{"store":{"customizeEditHighlightKey":null,"customizeEditingSectionKey":null,"customizeScrollToKey":null,"baseInfo":{"podcastTitle":"WHY ARE YOU YOU?","slug":"whyareyouyou","podcastDescription":"

WHY ARE YOU YOU? started as a feature documentary that explores the history of the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) community where adolescents discovered their true selves and were empowered to make positive change in the world. Forty years after the program's inception, those former participants reflect on how being a part of the program shaped them and still informs their lives. YRUU, established in 1983, grew out of the Unitarian Universalists’ rich tradition of religious youth education. It was disbanded in 2008.

Now WHY ARE YOU YOU? is a documentary, a published Mugbook, a host to many community gatherings and a podcast.

The documentary-making process involves trimming a lot of content from interviews. Our aim was transparency, so every recorded interview will be aired as an episode along with new voices.

Hosted by: Lindsay Caddle LaPointe, Dawn MacKechnie and Naomi Kooker

The content of this oral history interview is personal, experiential, and interpretive. It relies on the memories and perceptions of the narrator and should not be understood as statements of fact. If you would like to clairify something that you heard please reach out to us and we will pass your message along to the narrator.

","podcastLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun.jpg","podcastShareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun_1200x628.jpg?s=963557afedf59b2d245e0f83dd6bc6d3&e=jpg","podcastUrl":"https://whyareyouyou.podbean.com","podcastCanSearched":true,"feedUrl":"https://feed.podbean.com/whyareyouyou/feed.xml","theme":"elegant","podcastDeepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-f6729-1513efb?from=usersite","removePodbeanBranding":"no","brandingLogo":null,"timeZone":{"timeZoneId":15,"gmtAdjustment":"GMT-05:00","useDaylightTime":1,"value":-5,"text":"(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)","daylightStartTime":"Second Sunday Of March +2 Hours","daylightEndTime":"First Sunday Of November +2 Hours","timezone":"America/New_York"},"podcastDownloads":null,"totalEpisodes":17,"showComments":true,"iOSAppDownloadLink":null,"customizeCssUrl":null,"androidAppDownloadLink":null,"showPostShare":true,"showLike":true,"author":"Linden Tree Productions","enableEngagementStats":true,"shareEmbedLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pbblog-f6729-1513efb-playlist","language":"en","sensitivitySessionExpireTime":3600,"podcastApps":[{"name":"Apple Podcasts","link":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-are-you-you/id1880165352","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/apple-podcast.png","title":null},{"name":"YouTube","link":"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYHrQpgPP7Elkbpyhqf6w9tKyqFFIT_HA","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/youtube_logo.png","title":null},{"name":"Podbean App","link":"https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-f6729-1513efb?from=usersite","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/podbean-app.png","title":null},{"name":"Spotify","link":"https://open.spotify.com/show/01qEMUyTGXXqUggQj91XOM","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/spotify.png","title":null},{"name":"Amazon Music","link":"https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/668ff82a-d559-4608-ac76-d0d4dba2ea44","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/AmazonMusic.png","title":null},{"name":"iHeartRadio","link":"https://iheart.com/podcast/324885516","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/iHeartRadio.png","title":null},{"name":"PlayerFM","link":"https://player.fm/series/3719550","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/PlayerFM.png","title":null},{"name":"Podchaser","link":"https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/why-are-you-you-6393281","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/Podchaser.webp","title":null},{"name":"BoomPlay","link":"https://www.boomplaymusic.com/podcasts/142769","image":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1/site/images/admin5/BoomPlay.png","title":null}],"components":{"base":[{"id":"MainStyle","val":"light"},{"id":"Font","val":"Geometric Humanist"},{"id":"SecondaryFont","val":"Geometric Humanist"},{"id":"PlayerColor","val":"#428200"},{"id":"PlayerStyle","val":"player1"},{"id":"PlayerWave","val":"show"},{"id":"Favicon","val":null},{"id":"CookiesNotice","val":"hide"},{"id":"CookiesNoticeContent","val":"

Cookies Notice

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies.

"},{"id":"EpisodePageListenOn","val":"hide"},{"id":"EpisodePageCustomizeComponent","val":"hide"}],"home-header":[{"id":"HomeHeaderTextColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"HomeHeaderBackgroundColor","val":"#ffffff"}],"page-header":[{"id":"PageHeaderTextColor","val":"#ffffff"},{"id":"PageHeaderBackgroundColor","val":"#868686"}],"episode-list":[{"id":"EpisodesPerPage","val":10},{"id":"EpisodeStats","val":"show"}],"navigation":[{"id":"NavigationFontColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"NavigationBackgroundColor","val":"#e9e9e9"},{"id":"NavigationSearch","val":"show"},{"id":"NavigationLinks","val":[{"id":"Home","type":"Link","value":"/","text":"Home","subitems":[]},{"id":"Subscribe","type":"Link","value":"https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/rm8DLNuvRuqN","text":"Subscribe","subitems":[]},{"id":"Profile","type":"Link","value":"https://www.podbean.com/user-d5gaDatzpuob","text":"Profile","subitems":[]}]}],"footer":[{"id":"FooterType","val":"Footer2"},{"id":"FooterFontColor","val":"#ffffff"},{"id":"FooterBackgroundColor","val":"#000000"},{"id":"FooterCopyright","val":"Copyright 2026 All rights reserved."},{"id":"SocialMediaLinks","val":{"facebook_username":"","twitter_username":"","instagram_username":"","youtube_username":"","linkedin_username":""}}],"customize-container1":[],"customize-container2":[],"customize-container":[{"id":"EpisodeListType","val":"grid"}]},"allLinks":[],"mainStylesDefaultSettings":null,"defaultCustomizeComponents":null,"scripts":[],"metas":null,"appConfig":{"package":"com.podbean.app.podcast","app_store_id":973361050,"app_name":"Podbean","scheme":"podbean"},"customizeCss":null,"canEditCss":null,"enableJsCodeInCustomizeContent":false,"enabledIframeCodeInCustomizeContent":true,"sectionMaxCount":10,"enableEditorLink":true,"enableEditCookiesNotice":true,"siteRedirectToFeed":false,"podcatcherRssUrl":null,"showFeed":true,"showTopBar":false,"enableWebSiteLike":true,"organizationName":null,"organizationPageLink":null,"subscribeLink":"https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/rm8DLNuvRuqN","isPrivateChannel":false},"backToListUrl":"/","tinymceLoaded":false,"listEpisodes":[],"userLikedEpisodes":[],"userLikeCheckedEpisodes":[],"topBarIframeLoaded":false,"listTotalCount":0,"listTotalPage":0,"listPage":0,"listType":"all","listValue":"","listName":"","pageLoading":false,"apiBaseUrl":"https://whyareyouyou.podbean.com","apiV2BaseUrl":"","apiCommonParams":{"t":"6a86f9ce","clientSignature":"995a702d5258b3c050a75768b4aafac3","u":null,"customizing":null},"apiCommonHeaders":{},"comments":[],"commentsTotalCount":0,"commentsTotalPage":0,"commentsPage":1,"commentEpisodeId":"pb27847854-wxn2y","episode":{"id":"pb27847854","idTag":"wxn2y","title":"Aileen Dashurova","logo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun_300x300.jpg","shareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun_1200x628.jpg?s=963557afedf59b2d245e0f83dd6bc6d3&e=jpg","largeLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun.jpg","previewContent":null,"content":"

Dawn connects with Aileen Dashurova for a very candid conversation about what it was like to be a youth advisor.

www.whyareyouyou.org

","publishTimestamp":1781064000,"duration":5424,"mediaUrl":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/t8j8tmszeymtpjci/S1E11_Aileen_Dashurovaahz60.mp3","mediaType":"audio/mpeg","shareLink":"https://admin5.podbean.com/embed.html?id=pb-wxn2y-1a8ecae","likedCount":0,"deepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wxn2y-1a8ecae","transcriptUrl":null,"permalink":"/e/aileen-dashurova/","downloadLink":"https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-wxn2y-1a8ecae?download=1","fallbackResource":null,"fallbackResourceMimetype":null,"downloadCount":89,"status":"publish","hasMoreContent":false,"chaptersUrl":null,"explicit":true},"episodeShareLink":null,"deepLink":"https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wxn2y-1a8ecae","playlist":{"episodes":[],"current":0,"start":0,"stop":0,"playing":true,"playerLoading":true,"playbackRate":1,"playbackRateIndex":1,"volume":1},"toasts":[],"confirm":null,"customizeEditorFormZIndex":999,"lastRequestTime":null,"validateChangesOnBeforeunload":true,"windowWidth":1000,"previewDevice":"desktop","VITE_FS1_CDN_URL_PREFIX":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/fs1","reloadStats":false,"userIdEncrypted":null,"userProfilePicture":null,"username":null,"isVerified":false,"loadUserInfo":false,"loginUrl":"https://www.podbean.com/site/user/login?return=https%253A%252F%252Fwhyareyouyou.podbean.com%252Fe%252Faileen-dashurova%252F&rts=7bda57251594092fccc8484c1e566f19f780e207","recaptchaV3Loaded":false,"recaptchaV2Loaded":false,"likesLoaded":false,"commentLikeMap":{},"commentOffset":0,"widgetCommentsLoaded":false},"episode":{"id":"pb27847854","idTag":"wxn2y","title":"Aileen Dashurova","logo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun_300x300.jpg","shareLogo":"https://d2bwo9zemjwxh5.cloudfront.net/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun_1200x628.jpg?s=963557afedf59b2d245e0f83dd6bc6d3&e=jpg","largeLogo":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22101755/Podcast_Logo6zdun.jpg","previewContent":null,"content":"

Dawn connects with Aileen Dashurova for a very candid conversation about what it was like to be a youth advisor.