Ravel

Hi, it's Stephen. I will not let AI write a summary of this episode, but I'll be honest, we recorded this a while ago and I don't remember everything we talked about. So, get into it, I guess. There are cold and hot takes. And I know for me in particular, what I said in this conversation isn't very reflective of how I think even a month or two later. It's complicated out there, y'all.

Host Recommendations

• Emily: One-pan meals
• Stephen: Pass books along to friends before donating them to the library; share books that have shaped you
• Josh: Build a writing habit without relying on AI (Mug Too Full)

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Don't dominate conversations
• Stephen: Don't let AI do any of your writing
• Josh: Tony Robbins

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

In this episode of Ravel, we unpack the idea of “religious big dick energy” as a way of describing the swagger, certainty, and supremacy often embedded in modern evangelical and political culture. We explore how manifest destiny, Christian nationalism, masculinity, power, and influencer culture all intertwine to create environments where people feel justified forcing their beliefs onto others. Along the way, we wrestle with our own experiences of certainty, deconstruction, disgust, grief, and the difficulty of extending grace to people whose ideologies feel harmful. By the end, we arrive at a conversation about supremacy versus intimacy, and whether forgiveness, humility, and genuine listening might be the only way out of the cycle. 

Host Recommendations

• Emily: Practice feng shui by rearranging your physical space, priorities, and energy to create a healthier environment
• Stephen: Find ways to gamify your life and work to reduce overwhelm and stay centered
• Josh: Watch The Testament of Ann Lee

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Giving every podcast five stars… except Ravel 😄
• Stephen: Giving every book five stars on Goodreads because ratings lose meaning when everything is rated the same
• Josh: Giving every movie five stars on Letterboxd because five stars should actually mean something 

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

In this episode, we return to the classic “How is it with your soul?” format and end up exploring identity, awareness, embodiment, spirituality, and community through a deeply personal and philosophical conversation. We reflect on how the self is shaped by memory, relationships, language, perception, and even the ways we are seen by others, while also grounding the discussion in ordinary life updates like health changes, therapy milestones, meditation, new pets, and rediscovering joy in simple rhythms. Beneath all the humor and tangents, the episode becomes a conversation about healing, mystery, and learning how to live more peacefully and presently within ourselves and with one another.

Host Recommendations

• Emily: Accept praise when people give it to you.
• Stephen: Paint your nails.
• Josh: Celebrate healing outcomes more openly and enthusiastically to help people reconnect with trust in medicine and recovery.

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Do not consume nonstop news.
• Stephen: Do not let too much time pass without reaching out to friends.
• Josh: Stop using AI.

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

In this episode, we explore abuse of power in church leadership, accountability structures across denominations, and the ways grace and forgiveness can be distorted to protect harmful behavior instead of vulnerable people. We each reflect on personal experiences with church hypocrisy, charismatic celebrity culture, and the tension between repentance, justice, and institutional self-protection. The conversation moves through stories of denominational failures, queer exclusion, public scandals, and the social contracts churches break when trust is betrayed. We arrive at the idea that meaningful accountability requires transparency, transformation, and small everyday acts of compassion rather than power, image, or platform. 

Host Recommendations

• Emily: Follow the Wesleyan “three simple rules”
• Stephen: Rediscover and lean into your favorite color as an adult
• Josh: Replace furniture you no longer love or use well

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Do not excuse harmful behavior or abuse under the guise of grace, forgiveness, or religious authority
• Stephen: Do not make judgment calls about other people’s spiritual or philosophical practices when you do not understand their story or needs
• Josh: Do not hold onto furniture you dislike simply because you already own it

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

In this episode, Josh and Stephen explore a noticed growing anti-city sentiment within American Christianity, unpacking how politics, economics, fear, and cultural identity shape a rural-versus-urban divide. We contrast this with the deeply city-centered theology of the New Testament, noting the irony in modern Christian attitudes toward urban spaces. We weave through media narratives, food culture, and even biblical imagery, suggesting that American Christianity may be drifting toward Old Testament “outsider” and conquest frameworks rather than Jesus’ embodied presence among diverse city populations.

Host Recommendations 

• Stephen: Eat “vitamin carrots”
• Josh: Make homemade Chipotle-style bowls

Host DE-Recommendations

• Stephen: Neglecting dryer vent cleaning
• Josh: Leaving phone text notification sounds on

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

We explore angels in the Bible and in Christian imagination, asking what role they actually play in the stories that shaped the tradition. Moving through familiar passages and odd details alike, we consider whether angels are supernatural beings, literary devices, or something closer to a storytelling signal that a narrative turn is about to happen. The conversation wanders through ancient mythology, modern interpretations, guardian angels, and the human impulse to find meaning in unexpected moments. Along the way we land on a curious possibility: whenever angels show up, the story may be about to go unorthodox.

Host Recommendations

• Emily: Updated healthy eating food pyramid
• Stephen: Meaningful desk trinkets
• Josh: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, specifically the audiobook version

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Junk political mailers
• Stephen: Sticking with an internet provider
• Josh: Forgetting routine car maintenance

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

We explore what optimism actually is and is not, moving beyond half full versus half empty toward peace, joy, acceptance, and responsible action. Drawing on psychology, Buddhism, and our own religious upbringings, we consider whether optimism is innate, learned, or a practice that shapes how we meet uncertainty and tragedy. We wrestle with how optimism can slide into apathy in politics and church culture, and close with small rituals and a Tao Te Ching passage that frames hope as spacious presence rather than certainty.

Host Recommendations

• Emily: Do the thing you’ve been afraid to do. Stop hovering and just jump in.
• Stephen: Be the person who gently puts bugs outside (or befriends them).
• Josh: Get on a simple “kick” — a small, playful obsession you look forward to.

Host DE-Recommendations

• Emily: Smoking (take care of your lungs).
• Stephen: Mindless social-media scrolling — unfollow ~20 clutter accounts.
• Josh: Fruit Loops (if it looks like a rainbow, it should taste like one).

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

After listening to the two episodes Emily and Stephen did without him, Josh takes the chance to speak with Stephen about questions he had about his experience so far at the Methodist church and whether or not Stephen might be finally ready to adopt his coined term, "Christian-ish Agnostic". Stephen is skeptical, but open. Emily is unfortunately not here today.

Host Recommendations

• Stephen: browse and add Calendars of Interest in Google Calendars
• Josh: Handy subscription services

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

In this episode, we explore why fulfilled desires so often fail to satisfy. Recorded in September 2025—before the current football season now in the playoffs, the conversation weaves together stories from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl mindset and Stephen’s long search for a Lazuli Bunting to ask a deeper question: what happens when the thing you want finally arrives and still isn’t enough? Drawing from Christian theology, Buddhism, Daoism, and everyday life, we reflect on desire, attachment, joy, and the difference between pleasure and presence—ultimately suggesting that meaning may be found not in reaching a destination, but in learning how to play, pay attention, and remain open to what comes next.

Host Recommendations

• Stephen: Go birding, The Tao Te Ching as translated by Stephen Mitchell
• Josh: The Residence on Netflix, Tour De Pharmacy film
• Emily: Combine two favorite foods into one (spaghetti tacos or pan toast), touch grass, sweaters

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

We're feeling silly out here, so Josh decides it's time we at Ravel finally invent our own typology system.

Host Recommendations

• Stephen: The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut, You Were Born For This by Chani Nicholas
• Josh: Game Changer on dropout.tv, go somewhere new
• Emily: Get a new tattoo, deepen a relationship you're enjoying

Join us:

• Join our free Discord community by emailing us at [email protected] for an invite link!
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Produced by Stephen Henning, Josh Lieuallen, and Emily Rettinghouse
• Editing/Audio Engineering by Stephen Henning
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv