Leave Laugh Love

If you have any other information that you’re willing to share with us about the charismatic renewal, covenant communities, or Sword of the Spirit, please email leavelaughlovepod@gmail.com or send us a DM on Instagram. We are indebted to John Flaherty for his decades of work collecting, organizing, and making original documents publicly accessible through Scribd. Here is just a sampling of the imp...

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Join us for Part 2 of our conversation with author, poet, queer parent, fellow FUS alum, and sometime college professor R/B Mertz. In this episode, we're discussing the education system, higher ed, right-wing politics, and how it all impacts the queer community and beyond.check out R/B's other work, including their debut memoir, Burning Butch: ⁠ https://rbmertz.com/⁠ order a candle: ⁠ https://dzhe...

Join us for Part 1 of our conversation with author, poet, queer parent, and sometime college professor R/B Mertz. check out R/B's other work, including their debut memoir, Burning Butch: https://rbmertz.com/ order a candle: https://dzhe0h-k0.myshopify.com/products/i-survived-steubenville-prayer-candle?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web leave laugh love...

Join Veronica for a chat about deconstructing in December with all the complicated feelings that Advent and Christmas bring when you've been deconstructing. Here's some links to resources on the holiday season. While these articles are all targeted to the LGBTQ+ community, I hope they might be helpful even if you are straight and cisgender! - 8 Queer Tips to Get Through the Holidays - Quee...

Today we unpack compulsory heterosexuality (“comphet”)—how church culture, gender scripts, and fear of exclusion pushed us to date men, plan marriages, and mistake deep friendship for attraction. We share the slow, messy process of naming queerness, the survival calculus of staying in community, and why silence around sexuality harms everyone—including the Church. From youth group purity talk to a...

Evelyn, Veronica, and Cade compare the wildly different messages men and women receive in Catholic spaces—porn-and-purity men’s talks vs. dignity-and-modesty women’s talks—then track how those scripts shape deconstruction, dating, and identity. From Theo-bro debate culture to confession-as-streaks, “feminine genius” to closeting strategies, we unpack power, fear, and why over-intellectualizing fee...

We sit down with Cherie - aka “The Canceled Christian” - to unpack life inside high-control evangelical spaces: homeschooling, purity culture, and rules at Pensacola Christian College, plus the cracks that formed during 2020 and after Dobbs. Cherie shares how she and her husband deconstructed together, why empathy (not outrage) moved her most, and practical advice for taking it slow, finding a “de...

We unpack the parts of Catholicism we still love and live by: the dignity of every person, preferential option for the poor, workers’ rights, solidarity, and care for creation. We get honest about where politics eclipsed the Gospel, why those same values led us out, and how community, ritual, silence, and values-based living still shape our daily lives—queer-affirming, neighbor-minded, and deeply...

Franciscan University has launched a $10 million “Homeland Mission” in Washington DC — partnering with groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Museum of the Bible. In this episode, Evelyn and Veronica unpack how the project connects to a broader movement of Christian nationalism, the donors behind it, and what it signals about the growing Catholic presence in U.S. politics. From prayer breakfa...

Join us as we unpack Life Teen’s State of Catholic Youth in America (2024) — breaking down “the five cries of youth,” the XLT/adoration model, summer camps, Steubenville ties, and the report’s framing of anxiety, gender dysphoria, politics, and phones. This episode is for devout parents, deconstructors, and anyone curious about how Catholic youth culture really works. Read along with us as we disc...

Veronica walks us through Chiles v. Salazar—the Supreme Court challenge to Colorado’s conversion-therapy ban. We unpack what the law actually prohibits (licensed claims to change orientation or gender identity), what it explicitly allows (client-led support and identity exploration), why “professional conduct” is regulate-able, and how amicus briefs—from Catholic orgs to ex-Exodus leaders — frame...

Happy feast day to both of our confirmation Saints! Today we dive into the life of St. Francis & the legacy he left behind Thank you so much for being here! Follow us @leavelaughlovepod on Instagram and TikTok and join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to stay up to date! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Order a candle here!

Join us for our thoughts on Chapters 1 & 2 of the YOUCAT Thank you so much for being here! Follow us @leavelaughlovepod on Instagram and TikTok and join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our Patreon community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to stay up to date! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Order a candle here!

"The Great Controversy" by Ellen White showed up on Veronica's doorstep... and we have thoughts ⁠⁠⁠Order a candle here!

Join us as we talk through the chaos of the week & all the tangents it brought us on

As Carlos Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati join the ranks of Catholic Saints, we discuss what all goes into the making of one

Join us as we reflect on the life & legacy of Dr. James Dobson

Shiny Happy People season one had a huge impact on our deconstruction... but season two feels even more relevant. Join us as we deep dive on the parallels to the Catholic conference world

Leave Laugh Love turned one! Join us as we reflect on all the things we learned in our first year of building this podcast

In this episode, we’re diving into Hallow— the Catholic meditation and prayer app. We talk about its features, the celebs involved, some of the controversy around monetizing prayer, and how it unexpectedly led us down a rabbit hole of QAnon, Catholic influencers, and Jim Caviezel.

Bill from the Morally Offensive podcast joins us to share his story of exiting the Church and the bizarre masculinity standards that pushed him over the edge Morally Offensive Podcast ⁠⁠Order a candle here!

In this episode, we trace the rise of Fr. Mike Schmitz — from campus minister to internet sensation. Have a little crazy red string moment with us while we talk media strategy, charismatic conference culture, and how everything somehow comes back to teleology & vibes. ⁠Order a candle here!

In this episode, we tackle the weird world of Catholic sex rules straight from church documents and encyclicals. From NFP to PIV, we break down the doctrine's wildest regulations Order a candle here!

What do we mean when we talk about culty/fundie/high-control Catholicism? Join us as we break down the BITE model of authoritarian control & the mind games that can make certain Catholic communities more than a little bit culty