This podcast will change your life.

On each episode of this show, we talk about a popular, influential — or at least lucrative — Christian book from the 90s or 2000s (you know, our era). We discuss how the book shaped American Christianity, our own personal faith journeys, and how it has aged in our current dystopian Christian Nationalist hellscape.

In this episode, Tyler and Roxy travel back in time to an era of 5 step growth strategies, acronyms for all things and Hawaiian shirts. AKA Southern California in 2002. It's the year the mega-bestseller Purpose Driven Life hit the shelves and the pews — and everywhere in between — offering a message to counteract middle class ennui and promising eternal significance to boot. How does this apolitical, seeker-sensitive, self-help influenced approach stand up now?

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Paintball never looked so holy.

On each episode of this show, we talk about a popular, influential — or at least lucrative — Christian book from the 90s or 2000s (you know, our era). We discuss how the book shaped American Christianity, our own personal faith journeys, and how it has aged in our current dystopian Christian Nationalist hellscape.

In this episode, Tyler and Roxy become the men God created them to be with Wild at Heart, John Eldredge’s 2001 bestseller that challenged dudes to rock for Jesus and destroy anyone who got in their way. Squint just a little and you can see the direct through line from this book to modern evangelical ideas around gender, masculinity and Jordan Peterson.

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Cozy up for this time traveling book club.

On each episode of this show, we talk about a popular, influential — or at least lucrative — Christian book from the 90s or 2000s (you know, our era). We discuss how the book shaped American Christianity, our own personal faith journeys, and how it has aged in our current dystopian Christian Nationalist hellscape.

This episode, Tyler and Roxy move into the liminal faith space of Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller’s 2003 word-of-mouth bestseller that introduced young Gen Xers and elder Millennial evangelicals to the idea of embracing doubt, being OK with not knowing everything, drinking beer and also Mark Driscoll.  

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Decadent December is coming to a close and bills are due.

Every year, we all get a little excited for what a new start could bring — who could I be this year? Surely this year, I'll do the thing. Or stop doing the thing. Or change everything. Right?

When it comes to making goals, setting intentions, naming desires, we're as all-in as anybody ... but we also have a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to the marketing machine that self-help has become. Somehow, we doubt all the wisdom we need is just a scroll away on Instagram. This week, Katelyn and Roxy share the advice that's actually worked and talk with entrepreneur Liz Forkin Bohannon, who swears by "dreaming small" and "owning your average." 

GUEST

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Be good to your people.

The holidays are hard for the grieving. This year, as Roxy and her family walk through their first Christmas without her dad, we wanted to do an episode on what has helped get them through. Well, who has helped really. This is an episode on the power of community and friendship when life hands you loss. Katelyn and Roxy are also joined by J.S. Park, a hospital chaplain who has counseled thousands of patients and their families through terminal illnesses, devastating diagnosis, and tragic losses. Plus, a special drop-in from friend of the podcast, Jonathan Merritt.

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It's the new evangelical Vatican y'all.

Before there was New York City, both Katelyn and Roxy flirted with Nashville. The draw was real: deep friendship, like-minded value systems, shared faith, the prospect of financial stability. But something never quite clicked. Nashville felt maybe a little ... too comfortable, too safe, even a bit stifling. In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy imagine what could have been. We also do a deep dive into who Nashville has become in our years apart — and how choosing New York City has changed us.

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The range of a religion reporter.

This week, we ask ourselves: would we do mushrooms for research? Plus, a journey from Kansas to Tennessee to California and their multiple misbehaving men in ministry. Katelyn and Roxy discuss the similarities and patterns present in congregations where clergy can get away with almost anything.

And we're joined by guest Gloria Purvis, a Black Catholic scholar who lost her job at a prominent Catholic radio network in 2020 after speaking out about the killings of unarmed Black Americans. Among other things, she discusses why racial justice should be an extension of the church’s holistic pro-life ethic.

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For this Thanksgiving, we return to a favorite episode about food, hosting and the power of conversations around a dinner table.

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It's a mancession.

Or, as one woman put it to our guest today, "men are in their flop era." Men are lagging behind women in almost every measure of success today — from mental health, to education levels, to employment, to sexual satisfaction. What's going on? Katelyn and Roxy are joined (once again!) by columnist and author Christine Emba to discuss this masculinity crisis — and why it should matter to women. 

Plus: a dudely data dump.

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When the clock keeps ticking, you gotta get picking ... a sperm donor, that is.

Ok, but really, as more and more women are single into their late thirties and early forties, the option to have a child through in vitro fertilization becomes a very live question. As much as forty may be the new twenty, the biological timeline for many women still looms large. If you're someone who wants to bear children, waiting for the right partner may feel like a dead end. Or, as our guest today puts it, that's a lot of pressure for a first date. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy talk to a friend who made the decision to put dating on hold and become a mother on her own. We discuss process, finances, a bit of theology and a lot of love.

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