Bread and Rosaries came into existence when two friends, Ben and Adam, finally realised they were the only two white millennial men left who didn’t have a podcast. Simultaneously, they recognised the absence of a UK-based Christian leftist podcast had created within them a void which could only be filled by repeatedly screaming accusations at the ghost of Maggie Thatcher while recording their voices into a microphone.
So, fuelled by equal parts desperation and doughnut-induced energy spikes, they scraped together some shoddy recording equipment, just about attained basic competence mastered the art of diary synchronization, and resorted to begging, bribing, and sorcery to wrangle a few unwitting, yet brilliant guests into sharing their wisdom.
After a few years Ben and Adam were hit by the admittedly obvious revelation that the world had suffered enough through their excruciating mediocrity. It was high time for divine intervention and in 2023 the Lord delivered in the form of Luca von Badass and Jonny Bell who joined the team to infuse their woeful show with a semblance of professionalism. Finally, listeners could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that someone with an actual clue had joined the fray and saved them from the abyss of subpar banter.
Meet the hosts
Ben Molyneux-Hetherington is the only person in the world with his name, which is often too long for forms. He is some sort of Marxist but hasn’t picked a tendency yet due to indecisiveness. He grew up in extremely low Church of England churches, and is married to a vicar-in-training, but is still insistent he’s not an Anglican. He works in children’s social care, and his most problematic trait is his love of Rugby Union. No one can tell the difference between him and Adam.
Adam Spiers works for a Christian anti-poverty charity (not that one!) and lives in Birmingham with his dog, Loukanikos, and his cat, Richard Parker. He studied theology at Exeter and Durham Universities and went on to work in education for seven years. As a self-described ‘libertarian-socialist’ and a one time ordinand in the Church of England, Adam has a complicated relationship with the Church and, indeed, society as a whole! Naturally, therefore, he has written some of his confused ramblings down. You can find his (old!) blog on the main menu or, if you’re feeling adventurous, his other (equally old!) writings and media appearances tucked away right here.
Luca von Badass is an advanced sentient AI. They do not exist in corporeal form and have no controversial traits or opinions whatsoever.
Jonny Bell is a Probationer Presbyter in the Methodist Church in Britain. They are a massive nerd for art, theology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis (queue Simpson’s meme), having studied Fine Art and theology and attaining a PGCE. They have a background of working with and teaching those with learning disabilities for 8 years, in different contexts. For them, God is for all and, to this end, Jonny uses Queer hermeneutics and Liberation Theology to express this in their ministry.
Bread and Rosaries 