Uncovering the hidden history of women in the early church, this episode dives deep into the Book of Acts as viewed through Elizabeth Cady Stanton's groundbreaking feminist lens. Sara Kaye and Joanna V reunite to explore what Victorian feminists discovered about women's roles in spreading Christianity – roles that male religious authorities have systematically erased over centuries.

Through stories like Sapphira (who died for obeying her husband's deception), Rhoda (whose truthful words were dismissed by men), and Lydia (a successful businesswoman), we discover that women were far more central to early Christianity than traditional interpretations admit. The hosts examine how these biblical women challenge the narrative of female submission that has dominated religious discourse.

The most explosive revelation comes from Ellen Battelle Dietrick, one of Stanton's collaborators, who argues that many biblical passages subordinating women were likely "bare-faced forgeries" inserted by "unscrupulous bishops" intent on silencing women. She points to a critical "missing link" of 500 years between Old Testament texts and New Testament compilation that calls into question the historical accuracy of how the Bible portrays gender roles.

This episode doesn't just reinterpret ancient stories – it provides a powerful framework for understanding how religious texts have been manipulated to justify women's oppression. As Sara Kaye says, "We are not sliding back. Public discourse has slid back." Join us for this thought-provoking exploration of biblical history that reminds women everywhere: you are sovereign.

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YEAH - What the robot said. This episode rules. It will knock your socks off and shake loose some long-held beliefs. It's good for circulation. 

Here's some more information about topics discussed in this episode:

The Marshall Project
See What Your Local Agency Received from the Department of Defense
https://www.themarshallproject.org/mp-graphics/201412-dod/embed.html

Peter Thiel Churching Links:

Christians in tech drive religious revival in SF
One of America’s most secular cities is experiencing a religious boom with Silicon Valley overtones.https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/09/christians-tech-religion-sf/

‘Wouldn’t It Be Funny if We Tricked a Bunch of People into Going to Church?’
Interview by Kate Lucky
Michelle Stephens of Silicon Valley evangelism organization ACTS 17 talks caviar bumps, Peter Thiel, and Christianity.

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

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Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

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We’re pondering the book of John today by golly. And the selections our Victorian Feminists chose to critique cover sizzling hot topics like miracles, mothers, prejudice, and hogsheads to cover.

This is a tidy zippy episode that will reveal deeper questions about the tales we've been told. 

Did you know Jesus only speaks to his mother three times in the entire Bible? Or that Mary Magdalene's devoted presence at the tomb contrasts sharply with the male disciples' absence? 

As Christian nationalism continues to ruin the last bits of anything good in American politics, these 130-year-old feminist perspectives continue to provide crucial context for understanding how religious texts have been wielded to control and limit women's autonomy. 

Join our virtual sewing circle as we unravel these biblical stories with almost fresh eyes, frayed nerves, and sharp wits. 

Subscribe, share with friends, and let us know your thoughts – we're creating independent feminist media when it's needed most.

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

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Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

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In this seriously-worth-your-time episode, we explore how Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 1895 "The Women's Bible" called out religious justifications for female subordination that mirror today's Christian nationalist rhetoric.

Here's what you get:

• Examining the books of Mark and Luke, which address marriage, divorce, and women's status in early Christianity
• Stanton reveals how the New Testament made divorce laws even more restrictive for women
• Challenging the prioritization of self-sacrifice over self-development for women
• Ellen Battelle Dietrick uncovers women erased from Christian history like Thecla and Paula
• Documentation of how a woman's crucial role in creating the Latin Bible was deliberately erased
• Connecting Biblical patriarchy to economic systems that benefit from women's unpaid labor
• Identifying religious hypocrisy when rules are selectively applied to control rather than uplift

A great way to resist authoritarianism is visible and enthusiastic support of independent media. Like, comment, subscribe and share this podcast - democracy depends on it.

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

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The battle for reproductive rights and women's autonomy isn't just modern politics—it's a struggle with deep historical roots. In this episode, we dive into the New Testament section of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's revolutionary Woman's Bible, where Victorian-era feminists dissect biblical patriarchy with remarkable insight and surprising humor.

Their analysis strips away supernatural elements while preserving Jesus's moral authority, describing him as a "mountainous man" who perceived truths before others could. As one anonymous contributor boldly states, Jesus "commands far more love and reverence as a true man with human possibilities than as a God superior to all human frailties."

The parallels between past and present are striking. When we discuss modern politicians referring to women as "host bodies," we can't help but connect it to Mary, "the original host body," whose immaculate conception story these Victorian feminists saw as diminishing ordinary motherhood. Their reinterpretation of the parable of the ten virgins is particularly revolutionary—rather than women competing for a bridegroom, they read it as a call for women's self-sufficiency and intellectual independence.

Perhaps most powerful is Elizabeth Cady Stanton's critique of women who sacrifice their own education to support men and institutions that exclude them: "Women go to make themselves ladders by which their husbands, brothers, sons climb up into the kingdom of knowledge, while they themselves are shut out from all intellectual companionship." Her rallying cry to women to "light your own damn lamp" resonates just as strongly today as it did in 1895.

Join us for this feminist time-travel adventure that will change how you view both religious history and contemporary gender politics. Whether you're religious, spiritual-but-not-religious, or a committed skeptic, you'll find something thought-provoking in these brilliant women's fearless questioning of patriarchal authority.

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

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https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

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What if everything you thought you knew about biblical gender roles was based on deliberate mistranslations? We dive deep into a brilliant 1895 feminist analysis that exposes how religious authorities systematically erased the divine feminine from scripture. Frances Ellen Burr, founder of Connecticut's first Women's Suffrage Association, boldly declared "the Bible is an occult book" while revealing how the ancient Kabbalah actually teaches perfect gender equality in the divine nature. Her commentary in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's groundbreaking Woman's Bible demonstrates that Hebrew words like "Elohim" are actually feminine in origin, and that biblical translators deliberately changed feminine references to masculine ones to support patriarchal power structures.

SPECIAL EPISODE NOTE:  Episode produced in Bob's Basement Studio with Cindy Clawpurrr the feline mastermind, as animal producer. You may hear her - if you are so blessed.

We explore how Victorian feminists used higher criticism methodology to apply scientific rigor to religious texts, discovering that mystical traditions like the Kabbalah taught that humans were originally androgynous beings and that spiritual wholeness requires both masculine and feminine principles in perfect balance. These 19th-century scholars, supported by religious authorities including Westminster Abbey's Canon Farrar, believed they were witnessing the dawn of a new spiritual awakening that would restore women to their rightful place as equal spiritual authorities.

The parallels between Victorian feminist hopes and our current cultural moment are sobering. These pioneering women believed that education and rational analysis would inevitably lead to gender equality and spiritual enlightenment, yet we're still fighting many of the same battles 130 years later. Their work reminds us that the mystical traditions have always recognized what patriarchal institutions tried to hide: that women hold profound spiritual power and that true divinity encompasses both masculine and feminine aspects. Ready to question everything you thought you knew about religion and gender? Subscribe for more revelations that challenge conventional wisdom and support the independent media exposing hidden histories.

Check out this PDF about the Kabbalah and the Tarot: https://archive.org/details/twentytwoarcanaoftarottrans/Arcanum%201_%20%28Transcription%29/page/n1/mode/2up

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

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We're back after our short summer podcast pause to bring you the very last books of the Old Testament through the lens of our favorite Victorian Feminists. 

They rip through the last six or so (who's counting?) books of the OT and we're covering it for you in under an hour.  We start with the book of Job and that's great because we're kind of living in the book of job right now. 

Then we move on to the books written by King David and King Solomon and man are they cranky and lord above they haven't learned a lick about women.  Unfortunately these attitudes were put in written form so the cranky men of today can use them as how-to manuals. 

We'll hip you to how Proverbs characterizes women as either virtuous, marriage-material treasures with a value "above  the price of rubies" or dangerous temptresses, harlots if you will, and how that pretty much sums up the two female characters in modern fiction and film. 

All of that and more in this episode!

Oh and ----

An AI told us we should use this description:

Most striking is how biblical women are used primarily as symbols rather than depicted as full individuals. In the prophetic books like Isaiah, women represent either virtue or vice, their "idiosyncrasies constantly used to point a moral or condemn a sin." The hosts draw compelling parallels to modern discourse, where women's experiences are still framed through their relationship to men rather than valued independently.

Tune in for eye-opening discussion that connects biblical representation to contemporary challenges, highlighting that when it comes to gender equality, we're still wrestling with frameworks established thousands of years ago.

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

Website

https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

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People said but you can't fit all of the genius and hilarity and nuance of Biting All The Apples in a short trailer! And we said hey we will try because people really need to get a sense of what it is all about. 

Biting All The Apples is an unhinged bookclub-ish conversation that channels the sassy wisdom of long dead victorian feminists to analyze the puritanical influences still messing with our world today.   We start off with the 1895 best seller "The Woman's Bible" by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Each week we cover their 19th century feminist analysis of a book in the bible and ponder, laugh, and cry over the similarities to the issues of today. 

BATA is a great listen for anyone interested in the patriarchal influence in religion, politics, and social order. As well as anyone that is GenX or any generation, anyone that likes comedy, friendship, books, history, and thinkin.

We love feedback and suggestions! Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe!

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

Website

https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

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It's our first bonus/recap/review episode!  We wanted to do a couple recap episodes in case it has been too long and you barely remember words like Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy! This is a great episode to listen to if you just want the dirt on The Woman's Bible and Genesis. We're pulling up our first episodes and digging out the gems.  And listen, they are sparkling!  You'll hear all about how Eve was actually the hero and how men got so freaking weird about pregnancy.  Most of all - you'll get a taste of the main philosophical concerns of the victorian feminists who wrote The Woman's Bible.  COncerns that are still concerning us today. 

We’ve thrown a lot of victorian feminist hot takes your way these past fifteen weeks. Fifteen weeks! That’s right. In victorian time that’s barely an afternoon tea though. So don’t worry, we’ve still got more in store for you with full episodes returning later in July. 

This episode also contains an important correction - here's the essay we mention:

‘I Want a Wife,’ the Timeless ’70s Feminist Manifesto
By Judy (Syfers) Brady https://www.thecut.com/2017/11/i-want-a-wife-by-judy-brady-syfers-new-york-mag-1971.html

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

Website

https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

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We're taking a quick detour this week with a bonus episode. Join us as we swap stories from the No Kings day events and do our best to convey how wild it is that small conservative towns showed out. Then we get giddy over the second coming of the 1999 Kevin Smith movie Dogma  in theaters. 

Dust (His Dark Materials) https://hisdarkmaterials.fandom.com/wiki/Dust

Dogma Film https://dogmamovie.com/

Kevin Smith says he was in full faith when he made the film and was surprised that people didn't see it was actually a faith movie, but working with Georga Carlin on the movie started to change his mind. Listen to the full interview on The Daily Beast https://youtu.be/rCWAe3CLu-w?feature=shared

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

Website

https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

Find us on TikTok and YouTube

Aren't we all a little bit Vashti?  Let us ask that question as the Victorian feminists guide us through their favorite passages in the book of Esther. It's one of JV & SKs favorite Old Testament Books so far. 

Today we are coming at you with the Book of Esther! Don’t let the senior center name fool you, this is another throne wars book in the bible and it is full of salaciousness, sin, and slaughter. We get to see a woman defying King’s orders and learn the story behind the feast of Purim. We’ll go over the brilliant Victorian feminist response, meet a new contributor to the Woman’s Bible, and as always - discuss how eerily relevant it all is to the American kingdom in 2025. 

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Full show notes to follow

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Credits

Recorded at Troubadour Studios in Lansing, MI

Audio Engineer Corey DeRushia

Edited by Rie Daisies at Nighttime Girlfriend Studio

Music: ‘Shifting pt. 2 (instrumental)’ by Rie Daisies

Leave us a voice mail

Have some feedback? Praise? General thoughts? Know how to pronounce something? Are you a religious scholar? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a message right from your phone or computer by clicking here. Recordings may be used in future episodes.

Website

https://bitingalltheapples.buzzsprout.com

Find us on TikTok and YouTube