The Mockingcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 299: Disrespect the Vegetables Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk hidden greens, panic-inducing protocols, blame games, and funeral trends. Email info@mbird.com with any favorite stories or episodes, and we'll read it aloud on episode 300.

Heads-up for those with kids in the car: there is a brief mention of the Cornell case at the beginning of the cast. Fast forward to the 4:10 mark if you'd like to skip.

Click here to Ashlie Stevens piece in Salon, "Hide Your Vegetables. You're an Adult"
Click here to read Rebecca Onion's review of Huberman's Protocols in Slate
Click here to read "Why Americans Can't Grieve Together" by Arthur Brooks in the Free Press
Click here to read "Where Have All the Funerals Gone?" by Rob Myallis on Mbird

Episode 298: We Don't Have the Black Death But We Do Have iPhones Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk relational losses, medieval mental health, and robot apocalypses. Also, Sarah holds onto a worthless heirloom, while RJ comes clean about the desert fathers.

Click here to watch the video of the statistic reported by Nick and Robin Gough
Click here for more infomation, or to pre-register for Mockingbird's upcoming conference in Minnesota (Oct 2&3)
Click here to read Katherine Harvey's article about Medieval Mental Health on Aeon
Click here to read "The Death of Shame Is Tearing Us Apart" by Jay Caspian Kang in The New Yorker
Click here to read the poem "Things Artificial Intelligence Can't Do" by Aaron Belz
Click here to read "How To Resist the Robot Apocalypse" by Bryan Jarrell on Mbird

Episode 297: The Holiness of a Substitute Science Teacher Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

In the season premiere, RJ, Sarah and Dave talk departed Dolly, fossilized trilobites, and the Uni-Context. Also, Sarah says goodbye to some champagne flutes, while Bob Dylan makes a cameo.

Click here for more details, or to pre-register, for our upcoming conference in Minnesota (10/2&3).
Click here to read Sarah's "When Jesus Tells a Boob Joke"
Click here to read Ethan Richardson's tribute to Wendell Berry. And here to read Ryan Tinetti's.
Click here to read Robert Lynch's "What an Eighth Grader Who Drew a Penis on My 510-Million-Year-Old Fossil Taught Me About Status"
Click here to read Derek Thompson's interview with Agnes Callard about The Uni-Context
Click here to read the profile of Darryl Strawberry in Christianity Today

Episode 296: The Curb That the Builders Rejected Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

In their season finale, RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk Costco skaters, commodified religion, and the God who isn't supposed-to-be. Also, Dave doubles down on hotdogmaxxing while Sarah's remembers jncos.

Click here to respond to the opening appeal
Click here to read "What I Learned about Loss While Skateboarding at Costco" by Conor Dougherty in The NY Times
Click here to read Freya India's substack about "The Commodification of Christianity"
To download The Mockingapp click here for Apple and here for Android
Click here to read NBW's sermon "Creatures from the God Lagoon"

Episode 295: The Blessing of Being Forgotten May 26, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk forced cheeriness, prediction addiction, satisficing breakthroughs, and the grammar of grace. Also, Sarah visits the mothership while Dave maximizes hot dogs.

Click here to read about Starbucks notes in The Boston Globe.
Click here to read Joshua Rothman's essay "Do We Think Too Much About the Future?" in The New Yorker.
Click here to read "The Blessing of Being Forgotten" by John Pennylegion on Mbird.
Click here to read about The Nobel-Prize Winning Psychologist Who Thought He Found the Secret to Happiness in The NY Times.
Click here to read Trygve Johnson's substack on The Grammar of Grace.
Click here to listen to the episode of The Daily about the resurgence of religion in the United States.

Episode 294: Who Do You Think You Are Miss Astorbutt? May 04, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk casinofication, sketch comedy, main character energy, and self-transcendence. Also, RJ yearns to be too small to fail, while Sarah learns her son used to be a light bulb.

Click here to listen to the recordings for our recent conference in New York City
Click here to register for the 20th Anniversary NYC Conference (4/15-17/2027)
Click here to read Russell Moore's newsletter "Against the Casinofication of the Church"
Click here to read the NY Times interview with Bob Odenkirk
Click here to read Megan Garber's piece in the Atlantic about The New Age of Performance Anxiety
Click here to read Tony Robinson's post on Mbird, "A Self Help Guru Has Second Thoughts"

Click here to read McKay Coppins essay in the Atlantic about online gambling, "Sucker"

Episode 293: The Secret Vault of Thomas Kinkade Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk underachieving parents, hype aversion, and the impassability of God. Also, Dave reconsiders Iron Maiden while Sarah has a run-in at the farmer's market.

Click here for more information about this week's Mockingbird Conference in New York City (4/23-25).

Click here for more information about our Fall Conference in Minneapolis (10/2-3).

Click here to read "Parents, Consider Underachieving" by Rachel Feintzeig in The NY Times.

Click here to read about The People Who Shun Super Popular Pop Culture by Anna Holmes in The Atlantic.

Click here to watch Nick Cave's interview with Unherd.

Click here to read "Lessons from the Hidden Vault of Thomas Kinkade" by Michael Wright on Mbird.

Click here to read Richard Beck's substack on The Good News of God's Impassability.

Episode 292: False Evidence Appearing Real Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk starting a band, the tyranny of metrics, meaning fatigue, and the second most honest day of the (church) year. Also, Dave uncovers an animated conspiracy while Sarah bumps into an alternate timeline.

Click here for more information about the upcoming Mbird Conference in NYC (4/23-25), including RJ's pre-conference church renewal seminar. For inquiries about scholarships, email info@mbird.com.
Click here to read "Start a Band, Even If You're Terrible" by Hugo Lindgren.
Click here to read (or listen to) Derek Thompson's interview with C. Thi Nguyen about How Metrics Make Us Miserable.
Click here to read Ryan Burge's substack about The Big Questions.
Click here to read "Every Day Is Holy Saturday" by M Elizabeth Lewis Hall, Kelly Kapic and Jason McMartin on Mbird.

Episode 291: Happiness Weighs an Extra Twenty Pounds Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk affective forecasting, fantasy literature, workplace mattering, and collapsed demands. Also, a punk rocker gets a miracle bus ticket, and the ice monster comes for our kids.

Click here to register for the Spring Mbird Conference in NYC (4/23-25)
Click here to listen to Sarah's sermon "I Like Your Dancing", delivered at RJ's church.
Click here to read "Most of Us Are Bad at Predicting What Will Make Us Happy" by Ruston Dodd on The Athletic.
Click here to read Francis Spufford's defense of fantasy in The Guardian.
Click here to read The Up and Up's interview with Jennifer Breheny Wallace about Gen Z and Mattering.
Click here to read about "The Three Quarter Life Crisis" by Rob Myallis on Mbird.
Click here to read "What Remains When Nothing Can Be Done" by Kyle Wells on Mbird.

Episode 290: Sanctuary of the Pitiful Heart Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk face functions, last breaths, cringe churches, and Monkey Jesus. Also, Sarah runs into a teenage witch while RJ survives an iguanapocalypse. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Derek Sweatman.

Click here to register for the upcoming NYC Mockingbird conference (4/23-25).
Click here to read "Is the Backlash to Facial Conformity Finally Upon Us?" by Valerie Monroe in Allure.
Click here to read "Ash Wednesday Asks Nothing" by Jacob Lupfer in Commonweal.
Click here to read "A Church of Cringe" by Todd Brewer on Mbird.
Click here to read the obituary for Cecilia Giménez in The Economist.

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