An ex-vangelical / deconstruction podcast dedicated to exploring the Falwell dynasty in Lynchburg, Virginia, presenting a transgender person’s insider view of the religious trauma she continues to unpack from her own upbringing in the culture of Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. Reach us at jerryskidspodcast@proton.me!
Violet's other creative work can be found on her poetry website (https://allpoetry.com/Violet_Kauffman_Smith) .
Her first poetry chapbook (2nd edition forthcoming) Buckling in the Bible Belt: A Queer Coming of Age can be found on Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Buckling-Bible-Belt-Audience-Chapbooks-ebook/dp/B0CFM6TG3D)
Content warning: This episode contains a brief reference to childhood sexual assault.
There is also (to me) a fun jump scare.
I had some troubles with the audio quality on this one so my apologies!
In this 2-part episode, Violet and Annette talk demons, spiritual warfare, Frank Peretti, patriarchy, and how sexual abuse and child abuse are enabled by the church.
Links (an interesting collection today):
Bok Choi Survey (https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/3XtCxy8S2m5oaqpzZL8x8UYj-06WOIuJR7qpCPKS4D4/)
Poem: Before Christ, the Animal (https://allpoetry.com/poem/18775787-Before-Christ--The-Animal-by-Violet-Kauffman-Smith-adult)
Poem: Hexed with the Cross (https://allpoetry.com/poem/18844525-Hexed-with-the-Cross-by-Violet-Kauffman-Smith)
Bob and Larry Erotica (https://archiveofourown.org/works/65519689/chapters/168655345)
The Cum Preacher (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aQbu69vCk&list=WL&index=4)
Escape from Hell, the movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVshuWSm3G4&pp=ygUQZXNjYXBlIGZyb20gaGVsbA%253D%253D)
I unfortunately cannot find the video of Jonathan Falwell talking to Thomas Road Baptist Church about Sergio Guardia, but if I do, I will post it.
A couple of small corrections:
This Present Darkness was published in 1986, not 1989.
There are five (five!) God's Not Dead movies. The vibe is this (from Wikipedia):
"In the fall of 2013, Josh Wheaton, a college student and evangelical Christian, enrolls in a philosophy class taught by Professor Jeffrey Radisson, a renowned atheist. On the first day, Radisson demands that his students sign a declaration stating "God is dead" in order to bypass what he calls the "tedious" theological debate...Radisson reads a letter from his late mother and is moved to reconcile with Mina. On his way to find Mina, Radisson is struck by a car and fatally injured. A pastor waiting at the intersection tends to Radisson and helps him come clean of his sins and regain his religious faith as he dies."
As always, you may contact me at jerryskidspodcast@proton.me (mailto:jerryskidspodcast@proton.me) and support me spending more time on this podcast by sending me some rent money at https://paypal.me/jerryskidspodcast (https://paypal.me/jerryskidspodcast)!
<3 Violet
Theme song and interludes by my dear friend Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
8 May 2026
This Past and Present Darkness, Part 1
Content warning: This episode contains a fair amount of discussion around sexual assault/abuse, including of children in the church, so please care for yourselves if you listen to this, it's a heavy episode <3.
In this 2-part episode, Violet and Annette talk demons, spiritual warfare, Frank Peretti, patriarchy, and how sexual abuse and child abuse are enabled by the church.
Links (an interesting collection today):
Bok Choi Survey (https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/3XtCxy8S2m5oaqpzZL8x8UYj-06WOIuJR7qpCPKS4D4/)
Poem: Before Christ, the Animal (https://allpoetry.com/poem/18775787-Before-Christ--The-Animal-by-Violet-Kauffman-Smith-adult)
Poem: Hexed with the Cross (https://allpoetry.com/poem/18844525-Hexed-with-the-Cross-by-Violet-Kauffman-Smith)
Bob and Larry Erotica (https://archiveofourown.org/works/65519689/chapters/168655345)
The Cum Preacher (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aQbu69vCk&list=WL&index=4)
I unfortunately cannot find the video of Jonathan Falwell talking to Thomas Road Baptist Church about Sergio Guardia, but if I do, I will post it.
A couple of small corrections:
This Present Darkness was published in 1986, not 1989.
There are five (five!) God's Not Dead movies. The vibe is this (from Wikipedia):
"In the fall of 2013, Josh Wheaton, a college student and evangelical Christian, enrolls in a philosophy class taught by Professor Jeffrey Radisson, a renowned atheist. On the first day, Radisson demands that his students sign a declaration stating "God is dead" in order to bypass what he calls the "tedious" theological debate...Radisson reads a letter from his late mother and is moved to reconcile with Mina. On his way to find Mina, Radisson is struck by a car and fatally injured. A pastor waiting at the intersection tends to Radisson and helps him come clean of his sins and regain his religious faith as he dies."
As always, you may contact me at jerryskidspodcast@proton.me (mailto:jerryskidspodcast@proton.me) and support me spending more time on this podcast by sending me some rent money at https://paypal.me/jerryskidspodcast (https://paypal.me/jerryskidspodcast)!
<3 Violet
Theme song and interludes by my dear friend Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
9 Mar 2026
A Conversation with Annette, Part 2 - the Southern Baptist Love of the "Antebellum" and A Unique Youth Group
In this 2-part episode, Violet talks with her childhood friend (and long-lost Amish cousin!) Annette about coming out of Christianity, growing up in Lynchburg, the Falwells and their influence on Lynchburg, mental illness, the Charismatic church, rural life, Jerry Falwell Sr. and his commitment to upholding the white supremacist cisheteropatriarchal Southern "way of life", a unique youth group we attended in high school, theobros, and YWAM (Youth With A Mission).
Note: We didn't comment on this in the podcast, but when discussing the commitment to "Southern culture" of Jerry Falwell Sr. and his ilk, it's noteworthy that he designed his church just like one of Thomas Jefferson's plantations. Take a look at the cover art.
Links:
Falwell Corruption
Jonathan Falwell nets $822,573 salary from part-time job at Liberty University in FY 2024 (https://julieroys.com/liberty-universitys-executive-windfalls-lavish-salaries-raise-eyebrows/)
Queer Appalachia
“Well, We’re Fabulous and We’re Appalachians, So We’re Fabulachians” (https://www.southerncultures.org/article/well-fabulous-appalachians-fabulachians/)
Queer Appalachia: Where We Belong (https://www.berea.edu/gravy/queer-appalachia-where-we-belong)
Queer Kentucky (https://queerkentucky.com/queer-communion-religion-in-appalachia-faith-identity-survival/)
Y'all Means Y'all (https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2022/09/12/yall-means-all-z-zane-mcneill-interview/)
Queerness and Identity Within Appalachia by @fatfemmefrogs (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/62e4b30bd1e04dbdac4681f6d832c396)
Queer Appalachia Zine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_Appalachia)
Rural Intentional Communities in Virginia
Twin Oaks (https://www.twinoaks.org/)
Acorn Community (https://www.thefec.org/Acorn/)
<3 Violet
Theme song and interludes by my dear friend Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
9 Mar 2026
A Conversation with Annette, Part 1 - Coming Out of the Wardrobe
In this 2-part episode, Violet talks with her childhood friend (and long-lost Amish cousin!) Annette about coming out of Christianity, growing up in Lynchburg, the Falwells and their influence on Lynchburg, mental illness, the Charismatic church, rural life, Jerry Falwell Sr. and his commitment to upholding the white supremacist cisheteropatriarchal Southern "way of life", a unique youth group we attended in high school, theobros, and YWAM (Youth With A Mission).
Links:
Falwell Corruption
Jonathan Falwell nets $822,573 salary from part-time job at Liberty University in FY 2024 (https://julieroys.com/liberty-universitys-executive-windfalls-lavish-salaries-raise-eyebrows/)
Queer Appalachia
“Well, We’re Fabulous and We’re Appalachians, So We’re Fabulachians” (https://www.southerncultures.org/article/well-fabulous-appalachians-fabulachians/)
Queer Appalachia: Where We Belong (https://www.berea.edu/gravy/queer-appalachia-where-we-belong)
Queer Kentucky (https://queerkentucky.com/queer-communion-religion-in-appalachia-faith-identity-survival/)
Y'all Means Y'all (https://southernreviewofbooks.com/2022/09/12/yall-means-all-z-zane-mcneill-interview/)
Queerness and Identity Within Appalachia by @fatfemmefrogs (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/62e4b30bd1e04dbdac4681f6d832c396)
Queer Appalachia Zine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_Appalachia)
Rural Intentional Communities in Virginia
Twin Oaks (https://www.twinoaks.org/)
Acorn Community (https://www.thefec.org/Acorn/)
<3 Violet
Theme song and interludes by my dear friend Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
20 Dec 2025
Lord I Lift Your Name on High : A Conversation with Grant Bloom about Christian Music, Part 2
Content Warning: We will be singing and playing some Christian music.
A brief mention of SA (no details) is made.
Daddy God and the father wound, worship music at church, music and altered states of consciousness, the rich fucks in the Falwell's inner circle, the big business of church, and playing in the "secular" world.
Upcoming podcast topics! Homeschool co-ops, high school youth groups, queerness, Summit Ministries, Christian summer camps and retreats, mission trips, and Christian power teams!
The Dharma at Big Sur by John Adams
The Dharma at Big Sur, Pt. I: A New Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWO84mScCcc&list=RDMWO84mScCcc&start_radio=1)
The Dharma at Big Sur, Pt. II: Sri Moonshine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwMgKDFav0Q)
Theme song by my dear friend (and this week's guest!) Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
20 Dec 2025
Lord I Lift Your Name on High : A Conversation with Grant Bloom about Christian Music, Part 1
Content Warning: We will be singing and playing some Christian music.
Church bands, Christian rock, and innuendos in worship songs.
The Christian record company that I was trying to remember is Tooth & Nail Records: https://www.toothandnail.com/about (https://www.toothandnail.com/about).
Theme song by my dear friend (and this week's guest!) Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
14 Dec 2025
Christian Folk Magic for the Queers: An Interview with Rob Phoenix about Pennsylvania German Braucherei / Powwow / Hexerei
Rob Phoenix has a YouTube blog at https://www.youtube.com/@ThePowwwowGuy (https://www.youtube.com/@ThePowwwowGuy) and an unmaintained, but comprehensive, website at https://pagermanpowwow.com/ (https://pagermanpowwow.com/).
Books mentioned in this episode
The Long Lost Friend by Johann Georg Hohman
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
The Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus
You can find my friend's shop in Tucson at https://www.yoliabotanica.com/ (https://www.yoliabotanica.com/).
As always, you may contact me at jerryskidspodcast@gmail.com!
<3 Violet
Theme song by my dear friend Grant Bloom (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/ (http://www.grantbloommusic.com/)).
13 May 2023
When We All Get to Heaven
After a journey through hell and salvation, Violet talks about the Falwell heaven, full of millions of dollars and McMansions.
19 Dec 2022
The Romans Road, VBS, and AWANA
It gets weirder! Kids telling other kids about how they're going to hell for being kids.
< / 3
Theme Song: Kiss of Hope by Snowflake (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269 (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269) Ft: Abstract Audio, Kara Square, Rey IzainMusic
Music by lvymusic (https://pixabay.com/users/lvymusic-27953103/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=121519) from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=121519)
24 Nov 2022
Hell
What is hell in the Falwell's church? And how are kids taught about it?
Theme Song: Kiss of Hope by Snowflake (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269 (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269) Ft: Abstract Audio, Kara Square, Rey Izain
13 Nov 2022
The Wild & Wacky World of Christian Children's Media
Violet gives an introduction to the tactics and bizarre Christian media used to cow kids into believing in Jesus in the Falwell's church: enticement, terror, and the breakdown of self-esteem.
Theme Song: Kiss of Hope by Snowflake (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269 (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/55269) Ft: Abstract Audio, Kara Square, Rey Izain
29 Oct 2022
The Falwell Empire and Early Childhood
In this episode, Violet builds up the context for her story: Liberty University, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Liberty Christian Academy, and the Falwell family, while beginning the exploration of her early childhood.
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3 ratings
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