‘Saved by the City’ — a podcast from two devoted and ambitious Christian women living in New York comes to Religion News Service

NEW YORK (RNS) — Religion News Service’s new podcast, “Saved by the City,” hosted by RNS Managing Editor Roxanne Stone and journalist Katelyn Beaty, chronicles the complicated lives of two single Christian women pursuing their faith and their dreams in New York City.

Both Roxy and Katelyn grew up in the white evangelical American heartland. Both were warned moving to a supposed bastion of secular culture would be dangerous to their faith. While navigating a city where people sleep in on Sunday mornings and the chaste motto “true love waits” isn’t a thing, the two have found a renewed, vibrant faith that has been both strengthened and stretched in the metropolis.

The podcast’s first episode, featuring guest Dr. LaKeesha Walrond, is all about that initial culture shock and the supposed “slippery slope to sin” that is life in New York. Episodes will be available for streaming or download on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other platforms on March 17.


In the first season of 12 weekly episodes, each running between 30-45 minutes, Roxy and Katelyn address dating apps, fashion ethics, religious diversity, secular skepticism, racial tensions, loneliness and more. Besides Dr. Walrond, guests include Jon Birger, Lisa Sharon Harper, Father James Martin, Whitney Bauck, Robert Monson, Rowaida Abdelaziz, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt and more.

“Living in New York, the city becomes a major character in your life — and that includes its impact on your faith,” said Stone. “With this podcast, we wanted to explore honestly how living here has shaped and changed our beliefs. And not just our beliefs but the way we live out our faith in daily life — from dating to dressing to doing church.”

Both deep and breezy, sharp yet intimate, “Saved by the City,” captures how heartland Christianity can flourish in the heart of Gotham. Not just for New York City dwellers, the podcast explores what happens anywhere purity culture meets hookup culture, distraction steals from devotion, and a diversity of viewpoints and lifestyles clash against pre-existing assumptions.

“New York has stretched me and Roxy, forcing us to ask ourselves and each other why we believe what we believe,” said Beaty. “There are plenty of takeaways for a broad audience about how to earnestly practice and embody Christian faith when it’s not the cultural norm — and when most of your neighbors don’t know what the word ‘evangelical’ means.”

Early access to full episodes and art resources are available for the press. Please see contact information at bottom.

“I’m thrilled to bring these two thoughtful, bold and hilarious women to the RNS audience,” said Editor-in-Chief Paul O’Donnell. “Together they represent a lot of what’s happening on the leading edge of committed Christianity, where everything can be questioned honestly, faithfully and with grace.”


“When we first discussed launching a podcast about two young Christian women living in New York, I knew we’d be listening in on some great conversations,” said RNS CEO and Publisher Deborah Caldwell. “But ‘Saved by the City’ has turned out to be even more fascinating and funny than I ever expected. Roxy and Katelyn sparkle as a team. Their work is a perfect debut for our planned suite of podcasts aimed at intriguing conversations about beliefs (and lack of beliefs) that make the landscape of American religion so crazy and wonderful.”

RNS is an independent, nonprofit and award-winning source of global news on religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS seeks to inform readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary, and is relied upon by secular and faith-based news organizations in a number of countries.

Be the first to know when episodes launch:
religionnews.com/saved-by-the-city-coming-soon/

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Contact:

Jonathan Woodward, Executive Producer 
[email protected]

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