I Read Something Bad

Welcome back!Today we have a special guest—Brooklyn Stephens from We Choose Welcome—to talk about Wicked and why the people who refuse to watch it because “witches = evil” are exactly the ones who need its lessons on propaganda, authoritarianism, and othering the most. We’re unpacking how Elphaba’s intimate knowing of the marginalized gave her empathy while Glinda’s proximity to power kept her climbing ladders, why social capital maximization is antithetical to the gospel, and how we’re all simultaneously Glinda in some rooms and Elphaba in others depending on who’s watching. About We Choose WelcomeWe Choose Welcome is a grassroots community seeking to mobilize and equip women of faith to build and cultivate a welcome movement from their tables at home to the halls of Congress. We hope to empower our community to take action for the vulnerable in both our personal lives and through advocating for just immigration policies.We are here to provide educational resources, action tools, and a supportive community for those seeking to take the next step in their advocacy for immigrants and refugees.Follow them on Instagram and Facebook to stay connected, or reach out to our team to learn more.Topics Covered:* Why people who reject Wicked for having magic are missing crucial lessons about propaganda and authoritarianism that feel startlingly relevant to current immigration enforcement tactics* How Elphaba’s position on the margins gave her intimate knowing and empathy for the othered, while Glinda’s proximity to power kept her focused on climbing toward Madame Morrible* The tension between optimism bias that blinds us to realistic steps versus compassion fatigue that burns us out—and how to sustain advocacy work for the long haul without stealing from yourself twice* Why we’re all both Glinda and Elphaba depending on which room we’re in, and how recognizing this complexity helps us hold compassion for ourselves and others on the journey* The cost of staying in our individual bubbles (literal floating bubbles for Glinda) versus stepping outside—because “all that’s required to live in a dream is endlessly closing your eyes”* How evangelical social capital maximization and ladder-climbing is the opposite of empathy as a space-making practice that opens you up to connection* The diplomatic versus complicit internal battle, and whether working from inside institutions or building outside alternatives is the “right” way (spoiler: we need both)* Why Christian media’s heavy-handed messaging has maybe made audiences lose the skillset to engage deeply with complexity and moral ambiguity* How the church is missing opportunities to be a safe place for people’s valid concerns about ICE raids, layoffs, and systemic harm because it wants to protect reputation over choosing justice* The glimmers of hope happening quietly—200-300 person congregations getting trained, mothers walking immigrant children to school, Durham showing up with signs—even when we can’t post the photos for safety reasonsLooking at yourself in the mirror means locating where you are in the system, and sometimes you’re the one in the bubble floating over problems. So what do we do about it? Here are some resources from We Choose Welcome:* Allyship Guide* Creative Resistance* Letter Writing to Kristi Noem* Wicked: On Oz and OtheringTimestamps: 02:00 Why People Who Reject Magic Miss the Propaganda Lessons 06:00 Elphaba’s Intimate Knowing vs Glinda’s Proximity to Power 10:00 Empathy as Space-Making vs Social Capital Ladder-Climbing 13:00 Optimism Bias and Sustaining Advocacy Without Burnout 17:00 Starting Where You Are: Allyship Guide and Local Action 21:00 We’re All Both Glinda and Elphaba Depending on the Room 24:00 Diplomatic vs Complicit: The Daily Internal Battle 27:00 The Cost of Staying in Your Bubble vs Stepping Outside 30:00 Being Where Your Feet Are as Countercultural Practice 33:00 When People Reject Accessible Metaphors: Information Isn’t Enough 37:00 Why Christian Media’s Heavy-Handedness Killed Deep Engagement 40:00 Cinematography and Using Your Senses to Notice Truth 42:00 When Church Protects Institution Over Real Human Concerns 45:00 Finding Glimmers: Churches Showing Up Quietly Across the Country 48:00 The Tension of Personal Disappointment and Collective Hope This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com

Today your Matron Saints of Spice are wrapping up Stacia Stark’s Kingdom of Lies series with book four, where Prisca finally gets her crown and we’re learning that pre-disappointment is just stealing from yourself twice—a phrase that will now live rent-free in our heads forever. We’re unpacking how defiant joy is fuel for sustainable resistance (not escapist toxic positivity), why social media has become a machine of pre-disappointment, and how building actual alliances for mutual flourishing is way harder than fantasy books make it look. Plus, we’re getting real about complex family dynamics when your relatives choose racism over relationship, and why understanding someone’s trauma doesn’t mean you have to excuse their harm or sacrifice your safety.Topics Covered:* How pre-disappointment means you’re just disappointed twice when the bad thing happens anyway* The difference between defiant joy as sustainable fuel versus weaponized joy as disconnection and distraction—because hospital chaplains need bread-baking Mondays to keep showing up for dying patients* How evangelical teenagers were taught that if you weren’t miserable enough you weren’t taking faith seriously, and why permission to feel joy is actually radical healing* Social media as a pre-disappointment machine where everyone races to ruin movies and break bad news first instead of spurring each other toward goodness* Stoking the fires of courage daily instead of waiting until you need bravery, because you can’t protect reserves forever—sometimes you have to exercise the muscles* The problem with political alliances that sacrificed nuance for oversimplified platforms* How sharing a vision for mutual flourishing matters more than agreeing on tactics, and why we’re bad at painting specific positive pictures because individualism makes fear easier to weaponize* Complex family dynamics when relatives choose harm over healing, and how understanding generational trauma doesn’t mean excusing current damage or sacrificing your safety* The difference between biblical sibling language as security versus weapon—belonging in God’s family shouldn’t be contingent or used to manipulate your behaviorBravery is a choice you build daily, joy is defiance against despair, and you deserve relationships where safety is prioritized over control. And God’s family isn’t supposed to hold your belonging hostage. 👑⚔️✨Timestamps: 02:00 Pre-Disappointment and Stealing From Yourself Twice 06:00 Defiant Joy as Fuel vs Weaponized Joy as Distraction 10:00 Social Media as a Pre-Disappointment Machine 13:00 Permission to Feel Joy After Evangelical Misery Culture 17:00 Stoking Courage Daily vs Protecting Reserves Forever 22:00 Building Alliances: Why We Can’t Find Modern Examples 26:00 Pro-Life Coalition and Women Who Don’t See What’s Coming 30:00 Shared Vision for Flourishing vs Tactical Disagreements 33:00 Beloved Community and the Kingdom of God on Earth 37:00 Why We’re Bad at Painting Specific Positive Futures 40:00 Complex Family Dynamics and Navigating Harm 45:00 Understanding Trauma Without Excusing Current Damage 48:00 Sibling Language as Security vs Manipulation Tool 52:00 Fiction Shows Us Truth When Reality Is Too Close This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com

Today your matron saints of spice are diving into book three of Stacia Stark’s Kingdom of Lies series, where Prisca is processing trauma while everyone tells her she needs to grieve right now, and we’re realizing the pendulum on grief has swung from “suffer in silence” to “perform your sadness publicly or you’re doing it wrong.” We’re unpacking how Regner’s sleeper cell spiders mirror church manipulation tactics, why spiritual gift assessments are basically just helping churches find free labor, and how the terror of “missing God’s will” kept us from making literally any decision in high school. Plus, we’re getting real about how trying to resurrect your dead boyfriend is the same kind of control as exploiting people through intimacy—even when your intentions are really good.Topics Covered:* Why delayed grief is valid and sometimes you literally cannot stop to process because you know it’ll take two weeks of couch-rotting and you don’t have two weeks right now* How Regner weaponizing intimacy through his spider network is exactly what happens in church spaces with “sweet girl coffee dates” and psychological warfare disguised as community* The uncomfortable parallel between exploiting people for evil ends versus trying to resurrect your mate for love—because control is control even when we think we’re justified* The wild difference between shoulder-tapping manipulation (”I need you to do this”) versus developmental invitation (”I see this gift in you, would you like to grow it?”)* How the hourglass amplifies Prisca’s gifts for good or bad, just like our own gifts can build up or tear down depending on how we wield them—and why fundamentalism demonizes tools instead of cultivating discernment* The pressure to choose your “one calling” and how God’s will actually has more to do with daily choices and character formation than finding the single perfect college/job/spouse* God as a God of restoration means you get to start over—resurrection life isn’t about getting it perfect the first time, and sometimes Abraham maybe shouldn’t have tried to sacrifice Isaac at allThe river of grief flows where it needs to flow, spiritual gifts without character development just create narcissistic leaders, and God’s will is big enough to handle all your decisions—not just the one narrow path you’re terrified of missing. Timestamps: 02:00 Policing Grief: From Silent Suffering to Mandatory Processing 06:00 Why Delayed Grief Is Valid and Sometimes Necessary 10:00 Lorian’s Grief vs Prisca’s Grief: Different Rivers, Different Timelines 13:00 Regner’s Spiders and Church Manipulation Through Intimacy 16:00 Control for Good Ends Is Still Control: The Resurrection Problem 20:00 How Gifts Become Weapons Depending on Who Wields Them 23:00 Spiritual Gift Assessments as Free Labor Recruitment Tools 28:00 Shoulder Tapping: Manipulation vs Developmental Invitation 32:00 Why Churches Need Developmental Pipelines, Not Crisis Recruiting 36:00 Prisca Stepping Into Destiny: Fate vs Free Will vs Choice 40:00 The Anxiety of “Missing God’s Will” in High School 44:00 God’s Will Isn’t One Narrow Path You Can Accidentally Miss 46:00 Permission to Start Over: Resurrection Life and Restoration This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com

Today your matron saints of spice are breaking down Taylor Swift’s latest album The Life of a Showgirl. We’re unpacking the false binary of “literary Taylor” versus “fun Taylor,” defending intellectualism in giddy romance, and explaining why performative activism on social media isn’t the same as actually loving your neighbors. Plus, we’re getting real about how knowing too much about Taylor’s life actually ruins some songs because we can’t separate her lore from our own experiences.Topics Covered:* First impressions of the album and how the stark tonal shift from TTPD to Showgirl hit different depending on which era of Taylor you entered the fandom through* The problem with binary thinking in both theology and art criticism—moving past “I liked it/I didn’t like it” to actually engage critically with what the work is doing* How people vilify women (and specifically female theologians) for processing pain through Taylor Swift’s music, which is really just policing grief in weird patriarchal ways* The false binary of career woman versus domestic goddess, and how women (including Taylor) contain multitudes without having to choose one identity forever* How the emphasis on performance over practice keeps us from doing actual neighborhood-level activism, because posting black squares isn’t the same as loving Black peopleThe cringe is intentional, the depth is real, and Happy Taylor deserves the same literary analysis as Sad Taylor. Also, dick jokes can be spiritual practices after hard hospital shifts—chaplains said so. 🎭✨💕Timestamps: 02:00 First Impressions: Opposite Listening Trajectories 05:00 Community Theater Experience Making Art Hit Different 10:00 Moving Past Binary Thinking in Art and Theology 13:00 Policing Women’s Grief Through Celebrity Criticism 18:00 Defending Intellectual Depth in Surface-Level Work 23:00 The Cringe Factor and Permission to Be Fully Human 27:00 Folklore Fans and Projecting Pandemic Sadness 31:00 Taylor the Poet vs Taylor the Brand 34:00 Intellectualism in Giddy Romance and Fun Art 38:00 Reimagining Trauma Through Creative Storytelling 40:00 False Binary of Career vs Domestic Life for Women 46:00 Performative Activism vs Actual Community Practice 49:00 Stadium Security and Why Speaking Out Is Complicated 53:00 Performance Over Practice in Online Activism 57:00 Favorite Songs This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com

Today your matron saints of spice are putting our literary lens on some biblical badasses who deserve way more airtime than they get—Jael and Deborah from the book of Judges. We’re talking about a prophetess judge who sat under a palm tree settling disputes and leading military strategy, plus a married woman who lured an enemy general into her tent and drove a tent peg through his skull with #biblicalwomanhood. If you’ve ever wondered why complementarian spaces conveniently skip these ladies in Sunday school, buckle up—because this story has sexual imagery, violence reversals, and women exercising authority without a single caveat about “lack of qualified men.”Topics Covered:* Historical context of the Judges period and why Deborah stands as the only legitimately good judge in a book full of increasingly terrible men doing what’s right in their own eyes* How Deborah operates as prophetess, judge, military strategist, and worship leader simultaneously—with zero biblical explanation needed about why a woman has this authority (spoiler: she just does)* The subversive power of Jael using domestic hospitality as her battlefield, complete with intentional sexual imagery in the Hebrew poetry that flips wartime rape culture on its head* Why Barak asking Deborah to come with him instead of the woman needing male protection is a complete trope reversal, and how their friendship models men and women working together without Billy Graham rule nonsense* The uncomfortable moment when the enemy general’s mother casually expects him to be dividing “a womb or two” as war plunder—and how women in complementarian spaces still rationalize male violence today* How both these women are outsiders (Deborah leading when she “shouldn’t,” Jael as a non-Israelite) showing God consistently working through unexpected people to accomplish divine justice* The grounded confidence both women display in just doing what needs doing without fanfare, wrestling, or asking “are you sure God?” seventeen times like Gideon* Why Deborah elevating Jael in song is the ultimate women-supporting-women moment we need more of in ministry spaces that pit women against each otherAlso, the Hebrew word play puts Barak’s name in the tent peg murder weapon, which is absolutely iconic literary trolling. Biblical womanhood: be prepared to drive stakes through enemy temples at any moment.Timestamps: 02:00 Historical Context: Judges Period and Deborah’s Authority 06:00 Why This Story Never Makes It to Sunday School 09:00 Deborah Under the Palm Tree: Leadership Without Caveats 12:00 Barak and Deborah’s Friendship as Trope Reversal 15:00 Moving Past Suspicion Between Men and Women in Ministry 19:00 Barak Willing to Do Right Thing Without Getting Credit 22:00 When Women Normalize Male Violence for Other Women 25:00 Jael’s Subversive Hospitality and Sexual Imagery 28:00 One Tent in the Field: Reverse One Room Trope 30:00 Aspirational Traits: Grounded Confidence and Self-Assurance 33:00 Women Elevating Women: Deborah’s Song for Jael 36:00 Bible Reading Tips: Pay Attention When Women Speak This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit irsbpodcast.substack.com