The Gilded Age is back today, which is an excellent time to note that it is the perfect television show because it features the most realistic storyline of all time: a man being down so astronomically bad for Carrie Coon

Writing this gave me a vulnerability hangover but it is one of the only things I have been able to think about in the wake of the greatest life change I've ever experienced

me: hm I don’t feel very good

also me: my nutritious breakfast was half a cup of coffee and a See’s bordeaux egg

this is Easter week folks

The massively popular Charismatic Christian leader, Todd Bentley, faced public scandal multiple times. But that didn't end his career.

@elenactrueba.bsky.social explores what his redemption reveals about conservative Christian culture in the United States today. therevealer.org/the-resurrec...

Thrilled to have a piece out in @therevealer.bsky.social on the first real disillusionment with the faith in which I was raised: at 14, I attended the “Florida Outpouring,” a revival led by the controversial evangelist Todd Bentley that quickly descended into scandal: therevealer.org/the-resurrec...

Our February issue is here!

With great articles on adoption as a religious industry, Hindu divorce, student protests, ecstatic dance, a scandalous Charismatic Christian televangelist, & more from @mpgphd.bsky.social, @profirmf.bsky.social, @elenactrueba.bsky.social, & others! therevealer.org

How does the author of Project 2025's chapter on the Department of Education want to raise birth rates in America? By reducing the subsidization of student loans—because if women aren't pursuing higher education, they're more likely to have children: thefederalist.com/2024/12/02/h...

Great article on homeschooling!

christmas baking in FULL swing over here

On Substack today, I'm writing about the men who launched the Christian homeschooling movement: their theology, their ideology, and their novels (yes, really): open.substack.com/pub/elenacec...

writing hack: realize your laptop is on 10% battery and you absolutely must finish the Substack post you’re working on before it dies (leaving the confines of bed to go downstairs and fish around for the laptop charger is not an option)

every year I wait for Spotify wrapped to give me the exact same piece of information

Trad wives are everywhere, it seems. We love to hate-watch their TikToks and write think pieces about women who perform traditional gender roles online. But trad wives have a predecessor and an ideology less ancient than they'd like you to think: Stay-At-Home-Daughters & biblical patriarchy.

A 🧵

Regardless of what happens on the national stage, it is critical to continue to expose teachings trapping women and children in harmful situations and enabling abusive and controlling behaviors to go unchecked.

open.substack.com/pub/kristind...

time for an actual introduction, now that I've left the bird app! I'm Elena, I'm based in California, I was raised in the very insular world of conservative Christian homeschooling, I have a Master's in Theological Studies from Harvard, & now I write about all things evangelicalism + politics.