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In this special landmark episode, RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk celebrity forgiveness, unskilled prayer, and ordinary overcorrections. They also read a bunch of heartening listener messages, in the process uncovering a secret Mcast shrine in a Canadian bookstore. Fast-forward to the 34 minute mark to bypass the (self-)celebratory content. Click here to support Mockingbird financially. Please note: all monthly donors receive a complimentary subscription to our print magazine. Click here to sign up for our 20th Anniversary NYC Conference on April 15-17, 2027. Click here to read the interview with RJ Heijmen on Mbird about the nuts and bolts of ministry, "A Safe Place to Be a Human Being." Click here to read the interview with comedian Chris Rock about forgiveness in the NY Times. Click here to read Peter Wehner's interview with theologian Sarah Coakley in the NY Times. Click here to read "Putting the Quiet Life on Trial" by John Blase in Inkwell.

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk hidden greens, panic-inducing protocols, blame games, and funeral trends. Email [email protected] 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

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

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

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"

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.

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"

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.

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 [email protected]. 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.

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.

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.

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk Lieutenant Dan season, holy inconvenience, millennial oversocialization, and playful faith. Also, Sarah buys a rebellious sweatshirt while RJ comes to terms with his inner delivery boy. Click here to watch the toddler yacht rock Dave and Sarah mention Click here to order a copy of the Beauty Issue of The Mockingbird Magazine Click here to register for the NYC Mbird Conference (4/23-25) Click here to read "Lieutenant Dan Season" by Matt Lindeman on Mbird Click here to read "The Ugly Side of the Truth" by Gretchen Ronnevik Click here to read "In 2026, We are Friction-Maxxing" by Kathryn Jezer-Morton in The Cut Click here to read "Oversocialization, the Shackles of the Millennial Generation" by Freddie deBoer Click here to read "Whatever Ails You, the Answer Is Dance" by Boris Fishman in The NY Times Click here to read "Blessed Are the Pickleball Players" by Dave in Christianity Today

Last episode of the year, in which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk Knives Out, self-checkout lines, optional futures, and how not to hate Christmas. Also, Sarah gets a Zippo while heaven and earth meet at an unlikely funeral. Click here to read Dave's review of Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man on Mbird Click here to read Valerie Trapp's piece in The Atlantic on "The One Line Americans (Weirdly) Choose to Wait In" Click here to "From Option to Obligation" by Paul Skallas in the Lindy Newsletter Click here to read Sarah's "No More Flaccid Christmas Stockings" on Mbird Click here to read David Clay's "How to Not Hate Christmas" on Mbird Click here to read "Faith's Long December" by Kyle Wells on Mbird Click here to watch the performance of "Fairytale of New York" at Shane MacGowan's funeral

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk advent calendars, perfectionist musicians, interrupting mothers, and the Batman effect. The gang also takes a field trip to an acute mental health ward across the pond. Click here to respond to the opening appeal. Click here to read Ellen Cushing's "Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control" in The Atlantic. Click here to read "The Quest for Perfection Is Stunting Our Society" by Jonathan Biss in The NY Times. Click here to read "Can You Stop?" by Heather Havrilesky on Ask Polly Click here for the abstract of the study on The Batman Effect Click here to read William Fagan's article on Mbird, "Advent Has a Purpose (Candle Lighting Isn't It)"

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk picky eaters, shameless monsters, wartime tragedies, and the uselessness of God. Also, RJ wets the bed (and never looks back). Click here to listen to the recordings from the recent Mbird Conference in Charlottesville, VA. Click here to read "In Defense of Picking Eating" by Irina Dumistrescu on Serious Eats. Click here to read Belle Tindall's piece on Seen and Unseen, "We Needs a Sense of Shame -- But Need Mercy Even More." Click here for more details about the 2026 NYC Mbird Conference (4/23-25). Click here to read "The End of Ed Kochanowski's War" in The Boston Globe. Click here to read "A (Reluctant) Living Testimony" by Amanda Geisinger on Mbird.