In an era where voices are silenced, and stories are censored, embracing and supporting spaces that offer uncensored narratives is more crucial than ever. Artistic Resistance: Andrea shares her insights on how comics have historically challenged societal norms and offered a platform for collective power and identity expression. With her expertise in comics history, she delves into how these narratives confront binaries and foster world-building. Comics and Community: Explore the role of local co...
Mar 10, 2025•40 min•Season 5Ep. 6
In today's empowering episode, we're joined by wellness guide and advocate Brit Koch, who introduces us to the transformative concept of rest as a form of resistance plus 49 other Actionable Ways to Resist. Our conversation redefines self-care and explores how small, personal actions can lead to significant societal change. Whether you're new to activism or looking for sustainable ways to continue your engagement without burnout, this episode offers valuable insights into balancing action with s...
Mar 02, 2025•43 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Today, let's talk about something close to our hearts -- community, growth, and the gritty reality of dealing with societal issues. In today's world, where chaos often seems to reign supreme, finding our people, opening up, and taking care of ourselves isn't just nice to have—it's essential for our survival and empowerment. We're bringing you a challenge to engage with your communities and build meaningful relationships while not forgetting your personal health and needs. Stage one is to resist....
Feb 23, 2025•9 min•Season 5Ep. 4
In this crucial episode, we’re joined by Dr. Laura Anderson to unravel the complex web of religious trauma and its intersection with political turbulence. We're adventuring into the realms of election anxiety, religious healing, and Christian nationalism, we discover challenges and pathways to personal empowerment and peace. What we're talking about this episode: Election Anxiety & Healing Trauma: How the current political climate exacerbates religious trauma and what it means for those caug...
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 3
Hey ghosties, since we’re in that wicked season, we thought we would take a stab at sharing some of the things we were told were evil. We welcome Kevin Garcia back to the show and we stuck ourselves back in middle school, in the early 90’s when TV was evil. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/holy-ghosting/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Oct 29, 2024•58 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Episode CW: we talk about our bodies, restrictive eating, diet culture, sexual repression In this soulful episode of Holy Ghosting, Meg and Sarai Johnson delve into the deeply personal journey of embodiment and the common struggle of feeling disconnected from our own bodies—something many of us face, especially if we grew up in high-control religious settings. They unwrap how cultural and religious scripts have shaped our views on body image and why it’s crucial to cultivate self-care and self-l...
Oct 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Hi Ghosties! What's your summer been like? Ours were wild! Your hosts, Lindsay, Meg and Sarai start this episode by sharing our summer experiences, personal growth and big news about the podcast. AND THEN!!!! Ekkk! We celebrate Amy Grant. We talk about her legacy and her influence on our lives, discussing our favorite album art, our desert island song and the controversies surrounding her divorce. We get into the scandal and the redemption of our favorite crossover pop star on the newest episode...
Sep 29, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Welcome, Ghosties! This episode, "It's Good To Feel Good," brings the amazing duo of Julia and Jeremiah from the Sexvangelicals podcast to talk with Meg & Sarai about the journey from sexual repression to liberation, shedding light on how purity culture has shaped our views on intimacy and desire. We get INTO IT today, sharing personal stories and things we've learned about reclaiming bodily autonomy, exploring pleasures beyond shame, and challenging conventional norms like monogamy. From Re...
Jun 30, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Have you ever known some hetero Christian married couple who were together a real long time and then one of them is like, “oops, I’m gay!” and they break up? A lot of us have known folks in this position. And we also remember the fallout and the “prayer chain” (read: gossip train) buzz when these woes befell our brethren. By the way, is there such a thing as “sisthren?” or “siblingthren?” There should be. We digress. Long story short, this podcast is hosted by a sisthren of “oops, I’m gay!” wome...
Jun 16, 2024•46 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Just when you thought your hellacious heroines, Lindsay, Meg & Sarai, couldn't possibly have more to say about YWAM, BAM! A fourth episode! This time, the call is coming from inside the house, so to speak, because Ghosties like you are sharing their YWAM experiences. Hang out with us as your Ghostie compatriots get brave and tell us the wild tales from their days traveling the world on God's dime. You'll have all the feelings there are to feel. Before you listen, know there are some contents...
Jun 13, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Ahoy, Ghosties! Set sail with us on the turbulent waters of YWAM's Mercy Ships as Karen Alea, from the Deconversion Therapy podcast, joins us for a deep-sea adventure into religious deconstruction. From the highs of missionary zeal to the lows of financial strain and the choppy waves of communal living, Karen shares her journey of finding land after leaving the evangelical archipelago. In this episode: 🌍 Travel Bugs and Belonging: Karen dives into why YWAM's promise of adventure lured her in. �...
May 26, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Protect your peace: CW: Suicide, Depression, dark thoughts, religious ocd Anna Gazmarian shares her spiritual and mental health journey with Lindsay and Meg. Get Anna's book, out now! Devout: A Memoir of Doubt Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/holy-ghosting/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
May 13, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Meg opens up about her experiences in YWAM. You don't want to miss this episode in our Youth With A Mission series. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/holy-ghosting/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Apr 29, 2024•52 min•Season 4Ep. 8
In this episode, we dive into the not-so-wonderful world of Youth With a Mission, aka YWAM . We chat with our pal (and Lindsay’s sister), D.L. Mayfield about the history and horrors of the cult-like organization that began with one white guy's vision of young people sweeping the globe for Jesus. (Totally not creepy, right?) Fast forward a few decades and YWAM is one of the largest missions organizations on the planet, with 1100 locations in 180+ countries and over 18,000 (unpaid!) staff. It shou...
Apr 14, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 7
In our latest episode we jump into the turbulent waters of gendered messages and purity culture with a critical eye on the Christian advice book, 'For Young Women Only'—or as we like to call it, “How to NOT Cause a Guy to Stumble.” Published in the early 2000s, this book perpetuates harmful beliefs about gender, sexuality, and the role of women in the church, echoing through youth groups and beyond. We dissect the enforced performance of masculinity, the unjust objectification of women's bodies,...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 6
What happens when a homeschooled horse girl feels “god put Africa on her heart?” Well. It could be a lot of things. In fact, your own fave Ghostie Hostie, Lindsay, was exactly this kind of girlie. And yet! Just as two paths diverge in a yellow wood, so do our choices take us to different places. Lindsay, for one, went on a medical mission to Uganda, wore scrubs, and - shockingly - didn’t perform a single medical intervention that would require training, certification, or licensure. For Renee Bac...
Mar 03, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Just when you think you’ve had your fill of problematic white women, Renee Bach comes along. Look, your Murder of MILFs (hey! It stands for “Mom I’d Like to Friend,” get your head out of the gutter!) watched “Savior Complex,” a documentary detailing the ascent of a young missionary, Renee Bach and Serving His Children, the organization she founded and operated in Uganda. At the wise and totally reasonable age of 19, she discovered she had “a heart for Africa” and was called by God. What started ...
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode, Meg and Lindsay chat with Crystal Britt, a licensed clinical social worker and actual therapist about the famed book, ‘The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts’ by pastor (NOT therapist) Gary Chapman. We talk about how the Five Love Languages are reductive, gendered, and heteronormative and how there are many better resources for communication in relationships. Christians especially love this read and recommend the Five Love Languages as if the Lord himself wrote t...
Feb 11, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Have you ever felt like you didn't have a voice? Or that you didn't feel safe to talk about your needs or interests in your relationships, workplaces, your home -- uh, church, maybe? Well, today your favorite Apostolic Apostates, Lindsay, Meg, and Sarai join forces with Meredith Holley of Eris Resolution to dig into the basics of Empowered Communication. Learn how to find your voice, how high control religion taught us disempowered communication strategies, and get ready for some juicy gossip ab...
Jan 21, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Happy New Year Ghosties! We're back with an update and then we're sharing one of our favorite episodes where we talk to DL Mayfield in the midst of their deconversion from Christianity and we reflect on what the impact is on kids like us raised in high control religion. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/holy-ghosting/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 1
What happens when you're deconstructing with your middle-aged mom friends...and you get to a point where you're like, cool, I'm no longer a part of this religion, but how do I live now? Short answer: Howsoever you fucking want; but more specifically, it's something you get to work out with fear and trembling, just like you probably did with your own salvation. Join your fave apostates as they discuss what this strange post-pandemic peri-apocalyptic year has wrought - at least at a micro-level. �...
Dec 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 47
It's beginning to look a lot like X-mas - you know, with the silver bells, the Santa at the mall, the carnage left behind when people utter the phrase "Happy Holidays..." Your Bible Busting Besties, Lindsay, Meg, and Sarai are joined by the man behind the myth, the legend, The Original Sinfluencer, Joshua Colburn. Get in on the delightful hangout and learn who *really* canceled Christmas (spoiler: The Damn Puritans, good lort, those people), why Bill O'Reillly should be crowned a patron saint of...
Dec 10, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 46
In honor of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and All the Buying Things Days from now until approximately December 25th, your Queen Ghosties, Lindsay, Meg, & Sarai bring you a deep dive into all things Christian bookstores, products, and marketing. They also take a perplexing look at why Christians are such brilliant capitalists whilst claiming they follow a broke carpenter who, apparently, "never asked for a raise" (listen if you want to be extra grossed out by what this actually means). Bottom l...
Nov 26, 2023•44 min•Season 4Ep. 45
Just when you thought we were done with ghouls and horrors for the year, we're here to point out that the holidays are just around the corner...so beware! Because they love you, your terrific trio of hosts asked Dr. Laura Anderson back to give us all some tools to use at the dinner table and beyond. Dr. Laura has an array of ways to handle family communication around challenging, triggering, and re-traumatizing topics, so you can come home whole and unscathed. Everybody can pick up some great st...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 44
Don't get spooked! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/holy-ghosting/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 4Ep. 43
The specter of Halloween is upon us yet again! And so is this Best Of episode - To Hell with the Devil's Holiday or: Suck it Harvest Parties! Learn about Lindsay's quest to become Queen of Halloween, and hear some spooky stories of youth group shenanigans gone awry. Joyous references include: Hell Houses, Heaven's Gates/Hell's Flames, and other completely ridiculous "scared straight" tactics Christians loved using in the 80's and 90's to get the youth to secure their own eternal salvation. Prett...
Oct 25, 2023•57 min
For kids who grew up during the Satanic Panic - especially those of us raised in Good Christian Homes - talking about, thinking about, worrying about, or wondering about demons was just an everyday thing. Join your Unwholesome Homeschoolers (and Meg) as they remember their personal demonologies and the way we really did think we always had demons scratching at every "foothold" to get in and influence (?) or possess (?) us. Phew! Wild times! Come along for this spooky season episode all about our...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 42
(Ultimate Spoiler: Oops, All White Supremacy - AGAIN?) Have you lost some people you love to an internet conspiracy theory? Is your weird aunt saying wild shit about Jewish space lasers at family dinners? If so, you might be a human being who still believes the earth is a globe that orbits the sun, or, say, that gravity exists...and your friends and relatives and people from church, in particular, are doubting those generally agreed upon realities. What gives? Why do Christians seem to fall for ...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 41
CW: child abuse Of your three Holy Hosts, two of them were homeschooled. Both take a perverse kind of pride in being not like other homeschoolers, but if you really think about it, that may be the most homeschool thing about them. All that said, homeschooling has been on a meteoric rise since the 1980’s (coincidentally, when the Christian Evangelical right wing marriage was consummated with the election of Ronald Reagan). It has been driven by conservative Evangelicals (a hilariously redundant t...
Sep 17, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 40
CW: Child Abuse, IBLP and Bill Gothard Abuse If you're a survivor of IBLP please find support at: Recovering Grace Shiny Happy People gave us a tiny glimpse into the realities of the IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles) cult. *Sidebar: be sure to listen to the Too Many Cults mini-series on this feed if you want to deep dive with our very own Lindsay and Krispin Mayfield from The Prophetic Imagination Station podcast! But even with 4 episodes, Shiny Happy People barely scratches the surface ...
Sep 03, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 4Ep. 39
