Episode 153 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS finds us frolicking with Dorothy Gale & her friends towards the Land of Oz. We will explore this most popular and influential of stories, originally published as a book by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and ultimately made into a movie in 1939. We will take a look at all the characters, places and things that make Oz...Oz, or an Illusion. We will also notice striking similarities, through the symbolism, that the political tenor of turn of the (20th) century is lik...
Oct 12, 2024•28 min
For Episode 151 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF haunts the airwaves with three, very short eerie stories. Mars apologizes for being away for so long, but homework & studies hold her captive like the blood of a vampire. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to this podcast, either Venmo @mdm773 or Zelle mitchellmary773@gmail.com. Thank you.
Sep 29, 2024•20 min
Episode 150 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about how humans and animal species cohabitate and mate throughout time, and we will touch of four different types of couplings: Monogamy, Polygyny, Polyandry, and Polyamory. We will talk about how humans were once naturally polygynous and how they became monogamous. We will touch on why polyandry and polyamory are relatively rare as compared to polygyny and monogamy. We will also talk about how lust may give way to true love. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE A...
Aug 25, 2024•49 min
When one listens to or reads the news, one really gets overwhelmed. There's so much going on - bloodshed, rumors of ramping up wars, genocides, kidnappings, etc. Sometimes, something of significance might fall through the cracks. Episode 149 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS addresses the topic of Project 2025, a 922 page document created by conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation. The authors of this proposed plan that they suggest should be implemented by a potential second Trump administratio...
Aug 11, 2024•1 hr
For Episode 148 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will talk about last week's historic tornadic outbreak that affected the City of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. Not only will we talk about the events that spanned 2 days, this episode serves as a warning to those who think that the Chicago area is unaffected by the possibility of tornadoes. The fact is that Chicagoland is actually sitting in the crosshairs of violent weather, and predictions point to the situation getting worse. Chicagoans don'...
Jul 20, 2024•31 min
For Episode 147 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we are going to talk about reported Marian Apparitions. This post is happening on a Sunday - what better day than to hang with our home girl, Mother Mary? We will talk about her more famous apparitions for the uninitiated (ie those who were not brought up Catholic, not married into a Catholic family, not well versed on the Divine Feminine, etc). If this episode gets a lot of plays, I may do a future show on more obscure visitations by Mary to humble eart...
Jun 30, 2024•43 min
Episode 146 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS holds 3 goals: a) to bid a gentle and peaceful farewell to recently deceased loved ones, b) for us survivors to learn to accept their new journeys in comparison with our own, ongoing mortal journeys, and c) to accept that death is not the opposite of life, but a natural and needful companion. We die little deaths every single day. We feel pain, but we can assuage ongoing suffering through acceptance and loving detachment. We bid a fond farewell, especially, t...
Jun 09, 2024•33 min
The topic of Episode 145 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS is the human attribute, faith. James W. Fowler, a Pulitzer Prize winner, an American theologian and professor, described a set of seven sequential stages in the development of faith. We will take you through each of these stages. Note that these stages of faith encompass religious, alt-spiritual, and secular growth. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF closes this episode with the poem, "Faith", by Arthur Caswell Parker. To send correspond...
May 25, 2024•22 min
Episode 1 44 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS carries over from last week's broadcast about the murders of 3 women at Illinois' Starved Rock State Park in 1960. A suspect confessed to the crime...but the story did not end there. We will fill out the story and bring us up to today, even as doubts abound and mysteries remain. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to this podcast, Venmo @mdm773. Thank you.
May 04, 2024•18 min
Episode 143 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS takes a close look at the grisly 1960 murders of three women at Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois, a nature lover's haven. We will follow attorneys and detectives through the investigation, and will meet the man who authorities say savagely attacked the three friends and left their dead bodies in a canyon. The case, as it turns out, does not end there. Part 2 will be broadcast next week. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To ...
Apr 27, 2024•32 min
For Episode 142 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we explore true leadership and self reliance. We talk about the habits we need to develop to live a self directed life. At the same time, this directive carries with it a caveat. We, as human beings, have a knack for destroying peace and cultivating jealousy, offense, and often violence against others. The Self Directed Life is so much more fulfilling, everlasting, and meaningful when it's lived in a selfless manner. When you achieve your life's goals an...
Apr 13, 2024•30 min
Episode 141 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS shares a quick 15 minute-or-less exercise plan that can be done at home, with or without weights and other equipment, AND a very quick high protein, nutrient dense recipe for a breakfast break to be consumed right after said workout. This episode is for anyone who has a hard time getting themselves to make healthy/healthier choices, as well as for those who are already health-and-fitness minded, but who often lack the time to get in a full workout or make the...
Mar 09, 2024•28 min
For Episode 140 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will discuss the cognitive distortion known as Catastrophizing. Do you more often than not worry about the worst case scenario or worst possible outcome to a problem, ignoring all the other ways the issue ca resolve? Do you try to control the "what-ifs" in life? Has anyone ever told you that you make mountains out of mole hills? Catastrophizing is a common form of Anxiety, and there are multiple ways of coping with it. One of those ways is EFT Tapping...
Feb 24, 2024•30 min
Episode 139 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about the once meandering mud stream that became a crucial travel hub between Lake Michigan, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...as well as home to native plant life, businesses, sports and leisure, tourists, and a bustling, thriving global metropolis. We will talk about its growth from its ancient days serving indigenous peoples to its current state of the art reversed flow, its network of canals, and its enviable water treatment plants. BE...
Feb 10, 2024•37 min
Episode 138 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS talks about Growth Mindset, Fixed Mindset and False Growth Mindset, as outlined by psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University. We will identify each of the three categories and give examples of each, as well as strategies to move ourselves to a Growth Mindset point of view and lifestyle. Growth Mindset is crucial to improved neuroplasticity in the brain, as is lifelong learning. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF wraps it up with the poem, "Do N...
Jan 27, 2024•40 min
Episode 137 launches MARS MESSINA PRESENTS into the New Year with our predictions for 2024 - a year that will surely be encumbered by problems and will challenge us in myriad ways. Who will win the presidential election? Will we have all-out war in the middle east? What surprises will AI unleash on us? What movie will win Best Picture? Is there any really good news on the horizon? We make those predictions in this show, and time will tell if we have been accurate in our assessments. BEDTIME STOR...
Jan 13, 2024•46 min
Episode 136 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS says goodbye to 2023 and rings in 2024 with a meditation that sets an intention for peace - a deep inner peace for the individual and a revival of a collective global peace. Put on some comfortable clothing, dim the lights and settle in for a moment to reclaim health and sanity for yourself and for your world - an everlasting moment that you can carry with you to heal yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you. HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM MARS MESSINA PRESEN...
Dec 30, 2023•29 min
Episode 135 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS posits that we can control maladaptive thinking with alternative thoughts that challenge our anxieties/limiting beliefs with critical thinking, which then engenders a more realistic, alternative way to think. In fact, this is the basis of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Socratic Questioning. We will do a short, but effective, exercise toward the end of this presentation. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF closes with a reading of the poem, "Ho...
Dec 16, 2023•32 min
Episode 134 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS went spelunking for some good news in the midst of the morass of bad news in which we are sinking....eureka, we found some good news! Mars plays your Good News news anchor and reports some....good news. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF concludes with the poem, "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening", by Robert Frost. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to this podcast, Venmo @mdm773. Thank you....
Dec 09, 2023•34 min
Episode 133 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS discusses an unsolved murder in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. We will learn of the gruesome slaying of a well liked and respected church choir director/city colleges professor, and its link to an alleged ring of clerical sex abusers known as The Boys Club. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF concludes with the poem, “The Priest’s Brother”, by Dora Sigerson Shorter. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate to this p...
Nov 25, 2023•28 min
Episode 132 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS gathered intel from the Thanksgiving Feast field, and presents it to you as yummy Thanksgiving recipes, brought to us by individuals who swear by said recipes. We'll go over food safety, thawing and brining, various ways to cook turkey, something for the vegetarians and vegans, and some sides. We will also give you recipes to Guhlwein, both alcoholic and virgin. We gathered so many recipes, we couldn't share them all in the amount of time we had. If you are l...
Nov 18, 2023•40 min
In Episode 131 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will recognize that there is no need for Americans to do away with their Thanksgiving celebrations in order to recognize the plight of the Native Americans. In fact, the concepts of gathering to harvest and to give thanks are inherently Native American. We are undertaking a mindful approach to the holiday season by recognizing the native tribal regions of our lands, as well as each region's sacred cuisine. By doing so, we will create a more meaningful ...
Nov 11, 2023•43 min
Episode 130 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS addresses the doldrums that often accompany The Fall Season. We will become one with natural and accept these natural seasonal rhythms. To prepare, get yourself a little water and a little tea, have your journal at the ready, wear some loose, comfortable clothing and find a cozy spot. We will drift off into the autumn forest of your soul and shed that which hurts you and no longer serves you well. I am tagging on gorgeous, relaxing music at the end of the med...
Nov 04, 2023•31 min
Episode 129 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS takes you on a breathless tour via broomstick to one of the most haunted areas in the US, the so-called Archer Avenue Triangle, a hallowed parcel of land to the southwest of Chicago. Appearing as something of a left scalene triangle on a map, southwest-northeast running Archer Avenue serves as its main road and a nexus of a variety of hauntings. We will weave through forests, visiting cemeteries, churches, lakes, and buildings and meet the ghosts that reside ...
Oct 28, 2023•47 min
Episode 128 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS armchair-quarterbacks as a psychologist diagnosing the one and only, Count Dracula. Before the vampire mesmerizes us to do its own bidding, we will attempt to analyze the mind of The Undead through the methods of Freud, Jung, and other modern psychotherapists. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF closes the coffin on this episode with an excerpt from the novel, DRACULA, by Bram Stoker. To send correspondence, email thisismarsmessina@gmail.com To donate...
Oct 21, 2023•38 min
Episode 127 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS compels you to learn about the ancient rites of exorcism that have survived millennia and have been updated for more modern possessed folk and for those who wish to exorcise them. We will be swept away to ancient eastern cultures and learn of their shamans' various demon slaying ways, we will - of course - meet Jesus of Nazareth, and we will genuflect before the altars of the Roman Catholic Church and learn of their exorcistic rites. No trip down memory lane ...
Oct 14, 2023•37 min
Episode 126 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS takes a cruise through The Sands and The Levee, the red light districts of Chicago during the turn of the 20th Century. Red Light Districts were neighborhoods that were dotted with houses of ill repute, dance halls, bars, and other seamier establishments. Those who lived in these neighborhoods, at the time, were often drunk, gambling, and selling their bodies. We will visit a few of the establishments, and meet a few folk who lived and worked in these areas. ...
Oct 07, 2023•39 min
For Episode 125 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS, we will be talking about recent goings-on in humanity's relationship with all things outer space. First, we will address Mexico's congressional hearing concerning 2 corpses found that were alleged to be that of ancient alien ancestors. Then, we will discuss two of NASA's latest endeavors - their hologram project, which can send a "human entity" into space from earth, or from earth to space...and we will also talk about how and why NASA threw an asteroid ...
Sep 30, 2023•41 min
Episode 124 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS ushers in the Spooky Season with a real life horror tale. We bring you back to late summer 2016, when people all around the nation and the world began seeing random killer clown appearances in incongruous settings. These sightings set off mass fear, vigilance, and even violence. We will talk about the psychological reasons why human beings are afraid of clowns, and will comment on society's reactionary ways. BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ACOUSTIC BOOKSHELF conclud...
Sep 23, 2023•34 min
Episode 123 of MARS MESSINA PRESENTS shares a timeline of events that begins with the reported genesis of the inferno that devastated Lahaina, on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii. We will mention, of course, the high winds and downed power lines that reportedly ignited the fire. We will also talk about factors that the neo-colonizers on the Hawaiian islands would rather us ignore - at least two centuries of power grabs, land grabs and water grabs that rob Native Hawaiians of Place - tha...
Aug 26, 2023•1 hr 1 min
