Being Human with Steve Cuss

Latest Episodes:

Adam Young on Trauma and Theology: Why Your Certainty Might Be Just a Fancy Disguise Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss interviews trauma counselor and author Adam Young about his book, Make Sense of Your Story. Together, they explore how personal stories and trauma shape relationships with ourselves, others, and God. Adam shares his own journey of understanding childhood wounds, the importance of self-kindness, and how faith can become entangled with coping mechanisms. They discuss the body’s role in healing, the impact of certainty in theology, and practical steps toward emotional freedom. The conversation offers hope, insight, and tools for listeners seeking healing and deeper connection.

Biblical Passages

Genesis 37-50 (ESV) -The Joseph Story

Episode Resources:

More From Adam Young:

Adam Young’s Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness Changes Everything
Adam Young’s website
Adam Young’s The Places We Find Ourselves podcast

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Steve Cuss & Clarissa Moll: How Your Communication Style Fuels Reactivity—and How to Change It Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

In this season-opening episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss and Clarissa Moll explore how communication styles can either fuel anxiety and reactivity—or reduce it through deeper connection. Instead of focusing on what we say, they examine how we say it: the hidden subtext, assumptions, and “static” that cause people (especially leaders, couples, and teams) to mishear one another. Steve shares a practical framework for identifying three key communication patterns—rigid vs. fluid, rapid vs. deliberate, and external vs. internal processing—and explains how these differences show up in marriages, workplaces, and conflict. The goal isn’t to label anyone as “right” or “wrong,” but to build awareness that leads to humility, curiosity, and spiritually grounded connection.

Biblical Passages

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (ESV)
Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)

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New Candles and Journals:

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Welcoming Christmas with Russell Moore, Clarissa Moll, & Steve Cuss Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

Find out what the “Six White Boomers” means for Australians during the holidays in this special Christmas week episode of Being Human with Steve Cuss. Steve gets cozy alongside The Bulletin co-hosts Russell Moore and Clarissa Moll for a candid, funny, and deeply comforting conversation about Advent, Christmas carols, and the “mental and emotional load” many people carry this season. Together they explore joy and grief at the manger, the hope of Emmanuel (God with us), and how the nativity story—through figures like Joseph, the shepherds, and the light in John 1—invites us to bring our whole selves to Jesus and be “human-sized” again.

Episode Resources:

Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God
How A Charlie Brown Christmas Almost Wasn’t (The New Yorker)
Bing Crosby - Christmas Classics

“In the Bleak Midwinter” (Christina Rossetti poem + Gustav Holst tune)
Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/just-drop-the-blanket/

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Linus reciting Luke 2:8-20
Russell Moore’s Always Festivus and Never Christmas (article)
White Christmas (movie trailer)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (movie trailer)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (trailer)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (“What’s This?” clip)

Six White Boomers (Australian Christmas song about kangaroos)
Wombat Divine (Australian children’s Christmas story)

Biblical Passages

Luke 2:8-10 (ESV)
Matthew 2 (ESV)
John 1 (ESV)
Romans 8 (ESV)

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Get Your Copy:

The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

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Stop Hosting Your Own Life: A Christmas Devotional on Incarnation, Peace, and Letting God Lead with Steve Cuss Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

Host Steve Cuss explores the mental and emotional burdens we carry, drawing on Jesus’ teaching about a light yoke. Reflecting on the Christmas story from Luke 2, Steve shares personal traditions and discusses how God enters our struggles. He connects the nativity’s humble setting to themes of power, history, and care for the marginalized. The episode blends spiritual insight, personal anecdotes, and cultural commentary, inviting listeners to find hope and rest during the Christmas season.

Episode Resources:

The Long and Winding Road moment from the Get Back documentary
More about Augustus (63 BC - AD 14)

Oh Holy Night performed by Vince Gill
O Come, O Come Emmanuel performed by Shane & Shane

Books & Biblical Passages

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) - Jesus’ teaching about burden & yoke
Luke 2:1–20 (ESV) - The birth of Jesus and its surrounding circumstances
Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV) - Jesus took the form of a servant
Luke 15:3–7 (ESV) - The parable of the lost sheep
John 10:1–18 - The Good Shepherd
Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) - The Good Samaritan Story
Luke 2:41–52 (ESV) - the “lost boy Jesus”

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

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Get Your Copy:

The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

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Capable Life Intensives

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Finding Peace in the Chaos: Five Emotional Well-Being Tips for Christmas Sanity with Steve and Lisa Cuss Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

Hosts Steve and Lisa Cuss share five practical tips for maintaining emotional and mental well-being during the Christmas season. They discuss handling family tensions, grief, and the pressures of holiday preparations, emphasizing self-awareness, emotional preparation, and setting boundaries. Blending personal stories and spiritual reflections, they encourage listeners to notice their emotional states, manage reactions, and make space for both joy and sadness. The episode offers compassionate, human-sized advice to help listeners create a peaceful, connected, and meaningful holiday experience, even amid challenges.

Episode Resources:

Secure your copy of The Five Steps to Christmas Sanity PDF
Listen: Anxiety, the Nervous System, and Your Window of Tolerance: Lisa Cuss & Clarissa Moll
John Chapter 1 (ESV)
Revelation 21:3-4 (Eugene Peterson’s The Message)
AA Meeting Guidelines

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Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

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Capable Life Intensives

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Anxiety, the Nervous System, and Your Window of Tolerance: A Conversation with Lisa Cuss & Clarissa Moll Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Being Human, Lisa Cuss explores how anxiety and stress push us outside our God-given window of tolerance. With monthly co-host Clarissa Moll, Lisa unpacks how the nervous system reacts to overwhelm, the difference between hyperarousal and hypoarousal, and practical tools for grounding, breath prayers, embodied faith, and reconnecting with God’s presence. This conversation on emotional health, trauma, and Christian spiritual formation can help you stay rooted in God’s presence, reduce reactivity, and remain human-sized in stressful situations.

Episode Resources:

Learn about Dr. Daniel Siegel’s work

Learn more about the Window of Tolerance
How to recognize Hyper arousal and Hypo arousal
30 30 Grounding Techniques to Quiet Distressing Thoughts
Book recommendations on the Apostle Paul and His work as community Builder
Read John 1:14 (ESV)
Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)

More From Clarissa Moll:

Clarissa Moll’s The Bulletin podcast

Explore Clarissa Moll’s website
Read Clarissa Moll’s substack

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an upcoming intensive:

Capable Life Intensives

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Bigger, Smaller, or Human-Sized? Steve & Lisa Cuss Revisit Clarissa Moll, Lysa TerKeurst, and Abby Thompson Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

Hosts Steve and Lisa Cuss explore how to manage your mental load, emotional load, and anxiety by revisiting powerful conversations with Clarissa Moll, Lysa TerKeurst, and Abby Thompson. Together, they unpack how emotional and mental “fields” work, how anxiety spreads between people, and what it means to stay human-sized instead of reacting by getting bigger or smaller. Clarissa shares insights on reactivity and the “mama bear” instinct, Lysa offers transformative wisdom on boundaries, codependency, and healing from unwanted divorce, and Abby brings a Gen Z perspective on comparison, social media, and the slow work of God. It’s a practical guide for anyone seeking Christian emotional health, anxiety management, spiritual formation, self-awareness, and healthier relationships rooted in God’s presence and peace.

Episode Resources:

Abby Thomspon’s Growing
Lysa Terkeurst’s Surviving an Unwanted Divorce
Steve Cuss’s book Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs
Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (“crappy first draft”)
Learn more about: Kosuke Koyama

More From Clarissa Moll:

Clarissa Moll’s The Bulletin podcast

Explore Clarissa Moll’s website
Read Clarissa Moll’s substack

Original Episodes Links:

Abby Thompson on Overcoming Anxiety in the Big City

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

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Abby Thompson on Overcoming Anxiety in the Big City Nov 17, 2025

Show notes

Host Steve Cuss and Author Abby Thompson talk about anxiety, faith, and the pressure of coming of age in the digital era. From high school to her college years in Nashville to her leap of faith moving to New York City, Abby shares how therapy, prayer, and community helped her navigate fear, self-doubt, anxious thoughts, and the noisy expectations of social media. Together, they explore what it means to stay human-sized in a world obsessed with achievement, and how slowing down to notice God’s presence can transform anxiety into peace and purpose.

Episode Resources:

Abby Thomspon’s Growing
Redeemer Church (Upper West Side)
Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

Biblical References:

Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

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New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

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Lysa TerKeurst on Surviving an Unwanted Divorce and Finding Healing Through Faith Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

Host Steve Cuss and bestselling author and Bible teacher Lysa TerKeurst shares her raw, faith-filled journey through betrayal, gaslighting, and the heartbreak of an unwanted divorce while discovering how to stay rooted in God’s presence and emotional health. Steve and Lysa explore mismatched relationships, codependency, and the sacred work of setting healthy boundaries that protect peace and dignity. A deeply honest and redemptive conversation offering hope and wisdom for anyone walking through relational pain, loss, or the slow rebuilding of trust.

Episode Resources:

Lysa Terkeurst’s Surviving an Unwanted Divorce
Learn more about Craig Groeschel’s work HERE
Lysa TerKeurst and Craig Groeschel: The Power To Change
Lysa TerKeurst and Craig Groeschel: Doubts Don’t Make You a Bad Christian
Learn more about Dr. Joel Muddamalle’s work HERE
Get in touch with Dr. Jim Cress HERE
Dr. Jim Cress: Practical Ways To Talk About Boundaries (video)
Read Why Betrayal Can Cause Trauma and How to Start Healing

Biblical References:

Genesis 28 (ESV) - Jacob’s Dream
Mark 14:32-43 (ESV) - Jesus Prays in Garden of Gethsemane

More From Lysa TerKeurst:

Check out Lysa’s website
Follow Lysa on Instagram
Lysa’s podcast: Therapy & Theology

Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders:

Capable Life Newsletter

New Candles, Advent Prayers, and Journals:

https://www.stevecusswords.com/

Join Steve at an upcoming intensive:
Capable Life Intensives

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How to Stay Human-Sized: Managing Anxiety, Reactivity, and Faith with Steve Cuss & Clarissa Moll Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

Host Steve Cuss and Clarissa Moll explore what it means to live “human-sized” — not too big, not too small — in our relationships with others, ourselves, and God. Through personal stories and honest reflection, they unpack how anxiety distorts reality, driving us to dominate or shrink back, and how spiritual practices help us return to balance. Learn how to recognize reactivity, practice discernment, and stay grounded in God’s presence, even in moments of stress or conflict. Steve and Clarissa help listeners move toward emotional health, self-awareness, and spiritual growth in everyday life.

Episode Resources: