I Read Something Bad

Today we’re diving into Mary Magdalene—the biblical FMC who got completely wrecked by centuries of patriarchal mythmaking that turned her from “apostle to the apostles” into either a prostitute or Jesus’s secret lover.
Topics Covered:
* How we got the myth that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute or sexually sinful woman
* How conflating all the Marys (Mary of Bethany, Mary mother of Jesus, the sinner woman) into one person significantly reduces Jesus’s interactions with women in Scripture
* The discovery that might make Mary Magadalene a parallel to Peter the Rock
* Why Mary wasn’t Plan B when the boys were hiding scared—Jesus chose her specifically to be the first witness and first apostle, which matters theologically
* The problem with readily accepting Paul’s apostleship while dismissing Mary’s
* Why pastors skip over Mary entirely on Easter Sunday to get to the punchline about John being the fastest disciple
* Jesus and Mary’s sibling relationship as a model for devotion without sexualization, and how purity culture destroyed our ability to have close platonic friendships
* Why spiritual siblinghood (brothers and sisters) is the New Testament’s favorite term for disciples

Timestamps:
02:00 The Prostitute Myth: How Pope Gregory Wrecked Mary’s Story
05:00 Conflating All the Marys Reduces Jesus’s Interactions with Women
08:00 Jesus Christ Superstar and Pop Culture Mary Mythmaking
10:00 What We Should Actually Remember About Mary Magdalene
12:00 Mary Wasn’t Plan B—Jesus Chose Her Specifically
14:00 Mary Identifies Jesus as Gardener: Eden Parallels and Reversal
17:00 Mary the Tower, Not Mary from Magdala
19:00 What If the Church Had Embraced Both Tower and Rock?
21:00 Why We Accept Men’s Certainty but Question Women’s Authority
23:00 Pastors Skip Mary to Get to “John Is the Fastest” Punchline
26:00 Looking With Mary, Not At Mary—She Points to Jesus
27:00 The Women Stayed at the Cross When the Men Ran Away
29:00 Jesus and Mary’s Sibling Relationship: Devotion Without Sexualization
31:00 How Purity Culture Killed Platonic Friendship and Chosen Family
34:00 Jesus Isn’t Ashamed to Call Us Brothers and Sisters
36:00 Spiritual Siblinghood: The Model Without Hierarchy
38:00 In Resurrection Life We’re All Siblings Forever—Why Not Live Like It Now?


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Today we’re wrapping up Melissa K. Roehrich’s Legacy series with Dawn of Chaos and Fury.
We’re unpacking how churches structure everything around nuclear families to everyone’s detriment, why Jesus had a cool aunt at the cross and you should aspire to be one too, and how Eviana’s arc is the most complex character development in the whole series even though we wanted to hate her. Oh AND we get to watch powerful people voluntarily give up their power for the greater good instead of hoarding it like real-world billionaires. The true fantasy!
Topics Covered:
* Why Tessa choosing childlessness to end the curse is a big deal in purity culture, and how evangelical spaces have no idea what to do with married couples who don’t have kids
* How expectations around motherhood hurt ALL women—not just the childless ones, but also mothers who are conditioned not to ask for help and end up isolated with their kids
* Eviana’s redemption arc as the best character development in the series—she didn’t get to raise her daughter but still did superior mothering by ensuring Priya would be free from abuse
* Why “she’s too much for one person” isn’t the feminist win it pretends to be when she never learns autonomy or how to harmonize her own chaos without men reigning her in
* The revolutionary moment when all the leaders voluntarily pool their power and give it away (because watching people share power for the greater good is the actual fantasy here)
* How quiet activism was happening all along in these kingdoms from the bottom up before they had the ability to go top-down, and why performing goodness isn’t the same as doing the work

Timestamps:
02:00 Tessa’s Childlessness Choice and Breaking Generational Curses
04:00 Being Child-Free by Choice in Evangelical Spaces
08:00 How Nuclear Family Structure Hurts All Women
11:00 Jesus Had a Cool Aunt and So Should You
13:00 There Are No Levels in Womanhood (The Lie We Fight)
16:00 Chosen Family and Mary’s New Support System
18:00 Eviana’s Complex Arc: The Depth We Didn’t Expect
22:00 Strategic Head-Centered Women vs Gut-Level Characters
23:00 Throuple Codependency vs Axel and Kat’s Healthy Dynamic
27:00 Why “She’s Too Much” Isn’t Feminist When She Lacks Autonomy
30:00 Autistic-Coded Luca and His Trinket Cave (Valid)
33:00 Reintegrating Chaos Instead of Just Controlling It
35:00 The Revolutionary Power-Sharing Moment (Actual Fantasy)
38:00 Quiet Activism That Wasn’t Seen: Welcome to the Revolution
40:00 Hoping to See Goodness in the Land of the Living


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 tackling the ever-controversial question of why so much Christian art feels thin, didactic, and aesthetically weak—and just plain BAD.
We’re getting real about how flattening the Bible into surface-level application points has destroyed our capacity to engage layers in any medium, why making Ruth and Boaz into a love story completely misses the point about welcoming the stranger, and how capitalism turned humans into resources to be used up—which means our entire identity got wrapped up in usefulness instead of Imago Dei.
Topics Covered:
* The definition of good art as opening perception and making room for the reader versus bad art that reduces experience to propaganda with predetermined conclusions
* Why Christian art often fails the hospitality test—inviting someone over just to lecture them about what to believe instead of offering actual coffee and conversation
* Post-Reformation history of shifting from visual imagery (icons, stained glass) to language-only emphasis, and how the printing press made accessibility a priority that accidentally flattened everything
* The Enlightenment’s need for certainty, empirical knowledge, and being on the same page—which bled into making messages crystal clear at the expense of mystery and layers
* How “Facing the Giants” versus “Remember the Titans” shows the difference between heavy-handed Christian messaging and wrestling with justice/humanity through storytelling
* Why Ruth and Boaz isn’t a romance about finding your person—it’s about Boaz depicting how Jesus welcomes strangers and provides for the vulnerable (Ruth said “where you go I will go” to NAOMI, people)
* The collapse of context and layers in Bible reading, and how treating Scripture as flat application points instead of artistic literature kills our ability to engage depth anywhere else
* How usefulness became our framework for existence instead of beauty, and why that’s devastating when your productivity disappears but you’re still made in the image of a creative God
Good art invites wonder and makes space for mystery. Bad art tells you exactly what to think and then wonders why you’re not engaged. 🎨✝️📖
Timestamps:
02:00 Defining Good Art: Hospitality vs Heavy-Handed Messaging
06:00 Intimacy and Openness as Framework for Beauty
09:00 Why People Want to Be Told What to Think vs Asking Questions
11:00 Facing the Giants vs Remember the Titans: What We’re Wrestling With
14:00 Stained Glass Windows vs Sharpie Statements: Losing the Layers
16:00 Post-Reformation Shift from Visual to Language-Only Emphasis
20:00 Teen Talent Competitions and Performing for God’s Glory
23:00 When Church Art Became Branded Word Art from Hobby Lobby
25:00 Iconoclasm and What We Lost by Rejecting Visual Beauty
28:00 Ruth and Boaz Isn’t a Love Story About Finding Your Person 3
1:00 Reading the Bible with Layers: Literature, Language, Lifetime, Lenses
34:00 Why Translation Is Always Interpretation
37:00 Ruth After Proverbs 31: She’s the Woman of Valor, Actually
39:00 When Usefulness Disappears and You Lose Your Framework for Beauty
41:00 Imago Dei Isn’t Broken or a Mission to Accomplish—It Just Is
43:00 Capitalism Turned Humans Into Resources to Be Used Up
45:00 Creating Without Goals: The Church Art Studio Experiment
47:00 Redeeming Love Scammed Us (The Bible Story Is Different, Y’all)
50:00 Mount Pilgrim’s Stained Glass: Good Christian Art That Inspires Justice


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Power Corrupts, Patriarchy Polices, and Why We’re All Rooting for the Dragons
Today Kate, Liz, and Sarah are diving into their first dark romantasy series on the pod—Melissa K. Roehrich’s Legacy Series, books 1-3.
We’re talking about source bonds as weaponized intimacy, how power systems crush imagination for anything better, and why literally every character is morally gray (so we’re all just rooting for the dogs and dragons instead). We’re unpacking Kate Mann’s framework for how patriarchy polices “good women” versus “bad women,” why Theon thinking he’s better than his dad while still locking Tessa in cellars is peak missing-the-point energy, and how the perversion of sacred bonds mirrors the way Christianity gets co-opted for power.
Plus, we’re getting real about female rage, the cost of surviving versus thriving in broken systems, and why even the characters with the best intentions can’t dream past vengeance when the whole structure is designed to destroy agency.
Topics Covered:
* Why dark romantasy is different from romantasy—morally complex characters, darker themes, trigger warnings, and stories that wrestle with power and agency rather than giving you escapist happy endings
* Kate Mann’s patriarchy framework: how misogyny polices women as “givers” (who support men) versus “takers” (who claim masculine perks), and how this entire dynamic plays out in the source bond system
* Why you shouldn’t take something meant to be mutual intimate connection and weaponize it into forced servitude, proximity requirements, and power extraction without consent
* Why benevolent hierarchy is still just hierarchy—you don’t get cookies for being less terrible
* The grooming and policing that happens peer-to-peer because patriarchy’s biggest prop is women policing other women
* Why we need people with perspective to interrupt normalized harm
* How the system crushes imagination: even the “good guys” can only envision vengeance or incremental power shifts rather than structural transformation
* Prophecy as intellectual cop-out and spiritual bypassing
* The tension between incremental coalition-building change versus burn-it-all-down rage, and why neither extreme works without the other
Looking at yourself in this series means recognizing that power corrupts empathy over time, that we’re all simultaneously participating in and harmed by systems, and that withholding chocolate cake from your source is unforgivable. Also, if you loved Nesta, you’ll love Tessa. 🐉🔥📚
Timestamps:
01:00 What Is Dark Romantasy and Why Trigger Warnings Matter
03:00 Kate Mann’s Patriarchy Framework: Givers vs Takers
08:00 Power Corrupts Empathy: Tyler Staton Quote and Agency
12:00 Source Bonds as Perverted Twin Flame Marks
15:00 Theon’s “I’m Better Than My Dad” Delusion
18:00 Eviana’s Reveal: They’re All Faking the Infatuation
20:00 Dex and Peer-to-Peer Grooming Within the System
22:00 Scarlet’s Role as Outside Perspective Friend
25:00 How Systems Crush Imagination for Better Futures
28:00 Prophecy as Spiritual Bypassing and Intellectual Cop-Out
32:00 Incremental Change vs Revolutionary Rage
35:00 Tessa’s “I’m the Villain Now” Realization
38:00 Breaking Cycles vs Perpetuating Harm
42:00 Plot Twists, Dragons, and Female Rage
44:00 Character Rankings: We’re All Rooting for Animals Only
47:00 Anticipating Book 4 and Hoping for Resolution


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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 Welcome
We 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 reasons
Looking 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 Othering

Timestamps:
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