Season Two!
How do you convince people to think about something they've been avoiding for years?
If you’re following this Substack, hopefully you already know that Season Two of Rock That Doesn’t Roll launched on Wednesday. If not, go listen!
Our first episode is the story of Jennifer Knapp’s music career inside and outside the Christian music industry. In a way this episode closes a loop that started last October when Jennifer performed at our launch event in New York. We had about 18 hours of hanging out with Jennifer on that trip and I left fully convinced that she’s a real one. We wound up sharing a Lyft to LaGuardia at 4am, so now we’re bonded for life, I think. The mix of humor, empathy, justice and authenticity in our episode is an accurate representation of Jennifer’s personality as I experienced it- even at 4am on the way to the airport. I would love to hear what you thought of this episode.
Working on Season Two has been a real whirlwind. The production schedule feels about half as long as it was for Season One, but this time instead of six episodes we’re working on eight. In some ways it is easier, though. We have a much better idea of what the show is now. Season One had to justify the podcast’s existence, which made the storytelling more complicated and sometimes difficult to write. Now when we interview people I have an idea of how the conversation will work in the final episode and make better choices with follow-up questions. We also have the advantage of Leah’s book being out in the world, so we can talk with people about stories that made their way into the book. In some interviews I felt our guests had listened to Season One and prepared themselves to be vulnerable in ways that they usually aren’t. I welcome that development and hope to do more interviews like that.
While the podcast has found a devoted audience, I’ve also been surprised to hear from people I would expect to be among our core audience who have approached the show with deep skepticism. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising- with all the stories of religious trauma I’ve heard- but many people who have experience with evangelicalism are wary of listening to the podcast. In addition, people with no experience with evangelicalism would often like to keep it that way- and they aren’t clamoring to listen either.
If you have any ideas for how we could reach either of these groups of potential listeners, I would love to hear them.
Our next episode drops May 8 on the public feed (Patreon supporters will as soon as it’s finished). It’s on Christian rap music and I think you’ll love it.
Rock (but don’t roll) on-
Andrew
I think finding a podcast that holds space for all experiences - especially when it comes to evangelical experiences - is really rare. That's what I think is so good about what been done so far. The podcast looks at these experiences with kindness and respect, knowing that the people coming out of this era were deeply affected. This is the holy ground, I think. Where we can look at our past and, given the information we have now, make choices on our future. Thank you for what's been created so far. It's so helpful.
You guys are walking a really tough tightrope— to dignify the authentic spiritual experiences and beliefs that some associate with this music while also acknowledging the flaws, hypocrisies, and hurts that also existed. I think you are doing a great job on that. When you’re talking about a controversial topic, you know you are doing it right if everyone is a bit frustrated with you.