Author Addie Zierman talks about her complicated relationship with Christianity now and why she stepped back from writing publicly for several years. Audio drama creator Lizzie Goldsmith and voiceover artist Aria Sivick join her to reminisce about one of the most memorable scenes from episode 4, and our favorite memories from the audio drama Listening Party in 2019. Join us for one more trip down memory lane as we talk about the past, present, and future of our spiritual and creative journeys.

Learn more about Rachel Held Evans and her legacy. We also mentioned the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman, and was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield. Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Full credits for this podcast are here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com, and stay in touch with Aria at ariasvoice.com

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

“Your Local Time Travelers” is a science fiction podcast created by Heidi Fischer that’s about a time-traveling influencer and pilot who crash-land in a 2025 Baptist church.

On the other side of her darkest year, Addie Zierman faces the demons from her past and decides what to hold on to and what to let go of as she moves into a new stage of her life.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

Cast (in order of appearance):

Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, who was mentioned in this episode, popularized the term "thought-terminating cliché."

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield, with additional music from APM Music, as well as “Silent Night” by Kevin MacLeod, which is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Bible pages sound effect from vdm.r.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Individual episode art and poetry by Jamie Bonilla. See the full text of the poem inspired by this episode.

Full credits for this podcast can be found here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

CONTENT WARNING: Pregnancy, childbirth, strong language, and religious trauma.

"Rock That Doesn't Roll" is an award-winning podcast hosted by Dr. Leah Payne and Andrew Gill that looks at how Christian music shaped the world we're living in now by talking with artists, industry figures and critics who have some connection to the contemporary Christian music industry.  

It took an incredible amount of vulnerability for Addie Zierman to write about her hardest year — and to revisit it now. Addie is joined by Lizzie Goldsmith and voice actor Aria Sivick to talk about how she got to that place … and how she made it through. Plus, the role of swearing in this story, being a pick-me girl, and what it’s like portraying someone who’s in a dark place.

Come to the Listening Party at Stella’s Coffee Haus in Denver on Nov. 5! Find out more and RSVP here.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman, and was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield. Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Full credits for this podcast are here.

Episode 3 clips feature Aria Sivick, who can also be heard in the episode 4 sneak peek alongside R. Lawson Cade. Episode 4 comes out on Nov. 5!

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Addie Zierman is depressed, angry at the Church People, and feeling lost in her life, her faith, and her marriage. What will it take for her to find her way back? Is going back even possible?

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

This movie from 2007 was mentioned.

Mental health and substance abuse resources:

Cast (in order of appearance):

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield, with additional music from APM Music. Pet store sound effects from barcelonetasonora, Quintus, ryanlouis, n_audioman, 18hiltc, and 170084.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Individual episode art and poetry by Jamie Bonilla. See the full text of the poem inspired by this episode.

Full credits for this podcast can be found here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

CONTENT WARNING: Strong language, substance abuse, depression, and near-infidelity

For audio drama creator Lizzie Goldsmith, her faith deconstruction experience started on the floor of a church in England during her Youth with a Mission trip. For When We Were on Fire author Addie Zierman, it came from a deep feeling of never belonging. Lizzie and Addie are joined by voice actor Aria Sivick to talk about community, their fraught relationships with church, and the riskiest creative choice Lizzie made in episode two.

We mentioned the Amazon docuseries Shiny Happy People (particularly its season 1 focus on Bill Gothard and the IBLP), as well as the hymn “It Is Well” and previous episodes of this podcast.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman, and was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield. Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Full credits for this podcast are here.

Episode 2 clips feature Aria Sivick, Josh Pitta, Jenny Jian, and others. Levingston Lewis, Tamar Turner, Aria Sivick, Ashleigh Carter, Tina Perkins, and Jonathan Schaefer can be heard in the episode 3 sneak peek. Episode 3 comes out on Oct. 22!

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Being “on fire for God” all the time is starting to take its toll on Addie Zierman as she starts college in Minnesota, meets a boy named Andrew, and heads overseas for a year that will change her life.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

Cast (in order of appearance):

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield, with additional music from Josh Woodward, Zeno, APM Music, and Public Domain Audio Bible. The hymn sung in this episode was “It Is Well,” written by Horatio Spafford. Rickshaw sound effect is from xserra.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Individual episode art and poetry by Jamie Bonilla. See the full text of the poem inspired by this episode.

Full credits for this podcast can be found here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

CONTENT WARNING: Strong language

How did When We Were on Fire become an audio drama, and what was it really like for Addie Zierman to have her story adapted? Audio drama creator Lizzie Goldsmith is joined by Addie and voice actor Aria Sivick (who voices Addie in the production) to talk about what this project means to them and how it all started. They also talk about toxic relationships, religious trauma, the legacy of the book, and other themes and key moments from the first episode.

Lizzie talked about her soundscape “What It Sounds Like To ______ Your Faith.” We mentioned Pete Enns, who is one of the hosts of the podcast The Bible For Normal People. This is the Spanish worship song that’s featured in episode 1. Addie recently wrote about Teen Mania and the Amazon docuseries Shiny Happy People, as well as more about what it was like to have her story turned into an audio drama. We also discussed See You At The Pole.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman, and was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield. Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Full credits for this podcast are here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Addie Zierman grew up “on fire” for God in the ‘90s, in the era of WWJD bracelets, Acquire the Fire youth conferences, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and the early days of the See You at the Pole movement. Addie embraces this us-versus-them evangelical Christian faith she’s inherited, not realizing that this obsession has a dark side.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

Addie recently wrote about her Teen Mania experience and the latest season of the Amazon docuseries Shiny Happy People. This documentary from 1989 is also mentioned in this episode.

Cast (in order of appearance):

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield, with additional music from Skylee Shea, APM Music, Gateway Worship Español, and Public Domain Audio Bible.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Individual episode art and poetry by Jamie Bonilla. See the full text of the poem inspired by this episode.

Full credits for this podcast can be found here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

CONTENT WARNING: Depictions of emotional abuse

Addie Zierman was the 1990s evangelical poster child, who, in high school, once stood at the flagpole at See You at the Pole all alone in the pouring rain, and, another time, anointed a school cafeteria table with oil, all the while dreaming of doing big things for the Lord. But that all changed when her fire for God burned out, and the things that had once sustained her now left her feeling disconnected and alone. Can her faith survive all her questions, her anger, and her depression? Does she even want it to?

Coming September 24: A full-cast, four-part audio drama based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

This trailer features the voice talents of Will DeVito, Mikell DiGiorgio, Ed Gorham, Josh Pitta, Grace Shaw, Shakari Williams, and Aria Sivick as Addie. Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield.

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Growing up in the evangelical Christian subculture of the 1990s, Addie Zierman was “on fire” for God and passionate about reaching the world for Jesus. That is, until her fire burned out, and everything she thought she knew got turned upside down.

Coming September 24, this full-cast, four-part audio drama is based on the book “When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over” by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

This trailer features the voice talents of Jacob Bellotti, Ashleigh Carter, Will DeVito, Michael DiGiorgio, Tina Perkins, and Shakari Williams, and introduces Aria Sivick as Addie. Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield.

Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, who was mentioned in this trailer, popularized the term "thought-terminating cliché."

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.