Growing Up Christian

This week we’re joined by our esteemed assistant pastor Jeremiah to discuss our the details of our presidential cardiac arrest covenant. We’ve vowed before God and man that if Biden and Trump simultaneously, uh… “come to the clearing at the end of the path,” we will plant a church and dedicate our lives to soliciting donations for it. We also talk about the most irritating team-up ever between Ric...

This week we’re joined by Courtney Bandeko and Benjamin Ironside Koppin to discuss their brand new film, Pastor’s Kid! Based on a true story, Pastor’s Kid follows a young woman who, reeling from a traumatic event, finds herself parsing through her complicated feelings about faith, family, and forgiveness. The film presents a raw, honest view of what it’s like to sift through the overlapping web of...

This week we’re talking about ambulance-chasing billboard lawyers, the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the retaliatory strike on Israel, and the dangerous upwelling of militarist rationale in the West. Then it’s time to crack the lid and peak in at the ever-devolving toilet kingdom that Steven Crowder has ruled with an iron fist… up until recently, that is. When last we discu...

This week we’re joined once again by scholar, activist, and all-around great guy, Dr. Luke Wilson! For those of you who haven’t heard our earlier conversations with Luke, he was a fellow student at Liberty University and one of their most troublesome conversion therapy victims. He’s with us this week to discuss one of the most infamous falls from grace in modern Christian history: Pastor Ted Hagga...

This week, we’re joined by Jeremiah to discuss Easter rituals, grocery store fruit theft etiquette, and the universal unpopularity of Sam’s musical tastes, for starters. Then we wade into Charlie Kirk and the gang’s poignant political, cultural, and spiritual assessments of the situation in Haiti. Charlie is the founder of Turning Point USA, and the host of a right wing talk show. What’s he look l...

Our guest this week is returning author, podcaster, and activist, our good friend Amber Viola! Aside from catching up and chatting about church gossip and missions trips, we spent some time discussing the release of her first book, “72 Hours of Hell: My Time in the VA.” Amber is a Navy veteran, and we’ve talked at length in past episodes about her advocacy on behalf of US military veterans. When i...

This week we’re hanging out with Jeremiah and laughing about dripping dip spit from your tracheotomy hole, the Great Texas Pornhub War of 2024, and drafting a more entertaining and era-appropriate method of selecting public servants (think Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, but the winner gets to be county treasurer and the loser drowns in a big stinking porridge pond). If you like the show, leav...

This week we’re excited to welcome back activist, writer, and friend of the show, Charles McBryde! Charles has done extensive work with Mission Kharkiv, an NGO working to collect and transport lifesaving chronic and anticancer medication to besieged Ukrainian cities, and has been an outspoken supporter of the Ukrainian people since the start of the war. He has also garnered a lot of attention for...

Our guest this week is screen printer and designer Zach Merrill of Action Tees! Zach is an old friend of Sam’s that grew up in church like many of us. After getting married young and struggling to find his footing in all aspects of his life, Zach charted his own course away from the stifling expectations of his upbringing and conservative outlook. Stepping back from the edge with a new lease on li...

This week is all about church boomers tangling with technology! There has been a plethora of stories involving older religious figures embarrassing themselves on the internet, and we selected a few of our favorites to discuss. We have the hapless head honcho of Hillsong’s “hacked account” tweets, the band of benevolent nuns burgled by bogus AI bishops, and finally, the salacious self-sabotage of a...

Our guest this week is musician, producer, and artist Angel Marcloid, also known as Fire-Toolz! Angel grew up in church, and has seen their relationship with faith evolve substantially, over the years. Whether you’re talking about their music, visual art, or adventurous, open-minded approach to spirituality, Angel is a fascinating person and Fire-Toolz is a truly unique passion project! For links...

This week we’re joined once again by our good friend and fantastic comedian, Spencer Bland! We kick things off talking about the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercial that’s caused an absolute uproar. Tempers are flaring on all sides of this one… Then we trudge into the slippery, slimy, putrid swamp that is Christian Healthshare - a controvertial and uniquely-American industry bodysurfing a wave of p...

This week we’re joined by trauma surgeon and podcaster Rebecca Joy Nappi, a woman who 4 years ago left her father’s cult for good. Rebecca made this difficult choice after 20+ years of indoctrination, guilt, and conditioning to spare her children from those harmful and dehumanizing ideas, and in doing so, she left behind her family, her friends, and the community that had been her home. This is a...

This week we’re taking a look at Eli and Kaitlyn Regalado, an online pastor and his wife who’s recent legal troubles surrounding their spirit-filled cryptocurrency debacle has gone viral in a big way. The Regalados are making headlines are being charged with fraud for selling a worthless cryptocurrency to their congregants using all the tried and true prosperity Gospel word vomit. They fleeced the...

This week we’re joined by an absolutely hilarious comedian, Imani (interview begins at 33:30)! Imani spent her early years in Fort Hood, TX, where her family attended what you might classify as a typical Evangelical mega church. However, when they moved back to Oregon and joined here grandfather’s more traditional, conservative, predominantly-black church, her home life took a drastic turn that no...

This week we’re joined by John Ryan, saxophonist and vocalist for Keep Flying (one of Sam’s absolute favorite bands)! John grew up Catholic on Long Island, and is a longtime music industry insider. Whether he was playing in a band or booking and managing tours for other acts, he’s one of those guys that’s seen a lot of country and met a lot of people. We had a great time talking to him, and we can...

This week we unknowingly bit into a HUGE topic that factors that has peaked the curiosity of theologians, scholars, and lunatics alike: the Book of Enoch! This ancient extra-Biblical tome expands upon the brief story in Genesis 6 about angels who “took human wives” and gave birth to giants. The supernatural implications of the Book of Enoch have made it a favorite reference among people with less-...

Our guest this week is producer and musician Danny Couture! Danny grew up in Massachusetts in the same church as Sam, and went on to find success in the music business. He is a Billboard-charting producer and has worked side-by-side with the likes of Marshmello, Lil Wayne, 24KGoldn, 2KBABY, Morray, and Rico Nasty, as well as ESPN and Space Jam: A New Legacy! Follow Danny on Instagram (@dannycoutur...

Our guest this week is our longtime friend and one of the most interesting and wholesome people in our lives, Dave Smith! Dave was one of our fellow angsty scene kids back at Liberty University and has gone on to do so many cool things. He’s travelled all over the country, worked at mushroom and film festivals, guided whitewater rafting trips in Alaska, etc etc etc. Dave is a genuinely great guy,...

This week we’re joined by vocalist Chris Oberholtzer of Tan & Handsome, a band that we absolutely love! We discuss some of the strange performances we saw as kids in church, Christian rock bootcamp, his time in YWAM (Youth With A Mission), and the twists and turns of being in the music industry. Tan & Handsome is great, and their new single “Snake Church” is right up our alley! Follow them...

This week our beloved Jeremiah and GUC alumnus April Gloria (Casey’s wife) join us to discuss Christian nationalist Andrew Torba’s shocking revelation about the origins of many popular Christmas songs and the Puritans’ War on Christmas. Finally, we are proud to present a theatrical performance of “A Super Christmas,” a heart-warming original play by Vanessa Unti, the past/maybe current(?) youth mi...

This week we’re joined by Rob Hileman, Paul Misko, and Joe Sudrovic from a band near and dear to our hearts, From A Second Story Window! Sam has talked at length about how huge of an influence FASSW’s music and live performances were to him, and we were thrilled to sit down with three of the founding members to discuss their origins, the highs and lows of being a signed ban living on the road, the...

This week we’re joined by friend of the show and Discord OG, Marc Penner! Marc is a former Mennonite and graduate of Tabor College, but he left the church years ago when he came face to face with some pretty blatant hypocrisy. We discuss his alleged participation in a “cupid run,” all the cool ways in which churches exacerbate marital problems, the “kids or no kids” dilemma, and keeping a lid on t...

This week we’re joined by tattoo artist, comic book enthusiast, and longtime friend of the show, Carlos Cordova aka Stolen Heart Tattoo! Carlos grew up in a close-knit Catholic family. As a young man, his love of art and comic books dovetailed with a fascination with tattoos. Nowadays, he hones his craft at Archetype Tattoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We love his work, and had a great time talking...

This week we’re diving back into the Great American Family Channel’s upcoming Christmas original movies! With exciting titles like Christmas on Windmill Way and The Jinglebell Jubilee, these are like the lactose-free virgin eggnog of holiday films (although they might still trigger your IBS). Join us in celebrating “faith, family, and country” with this lineup of Yuletide yawn-fodder that was tail...