The RELEVANT Podcast

Former We The Kingdom singer Franni Cash grew up inside a cult, and her debut solo album ‘Here I Am’ is about what came after. We talk about the diary she had to hide, the day her family walked out, what she found when she met the real Jesus and what she’d tell anyone in a controlling church right now.
The crew also gets into the backlash to Carl and Laura Lentz’s latest round of interviews and what Christians actually expect from someone who is doing the work of repentance. 
In Slices, Derek takes us inside Peter Thiel’s leaked lectures on the Antichrist, where the people the billionaire says to watch are not who you’d guess. Marty brings good news for anyone who has paid an AirBnB cleaning fee and had to do the dishes anyway. Then Marty’s Life Hacks has a listener-submitted tip about your chips that the rest of us are still processing, and Derek gets some constructive feedback on the zipper location in his new music video.
An all hip-hop One Has to Go closes it out, and with two rappers on the panel, somebody was always going to get flamed.
Highlights:
02:24 — Are rappers’ gold chains secretly smart investing?
03:48 — Jesse’s on a jury, and Cameron played every card to get out of his
09:19 — Do hard times make better art? The Gulf War brought us Chingy
10:44 — Jay-Z reportedly books himself for the Super Bowl (and our guest list)
13:00 — “Can you tell me about your cult, please?”
15:32 — Introducing Unedited, our new full-interview series
16:46 — The backlash to Carl and Laura Lentz’s interviews
27:03 — “You’re only canceled until your next hit”
28:11 — Derek on why powerful people never admit they were wrong
31:32 — Franni Cash on growing up inside a cult
33:42 — What happened to the diary she kept hidden
35:57 — The night the cult jokes stopped being funny
38:21 — The burned page behind ‘Here I Am’
39:47 — Her message for anyone inside a controlling church
41:50 — Slices: Peter Thiel’s leaked lectures on the Antichrist
45:34 — Airbnb is ending checkout chores
49:53 — Marty’s Life Hacks: Should your chips live in the freezer?
54:22 — One Has to Go
58:53 — Marty’s case against Dr. Dre
1:00:53 — Marty braces to get flamed
1:08:03 — Marty’s new album gets a release date
1:10:36 — Derek’s ‘r n r’ video and some feedback on his hoodie zipper location

Former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz and his wife Laura stayed together, and now they've written the book on it, 'Overcoming Infidelity.' We talk about the small warning signs, when leaving is actually the right call, what they've told their kids and what Carl says to the skeptics calling this a comeback tour.
Plus, Cameron is back from NYC, where Greta Gerwig previewed 'Narnia: The Magician's Nephew.’ He went in skeptical and tells us what he saw and heard. 
In Slices, Jesse makes the case for 'You Can See Everything,' the three-hour Elizabeth Holmes movie everyone is talking about and nobody is spoiling (we won't either). Derek tells us why Hulvey canceled his Amsterdam show, and Marty asks the crew to name their favorite sin, which turns into a real conversation about Philip Anthony Mitchell and what comes after the celebrity pastor era.
Then Marty's Life Hacks closes it out with a tip so wholesome we're pretty sure city hall is paying him.
Highlights:
01:41 — Cameron's report from Greta Gerwig's Narnia preview event 
06:44 — The Aslan question 
10:06 — Derek's case against the Meryl Streep casting 
17:14 — How 'Stairway to Heaven' ended up in Narnia 
24:03 — Slices: The Elizabeth Holmes movie nobody is spoiling 
34:59 — Hulvey cancels a sold-out show over what was on the venue walls 
37:28 — Marty asks the crew to name their favorite sin 
37:46 — Philip Anthony Mitchell gets honest on The Breakfast Club 
40:29 — What comes after the celebrity pastor era? 
48:18 — Derek makes room for pastors in Jordans 
49:05 — Carl and Laura Lentz on 'Overcoming Infidelity' 
52:12 — Carl on the secrets that come before the big one 
54:13 — Laura on when leaving is the right call 
56:08 — What they've told their kids (and the phone call Carl didn't see coming) 
1:01:39 — Carl's answer for the skeptics
1:06:47 — Marty's Life Hacks: Wait, the library has 3D printers?

Jamie MacDonald, fresh off winning New Artist of the Year at the Dove Awards, joins us as her new deluxe album arrives this week. We talk about what it’s like to be the biggest thing in CCM right now, reliving her testimony on stage every night and the Alaska fudge shop that can’t stop playing her record.
In RELEVANT Buzz, Instagram admits it’s been recommending Creed’s ‘Higher’ more than it should, and we think the algorithm might be trying to heal America. Drill rapper Fivio Foreign gets honest about the hardest part of his walk with Jesus, and Pope Leo says algorithms lack “the spark of humanity,” which has us asking where all the song bridges went.
Plus, Marty’s new co-working space comes with an indoor mini golf course, and his family’s Halloween costume plan leaves the rest of us in a cold sweat. Then One Has to Go closes it out: Pastor Appreciation Month downsized to a week, one severed head too many and a turkey leg that turns grown men into cavemen.
Highlights:
01:09 — Marty’s co-working space comes with a mini golf course
08:37 — RELEVANT Buzz: Instagram can’t stop recommending Creed’s ‘Higher’
10:26 — Jesse’s theory: The algorithm wants us back at Creed’s 2001 Thanksgiving halftime show
15:56 — Derek’s plan for the first Christian rap Super Bowl halftime
17:25 — Fivio Foreign goes from drill to praising Jesus (and gets honest about what’s hardest)
21:21 — Derek’s case for Fonzworth Bentley as hip-hop’s unsung hero
23:42 — Is AI art always a little cringe? Pope Leo weighs in
25:13 — Derek wants bridges and vamps back
29:21 — The architect who felt “God pushing my pencil”
32:53 — Jamie MacDonald on the long road to becoming Christian music’s biggest new name
35:37 — Why ‘Left It in the River’ hit so hard
38:29 — Playing the Ryman a mile from where she was born
40:21 — Is the pop culture Halloween costume dead?
41:07 — Marty’s family Halloween plan
45:37 — One Has to Go
47:05 — Derek on the Black church’s honor culture
50:39 — Derek has seen enough severed heads
52:26 — Seven-year-old Cameron explains street economics to his mom
54:34 — Where do the full-size candy bar houses actually live?

Irish folk trio Kingfishr joins us right as everyone's playlist turns to fall vibes. We talk about how they went from a self-described rip-off band to leaning all the way into traditional Irish music, the old farmhouse with walls thick enough to start a band in and what's giving them hope right now.
In Slices, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan says plainly that Jesus is his Lord and Savior and that he doesn't care what it costs him. Derek brings a new study about the surprising group of married couples that are having the best intimacy, and Jesse checks into sleep tourism, where people are paying huge amounts for a hotel room whose main attraction is being unconscious.
We also debut Marty’s Life Hack of the Week, and we bring back our annual Mascot Bracket Challenge!
Highlights:
00:52 — Diddy's prison perks and the only sneakers you can buy behind bars
04:47 — Derek's coffee-shop intervention for Cameron
06:02 — Marty's Life Hack of the Week: The accidental text on purpose
09:27 — Jesse, a leaking car and the cul-de-sac group text
10:37 — Derek explains who this will not work on
14:25 — Therapists, please diagnose Marty in the comments
15:33 — The steakhouse butter hack
18:50 — Slices: People are paying $1,700 a night just to sleep
23:53 — Aaron Rodgers and the darkness retreat
24:57 — Who's having the most sex? Derek has a study
27:01 — Wait, who paid for this survey?
29:06 — Are Billy Corgan and Bill Burr half-brothers?
31:50 — Billy Corgan calls Jesus his Lord and Savior
36:24 — Why our parents banned Smashing Pumpkins
37:45 — Kingfishr on trad Irish roots, the farmhouse and what's giving them hope
43:10 — The annual Mascot Bracket Challenge
45:36 — The spiritual round: Demon Deacon vs. Sun Devil
48:09 — We don't think about kangaroos enough
56:38 — The Final Four

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac joins us as NBA teams kick off training camp this week. We talk about what happens when Christians put an athlete on a pedestal, the upcoming NBA season — his 10th — and how his faith-based athletic brand UNITUS has evolved over the last few years.
In Slices, Jesse found the 26-cent coin that just sold for $17,000 and has a retirement plan for whoever works at the Mint. Derek brings the new study showing Gen Z and millennials are drinking less (while Gen X picks up the slack). And Marty explains why Gen Z is buying CDs again without owning a CD player (K-pop, mostly).
Also, Marty keeps his raw denim in the freezer, started collecting Ralph Lauren stamps and is starting to worry about what California is doing to him. Derek has questions. Plus Jesse is going to a silent disco, Cameron debunks the Christopher Nolan Darth Vader rumor and we relitigate the time Derek wore a Rodman jersey in Cameron's courtside seats.
Question of the Week: What's your creative, unexpected Halloween costume idea for 2026? Drop it in the comments and we'll read the best ones next week.
Highlights:
00:30 — Marty's "life hack" that is just backing up your phone
02:55 — Derek's NBA 2K theory of why people don't take responsibility
04:39 — Marty keeps his $400 jeans in the freezer and Derek has questions
10:44 — Why we're running the whole Jonathan Isaac conversation uncut
15:26 — Cameron apologizes to a Magic coach in a Vegas casino
17:09 — Derek wore a Rodman jersey in Cameron's courtside seats
18:28 — Does Cameron need a signature courtside look?
21:44 — Slices: A 26-cent coin sold for $17,000 and Jesse has a plan for the Mint
24:58 — Marty bought a Ralph Lauren stamp collection and is worried about himself
30:54 — Jesse is going to a silent disco
34:43 — Gen Z and millennials are drinking less. Gen X is drinking a lot more
42:20 — The Christopher Nolan Darth Vader movie is not real
44:11 — CD sales are up 59% and half the buyers don't own a CD player
48:16 — Question of the Week: Halloween costume ideas for 2026
49:34 — Jonathan Isaac on year 10, faith under the spotlight and UNITUS