Author: Stephen Bradford Long

Stephen Bradford Long is a writer, yoga teacher, and Satanist living and working in North Carolina. His work focuses on religion, sexuality, culture, and other subjects that strike his fancy.

On Being Better On Social Media

~ Stephen Bradford Long

I am the person I am today, in no small part, because of social media. When I was a newly-out gay man and needed the queer community, I found them on social media. That alone probably saved my life. Ever since those first days of finding my queer community online, I’ve made innumerable friends, connection, and community on social media. I also truly adore my Satanic family on twitter. I start with all this, because I’m going to spend the rest of this post articulating the dark side of social media, how it has reduced my quality of life, and what I intend to do about it.

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Sacred Tension: Self Care, Politics, and Big Data with Penemue

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this stripped-down, unedited episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by my friend Priest Penemue for a long conversation about leftist politics, how we are practicing self care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his insider perspective on digital privacy and big data.

You can listen to this episode on Podbean, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, your favorite podcast app, or on the player below.

You can watch the video version of the conversation on Penemue’s patreon Here.

Become a patron so I can continue my crippling content creation addiction here. 

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Sacred Tension: Bit Tyrants, feat. Rob Larson

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension I’m joined by socialist economist, professor, and author Rob Larson to discuss the horrors of big tech, and what we can do about it. While we are all social distancing and more reliant on technology than ever, now is the best time to think deeply about how we can socialize the tech and digital worlds. 

Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Bit Tyrants, feat. Rob Larson” →

Sacred Tension: Why Nontheistic Religion is Essential, feat. Lucien Greaves

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension I’m joined by Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for the Satanic Temple. We discuss the challenge of maintaining a religious community during the COVID-19 pandemic, common misunderstandings about the Satanic Temple, and why nontheistic religion is essential. 

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Sacred Tension: Being An Essential Worker During COVID-19

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

Welcome to the new, stripped down, unedited Sacred Tension. Due to the incredible stress I’ve been under in recent weeks, I’m now releasing chill, unedited conversations for your listening pleasure. In this episode, I’m joined by longtime friend and occasional Sacred Tension co-host Danielle, who interviews me about what it’s like being an essential grocery store worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a word, it’s terrifying. 

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Self Care During COVID-19

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been quiet on my blog and podcast for the past few weeks, and that’s because I’ve been coping with being an essential worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. I co-manage a small family-owned grocery store in Appalachia, and the past few weeks have simply been harrowing.

When the panic first hit, it felt like the worst hurricane in history was coming for North Carolina. Our sales more than doubled, and I felt destroyed just trying to keep up, while also keeping staff and customers safe from invisible death dots that could strike anyone without notice. Eventually, as the craziness at the store settled down into a manageable level, my fatigue turned to crippling anxiety. I was crying myself to sleep, and having horrible panic as I drove to work.

It felt like all my structures and support systems were just swept away by the flood. I’ve spent the past few weeks picking up the pieces, and now here I am, well enough to get back to creating.

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Atheism, Kindness, and Hospitality

Teacup
~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 4 Comments

Several weeks ago, I interviewed pastor and astrophysicist Paul Wallace. On my website, there was one lone comment in response to our conversation, and it managed to encapsulate everything I struggle with in the atheist community:

Unsurprisingly, Wallace can’t let go of his fantasy about how important he is and that an omnipotent being agrees with him. It doesn’t take much, just making up his god and his religion in his own image and ignoring the inconvenient parts.

Alright atheists, let’s talk. It’s time for a huddle. If the following rant doesn’t apply to you, then congrats. But if this rant does apply to you, then I hope it inspires some reflection.

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Sacred Tension: Basic Glitches, Pt. 3: Put a Fist Through a Rich Kid’s Mouth

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Matt Langston and I continue our conversation about his latest album Basic Glitches, which explores themes of religious trauma, deconversion, the digitization of our world, and much more. In this episode, we get to the silly half of the album.

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