The Curian Podcast

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth are joined by Savannah Locke ( https://www.savannahlocke.com/ ) for a conversation about worship music and the theology embedded within the songs churches sing. Together, they explore how popular worship music has been written, the assumptions and beliefs it communicates, and the ways lyrics shape our understanding of God, faith, and community. D...

Note: This episode includes conversation around sexuality and experiences of harm within the church, including abuse. We invite you to listen with care and attentiveness to your own experience.  In this follow-up conversation, Jonathan and Rev. Jill Elizabeth reflect on Jill's dialogue with Tori Owens, continuing to explore themes of faith, sexuality, and belonging within the church. Drawing from...

In this episode, Jill Elizabeth is joined by Tori Owens, a therapist and spiritual director, for a thoughtful and personal conversation about faith, sexuality, and the search for belonging within the church. Drawing from her own lived experience, Tori reflects on the tension between identity and tradition, and what it has meant to navigate spaces that have not always made room for her full self. T...

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Rev. Jill Elizabeth reflect on the Netflix series Mo , a story that weaves humor, hardship, and cultural tension into a deeply human narrative. Through the life of its central character, the series explores questions of identity, displacement, and what it means to belong in a world shaped by borders, systems, and competing loyalties. Jonathan and Jill approach...

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth are joined by Keri Ladouceur, executive director and co-founder of the Post-Evangelical Collective. Keri is a pastor, teacher, and bridge-building peacemaker who longs to cultivate new faith spaces of mutuality and flourishing for all people. Together, they explore what it means to live faithfully beyond the confines of traditional evangelical st...

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth reflect on Sinners , the 2025 supernatural horror film directed by Ryan Coogler. They approach the film as a cultural and theological text, exploring the deeper questions it raises about faith, oppression, and moral responsibility. Together, they consider how horror can illuminate the dynamics of power, communal fear, and inherited trauma. The co...

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth explore mimetic theory, a framework developed by French thinker René Girard that examines how desire, rivalry, and scapegoating shape human behavior and communities. Drawing on Jonathan’s doctoral work and long engagement with Girard’s thought, they discuss how mimesis influenced his faith, theology, and understanding of conflict within religious...

 In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth reflect on the 2024 film Conclave , using it as a lens to explore the inner dynamics of religious institutions. They examine how power, secrecy, and loyalty shape leadership and decision-making within sacred systems, and what the film reveals about institutional authority. The conversation invites listeners to consider how faith communities migh...

In this episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth are joined by Andrea Martinez of Martinez Immigration Law, a Kansas City–based immigration attorney featured in the Netflix documentary Living Undocumented , for a conversation at the intersection of faith, law, and human dignity. Together, they explore the ethical and theological questions surrounding immigration, the realities faced by immigran...

In this opening episode, Jonathan Foster and Jill Elizabeth welcome co-founder, Dana Hicks, president of the Curian Network, for a conversation about the story and heart behind Curian. Together, they reflect on their journeys within the church, being disinvited from their denomination, and what led them to create a new spiritual ecosystem rooted in care, integrity, and human dignity.  Learn how th...