Religion on the Mind

Guests: Tony Jones, Josh Gilbert (Generation Gap Culture Hour Live from Theology Beer Camp) Topics: Death of the dinner party (6:50) Male friendship (20:20) Social anxiety and modeling (27:10) Patron-only (from 34:15): Codependency in marriage (37:00) Location sharing (56:10) Becoming our fathers (1:06:50) Intensive parenting (1:09:50) ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG:...

Returning guest: Lindsay Strannigan (Purity Culture Regrets, Martyrdom Expectations) Stranniganandsons.com/about Topics: Raised female in evangelicalism (6:13) Biola and Christian music (14:18) Total commitment mindset (24:06) Patron-only: Finding an Episcopal church (38:26) 75% on fire (1:00:48) Epistemic humility (1:15:05) Minimal political engagement (1:24:25) __________________________________...

Returning Guest: John Van Deusen (Bandcamp) Listen to this episode's playlist Topics: Genre-bending worship music (3:36) Holy misfits (13:15) Alternative Christian music scene (22:34) Big tent vs. niche art (31:27) Performative politics (43:40) Zooming out and small lives (56:28) Afterlife and nonexistence (1:14:05) Previous Episode's with John Van Duesen: "Chrisitan Music": John Van Duesen (#94)...

Guest: Brad Johnson (Paradox Coaching) Topics: Pastor's kid in Texas (3:07) Christian music career (11:15) Losing the church job (33:21) The tree of knowledge (37:45) Terror management theory (1:03:45) Coaching versus therapy (1:14:38) Accountability in coaching (1:23:33) __________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/dancoke/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or Tw...

Guests: Josh Gilbert and Kristen Tideman Topics: Therapy vs. coaching (3:48) Licensure and regulation (11:20) Scope of practice (20:47) Actionable plans (38:00) Existential psychology (45:14) Religious landscape expertise (52:00) Trauma and self-diagnosis (58:27) __________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/dancoke/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Guest: Tyler Huckabee | ⁠ Sojourners, RELEVANT Megazine⁠ Tyler's Article | ⁠Reckoning With the Youth Group That Raised Us⁠ Topics: • Adolescent development (8:36) • Columbine and martyrdom culture (14:45) • Braveheart (25:00) • Youth group as third space (31:44) • Summer camp autonomy (37:45) • Deficit-based views of teenagers (56:55) • Doubt and the exvangelical wilderness (1:02:48) • Trump and b...

Guest: Tripp Fuller (Homebrewed Christianity) Topics: • Cognitive-existential therapy (11:56) • Self-deception & “ultimate concern” (27:06) • ADHD & embodiment (31:09) Patron Half • “The Hell of the Same” (43:00) • Wasting your life in every era (1:00:45) • Christian bookstore CDs & punk rock (1:20:14) • College Counseling & Young Adults (1:44:31) • The dark magic of rock and roll (1:47:02) ______...

**Participate in my next Spiritual Abuse Research Study**⁠⁠ Guest: Jay Michaelson (Both/And) Topics: Why "spirituality" makes a bad communicator (3:07) Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and inventing God in our own image (5:04) Psychedelics, myth-making, and religion as "proto peer review" (16:56) The case for spirituality's broadness (32:04) Crystals, gurus, and spotting spiritual abuse (38:07) Peak...

Guests: Tony Jones & Josh Gilbert (Generation Gap Culture Hour returns!) Topics: Culture roundup: alliteration bios, Son of Helena, dude lit & Lonesome Dove (1:58) The Odyssey: theater reactions, IMAX chaos & the OCD popcorn guy (14:33) Nolan's rewrite: war, Xenia & the Christianization of the Odyssey (23:11) Patron Half Begins (35:44) Casting choices: Helen, Elliot Page & the "DEI" debate (36:19)...

Episode #370 | Trusting Yourself After Religious Change *Original Description * To Trust Your Experience (Dustin Kensrue) (#38) Is experience potentially a direct pathway to the God of the universe? Or is it simply “the heart [being] deceitful above all things”? Can we trust our spiritual experience, and if so, which experiences are trustworthy? This topic was recommended by my guest Dustin Kensru...

**Participate in my next Spiritual Abuse Research Study**⁠ Guest: Jenn Mason (⁠WinkWink Boutique⁠) Topics: Growing up Jewish in a small rural town and rediscovering Judaism as an adult (1:43) National media attention, antisemitic harassment, and finding a spiritual framework (6:26) Why read the Gospels: side-eye toward Christianity and swimming in a Christian culture (10:57) Softness, disability,...

**Participate in my next Spiritual Abuse Research Study** Guest: Valerie Martin (Gaia Center / But For Real Podcast) Topics: Tarot, astrology, and Valerie's path into new age spirituality (4:57) Wellness coaching, MLM culture, and spiritual bypassing (10:53) Cialdini's Influence: social proof and identity enmeshment (24:03) Money, ethics, and the "Wild West" of spiritual coaching (31:24) Patron Br...

⁠**Participate in my next Spiritual Abuse Research Study**⁠ Guest: Daryl Van Tongeren Returns! (⁠Hope College⁠ / ⁠"Done"⁠) Topics: What is existentialism and existential psychology? (5:25) Does life have a predetermined purpose, or do we make our own? (19:00) Faith and uncertainty (42:21) Objective morality, self-sacrifice, and the doormat problem (54:02) __________________________________________...

Guests: Victoria Jackson & Terry Shoemaker Topics: Religion, sport, and the sacred — evangelical baggage and finite vs. eternal stakes (7:00) Maradona's "Hand of God" and sport as modern mythology (13:42) Victoria's World Cup travel plans and fan culture on the road (20:36) FIFA corruption, Infantino, and Trump's soccer obsession (36:13) Masculinity, grace, and violence across sports (44:45) Promo...

Guests: Tony Jones & Josh Gilbert (Generation Gap Culture Hour returns!) Topics: Culture roundup: All the Pretty Horses, Dave on Hulu, The Strokes (3:28) Streaming piracy & the ethics of stealing (19:58) Dude lit & the book club (30:53) Men and reading (Tony's Substack crossover moment) (36:27) Patron Half Begins (46:55) World Cup (46:30) Down Syndrome screening, disability & ethics of life (1:01:...

Guest: Daryl Van Tongeren Returns! (⁠Hope College⁠ / ⁠"Done") Topics: Are most people living in a kind of illusion? (0:00) How people spend their time (17:14) What makes humans special: Christianity and existentialism agree (27:37) The five givens of existence and how Christianity responds to them (32:23) Religious certainty and the road to violence (45:14) It's never too late (48:14) ____________...

Guest: Daryl Van Tongeren Returns! (Hope College / "Done") Topics: What is existentialism and existential psychology? (5:25) Does life have a predetermined purpose, or do we make our own? (19:00) Faith and uncertainty (42:21) Objective morality, self-sacrifice, and the doormat problem (54:02) ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instagram.com/dancok...

Guest: Barrabas! (Tim Burnette returns) Topics: • Religion after religion (7:04) • In-group Religion (10:58) • Is there moral and spiritual progress? (25:04) • Haidt's Rider & Elephant (32:51) • Collective effervescence & human bonding (38:37) • Out-groups & non-duality (42:27) • Moral foundations theory (1:05:33) • Christian nationalism & the remnant (1:17:34) Previous Episode with Tim: Self-awar...

Sex drive, religious formation, and the stubborn residue of purity culture — welcome back to Study Hall, where I bring you along as I cram for my licensure exam and connect to the psychology of religion along the way. Today we're staying in developmental psychology but moving into territory that, let's just say, came up a lot in my Christian high school years. Religious adolescents start later — b...

Licensed therapist and trauma specialist Ryan Kuja joins me to examine the surprising parallels between Christian fundamentalism and new age spirituality — particularly how both can enable spiritual bypassing, discourage authentic questioning, and ultimately fail to hold space for the full complexity of human pain and experience. Ryan's Link Tree ___________________________________________ Follow...

In this episode, comedian and podcaster Jordan Morris describes growing up as a youth group kid in Orange County, and how those experiences informed his new graphic novel Youth Group, which treats its faith-filled characters with nuance and genuine affection rather than cheap satire. In the Patron-only second half, we get into the DIY ethos that both church basements and punk rock scenes share, th...

Psychologist Dr. Pamela Epstein King returns to explore how religious systems provide purpose, calling, and meaning — and what happens to those foundations when people go through significant religious change. Pam's Faculty Page Episodes Mentioned: Trusting Yourself After Religious Change | #370 The Six Facets of Spiritual Health | #285 ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG:...

I sit down with Rabbi Dr. Simcha Raphael and learn about his remarkably wide-ranging spiritual journey. From a traditional Montreal Hebrew education through India, the San Francisco counterculture, and ultimately into the Jewish Renewal Movement as a scholar of death, afterlife, and the inner life of Judaism, his story mirrors what so many of us are navigating in our own religious explorations. In...

The nature vs. nurture debate is largely settled (spoiler alert: it's both), but the implications for how and when religious identity forms are striking. The research points to a surprisingly early window for faith formation, and what happens inside that window matters far more than most parents realize. Join me for what I'm calling Study Hall, where I bring you along as I study for my licensure e...

Meredith Miller returns to talk about something many of us have been navigating in our personal lives: how do you raise kids with a meaningful faith after your own deconstruction? We cover the real reasons to consider church, what the research actually says about faith formation, and why doing nothing is still doing something. Previous Episodes with Meredith: ⁠How Can Deconstructing Parents Talk A...