In this special bonus episode, the mic gets turned: Michelle MiJung Kim—usually the host of I Feel That Way Too—is the one being interviewed.

Recorded live at the Human Rights Summit, hosted by San Francisco Pride at the historic Commonwealth Club, this intimate conversation offers a rare glimpse into the making of the podcast and the story behind it.

In conversation with longtime LGBTQ advocate and host Michelle Meow, Michelle shares the behind-the-scenes journey of launching I Feel That Way Too, including the emotional process of sunsetting her DEI company, Awaken, and reckoning with what it means to tell hard truths in public. Together, they explore the relationship between courage and shame, and how we begin again after letting go of what no longer feels aligned.

ABOUT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB & MICHELLE MEOW SHOW

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Each year, they bring hundreds of events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy to thousands of members and to the public. In 2018, The Commonwealth Club and Michelle Meow teamed up to expand and broaden the programming of interest to LGBTQ audiences. Michelle Meow records her program at the Club, often co-hosted by John Zipperer, the Club's host of its Week to Week Politics Roundtable programs. Check out Michelle Meow Show to meet some of the most interesting, intriguing and often controversial people in the LGBTQ community.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Full Transcript is Available Here

Subscribe to the I Feel That Way Too newsletter at ifeelthatwaytoo.beehiiv.com/subscribe

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Can our friendships evolve as we evolve?

It feels like it’s getting harder and harder to make new friends—and keep old ones—as our values shift and priorities change. In this era of political and cultural polarization, can we actually be friends if we disagree politically? What if we embody our values differently? Where’s the line between judging someone for being different and honoring our own integrity?

This episode is an invitation to wrestle with discomfort, stay with the complexity, and consider what it means to make room for all of our humanity.

Joined by writer and cultural worker Kai Cheng Thom, Michelle explores the grief, shame, and judgment that often accompany political misalignment between friends—and the haunting ways we sometimes punish each other when what we really crave is love.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever lost a friend in a season of political reckoning. It’s for those holding heartbreak, anger, and the question: Can we find our way back to each other, even when it feels impossible?

ABOUT THE EPISODE GUEST, KAI CHENG THOM

Kai Cheng Thom is a somatically trained coach, process facilitator, and mediator whose work focuses on the intersections of trauma healing, Transformative Justice, and social change. A noted theorist and practitioner in the field of conflict resolution, Kai Cheng has made significant contributions towards the integration and application of conflict transformation, crisis intervention, and body-based trauma healing methods in an activist context through her writing and teaching. Kai Cheng maintains a private practice as a one-on-one somatic coach, consultant, and group facilitator, drawing from extensive professional trainings in a wide variety of healing and wellness disciplines. She has also trained hundreds of embodiment and wellness professionals as Adjunct Faculty with the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education and a Senior Teacher at The Embody Lab. Learn more about Kai Cheng Thom at www.kaichengthom.com.

Follow Kai Cheng Thom on Instagram: @kaichengthom

Kai’s Book: Falling Back in Love with Human

ABOUT THE HOST, MICHELLE MIJUNG KIM

Michelle MiJung Kim is one of today’s most compelling voices on courage, complexity, and connection. With a voice that is both precise and expansive, Michelle helps people make sense of their inner worlds and the outer chaos. Through storytelling rooted in emotional honesty, she invites us to confront what’s hard, name what matters, and move through the world with deeper integrity and courage. She is the award-winning author of The Wake Up, a globally recognized speaker, and the producer and host of I Feel That Way Too, a narrative podcast that dares to ask life’s trickiest questions so we can feel less alone—and more alive—together. Whether on stage, on the page, or behind the mic, Michelle’s presence is a mirror and a call to courage—to live our lives more fully, to build resilient relationships, and to believe in the possibility of our personal transformation and collective liberation. Learn more about Michelle at www.michellemijungkim.com and follow her journey on Instagram @michellekimkim.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Full Transcript is Available Here

Watch the full interview on I Feel That Way Too YouTube Channel

Subscribe to the I Feel That Way Too newsletter at

Can you be in a loving, committed relationship and still want… more?

Join as Michelle MiJung Kim takes us on a wild ride through her first open relationship experience—complete with thirst traps, identity crisis, communication breakdowns, and more spiraling than she cares to admit. What began as an exploration of freedom quickly turned into a crash course in boundaries, grief, and brutal self-awareness.

With guidance from polyamory experts Leanne Yau and Jessica Fern, Michelle unpacks what it means to honor your desires, and being courageous enough to face what surfaces when you do.

Whether you’re poly, monogamous, or somewhere in between, this episode is about letting our most intimate relationships serve as a portal to our desires, wounds, and opportunities for healing and deeper connection to ourselves and each other.

ABOUT THE EPISODE GUESTS

JESSICA FERN is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and an integrative practitioner with 25 years of experience and training in somatic, narrative, psychotherapeutic and spiritual therapies. She is the author of Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Nonmonogamy and The Polysecure Workbook, and co-author of Polywise: A Deeper Dive Into Navigating Open Relationships and Transforming the Shame Triangle: From Shame to Love Using Parts Work. Learn more about Jessica at https://www.jessicafern.com.

Follow Jessica on Instagram: @jessicafern411

Jessica’s Books: Polysecure; Polywise

LEANNE YAU is a British award-winning polyamory educator, writer, speaker, certified sex and relationships educator, and trainee psychosexual therapist whose work is all about non-monogamy and sex positivity. She creates educational and entertaining multimedia content about creating healthy and sustainable non-monogamous relationships, drawing from her lived experiences as a polyamorous, bisexual, neurodivergent, kinky, and Asian agender femme who has been openly non-monogamous since 2016. Learn more about Leanne at www.polyphilia.blog.

Follow Leanne on Instagram @polyphiliablog

ABOUT THE HOST, MICHELLE MIJUNG KIM

Michelle MiJung Kim is one of today’s most compelling voices on courage, complexity, and connection. With a voice that is both precise and expansive, Michelle helps people make sense of their inner worlds and the outer chaos. Through storytelling rooted in emotional honesty, she invites us to confront what’s hard, name what matters, and move through the world with deeper integrity and courage. She is the award-winning author of The Wake Up, a globally recognized speaker, and the producer and host of I Feel That Way Too, a narrative podcast that dares to ask life’s trickiest questions so we can feel less alone—and more alive—together. Whether on stage, on the page, or behind the mic, Michelle’s presence is a mirror and a call to courage—to live our lives more fully, to build resilient relationships, and to believe in the possibility of our personal transformation and collective liberation. Learn more about Michelle at www.michellemijungkim.com and follow her journey on Instagram @michellekimkim.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Full Transcript is Available Here

Watch the full interview on I Feel That Way Too YouTube Channel

Subscribe to the I Feel That Way Too newsletter at ifeelthatwaytoo.beehiiv.com/subscribe

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