God Had a Big Week in Pop Culture

America’s UFC Freedom Fight

When a cage fight lands on the White House lawn, it's worth asking… what exactly are we celebrating? On June 14, 2026 (Flag Day, Trump's 80th birthday, and the eve of America's 250th anniversary) the White House South Lawn will host something it never has before: a UFC cage fight. We're going beneath the spectacle to ask what it actually means when the symbols we use to celebrate a nation reveal something uncomfortable about who that nation has become. Things we mentioned in this episode: Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen [https://amzn.to/4wSEVeu] Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke [https://amzn.to/49T44ft] Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman [https://amzn.to/4feRPND] Kin by Tayari Jones [https://amzn.to/4uRa1SA] Follow The Subtext: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thesubtextshow/] | Threads [https://www.threads.com/@thesubtextshow] | X [https://x.com/thesubtextshow/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SubtextShow] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubtextshow] Follow Lee: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leeccamp/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/leeccamp] | Lee's Newsletter [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/newsletter] Follow Savannah: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/savannah_locke/] | Substack [https://savannahlocke.substack.com/] Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com [https://nosmallendeavor.com/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Yesteryear and the Trad Wife Movement with Beth Allison Barr

We have a substitute teacher on today's episode! Lee is out of town, so Savannah called upon All the Buried Women co-host Beth Allison Barr to step in. The trad wife dream might look beautiful on camera, but what if you actually have to live it? What happens when a woman who sells the fantasy of "traditional" womanhood wakes up and has to actually live it? Using Yesteryear as a jumping-off point, Savannah sits down with historian and author Beth Allison Barr to dissect the trad wife movement, what it promises, what it erases, and what women actually lost before they had the legal right to say no. Things we mentioned in this episode: All the Buried Women podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/6iXT9a8Q5wY4b88Tr6owHy?si=ee64a81daca74654] For All Mankind on Apple TV [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7] A Rome of One's Own by Emma Southon [https://amzn.to/4vqHjYC] Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke [https://amzn.to/3PPaipO] Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman [https://amzn.to/3RC1vbj] The Five by Hallie Rubenhold [https://amzn.to/3RF8hNr] Follow The Subtext: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thesubtextshow/] | Threads [https://www.threads.com/@thesubtextshow] | X [https://x.com/thesubtextshow/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SubtextShow] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubtextshow] Follow Lee: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leeccamp/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/leeccamp] | Lee's Newsletter [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/newsletter] Follow Savannah: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/savannah_locke/] | Substack [https://savannahlocke.substack.com/] Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com [https://nosmallendeavor.com/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Ask Us Anything

You asked, we answered. From how Savannah and Lee became friends to whether Jesus is God (no big deal), this episode covers the questions YOU asked. We get into faith and doubt, how to stay hopeful when the world feels chaotic, what it looks like to do ministry well right now, and the books that have shaped us most spiritually.  Things we mentioned in this episode: Mere Christianity by CS Lewis [https://amzn.to/4upOW11] New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton [https://amzn.to/4fAD9s8] Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld [https://amzn.to/4wxUFnf] The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence [https://amzn.to/4nEBZOD] The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder [https://amzn.to/3RmR9Mo] In Good Company: The Church as Polis by Stanley Hauerwas [https://amzn.to/4fAwnTl] Bonus: Stanley Hauerwas on No Small Endeavor [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/stanley-hauerwas-best-theologian-in-america] Brother to a Dragonfly by Will D. Campbell [https://amzn.to/4tMTa1G] Who Will Be A Witness byDrew G.I. Hart [https://amzn.to/4o1LuYp] The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone [https://amzn.to/4eX2ZGJ] Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible by Willie James Jennings [https://amzn.to/3Rekys5] Emilie Maureen Townes books [https://amzn.to/4v1Gwgg] A More Christlike Word by Bradley Jersak [https://amzn.to/4tZCaFO] Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God by Brian Zahnd [https://amzn.to/4tMU1iU] Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner [https://amzn.to/4uADcZN] Mighty Poplar [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cMlQtVLzOm9cr200ALzSD?si=fjuNbv6MTD2gigi3ILodEg] Stephen Wilson Jr. [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DSDa4HvAWqvb3dMHUOAfd?si=nPc2hXaRQ-yR0Ei5D_JF2g] The Human Cost of AI Part 1 - No Small Endeavor [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/the-human-cost-of-ai-money-sex-and-tools] The Human Cost of AI Part 2 - No Small Endeavor [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/the-human-cost-of-ai-what-is-it-all-for] The Friendship Recession - The Subtext [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6un9foJbpdXMQA1Spovwas?si=179a4ab661654338] Your Favorite Musician Isn't Real - The Subtext [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Zenoceslx5vFwXwQJBPl3?si=1454fdf5ffa749a8] How the Story Ends by Savannah Locke [https://open.spotify.com/track/74oCVn4KzDMES8pJh6ogsj?si=ac967b181e29416a] Follow The Subtext: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thesubtextshow/] | Threads [https://www.threads.com/@thesubtextshow] | X [https://x.com/thesubtextshow/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SubtextShow] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubtextshow] Follow Lee: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leeccamp/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/leeccamp] | Lee's Newsletter [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/newsletter] Follow Savannah: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/savannah_locke/] | Substack [https://savannahlocke.substack.com/] Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com [https://nosmallendeavor.com/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Pitt: What We Get Wrong About Addiction with Erin Calipari

Dr. Erin Calipari thinks we're getting a lot wrong about addiction, so she and her lab are working to change that by conducting research that could save lives and destigmatize unhelpful narratives. In this episode, we dig into The Pitt's portrayal of high-functioning addiction and what it gets right that most TV gets wrong.  We sit down with Dr. Erin Calipari to unpack what addiction actually is at the molecular level, and why so much of what society believes about it is not just wrong, but harmful. From the brain's hijacked learning systems to the gender-specific realities of addiction, Dr. Calipari breaks down the gap between cutting-edge science and the policies, stigmas, and drug wars shaping real lives. Things we mentioned in this episode: Follow Erin! [https://www.instagram.com/theerincalipari/] Euphoria on HBO [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/euphoria/4ffd33c9-e0d6-4cd6-bd13-34c266c79be0] Slow Horses on Apple TV [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o] Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck [https://amzn.to/4tDsOiB] Down the Drain by Julia Fox [https://amzn.to/4djMhjE] The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu [https://www.hulu.com/series/the-handmaids-tale-565d8976-9d26-4e63-866c-40f8a137ce5f] The Pitt on HBO [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/pitt-2024/e6e7bad9-d48d-4434-b334-7c651ffc4bdf] Follow The Subtext: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thesubtextshow/] | Threads [https://www.threads.com/@thesubtextshow] | X [https://x.com/thesubtextshow/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SubtextShow] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubtextshow] Follow Lee: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leeccamp/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/leeccamp] | Lee's Newsletter [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/newsletter] Follow Savannah: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/savannah_locke/] | Substack [https://savannahlocke.substack.com/] Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com [https://nosmallendeavor.com/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

America Reads the Bible

What happens when the Bible becomes a stage prop for national identity instead of a text that interrogates it? This episode explores “America Reads the Bible,” a high-profile event where political leaders, actors, and influencers recited Scripture from the nation’s capital, and, drawing on Bonhoeffer’s warning about reading the Bible for ourselves instead of against ourselves, Savannah and Lee examine how the same text is used to fuel both nationalism and its critique, alongside debates like Tennessee’s Ten Commandments bill. Things we mentioned in this episode: Endurance by Alfred Lansing [https://amzn.to/4exagNf] The Wright Brothers by David McCullough [https://amzn.to/49DNEqS] Flight of Passage: A Memoir by Rinker Buck [https://amzn.to/4eBpReC] The Congruent Life by C.E. Jarnagin [https://amzn.to/4d8RuJz] Running Point on Netflix [https://www.netflix.com/title/81483318] Slow Horses on Apple TV [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/slow-horses/umc.cmc.2szz3fdt71tl1ulnbp8utgq5o] Eboo Patel on No Small Endeavor [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/eboo-patel-diverse-democracy] AJ Levine on No Small Endeavor Live [https://youtu.be/rn_GpV5dbFc?t=60] Follow The Subtext: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thesubtextshow/] | Threads [https://www.threads.com/@thesubtextshow] | X [https://x.com/thesubtextshow/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SubtextShow] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubtextshow] Follow Lee: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leeccamp/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/leeccamp] | Lee's Newsletter [https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/newsletter] Follow Savannah: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/savannah_locke/] | Substack [https://savannahlocke.substack.com/] Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com [https://nosmallendeavor.com/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]