Faith and Feminism

In the New York Times Bestselling "Becoming the Pastor's Wife", Beth Allison Barr draws on her academic expertise to trace the history of the role of the pastor's wife, showing how it both helped and hurt women in conservative Protestant traditions. While they gained an important leadership role, it came at a deep cost: losing independent church leadership opportunities that existed throughout most of church history and strengthening a gender hierarchy that prioritized male careers.

Leyla King shares her family's story of survival as her ancestors flee war and poverty. From Haifa to Ramallah, Damascus, Beirut, and finally Texas, Leyla makes global politics deeply personal as family squabbles, ambition, mental illness, romance, and religion shape their immigrant journey. 

Jane Clair's journey into advocacy began after losing her son Asa to substance use disorder, which led her to rethink addiction, drug policy, and how we can better support families. She is determined to prevent other families from experiencing the same devastation and is passionate in advocating for approaches to addiction that reduce harm and save lives.

Two of the world's greatest crises, systemic racism and environmental destruction, share the same origin story. The two are rooted in economic forces that exploit and oppress both people and land. Pastor David Swanson shows how we have failed our God-given duty as caretakers of creation and how that failure has resulted in the exploitation of people and the extraction of natural resources.

She was known as a whore and a saint. On today's episode, Amy Frykholm talks to us about the elusive Saint Mary of Egypt, and how she can teach women to reclaim their autonomy today.

Rev. Angela Denker talks to us about the rise in radicalization among young white men in America, especially focused on the role of right-wing Christianity in the increase of religious-based hatred and violence, and how we can combat it by helping men heal.

Aimee Byrd, author or Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, talks to us the trauma she experienced through daring to question evangelical teachings on gender, and how she is healing as she finds a way forward walking in authenticity and integrity.

Dr. Wylin D. Wilson talks to us about the disparity of healthcare when it comes to Black Women's bodies and how womanist theology can show us a way forward.

Dr. Lakisha Lockhart-Rusch talks to us about the power of play, womanism, and how to survive an era when powers that be seek to erase minoritized identities.

Dr. Andrew Bauman shines a light on the pervasive nature of the sexism on the church and how to fight back. Spoiler: we need to treat it like a men's issue, not a women's issue

Tia Levings, author of A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape From Christian Patriarchy, talks to us about fundamentalists played the long-game to build the government we have now-- and more importantly a hopeful message on how to fight back.

Chelsea Kim Long talks to us about the radical role Mary Magdalene played for Christ during Holy Week.

Just about every day, there is something new and urgent that needs my attention in this administration; it is easy to feel overwhelmed and apathetic. That's why this conversation with Dr. Angela Gorrell is more relevant than ever. She talks us about how to make the right decisions, even in the midst of intense difficulty.

Danielle Hensley examines the seemingly universal and growing chasm between the right and the left through the lens of a single family and within the context of the Episcopal Church, she talks to us about where she has found hope and the next right steps.

Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? Katherine Stewart talks to us about conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down. Stewart analyzes the moral collapse of conservatism in America and points the way forward toward a democratic future.

Khristi Laurens Adams introduces a new branch of theological thought Adams calls womanish, as a play on the womanist tradition (the theology of Black womanhood).  This episode was slated to be released in August, but got pushed back to be release in Black History Month (February) so it is a little dated.

Marla Taviano, of White Girl Learning and author of poetry books Unbelieve and more, talks with me about how to resist Trump in a new era without losing our minds. Explicit language warning.

Many of those who deconstruct and leave the Church are said to "follow Jesus right out the door." On today's podcast with Scot McKnight and Tommy Phillips we discuss why those who leave the church do, and how churches can listen to their critiques.

We are living in an era of climate collapse. We feel it in small ways: when the snow falls less or the cherry blossoms bloom too early. And in large ways: when our streets flood and entire towns burn to the ground. Lydia Wylie-Kellermann helps us walk forward.

Liz Charlotte Grant and I talk about the things you didn't know about Genesis and her new book Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible.

I was hopeful we would be celebrating the election of our first woman president, instead, we are grieving the election of a fascist. I am devastated and this podcast with Rev. Elizabeth Riley on rage prayers seems a way forward.

Dr. Miranda Zapor Cruz guides us in forming a vision of citizenship that brings Christian convictions into political engagement while avoiding common pitfalls.

Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski, founder of Re:Masculine, talks to us about the growing political gender gap between young men and women.

Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski, founder of Re:Masculine, talks to us about the growing political gender gap between young men and women.

In The Mary We Forgot, award-winning church historian and theologian Jennifer Powell McNutt unpacks Scripture and history to reveal the real Mary Magdalene: the first apostle of the good news and a model of discipleship for both men and women today.

Drawing on historical and psychological research, her own personal experience, and therapy case studies, Dr. Camden Morgante tackles what comes next in reclaiming our sexuality from the harmful teachings so many evangelical Christians grew up believing.

Dr. Nicole Bedera reveals the profound failures of the Title IX system and identifies concrete, surprisingly simple steps we can take to protect students. This is an extra-long episode, promise it's worth it.  

Pastor Caleb Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States and he's showing us the only way he knows to move forward in today's episode.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture, and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture, and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture, and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

Sarah LaCour of Deconstructing Purity Culture and I are back deconstructing harmful Evangelical Narratives. Today, we are covering "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and how it relates to our current political moment.

In today's episode, journalist Bekah McNeel analyzes the narratives surrounding six hot-button issues—immigration, COVID, abortion, critical race theory, gun violence, and climate change. For each topic, she exposes how “us versus them” thinking leads us to turn a blind eye to injustice. She also offers an alternative perspective on each issue, based on a sensitive reading of the gospel. 

In Consent, Donna Freitas delivers a forensic examination of the years she spent stalked by her professor, and uses her nightmarish experience to examine the ways in which we stigmatize, debate, and attempt to understand consent today.

In Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention, Donna Freitas delivers a forensic examination of the years she spent stalked by her professor, and uses her nightmarish experience to examine the ways in which we stigmatize, debate, and attempt to understand consent today.

This is an old episode that couldn't be more pressing today, as we face a democracy being eroded by Christian Nationalism. In this episode, Kristen Stewart makes a probing examination demands that Christian nationalism be taken seriously as a significant threat to the American republic and our democratic freedoms.

For anyone who has felt left out or pushed out of the church, Jenai Auman invites you to find spiritual rest and belonging in a God who loves, restores, and blesses the outcast and the marginalized. *note: there is something weird with the audio on my track where certain words cut out. Rather than rerecord the whole episode, I just went with it

Dr. Meredith Estevez guides artists at all levels and in all disciplines to build a creative life that resonates deeply with their core values, and to cultivate an artistic practice that is joyful and sustainable. 

Amanda Udis-Kessler talks to us progressive Christian beliefs, feminism, true equality, justice, and inclusivity. We also completely rethink what salvation means in a Christian context.

Elizabeth Felicetti disputes the idea that motherhood is the highest calling for Christian women, holding up biblical figures, monastics, reformers, civil rights figures and more. 

Aimee Byrd shares her journey of holding onto her faith through extreme online harassment and personal attacks after she began advocating for women's equality within her denomination.

Kristian A Smith talks to us about how to spot a cult and how to live in beloved community.

The church's teachings on forgiveness often fail victims and survivors of abuse. Susannah Griffith reclaims forgiveness by centering and empowering survivors.

Ashlee Eiland talks to us about the power of intentional language and a discernment framework in navigating conflicts in a constructive way.

Donna Freitas wants to believe. Raised Catholic, she sang songs about Jesus as a child and lived in a house where nuns and priests were regular guests, yet she found herself questioning the faith of her family, examining the reasons none of it added up, and distancing herself from the God of Christianity-- now she is trying to find her faith again.

Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen speaks to us about how rape survivors need speech to recover, but the words available to them often fail to describe their experience of the violation, which isolates and silences them, enables future perpetration, and lets rape remain unacknowledged. Tumminio Hansen steps into this space of the seemingly unspeakable and responds to the linguistic crisis by offering fresh ways of speaking and listening that reframe how we can describe, discuss, and address rape.

Tiffany Yecke Brooks us to understand and name tactics of spiritual abuse and manipulation. We go over methods of control found in toxic religious communities—including legalism, indoctrination, praise, and fear—and how to identify and respond to it in a healthy way.

Sarah McCammon shares about her New York Times bestselling book The Exvangelicals-- Part memoir, part investigative journalism, Sarah names and describes the post-evangelical movement.

Sarah F. Farmer amplifies the voices of women who are or have been incarcerated to learn what supports their flourishing.