Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about:

Alice Connor’s career as a feminist scholar and a college chaplain

How women in the bible have been misunderstood by scholars

A discussion of the book Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation



Today’s book is: Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation which reveals how women in the Bible aren't shy or retiring; they're fierce and funny and demanding and relevant to 21st-century people. Women in the Bible—some of their names we know, others we’ve only heard, and others are tragically unnamed. In Fierce, Alice Connor introduces these women and invites us to see them not as players in a man’s story—as victims or tempters—nor as morality archetypes, teaching us to be better wives and mothers, but as fierce foremothers of the faith. These women’s stories are messy, challenging, and beautiful. When we read their stories, we can see not only their particular, fearsome lives but also our own.
Our guest is: Alice Connor is an Episcopal priest and a chaplain on a college campus. She is the author of Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation. She also wrote How to Human: An Incomplete Manual for Living in a Messed-Up World, and the book Brave: Women of the Bible and their Stories of Grief, Mercy, Folly, Joy, Sex, and Redemption. Alice is also a certified enneagram teacher and a stellar pie-maker. She lives for challenging conversations and has a high tolerance for awkwardness. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two kids, a dog, and no cats.
Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator and co-producer of the Academic Life.
Listeners to this episode might be interested in:


Brave: Women of the Bible and their Stories of Grief, Mercy, Folly, Joy, Sex, and Redemption by Alice Conner

How to Human: An Incomplete Manual for Living in a Messed-Up World, by Alice Connor

Understanding the Bible, by Stephen Harris

Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, by Judith Plaskow


The Samaritan Woman’s Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo by Caryn A. Reeder


Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Reading of Biblical Narratives, by Phyllis Trible


Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, by Delores Williams


This podcast with Alice Connor about her book How To Human 


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