Hello Deconstructionists

What better way to kick off the year than an episode with Marla Taviano! Check out her first episode on the podcast here to hear the backstory behind living wholeFARTedly, and about her amazing trilogy: unbelieve , jaded , and whole . In this episode Marla and I talk about being creative as a way to heal, looking back at our past selves, and Marla’s cool goal of being on 50 podcasts for her 50th y...

Not again… Right? That’s what we’re all thinking over at the Dauntless Media Collective. So we got together to talk about our grief, our anger, and our sadness about the election results on November 5th. We don’t have answers, but grieving together can feel better than grieving alone. So, come sit in your uncomfortable feelings with us.  Connect with Nate and Gail: Full Mutuality Podcast Full Mutu...

Nate co-hosts the Full Mutuality podcast with his wife Gail, and he co-founded the Dauntless Media Collective with their friend Jessica, who hosts the Leaving the Village podcast. In this episode we talk about: Liquid Church Rock God and Pop God (What?!? I know, just listen to the episode.) Some other cool churches Hillsong NY… and the downfall of Hillsong NY Asian erasure Biracial identity  Conne...

Nate co-hosts the Full Mutuality podcast with his wife Gail, and he co-founded the Dauntless Media Collective with their friend Jessica, who hosts the Leaving the Village podcast. In this episode we talk about: IFB (Independent Fundamentalist Baptist) Churches Bob Jones University Weird fundamentalist music standards The weird dating scene at BJU Connect with Nate: Full Mutuality on the Dauntless...

Gail (she/her) is an EXvangelical who is passionate about processing religious trauma and creating spaces to help people heal, deconstruct and decolonize harmful beliefs. She wants to be as determined in her dismantling as she was in her dissonance. She is a Canadian who just assumed American citizenship ready to move and roll up her sleeves to make a difference. Trigger warning: childhood abuse a...

Janice Lagata (she/her) is a writer, musician and matron saint of cats who is passionate about using humor to tell the truth about heavy things. Her work consistently laces themes of race, religion and gender with threads of witty wordplay and hopeful skepticism. In her capacity as an “exvangelical” person, she is known for being a vocal critic of evangelical megachurch culture in general and the...

April Ajoy (she/her) is a content creator and podcast host who uses humor to shine light on harmful, toxic, and sometimes just weird traits of American Evangelicalism. After growing up an evangelist’s kid entrenched in Christian Nationalism and working in conservative Christian media, she saw the harm caused firsthand. Still a Christian, she uses her platform to expose the dangers of Christian Nat...

Daniella Mestyanek (she/her) Young, scholar of cults, extreme groups and extremely bad leadership. Daniella is the author of Uncultured, a critically acclaimed memoir of growing up in the children of god cult and then going into the cult of US Army. Daniella holds a masters in organizational psychology from Harvard, and is working on a second book called The Culting of America In this episode we t...

Sarah McCammon is an NPR Correspondent and author of “The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church.” In this episode we talk about: Growing up evangelical in the midwest Shifting views on LGBTQ+ people  Growing up in the evangelical bubble The evangelical support of Donald Trump  Alternative facts and misinformation Connect with Sarah Instagram: https://www.instagram...

Katrina Ford grew up in a missionary family in Africa. She is now a motivational speaker and life coach that specializes in religious trauma, academic sabotage and good girl syndrome. In this episode we talk about: Religious an spiritual abuse Academic sabotage Good-girl syndrome Transitioning from life as a missionary kid, to life in the US White, Christian Patriarchy  Connect with Katrina Instag...

D.L. Mayfield (they/them) is a writer who authored 3 books in christian publishing. Their current project is a substack and podcast centered on helping survivors of religious authoritarian parenting called STRONGWILLED. They also have a newsletter focused on late diagnosed neurodivergence called healing is my special interest. In this episode we talk about: James Dobson Religious Authoritarian Par...

Janice Lagata is a Black exvangelical girl, shaking off a white evangelical world. She is a writer, musician, side hustler, cat/person, and christian REVENGELICAL. Janice shares her thoughts and reflections on the current political happenings in the US. Namely, Joe Biden stepping down as the presidential nominee and Kamala Harris stepping in. Connect with Janice on Instagram: https://www.instagram...

Jayne Sugg is a fourth grade teacher by day and a recording artist by night. She is part of the Good Shepherd Music Collective, a group of musicians based out of New York City who write and record songs about God, peace, and acceptance. Listen to Jayne Sugg on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1oV0JYpKkMGtfFXZhUF7CP?si=12hqdCLQTDmSie2J5C6jfA   Episode with Marla Taviano: https://open.spotif...

Dr. Laura Anderson–a licensed psychotherapist, trauma resolution coach, religious trauma consultant, speaker, author, and educator. I am on a mission to provide religious trauma-informed support and resources to survivors of and those helping survivors of religious trauma, adverse religious experiences (AREs), faith deconstruction, cults, spiritual abuse, and leaving high demand/high control syste...

Moriah (they/she) is a psychologist-in-training who specializes in working with LGBTQIA+ individuals, young adults, and healing from trauma (relational, religious, medical, etc). They utilize a relational psychodynamic approach to therapy, along with feminist psychology and LGBTQIA+ affirming psychology. She is passionate about making mental healthcare and information about mental health accessibl...

Sarah Hunt (she/her) is a mental health and sex therapist based in West Michigan. She loves helping others recover from purity culture and sexual shame and learn how to access and trust their intuition. She is a queer exvangelical who is passionate about access to sex education, sleeping in, and her cat. Connect with Sarah: Website: https://www.youbloomtherapy.com/ | Instagram: https://www.instagr...

Naveh Riles (she/her) is a 27 year old from Arizona who is passionate about healing, and helping others heal from religious trauma. And today she’s doing that by sharing her own experience here on the podcast! Connect with Maggie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hello_deconstructionists/ | Email: hello.decons@gmail.com Learn more about Amy's music: Amy's Website: ⁠⁠https://www.amyazza...

Four Jennifer Knapp fans review the Kansas 25 album! Holly Daly, Holly Collins, Bethanee Riddle, and Maggie share their thoughts on the Kansas album then and now. We talk through our previous understandings of the music, some of the ways we've reimagined it, and of course Jennifer Knapp's glorious vocals! *Music shared with permission* Connect with Jennifer Knapp: The Dot Com: https://jenn...

Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, author, speaker and advocate. In her rich musical career, she has earned four Dove Awards and two Grammy nominations. With a considerable fan base and critical and commercial success, Knapp walked away from music in 2002 at the height of her career. After a seven-year hiatus she returned in 2010 with a renewed passion for music. As the first...

My guest today is Kristi (she/her) who shares about her faith journey on her instagram account: @kristiannhyde. Kristi is a late blooming bi woman in a hetero-passing marriage with two beautiful children. She has a love for reading, writing, and home renovation shows. And her favorite thing to do is laugh. Connect with Kristi: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristiannhyde/ Connect with Maggie...

Sam is a Queer Aussie Therapist, specialising in religious trauma. She is a religious trauma survivor, a wife, mama to cavoodle Naya and lover of stories. In her work she is equal parts compassion, sarcasm and humour, providing a welcoming and non-judgemental space where you can laugh, cry, scream or all three in the one session. She has her own podcast called Beyond the Surface where she amplifie...

Megan (she/her) is a Licensed Psychotherapist and Religious Harm Recovery Coach who was indoctrinated into fundamentalist evangelical christianity at an early age. Her work in the mental health field eventually helped her begin to make sense of her complicated family history and the way the patriarchal religious groups of her childhood supported harmful, authoritarian systems of control. She now d...

Sarah Henn Hayward has been writing since she cracked open her first “quiet time” devotional journal. Sarah grew up in the Chicago suburbs, went to Marquette University for physical therapy, and moved to Spokane, WA, where she met her husband and grew their family. They love camping in the Pacific Northwest and take advantage of their beautiful surroundings as much as possible. After her deconstru...

Brandon Flanery (he/him) is an ex-pastor, ex-missionary, exvangelical who writes about the intersection of faith, sexuality and their consequences. He has research and writings published with the Colorado Springs Indy, the University of Colorado, and Baptist News Global, and his debut book: Stumbling: a sassy memoir about coming out of evangelicalism debuted last year. Connect with Brandon:  Websi...

Marla Taviano is into books, love, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, and poems. She reads and writes for a living, wears her heart on her t-shirts, and is on a journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). She's the author of unbelieve, jaded, and whole and lives in South Carolina with her four awesome kids and two cats. Connect with Marla: Website: https://itsmemarla.com/ | Instagram: https://ww...