Personal Choice, Public Voice, And The Courage To Be Unpinned

The countdown to season nine is officially on, and the energy is real. I’m lining up musicians with stories behind the songs, authors who can sharpen a messy idea into something you can use, and a brave twist where I switch sides of the mic. A British reporter is stepping in to ask the questions I usually avoid—unexpected, personal, and a little risky in the best way. If you’ve wanted a clearer window into how I think, work, and change, this is it.

I also open up about a turning point that shaped my life: becoming vegan in 2001 after a chance visit near a slaughterhouse. No preaching, no pressure—just a personal choice that stuck through years of curious looks, protein jokes, and quiet wins. We talk about keeping respect at the table, even when the menu is different on both sides, and how small shifts can become a lifestyle that actually feels like you. From food and health to wardrobe and animal care, I share what evolved slowly and why it still brings me joy.

Along the way, we celebrate creative collaborations, including striking photo art and a touch of classic Hollywood nostalgia. We connect the dots between personal boundaries and public work: how artists stay true to themselves, how listeners benefit from honest conversation, and why the best surprises aren’t spoiled by teasers. Season nine aims for clarity, craft, and heart—fewer platitudes, more substance, and space for questions that matter.

If you’re ready for fresh voices, real stories, and a host who’s willing to be the guest, cue it up and join us. Follow the show, share this with a friend who loves music and meaningful talk, and leave a quick review to help others find it. Your support shapes what we build next.

Music

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Transcript

Season Nine Tease And Timeline

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Hello guys, I'm Regina Sword. You know, I got so many people looking forward to season 9. And I'm really ecstatic about it. So ecstatic. Woo! Woo boy. Anyways, um, I do have musicians who are totally interested in um being a part of this podcast in the next season, which is coming shortly. Um, I wanted to bring it to you like Valentine's Weekend, because what better way to bring it to you than the weekend of love? What better way? So we'll see. We're looking at the either that week or the week after that. But trust and believe it is going to be this month. Um again we have return guests, a few return guests who were so amazing the last month, the last several months, season eight. One of those amazing guests uh we had on was the amazing Murphy Elliot. Yay! Yeah, we're gonna have him back. And some people have been writing to me about the beautiful pictures that he's been creating um for me. They're amazing, aren't they? I was looking today at the ones that he did with Gregory Peck and me, with Gregory Peck holding around me, being held by Gregory Peck, oh my god. Oh god, it's just a dream, but ooh, we love it. What a dream, what a beautiful dream. Oh, to be in the arms of Gregory Peck, are you kidding me? Oh my god, what a dream! Sorry, got featured away, guys. I got carried away. I love that picture, but I love all the black and white pictures. I love black and white movies, I love bonanza, I love what everyone is doing with bonanza. Stephen Paul, for instance, did a bla uh uh uh a color picture of bonanza, and he put my picture to the side, but he put bonanza on the other side, and I thought it was cool. I love it. But um, back to season nine. I know I talk about it a lot, and um because uh we got promotion going on for it right now, and it's a lot of promotion going on for season nine right now, uh, because it's it's such a huge thing. Whenever the season is new, especially the last season and this season and going forward with me interviewing people, it's uh is a big deal. So I put in a lot of heavy promotion, a lot of heavy promotion put behind uh, so I'm really super excited about it, like super excited, and um and so the musicians who are going to be on are really cool, wonderful musicians. You're gonna see. I'm not gonna say a word, you're going to see for yourself. Let's just leave it at that. I got some good ones. I got some good ones, and that's all I'm gonna say. I don't want to say any more than that about the musicians. I don't want to say any more than that. Um, I do have some more authors. I have people coming on talking about um vegan because hey guys, I am vegan. I by the way, if you didn't know now you know. If you don't know, now you know. Um I became vegan a long, long time ago, back in 2001. Um I went to a slaughterhouse to cover a story about something else, and I didn't particularly go to the slaughterhouse, but I was went across the street at another place to cover another story. And in doing so, a slaughterhouse was across the street. I ended up venturing to the slaughterhouse as only I would do. I ended up going over to the slaughterhouse and you know checking things out. I seen this truck of cows coming in and you know I just wanted to go up and I just thought it was cute. The cows were cute, and I wanted to go say hi and you know, and but I must say that once I went inside my life was changed forever. It was changed forever. I think the guys at the Squatterhouse thought I was dared to do a like a little story on on what or whatever, but they don't know that that day changed my life forever. And I am vegan not because I'm trying to tell you or you or you what to do, how to eat. It is a personal choice of my own. It's my own personal choice, has nothing to do with anybody else. I wrote a song about it some years ago when I was singing with my sister, a song called Judge Not. A lot of people thought Judge Not was a uh spiritual song, and it is still a spiritual song, but a lot of people thought it was a spiritual song, so they were like, oh my god, listen to this song. Especially when a guy says they judge how I talk and they judge how I walk, they judge what I eat judge where I sleep. You know, I didn't write that part that did this. The rap singer wrote that part, but the other part is I wrote about being judged because I had at that time turned my life around, my eating habits, everything had started to change. I was very new at being a vegan at that time, and I know a lot of people don't believe in that, a lot of people do, but back then it was very taboo. You know, a lot of people judged me a great deal for becoming a vegan. They thought it was like, where do you get your protein? and they still ask that crazy question today, not knowing that there are so many ways to get your protein. I stay full, I stay pretty healthy, I am very happy. I'll just say this: the decision that I made, again, it's personal, it's a very personal decision. I will never tell you how to eat or what to put in your mouth. That is up to you. You're still my friend, but I like the same respect, you see, and sometimes people they want to dish it out to me, but they don't want to take it. I've never had a weight problem. I always my weight is maintained over the years. Um skin has been always nice and nice skin, nice, um, just nice everything, you're gonna know. So I'm not bragging about it, but I'm really happy that I became vegan. Um and now I've adopted um some animals, and once my home is finished, I plan to have adopt more animals. I think it would be just really beautiful to to have uh a place where deers could come up to my yard and hang out with some of the other animals and stuff like that. I think it's really cool. I know that people are always sitting back and say, what deers would take over. Well, you know what? Let them take over. Let them take over. Whatever. I just but yeah, I'm vegan because I want to be has absolutely nothing with to do with anybody else or or telling you how to eat. I mean, I could be sitting across the table as I want to swore across the table from this woman who was eating a big juicy hamburger that was still bleeding. It was bloody. But I didn't judge her at all. I sat across from her, had a nice salad, fruit salad, had me some good old vegan bread, had some um black beans, had some good stuff that I had, you know. And I took her out to celebrate. I wanted her to celebrate, I brought my own lunch, but I celebrated with her at her favorite restaurant. Little did I know that she was gonna sit there and judge me. She said that you know that once you get home, you're gonna you're gonna get you the biggest hamburger you want. Do you want some of this hamburger? You look like you need to eat something. And that really I don't let too many things offend me, but I was very, very offended by that because I took her out to celebrate something that she had achieved, and I didn't realize that, you know, she would turn it around and try to, you know, make me feel bad because I was vegan. And again, I don't charge anybody for what they eat. I mean I don't care what you eat, guys. I don't care if that's what you want to do. I'm not one of those people that I'm not PEDA. I'm not PEDA. So I'm not one of those people that say, you better not eat this or you better not eat that. I'm not gonna tell you that. If you don't want to eat that, don't. I'm not gonna tell you to or tell you do or don't. But I would like the same respect. That's all. That's all. That's it, that's all. I've adopted wearing vegan clothes, vegan leather. Over the years I've learned it's it was a little by little uh change that has become so beautiful, guys. I'm sorry about that. It's become so beautiful that I'm really excited about it. So it's it's coming um, it's working into my favor. So uh I wanted to say that. Did I say too much about that? I thought I'd say that I needed to. Yeah, guys, I'm looking forward to season nine. Let's go back to season nine. I'm looking forward to season nine because it's um, it's really interesting, you know, the different conversations that I'll be having. Um, I have an interview coming up where I'll be interviewed. Uh, questions you don't want to miss this interview because I'm going to be asked questions that people don't normally ask me. I am normally the ones doing the interview. I am normally the interviewee or whatever you want to call it. I'm probably wrong. I'm probably saying it wrong. I'm normally the one that interview other people, but finally I'd be sitting in that chair where people are asking me questions, and some of them are going to be off the record, some of them I don't know about. So I got to just be prepared to answer truthfully, of course, authentically, and um so people get to know a little bit more about the person who uh Regina Sworn, the the woman, the host of Regina Sworn audio series presents. So once I do that interview shortly thereafter, then you'll know season nine starts almost immediately after that. So look forward to that interview. I'll be speaking in that interview with the British reporter, and I'm really excited about it. So I want to say that tonight before I go. All of you have a great night. Be safe, be wonderful, take care of yourselves. Know that I love you. I don't care what people say about me. A lot of people just really don't understand me. Uh I'm one of those species that you can't really pinpoint. I mean, I I have a personality that's not easy to pinpoint. So a lot of people say I'm crazy. But one thing they cannot say is that I'm stupid. They can say you're crazy. They can call me crazy all day and all night. I don't care. Call me crazy all day, all night, all year, fifty years, twenty years, whatever. But they can never ever say that Regina sworn chick, that ginger, that gin, she's stupid. No one can ever say that. But she can call me crazy. I don't care. Still crazy as all these years. Thank you so much for listening. Thanks again to my friend Murphy Elliott. Hi Murphy. Oh my god, he put me with Gregory Peck. Oh my god, I'm so in love with Gregory Peck right now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, guys. Take care of yourself and we will talk soon. Stop on my Facebook fan page and follow for all of the uh latest updates right over there. Taddy soon. Website should be up very shortly. Goodbye.