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Impossible Beauty

Impossible Beauty

By: Melissa Louise Johnson
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 The brand of beauty we are so often sold is way too small. It divides and dis-integrates us. Melissa Louise Johnson is on a mission to re-discover authentic beauty. Not the counterfeit kind reserved for the toned and airbrushed, but a lasting kind of beauty. Eternal and sacred. Living and moving all around us. Join Melissa as she interviews men and women who exude internal and eternal beauty in order to reshape cultural scripts. It's time we re-discover what beauty truly is.Copyright Melissa Louise Johnson Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Episode 178: Gretchen Andrew-The Invisible Scars of AI-Driven Beauty Standards

    Episode 178: Gretchen Andrew-The Invisible Scars of AI-Driven Beauty Standards
    Oct 7 2025
    Gretchen Andrew left Silicon Valley for the art world and now refers to herself as a “Search Engine Artist.” Gretchen uses her experience as a former computer scientist at Google and her artist training in London with Billy Childish to “hack systems of power with art, code, and glitter,” as she states it, and helps make invisible parts of technology visible. Her work has been featured in outlets such as The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, and The Financial Times, among others.

    In my time with Gretchen, we discuss her latest limited series, entitled Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty, currently featured at The Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan. In this series, and in our time together, Gretchen helps us see how AI is shaping beauty standards, the pressures those standards create, and the resulting invisible scars of these developing technologies. Given the rapid pace and pervasiveness of these technologies’ impacts, this conversation is such an important one. I can’t wait for you to listen and learn more.

    **Also, please know that at points this conversation includes some mature themes, in case you’d like to be mindful of when and where you listen to this episode.

    Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.
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    38 mins
  • Episode 177: Ellen Wildman- Your Body Is Not an Enemy

    Episode 177: Ellen Wildman- Your Body Is Not an Enemy
    Sep 24 2025
    Ellen Wildman decided she didn’t want to hate her body anymore. So, she set out on a journey to heal and change that relationship. In today’s episode, Ellen tells us about her journey of healing and self-acceptance and the book that she wrote as a result.

    Ellen Wildman holds an MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Denver Seminary and is the author of Single and Not Sorry and most recently, Already Whole: 90 Devotions for Being at Home in the Body God Gave You. In my time with Ellen, we discuss lies from beauty and diet culture that get in the way of partnering with our bodies, how we can shift from our bodies being a project or enemy to our partner, and what it means to be made in the image of God. As you listen to our conversation, may grace, healing, and wholeness infuse your relationship with your body as well.

    Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.
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    45 mins
  • Episode 176: Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CSCS, CEDS-C-What to Know About Clean Eating, Sugar, & Artificial Dyes

    Episode 176: Leslie Schilling, MA, RDN, CSCS, CEDS-C-What to Know About Clean Eating, Sugar, & Artificial Dyes
    Jul 22 2025
    The tricky part about diet culture is that it oftentimes masquerades as health and wellness. Given that, in today’s episode, Leslie Schilling and I discuss and even debunk some of today’s most prevalent wellness trends.

    Leslie Schilling is a registered dietitian, sports nutritionist, nutrition therapist, and the author of Feed Yourself: Step Away from the Lies of Diet Culture and into Your Divine Design. Leslie also served as a performance nutrition consultant for Cirque du Soleil®, is an expert contributor to U.S. News & World Report, and has been featured in media outlets like Health, Women's Health, Self, Pregnancy Magazine,Yoga Journal, The Huffington Post, and on HGTV.

    In our time together, Leslie discusses the oftentimes disordered nature of clean eating, including her thoughts on Whole 30. She also gives important insight on increased fears regarding sugar consumption, as well as artificial dyes. As you’ll hear today, Leslie is an advocate for helping her clients, and people in general, find peace with food and their bodies. I hope that’s exactly what this conversation moves you toward today.

    Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.
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    50 mins
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