Love Anyway
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 276 ratingsOur world runs on fear. The loudest voices tell you to be afraid of anyone who’s different. But there’s another way. And it starts with each of us. Love Anyway is a podcast pushing beyond the simple narrative of “us vs them.” Join us as we explore how ordinary people from the Middle East to Mexico, from Venezuela to the US are making the extraordinary choice to love in the face of fear. Love Anyway is produced by Preemptive Love.
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Episodes
From 9/11 to January 6
January 29, 2021 13:18 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBGuests Jeremy Courtney is the founder and CEO of Preemptive Love. He has lived and worked on the frontlines of conflict for over a decade, serving families who’ve been terrorized by violence, poverty, and disease. He’s the author of the book Love Anyway: An Invitation Beyond a World That’s Scary as Hell. Jeremy lives in Iraq with his wife Jessica and their two children. Resources Podcast: Why Violence Is a Virus What if the very skills we’re all learning to stop the spread of COVID-19 cou...
After the Capitol Attack: A Way Forward
January 15, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBGUESTS Jeremy Courtney is the founder and CEO of Preemptive Love. He has lived and worked on the frontlines of conflict for over a decade, serving families who’ve been terrorized by violence, poverty, and disease. He’s the author of the book Love Anyway: An Invitation Beyond a World That’s Scary as Hell. Jeremy lives in Iraq with his wife Jessica and their two children. RESOURCES Attack on the Capitol: Why We Must Call It What It Is The Seeds of War Have Already Been Planted. Now What? ...
US Election: Voices From the Other Side of War
October 28, 2020 10:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBMany worry about the risk of violence after the US election. But most Americans have no idea what it’s like to live through political unrest or what to about it. We asked members of our team who've lived through political violence and war what Americans should know.
SPECIAL: Put Your Bodies On The Line
June 12, 2020 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBIn the US, our Black brothers and sisters, whose forced physical, mental, and emotional labor built so many of our communities, are asking for presence from those of us who aren’t Black. And this isn’t new. They've been asking. They’ve been fighting for their lives for four hundred years—four hundred years too long. As host Erin Wilson shares in this episode: Throughout the war with ISIS, Preemptive Love chose to stay in Iraq. We chose to travel to the frontlines and stand with the people b...
Unexpected Empathy: Finding Ourselves in Our Global Neighbors
May 20, 2020 09:00 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBWhat does empathy have to do with emergency aid? In this final episode of Season 4, Erin Wilson, podcast host and senior field editor, sits down with Jessica Courtney, Preemptive Love's vice president of international programs, for an honest look at what they've learned about themselves as they've cared for others. This episode: Invites you into a behind-the-scenes look at emergency food distributions in Iraq and Syria. Ihsan Ibraheem, who does program documentation, gives an on-the-ground...
After Ahmaud Arbery's Killing, Will We Change?
May 13, 2020 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBWe’ll be back next week with our last regularly scheduled episode of season four. But this conversation is too important to wait. Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man, was jogging in a southern Georgia neighborhood on February 23 when he was chased, gunned down, and killed by two white men. (Only after a graphic video of his killing was recently posted online, and a wave of public outcry followed did authorities move to press criminal charges, more than two months after he was shot.) This story is al...
When We Gather Again, Who Will We Be?
May 06, 2020 09:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIn this episode, Vjolca Capri gives her first-hand experience of attending a Love Anyway Gathering in central Florida. As a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, she wasn't sure what to expect when Saadia Qureshi invited her to join a roomful of community members, most of whom didn't look or worship like her. Could they really have meaningful conversations? Would others judge or stereotype her? Would it be... awkward? In this episode, we find out. Listening, doing conflict better, cultivating peace...
It Starts With a Meal: Healing All That's Tearing Us Apart
April 29, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBRemember when we used to eat together? In this episode, we travel everywhere from Atlanta to Iraq for a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to gather around the table with strangers. War begins in our heads and hearts long before it reaches our hands. But that also means the solution can begin with us. And sometimes, healing all that’s tearing us apart starts with a meal. If polarization is fueled by our isolation from anyone different, then what if interacting with people who are dif...
BONUS: Stay Home For Us
April 27, 2020 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBCOVID-19 anywhere is a threat to everyone, everywhere. In this special bonus episode, Preemptive Love team members call in from around the world to share why they are staying home—and exactly who you are helping when you do the same. Because the choices we make in this moment could mean life or death for someone else. And as you'll hear in this special bonus episode, for many of us, this threat is anything but hypothetical. These are their stories.
Off Book: Writing About War, Forgiveness, and The More Beautiful World (And Book Giveaways!)
April 22, 2020 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBIn this episode, Jeremy and senior field editor Erin Wilson share a candid conversation about the themes Jeremy explores in his latest book, Love Anyway. He answers never-before-asked questions, uncovers his writing process, and shares the why behind his vision of how we can heal all that’s tearing us apart. Visit our show notes to enter to Win a signed copy or audiobook Version of Love Anyway by Jeremy Courtney. In his book, Jeremy says that the way things are is not the way they have to...
Why Violence Is a Virus (We Can Stop the Spread)
April 15, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBHear how late last year, before the coronavirus started it’s deadly spread across the world, Preemptive Love founder Jeremy Courtney was noticing striking parallels between the process for stopping the spread of infectious disease and stopping the spread of violence. Travel back in time to 2016 with host Erin Wilson, when she met two Iraqi doctors in a displacement camp she'd never forget. In raw audio from her time there, hear how Dr. Qudama and Dr. Mustafa decided to create a health clini...
On the Road With Preemptive Love (And You're Invited to Our New Tour!)
April 07, 2020 10:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBThis first episode of season four takes you behind the scenes of the Love Anyway tour that took place last fall. Peek behind the curtain into the making of the Love Anyway film, a short documentary we created to explore the ideas around how we can heal what’s tearing us apart. We let you in on some of the conversations that happened before and during the making of the film. We were planning to share this immersive episode with you later this year to go along with a new Love Anyway tour acro...
Looking for the Helpers During COVID-19
April 01, 2020 13:12 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBWho are the helpers in times of the COVID-19 pandemic? They might be closer than we think. In today’s special episode, we talk with people across the U.S. to explore what it looks like for all of us to not only look for the helpers — but to be the helpers — even in a global pandemic hitting very close to home. Many of us are familiar with Mr. Roger’s admonition to “look for the helpers” in times of chaos. As life continues to change in the face of COVID-19, podcast producer Kayla Craig loo...
BREAKING: Coronavirus is Affecting Refugees—Here’s What We’re Doing
March 12, 2020 08:00 - 10 minutes - 9.5 MBAs coronavirus cases grow worldwide—including in many of the places we serve—this breaking episode shares how the virus, also known as COVID-19, is impacting our displaced and refugee friends in Iraq, Syria, and Mexico. We hear from Preemptive Love team members: Jessica Courtney, vice president of international programs Erin Wilson, senior field editor Ben Irwin, director of communications The future is uncertain. No one knows how widely this disease will spread or how bad the effects w...
NEW: Listener Survey and Giveaway (And a Season 4 Spoiler!)
February 17, 2020 20:26 - 1 minute - 1.6 MBAs we prepare new episodes (and spoiler alert: maybe even a second podcast!) we want to know what you think. What do you want to hear more of? Less of? Here’s your chance to chime in: We created a short five-minute survey with you in mind. To say thanks, we’re offering the first 25 people to finish a survey a free pin from our Preemptive Love Shop, and you’ll also be entered to win a Love Anyway jute bag along with some beautiful refugee-made candles. Just go to preemptivelove.org/podsurve...
Iraq Crisis: When All You've Known is War
January 09, 2020 18:49 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBThis breaking episode of Love Anyway is a bit different than other time-sensitive episodes we’ve shared. While we want to give you the latest, clearest information on what’s happening between Iran, Iraq, and the US, we also want to take you behind the scenes of a conversation several of us had with our Preemptive Love colleague, and friend, Ihsan Ibraheem. As we hear in this episode, Ihsan has lived his whole life in Iraq. And he’s lived through what seems like countless wars. Details to K...
BREAKING: Assassinations in Iraq
January 04, 2020 18:15 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBOn Friday, a US drone strike killed two top Iranian and Iraqi military commanders in Baghdad, dramatically escalating tensions across the region. Preemptive Love's Iraq-based staff members Erin Wilson and Ihsan Ibraheem discuss the assassinations and what might come next.
INSIDE LOOK: Refugees Face Violence at US-Mexico Border
November 21, 2019 22:38 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBWe're in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, responding to the refugee crisis on the US-Mexico border. Earlier this year, we began showing up just across the border in El Paso, Texas, listening, learning, and lending a hand where we could, thanks to many of you. We distributed emergency backpacks and listened to leaders on the ground. US protocols have rapidly changed, forcing most asylum seekers to wait on the Mexico side of the border. So we’ve shifted our focus to the growing needs in Juarez, just ac...
JUST IN: On the Ground in Syria (A Firsthand Look)
November 08, 2019 14:45 - 17 minutes - 16 MBThis breaking episode features firsthand accounts of what's happening on the ground in Syria. After our team heard updates from Erin Wilson and Jen Meyerson about what they saw displaced people facing weeks after the US troop withdrawal in northeastern Syria, we knew we had to pause our regularly-scheduled Love Anyway podcast episodes. What they told us is too important not to share. Some of the stories you’ll hear are quite literally life-and-death scenarios. Our team reports that the Tur...
BREAKING: Crisis in NE Syria (And the Ceasefire That Wasn't)
October 24, 2019 12:51 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBPreemptive Love is on the ground in Northeastern Syria. This is the biggest crisis we’ve seen at one time...and it’s getting worse. In this breaking episode, hear from our colleagues in the Middle East, who share what they’re seeing unfold. Some of our team members delivering emergency aid have been shot at. Upwards of 300,000 people are running for their lives, fleeing Turkish bombs. The situation is desperate. We need your help. We breakdown terms like "safe zones" and "ceasefir...
Crisis in NE Syria (And the Ceasefire That Wasn't)
October 24, 2019 12:51 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBPreemptive Love is on the ground in Northeastern Syria. This is the biggest crisis we’ve seen at one time...and it’s getting worse. In this breaking episode, hear from our colleagues in the Middle East, who share what they’re seeing unfold. Some of our team members delivering emergency aid have been shot at. Upwards of 300,000 people are running for their lives, fleeing Turkish bombs. The situation is desperate. We need your help. We breakdown terms like "safe zones" and "ceasefire." We ex...
US Withdraws from Syria (And it Could Lead to War)
October 08, 2019 21:55 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBIt’s been a difficult week across the Middle East, from protests in Iraq to the recent news that the US administration is withdrawing its presence from northeastern Syria. On this breaking episode of the Love Anyway podcast, we hear from our Preemptive Love team about how the decision by the US to pull out of northeastern Syria could have reverberations that last generations. We can’t follow the news right now without seeing headlines about US pullout from northeastern Syria. So, what’s hap...
BREAKING: US Withdraws from Syria (And it Could Lead to War)
October 08, 2019 21:55 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBIt’s been a difficult week across the Middle East, from protests in Iraq to the recent news that the US administration is withdrawing its presence from northeastern Syria. On this breaking episode of the Love Anyway podcast, we hear from our Preemptive Love team about how the decision by the US to pull out of northeastern Syria could have reverberations that last generations. We can’t follow the news right now without seeing headlines about US pullout from northeastern Syria. So, w...
BREAKING: Unrest in Iraq (And What We Can Do About It)
October 07, 2019 16:41 - 8 minutes - 8.21 MBIraq is facing its biggest emergency since the rise of ISIS. Protests have erupted in Baghdad and other parts of the country, as young people, fed up with political corruption and a lack of opportunity, take to the streets. At the time of recording, the numbers have grown to more than one hundred protesters killed in Baghdad and cities across Iraq. More than six thousand people are reported injured. Prominent religious leaders are calling for the government to step aside. And there...
Unrest in Iraq (And What We Can Do About It)
October 07, 2019 16:41 - 8 minutes - 8.21 MBIraq is facing its biggest emergency since the rise of ISIS. Protests have erupted in Baghdad and other parts of the country, as young people, fed up with political corruption and a lack of opportunity, take to the streets. At the time of recording, the numbers have grown to more than one hundred protesters killed in Baghdad and cities across Iraq. More than six thousand people are reported injured. Prominent religious leaders are calling for the government to step aside. And there’s a real...
Bonus: How 9/11 Changed Us
September 11, 2019 03:04 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBSeptember 11, 2001 changed everything. And each year as this day arrives, we pause to remember. We remember when we heard the news, where we were, how we felt. We remember the fear that rose in our throats, the fear the began to change the way we walked in the world, the way we saw each other. On this episode, we ask some of our colleagues from Iraq, the United States, and other parts of the world to reflect on their memories of 9/11. Some were just starting their adult life when 9/11 happ...
Mirrors and Windows
August 21, 2019 05:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBWhat are mirrors and windows? And why are they important in our lives and the lives of our families? In our season two finale, we talk with Saira Siddiqui of Confessions of a Muslim Mom, along with Shawn Smucker, author of When We Were Strangers. Saira and Shawn share personal stories exploring how, despite our differences, hope for our children and creating a different way to live in community is a thread that can unite us all. We believe that getting people together helps us heal. That i...
Talking to Kids About Race
August 14, 2019 05:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBBabies begin to notice race at six months old. Children are paying attention. And as we’ve learned this season, what they hear the adults in their lives say and do—or not say and do—deeply influences the people they are—and who they’ll become. Rapper and Preemptive Love's artist-in-residence Propaganda (Jason Petty), and his wife, university professor Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty, both of the Red Couch Podcast, join us for a candid conversation about parenting and talking to kids about race. ...
Talking with Kids about War, Violence, & Politics
August 07, 2019 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBLearn more.
Family Values
July 31, 2019 14:47 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBHow much should kids be involved in shaping our communities? Should we shield children from news about violence and war? In this episode, we attend a vigil with the Oestreich family, who believes community involvement is a core family value. Diana Oestreich has been the key relationships officer with Preemptive Love for nearly four years. Before that, Diana was a combat medic in the Iraq War. Her experience as a veteran shapes her views on everything, including how she and her husband Jake ...
Love Beyond Borders
July 24, 2019 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBImmigration is a complicated topic, even for adults. Some of us are afraid to say the wrong thing. Others of us fear those who are different. How do we talk about immigration with family members? With kids? On this episode, we start by listening. On our second episode of the season, we hear from José Chiquito, a college student who came to the US with his family as an undocumented child. We also talk with Luisa, whom our colleague Billy Price met at the US-Mexico border after she traveled w...
Raising Peacemakers
July 17, 2019 04:13 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBCan kids be peacemakers? Preemptive Love founders Jeremy and Jessica Courtney share how living in Iraq has influenced how they raise their children. With host Erin Wilson, they explore how culture, technology, and war changed their perception of parenting—and invite us all to enter into difficult conversations with the young people in our lives. Their kids, Emma (14) and Micah (11), dive into their perspectives on growing up in Iraq, sharing thoughts on violence, media, and what makes home ...
Sneak Peek: Season Two
July 11, 2019 13:46 - 2 minutes - 2.15 MBIn the trailer for season two of the Love Anyway podcast, host Erin Wilson and Preemptive Love founder Jeremy Courtney share why it’s important to enter into hard conversations with all kinds of people—including kids. In season two, we’ll explore the fears and questions kids—and the adults in their lives—have about violence, racism, media, cultural differences, and war. Children are often left out of hard conversations. But what if we welcome future generations to the table, now? Join us a...
Bonus: Season 1 Recap
June 19, 2019 11:54 - 24 minutes - 22 MBWe're inviting you to a behind-the-scenes look at the people and stories behind the Love Anyway podcast. Host Erin Wilson joins Ben Irwin, director of communications, for a casual conversation recapping season one with producer Kayla Craig. Hear Erin share her favorite episode and what she finds most challenging about hosting a podcast. (And experience her infectious laughter that those of us at Preemptive Love get a front row seat to every day.) Discover the episode Ben was most skeptical ...
Bonus: Border Response
June 11, 2019 12:01 - 13 minutes - 12 MBThey fled some of the world’s worst violence. Their future is uncertain. How can you stand in the gap for asylum seekers at the border? This special bonus episode of Love Anyway features behind-the-scenes staff calls with Preemptive Love’s programs manager Jennifer Meyerson and donor relations coordinator Matt Malcom, discussing Preemptive Love’s time-sensitive response to what’s happening at the border between Mexico and the US. While others wage partisan wars, we can be the people who lo...
The Way Home
May 22, 2019 13:20 - 30 minutes - 304 MBWhat makes home feel like home? As our work has shown us, restoring homes ruined by war is a first step to bringing whole communities back to life. Preemptive Love co-founder Jessica Courtney shares stories of her Iraqi and Syrian friends who have been displaced and are now remaking their homes. We also hear never-before-heard stories from the field, as Jessica shares her experiences of visiting homes that are being built after being destroyed by war. Learn more.
The Millennials of Iraq
May 15, 2019 08:39 - 35 minutes - 354 MBMost of us have a very Western idea of what it means to be a millennial. But we’re all more than stereotypes. We categorize each other into neat and tidy labels because, well, it’s easy. It’s a way to organize cultural ideas. Our social constructs act a way to help us try to understand the world. In this episode, we set those stereotypes aside for a minute and ask: What does life look like for the roughly 7 million millennials—women and men between the ages of 23 and 38—in Iraq? On Episod...
The Border Wall
May 08, 2019 05:00 - 25 minutes - 257 MBWhen we’re afraid, we build walls around ourselves. We yearn for protection. To feel safe. We hem ourselves in. And keep others away. But what happens when our felt safety comes at a cost? What happens when our fear of “the other” contributes to others not being protected...or safe? Who is “the other," anyway? How do we start deconstructing the walls around our hearts? Learn more.
The Mosque Visit
May 01, 2019 05:00 - 25 minutes - 256 MBHow do we move past fear? Travel with producer Kayla Craig and her pastor husband Jonny as they visit a mosque in the middle of Iowa. Saadia Qureshi, Frontline Coordinator with Preemptive Love, shares her experience as a Muslim woman, chatting with Kayla about what to expect when visiting a mosque. Kayla talks with Shahed, a leader from their local Islamic Center, about why the mosque decided to host an open house for their community. And Preemptive Love editor Kim Mireau visits a Friday pr...
The Enemy
April 24, 2019 06:00 - 29 minutes - 294 MBIt’s easy to say love anyway. It’s a lot more challenging to live it. We might not all come face-to-face with a literal enemy who wants to kill us, but we all have chances to risk something on behalf of another, by stepping out in love, every single day.In this episode, we ask the questions: Is love worth the risk? And what does it really look like to love your enemy? In episode 1, we told you about the night our friends Sadiq and Ihsan nearly died delivering aid in the Iraq desert—one at ...
The Longest Night
April 17, 2019 05:00 - 34 minutes - 346 MBWhat happens when ISIS attacks your team’s aid delivery truck in the middle of the Iraq desert? And what do you do when, that same night, another aid vehicle bringing basic necessities to desperate people, gets shot at in the middle of a US airstrike—mistaken for the very ISIS fighters attacking your team? Travel with us back to 2016 to experience a pivotal turning point in our organization’s history. Experience a night in Iraq that made us press into pain. A night we’ll never forget. A ni...
Sneak Peek: Season One
April 10, 2019 16:04 - 2 minutes - 24.8 MBJeremy Courtney, co-founder of Preemptive Love, and host Erin Wilson look ahead to episode one and share the vision behind the first season of Love Anyway. What can you expect when listening? Creating peace between communities at odds. Remaking what was broken. Ending war. Healing hearts across enemy lines, beginning with our own. And discovering that we really do belong to each other. Love Anyway is a brand new podcast by Preemptive Love, premiering April 17. Learn more here.
Coming Soon: Love Anyway
April 03, 2019 02:43 - 1 minute - 19 MBThis season, Love Anyway will push beyond a simple story. It’d be easy to paint a one-dimensional picture of people and places in the Middle East. But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to share where we find hope. Where we find possibility and beauty. Because we believe that all of us could use a better story right about now. Join us for the journey. Don’t miss an episode—subscribe now. Learn more at preemptivelove.org/podcast.