The Fox News Reporter Who Quit to Live an Orthodox Homesteading Life

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Holly Hickman went from Columbia Journalism and Fox News Radio covering NASA and the 2008 election — to milking cows, making cheese, and converting to Orthodoxy.In this episode of Heavy Things Lightly, Holly tells John how news really works: 7am editorial meetings, White House press releases, assignment editors feeding you quotes, and how language in the AP Stylebook quietly frames everything. She talks Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris, asking astronaut Tom Jones "where's heaven?", getting planted by Rod Dreher, Columbia after 9/11, and why she walked away.Then the turn: sneaking to church in South Beach, providence meeting her husband in tango class, COVID church shutdowns, almost becoming Roman Catholic, and a 2am miracle on a Wyoming highway praying to the Archangel that woke her instantly. Plus: Moon vs. Mars at NASA, why the industrial food system is broken, "NASA brain making butter," Bill Gates hydrocarbon butter, and why christian homesteading is really about stewardship and communion — not cosplay.Chapters:00:00 Meet Holly Hickman: Reporter, Convert, Homesteader00:46 Sponsor: Conrad's Country Smoked Beef Jerky01:59 Why Holly loves this podcast: curiosity without vanity03:01 Becoming Orthodox and finding a ROCOR parish04:12 2008 trail: Huckabee, Chuck Norris and a rude gotcha question07:25 Asking astronaut Tom Jones: "Where's heaven? You've been up there?"08:54 Interviewing Rod Dreher and skipping the Orthodox part09:53 How news really works: 7AM meetings, press releases, assignments13:05 Infotainment, ratings and why she left17:18 How framing works: AP Stylebook, language and image20:33 Columbia J-School, Iraq, Thucydides and 9-1125:25 The Italy story rejected as "not newsworthy" and self-censorship28:33 Roving reporter life and wanting to be a mom at home29:42 The private arm: Economist, WaPo and corporate-paid reports35:01 Sneaking to church while dating an atheist36:36 Providence, meeting her husband and entering the Church together38:18 COVID shutdowns and almost becoming Roman Catholic42:19 2AM in Wyoming: prayer to the Archangel that instantly woke her44:45 Walking into Orthodoxy: bewildered and exactly what they needed50:42 NASA unfiltered: why can't we put a tin can back on the moon?57:19 Moon vs. Mars, growing food, E. coli in space and pee recycling01:01:34 Becoming homesteaders: garden to chickens to milking cows01:05:12 Behold, this butter stinketh: Harvard's first food protest01:08:01 NASA brain making but