching off from this idea of the social derivation of value.

Value, in Marx’s mind and in mine, is a metric of social esteem, prestige, social utility. And thusly, we can determine that as our podcast, being a commodity, has value derived from society, its exclusive value lies in the hands of those who are placing value onto it. So all of this comes together to mean that the real value of our podcast is not me or Chris or the product that we are producing, but rather the audience and the value that they are placing onto it.

Chris:
Soren! It took us a while to get there, but that’s awesome. That’s an awesome.

Well, I’m going to thank you for sharing that. My Insight of the week is way less petty. What’s the word?

Way less up here. My Inspired Insight of the week is the old adage that teamwork makes the dream work. And this podcast has been a culmination of the last year of multiple folks, and we’ll get to some thank yous later, that sitting here today, this is something I never would have anticipated just over a year ago.

And maybe if the time’s right, we’ll share a little bit about how this podcast actually came together as I look at your mom in the back row there. But yeah, just that this village that is kind of gathered around this essay, college essay project, is here we are a year plus later. This is our 30th episode that we’re recording now.

And over the last year and a couple months, we have had some incredible conversations. We’ve had some even more incredible guests, again, several of which are here today. And we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot that I’m just kind of sitting with just thinking about.

And I was thinking about it this morning with just in this place of gratitude and thankful for the team, however that is defined.

Soren:
A hundred percent. And I myself, as our audience may know, am broadly incapable of completing tasks. So without the help of our lovely team, this product would truly not exist as I know I can create it on my lonesome.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. Something as simple as coffee cups, sugar, and creamer.

It takes the team and two trips to Duncan to pick up the rest of the stuff.

Soren:
This very morning. It’s true.

You know, they were hiding from me on that Duncan shelf.

Chris:
They were. They were. So as we think about season three and wrapping up season three, what have been some of your kind of favorite memories of the last season?

Soren:
I think as, of course, we’ve moved through each season, the quality of episodes has gotten a lot better. And I really just love having guests on the podcast. I think that’s my favorite part of doing the podcast is that we have the opportunity to have guests.

And I think this season, we had some really awesome guests. I really liked our episode where we had the opportunity to sit down with a lobbyist, I believe.

Chris:
Charlotte.

Soren:
Yes. Charlotte got our first episode this season.

Chris:
That was our first guest episode of the season. Yeah.

Soren:
And also I finally had the opportunity to bring some guests from my social network that we just recorded an episode with. It’s not released quite yet. But by the time our viewers have listened to this episode, it will have been released.

Chris:
Yeah.

Soren:
And I think it’s just beautiful that we got to talk to people that aren’t us.

Chris:
Yeah, we had two. True. We had two Pride themed episodes this season, talking about some important projects going on here in Bangor area.

I love talking with your two friends, recent graduates of high school and hearing from more younger voices of that whole perspective of pressure and what it feels like to be under pressure.

Soren:
Yeah. I mean, I think that from the we’ve had a very generational perspective. Yeah.

And of course, it takes time and stratification to establish generational divides. And the real difference between you and me is that you’ve had more life experience.

Chris:
Is that a nice way of saying I’m old?

Soren:
Yes. Yeah. But I think as the podcast has progressed, I’ve gained more life experience and as have you.

And I think through that very progression, me getting to view, hear, see new things, I’ve sort of aged and we’ve bridged the generational gap through that with the podcast.

Chris:
Yeah, I think you’re spot on. For me, that growth of perspective, which from day one, all those months ago, you and I sitting down, we wanted to talk to folks around gaining perspective and hearing other stories and this whole idea that everybody’s story is important and worth telling and worth listening to. And we’ve heard some incredible stories.

And I’m just looking around here in the room of some of our guests over the years, and we’ve had some incredible stories shared just this season, but as well as the last few seasons as well. Really incredible stories about faith, about trauma and growth and recovery and reclaiming your voices, about the power of drag and joy, about what comes next after the high school experience as you move into the college world and the dormitory living world. And then Advocacy with Charlotte, that was a powerful episode for you as well.

I think that’s our episode where I’ve seen the most light bulb moments for you in real time. So we’ve had some cool stuff go on for sure.

Soren:
A hundred percent.

Chris:
So what’s next?

Soren:
For me, as everybody knows, I will be leaving this godforsaken land. And I’m going to school in Scotland. But for the podcast, I think Chris is going to be continuing it.

Chris:
Yeah, Inspired Insights 2.0 will live on. I’m still working on getting Taylor signed up.

Soren:
Fingers crossed. I’m working on getting Carl. We can exhume him from the grave.

Chris:
Yeah, our two dream guests, right? Indeed. But yeah, short of Taylor coming up on air, we’ve got some other plans.

I’d love to continue to stay in touch with you, which I know we will, and hear some of your perspectives overseas in a new place. I can’t wait to hear your accent that you’ll be developing, I’m sure. Are you practicing it already?

Soren:
I have a Scottish accent practice, of course. I can’t abandon the Scottish accent. But I really hope that I don’t develop a Scottish accent in the first three months of being there, because I think it’d be really cringe to be an American that shows up with a Scottish accent.

Chris:
In a kilt. Yeah. Do you have a kilt?

Soren:
I do. I do have a kilt. Do we still have a kilt?

Surely, right, Mom? It’s too soon. My waist is still snatched enough for it, I think.

Chris:
Why didn’t you wear it today? Because you didn’t know where it is.

Soren:
I’m saving it for the Pride Parade. Oh, even better.

Chris:
I just spoiled it then. Damn. Yeah, so we’ve got some exciting…

When do you actually leave?

Soren:
September 9th. Oh, wow.

I still have a hot second. I’m going to lavish in the glory of Maine for a bit longer.

Chris:
For a bit longer. Yeah. Awesome.

Awesome. So we’ve collected some questions from our listeners. You ready to get into some of these?

Soren:
I’m very excited. I love hearing from the audience. All right.

Chris:
Soren, what surprised you the most about this experience?

Soren:
Okay. I would say my honest answer is I always think that I can help and do things going into various assignments. And I was a little astonished at my continued inability to complete tasks.

Chris:
Really?

Soren:
Yeah. I mean, I come in with such high spirits and I really think I can do it. And then I just never put that effort in.

What would you say surprised you the most?

Chris:
That you didn’t put that effort in. But no, I have not been surprised. The thing I was surprised about the least isn’t your lack of effort.

The thing the least is your ability to shine when the moment comes. When you clap three times, you turn it on and you are ready to go regardless of anything else going on around us or you. So that did not surprise me.

I think what has surprised me the most, though, is the people who have reached out to us to say that episode touched me, that episode, I feel like you were speaking to me. I’ve shared with you over the last year some of the people that have outreached to us to say thank you and that this episode mattered and that they hadn’t thought about something that way. And I honestly didn’t think we would have that many listeners.

So it was surprising to me that people were tuning in and really gave a damn about what a 50-year-old and a now 18-year-old had to think and say about the world.

Soren:
Yeah, that’s awesome. And of course, I think that’s the best part of creating any media or art. It’s the emotions that you can draw out of others.

Chris:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Next question.

We have talked in a previous podcast about the work that individual teachers are doing to make education more inclusive and more authentic in regards to what students need to enter the world more prepared. Soren, what advice would you offer someone working in public education who is in leadership, perhaps like an administrator?

Soren:
Interesting. What advice would I offer? I think essentially the goal of an administrator or a leader should first be to gain the trust of the individuals that they rule over.

In order to create any dictate or edict, you must first have the trust of those who will be ascribing to said edict that it’s good for them, right? So first establish that trust. And then for students, more specifically, I think the main thing that’s important is just playing to their interests.

Students are interested. Humans are interested. We like things.

And I know it may seem as though most students don’t like things and don’t like school and aren’t really interested in anything. It’s important to recognize that once you find something that someone’s interested in, they’ll actually want to learn. And that’s where education gets good, in my opinion, is when individuals want to learn.

Chris:
Yeah.

Soren:
So specialize and play to people’s interests.

Chris:
Yeah. And we actually, with your friends that we had on the podcast not too long ago, this topic came up over and over again about not losing sight of the joy in education, that there’s obviously metrics and grades and curriculum and a lot of have tos. But within those have tos, we cannot lose sight of the joy that comes from learning, whether that learning is classroom, woodshop, chorus, or Latin club, right?

So finding a way to combine those pieces.

Soren:
Yeah, 100%.

Chris:
I pulled out some questions for you to ask.

Soren:
Okay. What do you each bring to the podcast that complements your co-host? You can go first if you’d like.

Chris:
Do you want me to answer what I bring that complements you or what you bring that complements me? I’ll do that.

Soren:
Okay, then we can. Yeah.

Chris:
So you have taught me to live in the moment a bit more, to make time to smell the roses as it would be, and to not lose sight of the simple things in life that bring joy. Sometimes I can get locked into planning and over planning and triple planning. And with that comes the ability to lose sometimes the joy of the moment.

So you have brought the live in the moment perspective for me.

Soren:
I think it’s really interesting that you say that. Because I feel that although I sort of bring the fly by the seat of our pants energy, a bit of chaos and that, I feel that you sort of really bring the podcast more down to earth, where I would want to talk about sort of very heady things, as you said earlier, that I think frankly, most people would not be interested in listening to. You create a relatable experience for our audience and bring a lot more of a positive, funny, and more colloquial wisdom.

And I think that’s really nice. And it balances out my sort of super logical approach to things.

Chris:
I love that. That is a perfect balance. Yeah, indeed.

And sometimes I might do it in a make fun of you way.

Soren:
Well, I mean, if one can’t make fun of themselves and others, what are they doing?

Chris:
Exactly.

Soren:
It’s the basis of human social interaction.

Chris:
Exactly. Exactly.

Soren:
Okay. For our next question for you specifically, Chris, what will you miss most about having Soren on as your co-host?

Chris:
Well, some of that is the live in the moment perspective that you bring. I think you have such a fresh perspective. I think you represent a younger voice and a perspective that as adults, we don’t often seek out or listen to.

And that’s been a theme we’ve talked about a lot in the first season, whether it’s around mental health or education, being able to make sure that we have young voices at the table to help shape these systems. And I just think you have such an articulate way that may be up here a bit, but when we bring it down here where I can understand it, it is a fresh perspective that I will miss. I will miss that perspective.

And I’m very, very hopeful that as school starts in the UK, we find a way for you to share that perspective still back home with us. Thanks. Yeah.

I mean that. Last question. Let’s do, oh, here’s one.

Perfect for Pride. Best ways for straight folks to continue allyship, not just here in Pride, but beyond?

Soren:
You know, I had read this question previously, and I said to Derek, honestly, just not be a dick.

Chris:
Which I think we could get Inspired Insights t-shirts that say, just don’t be a dick.

Soren:
I mean, like, the queer community is similar to any oppressed community. You don’t need to go above and beyond to make these individuals not feel oppressed. You just have to not oppress them, right?

Like, just create a welcoming, open environment and don’t make it a big thing when someone is queer around you. And I think, frankly, that’s the best way to support any individual that has an insecurity or something of that sort. Not that being gay is an insecurity for some people, but it can be sort of a social barrier in some contexts.

Chris:
Yeah, I totally agree. I think, I’m just going to stick simple and don’t be a dick. That’s a perfect answer to that question.

Yeah, yeah. Like, one of the themes for three seasons now has been around the power of community and belonging and what can come from that. And conversely, what are the consequences of not having spaces where people feel welcomed and included.

And so, any opportunity to welcome folks in and include them as part of the conversation, I think is allyship, regardless of the community you’re partnering with.

Soren:
Yeah, 100%. I think humans are fantastic at creating sort of illusory social barriers through our tendency to categorize. And frankly, I think that’s one of the primary issues with modern ideology in the political sphere, at the very least.

And that is the production of sort of meaningless social labels through which one can abuse others. And frankly, I’m just not a fan of social labels more broadly.

Chris:
Which we’ve talked about.

Soren:
They inherently divide individuals, I feel.

Chris:
I think we have one last question coming in.

Soren:
Go ahead. What have you each discovered differing queer experiences due to age or experience?

Chris:
Oh, I might answer immediately.

Soren:
What I’ve discovered being young and gay. I think this is lessened significantly by the fact that we’re in a rural area. But young gay men be hoes, for real.

Yeah. Not that it’s bad to be a hoe. I think that’s fantastic for them, and they’re having fun.

No shame. But men are on the more flagrant sexual side of things, and when you add two of them together, it’s quite a potent combination.

Chris:
That was not my experience. At all. Not at all.

So that might be one of the different perspectives here. Well, there were no out queer kids, and they certainly weren’t hoes. Nope.

All of them I’ve met are. Interesting. Well, there’s a different perspective there.

I would say, we’ve talked about this before too, even just the term queer has been a change. And I remember we talked about that in the first season. We talked about it with our Four Generations of Pride conversation with Frank and Paul, just where the three of us, Frank, Paul, myself, that word carries with it a very different connotation than with your generation.

And so just the terms and the evolution of language, I think, has been a continued discovery for me.

Soren:
I think actually something else that is the most striking difference, in my opinion, between older queer experience and younger queer experience is really it’s not that big of a deal, and it’s far more fluid for young people. I think as much as preteens ascribing to strong labels, as I get older, the queer individuals that I’m interacting with more frequently don’t really ascribe to any labels and simply act the way that they want. And I think that labels historically have been super important for the queer community as sort of a means through which we can legitimize queer experience by providing labels for individuals.

So it creates almost a protection for these behaviors and such. But as these behaviors have become more accepted, it’s far more fluid and less of a major labeled part of one’s identity.

Chris:
Yeah. And you’ve talked about that over and over again, that not just you, Soren, but that your generation, this rejection of both the binary and the labels surrounding the binary.

Soren:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris:
Yeah. I have something for you. Go for it.

Oh, a gift? Oh, my. People that know me know that gift giving is one of my love languages.

Soren:
It’s true.

Chris:
And I know that this sometimes can make people uncomfortable, and I don’t care. So this is graduation slash rap party slash going away.

Soren:
Goodness me. Oh, wow. Full of things.

First, we have this lovely little card, says my name on it. Should I open it?

Chris:
Yes, you’re welcome to.

Soren:
Goodness me. This is a high quality card. Oh, it’s not.

Chris:
Trust me. People who know me know where I get most of my cards from too. Not high quality.

Soren:
I would climb a mountain for you, but I would probably only make it this far in Machu Picchu.

Chris:
Which I had to Google to spell.

Soren:
Oh, I still don’t spell it right. Congrats on all your amazing accomplishments. I’m so proud and so very happy for you.

Thanks for being a part of the podcast. It’s been a wild plus awesome ride. Long live, heart, Chris.

And then we have stickers, bracelets.

Chris:
Did you even look at the bracelet or the sticker?

Soren:
You know, it’s a Swifty bracelet.

Yep. Long live.

Chris:
One of the best.

Soren:
Another Swifty sticker. Honorary Swifty sticker. These are going to go everywhere.

You know how I love my Taylor Swift.

Chris:
I know. You’re getting there.

Soren:
Um, Inspired Insights t-shirt. Oh my goodness. This is a whole lot of stickers and bracelets.

What’s this? Let me be perfectly queer. That’s beautiful.

Chris:
For your dorm room.

Soren:
Oh, this is a nice little handbag.

Chris:
And you’re welcome. Tall poppies. Tall poppies.

We’ve talked a lot about tall poppies.

Soren:
More bag.

Chris:
A bag.

Soren:
A beautiful mug.

Chris:
Which we’ll be wrapping some up to our attendees later.

Soren:
What is this?

Chris:
That’s perhaps my favorite gift to give ever.

Soren:
A little easel with Taylor Swift on it.

Chris:
Yes. There’s a, one of your Inspired Insights a while ago was, you were surprised that there’s a Taylor quote for everything.

Your challenge will be to find a Taylor quote for everything in Scotland.

Soren:
Wow. You and me should start establishing a Taylor Swift Bible. Nice little mouse pad.

Which we’ll be raffling off as well.

Thanks, Chris.

Chris:
You’re so welcome. These.

Soren:
Oh, planner.

Chris:
These are your, um, there’s a little bit of everything here. Knowing that your parents will not obviously be in Scotland with you. This is your adulting to-do list.

Pad of paper. This is your crap-to-do-today pad of paper. And your plan of attack pad of paper to map out the day.

Soren:
I’m sure with all three of those, I’ll only be five minutes late.

Chris:
Well, your challenge is to remember to pack them and bring them.

Soren:
Oh, that’s a challenge in and of itself. Your parents.

Chris:
So, I want to give some thank yous. Folks, I had to write these down so I do not forget. So, I’m going to start with a thank you to Penobscot Theatre and to the Stage Door for hosting us today for this wrap party and final episode.

I want to thank our attendees and our former guests, of which I see several here in the audience. I want to thank our team, the teamwork. People just walked in.

I want to thank your mom, Amanda, your dad, Kevin, Elizabeth, who is here taking some photos. I want to thank Derek, also our producer and musician, for our opening. I want to thank our listeners, of which we have now approached almost triple digits with some episodes, which I guess in the podcast world, in all seriousness, is kind of a big deal.

When you have like triple digits on an episode, I forget, there was actually, I’m looking at your mom, but yeah, there’s some like, if you hit this many, you’re automatically in the top 10% of podcasts. We’re in the top 10% of podcasts. Now, to be clear, there’s like 9,757,000 podcasts.

So, we’re in the top, but we’re there. We’re there. So, I want to thank our listeners, and without our listeners, we would not have continued the way we’ve continued.

And I want to thank you for your willingness to join this thing, to have one more thing on your calendar, one more task, one more thing to get up for, one more thing to show up to. So, thank you.

Soren:
You know, I’d like to thank you as well, because I think that in my framing for this podcast, more specifically in regards to work, I’ve sort of made it seem like a burden. But frankly, every single time we have a recording, I’m energized to come, and I feel fantastic for the rest of the day.

Chris:
You’ve never said that before.

Soren:
Truly, I love talking to people. And I think it’s just awesome that I have the opportunity to discuss a variety of important topics with so many intelligent and interesting individuals at such a young age. Like, if I had not had this podcast, I think the discussions that I had the opportunity to have otherwise would not have even held a candle to the discussions I’ve been able to have on the podcast.

It’s been an awesome opportunity.

Chris:
That’s awesome. Well, we will make sure that our former guests that could not be here today hear that from you, because I think that’s important for them to know as well. Indeed.

Closing thoughts. The end of this era.

Soren:
You know, it’s been a beautiful thing, but I think we did it to its utmost. We brought it to its conclusion. I’m really pleased with what we’ve done.

Chris:
Me too. Me too. I guess my final thought, again, is just gratitude, one giant thank you.

I’m excited to see what’s next for you and to continue to stay in touch with you across continents. I think you’re going to set the world on fire.

Soren:
Hopefully not literally.

Chris:
No, I meant that quite literally. I really think you’re going to set the world on fire.

Yeah. Yeah. All right. That’s it.

Soren:
Thank you so much everybody

Chris:
Thanks Everyone!

The Inspired Insights Podcast has been brought to you by Inspired Consulting Group, LLC. Edited and produced by Amanda Seidel and Derek Carter.

Marketing support for the Inspired Insights Podcast by Elizabeth Keenan, music by Derek Carter. Please visit www.inspiredcg.com to learn more. Copyright 2025.

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