Addie Zierman grew up “on fire” for God in the ‘90s, in the era of WWJD bracelets, Acquire the Fire youth conferences, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and the early days of the See You at the Pole movement. Addie embraces this us-versus-them evangelical Christian faith she’s inherited, not realizing that this obsession has a dark side.

This full-cast audio drama is based on the book When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman. Created by Lizzie Goldsmith, it is being released in collaboration with Addie.

Addie recently wrote about her Teen Mania experience and the latest season of the Amazon docuseries Shiny Happy People. This documentary from 1989 is also mentioned in this episode.

Cast (in order of appearance):

• Jillian Menees…YOUNG ADDIE
• Leigh Townes…ADDIE’S MOM
• Aria Sivick…ADDIE
• Kayla Burton…NEWSCASTER 1
• Isis Young…NEWSCASTER 2
• Tamar Turner…NEWSCASTER 3
• Grace Shaw…KIM
• Joseph O’Gorman…ALISSA
• Ed Gorham…TEEN MANIA LEADER
• Will DeVito…CHRIS
• Liliana Scano…MISSION TRIP GIRL 1
• Katie Russell…MISSION TRIP GIRL 2
• Lauren Rivera…TRANSLATOR
• Jonathan Schaefer…MISSION TRIP GUY
• David Perkins…YOUTH GROUP BOY
• Tina Perkins…YOUTH LEADER
• Kate Weyant…DANCE TEACHER
• Patrick MacDougall…ADDIE’S DAD
• Melissa Chessher…DANCER

This production was dramatized, directed, produced, and sound designed by Lizzie Goldsmith. You can reach Lizzie at [email protected]

Original music was composed by Frank Sheffield, with additional music from Skylee Shea, APM Music, Gateway Worship Español, and Public Domain Audio Bible.

Podcast cover art by Skylar White. Individual episode art and poetry by Jamie Bonilla. See the full text of the poem inspired by this episode.

Full credits for this podcast can be found here.

You can find out more about this production and the cast and crew at whenwewereonfirepodcast.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Follow Addie’s work at addiezierman.com and addiezierman.substack.com.

Special thanks to Addie Zierman, Aria Sivick, Miranda Gardner, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

CONTENT WARNING: Depictions of emotional abuse