Leaving Eden Podcast

In this episode, we discuss Josh Duggar's attempt to vacate his conviction and secure a new trial based on the theory that Caleb William was the guilty party in his crime. We discuss his issues with filing deadlines, as well as how quickly Josh's sentence has gone by. We also discuss the statement released by the Caldwell Family regarding Joe Duggar's alleged crimes, what this says about their cur...

In this episode, we discuss Christian beliefs around taxation, as well as why some fundamentalist Christians like Kent Hovind have opted for a sovereign citizen defense. At the end of the episode, we discuss the creative ways that Jim Bob Duggar has avoided taxation by passing his tax burden off onto his children. Source images are located on this Patreon post (the sources are not paywalled) https...

In this episode, Gavi proves how much he has learned about fundie culture by showing Sadie his INSPIRED AND PRESERVED translation from Fundie/Christian-ese to plain English of the Duggar Jail Emails that were obtained by Lilly Archive using the FOIA. Sadie then provides additional cultural context as well as a few things from these emails that stood out to her. In the extended Patreon edition of t...

In this episode, we discuss the GoFundMe that Paul Caldwell (Kendra Duggar's father) posted which has since been deleted. All of the sources for this episode are located here, on this post on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/caldwells-vs-for-154830204 00:00 - Intro 04:12 - Disclaimers 05:13 - The Caldwells' latest moves 08:00 - GoFundMe taken down 08:35 - We have so many questions 10:55 - The...

Today we discuss the latest developments in the Joe Duggar case. Duggar has pleaded Not Guilty to all charges in Florida, has been released on a $600,000 bond, and (we think) is back in Arkansas. YouTuber Lily Archive has released numerous phone calls as well as emails sent to Joe Duggar while he was in jail in Arkansas. She obtained this material using a FOIA request (she has shown provenance). T...

Shiny Happy People star Chad Harris joins us on this episode to discuss the latest developments in the Joe/Kendra Duggar cases. We discuss the potentially fake documents published by Katie Joy of the YouTube Channel "Without a Crystal Ball," the Joe/Kendra Duggar phone call, statements made by Jinger/Jeremy, and Jason/Maddie. In the third segment we answer listener questions about the arrests, abo...

In this episode, we discuss the continuing fallout from Joseph Duggar's arrest for child molestation, including Kendra Duggar's Child Endangerment/False Imprisonment charges, our breakdown of these charges, family statements made by/on behalf of Duggar family members, and our speculation on whether or not this case will go to trial. In the extended patreon edition, we discuss in greater detail our...

n this special episode, we discuss the charges filed against former 19 Kids and Counting/Counting On star Joseph Duggar. Duggar is accused of committing Lewd and Lascivious Behavior, involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor. He has been taken into custody. The alleged molestation occurred some time in 2020. In this episode we discuss everything that we currently know, everything we don't kn...

In today's episode, Sadie tells us all about Hyles-Anderson College, the fundamentalist cult bible college that she enrolled in as an 18-year-old. We discuss the reason why a cult would want to have a college, the history of the school, what gets taught in classes at Hyles-Anderson, the school rules, and the predatory financial programs the school uses to keep students from dropping out or leaving...

Sadie takes us through the five categories of Crazy Fundie Rules, and how these rules affect your life when you are trying to live by them. Some of them have biblical justifications, some of them are completely made up by some pastor somewhere and ended up being widely adopted. Fundie pastors use these rules as a way to physically and psychologically control church members, and they can be quite d...

Today, Gavi FINALLY gets to talk about his favorite topic, Jean Beaudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation," which explains Hyperreality. "The Matrix" film is allegorical to the postmodern condition of Hyperreality. We discuss examples of simulacra, Hyperreality, and the history of how we (in the western canon) came to view the world this way. We discuss simulated reality as it relates to christian...

In this episode, Sadie takes us through two different theories of truth, and what it means for a statement to be true or not true. In using these two theories of truth, we discuss how anti-trans crusaders like Matt Walsh or Christian fundamentalist biblical literalists use bait-and-switch tactics to distort what their followers perceive as the truth. These bad faith arguments can be avoided by avo...

In this episode, Sadie takes us through the bizarre reasoning behind Fundamentalism's stipulation that the King James version is NOT ONLY the "best" version of the bible in English, but that it is actually not a translation, but God's own words, just as valid as the original texts in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. We also discuss how this belief leads to other fundie beliefs like quiverfull, and wome...

In this episode, we review "Dating With a Purpose," which is an IFB purity culture dating manual targeted at teens and young adults in the IFB and at Hyles-Anderson college. It was written by Jack Schaap, who later went to prison for sexually abusing a child who was a student at the high school where he was chaplain. We also discuss Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family's appearance in the Epste...

Sadie Carpenter tells us all about Soul Winning, the IFB practice of knocking on doors in order to witness to people and to get them to join your church. She tells us stories of trapping kids in the McDonald's PlayPlace, getting guns pulled on her, and we read through a soulwinning textbook that teaches how to witness to a Jewish person! We hope you enjoy! Support the show by going to Patreon. Com...

In this episode, we discuss what the early church actually was, and how Christianity was formed as much by Paul as it was by Jesus. Citations for claims about the authorship of the bible: Tabor, J. D. (2013). Paul and Jesus: how the Apostle transformed Christianity. Simon & Schuster. Tabor, J. (2025, June 10). The quest for the historical paul. Biblical Archaeology Society. https:// www.biblic...

In this episode we discuss the history of (small f) fundamentalism and how it became (capital F) Fundamentalism that we see today. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/@leaving_eden Join our discord server! https://discord.gg/aneFkUJu Join our subreddit! Reddit.com/r/EdenExodus Bluesky: @leavingedenpodcast.bsky.social @hellyeahsadie.bsky.social @gavihacohen.bsky.social Instagr...

In this reintroduction episode, we discuss how cults work with examples from Sadie's life. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/@leaving_eden Join our discord server! https://discord.gg/aneFkUJu Join our subreddit! Reddit.com/r/EdenExodus Bluesky: @leavingedenpodcast.bsky.social @hellyeahsadie.bsky.social @gavihacohen.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leavingede...

In Part 3 of our series on Mary Cosby, we discuss the theological reasons why people believe that she is god. We discuss the direct link between Mary Cosby and Jim Jones. We also discuss the sketchiness surrounding the businesses owned by her and her church, the church's organization, and how its hard turn into a coercive cult was inevitable. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.c...

In the fall of 2024, we contributed to a streaming documentary focused on Faith Temple Pentacostal church in Salt Lake City Utah, and its first lady, Mary Cosby, who is a cast member on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. This documentary was released by TLC as "Cult of the Real Housewife." Our contributions to this documentary were not included, and we believe that this documentary did a disse...

In this episode, we are joined by Dinah House-Fire and Chad Harris to give out the Gifts of the Spirit awards! This awards are based on the gifts of the holy spirit and given to individuals who embodied these gifts throughout the year. These awards include: The Wisdom Award The Knowledge Award The Faith Award The Healing Award The Miracles Award The Prophecy Award The Discernment Award The Tongues...

In this episode, we discuss the future of the podcast, we read a letter from a listener who was doxxed by Libs of Tiktok, and we discuss the latest study about religious observance in the United States from Gavi's favorite Pew Research https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/12/08/religion-holds-steady-in-america/ Join our discord server! https://discord.gg/aneFkUJu Join our subreddit! Reddit.co...

In this episode, we catch up with some fundie influencers, including Morgan Olliges, who has recently released an online course about how to cope with a husband that leaves you alone in the wilderness, Karissa Collins many spellings and pronunciations of Yahoosooshooahaha, and Kelly Havens new e-commerce business. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ4q94gAnsoW2jME4SvVrrQ Join our discord server! ht...

In this episode, we discuss the recent expose on Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer who has become the face of the anti-trans women in sports political agenda. While Gaines is no doubt a talented swimmer, the story that she told of victimization at the hands of U Penn's Lia Thomas was largely fabricated. However, this story became a divisive issue that helped propel Donald Tru...

Now available to patrons: Thank You For Giving To The Pod Subscribe to Leaving Eden Podcast on YouTube! In this episode, we cope with our serious disappointment over our current situation (don't worry we will tell you guys eventually when we figure out what it is that we are doing next) by hanging out with Chad Harris and making up some FAKE news stories that COULD have been our big announcement (...