This is Rusty Reno, editor of First Things Magazine, and I am here with you at the editor's desk,

the regular First Things podcast that talks about issues and themes and material in the latest issue of First Things magazine.

And I have with me, Megan Basham, cultural reporter at The Daily Wire,

to talk about her wonderful piece in the December 2020 issue prodigal daughter. Welcome to the podcast,

Megan. Well, thanks for having me. Prodigal. So you tell a story about the wayward Megan.

The young Megan was quite wayward, yes.

You know, I talked a little bit about, you know, my time in college.

I have joked that because of that waywardness, I am experts in instruct.

I don't instruct young women, but if I wanted, I could instruct them

on how to approach bouncers so as to gain entry to drinking establishments before 21,

things of this nature, whereas my English lit education was spotty during those years. So that was

my major. I was an English-lit major at Arizona

State, which was famously regarded, well-regarded for its party school. So you majored in partying and

minored in English literature. Exactly. Yes. I want to say, I think party girl is the technical

term. Were you in a church background growing up?

I was. So I grew up in kind of non-denominational, low Protestantism, but my parents were

very faithful churchgoers. I was at church somewhat rebelliously, pretty much every Sunday

of my life, taken there by my parents, but, you know, the, the spirit was not willing.

The spirit went, but the spirit was not willing.

So, yes, I was very much raised in the church.

But as soon as I got to college, you know, that went away.

I quit going.

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