Nate Nakao (he/him)

Maggie Harrigan, host of the podcast Hello Deconstructionists and creator behind the Instagram account of the same name joins Nate and Gail for a fun conversation about healing from religious trauma, deconstruction, and the power of storytelling in building community after leaving evangelicalism. TRIGGER WARNING: there are a ton of references to contemporary Christian music of the 2000'...

To wrap up AAPI History Month, friend of the show Scott Okamoto joins Gail and Nate to share about his family's history during the years that Japanese Americans were incarcerated in concentration camps in the western part of the US and Canada. Also, as one of the hosts of the podcast Asians in Baseball , Scott needed to be tested on his knowledge of Asians in other sports, so listen all...

Professor of Law Kimberly Mutcherson joins Gail and Nate to discuss the history of abortion access in the US, the current landscape of women's healthcare, and the need for reproductive justice in the pro-choice conversation. Professor Mutcherson was the former co-host of the Anthem-Award-winning podcast— The Power of Attorney —which is produced by Rutgers Law School . Follow Professor M...

Happy Valentine's Day! On today's episode, Gail and Nate talk about what happens when you love everyone and everything else more than God. Oh, and be sure to check out the Content Warning event taking place in Portland this weekend! Tickets are available at contentwarningevent.com . If you're looking for support for religious trauma survivors, check out the Reclamation Collective at rec...

In the third part of our miniseries, "My Cult Was in a Documentary," Eric Skwarczynski joins the show to talk about his work investigating the Independent Fundamental Baptists and about the Max/Investigation Discovery docuseries Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals . Eric's Links: Instagram | @preacherboysdoc Preacher Boys podcast | website Film School'd podcast | Apple Podcasts Let Us P...

Dr. Camille Lewis joins Gail and Nate to share her story of growing up in the IFB, her life at Bob Jones University, the controversies that forced her to leave, and her ongoing work analyzing and reporting on BJU and the larger world of fundamentalism. Read Dr. Lewis' story of leaving BJU here . Follow Dr. Lewis' ongoing reporting and analysis of BJU and fundamentalism here . --- Follow...

Our good friend Jessica Goforth joins us to talk about her reactions to the Amazon Prime series Shiny Happy People , which exposes some of the abuses in the Christian cult known as IBLP or ATI. Jessica is the host of the podcast Leaving the Village , where she shares her own story of surviving IBLP and interviews others who have also escaped the cult she grew up in. You can subscribe to...

Nate and Gail return for an update on life. We discuss weddings (especially the problems with evangelical ones), current events, Palestine and Israel (briefly), meeting people you've made friends with online, building new community after leaving toxic spaces, how to not fall into previous traps that people often take out of evangelicalism into their deconstruction, binary thinking, and ...

Rabbi Ariann Weitzman spends some time addressing a few of the common misconceptions Christians have about Jews and educating us about the relationship between the two religions. This insightful conversation is among our favorite episodes, and we hope you find it as helpful and informative as we did! Bnai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue Four Common Misunderstandings about Judaism ---...

On this episode we are joined by Christopher Peterman, a former student at Bob Jones University who organized the first ever student-run protest at BJU. Chris shares his own story of abuse at BJU and the severe trauma that motivated him to stand up to the administration at the self-proclaimed "Fortress of Faith." Further Reading: "Bob Jones University Blamed Victims of Sexual Assaults, ...