About Me & My Work
Hello - I'm Blake Chastain. I've hosted the Exvangelical podcast since 2016, and also developed other shows such as Powers & Principalities, The Good Books, and Let's Talk About Text. I also write the newsletter The Post-Evangelical Post.
This is my website, where I collect all the work I do.
I'm primarily driven by questions involving belief, technology, and society. My starting point and primary focus thus far has been white evangelicalism & its influence on American society, though my interests extend beyond that to more general topics such as media studies (especially with regards to its effects on literacy), social issues of all kinds, and how we navigate today's fraught world both as individuals and collectively.
My first book, Exvangelical & Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back, was published by Tarcher (neé Tarcher Perigee) in September 2024.
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I coined the #exvangelical hashtag alongside the launch of the Exvangelical podcast in July 2016. Since then, exvangelical conversations and communities have proliferated online across social networks like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit.
"Exvangelical" functions as both a way to find others who have left white evangelical beliefs and communities behind, as well as a helpful frame for criticizing white evangelical institutions and practices. It is not a wholesale replacement of evangelicalism, but a shared starting point--it acknowledges that we are rooted in similar experiences, and celebrates the new and diverse ways people find to flourish.
For a working definition of "exvangelical," please read my essay here:
Blake Chastain
About This Site
On this site, you'll find the following verticals:
- Writing is where you find my original writing.
- Reading is where I share some of the books I'm working through.
- Linking is where you find links to interesting writing and content from the web. I'll share a weekly digest of these as well via email.
- Posting is where you find links to the content I'm posting to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Of course, the best way to keep up to date is by subscribing.
Some content will be made available for paid supporters. I have a simple support system: $5/month or $50/year. I donate 25% of net proceeds annually.
You can find an explanation for why I do this in my post from 2021 (though the pricing model has changed, the goal has not):
Blake Chastain