It's been 2000 years. Enough already.

Abusing power is an ancient genre of sin — and using religion to justify abuse is perhaps the oldest trick in that book. We know it won't stop with this podcast episode, but, here we go anyway. Katelyn and Roxy address some of the difficulties of identifying spiritual abuse (no, it isn't just "church hurt") and examine how it has manifested in a few more recent and notable scandals. Veteran psychologist and expert on religious trauma, Diane Langberg, joins the episode and helps put the "pastoral" back in the pulpit.

GUEST:

• Diane Langberg is a psychologist with more than 50 years of experience working with trauma survivors. She’s the author most recently of "Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church."

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Silly, shallow, serious, interstellar … we said we’d take any and all of your questions. And we get some good ones!

Katelyn has been on jury duty. We had Thanksgiving break. Roxy is on vacation this week. So it seemed like a good time to let our listeners do some of the work for us. We took to social media to seek your "ask me anything" — AMA — style questions.

And we totally go there.

Plus, here to deliver your questions (and a few of his own) is a very special guest, out from behind the curtain, the Wizard of Audio, our producer Jonathan Woodward!

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We do love a journalism movie.

It's been five years since the NY Times exposé of Harvey Weinstein sparked the global #MeToo movement. And the new movie, "She Said," documents the two-steps-forward, one-step-back work of investigative reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor in uncovering the extent of Weinstein's abuses. 

"Pump it into my veins," is how Katelyn describes the movie. 

On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy discuss the new movie, the book it's based on, and where we are now.

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Unmarried women are ruining everything! 

At least according to some people who went to Twitter, Fox News, and God only knows where else to bemoan last week's midterm election results — placing a large share of their disappointment at the feet of unmarried women, who broke strongly for Democrats. Suffice it to say, their words were not very nice. Anyway, politics aside, we think their vitriol was misguided — and we have the data to prove it!

On this week's episode, Katelyn and Roxy dive into some research on the state of unmarried women and the church. We discuss the importance of "thick community" and the false promises of independence.

Plus, we talk with Karen González, on how to move beyond "welcoming immigrants" to relationships of mutuality and kinship.

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You're still young! You're too picky! Just put yourself out there more!

We've heard some doozies. And, while most friends are well-meaning (if occasionally passive-aggressive), they aren't always aware of how these phrases can bump against some tender spots. You've heard of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," but in this episode, Katelyn and Roxy bring you ...

How to Lose Your Single Friends in 10 Words (Or Less).

But, not to worry, we don't want to leave you feeling speechless. We also offer some thoughts on what to say instead and share our most meaningful experiences of feeling supported and loved by our married friends with kids.

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It's the motherlode episode.

Most women of a certain age (our age) have kids. They just do. And we don't. Living in that reality can be complicated — it's fun to be an "auntie," but it's not the same as being a mom — there's grief and there's gain. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy grapple with their own winding paths to life without kids. We share what's it's meant to mourn that loss while finding ways to embrace the gifts of a childfree life.

We're joined by Erin S. Lane who helps us challenge the default scripts of motherhood that society — and churches! — so often impose on women's lives.

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Is this real blood we're drinking?

There's an old joke that a religion is a cult plus time. So are we just late comers to a very old cult? Katelyn and Roxy explore this plus all the other scary things — like aging! — in our All Hallow's Eve episode. And religion reporter Sam Kestenbaum joins to talk vampires, mummies, QAnon devotees, and groups with some cult-y vibes (including maybe ... some of the churches we've attended).

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The midterms ... truly the spookiest season of them all.

Everyone seems to be talking about Christian nationalism right now. The phrase is in the air. And, while, there's plenty of focus on the evangelical vote every election cycle, this is not quite the same. 

Religion News Service, and especially religion and politics correspondent Jack Jenkins, has long been covering this new iteration of Christian nationalism. So, for this special episode, in the run up to the midterms, Roxy talks with Jack about his (award-winning) reporting on Christian nationalism over the past few years.

What is it? Where did it come from? And why is it playing such an outsized role in American politics right now?

GUEST:

This episode was produced with support from The Stiefel Freethought Foundation.

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Can men and women just be friends or does the sex always get in the way?

Billy Graham and Billy Crystal both seemed to believe the answer was: nope and yes, always.

A rare instance of overlap in the evangelical-Hollywood Venn diagram, perhaps. But maybe it shouldn't be? In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy discuss their own friendships with men: when and how they've worked — and why they sometimes haven't. And we explore the vision Christianity offers for non-romantic, opposite sex relationships. 

Plus: coarse joking! Whatever that means.

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Oh, the pressure of perfection.

Is there anyone who reads the Bible with the intensity of an evangelical 12-year-old? So asks Charles Marsh, our guest for this episode and the author of "Evangelical Anxiety: A Memoir."

We resonate.

Katelyn and Roxy reflect on the amped up nature of an evangelical upbringing, recalling childhood fantasies of martyrdom, the high stakes proposal of eternal salvation or damnation, and Christian bumper stickers.

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