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

Why do humans recoil so strongly from things we perceive as “unclean,” immoral, or socially contaminating — even when those reactions make absolutely no logical sense? In this episode, we dive into the psychology of disgust, moral contamination, and the invisible boundaries humans obsessively create between pure and impure, acceptable and unacceptable, “us” and “them.” From religion and purity culture to gender norms and social stigma, we explore how fear and shame are often used to police behavior and maintain control.

But disgust isn’t always destructive. Sometimes the very things that unsettle us force us to confront deeper truths about identity, morality, vulnerability, and what it means to be human. This conversation examines why people cling so tightly to moral superiority, how cultures weaponize disgust to create outsiders, and whether the things that make us uncomfortable might also be the things capable of transforming us.

Billie Hoard is a trans woman, a high school history teacher, an author, and something of an Anabaptist radical. A consummate generalist, she holds an MA in liberal arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and she writes on topics ranging from fairy tales and C. S. Lewis to theology and philosophy. She and her brother, Paul Hoard, are the authors of Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life.

billieiswriting.substack.com

Paul Hoard, PhD, LMHC, is a licensed counselor, psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and associate professor of counseling psychology at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, as well as a board member for the Center for Christianity and Psychoanalysis. His scholarship focuses on Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, sexuality, white-body supremacy, perpetration-induced traumatic stress, and the theological logic of disgust. He has spoken and published internationally on topics including purity culture, trauma, eucontamination, and the intersections of theology and psychoanalysis. In addition to his academic and clinical work, Dr. Hoard is a co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Praxplay, an AI-powered training platform designed to help counseling students develop clinical skill through simulated client interactions. He is the co-author, with his sister Billie Hoard, of the book Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life.

https://paulhoard.substack.com/ ; Praxplay startup for counselor training; Center for Christianity and Psychoanalysis

Attributions: ON8FDNIHEAKJ8GXS