CoPing Live Talk is a weekly conversation and storytelling podcast hosted by Pastor Lydia Istomina and Scott, exploring faith, resilience, culture, relationships, healing, and the complicated realities of modern life — all through honest dialogue, humor, wisdom, and lived experience.
Born during the isolation of the COVID years and now entering a new chapter, the podcast brings together personal stories, spiritual reflection, global perspective, and practical conversations about how people survive change without losing their humanity.
Episodes range from conversations about ministry, grief, aging, and reinvention to interviews with authors, artists, missionaries, community leaders, and everyday people carrying extraordinary stories. Drawing from Lydia’s journey from Soviet Russia to pastoral leadership in the United States, the podcast offers a unique blend of Eastern European insight, pastoral care, and thoughtful cultural reflection.
The tone is warm, intelligent, conversational, and deeply human — less performance, more authentic connection.
Topics may include:
- Faith and doubt
- Coping with transition and loss
- Relationships and family dynamics
- Ministry and leadership
- Mental and emotional resilience
- Cultural and political reflection
- Creativity, music, and storytelling
- Hope in difficult times
Whether livestreamed or pre-recorded, CoPing Live Talk creates space for meaningful conversations that help people feel less alone and more connected to one another.