"Girls Gone Bible": Spicy Christian podcast sells young women on MAGA. Will scandal hurt or help?
"Girls Gone Bible": Spicy Christian podcast sells young women on MAGA. Will scandal hurt or help?
Two L.A. actresses built an instant online empire on pre-tradwife content. Now former fans have questions
By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published April 4, 2025 6:00AM (EDT)
(
Salon) "We look for confidence in our achievements, our appearance, our accomplishments," intoned the perfectly coiffed and made-up Angela Halili on a recent episode of the "Girls Gone Bible" podcast. But "godly confidence," she continued, "has nothing to do with your external circumstance." Her co-host, Arielle Reitsma, also in heavy makeup and with equally perfect hair, chimed in with an occasional "yeah" as Halili continued: "It's about finding confidence that's rooted in your identity in Jesus and trusting God that he has a purpose and plan for your life."
Fans of "Girls Gone Bible" swooned in the comments on YouTube over Halili and Reitsma's professions of Christian humility. But there's no denying that this explosively popular podcast has also produced worldly accomplishments for its hosts. "Girls Gone Bible" has only existed for two years, but it's been a huge success. Their YouTube channel has more than 730,000 subscribers and nearly a million Instagram followers. Their show sits at the top of Spotify's podcast charts in the Religion & Spirituality category.
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Whether or not this is entirely strategic, "Girls Gone Bible" and other female-centric, Christian-themed podcasts can be understood as parallel to the better-known "manfluencer" content of Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson and others. Although their content manifests first and foremost as lifestyle advice on dating, working out and fashion, for example, those influencers are perceived as driving younger men into the misogynistic far right and the MAGA movement, and may have been a decisive factor in the 2024 presidential election. Halili and Reitsma are offering a sense of community and religious fellowship to younger women who want to be seen as feminine, fashionable and sexually attractive. But the political and cultural ramifications of their messaging, which includes urging young women to accept a "submissive" role in marriage and overt support for the Trump agenda, are impossible to miss.
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Tia Levings, author of "A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy," said she sees GGB and similar content as "definitely a pipeline to MAGA, a funnel to Christian nationalism." While the online far right targets married women with content about health nutrition and parenting, she said, GGB appeals to "a bevy of Kardashian and Sephora-addicted Gen Z young women who want to be rich, famous and in love." .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2025/04/04/girls-gone-bible-spicy-christian-podcast-sells-young-women-on-maga-will-scandal-hurt-or-help/