Clothesline Podcast

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a lighthearted, dark-humoured podcast for people who grew up in cults clotheslinepod.substack.com

Jul 16

Episode 05: Defining “Cult” and “Evangelical” and How We Relate to Our Past Indoctrinated Selves

Welcome to Episode 05 of Clothesline, the lighthearted, dark-humoured podcast about growing up in cults. We’re Chris and Syd, two nonbinary people in their 30s who grew up homeschooled in fundamentalist evangelical Christian purity culture. In this episode, we define the words “cult” and “evangelical” and how we relate to our past indoctrinated selves. Some of the topics in this episode include: * How parents and leaders deify themselves within these strict belief systems * How a doctrine of control affected us as the oldest AFAB children * The time Syd was roped into an evangelical brainstorming session * The BITE model for determining cult-like behaviours * Which Christian kids’ movie Chris watched on mushrooms * How thought control has stuck with us, even until now * The realization Chris had at Oral Roberts University * Haughtiness and performative dedication to the church …and more. Wanna talk to us? Hit us up on Threads (links below) or email us at clotheslinepod@gmail.com. Spread Clothesline’s Good News by sharing this episode with your buddies! As promised, here are the links: * Chris’s Substack: https://crisiscorner.substack.com/ * Chris’s other podcast, Pickles and Vodka: A Mental Health Podcast (available wherever you listen): https://picklesandvodka.substack.com/ * All Chris’s other links: http://xcjumperx.carrd.co * Follow Syd on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@houseghostcreative * All of Syd’s links: https://houseghostcreative.carrd.co/ * Subscribe to us on Substack: https://clotheslinepod.substack.com/ Disclaimer: this episode includes conversations about things like religious trauma, mental health, abuse, and other topics like that. We aren’t doctors or psychologists. This podcast is not intended to give official advice or anything serious. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clotheslinepod.substack.com
Jul 2

Episode 04: Harm Reduction and How It Connects to Purity Culture and Evangelicalism

Welcome to Episode 04 of the Clothesline podcast! We’re Chris and Syd, two nonbinary people in their 30s who grew up homeschooled in fundamentalist evangelical Christian purity culture. This is where we talk about it in a lighthearted, dark-humoured way. In this episode, we talk about harm reduction, what it means, and how it relates to purity culture and evangelicalism. Some of the topics in this episode include: * Explaining the meaning of harm reduction as a practice/philosophy * How harm reduction connects to binary language and mindsets * Updates and expansions on the previous episode about parental relationships, and how harm reduction can be used for navigating those relationships, too * Reminiscing about the times other people knew we were queer before we did * Has evangelicalism’s system of thought spread to other secular areas of culture, particularly with drugs and alcohol? * As usual, being endearingly awkward at the beginning and end of the episode * Anatomy lessons from Laverne Cox …and more. Wanna talk to us? Hit us up on Threads (links below) or email us at clotheslinepod@gmail.com. Spread Clothesline’s Good News by sharing this episode with your buddies! As promised, here are the links: * Chris’s Substack: https://crisiscorner.substack.com/ * Chris’s other podcast, Pickles and Vodka: A Mental Health Podcast (available wherever you listen): https://picklesandvodka.substack.com/ * All Chris’s other links: http://xcjumperx.carrd.co * Follow Syd on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@houseghostcreative * All of Syd’s links: https://houseghostcreative.carrd.co/ * Subscribe to us on Substack: https://clotheslinepod.substack.com/ Disclaimer: this episode includes conversations about things like religious trauma, mental health, abuse, and other topics like that. We aren’t doctors or psychologists. This podcast is not intended to give official advice or anything serious. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clotheslinepod.substack.com
Jun 18

Episode 03: Parental Relationships

Welcome to Episode 03 of the Clothesline podcast! We’re Chris and Syd, two nonbinary people in their 30s who grew up homeschooled in fundamentalist evangelical Christian purity culture. This is where we talk about it in a lighthearted, dark-humoured way. In this episode, we have a raw, meaningful conversation about what our relationships with our parents look like after leaving the church—and a bit about what they looked like when we were kids being raised in a strict belief system. Some of the topics in this episode include: * The confusion of wanting to be close to our parents, but not being able to * Chris navigating a shifting relationship with their parents as their self-expression gets stronger * Syd coming out as nonbinary to their parents as an answer to being asked “Why won’t you come to church with us?” * The deification of parents in fundamentalist cults, like the ones we grew up in …and more. Wanna talk to us? Hit us up on Threads (links below) or email us at clotheslinepod@gmail.com. Spread Clothesline’s Good News by sharing this episode with your buddies! As promised, here are the links: * Chris’s Substack: https://crisiscorner.substack.com/ * Chris’s other podcast, Pickles and Vodka: A Mental Health Podcast (available wherever you listen): https://picklesandvodka.substack.com/ * All Chris’s other links: http://xcjumperx.carrd.co * Follow Syd on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@houseghostcreative * All of Syd’s links: https://houseghostcreative.carrd.co/ * Subscribe to us on Substack: https://clotheslinepod.substack.com/ Disclaimer: this episode includes conversations about things like religious trauma, mental health, abuse, and other topics like that. We aren’t doctors or psychologists. This podcast is not intended to give official advice or anything serious. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clotheslinepod.substack.com
Jun 4

Episode 02: Unmarried Nipple

Welcome to Episode 02 of the Clothesline podcast! We’re Chris and Syd, two nonbinary people in their 30s who grew up homeschooled in fundamentalist evangelical Christian purity culture. This is where we talk about it in an imperfect, human, raw, and fun way—somehow all at the same time. In this episode, we expand on our introductions from the first episode so you get more of the lore. Some of the topics covered in this episode include: * Intuition and how we were taught not to trust ourselves * How this brainwashed self-distrust affects our mental health and different forms of self-harm * Maintaining a relationship with our parents: to perform and keep it shallow, or to try to go deeper and risk estrangement? * How Syd’s grandmother reacted to the Ellen show * How Syd’s mother reacted to a gay kiss in The Walking Dead * Being forced to watch A Baby Story and how our parents fast-forwarded spicy scenes in movies …and more. Wanna talk to us? Hit us up on Threads (links below) or email us at clotheslinepod@gmail.com. Spread Clothesline’s Good News by sharing this episode with your buddies! As promised, here are the links: * Chris’s Substack: https://crisiscorner.substack.com/ * Chris’s other podcast, Pickles and Vodka: A Mental Health Podcast (available wherever you listen): https://www.instagram.com/picklesandvodkapodcast/ AND https://picklesandvodka.substack.com/ * All of Chris’s other links: http://xcjumperx.carrd.co * Follow Syd on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@houseghostcreative * All of Syd’s links: https://houseghostcreative.carrd.co/ * Subscribe to us on Substack: https://clotheslinepod.substack.com/ Disclaimer: this episode includes conversations about things like religious trauma, mental health, abuse, and other topics like that. We aren’t doctors or psychologists. This podcast is not intended to give official advice or anything serious. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clotheslinepod.substack.com
May 21

Episode 01: Genesis

Welcome to the first episode of the long-awaited Clothesline podcast! We’re Chris and Syd, two nonbinary people in their 30s who grew up homeschooled in fundamentalist evangelical Christian purity culture. And we’re airing out ALL the dirty laundry. This is a chaotic, fun, lighthearted, and meaningful first episode, where we introduce ourselves to you and give you a little background on why we decided to start this project. Some of the topics covered in this episode include: * Who we are and why we started this project * What kind of church Chris would be attending in the outfit they were wearing during this recording * Growing up in a big family with a parent who worked for Bill Gothard, the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles * Weird chants we’d say after the before-meal prayer, including a song about Johnny Appleseed (yes, he was real) * What it was like going to a classroom for the first time at university * Getting off on reading Christian-based movie reviews (thanks, Focus on the Family) * Modesty, and what that meant for our families * What flavour of Presbyterianism we both grew up in …and more. Wanna talk to us? Hit Syd up on Threads (link below) or email us at clotheslinepod@gmail.com. Spread Clothesline’s Good News by sharing this episode with your buddies! If you want to go the extra mile, support us on Patreon and get access to bonus content. As promised, here are the links: * Chris’s Substack: http://crisiscorner.substack.com * Chris’s other podcast, Pickles and Vodka: A Mental Health Podcast (available wherever you listen): http://picklesandvodka.substack.com AND http://www.instagram.com/picklesandvodkapodcast * All of Chris’s other links: http://xcjumperx.carrd.co * Follow Syd on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@houseghostcreative * All of Syd’s links: https://houseghostcreative.carrd.co/ * Subscribe to us on Substack: http://clotheslinepod.substack.com Disclaimer: this episode includes conversations about things like religious trauma, mental health, abuse, and other topics like that. We aren’t doctors or psychologists. This podcast is not intended to give official advice or anything serious. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clotheslinepod.substack.com

5 Episodes

a lighthearted, dark-humoured podcast for people who grew up in cults clotheslinepod.substack.com

Creator

Clothesline Podcast
Years Active

2026
Episodes

5
Rating

Explicit
Show Website

Clothesline Podcast

Clothesline Podcast

Episodes

Episode 05: Defining “Cult” and “Evangelical” and How We Relate to Our Past Indoctrinated Selves

Episode 04: Harm Reduction and How It Connects to Purity Culture and Evangelicalism

Episode 03: Parental Relationships

Episode 02: Unmarried Nipple

Episode 01: Genesis

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