Episodes
This is our unabridged interview with Kathryn Gin Lum.  When is the last time you heard the word “heathen”? The word was originally used to delineate between European Christians who tended to be in urban centers and pagans in rural areas.   “Heathen exists in the mind of the person doing the labeling, right? It's a label that one people foists onto another.”  Our guest today, Kathryn Gin Lum, walks us through the history of the term heathen and how it has utterly shaped the world. We...
Published 11/19/24
When is the last time you heard the word “heathen”? The word was originally used to delineate between European Christians who tended to be in urban centers and pagans in rural areas.   “Heathen exists in the mind of the person doing the labeling, right? It's a label that one people foists onto another.”  Our guest today, Kathryn Gin Lum, walks us through the history of the term heathen and how it has utterly shaped the world. We discuss her book Heathen: Religion and Race in American...
Published 11/14/24
This is our unabridged interview with Tim Shriver.  On social media and the news, the narrative told about humanity is often one of violence, division, and dehumanization. But is that really who we are?  Tim Shriver, best-selling author and chairman of the Special Olympics, doesn’t think so. “My view,” he says, “is that the versions of our lives that most of us lead most days are much more hopeful.”  As the nephew of John F. Kennedy, Tim has known great privilege and great grief. As an...
Published 11/12/24
On social media and the news, the narrative told about humanity is often one of violence, division, and dehumanization. But is that really who we are?  Tim Shriver, best-selling author and chairman of the Special Olympics, doesn’t think so. “My view,” he says, “is that the versions of our lives that most of us lead most days are much more hopeful.”  As the nephew of John F. Kennedy, Tim has known great privilege and great grief. As an educator and social worker, he has seen the countless...
Published 11/07/24
This is our unabridged interview with Philip Mangano.  Is homelessness a problem that can be solved?  Historically, efforts made to address homelessness in the US have taken a symptom-management approach, focusing on soup kitchens, clothing drives, and medical programs. But these well-intentioned efforts often have a paradoxical effect: over time, they end up serving more and more homeless people, rather than reducing the number of those unhoused.  In this episode, Philip Mangano...
Published 11/05/24
Is homelessness a problem that can be solved?  Historically, efforts made to address homelessness in the US have taken a symptom-management approach, focusing on soup kitchens, clothing drives, and medical programs. But these well-intentioned efforts often have a paradoxical effect: over time, they end up serving more and more homeless people, rather than reducing the number of those unhoused.  In this episode, Philip Mangano describes his longtime effort to approach homelessness in a new...
Published 10/31/24
This is our unabridged interview with Christian Wiman.  “Suffering, I think, catalyzes an intimacy that couldn't happen otherwise.”  Christian Wiman, renowned poet and teacher at Yale Divinity School, does not say these words flippantly. Two decades ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given a life expectancy of five years. He has lived the past twenty years in the shadow of death and the grip of despair.  In this episode, while discussing his recent memoir “Zero at the...
Published 10/29/24
“Suffering, I think, catalyzes an intimacy that couldn't happen otherwise.”  Christian Wiman, renowned poet and teacher at Yale Divinity School, does not say these words flippantly. Two decades ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given a life expectancy of five years. He has lived the past twenty years in the shadow of death and the grip of despair.  In this episode, while discussing his recent memoir “Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair,” Christian explores...
Published 10/24/24
This is our unabridged interview with Russell Moore and David French.  For the last decade of American political discourse, both the Left and the Right have each been developing fierce tribalism, in which it is increasingly costly for one to wage critique at one’s own group. Threats of canceling, doxing, and worse are everyday occurrences for those who speak out of step with their party.  Russell Moore and David French have been in the dangerous business of insider critique for a while....
Published 10/22/24
For the last decade of American political discourse, both the Left and the Right have each been developing fierce tribalism, in which it is increasingly costly for one to wage critique at one’s own group. Threats of canceling, doxing, and worse are everyday occurrences for those who speak out of step with their party.  Russell Moore and David French have been in the dangerous business of insider critique for a while. As conservative Christians, their criticism of the Right (specifically of...
Published 10/17/24
This is our unabridged interview with Musa al-Gharbi.   Society has never been more focused on equality and diversity… right?  The last few decades have been marked by a drastic increase in what often gets labeled “social justice.” Companies and individuals perpetually take very public vows to defend progressive values and denounce all kinds of injustice. But somehow, in spite of all this, social and economic inequalities have only worsened. How is this possible?  “The fundamental...
Published 10/15/24
***Vote for us to win a Signal Award. Society has never been more focused on equality and diversity… right?  The last few decades have been marked by a drastic increase in what often gets labeled “social justice.” Companies and individuals perpetually take very public vows to defend progressive values and denounce all kinds of injustice. But somehow, in spite of all this, social and economic inequalities have only worsened. How is this possible?  “The fundamental tension,” argues Musa...
Published 10/10/24
This is our unabridged interview with Carissa Carter & Scott Doorley. We live in an era of runaway design, where tech that seemed to solve our problems has gone on to cause unintended consequences. Think about social media’s effect on our collective mental health. Or the once miraculous material known as plastic becoming an environmental hazard. But we can’t predict the future, so what can we do? In this episode, designers from Stanford’s d.school, Carissa Carter & Scott Doorley,...
Published 10/08/24
We live in an era of runaway design, where tech that once seemed to solve all of our problems has gone on to cause unintended consequences. Think about social media’s effect on our collective mental health. Or the once miraculous material known as plastic becoming an environmental hazard. But we can’t predict the future, so what can we do?  In this episode, designers from Stanford’s d.school, Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley, discuss their book “Assembling Tomorrow,” which thinks quite...
Published 10/03/24
This is our unabridged interview with Greg Boyle.  How do you become truly loving? Father Greg Boyle teaches us to go to the margins. “You don't go to the margins to make a difference. You go so the folks at the margins make you different.”  In the 80s and 90s, the city of Los Angeles was ravaged by what is now known as the "decade of death," a period of unprecedented gang violence, peaking at 1000 killings in 1992 alone. It was in the midst of this that Greg Boyle became pastor of the...
Published 10/01/24
How do you become truly loving? Father Greg Boyle teaches us to go to the margins. “You don't go to the margins to make a difference. You go so the folks at the margins make you different.”  In the 80s and 90s, the city of Los Angeles was ravaged by what is now known as the "decade of death," a period of unprecedented gang violence, peaking at 1000 killings in 1992 alone. It was in the midst of this that Greg Boyle became pastor of the poorest Catholic parish in the city, in order to live...
Published 09/26/24
This is our unabridged interview with Meghan O’Gieblyn.  Are robots going to destroy humanity? Thanks to the rise and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the common sci-fi trope of a machine-perpetuated apocalypse has taken on a new gravity in recent days. But is Chat GPT really going to rebel against humans, or even change things very much at all? “We're at the point where we do have technologies that are incredibly powerful,” says writer and commentator Meghan O’Gieblyn....
Published 09/24/24
***Vote for us to win a Signal Award. Are robots going to destroy humanity? Thanks to the rise and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the common sci-fi trope of a machine-perpetuated apocalypse has taken on a new gravity in recent days. But is Chat GPT really going to rebel against humans, or even change things very much at all? “We're at the point where we do have technologies that are incredibly powerful,” says writer and commentator Meghan O’Gieblyn. “They're able to do...
Published 09/19/24
***Vote for us to win a Signal Award. This is our unabridged interview with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. How can you respond to climate change with joy? Those two words—climate change—can fill us with a sense of dread, anxiety, and doom. Those advocating action are often fueled by a sense of breakneck urgency. But for many, such an outlook isn’t motivating. It’s paralyzing. But what if there was another way filled with joy and satisfaction? “This is the work of our lifetime,” says Ayana...
Published 09/17/24
***Vote for us to win a Signal Award. How can you respond to climate change with joy?  Those two words—climate change—can fill us with a sense of dread, anxiety, and doom. Those advocating action are often fueled by a sense of breakneck urgency. But for many, such an outlook isn’t motivating. It’s paralyzing. But what if there was another way filled with joy and satisfaction? “This is the work of our lifetime,” says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, “so why don't we find ways to make it...
Published 09/12/24
This is our unabridged interview with Edith Hall. What if you’re wrong about what it means to be happy? In spite of unprecedented access to things that give pleasure - buy this pill, eat this food, go on this trip - mental health issues are increasing globally at an astonishing rate. It’s clear that the modern idea of happiness is lacking something. In this episode, Edith Hall offers an ancient definition of happiness from Aristotle that might just be the solution to our crisis of...
Published 09/10/24
What if you’re wrong about what it means to be happy?In spite of unprecedented access to things that give pleasure - buy this pill, eat this food, go on this trip - mental health issues are increasing globally at an astonishing rate. It’s clear that the modern idea of happiness is lacking something.In this episode, Edith Hall offers an ancient definition of happiness from Aristotle that might just be the solution to our crisis of despair. “It’s a way of life, it's not a psychological state,”...
Published 09/05/24
This is our unabridged interview with Cyntoia Brown Long.On August 7th, 2019, Cyntoia Brown Long was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women.It was 13 years after she had been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a man to whom she had been sex-trafficked.In this special episode, Cyntoia tells an uncensored account of the great personal and systemic brokenness which led to her imprisonment, and the dramatic, at times hard-to-believe nature of the grace and providence which...
Published 09/03/24
On August 7th, 2019, Cyntoia Brown Long was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women.It was 13 years after she had been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a man to whom she had been sex-trafficked.In this special episode, Cyntoia tells an uncensored account of the great personal and systemic brokenness which led to her imprisonment, and the dramatic, at times hard-to-believe nature of the grace and providence which brought her to faith and ultimate release.Please be...
Published 08/29/24