Cool & Unusual Punishment

49 episodes listed below

Listen to the show on

PRESS PLAY

Find your next episode

All episodes

In their own words

Two Wisconsin lovebirds investigate crime, corruption, and fascinating people of the Midwest to bring you incredible stories happening right in your backyard.

Why you'd press play

Valleybrook's "Chosen" paper gets the follow-up questions you wish someone had asked sooner.

Press play if you want

  • to hear the emails behind the "Chosen" paper, with the questions still intact
  • to follow Jody and Tyler through a church timeline without losing their running conversation
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Talks about

Best episodes of Cool & Unusual Punishment

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Chosen - Episode 16 - RebuildingJan 15, 2025

Valleybrook's reforms are weighed against the hurt they cannot simply undo.

Chosen's final episode returns Cool and Unusual Punishment to Valleybrook Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, using the closing chapter to ask what rebuilding can mean after harm.

Chosen - Episode 15.5 - AddendumNov 29, 2024

A follow-up where emails turn a theology paper into an unsettled crisis of belief.

This bonus installment picks up after Kaylee Evergreen's interview by turning back to the emails behind the Chosen paper. Her questions about predestination, Matthew 22, and a picture of God that jars against what she has been taught give the episode its pressure, with her…

Chosen - Episode 15 - A Few QuestionsNov 1, 2024

A direct return to chosen theology that turns toward youth-group pressure, an alleged sexual assault, and a troubling church response.

Episode 15 loops back to the series' earlier threads: the chosen paper, a message or sermon, and the unsettling idea that not everyone makes it.

Chosen - Episode 14 - The Narrow PathwaySep 16, 2024

A promised pause from pastoring turns into a Texas church chapter, a fractured family story, and contradictions the hosts keep pulling apart.

Doug's promised pause from pastoring lasts about three months before the Valleybrook Church story opens a Texas chapter. Chosen - Episode 14 tracks Narrow Pathway from its June 26, 2015 start in Grapevine through a woman's account of church work, a move to Texas, and a widening…

Chosen - Episode 13 - TimelineJul 16, 2024

A church timeline turns meetings, emails, and retraining assurances into a record of what followed a spiritual abuse report.

Chosen - Episode 13 follows Matt and Jesse Irwin through Valleybrook's 2014-2016 period and the years leading into it, using their experience to trace how concerns at the Eau Claire, Wisconsin church were handled after a report described spiritual abuse.

Podcasts like Cool & Unusual Punishment

  • Ce Fâ?Radio Onde Furlane

    Friuli’s culture calendar, wonderfully unruly.

  • The Happy Eating PodcastCarolyn Williams PhD, RD & Brierley Horton, MS, RD

    Wellness talk with real-life static.

  • Livin' In The MiddleChris Newpower

    Everyday aggravation, middle-lane wisdom.

  • A dos gradosBancolombia

    Everyday tension, widened into social meaning.

  • Who's The Bitch?Last Podcast Network, Kara Klenk, jackie zebrowski

    Petty conflicts, loud verdicts, real care.

  • UnraveledAlex + Olivia

    Comedy for spiraling out loud.

Episodes

  1. 1

    Chosen - Episode 16 - Rebuilding

    Hidden gem

    Valleybrook says it added annual financial reviews, member-approved budgets, and certified CPA audits after the crisis.

    Jan 15, 2025·47m·2 clips
  2. 2

    Chosen - Episode 15.5 - Addendum

    Hidden gem

    Kaylee Evergreen keeps pressing the hardest question in the file: did Jesus die for everyone, or only for the chosen?

    Nov 29, 2024·28m·2 clips
  3. 3

    Chosen - Episode 15 - A Few Questions

    Hidden gem

    Kaylee Evergreen says Valleybrook Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin gave her an early warning sign when a youth leader admitted, "We don't have a curriculum.

    Nov 1, 2024·46m·4 clips
  4. 4

    Chosen - Episode 14 - The Narrow Pathway

    Hidden gem

    ["The Narrow Pathway was a Texas nonprofit Doug Lobsack filed on June 26, 2015, and Tyler and Jody trace how its website appeared, vanished, and returned with a hacked-site explanation.", "They read the church\u2019s Matthew 7 \"narrow gate\" copy, its Main Street Grapevine address, and its use of Domains by Proxy to obscure registration details.", "A long public statement from Jessica Lobsack becomes the center of the episode, with claims about Nate\u2019s adoption, Valleybrook resignation day, and Matthew Mitchell\u2019s role around the church.", "The sharpest documentary detail comes at the end, when a 10-page attachment about Jessica\u2019s father shows Doug Lobsack as both author and last modifier."]

    Sep 16, 2024·52m·5 clips
  5. 5

    Chosen - Episode 13 - Timeline

    Hidden gem

    Tyler and Jodi walk through a dense February 2015-to-February 2016 timeline for Valleybrook in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, centered on Jesse and Matt Irwin's notes and emails.

    Jul 16, 2024·51m·2 clips
  6. 6

    Chosen - Episode 12 - Discretionary Funds

    May 25, 2024·40m
  7. 7

    Chosen - Episode 11 - The X-Men

    Apr 26, 2024·56m
  8. 8

    Chosen - Episode 10 - The Resignations

    Mar 9, 2024·49m
  9. 9

    Chosen - Episode 9 - Twisted Scripture

    Feb 1, 2024·45m
  10. 10

    Chosen - Episode 8 - Family Budget

    Jan 22, 2024·42m
  11. 11

    Chosen - Episode 7 - An Incredible Resource for Hurting People

    Dec 19, 2023·47m
  12. 12

    Chosen - Episode 6 - Wounded

    Nov 26, 2023·1h 14m
  13. 13

    Chosen - Episode 5 - Knitting

    Nov 3, 2023·45m
  14. 14

    Chosen - Episode 4 - Technical Difficulties

    Oct 19, 2023·38m
  15. 15

    Chosen - Episode 3 - Origins

    Oct 6, 2023·33m
  16. 16

    Chosen - Episode 2 - The Gift of Discernment

    Sep 30, 2023·30m
  17. 17

    Chosen - Episode 1 - Crisis Intervention

    Sep 22, 2023·42m
  18. 18

    Luginbilled Epilogue - Episode 3

    Jul 21, 2023·34m
  19. 19

    Luginbilled Epilogue - Episode 2

    Jul 14, 2023·58m
  20. 20

    Luginbilled Epilogue - Episode 1

    Jul 7, 2023·30m
  21. 21

    Pour Man's History - Trailer

    Mar 8, 2021·2m
  22. 22

    Luginbilled Series Finale - Episode 12

    Jan 7, 2021·25m
  23. 23

    Luginbilled - Episode 11

    Dec 2, 2020·32m
  24. 24

    Luginbilled - Episode 10

    Nov 11, 2020·38m
  25. 25

    Luginbilled - Episode 9

    Oct 24, 2020·25m
  26. 26

    15 - Queer and Unusual Punishment

    Oct 3, 2020·1h
  27. 27

    Luginbilled - Episode 8

    Sep 13, 2020·27m
  28. 28

    Luginbilled - Episode 7

    Aug 18, 2020·27m
  29. 29

    Luginbilled - Episode 6

    Jul 25, 2020·39m
  30. 30

    Luginbilled - Episode 5

    Jun 14, 2020·35m
  31. 31

    14 - A Man's Room is His Kingdom

    May 16, 2020·45m
  32. 32

    13 - The Sort of Thing You Hear in Bars

    Apr 27, 2020·26m
  33. 33

    Luginbilled Quick Update

    Apr 19, 2020·3m
  34. 34

    Luginbilled - Episode 4

    Mar 27, 2020·49m
  35. 35

    Luginbilled - Episode 3

    Feb 27, 2020·38m
  36. 36

    Luginbilled - Episode 2

    Feb 9, 2020·42m
  37. 37

    Luginbilled - Episode 1

    Jan 30, 2020·39m
  38. 38

    12 - I Am Exceedingly Cold

    The episode explores historical etiquette advice from Emily Post about managing cats as visitors, blending humor and social commentary.

    Jan 21, 2020·1h 1m
  39. 39

    11 - Starlight VHS Rental

    The hosts discuss the tradition of a hope chest and share a personal story about one that was never given to the speaker.

    Jan 12, 2020·1h 1m
  40. 40

    10 - Boogie Woogie Door-Flingers

    Jan 1, 2020·1h 1m
  41. 41

    9 - Nobody Can Catch Butterboy

    The hosts humorously explore Emily Post's wedding etiquette while joking about their own engagement.

    Dec 22, 2019·1h 13m
  42. 42

    8 - Miss Frizzle Goes to the Dentist

    This episode reads from Emily Post's etiquette book about inconsiderate customers, exploring historical social norms and customer behavior.

    Dec 13, 2019·1h 9m
  43. 43

    7 - Accumulation of Stimulation

    Dec 4, 2019·1h 10m
  44. 44

    6 - You Liked Riding My Scoot

    Nov 27, 2019·33m
  45. 45

    5 - Cat Got Your Fibulas?

    Nov 10, 2019·1h 12m
  46. 46

    4 - Handful of Tiny, Naked Babies

    Nov 5, 2019·1h 11m
  47. 47

    3 - Eebert and Geebert

    Oct 21, 2019·58m
  48. 48

    2 - Potato Quotes

    Oct 16, 2019·1h 12m
  49. 49

    1 - Spite, Murder, and Pilot Episodes

    Oct 6, 2019·1h 14m