Trigger warning. This podcast contains descriptions of various abusive situations.

Listener discretion is advised. My name is Eric Skrinski. As a former religious fundamentalist,

I'm shedding light on the dark side of the church, from the pulpit to the pews. But I'm not

doing it alone. Each week, I'm sitting down with survivors,

advocates, authors, and more to uncover the inner workings of these abusive religious groups

to give tactical tips on how to escape and to find out what we can do to take them down.

You're listening to The Preach Boys podcast. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Preach Boys

podcast. Today's guest is Josie Pickens. And this episode has actually been sitting on the

proverbial shelf since December of 2023. That's when we first had the conversation you're going to

be hearing today for the very first time. For a myriad of reasons, a lot of times

episodes get recorded and for, you know, legal reasons, for emotional reasons, and so on,

they can end up sitting for quite a while before they actually are heard. But the stories are

always important to hear. They're always timely. And unfortunately, I think they'll relate to many people

who listen to this episode. So I want you to really listen to Josie's entire conversation with me

on today's episode of the Preachie Boys podcast. But I would also encourage you to go check

out Josie's own podcast, Colt Confessions, where just last week, she went into even greater detail about her experiences.

But without further ado, let's get into my conversation with Josie Pickens.

Josie, thank you so much for joining me on today's show.

Thanks for having me.

I'm excited to be here.

I know we've had a conversation in the past kind of walking through this story.

And right off the bat, I want to say that this is a,

...