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In this episode of The Vibe Shift, we sit down with Mollie, a undergraduate student in the UK, to reflect on what it means to be young, questioning, and spiritually curious in today’s world.

Mollie shares how she encountered our Gen Z Role Models study, why she connected with the Self-help Narrative, and what it’s like to be a co-researcher exploring faith in partnership with academics. From TikTok religion to participatory methods, this episode gives a vivid portrait of how one Gen Zer approaches belief, belonging, and the ethics of asking questions.

We talk about:

• Why Gen Z values humility in religious role models
• What it's like to talk openly about faith with peers
• How participatory research builds confidence and community
• Why richer stories—not surveys—are the future of ethical research

Listen now and hear how one student’s journey from “uncomfortable indecision” to empowered co-researcher captures the spirit of a generation.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License.

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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In this final episode of The Vibe Shift mini-series, Edward brings the essay to a close—an essay that shaped the theoretical foundation of the Gen Z Role Models Project. Building on narrative theology, moral philosophy, and the method of reflexive thematic analysis, the episode explores how exemplarist narratives appear across religious and cultural traditions.

Drawing on thinkers like Linda Zagzebski and Alasdair MacIntyre, Edward reflects on why moral meaning unfolds in story—and how admired figures help shape how we understand truth, the cosmos, and our place within it. The episode also offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the research team identified five narrative types from the data, and how participants themselves helped refine those categories in a unique participatory phase of analysis.

This episode explores:

• What makes a narrative "exemplarist" across religious traditions
• How narrative and admiration shape moral understanding
• The limitations of top-down interpretation in qualitative research
• How Gen Z participants co-analysed and reshaped the study’s findings

If you're interested in how theology, moral theory, and participatory research can work together to illuminate Gen Z storytelling, this episode is a go-to resource.

This is The Vibe Shift. And the conversation keeps unfolding.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License.

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

Send us a text

In this episode of The Vibe Shift, Edward continues reading from the foundational essay that shaped the theoretical framework of the Gen Z Role Models Project. Written early in the analysis phase, the essay brings theological reflection into dialogue with qualitative research methods—especially story completion and reflexive thematic analysis.

This episode explores the theological claim that humans are not just storytellers but also story-hearers—created in the image of a God who reveals himself through story. Drawing on Christian theology and the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Edward reflects on what it means to be a “sub-creator” and introduces the idea of “sub-exemplars”—those who, in narrative form, stand in for or reflect the example of Christ.

This episode explores:

• Why humans tell and receive stories as part of being made in God's image
• Christ as the exemplar not just of morality, but of creation itself
• How Gen Z stories reveal narrative patterns of struggle and redemptive hope

If you’re curious about how theology, narrative, and research design come together in our project, this episode opens up the heart of our interpretive approach.

This is The Vibe Shift. And the conversation keeps unfolding.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License.

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.