Blake Chastain
@brchastain.social
Author, Exvangelical & Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back. Host: Exvangelical. Words: RNS, Religion Dispatches. Yes I have a newsletter. www.blakechastain.com
I hate Illinois Nazis. And all the rest of them. Absolutely the fuck not with this KKK bullshit no. The white supremacists do not get to win this time / any time.
Block Club Chicago@blockclubchi.bsky.social · 3mo agoA burning cross was found in Grant Park on Tuesday, city officials confirmed. blockclubchi.co/49RgAMt
goddammit i hope so. the 2026 version of me who's spent almost a decade beating this drum needs to be able to tell the 1999 version of me working in a Christian bookstore where we played this for customers that things have improved. #exvangelical
Jason Kirk@jasonkirk.fyi · 4mo agoAs has been noted for many years now: We're gonna win
Please join journalist Gareth Gore, researcher Rachel Tabachnick, professor Julie Ingersoll and me. Thursday, May 14 at 1pm EDT for a groundbreaking conversation about rifts on the Christian Right and how opposing groups can strategically respond. Register here politicalresearch.org/2026/04/28/c...
Challenging the Christian Right: Rifts & Strategies
The Christian Right is far from monolithic.In this multipart political education series, we aim to advance our understanding of the Christian Right, its weaknesses more than its strengths. We highligh...
politicalresearch.org
If I lived in Kansas City I'd start a Spanish-language learning group for gringos just so I could call it Claro KC
I do think it’s very funny how much of the church was like “suck it up. He’s not Christian but he can’t be that bad” and now he does at least one blatant heresy a day
Orban’s defeat also removes a major part of the far-right populist infrastructure worldwide, which I wrote about this fall: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Is America contagious?
Scholars in political extremism are documenting the global spread of right-wing populism.
motherjones.com
New interview is up with B.K. O'Connor, author of Eve: A Novel. Here is a snippet. youtube.com/shorts/0BdwD...
BK O'Connor on the Divine Feminine #booktube #podcast #exvangelical
YouTube video by Blake Chastain
youtube.com
The shows on TV at the gym today: NCIS, a history channel show about exorcism, GMA, and ads for the gym I’m already in.
It's Trans Day of Visibility, so we've made our special series about being trans on the internet completely free to read for everyone, forever. www.theverge.com/cs/features/... Here are a few stories from the collection:
Huge result here - the idea that social platforms can be defective products that cause harm is going to send shockwaves through an industry that has claimed essentially blanket protection from liability by saying everything is speech
Lauren Feiner@laurenfeiner.bsky.social · 6mo agoWow - huge win across the board for plaintiff Kaley G.M. in the landmark social media addiction case against Meta and YouTube. On the heels of Meta's loss in New Mexico just the day before. www.theverge.com/policy/90065...
I'm just messing around with this, to see if it's a good tool for this sort of thing (and I'm a sucker for new web tools in general).
Blake Chastain@brchastain.social · 6mo ago
why do we even need AI at all when base-level reality is so absurd that the conspiracy theories for a real headline like "Charlie Kirk's mentor dies in freak pickleball accident" write themselves
It was such a delight and honor to be with the fantastic @brchastain.social again! We talked, whew, Israel/Palestine, antisemitism, what it means to live like your life is a sacred text, the philosopher that makes me think this gif all the time, and much more...
a man in a cowboy hat and jacket says i wish i knew how to quit you
Alt: a man in a cowboy hat and jacket says i wish i knew how to quit you
media.tenor.com
Blake Chastain@brchastain.social · 6mo agoNew episode, with @theradr.bsky.social, on YouTube and hitting podcast feeds: youtu.be/3eSVZ16ezoY (I made a n00b mistake and my audio recorded from the wrong device, but the conversation remains great!)
New episode, with @theradr.bsky.social, on YouTube and hitting podcast feeds: youtu.be/3eSVZ16ezoY (I made a n00b mistake and my audio recorded from the wrong device, but the conversation remains great!)
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg Returns
YouTube video by Blake Chastain
youtu.be
$200 billion could entirely repeal the SNAP cuts with money leftover $200 billion could fund the ACA Premium Tax Credits and help lower health care costs for 6 years with money leftover $200 billion could permanently expand Medicaid coverage to people in states that have refused to expand coverage
Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 6mo ago$200 billion. @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
I swear, the people with control over Real Money never act as if money is real
Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social · 6mo agoSCOOP: The Pentagon asked the White House today for more than *$200 billion* for Iran war supplemental, sources say Some in WH think Congress won't support b/c it's so big Will tee up giant battle in Congress My last story for WaPo: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
they literally renamed the entire company after this
More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 6mo agoMeta is shutting down its VR metaverse on June 15th.
"We started a war of aggression for no reason & commenced it by accidentally bombing an elementary school & killing over 100 kids." That simple fact is so horrific that it's just kind of bouncing on the surface of our collective consciousness. We can't absorb its full implications & significance.
The guy pardoned from a 22 year sentence for sedition. The coup succeeded.
Dom Ervolina@dominicervolina.com · 6mo agoMarco Rubio hanging out with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio at the "Shield of the Americas" event, in case you were still thinking it had some sort of legitimate purpose
For several days in a row, the White House has posted videos on X of the U.S.’s strikes on Iran spliced with footage taken from video games and action movies, in a dystopic form of propaganda that treats the war like a game or like social media content to be mined.
White House Propaganda Videos Splice Horrific Iran War Footage With Video Games
One clip shows the US strike on an Iranian warship after which the military left 180 crew members to die.
truthout.org
Suspect Guilty GIF
ALT: Suspect Guilty GIF
media.tenor.com
NPR@npr.org · 6mo agoStocks fell Friday on worries that the economy could become stuck in a worst-case scenario of stagnating growth and high inflation. Oil prices touched their highest levels since 2023 after surging again because of the Iran war. n.pr/4cybcQy
NY area folks: come see me and three other authors, Josiah Hesse, Mattie Jo Cowsert, and B.K. O'Connor, in Brooklyn this Sunday: www.urbanebrooklyn.com/event-detail... #exvangelical
From Pews to Prose | The Urbane
Join us for a panel discussion from authors of the “Exvangelical” movement: Blake Chastain, Mattie Jo Cowsert, Josiah Hesse, and B.K. O'Connor. Free with RSVP.
urbanebrooklyn.com
Check out the first episode of “A Trick of State,” a new occasional series from Dangerous Dogma investigating underexplored issues at the intersection of church and state that expose the false promises of Christian Nationalism.
Rewriting the Ten Commandments
Lawmakers in more than 20 states have proposed bills over the last couple of years that purport to mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools. But there’s a problem: you will not find that...
publicwitness.wordandway.org
When I beat WordleBot I consider that a win for all humanity against AI. anyway, the horrors
world-altering decisions are being made by a cabal of gambling addicts hell bent on self enrichment no matter the cost to humanity, we should look into that.
molly conger@socialistdogmom.bsky.social · 9mo agobabe wake up, they're doing insider trading on war crimes