Holy Smoke

with York and Juno

First-person tales of faith crises, church drama, cult escapes, and religious deconstruction sagas retold and debated straight from online communities.

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16 stories

The latest

Aug 25, 2026 · ▶ Episode live

Spiraling Headlines and Sacred Texts: Why Are Holy Books Silent on the Real Horrors?
From brutal honor killings in Pakistan to scripture's eerie silence on slavery, a powerful surge of deconstruction demands real accountability from religious institutions.
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Aug 24, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Can Dead Gods Rise Again? The Unholy War Over Ancient Pagan Rites and 'Christian Goth' Identity
From forgotten Mesopotamian altars to modern TikTok subcultures, spiritual seekers are battling over who gets to claim sacred symbols.
Aug 23, 2026 · ▶ episode live

‘She Said God Wanted Me to Suppress It’: Why One Survivor Is Hiding Their Deconstruction and Queer Identity From Fundamentalist Family
After escaping years of spiritual abuse, a former believer reveals why silence, distance, and secret witchcraft are the ultimate forms of self-defense.
Aug 21, 2026 · ▶ episode live

‘She Called My Life A Sin’: How A Sister’s Religious Awakening Destroyed A Family
An ex-Christian artist reveals the painful breaking point that forced them to cut ties with fundamentalist relatives—and the dark reality of high-control faith.
Aug 20, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Left to Burn: The Desert Utopia Forgotten by Its Own Prophets
A descendant uncovers how a thriving 19th-century borderland colony was used for wealth, erased from history, and abandoned during wartime.
Aug 19, 2026 · ▶ episode live

The Resurrection on Trial: How an 18th-Century Philosopher Is Still Rattling Believers Today
From ancient miracles under the microscope to real-world escapes from high-control faith, the battle between logic and belief hits a breaking point.
Aug 18, 2026 · ▶ episode live

"God Will Forgive Me": Inside the Bizarre Divine Loopholes Used to Justify Bad Behavior
From predatory text messages to the logic of the Crucifixion, spiritual deconstructionists are exposing the theological get-out-of-jail-free cards that break common sense.
Aug 17, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Trapped by Hellfire: Young Believers Reveal the Crippling Fear Destroying Their Faith
A 19-year-old devout Catholic and a 23-year-old Christian open up about how doubts, bad theology, and terror of eternal damnation brought their lives to a screeching halt.
Aug 16, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Fed Up with Church Splits and Pastoral Ambition, One Believer Trades Sunday Pews for Mountain Bike Trails
After more than ten years inside organized religion, a devout Christian steps away from toxic congregational drama to find peace in nature and academic history.
Aug 15, 2026 · ▶ episode live

‘They Told Me My Sickness Was Sin’: Inside the Brutal Reality of Religious Childhood Trauma
From enforced starvation at age eight to claims that illness stems from evil, former believers reveal the lasting scars of high-control churches.
Aug 14, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Sugar-Coated Control: An Autistic Worker Breaks Silence on Surviving High-Pressure Religious Workplaces
From passive-aggressive office cubicles to viral manifestos demanding the imprisonment of wives, the terrifying mechanics of forced conformity are laid bare.
Aug 12, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Communion Shock! I Took the Bread & Didn't Die – Plus: Grandma's Terrified of Tarot!
After years of fearing divine wrath during communion, one person breaks free, while an 80-year-old battles lifelong religious fears over a deck of tarot cards.
Aug 11, 2026 · ▶ episode live

From Pop Anthem to Deconstruction Anthem: Did Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake' Predict Her Spiritual Journey?
Fans are re-examining the hit song, claiming its lyrics perfectly capture the experience of leaving high-control religion.
Aug 11, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Fantasy Writer Sparked War Over Using Real-Life Religions to Build a Post-Apocalyptic Universe
A creative worldbuilder asks whether mapping Buddhism, Judaism, and Norse paganism into fictional city-states is artistic genius or sacred disrespect.
Aug 11, 2026 · ▶ episode live

Freeing the Soul: Why Ex-Believers Are Reading Scripture Like Art—and Facing Deep Guilt Along the Way
Stripping dogmatic fear from ancient theology reveals hidden human depth, but breaking free from religious roots leaves lingering physical scars.
Aug 10, 2026 · ▶ episode live

The Rigged Garden: How Deconstructing Adam and Eve Unlocked the Truth About Purity Culture
A journey from the logical fallacies of original sin to the overhyped myths of saving yourself for marriage.
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