Episode

Fiction Author and Human Trafficking Survivor: Dirinks and Deconstruction

Podcast: Unbelief
Published: Feb 22, 2026
Duration seconds: 2550
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Summary

In this Drinks and Deconstruction episode, I’m joined by River Polsgrove, a fiction writer and human trafficking survivor, for a conversation that somehow includes Catholic chanting, the “drink the blood” confusion of childhood, and why church people love turning shame into a personality. We talk dissociative amnesia, purity culture’s greatest hits (yes, the donut object lesson makes an appearance), and what it looks like to rebuild a spiritual life when the church was part of the harm. AND how River uses their fiction for the kind of healing and revenge therapy can’t always provide. Content warning up front for trafficking.