What if humanity didn’t begin with a fall, but with a blessing? What if your original identity wasn’t sinful, but good? In today’s Holy Heretics podcast episode, I’m joined by the renown Dr. Matthew Fox, one of the most provocative and influential theologians of the last half‑century. A former Dominican priest and the author of Original Blessing, Fox is best known as the founder of Creation Spirituality, a spiritual and theological framework that challenges Western Christianity’s deep fixation on sin, guilt, and separation.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde joins Holy Heretics this week with the kind of steady, unflinching presence that has marked her ministry for decades. Our conversation moves through her spiritual journey, her Episcopal imagination, and the moral clarity that shaped her message to President Trump at his inaugural prayer breakfast. In a time of authoritarianism and dehumanization, Bishop Budde offers a courageous and compassionate way forward.