The Return of Carl Lentz?

Just what the Doctor ordered: a very, very serious grab bag of topics. This week, Savannah and Lee discuss a few developments since they recorded the Aslan episode, Carl Lentz's fall and reemergence into the public eye, and a listener correction about the Macklemore and Ed Sheeran episode. So grab your favorite serious snack for this serious conversation and seriously DM us with any thoughts, questions, or suggestions! Things we mentioned in this episode: Have We Lost the Lost Art of Hospitality? by Nathan E. Lewis on Substack Christ in the Rubble by Munther Isaac One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad Munther Isaac on No Small Endeavor Can Pastors Be Disqualified - Holy Post Media Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Still recovering from the midterm? Same. Take a breather and join Lee and Savannah for a conversation about faith, politics, and having an existential crisis at the ballot box. What does it look like to vote like Jesus? Or maybe the better question is: what if the real test of Christian faith isn’t how we vote, but whether our politics look anything like Jesus? Things we mentioned in this episode: Get your tickets for No Small Endeavor Live on November 22nd! Prayer in Open D by Emmylou Harris London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe Say Nothing on Disney+ Collusion by Luke Harding Dunning-Kruger Effect Sharon McMahon on No Small Endeavor Scandalous Witness by Lee C. Camp Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode has been living rent-free in our heads since season 3 of Nobody Wants This dropped on Netflix, so we're putting it back in your feed. What can a Netflix rom-com about a rabbi and an agnostic podcaster teach us about love, faith, and compromise? In this episode, Savannah and Lee dive into the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, a smart and surprisingly tender rom-com about an agnostic podcaster (Kristen Bell) and a rabbi (Adam Brody) trying to make love work across lines of faith and conviction. The conversation unfolds into bigger questions: How do we love people whose choices we disagree with? When does compromise in a relationship become self-betrayal? Can married people be friends with people of the opposite sex? And what does it mean to convert to a different religion? This episode originally released on November 12, 2025. Things we mentioned in this episode: ⁠The Chosen by Chaim Potok⁠ ⁠My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok⁠ Easy A Saved ⁠Rainn Wilson on No Small Endeavor⁠ ⁠Soul Boom by Rainn Wilson⁠ ⁠Silence by Shusaku Endo⁠ Follow The Subtext: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Threads⁠ | ⁠X⁠ | ⁠YouTube⁠ | ⁠TikTok⁠ Follow Lee: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Lee's Newsletter⁠ Follow Savannah: ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Substack⁠ Join our Email List: ⁠nosmallendeavor.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the day we've all (mostly Savannah's) been waiting for. This week, Lee and Savannah do a deep dive into Brandon Flowers’ THRASHER! It's a record about belonging and nostalgia, and it was recorded live in Nashville by some of the greats. It's unexpectedly profound, and, in the end, Savannah just wants you to love this record as much as she does. Things we mentioned in this episode: Brandon Flowers' THRASHER Jackson Browne's The Pretender Sinners movie Dir. Ryan Coogler Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**This episode was recorded before the release on the new trailer** Meryl Streep is the voice of Aslan in Greta Gerwig's Narnia adaptation. Is this a threat to Christian orthodoxy or another culture-war distraction? This week on The Subtext, Savannah and Lee discuss the casting controversy and dive into bigger questions about gender and how we imagine God. From C.S. Lewis' POV to feminine depictions of God in Scripture and church history, they explore what Christian humility, artistic freedom, and a more faithful public witness might look like. Things we mentioned in this episode: NARNIA: THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW | Official Trailer Hillbilly Thomists on No Small Endeavor Stephen Wilson Jr. - "billy" “Why You Should Care That Aslan is a Woman” by Liel Leibovitz Priestesses in the Church? by C.S. Lewis The Incomprehensibility of God and the Image of God Male and Female by Elizabeth A. Johnson William Paul Young on No Small Endeavor The Shack by William Paul Young Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth R. Miller The Crucifixion of the Warrior God by Gregory A. Boyd Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence by Gregory A. Boyd Where's Mommy - Gregory Boyd Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is a $4,500 networking trip to Mar-a-Lago okay if it's for the kingdom? This week on The Subtext, Lee and Savannah unpack problematic Christian wealth seminars promising financial success for “kingdom impact." They explore the power of proximity, the dangers of “kingdom washing,” and what the early church might have to say about business, debt, and the pursuit of influence. Is Christian language transforming business, or simply baptizing capitalism? Things we mentioned in this episode: Come see Ira Glass on No Small Endeavor Live at the Symphony! Friendly Atheist “Christian evangelist defends $4,500 networking trip—and his “need” for luxury hotels” Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone The Gospel of High Yields: Inside Tim Tebow’s Favorite Wealth Seminar Poverty by America by Matthew Desmond Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Subtext: Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, free speech, and the billionaire power behind the music business. Lee and Savannah unpack the controversy, looking to Dolly Parton as a guide. What happens when public outrage becomes a purity test? Is it all just “vanity politics,” or what are we actually doing about the things we say we care about? Things we mentioned in this episode: M*A*S*H* All in the Family Olivia Fox Cabane (on the science of charisma) on Armchair Expert The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane Christ in the Rubble by Munther Isaac Munther Isaac on No Small Endeavor Dr. Queenie Johnson’s Analysis on what she calls “Vanity Politics” Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the first birthday of The Subtext! Savannah and Lee celebrate with an “Ask Us Anything” episode, answering listener questions about Bible translations, music, patriotism, how to leave your church community, and more. Thank you to everyone who made year one of The Subtext special. We love you! Send your AMA questions anytime to us @thesubtextshow on Instagram or to [email protected] Things we mentioned in this episode: Join us for No Small Endeavor Live November 22 - The Schermerhorn Symphony Center Méditation from the opera Thaïs by Jules Massenet Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber Down There by the Train by Tom Waits Christmas Lights by Coldplay A Change is Going to Come by Sam Cooke Pilgrim by Steve Earle Little Girl Blue by Nina Simone Kim Stanley Robinson on No Small Endeavor Consumerist corner: Stanley cup, Apple AirTag, Exfoliating Lip Balm Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turns out, Gen Z is talking less, scrolling more, and forgetting how to be human. This week, Savannah and Lee unpack the surprising decline in everyday conversation and why talking to strangers actually matters. Then a listener’s question prompts them to revisit Nate Bargatze drama. Does calling in vs. calling out work with public figures?  And things get spicy when they dive into Meta’s $17 billion child-safety settlement, social media addiction, kids and algorithms, free speech, government regulation, and the complicated question of who gets to shape us online.  Tell us what you think! DM us on Instagram @thesubtextshow Things we mentioned in this episode: Gen Zs like me are speaking 451 words fewer every day – and I know why by Esme Gordon Craig Heather Holleman on No Small Endeavor Jemar Tisby on No Small Endeavor James Lawson on No Small Endeavor Free Speech Part 1 - The Subtext Free Speech Part 2 - The Subtext The Social Reckoning Trailer The Social Network Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six 'English' strangers try to go Amish for a month, surfacing big questions about autonomy, conformity, vanity, and discernment. This week we're talking about TLC's Suddenly Amish, a (very scripted) reality show where six outsiders spend a month living in an Amish community to see if they could actually join the church. Lee and Savannah use Suddenly Amish as a foundation for conversations around appearance and vanity, the "if it doesn't affect you, why does it matter" ethic of modern individualism, what Christian teaching has to say about all this, and whether any real community can exist without asking you to give up a little bit of yourself. Things we mentioned in this episode: A Beginner's Guide to Dying by Simon Boas Suddenly Amish on HBO Max Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices