Lore Ferguson Wilbert writes about spiritual formation, faith, culture, and theology in life. She is the proprietor of an excellent Substack called Sayable.  She has also been known to teach writing and do editorial work. Her new book is The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor. In this episode, Lore and Jonathan Rogers talk about what it means to really believe that death can’t help but give rise to life. We also talk about mycorrhizal fungi. Support...

As host of the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast and the Read-Aloud Revival Online Community, Sarah MacKenzie has brought untold joy to bookish families. Besides connecting families with other people’s books, Sarah has started writing and publishing her own picture books. Her latest is Because Barbara: Barbara Cooney Paints Her World. Illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen, this picture-book biography tells the story of one of America’s best-loved and most celebrated children’s book illustrators. Because...

Malcolm Guite is a poet-priest. Jeremy Begbie has called him "one of the most important Christian poets of our time." In this episode, Malcolm and Jonathan Rogers discuss imagination as a way of knowing. This episode is brought to you by The Habit Membership, a community of writers who learn together and give each other a little more courage. Find out more at TheHabit.co. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Besides being a bird enthusiast, Courtney Ellis is a pastor in Southern California, the author of several books, and the host of a podcast called The Thing with Feathers. Her new book is Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope through Grief. In this episode, Courtney and Jonathan Rogers talk about delight, presence, and cultivating attention.  Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leif Enger writes novels about good people living through bad times. His new book, I Cheerfully Refuse, epitomizes what the Los Angeles Tines calls Enger's “musical, sometimes magical and deeply satisfying kind of storytelling.” In this episode, Leif Enger and Jonathan Rogers talk about dystopian fiction; courage, literacy, and hope; and the bass guitar. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily P. Freeman spends a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about discernment and decision-making–doing the next right thing. She hosts The Next Right Thing podcast and created The Next Right Thing Guided Journal. Her latest book is How to Walk Into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away. In this conversation, Emily and Jonathan Rogers talk about pointing and calling, the difference between discernment and decision-making, and the counterintuitive truth that,...

Faith Chang struggles with perfectionism. Nevertheless, she pushed through and finished a book–about perfectionism. It’s called Peace Over Perfection: Enjoying a Good God When You Feel You're Never Good Enough. Faith is the guest on this week’s episode of The Habit Podcast. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kenneth Padgett and Shay Gregorie are the founders of Wolfbane Books. They are also co-authors of the Story of God trilogy of picture books, beautifully illustrated by Aedan Peterson—The Story of God with Us, The Story of God the King, and The Story of God Our Savior. In this episode, Kenneth and Shay and Jonathan Rogers talk about visual storytelling, Biblical theology (as distinct from systematic theology), mountains, and alligators.  Support the show:...

When pastor Brian Zahnd was walking five hundred miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, he contemplated hundreds of crosses and crucifixes. He asked the question, "What does this mean? Why is the image of a man nailed to a tree the most commonly represented story-image in the world?" Those ruminations gave rise to his new book, The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross. In this episode, Brian Zahnd and Jonathan Rogers talk about theopoetics, the eternal recurrence of...

Sarah Arthur has written and published a dozen books over the last twenty years or so, but her new book, Once a Queen, is her first foray into fiction. Once a Queen is a portal fantasy with clear connections to the books of E. Nesbit, The Secret Garden, and the Chronicles of Narnia. In this conversation, Sarah and Jonathan Rogers talk about literary influences (both conscious and unconscious), writers’ groups, and being “a spy for hope.” Support the show:...

Andi Ashworth and Charlie Peacock live at the intersection of hospitality and creativity. This husband and wife duo founded Art House America, a unique artistic hub of rich hospitality, conversations of consequence, and imaginative creativity. Charlie is a Grammy-winning record producer. Andi is an author, a mentor, and a paragon of hospitality. Together they wrote a new book, Why Everything that Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much. In this conversation, Andi and Charlie speak with Jonathan...

Amy F. Davis Abdallah is a professor, writer, speaker, and creator of rituals. Her latest book is Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between. Starting with the foundation that rituals are a core, and underexplored, part of Christian practice, she draws from theology, psychology, and personal experiences in creating rituals for herself and others. In this episode, Amy and Jonathan Rogers talk about the difference between communicating meaning...

Mike Cosper is the director of podcasting for Christianity Today, where he hosts The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and Cultivated: A Podcast About Faith and Work. He is the author of several books, most recently Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Allen Levi is a singer-songwriter and an exceedingly talented storyteller.  His memoir from a few years ago, The Last Sweet Mile, is a very moving account of his life with his brother–especially the last year before his brother died. Allen has also been a lawyer and a judge. And now he is a novelist. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi’s first novel, is the story of a mysterious and kind stranger who comes to a small town. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See...

Greg Wilbur is Founder and Dean of Students at New College Franklin. A composer and  church musician, he recently released a new album of hymns and psalms called Securely I Will Dwell: Songs for the Church. In this episode, Greg and Jonathan Rogers talk about collaboration, friendship, and writing for the local church. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grace Hamman is a writer and independent scholar of Middle English contemplative writing and poetry. She is also the host of the podcast, Old Books with Grace. Her first book is Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages. In this episode Dr. Hamman and Jonathan Rogers talk about the gift of surprise, the discipline of openness, and old books as a guard against chronological snobbery. Support the show:...

Joy Clarkson is the author of Aggressively Happy and host of the podcast, Speaking with Joy. She is the books editor for Plough Quarterly and a research associate in theology and literature at King's College London. Joy completed her PhD in theology at the University of St Andrews, where she researched how art can be a resource of hope and consolation. Her new book is You Are a Tree: And Other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, And Prayer. In this episode, Joy and I talk about the ways that...

Brian Brown is the founder and executive director of The Anselm Society, an organization dedicated to a renaissance of the Christian imagination. Along with Jane Scharl, Brian edited a collection of essays called Why We Create: Reflections on The Creator, The Creation, and Creating. In this episode, Brian and Jonathan Rogers talk about the Creation, bringing order out of disorder, and the distinctions between cultivating, naming, and subcreating. This episode is sponsored by Writing with...

Emily Jensen is the co-founder and content director of Risen Motherhood. She is the host of the Risen Motherhood Podcast and an author. Her most recent book is He is Strong: Devotions for When You Feel Weak. In this episode, Emily and Jonathan Rogers talk about discerning the different kinds of weakness, understanding the limits of willpower, and taking action in faith when you can’t see the outcome. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Songwriter Wendell Kimbrough has been writing, recording, and performing songs based on the Psalms for the last few years. His most recent record is called You Belong. In this episode, Wendell and Jonathan Rogers talk about loneliness, perfectionism, feeling like an outsider, learning to belong–and how one writes songs that sound like the Psalms while also sounding like the Gulf Coast. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

In this replay of an episode from 2022, Jonathan Rogers talks with Justin Whitmel Earley about the formation of better habits. Justin is the author of The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose in an Age of Distraction, among other books. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Garrett Taylor is the art director for the Wingfeather Saga television series. The new Art of Wingfeather book features beautiful work from Garrett and his teams. In this episode, Garrett and Jonathan Rogers discuss "truth of materials" and why the Wingfeather team chose not to use CGI to make their visual world as realistic as possible. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2016, Kevan Chandler and a few of his friends took a trip across Europe. Kevan’s friends carried him—literally. Kevan has spinal muscular atrophy, type 2, a disease that renders him unable to walk. But he left his wheelchair behind, and his friends carried him in a specially designed backpack, giving him access to many more places than a wheelchair could go. Kevan has told the story of that remarkable trip in a memoir called We Carry Kevan, and now in a picture book with the same...

Tish Harrison Warren is an Anglican priest and the writer of several books. Until recently she had a column in the New York Times. She has also had a column in Christianity Today. Her new book is Advent: The Season of Hope. It’s part of the Fullness of Time series–books about each season of the liturgical calendar, edited by Esau McCaulley. In this episode, Tish and Jonathan Rogers talk about waiting, and making Christmas weird again. Support the show:...