The RELEVANT Podcast

This week we're joined by Michael Cochren, the soul-and-blues frontman of Cochren & Co. He talks about the eight years he spent waiting on an answer from God and why he refuses to say God is good just because things finally worked out. We spotlight the band's new album, 'Runs in the Blood.'
In RELEVANT Buzz, Cory Asbury posted and deleted a shirtless workout photo, apologized for it and then got roasted by every friend he has in Christian music. Also, survivors launched the first national database of Protestant leaders accused of abuse, years after the SBC voted to build one and then let it die. And The Promised Land, the Moses workplace mockumentary that started as a YouTube pilot, just signed Lionsgate and got a second season.
In Slices, Columbia House is finally shutting down, which mostly raises the question of how it was still open, and one of us confesses to running a stack of accounts under slightly different names to get free CDs as a teenager. And a woman in New Zealand went into cardiac arrest in a supermarket parking lot, got revived by a stranger and then got a parking ticket for it. 
Also in here: a follow-up on the resting heart rate situation, a public service announcement about energy drinks, and the actual reason last week's episode showed up five days late.
One Has to Go closes it out. And we're still taking answers to last week's question: What's something you wish you'd known going into your freshman year of college? Drop it in the comments or @ us. We're running your answers in a piece this week.
Highlights:
01:21 — Marty's new house and the California no-AC problem
04:07 — Is the house haunted
06:15 — The resting heart rate follow-up and a Celsius warning
07:48 — C4, Sour Patch Kids flavor and two hours of pins and needles
11:35 — David Blaine, stunt magic and the four kinds of magician
19:15 — Emily is podcasting from what appears to be a TJ Maxx dressing room
21:04 — Kohl's cash
22:13 — RELEVANT Buzz: Cory Asbury takes down the shirtless photo and apologizes
28:08 — Survivors launch the first national database of accused Protestant abusers
30:09 — The Promised Land gets a second season and Lionsgate
31:33 — Michael Cochren of Cochren & Co.
39:12 — Slices: Columbia House is shutting down after 71 years
43:34 — She died in a parking lot and still got a ticket
48:34 — Why last week's episode was late
50:05 — One Has to Go

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This week, "This Is How We Do It" singer Montell Jordan joins us. He and his wife, Kristin, went from platinum records and world tours to planting a church, and they talk about what was missing in the middle of all that success. Also on the show, Ryan Ellis, who spent a decade writing worship music and now shows us what else he’s got. We spotlight his new album, ‘No Halo.’
In RELEVANT Buzz, Saints quarterback Drew Brees went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and built his speech around the day Christ changed his life. In other sports news, the Chicago White Sox handed out a record-breaking number of Pope hats. A new Harvard study suggests the loneliness epidemic may not be for the reasons we assume. And Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin opens up about his faith journey.
In Slices, the FAA solved its air traffic controller shortage by advertising the job to gamers, and a guy in San Francisco bought a billboard for an AI chatbot that turns out to be him. One Has to Go closes it out, and we tell you about four open positions we’ve posted at relevantmediagroup.com.
Editorial Question of the Week: What's something you wish you knew before starting your freshman year? Drop it in the comments or on our socials. We'll read the best ones on next week's show and turn them into an article at relevantmagazine.com.
Highlights:
01:53 — Derek on teenage boys 
04:15 — New York smells and we fix it
08:36 — Cameron's resting heart rate becomes a group intervention 
17:20 — RELEVANT Buzz: Drew Brees' Hall of Fame speech 
19:03 — The time Oprah tried to wipe off Drew Brees' birthmark on live TV 
23:11 — The White Sox gave away 40,000 Pope hats 
26:02 — Harvard says loneliness tracks with income, not gender 
31:05 — Caleb McLaughlin on the faith he found on his own 
34:41 — Montell and Kristin Jordan 
40:30 — Ryan Ellis 
47:34 — Slices: The FAA recruited gamers to run air traffic control 
51:26 — The San Francisco AI chatbot that is one guy typing 
59:10 — Editorial Question of the Week 
59:45 — One Has to Go

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This week we're joined by Lily Hooten of Housefires, the Atlanta worship collective, to talk about their new album House Church Vol. 001. She talks with Emily about how the record came together and where the collective is going from here.
In RELEVANT Buzz, “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” singer Mike Posner is going public about finding faith, his baptism and laying out what he thinks being a Christian actually requires of him. We also get into a Gen Z trend that gives singleness a rebrand, plus the A-list artists selling mystery concert tickets for a low price to combat rising concert prices. 
In Slices, The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers says he's thinking about quitting music and points at his dad as the reason, and Cameron brings a story about maybe the real reason people are stealing those Flock surveillance cameras. Somewhere in there Jesse invents the meeting poncho, which he is convinced is a great idea. And Emily has a can’t-miss announcement at the end of the show.
Editorial Question of the Week: What's a worship song lyric you can't unhear once you notice it? Drop your answer in the comments or @ us. We're reading them on next week's episode.
Highlights:
02:52 — Jesse's home alone and after 10 hours the house is already destroyed
11:22 — The meeting shirt, and the case for a back flap
16:07 — SkyMall is somehow still online
18:19 — Sharper Image vs. Brookstone, peak capitalism
22:27 — RELEVANT Buzz: Mike Posner gets baptized
28:06 — Gen Z, dating apps and solo maxxing
33:24 — Mystery concert tickets, with one catch
36:15 — Lily Hooten of Housefires
43:36 — Slices: Brandon Flowers on quitting music
47:35 — Google's AI said Flock cameras are full of gold
52:50 — Editorial Question of the Week
53:43 — Emily has an announcement

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This week, adventurer Bear Grylls joins us to tell us about The Chosen in the Wild, his new Prime Video series debuting Sunday. He takes the cast into Utah canyons and the Great Basin Desert, and tells us what Jonathan Roumie is actually like off camera.
We also have Emily’s recap of a memorable Lollapalooza this past weekend, Spider-Man: Brand New Day making U.S. box office history, and movie theaters having a record-setting comeback. We also get into the professor who found a way to catch students using AI on exams, and Arizona State announcing a new degree that’s getting a lot of ridicule, but Jesse thinks is a great idea. And we tell the tale of Katy Perry getting stuck in a human-sized inflatable water bottle at a recent concert.
This week’s question of the week: what's a random habit you picked up that's genuinely improved your life? Drop your answer in the comments or @ us. We're reading them on next week's episode.
Highlights:
01:25 — A father-sons weekend in New York
03:22 — The Devil Wears Prada 2, reviewed from the runway
05:44 — Lollapalooza recap: Grant Park is enormous
07:15 — The case for wheels on your feet
11:47 — Lorde, Olivia Dean and a very wet weekend
14:54 — The rain delay, a canceled set and The Neighbourhood's missing instruments
18:34 — Lolla fashion: vintage NBA jerseys and brat crop tops
20:29 — Charli xcx, "Rock Music" and what artists owe their fans
25:20 — Marty moves on up
27:26 — Sitcom shared universes
30:12 — RELEVANT Buzz: Spider-Man breaks the all-time box office record
36:05 — The professor who caught 32 students using AI
38:12 — Bear Grylls on The Chosen in the Wild
42:02 — Slices: Arizona State's influencer degree
46:49 — Slices: Katy Perry vs. a giant water bottle
50:56 — Question of the Week

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This week we're joined by Tim Tebow and Kirk Cousins, two of the most recognizable quarterbacks in the game who have both spent years on the same fight. We talk about World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which is this week — Tebow on what opened his eyes to the scale of it, Cousins on how his faith turned into two decades of advocacy.
In RELEVANT Buzz, new research from the Billy Graham Center Research Institute found that 48% of Gen Z adults say Christians' support of Trump has made them less likely to go to church. 
In RELEVANT Recommends we spotlight Grace Runkle, who is about as inspired by Elevation Worship as she is by Japanese House.
In Slices, the White House asked Dr. Phil to review the UFO files and gauge how the public would take the news, and he came away infuriated. And a woman in New York is suing McDonald's over fries that were too hot, which is either a legitimate grievance or the end of hot food as we know it.
Then it's your worst Christian breakup lines. Brother in Christ. Personal Eve. Unequal yokes. Then a quick round of "One Has to Go" gets into golden retrievers, communion bread and Sunday naps. 
Then it's this week’s Question of the Week: what's your go-to struggle meal? Drop your answer in the comments or @ us, we're reading them on next week's episode.
Highlights:
00:00 — Intro / episode rundown
02:40 — Black people love hibachi and Jesse's ban from the Mongolian barbecue buffet
08:46 — RELEVANT Buzz: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons with Tim Tebow
11:50 — Kirk Cousins on faith and advocacy
14:05 — Cameras off, FaceTime etiquette and the unk defense
17:48 — Cookout has the worst menu in fast food
21:21 — RELEVANT Buzz: 48% of Gen Z avoids church because of Christian support for Trump
24:50 — RELEVANT Recommends: Grace Runkle
26:57 — Slices: Dr. Phil, the UFO files and soft disclosure
38:33 — The McDonald's hot fries lawsuit
41:45 — Your Feedback: Worst Christian breakup lines
45:50 — "One Has to Go"
49:34 — Question of the Week: What’s your go-to struggle meal?
52:55 — Outro

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