What happens when poverty, desperation, and fundamentalist religion become deeply intertwined? How do entire communities get shaped by fear, shame, and the promise that faithfulness will eventually be rewarded?

Today we sit down with Josiah Hesse to discuss his deeply personal book, On Fire For God, and the realities of growing up poor in rural Iowa during a time when economic collapse and religious extremism were feeding off one another.

We talk about the rise of the Christian Right through the lens of lived experience: prosperity gospel theology, generational dysfunction, purity culture, fear-based religion, and the ways vulnerable people are often told their suffering is either holy or deserved. Growing up in a world where brokenness becomes normalized, where shame functions as social currency, and where faith was both a lifeline and a weapon can be damaging to anyone caught in the system's crosshairs.

This conversation explores the emotional cost of survival in high-control religious environments, the political machinery that profits from desperation, and what it means to revisit painful memories in pursuit of honesty and healing.

Josiah Hesse is a journalist based here in Colorado, writing about exvangelical issues for quite a while now. He is the author of Runner’s High and is a regular contributor to The Guardian and Vice. His latest book On Fire For God can be found wherever books are found.

josiahhesse.com

IG: @jojodancer3000

Attributions: ON8FDNIHEAKJ8GXS

This episode throws the “keep it light” rule directly into the fire and tackles some of the most contested conversations of our time: Palestine, Zionism, colonialism, empire, nationalism, and white supremacy. We explore how systems of power frame justice as controversial while presenting domination, occupation, and violence as unfortunate but “complicated” realities. Along the way, we examine how history is sanitized, narratives are controlled, and dissent is often treated as more dangerous than the harm being protested.

At its core, this conversation is about questioning the stories we inherit and asking who benefits from them remaining unchallenged. From imperialism and propaganda to selective memory and political rhetoric, we unpack how modern systems maintain power through fear, confusion, and historical erasure. If you’ve ever felt like the official narrative leaves out crucial pieces of the story, this episode is for you.

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is a Black queer preacher, teacher, movement strategist, and justice advocate. She is an adjunct professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University and also serves as the first-ever Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates (PRA), a social justice research and strategy center that provides strategic insights and actionable research that identifies, disrupts, and competes with movements and institutions that undermine democracy, justice, and human rights. In 2021, Rev. Naomi founded Salt | Yeast | Light, an organization that develops spaces of spiritual education, disruption, reflection, transformation, and public action. Naomi serves as the Board Chair of Pride in the Pews, and also a member of the board of SIECUS. Additionally, she serves on the Faith Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church & State and volunteers her time with Christians for a Free Palestine.

You can find her on Instagram @oholyshift as well as on Threads

If folks want to book her, they can email: hellorevnaomi@gmail.com

Attributions: ON8FDNIHEAKJ8GXS

What happens when nationalism, empire, and religion become so deeply intertwined that violence begins to look holy? In this episode, we examine the relationship between anti-imperialism, immigration enforcement, colonial power structures, and the political machinery that sustains them. From conversations surrounding ICE and state violence to the global consequences of militarized nationalism, we explore how fear and power are often packaged as morality, security, or even divine obligation.

A major focus of this discussion is the ideology of Christian Zionism and the ways it has been weaponized to support imperialism, colonial expansion, and endless political conflict while simultaneously reinforcing harmful antisemitic narratives beneath the surface. Together, we unpack how theology can be manipulated into a political tool, why criticism of empire is often reframed as disloyalty or heresy, and how systems of domination rely on religious certainty to justify oppression. This episode challenges simplistic narratives and asks difficult questions about faith, power, nationalism, and what solidarity looks like in a world shaped by occupation, fear, and control.

Elli Reynolds is an aspiring journalist, documenting power, protest, & occupation.

You can find them on Instagram @elli_documents or on TikTok @elli_documents.

Attributions: ON8FDNIHEAKJ8GXS