Reclaiming the Garden

In this episode, we have a conversation with author, Youtuber and friend of the pod Damon Garcia! He discusses his new book, You Don't Need a Calling: An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto for a Life of Purpose, and the experiences that led him to write it. We discuss how capitalism impacts our theologies about purpose/vocation and how we can break free of those frameworks. If you have a trad wife or red-pilled guy in your life, maybe give them Damon's book to help them see that the biggest problem in our society is actually capitalism.

Link to preorder/purchase Damon's book: https://www.damongarcia.com/calling

In this episode, Anna and April talk about artificial intelligence from a progressive Christian standpoint, asking the question, "Does this contribute to human flourishing?" The answer, the majority of the time, is no. There are some ethical uses of AI in the science and medical fields (earlier diagnosis for disease, data sorting and analysis), but that is not what billionaires and governments are pouring money into. The AI corporations are funding surveillance systems, military tech, and large language models and image generators that are being sold to the masses as a replacement for creativity and companionship, two core parts of our humanity. We must resist the push of AI into every aspect of our lives, we must reject the idea that it is inevitable. April and Anna give their thoughts on a way forward where we advocate for dataprivacy protections and regulations that actually hold the AI companies accountable (NOT age/ID verification to be clear, we are against surveillance capitalism) and prevent people from harming themselves or others. We also discuss the cultural need for media literacy around AI content and how parents need to take an active and mindful role in how their kids/teens use technology, including AI.

https://fortune.com/2023/06/08/sam-altman-openai-chatgpt-worries-15-quotes/
https://newpol.org/issue_post/the-leftist-alternative-to-artificial-intelligence/

In this episode, Anna and April wrestle with the theological ideas of loving one's enemy and believing that all people will one day be reconciled to one another and to God. Not believing in eternal conscious torment is good news for the folks who have felt condemned by the church, but what about the people whose deeds are so evil? How is reconciliation possible? We don't whitewash what our enemies do (and out of love we oppose their destructive actions), but we do wish for all folks to be free of hatred and to make amends for the harm they have done because that will make them whole-- whether that wholeness comes in this life or the world to come, whether it takes an eternity for someone like Trump or Kirk repent, is up to them and what legacy they want to leave on earth. The book by CS Lewis that April could not remember was The Great Divorce.

In this episode, we talk about the performative phenomenon taking over social media: trad wives. If you search the term on Instagram, you'll find hundreds of women promoting a false fantasy of a 1950s housewife in an attempt to make money from other women who desire this lifestyle. It's a way for fundamentalist Christian/LDS women to make an income in this capitalist hellscape while keeping up the appearance of being a homemaker. We talk about the more well-known trad wives like Hannah Neeleman and Alena Kate Pettitt, as well as the lesser known ones. And we talk about a woman who predicted the trad wife movement in how she made a career out of telling women to stay in the home, Phyllis Schlafly.
Resources used in this episode:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-trad-wifeWe have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee and more here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/rtgardenpodcast/shop
Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd and @April_TheWriter. Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, we have a conversation with queer filmmaker and writer Brianna da Silva! Brianna shares how her political views have gone even more to the left in the past few years, and she discusses the inspirations and vision behind the short film she is crowdfunding for, Guardian. 
You can find Brianna on Instagram @curiousstoryteller and on Bluesky and TikTok by searching her name. You can sign up to get more information about her short film and its crowdfunding campaign here:  https://tinyurl.com/guardian-film 
We have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee and more here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/rtgardenpodcast/shop 
Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd and @April_TheWriter. Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!