Marked for Life | Podcast Guru

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Cody Coots is a fourth-generation serpent handler. By age 6, he handles mock serpents with his sister, Trina, in the church, using leather belts for props. Cody secretly yearns for a normal childhood. He likes to ride his bike, play drums, and watch WWE wrestling with his father, Jamie. (Jamie is the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher.) A terrible act of violence befalls 8-year-old Cody, shocking the serpent handling community. A preacher pleads guilty to charges of deviant sexual abuse, but it's too late: Cody's innocence is shattered. Anger boils inside him, so he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, and even his God. As he cruises the backstreets of Middlesboro, Ky, looking for nothing but trouble, Cody's sins begin piling up. But the consequences do, too. Is Cody beyond salvation? Or, is he as the community describes him: "Marked for life?"

Recent Episodes

SEP 8, 2024

The "Real" Afterword

Dalton Mills, narrator of Marked for Life, also shares the same hometown of Middlesboro, KY, with Cody and the Coots family.

In this episode, he offers a "crater's-eye" view of the unique town, sharing his perspective on the serpent handlers and how actually they are perceived by the people of east Kentucky.

Want to hear more about this subject? We have a podcast called Alabama Astronaut at alabamaastronaut.com detailing the recording session that Cody described in Episode 30 of Marked for Life, "The Ballad of Ol' Lemonhead."

Thanks for listening!

11 MIN

AUG 25, 2024

32. "On Them that Believe"

Cody mounts a defense for the people of the faith.

While sinning copiously, he noticed many of the faithful remaining steadfast and pure, particularly one man from Alabama who lived his faith to perfection: he watched no TV, he "doctored" for nothing, and was clean shaven. He didn't have Facebook, too.

Some, however, Cody reports, revered believers who performed all the signs, were actually full of the devil all along.

"Not everything that shines is gold," he says.

10 MIN

AUG 18, 2024

31. "Mr. Weatherman"

Cody returns after two years to compose a final chapter of this memoir, Marked for Life.

"I thought writing this book would be like therapy," he said. "But then, I got my eyes off God."

25 MIN

AUG 11, 2024

30. "The Five Signs of Mark 16"

Cody explains his beliefs, and how they are properly demonstrated. (At one time, he "learned" how to do them, manufacturing miracles. But this way, Cody says, the Signs are accomplished to edify God...)

Cassy is pregnant. But Cody, though excited, gets a bad feeling one Thursday when she goes to the doctor for a checkup...

10 MIN

AUG 4, 2024

29. "The Ballad of 'ol Lemonhead"

A stranger, an artist and ex-fundamentalist preacher from Alabama, is interested in Cody's Signs-following songs. He reaches out.

"These have never been documented before," the stranger says. "Would you and Cassy mind singing a few into my handheld recorder?"

A relationship begins. It leads to a Nashville-produced album of Cody and Cassy, called the "Coots Duo."

(For more, the Alabama Astronaut Podcast features Abe Partridge, Ferrill Gibbs, and characters from Marked for Life in a music-related setting.)

21 MIN