The Mighty Philbert Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Before Gen-X questioned authority… we had to realize something first: The people in charge don’t always get it right. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we take a deep dive into the songs that didn’t just describe the world—they challenged it. From classrooms to governments, from power structures to cultural icons… these songs pushed back, asked uncomfortable questions, and h...

Send us Fan Mail If you grew up Gen X, chances are you were told to “figure it out,” left to your own devices, and learned pretty quickly that depending on other people wasn’t always an option. We became independent, resourceful… and maybe just a little bit skeptical of everything and everyone. #mightyphilbert #genx #deconstruction  

Send us Fan Mail This week, we’re talking about something that should make everyone pause… When religion stops being personal—and starts being used to justify power. This isn’t about politics. This is about what happens when belief and authority collide. #MightyPhilbert #ChristianNationalism #FreeThought #GenX #Deconstruction #Skepticism #CurrentEvents #ReligionAndPolitics

Send us Fan Mail Before social media… before podcasts… before documentaries were everywhere… Sometimes the first time Gen-X learned about the real world was from a song on the radio. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert , we look at ten songs that opened our eyes to issues many adults weren’t talking about at the time — child abuse, poverty, war, bullying, inequality, and the complicated emotion...

Send us Fan Mail Gen-X grew up during one of the most turbulent cultural periods in modern history. From natural disasters to political scandals, the events we witnessed shaped how our generation sees the world. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we look at five more historical moments that left a lasting mark on Gen-X: • The eruption of Mount St. Helens • The death of Princess Diana • The as...

Send us Fan Mail Tonight on The Mighty Philbert, I’m joined by Mary from The Barker Bike Pirate for a powerful conversation about faith, fear, shame, deconstruction, and what it means to rebuild your life after walking away from Christianity. Mary is known for sharing her nomadic bicycle travels and reflections from life on the road, but recently she opened up about something much deeper: her pers...

Send us Fan Mail For decades, revival culture in American Christianity has been defined by dramatic spiritual experiences — people laughing, shaking, falling, and claiming powerful encounters with God. But what if there’s a repeatable formula behind those moments? In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we take a deeper look at the mechanics of revival culture — expectation, atmosphere, suggestion...

Send us Fan Mail For nearly a century, faith healers have promised miraculous cures for sickness, disability, and disease. But when investigators looked closer, something strange appeared: the miracles were always announced on stage — yet almost never verified afterward. In this episode, we examine the history of the faith-healing industry, from William Branham and Kathryn Kuhlman to the modern ch...

Send us Fan Mail Our first conversation with John from Desert Spring went so well… we ran out of time. So he’s back. In Part 2, we’re digging into the questions we didn’t get to: • Is atheism a worldview — or simply a lack of belief? • What does spirituality offer after leaving Christianity? • How do we evaluate near-death experiences and mystical claims? • Can you separate Jesus from the church t...

Send us Fan Mail Is modern “speaking in tongues” the same thing described in Acts? We look at the biblical text, church history, early Pentecostal expectations, and modern research to find out. #themightyphilbert #deconstruction #exvangelical #genx

Send us Fan Mail Former evangelical Christian turned skeptic, Brooklyn Lou joins The Mighty Philbert for a conversation about belief, identity, and intellectual honesty. Why do we believe what we believe? Is belief a moral responsibility? And what happens when truth threatens your tribe? This is a conversation about thinking clearly — and living honestly. #themightyphilbert #deconstruction #genx #...

Send us Fan Mail This month we covered a lot. The books that shaped us. Rapture predictions (and failed ones). The major world events that defined Gen X. Why 1 in 3 of our generation walked away from church. And what it was like to be on the inside of worship culture. So tonight, we’re doing something different. Welcome to Last Saturday with Philbert — a living room-style open panel where we slow...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we explore why so many of the books that shaped Generation X keep landing on banned and challenged book lists. From The Handmaid’s Tale to Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, from Slaughterhouse-Five to The Catcher in the Rye, these novels didn’t just entertain us — they formed us. They taught us to question authority, recognize hypocrisy,...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of this Gen X Cultural Autopsy, we explore the novels that didn’t just make us skeptical — they made us aware. From The Handmaid’s Tale to It to Judy Blume’s honest portrayals of doubt, these books shaped how Gen X processed authority, trauma, religion, and fear long before many of us walked away from institutional faith. Part of the “Why Gen X Walked Away” series. #them...

Send us Fan Mail For nearly 200 years, Christian leaders have predicted the exact date of the Rapture — and every single one has failed. From the Millerites and The Great Disappointment in 1844, to Hal Lindsey’s Cold War prophecy charts, to the Left Behind empire, to Harold Camping’s 2011 billboards — the end of the world has been confidently scheduled again and again. And every time it didn’t hap...

Send us Fan Mail Why are so many Americans leaving the church — and where does Gen X fit into the story? In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we examine the data behind America’s religious shift. Drawing from research by Pew Research Center, Gallup, and PRRI, we look at the dramatic decline in church affiliation, the rise of the “religiously unaffiliated,” and the reasons people say they walked...

Send us Fan Mail Before Gen X ever questioned sermons, we were assigned novels about hypocrisy, authoritarianism, absurdity, and institutional failure. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we explore how required reading in junior high and high school quietly shaped the skeptical lens that many of us carried into adulthood—and into our eventual departure from organized religion. Books covered:...

Send us Fan Mail This week on, "Saturdays with Philbert", I’m sitting down with John from the YouTube channel Desert Spring — a recently deconstructed ex-Christian who didn’t land in atheism. John still believes in God and Jesus, but now describes himself as spiritual, and he’s trying to separate “God” from “the system that sold God to him.” In one of his recent videos, John talks about...

Send us Fan Mail Growing up Gen X meant two things were always lurking in the background: horror movies… and moral panic. We watched Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers slice their way through VHS tapes and late-night cable — and somehow, we understood the rules. It was scary. It was fun. And we knew it was fiction. Meanwhile, adults were losing their minds. Churches warned us that h...

Send us Fan Mail The Breakfast Club wasn’t just a teen movie—it was a mirror. For many Gen X kids, it was the first time a movie admitted that adults didn’t always understand us, institutions didn’t always protect us, and labels didn’t tell the whole story. In this livestream, I look back at The Breakfast Club and explore: Why it resonated so deeply with Gen X How it quietly challenged authority w...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when something you trusted your whole life suddenly changes… without asking you? In 1985, Coca-Cola learned the hard way when New Coke nearly destroyed one of the most trusted brands in history. The company survived—but the relationship never fully recovered. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we explore why that same story explains Gen X’s relationship with the...

Send us Fan Mail In 1987, a quiet song slipped onto the radio and into our childhoods. “Luka” by Suzanne Vega wasn’t loud, angry, or shocking—but for many Gen X kids, it told a truth no one else would. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we explore how “Luka” reflected a generation taught to stay silent about abuse, pain, and trauma—and why that silence often lasted well into adulthood. This i...

Send us Fan Mail Gen X didn’t grow up on optimism—we grew up on breaking news. In this episode of The Mighty Philbert, we revisit five defining global events that didn’t just change history—they shaped how an entire generation learned to see authority, morality, and truth. From televised disasters to institutional silence, these moments quietly formed Gen X skepticism, resilience, and refusal to s...

Send us Fan Mail This episode discusses bullying, emotional neglect, and institutional failure. While there are no graphic details, some themes may resonate deeply. Please take care while watching.    Gen X grew up being told that bullying “built character.”  At school, we were told to ignore it.  At church, we were told to forgive it. This episode looks at the darker side of Gen X childhood—the b...

Send us Fan Mail This week on Saturdays with Philbert, I’m sitting down with the host of Skeptic Philosophy, a channel dedicated to one uncomfortable but necessary question: How do we actually know what we think we know? In an online world driven by algorithms, outrage, memes, and bite-sized certainty, bad information doesn’t just spread—it wins. Studies show false claims travel faster and farther...