Unholier Than Thou
Some people came out of the pandemic with a new skill, new spouse, or new lease on life. Others came out with a divorce, a drinking problem, or an identity crisis. No matter how the last year has treated you, journalist Phillip Picardi is back to guide you through the spiritual conundrums that tend to crop up amidst global catastrophe. With the help of friends, strangers, and celebrities, Unholier Than Thou has risen from the dead and is back for season 2: Resurrection. We’re talking recovery, rediscovery, resilience, resolutions, and more. This season of Unholier Than Thou is all about the wisdom of everyday people falling down, getting up, and trying new things as they navigate a newish world. AND Phill will take listeners on the road as he drives from LA to Cambridge as his search for illumination takes him to Divinity School. Because he’s spiritually blonde, honey. So tune in. New episodes of Unholier Than Thou drop every Friday, starting October 8.
Episodes
Inspired by her immensely popular newsletter, author Anne Helen Petersen turns her attention to the wild world of work in Work Appropriate. Featuring guest appearances by the smartest people Anne knows - they have real jobs, we promise - the show delivers humorous but practical workplace advice for a range of listener questions like “how do I get my manager to stop texting me after hours,” to “what do I do when my company thinks ou...
Grief…it’s the one thing we all will experience in our lifetime. The ladies of Imani State of Mind discuss the effects grief can have on your everyday life and how to live a healthy life while living with grief.
Join Josie Totah, Alycia Pascual Peña, and Yasmine Hamady – three young actresses, disruptors, and best friends as they navigate the issues that affect our lives; from hookup culture and social media to structural racism and LGBTQ+ rights. They won’t shy away from diving deep into controversial topics, even turning to their elders – actors, activists, comedians, experts, politicians, 26 year olds – to try to understand the world th...
Happy holidays! To celebrate the ~festive season~, we thought we'd release a fan-favorite: Phill's conversation with Brittany Packnett Cunningham about Jesus. Yes, that Jesus!
As appealing as hunky blondes can be, Phill isn’t interested in worshipping one (well, at least not as the son of God). There's a whole lot of myths about Jesus—and then there's who the Bible ACTUALLY says he was. And turns out, he's kind of a great guy! To he...
On the final episode of this season of Unholier Than Thou, we end where it all began. On the first episode, Phill sat down with his fiancé, Darien, about being a healthcare worker during the first wave of covid. Darien is back, covid is still here, and the world is much changed. He and Phill discuss how being on the frontline worker has changed, and their newly long distance relationship, and how they remain committed to each other...
This week, Phill is joined by Bambi, who helped him come out of the closet many moons ago in a magical land called gay.com. They talk about what it's like growing up the black sheep, finding acceptance and love in the arms of strangers, and what it's like reconnecting with someone who changed your life.
For a transcript of this show, please visit crooked.com/unholierthanthou.
This week, Phill is joined by his classmate, Sarah Pearson, who works fighting clergy abuse. She and Phill discuss how high up the chain coverup efforts go, how predatory priests are often relocated into communities of color, and what justice for victims may look like.
For a transcript of this show, please visit crooked.com/unholierthanthou.
Alcohol consumption increased 23% during the pandemic, particularly among women and those who live alone. People are cut off from their support systems, and many have lost their income. Without social and financial resources, staying in recovery is hard and entering it can be even harder. This week, we have two stories about recovery. First, we have Odette. Odette is part of an online recovery group called Cafe RE, and over the cou...
This week, Phill is joined by author Reza Aslan to revisit the early aughts in the American imagination. In the wake of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, how do notions of American exceptionalism hold up? Reza and Phill discuss how Christian imperialism has crept its way into allegedly secular politics, look critically at America's outmoded hero complex, and question to legitimacy of the liberator theology that we carry with u...
And now for something a little different. This week, Phill is joined by a panel of great thinkers, writers, and theologians to tackle a big question: What role does Christianity have in an increasingly secular America? Do we need it? Does it leave room for those of marginalized identities? Does it welcome those who might have left and want to come back? Can it eschew its imperial past and embrace those it has harmed? It sounds heav...
Content warning: This episode contains discussions of suicide
Have you heard the one where the atheist walks into the divinity school? Oh, it’s not a joke, it’s the lived experience of humanist chaplain Chris Stedman. Phill and Chris talk about the pros and cons of organized religion, cultivating community and ritual outside of religious contexts, using the internet to heal after personal tragedy, and finding the divine in pop divas...
Welcome to covid’s Groundhog Day. Every day’s the same and we constantly have six weeks to go before it’s over. But school’s open, traffic is back, and it’s time to start thinking about what the world looks like on the other side. Here to talk to Phill about reentering a very changed and very similar world are writers Michael Arcenaux and Aminatou Sow. They chat about the challenges of creating through disaster, seeing old injustic...
Phill was always bound to interview Michelle Williams. You could call it fate, but we prefer DESTINY, child. The Gospel Girl talks to Phill about the connections between mental health and faith, how god lives in the high notes, and what to do with your life after you check ‘global superstar’ off the checklist.
For a transcript of this show, please visit crooked.com/unholierthanthou.
In the inaugural episode of our resurrected show, Phill talks to one of his favorite people in the world: Samhita Mukhopadhyay. Samhita made some big changes during covid (like a lot of us). As Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue, she was at the height of her career: she had the high profile, the platform, the influence. And then? She stepped away. She and Phill dive in to betting on yourself, the lessons of grief, and rebuilding relatio...
Someone must have moved a boulder out of the way, because Unholier Than Thou is back from the dead, baby! And we’re celebrating our resurrection with stories about yours. New jobs, new loves, new mistakes, new realizations, new challenges, new gay people talking about Catholic guilt (not all new — Phill’s still here). Join Phill and a stable of stars, friends, colleagues, and strangers as they try to glean answers from a year full ...
Remember that time Joe Jonas had a Purity Ring and then…didn’t? That’s the Virgin Mary’s fault. Sort of. The most famous woman in all of Christianity is a virgin — or is she? Phill is joined by feminist theologian Meggan Watterson for a chat on Biblical revisionism and the real miracle of the immaculate conception.
For a transcript of this show, please visit crooked.com/unholierthanthou.
As appealing as hunky blondes can be, Phill isn’t interested in worshipping one (well, at least not as the son of God). There's a whole lot of myths about Jesus—and then there's who the Bible ACTUALLY says he was. And turns out, he's kind of a great guy! To help him dissect the activist Jesus was in his own life, Brittany Packnett Cunningham joins to play a fun Bible game. (The grand prize is kind of a bummer, though.)
It's Hanukkah, listeners, and you're going to plotz when you see this week's guests. First, Phill shmoozes with author, icon, and national treasure Alice Hoffman about the role of Jewish folklore in her work, the resilience of women, and the power of the word (and Practical Magic). Then, Crooked Media founder and all-around mensch Jon Lovett confronts his sins for a (very personal) Am I Going To Hell For This?
The Pope wants you to stay home, but Amy Coney Barrett wants to see your ass in church. We check in with Dan Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, on what the most recent SCOTUS hearing really means about "religious freedom." Then, after an explosive report detailing how the US military is buying the location data of millions of Muslim people, Phill welcomes Joseph Cox, the journalist who broke the s...
Now that you're stuffed with stuffing, it’s time to go shopping. Psychology professor Matt Rossano joins to argue that consumerism is filling the hole left vacant by religious rituals. Do you buy it? (What if it's 50% off?) Then, comedian Bryan Safi offers his sinful expertise for a holiday edition of Am I Going To Hell for This.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/unholierthanthou.
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