Hi heathens! We're going on tour! And we can't think of a better reason to break our nearly 2-year silence. In this episode, get the inside scoop on TWO new albums full of fantastic music, and then come hear it in person. We can't wait to see you, west coast.

CryInTheWest.com

SAT 3/18 — SAN DIEGO, CA • University Christian Church

All four heathens are in the house and we're talking about gender, how to destroy it, and the art of drag. Everyone grows up under the massive pressures of the binary gender, and religious folks usually have a few extra layers weighing us down. Drag is one way to expand, fuck with, and blur the boundaries of the binary and help us find a little big of wiggle room—freedom, even—in the clothes that constrain us. It's also having a cultural moment like never before, and there are parts of it that are problematic AF. We go there, too.

If you love Heathen, consider supporting us with a small monthly gift on Patreon. You'll find all kinds of exclusive goodies, including a portion of this conversation you can only hear on Patreon.

Welcome to the show a couple of our favorite fellow podcast hosts, Pelayo Alvarez and Melissa Weisz. These incredible spacemakers and good friends are building spirituality from scratch after coming out of a Hasidic Jewish upbringing in Brooklyn (Melissa) and a Catholic upbringing in Northern Spain. Now, they explore what it means to be queer and spiritual on their fantastic show, The Forbidden Apple Podcast.

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We doubt we’re the first to introduce you to the phenom behind the very popular, very powerful platform God Is Grey, but if this does happen to be your first time encountering Brenda Marie Davies, we’re excited for you. Brenda is, in her own words, a sex-positive, LGBT+ affirming, science-believing, intellectual Christian. She’s also an author and YouTube personality and what we like to call a shame destroyer. Brenda has taken a strong stand on holding the church accountable when it comes to purity culture, inclusion, and more. Her new book, On Her Knees: Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel, chronicles a decade of her spiritual journey in LA through marriage, divorce, unlikely friendship, and sexual exploration. It’s an honor to have Brenda on Heathen.

Want to watch instead of listen? This conversation is on YouTube.

Pre-Order On Her Knees

God Is Grey on YouTube

@GodIsGrey on Instagram and TikTok

We've been massive fans of Suandria Hall since we first started following her on Instagram @mychoicemypowercounseling. Based in Denver, CO, Suandria is a life transitions and religious trauma coach—dolls, meet our absolute favorite certified Heathen counselor!

Anissa and Karyn sat down with Suandria to talk about deconstructing as cis het females, what it looked like to untangle that mess of purity rings on our fingers, finding a new sexual ethic, marriage, divorce, and raising daughters. Get your coffee, tea, or favorite red and come vent, hope, and heal with us.

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Westerlight is an Indie-Americana duo made up of Oklahoma singer-songwriters Rachel and Jonny Hupp. We talk with them about their shift from being worship leaders, how they quit church on accident, and what it’s been like to make music  during a pandemic. You’ll love this deconstruction conversation with Westerlight (and your two newest co-hosts, Anissa & Ben!).

Westerlight’s songs capture the modern ache of existence by directing an unflinching eye towards themes of hard-won love, frustrated faith, and unlikely hope in the midst of it all. In spite of their penchant for contemplative themes, Westerlight brings an electric charge to their folk stylings. After years of writing songs together, the husband and wife pair have crafted a sound that is as fresh as it is familiar and as graceful as it is gritty.

Listen to Westerlight’s album Sunday Best on Spotify.  Watch their performance of “Bad Influence” here (and subscribe for more awesome YouTube content).

westerlightmusic.com

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Erin Burnett is an absolute delight of a human—her perspective, her incredible 21-year-old wisdom, and the ease of her laugh. Before reaching legal US drinking age, she’d taken a deep dive into fundamentalist Calvinism, published an Evangelical young adult novel, tumbled into a deconstruction arc she tried to curb by enrolling in seminary, started speaking in tongues, and studied her way into agnosticism. Her perspective on the way her autism informs her spiritual journey is an absolute must-listen—don’t miss this one! erinburnettauthor.co.uk

Correction: Erin reached out to us to clarify that Bishop Holloway identifies himself as agnostic, not an atheist.

Check out the Heathen Haberdashery for all your heretical merch needs!

Welcome to the first episode of our new series we're wink-nudge calling Raising Hell!*

Anissa and Karyn are taking on the complicated work of parenting through and beyond religious deconstruction. In Raising Hell episodes, we'll connect with experts, good books, and each other about what's working (and what isn't) for raising our little ones outside of fundamentalism, the Ten Commandments, and Sunday School.

This first episode is a grab-your-coffee, pull up a chair, and vent/celebrate/troubleshoot-with-your-besties chat. It's long, and winding, and VERY us. Because this parenting in 2021 gig is MUCH. At least we're all in it together.

*our kids are great, we promise. The best ones. Legit fantastic.

Learn more about Re:Hope

You've probably seen her Instagram or TikTok accounts. Meet Blair, the internet phenom who is shaming purity culture and helping us all have the sex life we want. She's using social media to skillfully expose the damage purity culture does, dismantling it one deluded, destructive lie at a time.

Follow Talk Purity to Me on Instagram and TikTok.

Here's that specific (hilarious) TikTok video we mentioned.

Support Heathen on Patreon. To join the private Facebook group Heathen Huddle, send us an email at [email protected].

Welcome back, heathens! There are four of us now. Meet your two new hosts, Anissa Nishira and Ben Grace, as they join Karyn and Flamy (formerly Matthew!) for a rousing round of catch up, sneak peek, and reflections on where we are a few years into this journey of deconstruction.

Support Heathen: Patreon.com/HeathenPodcast