Exvangelical (Blake Chastain)

Angela Denker, author of Red State Christians: Understanding the Voters Who Elected Donald Trump, joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Recorded on 9/1/2021, I spoke with Peterson Toscano all the way in South Africa. Peterson is podcaster, performer, climate activist, and biblical scholar. In this conversation, Peterson talks about activism, trauma, and recognizing when to move on to other projects. We also talk about curiosity, the role of relationships in activism & He-Man! Learn all about Peterson's projects at https://petersontoscano.com/ Support my work via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. Follow me on Twitter @brchastain, and on Instagram & TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Coming soon: Powers & Principalities, a new podcast series from Blake about the systems and institutions that propagate white evangelical & Christian nationalist sociopolitical power. Debuting in late August 2020. Follow along in the Exvangelical feed, or subscribe to the new show directly on Spotify. (The feed is new, and will appear on other platforms soon.) Keep updated (and learn more about the methodology and scope of the new series) by subscribing to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Exvangelical is now a part of the Irreverent Media Group! Visit irreverent.fm to learn more about this new collective. Follow Irreverent on social: twitter.com/irreverent_fm instagram.com/irreverent_fm facebook.com/irreverentfm Are you a creator that wants to join IMG, or an advertiser looking for sponsorship opportunities? Email us at irreverentfm@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I chat with Anne Helen Petersen about her book Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (Amazon, Bookshop). We discuss her spiritual & religious background, her viral essay on BuzzFeed that led to this book, how the way we use social media contributes to burnout, how our economic systems fail us, and more.  You can follow Anne on Twitter @annehelen and subscribe to her newsletter, Culture Study. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, Instagram @brchastain_, and subscribe to his newsletter The Post-Evangelical Post. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. Thank you, Jake! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Holly Laurent from the MEGA Podcast joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week I'm joined by Matthew Sheffield from Flux. We discuss Mormonism & evangelicalism, his experiences in right-wing media, and the 2024 election. It's a broad-reaching conversation that I hope you enjoy. Follow Matthew's work at Flux, including the podcasts Theory of Change, Doomscroll, and So This Just Happened. Links: I appeared on Theory of Change last October, check it out here. We discuss the findings from this CNN article re: the SC GOP primaries and Matthew's piece about authoritarianism. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Support my work with a paid subscription at $5/month or $50/year at postevangelicalpost.com Follow Blake on Threads @brchastain_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Musician Trey Pearson joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

We're taking a brief break to allow a little more time for production, but we're ready to take your questions. Brad Onishi (of Straight White American Jesus) & I will be taking your questions and answering them on the air in an upcoming episode. Submit your questions by Monday October 5th to be considered. Use the link in the show notes to send a Voice Message in Anchor, or send me a voice memo at contact@exvangelicalpodcast.com. If you enjoy the show, please rate & review it on Apple Podcasts, and support the show via Patreon or Substack. We'll be back next week with an interview with Sarah Posner! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Highlighting some of the key moments of 2018, and the work of others in the exvangelical community. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this audio essay, adapted from The Post-Evangelical Post, I talk about Twitter's role in allowing "counterpublics" to flourish - and how #exvangelical relates to that. New interviews are coming - due to my recent ear surgery I am still restricted from listening to audio in both ears - which makes editing podcasts difficult. I am enlisting another producer to help. Please consider becoming a paid supporter of my work via The Post-Evangelical Post. There are free options, as well as tiers at $4, $6, or $8 per month. I donate 25% of net revenue each month. Follow me on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week’s guest is Lenny Duncan, author of the new book Dear Revolutionaries: A Field Guide for A World Beyond the Church.  In this brief talk, Lenny and I discuss church, the thought leader industrial complex, and more. A couple notes: we had a short window to talk, and I captured as much as I could during that time. You may hear some occasional sounds in the audio including from some bangles Lenny was wearing; I think it adds to the ambience personally, but your mileage may vary.  Buy Lenny's book on Bookshop.org to support the show. Follow Lenny's Substack, A Sorcerer's Notebook. You can support my work by using the show notes link to buy Lenny’s book from Bookshop.org above , or by subscribing to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter at $5/month or $50 year at postevangelicalpost.com. I donate 25% of net proceeds; check out the Support page to learn more.  Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Hello, and welcome to Exvangelical. I’m your host, Blake Chastain. I know there’s a lot going on. I know that the recent Supreme Court rulings are beyond discouraging - they are harmful for so many people, and a decision that could lead to the downfall of Roe is expected as soon as tomorrow. But multiple things happen all at once, and because of our interconnectedness, we feel them all. But I want to isolate one event happening right now and say: Happy Pride - especially to those born and raised in conservative evangelicalisms. Thank you for being here and being you. Listen to LGBTQ+ voices that have appeared on Exvangelical. Subscribe to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter - for free, or $4/6/8 per month. 25% of net proceeds are donated to White Homework and The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This is a re-release of my October 2022 interview with author Becca Andrews about her book No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right. I was reminded of the importance of this book and others like it after reading a Wired article titled "‘In 24 Hours, You’ll Have Your Pills’: American Women Are Traveling to Mexico for Abortions." These are the lengths people who need reproductive care must go to in a post-Roe world. Becca's book details the stories of people in need of reproductive care and their allies, both before Roe and in places where abortion and other care was restricted prior to Roe's fall. Content note: I want to note that this episode deals directly with abortion and other aspects of reproductive care. For people in my age cohort—Elder Millennials and younger who grew up in conservative white evangelicalism, abortion was absolutely vilified, as were the people who needed them. This conversation starts there, and then looks at the history of reproductive care in the United States from the 19th century through today. I mention this near the end of my conversation with Becca, but I also want to mention it at the top - her book tells the stories of people in need of reproductive health care—including abortion—with tenderness and compassion. They are told in their contexts within the book; we do not appropriate them for this conversation. I highly recommend that you go out and purchase this book to read them for yourself.  Learn more about Becca's work at https://becca-andrews.com/ Purchase the book via PEP’s Bookshop.org page or via this Amazon affiliate link to support the show - and subscribe below to keep up to date with my work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In light of the TX SB8 law going into effect, and SCOTUS' refusal to strike it down, I am re-releasing this episode I recorded with Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. This book is extremely helpful in detailing the strategies and tactics employed by Christian nationalist politicians and their allies. This interview part of Season 1 of Powers & Principalities. Listen to that season here. Follow me on Twitter @brchastain, on Instagram/TikTok @brchastain_. Support the shows & my writing at The Post-Evangelical Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Steven & Seth from the E9 Podcast help me learn my Enneagram type. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This is an audio version of my latest essay published at The Post-Evangelical Post: The Vibe Shift That Was Foretold Came, & Twitter Did Not Survive It. Back in February, a time that feels much farther away than a mere 10 months ago, The Cut published an essay called “A Vibe Shift is Coming. Will any of us survive it?” It was a piece meant to get people talking, and it did. It featured a lot of coast-centric media bubble trendspotting talk mingled with pandemic lockdown introspection. But some of it resonated further—that something was in the air, ready to change the zeitgeist. I’ll contend that the shift was about social media itself. Check out the whole essay, with links, at The Post-Evangelical Post. Subscribe for free or at $5/month and help support this show. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Alternate title: "Maybe today, Satan." Kevin Garcia returns to the show to chat about their new book, #BadTheologyKills and much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Today marks 2 years of Exvangelical. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I speak with Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family (which was turned into a Netflix documentary series of the same name). We discuss the actions of President Trump and the GOP to undermine the results of the election, the role of QAnon, "police nationalism," and much more. Read Jeff Sharlet's missives from the Trump campaign rallies in Vanity Fair and follow him on Twitter. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, and follow him on Instagram @brchastain_. Support the show with a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Free and paid tiers are available. Other methods of support can be found here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Bethany Sparkle joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Today’s guest is Jo Luehmann. Jo and I spoke back in March this year, after arranging to chat in late January, early February, so this episode has been a long time coming.  In this conversation, you’ll hear Jo talk about growing up in Colombia, her experience within evangelical circles in America, and her work discussing decolonization. In the months following our discussion, Jo became a target of many far right figures such as Matt Walsh, who rallied their followers to harass Jo. The reason was ostensibly because of a tweet on abortion; because of this tweet, Jo was relentlessly harassed and forced to resign from her position on a school board in order to curtail the continued harassment. That particular event demonstrated the way in which the far right operates, and the lengths to which they will go to destabilize the lives of those whose speech they consider provocative or offensive, even as they do so with impunity. I confirmed with Jo prior to releasing this episode that she was ok with this conversation being posted. Visit Jo's linktree to learn more about their work. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post. You can subscribe to my newsletter of the same name, The Post-Evangelical Post, at postevangelicalpost.com. That’s postevangelicalpost.com, because all my ideas begin as puns. You can subscribe for free, or upgrade to a paid subscription at $4/6/8 a month, and get access to ad-free podcast feeds and more. 25% of net revenue is donated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Over at The Post-Evangelical Post, I've been writing about fictional religions for subscribers. As I wrote on 1/3/23: "When your faith of origin is also the origin of a grievous wound, there’s an odd solace to be found in knowingly made up things. Fiction, the old adage goes, is a lie that tells the truth—and there’s a lot of truth to be found in fictional religions." This is an audio version of an essay published this week, "The Comfort of Fictional Religions: The Sensayers of Terra Ignota." You can support this podcast & my other work at $5/month or $50/year. 25% of net proceeds are donated to White Homework & The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com/support. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Find links to follow Blake across the web at blakechastain.com - Technical difficulties prevented me from publishing the episode planned for this week. Please let me know what you think of this shorter episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Laura Polk returns to the show to discuss the Jan 6th insurrection and the Religious Right. In particular, we discuss three pivotal events in 1980, and how they set the stage for much of what's followed. This interview was recorded on 2/7/2021. Laura Polk is an independent educator and researcher. You can support her via Patreon here. (I do!)  Follow Laura on Twitter @seelolago. You can support Blake's work on Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities via Substack at The Post-Evangelical Post. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain and the show on Instagram at @exvangelicalpod. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. Thank you, Jake! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I chat with Andrew Phelan and John Potter from Magnified Pod. Their show focuses on Tooth & Nail era Christian alt music - season 1 focused on the MXPX discography, and season 2 focused on Five Iron Frenzy. In this conversation, we learn about Andrew & John's stories, the power of music and memory even after our beliefs change, and what it was like becoming friends with Five Iron band members. Check out their podcast here, follow them on Twitter @magnifiedpod, and support them on Patreon! Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, follow the show on Instagram @exvangelicalpod, and support him via Substack at postevangelicalpost.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Dr. Anthea Butler returns to the show (she was a guest on season one of Powers & Principalities) to discuss her new book, White Evangelical Racism. Her book is of utmost importance to helping us understand both our past and our current moment. We discuss the history of white evangelical racism, and how it played a part in the Jan 6th insurrection and the murders in Atlanta in March 2021. I also wrote about the book in my new series, The Good Books, published via my newsletter The Post-Evangelical Post. Help support the show directly via a paid subscription to the newsletter. (Free tiers are also available.) Stay tuned for more news about the show next week! This interview was recorded on 3/19/2021. Follow Dr. Butler on Twitter @AntheaButler. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, and follow the show on Instagram @exvangelicalpod. This episode was produced and edited by Jake Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guests this week are Sam Perry & Andrew Whitehead, authors of the book Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (Amazon, Bookshop.org). Perry & Whitehead are sociologists, and have published their data about America's relationship to Christian nationalism. They help define a framework for Christian nationalism, and why it is valuable to distinguish it from white evangelicalism in this context. They also provide four primary ways Americans react to Christian nationalism: Ambassadors, Accommodators, Resisters, and Rejecters. You can find their books anywhere books are sold. Use the affiliate links above to help support the show. Sam Perry is on Twitter @socofthesacred; Andrew Whitehead is on Twitter @ndrewwhitehead. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, or on Instagram @brchastain_ Support the show by signing up for a paid subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Save 25% using this link. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Kelsey McKinney, co-owner & features writer for Defector.com and author of the debut novel God Spare the Girls, joins the show! We talk about her novel, how getting to know people outside the evangelical bubble changes your perspective, her experiences in the media, and much more. God Spare the Girls tells the story of two daughters of a megachurch pastor whose rise to evangelical fame came from a viral speech about purity culture - and that's just how the story starts. When news of their father's marital infidelity breaks in their church, the two sisters are drawn together in ways they never were before. It's a great read. Buy God Spare the Girls here and support the show! (Affiliate link.) Follow Kelsey McKinney on Twitter. - We're back! July was very busy, and I'm super excited to get back to releasing episodes for you. A lot happened elsewhere: Exvangelical turned 5! I wrote a piece for Religion Dispatches about David Jeremiah's sermon saying exvangelicals are a sign of the end times! I was on MSNBC's The Week with Joshua Johnson! Other stuff I can't wait to tell you about, but can't yet! Support the show through a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Follow Blake on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow the show on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Emily Joy Allison returns to Exvangelical to talk about #SBC21, the recent departures of Beth Moore & Russell Moore (no relation) from the denomination, and her own direct action through protest. We also discuss the conservative resurgence in other denominations, how the media (and post-evangelicals of all stripes online) discuss bad theology, and how to respond to these types of conservative initiatives. This was recorded on Tuesday, June 15th 2021 and was not edited because the events we're discussing are timely and in-flux. You can follow Emily on Twitter @emilyjoypoetry. Buy her book, Church Too: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Support this podcast directly through a paid subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. This is an Irreverent Media Group podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I interview Gloria Beth Amodeo, author of the memoir God's Ex-Girlfriend: A Memoir about Loving and Leaving the Evangelical Jesus. We talk about her college-age conversion to evangelicalism through Cru, how purity culture and gender norms are enforced, and much more in this wide-ranging conversation. Support Gloria Beth Amodeo & Exvangelical by buying her book from The Post-Evangelical Posts's bookshop.org page - or if you prefer ebooks, from my Amazon affiliate link. Follow Gloria Beth on Twitter. Support this show and all of Blake's work with a $5/month subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post on Substack. Benefits include ad-free feeds, Discord access, a subscriber-only podcast, and exclusive writing. 25% of net proceeds are donated. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com/support. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

A live recording of our event at City Lit books in Chicago, featuring Josiah Hesse, Alessandra Ragusin, Ryan Connell, and special guest Chris Stroop! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

IN this chill conversation with return guest Kevin Garcia, I talk to them about what we should expect from community, how online communities don't reflect the ones we might have left, and how this balances out with our desire for personal autonomy after leaving unhealthy communities. We get into it. It's fun. Follow Kevin on Instagram: @thekevingarcia. Support this show via a $5/month subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week I'm publishing an episode of fellow Irreverent Media Group podcaster Kevin Garcia's show A Tiny Revolution. It's Pride Month and ATR is running a special series in conjunction with Beloved Arise. Listen to this episode featuring an interview with Blake Mundell to learn more about Beloved Arise. Subscribe to A Tiny Revolution anywhere you listen to podcasts, and follow Kevin on Instagram & Twitter. Kevin (they/them) describes ATR like this: "Because all revolutions begin as conversations between friends. Join digital pastor and soul coach Kevin Garcia for a conversation that actually matters. Covering the intersections of spirit, sexuality, gender, and justice, Kevin curates convos with the brightest and most incredible humans that you may or may not have heard of, with delicious takes on faith, sexuality, practice, and how we do this life together."  Learn more about the Irreverent Media Group line-up at irreverent.fm or by following @irreverent_fm on Instagram. Follow Blake on Twitter, and support the show directly at postevangelicalpost.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I talk with fellow IMG podcaster Bradley Onishi about how things have developed in the last year since the 2020 election. In that time we've seen Trump's decisive electoral loss, the Jan 6th insurrection, the entrenchment of The Big Lie within the GOP, and vaccine hesitancy. We've also seen reasons for hope. We talk about it all. This is an unedited conversation, recorded live-to-tape on November 4th, 2021. Read Brad's NYT editorial about the insurrection here, and support Straight White American Jesus on Patreon. I'm also writing a book! Read the announcement here. Subscribe to my newsletter at postevangelicalpost.substack.com - 25% of net revenue goes to organizations that serve communities harmed by white evangelicalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

On this week's episode, I am joined by Bradley Onishi of the Straight White American Jesus podcast to answer your questions about white evangelicalism and Christian nationalism. You all had some really wonderful questions, and it was equally wonderful to have an opportunity to answer them alongside Brad. Bradley Onishi is associate professor of religion at Skidmore College. If you enjoy this show, please be sure to check out SWAJ by following the link above. Support them on Patreon and follow Brad on Twitter. You can support this show by subscribing to The Post-Evangelical Post on Substack. Get 25% off with this link or subscribe to the free tier. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain or Instagram @brchastain_. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Angela Denker, pastor and author of the book Red State Christians (which was re-released this year with updated material), joins the show to discuss the 2022 midterms and how the political landscape continues to change. In particular she draws on her role serving a rural parish while living in an urban/suburban area, and the ways local relationships are more complex than simple media coverage portrays. Pick up Red State Christians from my Bookshop.org affiliate link, or your local bookstore. Follow Angela Denker's Substack: https://angeladenker.substack.com/ To learn more about Christian nationalism, register to attend the Straight White American Jesus live event: Christian Nationalism & The Future of Democracy. Use code SWAJ25 to get 25% off in-person or virtual tickets. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Support this show with a free or paid subscription. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest this week is Dr. Anthea Butler, associate professor of religion and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the upcoming book White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America. In addition to her upcoming book (to be released in March 2021), we discuss her experience as a public scholar, how the media covers religion & Trump, and many of the trends and headlines of the past four years. Follow Dr. Butler on Twitter @AntheaButler. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain and Instagram @brchastain_. Support Blake's work via Substack or Patreon. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Today I'm talking to Sarah McCammon, NPR political correspondent and author of The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. We talk about her personal experiences within white evangelicalism as well as how that informed her role as a journalist covering the 2015-2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump, as well as how media coverage of religion & social life has changed since then. You can purchase her book, and support this show, by purchasing it from The Post-Evangelical Post's Bookshop.org page here. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post. Support my work via a paid subscription at $5/month or $50/year at postevangelicalpost.com. 25% of net proceeds are donated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

We're one day out until the November 3rd election. In this brief episode, Blake reviews this season's guests and the threats that remain regardless of the outcome of election day. If you haven't voted early, please make your plan to vote and make your voice heard. Use the Vote Save America to make your plan to vote. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Chrissy Stroop & Lauren O'Neal return to the show to discuss their essay anthology, Empty The Pews! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest today is Becca Andrews. Becca is a journalist at Reckon News, and author of the new book No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right. She has been reporting on reproductive rights and justice, as well as related topics such as purity culture, for several years and her work has also appeared at Mother Jones, Jezebel, and Teen Vogue, among others. Content note: I want to note that this episode deals directly with abortion and other aspects of reproductive care. For people in my age cohort—Elder Millennials and younger who grew up in conservative white evangelicalism, abortion was absolutely vilified, as were the people who needed them. This conversation starts there, and then looks at the history of reproductive care in the United States from the 19th century through today. I mention this near the end of my conversation with Becca, but I also want to mention it at the top - her book tells the stories of people in need of reproductive health care—including abortion—with tenderness and compassion. They are told in their contexts within the book; we do not appropriate them for this conversation. I highly recommend that you go out and purchase this book to read them for yourself.  Learn more about Becca's work at https://becca-andrews.com/ Support my work by subscribing for free - or upgrade to paid at $4, $6, or $8 a month and get ad-free podcast feeds and more - at https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about/. - Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. This episode was produced by Podcat Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week I'm re-releasing my conversation with Beth Allison Barr, author of the book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. I'm joined by two guest co-hosts, Emily Autenrieth and Laura Agase. The theology and practice of complementarianism in conservative Christian circles has shaped the lives of millions of women. For over a century, it has oppressed women and become a requirement for involvement and belonging in conservative churches. Dr. Barr's expertise in church history illustrates that - despite the claims of complementarianism's proponents - this is a newer understanding of Christian history and scripture, and not an unchanging, millennia-long orthodox belief. This is a book that has spurred conversation inside and outside the church. You can purchase the book here or from A Seat at the Table Books. Follow Dr. Barr on Threads: @bethallisonbarr Order books from A Seat at the Table Books. Follow Blake on Threads @brchastain, and follow the podcast on Twitter & Instagram @exvangelicalpod. Exvangelical is part of Irreverent Media Group. Learn more at irreverent.fm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Mark Russell, author of *Second Coming* and *God is Disappointed in You* joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week, I spoke with Kevin Garcia & Rev. Sarah Heath (aka YFA, or Your Favorite Aunts). This is part 2 of our conversation, and you can hear part 1 over on Your Favorite Aunts! This conversation has a chill vibe. It's the type of quiet conversation you have in the corner at a party. I don't know about you, but that's not something I've experienced in well over a year, so this conversation ended up meaning a lot. We talk about how the pandemic affects caretakers, how it affects community, what the future of spiritual care and community might be, and whether math involves gnomes. Listen to Your Favorite Aunts. Follow Kevin. Follow Sarah. To support my work, sign up for The Post-Evangelical Post. You can also buy merch! Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow the show on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Chris Stedman is a Minneapolis-based writer, speaker, and community organizer. In this conversation, we discuss his book IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives, how people form and express their identities online, spirituality "fads," and much more! (This conversation was recorded on January 4th, 2021, two days before the insurrection and the rest of the country went topsy turvy.) Follow Chris on Twitter! Support this podcast (and sister podcast Powers & Principalities) through a paid subscription to Blake's newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post. Follow Blake on Twitter and Instagram. Get Exvangelical podcast merch, featuring the new logo, here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest today is Nick Ripatrizone. Nick is a writer for The Millions, culture editor for Image Journal and author of the new book Digital Communion: Marshall McLuhan’s Vision for a Virtual Age. Marshall McLuhan was a "prophet of the digital age," whose prescient writings about "electronic man" in the 60s and 70s anticipated the effects that new media such as television and what he called "electric circuitry" would have on individuals and society. (The tech-oriented "Shaped by Tools" vertical of The Post-Evangelical Post is named after the McLuhan axiom "First we shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us." Ripatrizone's book explores how McLuhan's religious convictions (he was nominally raised Protestant in Canada, and converted to Catholicism during early adulthood) and outlook informed how he saw the world. This is a really fascinating conversation and I hope you'll check out Nick's book, as well as McLuhan's, after listening. Follow Nick on Twitter and buy his book via your local bookstore or Bookshop.org (affiliate link). Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Support this show and all of Blake's work at $4, $6, or $8 per month at postevangelicalpost.com and get ad-free podcast feeds, access to the supporter Discord, and subscriber-exclusive posts. 25% of net revenue from subscriptions is donated. McLuhan's books: The Medium is the Massage Understanding Media Listen to The Medium is the Massage album on Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Today I'm happy to share with you an episode from a fellow Irreverent Media Group podcast called Speaking In Church. If you're not aware, Exvangelical is part of the Irreverent Media Group podcast collective, and so is Speaking In Church. I thought it would be great to share with my audience an episode of their show. This episode was recorded and published in September of this year with Josie Jimenez and Cameron Bishop. Subscribe to Speaking In Church on Apple or Spotify. Follow them on Instagram! Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. To support the show directly, visit postevangelicalpost.com/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In September, a group of us gathered for the first Exvangelical Community Roundtable. Featuring: Kathryn Brightbill, Chris Stroop, Akiko Bergeron, David Wheeler, and Julie Ingersoll. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

RE-RELEASE: Dr. Anthea Butler returns to the show (she was a guest on season one of Powers & Principalities) to discuss her new book, White Evangelical Racism. Her book is of utmost importance to helping us understand both our past and our current moment. We discuss the history of white evangelical racism, and how it played a part in the Jan 6th insurrection and the murders in Atlanta in March 2021. I also wrote about the book in my new series, The Good Books, published via my newsletter The Post-Evangelical Post. Help support the show directly via a paid subscription to the newsletter. (Free tiers are also available.) Stay tuned for more news about the show next week! This interview was recorded on 3/19/2021. Follow Dr. Butler on Twitter @AntheaButler. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, and follow the show on Instagram @exvangelicalpod. This episode was produced and edited by Jake Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Cindy Wang Brandt returns to the show to talk about her new book! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Re-release! Crystal Cheatham joins the show to talk about the Our Bible App. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Science Mike returns to the show to discuss his new book, You're a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass): Embracing the Emotions, Habits, and Mystery That Make You You! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Jamie Lee Finch returns to the show to discuss her new book! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest this week is Luke Barnett, writer and star of the new film Faith Based, which is available now on demand. Faith Based is a comedy about two friends who want to strike it rich by making a Christian film, and its cast includes Jason Alexander, Margaret Cho, David Koechner, and Lance Reddick (listed alphabetically by last name).  We talk about Luke's own life story, the lucrative Christian film and music industries, and what it was like to create this feature film. It's a great conversation, and I hope you enjoy it.  Faith Based is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime, Vudu, and Fandango. Follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBarnett. Support this podcast and Blake's other work by a single subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. You can also subscribe for free! If you prefer to use Patreon to support creators, you can do so here. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this interview, I speak to Kristin Peterson, media studies professor at Boston College, about her book Unruly Souls: The Digital Activism of Muslim and Christian Feminists. We discuss the role social media has had in creating a counterpublic that challenges the dominant cultural narratives established by white evangelicalism and other religions. Her book covers aspects of #ChurchToo and other online movements that fall under the broad "deconstruction" umbrella, as well as how Muslims utilize media to critique their own traditions. It's a fascinating conversation and helps contextualize why these conversations that play out online matter--and why a media lens is helpful to understand them. _ Support my work via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. You can subscribe for free, or at $4/6/8 per month; 25% of net revenue is donated. Learn more at https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about. You can also support the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts & Spotify, and telling others about the show. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. This episode was produced and edited by Podcat Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Linda Kay Klein, author of Pure, joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Today I'm sharing my recent conversation with Cait West, author of Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy. This is a great debut memoir from West and a wonderful addition to this growing genre of books. I was very grateful to be able to talk to her. You can buy the book (and support this show) by using this affiliate link. TarcherPerigee & Goodreads are doing an advanced copy giveaway for my book, Exvangelical & Beyond! Enter to win 1 of 25 advance copies today through 6/21/24. Enter here. Keep up with all my activities via my newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post. Subscribe for free or upgrade to paid at $5/month or $50/year (25% of net proceeds are donated). Follow Blake on Threads & Instagram @brchastain_ Follow Cait West on Threads & Instagram @caitwestwrites Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Another archival episode, in light of the news from The Village Church. Matt Chandler went on indefinite leave from TVC this weekend after inappropriate messaging on Instagram, just a couple weeks after they settled with an abuse victim while acknowledging no wrongdoing. These are longstanding issues in evangelicalism going back decades. There's nothing pithy to say about churches that protect their shepherds instead of their flocks. Here is my 2021 interview with Emily Joy Allison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

May has been busy! Today I'm highlighting a conversation I had last year with Scott Okamoto, author of Asian American Apostate. In an extended intro, I also share the news about the cover reveal of my forthcoming book, Exvangelical & Beyond. You can pre-order it here. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter: postevangelicalpost.com Follow me on Threads: @brchastain_ Message me at contact@exvangelicalpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of the new book On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World. This show is not typically interfaith, but when the opportunity to read Rabbi Ruttenberg’s latest arose, I leapt at the chance. I’ve followed her on Twitter for years and admire her work immensely. On Repentance and Repair is an immensely helpful book that helps reframe what repentance, repair, and forgiveness mean. Those terms are loaded for people whose faith was formed in white evangelicalism. They have often been used and abused by people in positions of authority to manipulate those they’ve wronged into “forgiving” them as a way of absolving themselves and maintaining their positions of influence. Rabbi Ruttenberg explores the value and other meanings of these words in a way that can benefit all people, regardless of their faith or lack thereof.  If you do not have a local bookstore or are in the Amazon ebook ecosystem, use this link to buy the book and to support the show. How to support the show: You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can tell people about the show. You can also support the show by subscribing to my Substack publication, The Post-Evangelical Post, for free, or upgrade to paid at $4, $6, or $8 per month and get access to: ad-free podcast feeds, Discord, and more. I donate 25% of my net revenue to The Religious Exemption Accountability Project and White Homework. Post-Ev Post is where you’ll find all my writing and podcasting. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. This interview was edited by Podcat Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This was also published as an essay at The Post-Evangelical Post. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn how to support my work here. There are many resources about reproductive health available. If you want to approach it from an interfaith lens, start here. A reproductive rights advocate I've had on the show, Asha Dahya, can be followed on Instagram. Her episode is here. Links: https://postevangelicalpost.com https://instagram.com/brchastain_ https://exvangelicalpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest this week is Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service and author of the book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country (Amazon, Bookshop). We discuss how one defines "the religious left," how the religious left differs from the religious right, the historical predecessors of the current religious left, and how the media has adapted to covering religion since the 2016 election. Follow Jack Jenkins on Twitter @JackMJenkins. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain and on Instagram at @brchastain_.  Support Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities with a paid subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post on Substack - you can also subscribe for free! All content is free through the election. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Happy Pride, everyone! I'm re-releasing this 2021 interview with Erin Green and Paul Southwick of The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. CW: this conversation includes discussion of sexual and gender discrimination and other forms of abuse. We talk about how LGBTQ+ students are treated by college administrations, how LGBTQ+ students end up at religious colleges, the history of religious colleges resisting civil rights, and why a formal legal challenge is important. In March 2021, REAP filed "a historic, class-action lawsuit representing 33 LGBTQ students and alumni from religious colleges demanding that the U.S. Department of Education to stop granting religious exemptions to taxpayer-funded religious colleges and universities that discriminate against and abuse their LGBTQ students. Learn more about the lawsuit and meet our plaintiffs here." In January 2023, that initial complaint was dismissed, but an appeal has been filed. For the full timeline of their case, visit https://www.thereap.org/lawsuit. REAP is also very active on social media and recently ran a #cantpraythegayaway campaign. Follow them on Instagram. Support the podcast via a subscription to my newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post. For $5/month or $50/year you'll get ad-free podcast feeds, subscriber only writing, and more. Read my latest essay, "I Still Haven't Socially Recovered from Lockdown," that I mentioned in the intro. You can also subscribe for free. Visit postevangelicalpost.com to subscribe. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Author Austin Channing Brown joins the show to talk about her book! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week's guest is Jeanna Kadlec, author of the new book Heretic: A Memoir, out this week.  Her book is a deeply intimate memoir of her life growing up in and leaving evangelicalism, discovering her queerness, and much more. We talk about the midwest, about developing spiritual practices after religion, and comics - it was a very laid back and meandering conversation that I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did. You can find Heretic at your local bookstore, or you can support this show by purchasing it via these Bookshop or Amazon links. Find out about other ways to support my work at postevangelicalpost.com/support. You can subscribe for free, or at $4, $6, or $8 a month. 25% of net revenue is donated. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. This episode was edited by Podcat Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I catch up with Holly Laurent from MEGA, the satirical improv show about a fictional megachurch. We last spoke in 2019, and a lot has changed since then. We talk about improv, comedy & satire, and the upcoming MEGA spinoff, The Rise and Fall of Twin Hills. Find out more about MEGA at their website. Support this show via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Subscribe for free or upgrade to $5/month or $50/year to get ad-free podcast feeds and more. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC, and a member of the Irreverent Media Group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This episode is a re-release of my first interview with Mark Russell, author of several books including Second Coming, God is Disappointed in You, Apocrypha Now!, The Flintstones, Snagglepuss, Wonder Twins, Billionaire Island, and more. Superhero movies are returning to theaters soon, and I'm resurfacing this conversation because I think of it a lot when I think of superhero narratives in general. Mark Russell is one of my favorite comic book writers, whose ability to provide satirical and insightful social commentary through popular characters like The Flintstones, or subvert superhero tropes in books like The Wonder Twins sets him apart from other writers on the scene. Of particular interest to listeners of this show, he also writes the comic book Second Coming - a story of Jesus coming back to Earth to room with a Superman-type character. The mere announcement of this book was so 'controversial' that it led to an online petition that quite literally canceled the book before it was published by DC Comics. I talked to Mark about that book in particular in this episode: Mark Russell, author of Second Coming. I wrote about it here. - If you appreciate this show, support it via a paid subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain and follow the podcast @exvangelicalpod on Twitter & Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Erin Green, co-director of The Brave Commons talks about her life and her role in the negotiations on behalf of an LGBTQ+ student group at Azusa Pacific University. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Emily Joy Allison returns to the show to discuss her new book, #ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing. Emily launched the #ChurchToo hashtag in November 2017 and it has taken on a life of its own, calling churches to account. You can follow Emily on Twitter and Instagram. I'm also joined by guest co-host Amy Congdon, a clinical mental health counselor in the Kansas City, MO metro area whos work focuses on providing care to clients who have experienced religious trauma and seek to find healing from these wounds. This includes concerns around sex and sexuality, gender, reproductive rights, and racial injustice. I wrote about #ChurchTooBook in a new series for my newsletter called The Good Books. Subscribe to my newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post, here. There are free and paid options; Substack is currently the main source of support for this show. I also wrote about the role of purity culture in the shootings in Atlanta here, and included some comments made by Emily. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Follow the show on Instagram @exvangelicalpod. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. Thank you, Jake! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Happy new year, everyone - the first guest of 2023 is a return guest, Bradley Onishi. Brad is co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast and author of the new book: Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next. Our conversation starts discussing just 10 words, just 2 sentences, from the first chapter of Brad's book: "I should have known better," and "I could have been there." "There," in this context, is the Capitol Riot. This is a good one. Buckle in. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post. You can support this podcast and all my other work for just $5/month or $50/year - this is now the new ongoing price, not just a promotion. You'll get ad-free podcast feeds, bonus writing, and more. Subscribe at postevangelicalpost.com This episode is also brought to you by DECON23, an upcoming virtual conference happening Jan 21-22, 2023. Tickets are just $25 and feature a diverse slate of speakers - J Crum, Rev Karla, April Ajoy, Jegaysus, and more. Visit decon2023.com to register. This episode was edited by Podcat Audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I speak with Teddy Wilson from Radical Reports about his experience covering the radical right. We talk about how important language is when identifying and discussing various groups, the transnational nature of nationalist movements, what we know about the Brazil insurrection so far—and finally, how “progressive” movements can respond to the rising tide of anti-democratic groups. Follow Teddy on Twitter: @reportbywilson Come see Blake, Bradley Onishi of Straight White American Jesus, and Tim Whitaker of The New Evangelicals in Philly on 2/11/23! Tickets here; use code "20" to get 20% off! Support Exvangelical and all of Blake’s work by subscribing to The Post-Evangelical Post for $5/month or $50/year. 25% of net proceeds are donated. Free subscriptions are also available. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This past July marked 5 years of publishing Exvangelical. In this minisode, I describe my new funding/listener support model. Read the full post here. When you support the show via Substack, I will donate 25% of net revenue to organizations that serve populations harmed by white evangelicalism. Those organizations are: White Homework, The Religious Trauma Institute, and REAP (The Religious Exemption Accountability Project). Support the show at $8/month and receive access to ad-free feeds of Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities, and supporter-exclusive writing at The Post-Evangelical Post, with more perks to come in 2022. Learn more at The Post-Evangelical Post. Why this model? Because I think it’s the right thing to do. I am building this from the ground-up with no outside funding, and have an opportunity to build a business model that includes reparative economics from the beginning. My work focuses on the personal & social impact of white evangelicalism. By committing to donate a significant percentage of my net revenue to organizations that serve communities that have been historically harmed by white evangelicalism, I am able to quite literally put my money where my mouth is. Further, I know that I cannot (and should not) try to speak to every potential audience—but I can help to finance the work of others who are better equipped than me to do so. I also acknowledge that the work I do is sensitive, and as a cis white man asking for direct support, it may activate some traumas that my own potential audience of supporters has. So long as we remain a capitalist society that does not provide universal basic income nor universal health care, that will remain an unavoidable tension and reality when I seek direct payment for my output. I hope to address some of that tension through this model. This model isn't perfect, but it is within my capacity to start here and in this manner. Thanks for listening. New episodes coming soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Andy Herndon, director of the upcoming documentary project "The Exvangelicals," joins the show. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

I'm honored to share this conversation with Andre Henry with you today. Andre Henry is an author, musician, and activist, and author of the book All the White Friends I Couldn't Keep: Hope--and Hard Pills to Swallow--About Fighting for Black Lives (affiliate link to Bookshop.org). We talk about Andre's experience in white evangelical environments, as well as how his increasing activism for racial justice made staying in white evangelical spaces untenable. His story and work is not limited to interactions with white evangelicalism, however, and we touch on many more topics throughout this conversation. Learn more about Andre and the breadth of his work at andrehenry.co. - Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Support The Post-Evangelical Post at $4, $6, or $8 per month and get access to ad-free podcast feeds, a supporter discord, subscriber-only content, and more. 25% of net proceeds from subscriptions are donated each month. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com/about. Free tiers are also available. Not interested in ongoing subscriptions? One-time tipping is accepted via Venmo. Find links to Blake's social pages at https://blakechastain.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I adapt a couple of recent essays from The Post-Evangelical Post to discuss Christian nationalism. As white evangelical hegemony ended, white Christian nationalist minority rule began. Recommended Reading: Christian Nationalism on TikTok; Evangelical Lobbyists Praying with SCOTUS Justices, More Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Subscribe to The Post-Evangelical Post to support the show at $4, $6, or $8/month to receive ad-free podcast feeds & more. I donate 25% of net proceeds to White Homework & The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. I have >70 paid supporters. Help me reach 100 by the end of July! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Powers & Principalities is a show about the systems and institutions of white evangelical influence in America and the world. Season 1, published in the fall of 2020, was all about white evangelicalism and Christian nationalism. Season 2 focuses on white evangelicalism & media. This is episode one. Dating all the way back to at least the 19th century, the various groups we now refer to as White evangelicals have always been early adopters of new media formats. Whether it’s books, radio, tv, film, or any of their digital equivalents like podcasting, youtube, livestreaming, or influencer culture—evangelicals are always at the forefront of using new technology to spread their so-called old time religion. Ultimately, that perennial evangelical impulse is expressed as a desire to tell the Good News, the same good news that, etymologically speaking, is the origin of the term “evangelical” as ‘messenger’ or ‘one who announces’ - and that Good News is found in the Bible. In order to share that news, it is necessary to share the Bible. And white evangelicals have built many institutions and businesses in order to do just that. The most recent and high-profile of these institutions is The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. And that’s where this season begins. My guests for this episode are Cavan Concannon and Jill Hicks-Keeton, authors of the new book Does Scripture Speak for Itself?: The Museum of the Bible and the Politics of Interpretation. Their book takes a critical look at the Museum of the Bible, and the story it is hoping to tell about the Bible. As you’ll hear, it is a very particular perspective on the Bible, and it trying to legitimate that perspective on the national scale. By placing the Museum of the Bible in the long lineage of other evangelical institutions established with similar ends, Concannon and Hicks-Keeton provide a necessary critique of this most recent attempt to prioritize and prefer the evangelical perspective, to the detriment of all others who lay similar claim to Scriptures. I can wait for you to hear this conversation.  Help support my work via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Subscribe for free, upgrade to a paid tier, and find other ways to support my work at postevangelicalpost.com/support. Powers & Principalities is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. This episode was produced by Podcat Audio. Theme music by Jacob Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this conversation, I speak with exvangelical Tiktokker Melissa Stewart (@lissajostewart) about her upbringing, how exvangelical spaces continue to evolve, and how platform differences (i.e. Twitter vs. TikTok) enable different conversations - and much more! As I mention in the introduction, note how Melissa talks about her experiences leaving fundamentalism, and how it differs from the way evangelical pastors who decry "deconstruction" or some other rhetorical bogeyman. #exvangelical has taken on a life of its own on TikTok, with 633 million views as of this writing. Melissa talks about her own experience as an observer of these spaces, and a bit about what it has been like to become a creator in the space. We couldn't cover every aspect of these topics in our conversation, but the great thing about our media landscape is that the conversation can continue. Follow Melissa @lissajostewart and follow Blake @brchastain_ on TikTok. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post. You can support the show at $4, $6, or $8 a month and get access to ad-free podcast feeds, a supporter Discord, and subscriber-only posts. Find out more at postevangelicalpost.com Exvangelical is part of the Irreverent Media Group. Check out all our podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

It’s been over a month since I’ve released an episode. That was not my plan nor intention. But sometimes life intervenes. Just shy of a month ago, I had surgery to repair a lifelong issue with my ear - ruptured ear drum, and the recovery took much longer than I expected. It required me to slow down. I wrote about this over on my newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post.  I have 6 episodes recorded that need editing, which I will get to releasing soon. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with Pete Holmes from 2019. - If you find this podcast meaningful, please consider supporting my work via Substack at postevangelicalpost.com. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post - a publication about belief, technology, and society, with a focus on white evangelical influence in American society. Much of this audio essay originally appeared as an entry there. In addition to Exvangelical, I also have a tech series called Shaped by Tools, and a book series called The Good Books. You can subscribe to my newsletter for free, and paid tiers are available at $4, $6, or $8 a month. Supporters receive ad-free podcast feeds to Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities, subscriber-only content, and Discord access. I donate 25% of net revenue to organizations that serve populations harmed by white evangelicalism, including White Homework and The Religious Exemption Accountability Project. While exvangelical and deconstruction content is certainly being widely discussed right now, bear in mind that this work is largely self-funded and is pushing back against evangelical entities like The Gospel Coalition that count their annual revenue in the millions. Your support will allow me to continue my work. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Keylee & Micah Sudduth - aka the Backsliders - join the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guests for this episode are The Dirty Rotten Church Kids, aka Josh Link & Adrian Gibbs. The DRCK has taken exvangelical Instagram by storm over the past year, and their podcast has created its own community that is in their words, equal parts HEAVY and LIGHT. In this conversation we discuss their backgrounds as church kids, church planters, their deconstruction, and parenting. It's a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it.  Follow DRCK on Instagram, subscribe to their podcast, and check out their merch.   This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. Thank you, Jake! -- HAVE YOU NOTICED THE NEW PODCAST ARTWORK? It's by the incredible artist Jenna Luecke. Please read my Instagram post about the process and check out her amazing work. You can also find merch with two versions of the new logo on the new Exvangelical Podcast Merch store! Support the show via a paid subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter, or by rating the show in Apple Podcasts. Follow Blake on Twitter, and find links to all his projects at blakechastain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest today is Dr. Ryan Haupt. Ryan is a scientist and podcaster on the show Science...Sort of, and a frequent guest host on the comic book podcast iFanboy. iFanboy was one of the very first podcasts I ever listened to and after a couple of random interactions on Twitter - Ryan and I were able to connect to talk back at the beginning of February.  This conversation runs the gamut. We talk about Ryan’s experience growing up in the church in West Virginia, about discovering science in college, and the particular grief that can come from a philosophical or faith shift. We also talk about comics! One note: We had several production difficulties during this recording session because an errant setting on my computer kept forcing it to shutdown. Thankfully, Ryan had a backup of both of our tracks, and we were able to continue. My additional thanks to Liz Nordenholt of Podcat Audio for her work in editing this episode in particular. It's a longer one! Follow Ryan on Twitter, and listen to him on Science...Sort Of and iFanboy! Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post. There’s several ways you can support my work. The most direct way is to become a patron/paid subscriber of my Substack, The Post-Evangelical Post. You can subscribe at 4, 6, 8/month and you will get ad-free podcast feeds as well as Discord access and subscriber-exclusive writing. There’s also free tiers, where you’ll get my writing, show notes, etc.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

A sample of a new daily-ish podcast, Exvie Extras! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Earlier this month, Tucker Carlson broadcast from Hungary. This was not an accident, as many figures in the Christian Right and far-right have cozied up to European autocrats like Hungary's leader, Viktor Orban. There's always a lot of simultaneous crises happening (the climate crisis, Afghanistan, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and more), but I think it might be beneficial to loop back to this story and learn what we can from Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and What They Left Behind. I spoke with Sarah Posner last year on Powers & Principalities. Follow Sarah on Twitter. Support my work via The Post-Evangelical Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Christopher Alan Maloney, director of the documentary *In God We Trump*, joins the show to talk about his new movie detailing the connections between Donald Trump, the GOP, and evangelicalism. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

On 9/9/21, I spoke with Meghan O'Gieblyn, author of the new book God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning. We talked about her time at Moody Bible Institute, experiencing 9/11 on a Christian campus, the similarities between Christian prophecy & secular transhumanism, and all sorts of other great things. Buy Meghan's book on Bookshop.org or at your local independent bookstore. (Yes, that is an affiliate link, and it helps the show). Follow Meghan on Twitter. Support the show directly via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. Follow Blake on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC and a part of the Irreverent Media Group podcast collective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

My guest this week is Robert Jones, founder and CEO of PRRI (The Public Religion Research Institute), and author of the recent book White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity (Amazon, Bookshop). In this discussion, we talk about how his book reveals the ways white American Christianity's history of white supremacy pervades all denominations - white evangelicals, mainline Protestants, and white Catholics. We discuss the "restricted moral vision" of white Christians, the findings of the Racism Index, and much more.  If you'd like to support this show, please do so by telling people about it, leaving a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, and signing up for a paid subscription to my Substack newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post, save 25% at postevangelicalpost.com/powers. Or sign up for free!  Follow Robert Jones on Twitter @robertpjones. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, and on Instagram @brchastain_. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Listeners, come see me w/ Brad Onishi of Straight White American Jesus & Tim Whitaker of The New Evangelicals in Philly on 2/11/23! Get tickets here and use code 50 at checkout to get 50% off! It's an archival episode! In September 2021, I spoke with Meghan O'Gieblyn, author of the new book God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning. We talked about her time at Moody Bible Institute, experiencing 9/11 on a Christian campus, the similarities between Christian prophecy & secular transhumanism, and all sorts of other great things. Buy Meghan's book on Bookshop.org or at your local independent bookstore. (Yes, that is an affiliate link, and it helps the show). Follow Meghan on Twitter. Support the show directly via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter at $5/month or $50/year - 25% of net proceeds are donated to The Religious Exemption Accountability Project and White Homework. Follow Blake on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC and a part of the Irreverent Media Group podcast collective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In the season 1 finale of Powers & Principalities, I speak with Reza Aslan about what we've learned about the United States in the past four years. In particular, we discuss what it means that 70 million Americans voted for Trump to be re-elected, the cult-like characteristics of Trumpism, the 'geography of identity' of Trumpism, the role of the media, and much more. Reza Aslan is author of several books, including God: A Human History, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and Beyond Fundamentalism. He is also Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside and executive producer of Rough Draft with Reza Aslan and the CNN documentary series, Believer. Stay tuned after the interview for more info on season 2 of Powers & Principalities. Follow Reza on Twitter @rezaaslan and learn more about his work at rezaaslan.com. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain and Instagram @brchastain_.  Support Blake's work via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter - use this link to save 40% for 1 year thru 12/2! Other methods of support can be found at exvangelicalpodcast.com/support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Pete Holmes joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Laura Anderson & Brian Peck from the Religious Trauma Institute join the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Brenda Marie Davies, host of the God is Grey channel on YouTube, joins the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode, I chat with Paul Southwick & Erin Green of The Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP). Paul Southwick (he/him) is Director of REAP, and Erin Green (she/they) is REAP's Campus & Alumni Organizer. REAP has filed a landmark class action lawsuit, Elizabeth Hunter, et al. v. U.S. Department of Education, that challenges the religious exemption Christian college and other religious colleges use to deny LGBTQ+ students Title IX protections - and still receive federal funding. Learn more about the lawsuit and REAP's work at thereap.org. CW: this conversation includes discussion of sexual and gender discrimination and other forms of abuse. We talk about how LGBTQ+ students are treated by college administrations, how LGBTQ+ students end up at religious colleges, the history of religious colleges resisting civil rights, and why a formal legal challenge is important. Support the show via a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Buy merch: https://exvangelical.threadless.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

This week's guest is is Dr. Laura Anderson, author of the book When Religion Hurts You: Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion. We talk about the definitions of trauma and abuse, what drew her to this work, the importance of embodiment, and more. Find all the ways to follow Laura online at https://drlauraeanderson.com/ Support this podcast with a subscription to The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. Subscribe for free or upgrade to $5/month or $50/year to get ad-free podcast feeds. Learn more at postevangelicalpost.com - As noted in the intro, I want to acknowledge that two days after my last episode was published, the war in Gaza began. I'm not the person to listen to in this moment. Here are some essays that have spoken to me and helped me understand this moment: "a lot of things are true." by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg "Speech and Speechlessness," by Talia Lavin "The Children Are Ours," by Camille Hernandez Churches for Middle East Peace, October 12th letter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

Some initial thoughts on the 2020 Election. Acknowledging what was accomplished, and the work that still needs to be done. Follow Blake on Twitter and subscribe to The Post-Evangelical Post, where you will find a corresponding transcript, along with some additional links. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

It's 2021.  Ossoff & Warnock won the Senate, and the next day Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building after being incited by the President himself and encouraged by Senators Cruz and Hawley. 5 people died.  White evangelicalism bears much of the burden for this by creating an environment--over decades!--that encouraged this.  This episode is only partly scripted. It's unedited. "Regular" programming will return soon. Follow me on Twitter @brchastain. Help support my work: postevangelicalpost.substack.com or patreon.com/exvangelicalpod.  Show Notes/Recent writing:  https://postevangelicalpost.substack.com/p/the-culmination-of-white-evangelicalchristian https://postevangelicalpost.substack.com/p/how-should-we-then-live-with-evangelical Twitter thread, before the white supremacist storming of the Capitol: https://twitter.com/brchastain/status/1346452589752307712?s=20 Mel's short thread I quoted: https://twitter.com/holyqueerit/status/1347191675706372097?s=20 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this episode from 2020, I chat with Anne Helen Petersen about her book Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (Amazon, Bookshop). We discuss her spiritual & religious background, her viral essay on BuzzFeed that led to this book, how the way we use social media contributes to burnout, how our economic systems fail us, and more.  You can follow Anne on Twitter @annehelen and subscribe to her newsletter, Culture Study. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain, Instagram @brchastain_, and subscribe to his newsletter The Post-Evangelical Post. This episode was produced by Jake Lewis. Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this mini, Blake talks about the recent spat of discussion about exvangelicals and people deconstructing that is happening. Parts of this script are adapted from Blake's twitter feed & newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

In this week's episode, I talk to Brandon Whitmore about his journey from Christianity to agnosticism. The conversation covers all sorts of topics, from the historical record of Jesus & science's relationship w/ religion to a qualitative ranking of The Muppets television shows. It's great. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Follow the show on Twitter @exvangelicalpod. Like the show on Facebook at facebook.com/exvangelicalpod. Support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/exvangelicalpod. The hashtag for this episode is #skepticalmuppet. Intro Music: "The Fleecing" by Pedro the Lion: itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-fle…0959?i=572010962 Outro Music: "Follow the Light" by Travis: itunes.apple.com/us/album/follow-…700?i=1139316723 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

While I continue to work on my manuscript, here is another archival episode for you. This is from my series, Powers & Principalities. Season 1 was published in 2020 and focused on Christian nationalism, which remains painfully relevant.  This episode features a conversation with Sam Perry and Andrew Whitehead, co-authors of the book Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States [affiliate link].  While I personally think Christian nationalism is very hard to fully extricate from the traditions it inhabits and expresses itself in, I also think the terminology Perry & Whitehead use in their book, Ambassadors, Accommodators, Resisters, and Rejectors is very useful. Of course, this conversation took place before the Jan 6 insurrection, where Christian nationalism was on full display, and before the slate of legislative decisions this summer, most notably the downfall of Roe, that are considered victories for by Christian nationalists. Meanwhile, the term “Christian nationalist” itself has since entered into the lexicon of conservative politicians and pundits as a point of pride. I wrote about this recently for RNS. Perry & Whitehead have been busy since this book was published, as people across the country try . Perry co-authored another book, The Flag & The Cross [affiliate link], with Phillip Gorski, and Whitehead was recently a part of Jemar Tisby’s series “Those Meddling Kids: Unmasking the Anti-CRT Crusade in Christian Nationalism.” I’ll be recording new episodes in the coming weeks, so hang tight. As always, you can support the show via a subscription to my newsletter, The Post-Evangelical Post. Visit postevangelicalpost.com to subscribe at $4, $6, or $8 per month. You’ll get ad-free podcast feeds, Discord access, and more. I donate 25% of net revenue to The Religious Exemption Accountability Project and White Homework. You can also rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  Exvangelical is a production of The Post-Evangelical Post, LLC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about

I spoke to author Jeff Sharlet in November 2020, just after the election was called for Biden - but Trump was already signaling that he would not concede. The Jan 6 insurrection had not yet happened, but what would become The Big Lie had already begun to take root from those early days. I'm re-releasing another episode of Powers & Principalities Season 1 again, because these conversations continue to be relevant. New conversations are coming soon. Find the entirety of Season 1 of Powers & Principalities on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts for discussions with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Sarah Posner, Julie Ingersoll, Bradley Onishi, Katherine Stewart, Anthea Butler, Diana Butler Bass, Sam Perry & Andrew Whitehead, Jack Jenkins, and Reza Aslan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://www.postevangelicalpost.com/about