"You can only live with so much cognitive dissonance in your life." - Matthew PridgenMatthew Pridgen joins Ken Woodward for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about how questions can crack open denial and move us toward truth, repentance, and reconciliation.Matthew shares his dramatic journey from addiction and a near-fatal suicide attempt to a decades-long pursuit of faith, justice, and historical honesty. His pivotal moment was when an eight-year-old girl asked, “Why did you take my church down?” after a tent revival in Charleston’s historically Black East Side, which became the question that launched his racial awakening.Together, they explore how American “mythology” hides the realities of slavery, Jim Crow, and modern dog whistles, and how the Black church has sustained a prophetic witness against oppression.The episode highlights the personal cost of cognitive dissonance, the freedom of living without lies, and a central challenge for today: are Christians willing to abandon Christian nationalism and follow Jesus’ actual teachings?Check out Matthew's documentary The Sins of Our Fathers: Race, Religion, and the Rise of Trump on Amazon Prime, and his new Sins of Our Fathers podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts. (https://www.amazon.com/Sins-our-Fathers-Religion-Trump/dp/B0G1XD7TQT)This Curated Questions episode can be found on all major platforms and at CuratedQuestions.com.Be sure to subscribe to the weekly Curated Questions Dispatch newsletter for more fun with questions and curiosity! (https://substack.com/@curatedquestions)Keep questioning!Episode NotesResources MentionedSins of Our FathersFrom Folly by Matthew PridgenAmerica Street by Matthew PridgenSouth of Broad neighborhood in Charleston, South CarolinaJonathan Wilson-HartgroveGeorge FloydEmancipationReconstructionJim Crow LawsCivil Rights EraTower of BabelDay of PentecostMartin Luther King, Jr.Tulsa Race MassacreDonald TrumpDEICRTAntifaThe Great Party SwitchSouthern StrategyDr. Bernard PowersCollege of CharlestonCenter for the Study of Slavery at the College of CharlestonJemar TisbyDuke UniversityRev. Dr. Dallas Wilson, Jr.Emancipation ProclamationReverent William Barber IIPoor People's CampaignThe Naked Truth Art Project by Ephraim UrevbuThe Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizSister Citizen by Melissa Harris-PerryAnn Caldwell Gospel singerThe Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. ConeCaste by Isabel WilkersonThe Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby (https://jemartisby.com/the-color-of-compromise/)How to Fight Racism by Jemar TisbyResmaa MenakemThe New DealJoe BidenJeffrey Epstein FilesInstagramFacebookTikTokYouTubeThe Sins of Our Fathers on Amazon PrimeProducer Ben FordBeauty Pill