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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— We’re having a 500th episode party in Aurora, Illinois on Saturday, October 7. Details are here!

— “Project 2025” is a Christian Nationalist fever dream that would destroy American democracy. (1:39)

— “Savior Complex” explores the dark side of an infamous Christian missionary in Uganda. (19:37)

— A new federal report says Liberty University isn’t keeping its students safe. (37:50)

— North Dakota GOP lawmaker Brandon Prichard went on a theocratic, homophobic tirade. (49:15)

— With more abuse lawsuits on the horizon, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has declared bankruptcy. (1:01:59)

— SPONSOR: ButcherBox is offering our listeners turkey FREE in your first box plus $20 off your first order. Sign up at butcherbox.com/friendly and use code FRIENDLY.

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In this bonus episode, Hemant spoke with Kate Cohen, author of the new book “We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too).” (Affiliate link)

Cohen is a Washington Post contributing columnist who has written many beautiful essays about atheism for an audience that isn’t necessarily seeking it out. We spoke about why she’s not an “angry atheist,” the importance of secular holidays, whether there’s a nice way to tell religious people they’re lying to themselves, and more.

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Hemant is speaking in Denver on Saturday, Sep. 30. Details are here!

— We’re having a 500th episode party in Aurora, Illinois on Saturday, October 7. Details are here! t

— A former Southern Baptist leader says his sexual misconduct is “nobody else’s business.” (1:30)

— Republicans think Donald Trump is more of a “person of faith” than Mike Pence and Mitt Romney. (24:42)

— Kevin Sorbo doesn’t want anyone to say his anti-trans children’s book is anti-trans. (37:34)

— NASA’s new policy chief took her oath on a copy of Carl Sagan‘s “Contact.” (51:25)

— The Transformed Wife doesn’t know how public schools work. (54:50)

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In this bonus episode, Hemant spoke with Andrew Pledger, a former student at Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school with a long and not-so-great history. Andrew is the host of a new podcast called “Surviving Bob Jones University: A Christian Cult.”

The stories in that podcast are depressing as all hell but they’re so important to hear if you want to get a real sense of what schools like these do to people.