Veterans of Culture Wars

Every year, around this time, Jeffrey Overstreet joins us to talk about our favorite movies of the preceding year. This year we are very happy to have Sarah Welch-Larson joining the discussion as well. On part 2 of our Best Movies of 2022 mega-episode, we talk about our personal top 10 movies from 2022. Connect with Sarah Welch-Larson on Twitter:  @dodgyboffin Listen to Sarah Welch-Larson with co-host Kevin on the "Seeing and Believing" Podcast: https://christandpopculture.com/category/podcast/seeing-and-believing/ Buy Sarah Welch-Larson's book "Becoming Alien" right here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-alien-sarah-welch-larson/1138609607 Connect with Jeffrey Overstreet on Twitter: @overstweet Read Jeffrey Overstreet's Substack right here: https://substack.com/profile/8438708-jeffrey-overstreet Buy Jeffrey Overstreet's books including "Through a Screen Darkly" right here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780830743155 Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Every year, around this time, Jeffrey Overstreet joins us to talk about our favorite movies of the preceding year, the Oscar nominees, and so forth. This year we are very happy to have Sarah Welch-Larson joining the discussion as well. On part 1 of our Best Movies of 2022 mega-episode, we talk about the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture and some smaller, somewhat idiosyncratic films that didn't make our personal top 10 lists but we felt were notable and worth sharing. On the next episode, the 4 of us count down our individual top 10 lists and share our thoughts on all of them. Connect with Sarah Welch-Larson on Twitter:  @dodgyboffin Listen to Sarah Welch-Larson with co-host Kevin on the "Seeing and Believing" Podcast: https://christandpopculture.com/category/podcast/seeing-and-believing/ Buy Sarah Welch-Larson's book "Becoming Alien" right here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-alien-sarah-welch-larson/1138609607 Connect with Jeffrey Overstreet on Twitter: @overstweet Read Jeffrey Overstreet's Substack right here: https://substack.com/profile/8438708-jeffrey-overstreet Buy Jeffrey Overstreet's books including "Through a Screen Darkly" right here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780830743155 Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Podcast host and writer Amy Fritz joins us to talk about her Evangelical story and how her family moved from Minnesota to Tennessee as her husband Nathan took a job at Ramsey Solutions. She talks about how she came to realize that Ramsey Solutions was a toxic environment and that led her to thinking about untangling her faith from other unhealthy personalities, organizations and ideas. Follow Amy Fritz on Twitter: @amyfritz Listen to the Untangled Faith podcast right here: https://untangledfaithpodcast.com/ Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Professor and author Dr. David Dark joins the VCW hall to talk about his reframed and expanded new book "Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious".  We discuss the definition of "religious" vs "spiritual but not religious", Hollywood's portrayal of Christians and/or religious people, why to "love a person is to love a process" and also that love takes a neighborhood. Buy the book here: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506481661/Lifes-Too-Short-to-Pretend-You-re-Not-Religious Connect with Dr. David Dark here: On Substack: https://daviddark.substack.com/ On Twitter:  @daviddark Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Dr. Matthew Taylor joins us to discuss his recent podcast series Charismatic Revival Fury, released through the Straight White American Jesus podcast.  We talk about central figures of the New Apostolic Reformation like C Peter Wagner and Che Ahn, the connection to the "signs and wonders" charismatic movement led by John Wimber, Matthew's concept of "prophetic memes", January 6th as a religious event, the increasingly intense and violent rhetoric of the spiritual warfare movement, and that time charismatics climbed Mount Everest to battle a powerful demon called The Queen of Heaven, and how that connects to January 6th. Connect with Dr. Matthew Taylor: Twitter: @taylormatthewd Website: https://icjs.org/people/matthew-d-taylor/ PDF of C Peter Wagner's "Confronting the Queen of Heaven": https://sbicconnect.fun/download/c-peter-wagner-confronting-the-queen-of-heaven-peter-wagner-pdf/ Documentary on Operation Ice Castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3mcFlybs5w Alissa Wilkinson on Columbine, the Cassie Bernall myth, and evangelical martyrdom fantasies: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/20/15369442/columbine-anniversary-cassie-bernall-rachel-scott-martyrdom Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

We talk with Mitchell Kezin, director of the documentary Jingle Bell Rocks!, which is about primarily left-of-center Christmas music, and features interviews with Reverend Run of Run-DMC, John Waters, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Low, and others. We talk about Christmas music as part of the rituals that people create to give extra meaning to this time of year, from putting on the music that you have to hear in order for it to really feel like Christmas, to making mixes and playlists to share with friends, something Mitchell has been doing since 1990. We also discuss Mariah Carey's failed attempt to have herself legally declared the Queen of Christmas. See the trailer for Jingle Bells Rocks! here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBL6SQuaA8E Buy the DVD or rent a stream directly from Mitchell here: https://mitchellsmerrymix.com/jinglebellrocks/ Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Film critic and author Alonso Duralde talks about Christmas movies, Hallmark Christmas movies, and that time Hallmark aired a commercial featuring a lesbian couple that caused so much chaos that a whole new network was created to make exclusive content for people who get the vapors at the idea of a Christmas movie featuring a same-sex (or interracial) couple.  Alonso's books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas: https://bookshop.org/p/books/have-yourself-a-movie-little-christmas-alonso-duralde/16524873 I'll Be Home for Christmas Movies: The Deck the Hallmark Podcast's Guide to Your Holiday TV Obsession: https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-ll-be-home-for-christmas-movies-the-deck-the-hallmark-podcast-s-guide-to-your-holiday-tv-obsession-daniel-thompson/16201312?ean=9780762499359 Recommended links from Alonso:  William Bibbiani on A Christmas Story and other Jean Shepherd adaptations: https://twitter.com/williambibbiani/status/1582065123027349504?s=46&t=J1aGC-jQIvp6PJF2fiUQVw Blogger SleepyKittyPaw: https://twitter.com/SleepyKittyPaw or https://sleepykittypaws.tumblr.com/ Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Co-host of the podcast, Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi returns to the VCW hall to talk about his forthcoming book (January 6, 2023) "Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism- And What Comes Next".  While we are all seeing a rise in Christian Nationalism in our present political moment, Brad traces the history of how we got to this religious and political moment while examining his own roots being raised in southern California.  We discuss the Barry Goldwater campaign, the conspiracies of the John Birch Society, Richard Nixon and the merging of conservative Evangelism fully with right-wing populism during the Ronald Reagan presidency.  Over the course of this history we begin to see that, in the Trump-era, nothing really has changed that much. At the end, we also share some thoughts on the passing of Mimi Parker of Low, in light of our recent conversation with her husband Alan Sparhawk.  Pre-order the book Preparing for War right here:  https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506482163/Preparing-for-War Listen to Straight White American Jesus right here: https://straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/ -Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

From Concordia University in Montreal, Dr. Andre Gagne joins the VCW hall to share his story with Evangelicalism which included being a pastor for 10 years. We define Christian Nationalism and discuss the growing movement in America.  Then we take a deeper dive into the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), the 7 Mountain Mandate, some of the personalities pushing these ideas and how this connects to our contemporary politics. Mentioned on the Pod: NPR's Terry Gross interviews C. Peter Wagner on the New Apostolic Reformation: https://www.npr.org/2011/10/03/140946482/apostolic-leader-weighs-religions-role-in-politics#:~:text=Transcript-,C.,of%20the%20New%20Apostolic%20Reformation. Representative Lauren Boebert says that church should direct the government:  https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3540071-boebert-says-she-is-tired-of-separation-between-church-and-state-the-church-is-supposed-to-direct-the-government/ Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano, promotes Christian Nationalism: https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/a-pennsylvania-lawmaker-and-the-resurgence-of-christian-nationalism -Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm

Rapture and hellfire and influencers, oh my! Prepare to be terrified by the spookiest episode of the year. The shadowy figure behind the Christian Nightmares social media accounts joins us to talk about the things that traumatized him as an evangelical kid, and the things that scare, amuse, and confound him now about contemporary evangelical culture. We also talk a little about Mark Driscoll, who recently claimed that the real reason he quit Mars Hill rather than face any consequences for his actions is that the elders of the church were planning to falsely accuse him of adultery.  Follow Christian Nightmares on social media: Twitter: @ChristnNitemare Instagram: @christian_nightmares Tumblr: https://christiannightmares.tumblr.com Substack: https://christiannightmares.substack.com -Check out Zach's music by going to:  https://muzach.bandcamp.com -Buy VCW merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VCWHall Twitter: Twitter: @vcwpod Zach- @muzach Dave- @Davejlester Podcast music by Zach Malm Logo by Zach Malm