It's the new evangelical Vatican y'all.Before there was New York City, both Katelyn and Roxy flirted with Nashville. The draw was real: deep friendship, like-minded value systems, shared faith, the prospect of financial stability. But something never quite clicked. Nashville felt maybe a little ... too comfortable, too safe, even a bit stifling. In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy imagine what could have been. We also do a deep dive into who Nashville has become in our years apart — and how choosing New York City has changed us.

The range of a religion reporter.This week, we ask ourselves: would we do mushrooms for research? Plus, a journey from Kansas to Tennessee to California and their multiple misbehaving men in ministry. Katelyn and Roxy discuss the similarities and patterns present in congregations where clergy can get away with almost anything.And we're joined by guest Gloria Purvis, a Black Catholic scholar who lost her job at a prominent Catholic radio network in 2020 after speaking out about the killings of unarmed Black Americans. Among other things, she discusses why racial justice should be an extension of the church’s holistic pro-life ethic.GUEST: Gloria Purvis is a Catholic commentator and host of the Gloria Purvis Podcast with America magazine and media.

For this Thanksgiving, we return to a favorite episode about food, hosting and the power of conversations around a dinner table.

It's a mancession.Or, as one woman put it to our guest today, "men are in their flop era." Men are lagging behind women in almost every measure of success today — from mental health, to education levels, to employment, to sexual satisfaction. What's going on? Katelyn and Roxy are joined (once again!) by columnist and author Christine Emba to discuss this masculinity crisis — and why it should matter to women. Plus: a dudely data dump.GUEST: Christine Emba is a columnist and member of the editorial board at The Washington Post, where she wrote her viral summer column and topic today's episode: "Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness." She is also the author of the book "Rethinking Sex: A Provocation."

When the clock keeps ticking, you gotta get picking ... a sperm donor, that is.Ok, but really, as more and more women are single into their late thirties and early forties, the option to have a child through in vitro fertilization becomes a very live question. As much as forty may be the new twenty, the biological timeline for many women still looms large. If you're someone who wants to bear children, waiting for the right partner may feel like a dead end. Or, as our guest today puts it, that's a lot of pressure for a first date. On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy talk to a friend who made the decision to put dating on hold and become a mother on her own. We discuss process, finances, a bit of theology and a lot of love.GUEST: Annie Parsons gave birth to her baby boy in early October, just a few days after recording this episode. Everyone is healthy and happy and we are overjoyed for this fledgling family.

But it is better if you get spiritual in the mornings.For a very long time, spending time with God felt a bit like a chore to be checked off. Remember quiet times? One year Bible reading plans? On this episode, Katelyn and Roxy discussing finding rhythms and rituals that actually work for connecting with God — no guilt attached. And, bonus, actually became morning people along the way. We can't believe it either! Plus, Karen Wright Marsh helps us find inspiration for our daily devotions from the lives of the saints.GUEST: Karen Wright Marsh is the founding director of Theological Horizons, a ministry at the University of Virginia that hosts lectures, spiritual studies, dialogues, and mentoring initiatives. She is the author of Wake up to Wonder.

"Seek peace and pursue it — especially when it seems impossible."Inspired by these words of his father, our guest today has been working to bring peace in the Holy Land since the early 2000s. The last few weeks have been an onslaught of horrifying news from Israel and Gaza — thousands upon thousands dead, hundreds held hostage, hundreds of thousands displaced. And, here, in America a rush to make sense of it — to clearly name the good guy and the bad guy, to further entrench lines in the sand that are already so deep. Amid the complexities of what many have called an "intractable problem," Katelyn and Roxy look to Greg Khalil, co-founder of Telos Group, an organization that insists you can be pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-American and pro-peace.GUEST:Greg Khalil is president and co-founder of Telos Group and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Before founding the Telos Group, Greg lived in Ramallah, the West Bank, where he advised the Palestinian leadership on peace negotiations with Israel. Visit telosgroup.org for a list of resources on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What's on your Jesus Island?Church, God, Christianity — they made up a core part of our identity as kids. In other words, we definitely had a Jesus Island. And, yes, that's a reference to Pixar's highly relatable "Inside Out." This episode of the podcast is full of them. Katelyn and Roxy plumb the depths of their childhood faith and discuss how those core memories continue to shape their faith today (or not!). We are joined by Esau McCaulley who shares some of his core faith memories as a kid, as well as the expectations put on black Christians and how the faith of his forebears set him on the path he’s on today.GUEST: Esau McCaulley is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. He is the author of the recent memoir "How far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South," and "Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope."

Why can't you just let us be happy?Recent internet pile ons have made it clear there are a whole lot of people out there — including some academics and sociologists, as well as all the incels — who believe single women are ruining society. Not an exaggeration. Marriage rates are down, birth rates are down, men are reporting all time lows in mental health and happiness — especially single men — and it's all because women have just gotten too picky. Or that they prefer cats and shakshuka to marriage, or something.In this episode, Katelyn and Roxy take on some perplexingly persistent myths about single women (cat ladies? career women? cold fish?) and why they've taken hold in Christian circles.

And if Russell Moore is a liberal, then what the heck are we?Our first guest for season six has us thinking about institutions. An exciting lead for a season opener, you say? It is! In part because this guest now leads an institution, Christianity Today, that both Katelyn and Roxy have some history with. But, not too long ago, he was an SBC bigwig — the president of its Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — before, well, a lot of things went down. In 2015 ... and 2016 ... and pretty much every year after that. Check out our extensive coverage at RNS if you somehow missed it all and are curious.On this episode, we talk to Moore about why he left the SBC in 2021; how he thinks of his own legacy in that world, including the question of complicity; and trying to lead a Christian institution when it’s tearing apart at the seams.GUEST: Russell Moore is editor in chief of Christianity Today and is the author of "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America."