HUNGER: The Podcast

I stumbled along this podcast and I’m already referring it to my family. These are much needed conversations and conveyed in such an impactful and effective way. I’ve never left a podcast review before but I feel compelled to leave one due to listening to 3 episodes back to back yesterday and being thrilled to find something so refreshing and helpful to those who’ve experienced trauma in religious settings.

This podcast is absolutely for anyone who has struggled with strange feelings about their religious experiences or upbringings and especially for those of us who have finally realized what those strange feeling actually were/are trying to tell our bodies. Growing up in fundamentalism I have found it very rare to find people who understand why I refer to my childhood as traumatic and ultimately evil, because from the outside we looked like a perfect, cohesive, intact, all-american family. Having left that world long ago and having found myself and my way on my own, discovering this show was life-changing. The hosts are wonderful, well-trained, well-spoken, educated people who are speaking kindly and calmly about the wounds and long-term psychological effects of controlling and coercive religious groups. They are not insulting or demeaning, but rather are reframing situations where children were raised believing the Bible was a weapon and God was a harsh, critical judge. For years I could not even speak of or hear about Christianity without absolute anger and distain as well as a bodily, nauseated reaction. Looking at religion this way is life-changing. I highly recommend listening, no matter where you are at in your journey.

So glad that this podcast exists. I have just recently experienced a traumatic church experience and really struggled to put my experience into words. Pastor Marcos and Candice have given me the words to my religious trauma experience and more important it has made me feel seen! Highly recommend this podcast series.