Podcast
Religion on the Mind
Hosted by Dan Koch · EN
Interviews with experts, writers, psychologists and more on the intersection between psychology, religion and spirituality… with a little bit of cussing.
dan@religiononthemind.com
50episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Study Hall: Sex, Aging & Purity Culture (#403)
Yesterday00:40:06Summary readySex drive, religious formation, and the stubborn residue of purity culture — welcome back to Study Hall, where I bring you along as I cram for my licensure exam and connect to the psychology of religion along the way. Today we're staying in developmental psychology but moving into territory that, let's just say, came up a lot in my Christian high school years. Religious adolescents start later — but skip contraception The gender gap in sexual activity widens with age Purity culture hits women harder, and the shame sticks longer Religious residue shapes your sex life even after you leave the faith Gay couples have the most sex. Lesbians the least. Straight couples, middle. Married religious couples report higher sexual satisfaction — here's why ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryThe Many Faces of Fundamentalism with Trauma Therapist Ryan Kuja (#402)
1w ago01:19:44Summary readyLicensed therapist and trauma specialist Ryan Kuja joins me to examine the surprising parallels between Christian fundamentalism and new age spirituality — particularly how both can enable spiritual bypassing, discourage authentic questioning, and ultimately fail to hold space for the full complexity of human pain and experience. Ryan's Link Tree ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryWhen Theater Kids go to Youth Group (#401)
2w ago00:47:08Summary readyIn this episode, comedian and podcaster Jordan Morris describes growing up as a youth group kid in Orange County, and how those experiences informed his new graphic novel Youth Group, which treats its faith-filled characters with nuance and genuine affection rather than cheap satire. In the Patron-only second half, we get into the DIY ethos that both church basements and punk rock scenes share, the appeal of making the supernatural literal in his storytelling, and his ongoing creative collaborations with Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Morning. Jordan's Link Tree ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryPurpose & Calling After Religious Change (#400)
2w ago01:29:10Summary readyPsychologist Dr. Pamela Epstein King returns to explore how religious systems provide purpose, calling, and meaning — and what happens to those foundations when people go through significant religious change. Pam's Faculty Page Episodes Mentioned: Trusting Yourself After Religious Change | #370 The Six Facets of Spiritual Health | #285 ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryThe Jewish Renewal Movement with Rabbi Simcha Raphael (#399)
3w ago00:42:30Summary readyI sit down with Rabbi Dr. Simcha Raphael and learn about his remarkably wide-ranging spiritual journey. From a traditional Montreal Hebrew education through India, the San Francisco counterculture, and ultimately into the Jewish Renewal Movement as a scholar of death, afterlife, and the inner life of Judaism, his story mirrors what so many of us are navigating in our own religious explorations. In the Patreon-only second half, we explore what Judaism's rich tradition on death and the afterlife offers to the dying, the grieving, and anyone trying to build a vibrant spiritual life beyond the boundaries of where they started. Highlights: Montreal Jewish upbringing India, gurus, and culture shock Jewish Renewal and Reb Zalman Ecstatic vs. contemplative spirituality Death, grief, and felt presence Judaism's afterlife teachings ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryStudy Hall: Nature v. Nurture (#398)
4w ago00:34:29Summary readyThe nature vs. nurture debate is largely settled (spoiler alert: it's both), but the implications for how and when religious identity forms are striking. The research points to a surprisingly early window for faith formation, and what happens inside that window matters far more than most parents realize. Join me for what I'm calling Study Hall, where I bring you along as I study for my licensure exam and connect the concepts to religion along the way. Religious formation peaks ages 3–7 Parents trump youth group, always "Let them choose" backfires Baby brains resemble psilocybin trips Trauma may reopen learning windows Warmth beats doctrine, every time Episodes Mentioned: "God Concept" (#159) Christian Heavy Music: Theology, Attachment, Power (#139) Helping Kids Know God in Healthy Ways (#174) ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryParenting After Faith Deconstruction with Meredith Miller (#397)
Apr 2701:25:44Summary readyMeredith Miller returns to talk about something many of us have been navigating in our personal lives: how do you raise kids with a meaningful faith after your own deconstruction? We cover the real reasons to consider church, what the research actually says about faith formation, and why doing nothing is still doing something. Previous Episodes with Meredith: How Can Deconstructing Parents Talk About God? (#257) Helping Kids Know God in Healthy Ways (#174) Highlights: Home culture vs. church content Friendship over theology Your story is a gift Doing nothing = a choice Non-weaponizing Bible scholars do exist ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryEclectic Therapy: Mind, Body & John Wesley with Brad Strawn (#396)
Apr 2001:43:06Summary readyBrad Strawn of Fuller Seminary returns to unpack the four clinical and theological influences that shape his work as a therapist, pastor, and professor (Wesleyan theology, relational psychoanalysis, 4E cognition, and terror management theory), and we get into some genuinely good “inside baseball” about what all of this looks like in the room with actual clients. Highlights: Wesleyan theology: feelings first Relational healing through new experience 4E: embodied, embedded, enacted, extended AI can't replace human bodies Terror management → limits → meaning Cure soul, not just symptoms ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummaryTrump as AI Jesus & Hitler Repentance: Religion on the News with Mason Mennenga (#395)
Apr 1500:34:57Summary readyThings are, objectively, pretty rough right now! But honestly? We can't stop laughing at the "Trump AI Jesus" memes. Religion on the News is back with Mason Mennenga (A People's Theology), and today we're leaning more into the silliness and laughter of it all, with a hearty dose of psychology along the way. Topics (full list on the full Patron-only episode): Trump/Jesus AI art, the resulting memes and parodies (*chef's kiss*), Riley Gaines, Antichrist/Left Behind stuff, Evangelical art, in-group & partisan psychology, Nazi repentance, high-demand religion psychology, music/film roundup. ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SummarySh*tty Minister’s Club with Lillian Daniel (#394)
Apr 1301:22:12Summary readyLillian Daniel returns after five years to discuss her new book Defrocked: Good News from a Bad Pastor for a Better Church — a candid, often funny, and deeply human account of the misconduct process she underwent in the UCC, what it taught her about identity, boundaries, and shame, and how she eventually found her way back to ministry. Highlights: Power, process, and accountability Over-identification with vocation Boundaries (and the lack thereof) Shame vs. guilt, done right Lillian's New Book | Defrocked: Good News from a Bad Pastor for a Better Church Previous episode with Lillian: The Most & Least Plausible Christian Claims (#117) ___________________________________________ Follow Dan on IG: www.instagram.com/dancoke/ Or Twitter: twitter.com/DanKoch Faith deconstruction resources: www.soyouredeconstructing.com/ Join the Patreon for exclusive episodes (and more) every month: patreon.com/dankoch Email about the "sliding scale" for the Patreon: youhavepermissionpodcast@gmail.com YHP Patron-only FB group: tinyurl.com/ycvbbf98 Website: www.dankochwords.com/yhp.html Join Dan's email list: www.dankochwords.com/ Artwork by Nickryanluevano.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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