Media
Thereafter Podcast
I joined Cortland Coffey as co-host of the Thereafter Podcast at the start of the second season (Episode 026). We’ve been having a great time interviewing guests, connecting with listeners, and sharing stories on the show. Episodes start with TWITBITS, a recap of recent Twitter conversations relevant to the faith deconstruction community, and jump into guest interviews around the 25-35 minute mark. Check it out wherever you listen to podcasts and let us know what you think!
Podcast Interviews
I finished writing a memoir in July 2020 and joined social media to try to build a platform, share blog posts, and see what I could do about getting my book published. Something unexpected happened. As I leaned into my questions, dug deeper into topics I touched on in my book, and started interacting on Twitter, I found less platform and more community. I started tweeting and posting my thoughts about faith, therapy, feminism, queer affirmation, trauma, grief, healing, and so much more. I was seen and heard and I found depth to the relationships I built over the common struggle of trying to understand faith change. The perspective I brought into my memoir has changed, but the beauty of who I am becoming is even better. I named this website The Pursuing Life and the idea of pursuing the answers to the hard questions hasn’t changed. It will always be me. Take a listen to some of the stories I have told with some of the people I’ve connected with along the way.
The first time I sat down for a podcast interview to talk about my evolving faith journey, it was on the show that I now co-host. I became an avid listener of Thereafter after this, appreciating how space was held for guests and their stories. I was so new to deconstruction when I shared my thoughts here, but through all my shifts and changes, there isn’t anything on here that I would remove or change. Sharing this with friends, family, neighbors, and online communities has helped me articulate things that I couldn’t always find a way to say in conversation.
I met Ryan Mulkowsky in a Clubhouse room and was immediately drawn to his wisdom about grief and his natural ability to hold space for those around him. Ryan introduced me to the term “disenfranchised grief” when I was steeped in it through my career change. This conversation adds some detail and nuance to my own deconstruction journey, and we also chat about the progressive Christian label.
Emily Torres and I connected on Twitter through shared blog posts, tweets, and mutual friends. Eventually we landed in other online spaces together and learned how much our stories overlap. The first time we sat down to talk about doing a podcast interview, we chatted for more than two hours and we weren’t even recording! This was a continuation of that conversation about life before, during, and after faith change. Em’s blog and podcast, The Life She Wrote, has a wealth of information about purity culture, religious trauma, and other exvangelical topics.
Having a live conversation with Mandy Capehart is like drinking a warm cup of tea by the fireplace. As a writer and grief coach, Mandy helps people understand that grief and big feelings aren’t scary when we find them in ourselves or in others. I was honored to share my story of the grief of leaving teaching with Mandy, and you will hear the tenderness with which she holds people’s journeys.
This is a great episode to listen to if you are brand new to faith deconstruction or aren’t sure what it is. Shawnie and Kristina are college friends that don’t let living across the country from each other get in the way of collaborating on a podcast that explores questions and conversations about faith and feminism. In this conversation, we talk about what faith deconstruction looks like, and what my own journey has been.
I loved having this conversation with David from the Graceful Atheist Podcast. We talked about my journey in faith deconstruction, what it was like to seek a medical diagnosis for my youngest daughter’s genetic condition in the midst of confusing healing narratives, the “hot takes” coming from evangelicals about faith deconstruction, and so much more.
Dave & Zach asked me to come on Veterans of Culture Wars to talk about Purity Culture and this conversation became so much more. We talk about purity culture, the Billy Graham rule, sexual ethics, music, and the post-evangelical CCM karaoke night that I co-hosted with Kevin Nye. To be honest, we had so much fun that when we wrapped we kept talking for almost an hour. I hope you’ll enjoy the chat as much as we did.