Give and Take

Episode 102: To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity, with L.M. Browning

May 5th, 2018  |  41 mins 38 secs

My guest is L.M. Browning. In her career-defining work, "To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity", Browning explores the breaking point every mind has after finding her own limit during a gauntlet of traumatic events.

Episode 101: Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear, with Matthew Kaemingk

May 4th, 2018  |  47 mins 30 secs

My guest is Matthew Kaemingk. His most recent book is "Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear." In it he offers a thought-provoking Christian perspective on the growing debates over Muslim presence in the West. Rejecting both fearful nationalism and romantic multiculturalism, Kaemingk makes the case for a third way—a Christian pluralism that is committed to both the historic Christian faith and the public rights, dignity, and freedom of Islam.

Episode 100: Troll Nation, with Amanda Marcotte

April 20th, 2018  |  1 hr 1 min

The election of Donald Trump in 2016, like most of his campaign, came as a shock to many Americans. In "Troll Nation" Amanda Marcotte argues that Trump's election was the inevitable result of American conservatism’s degradation into an ideology of blind resentment.

Episode 99: The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey To Healthy Relationships, with Suzanne Stabile

April 19th, 2018  |  51 mins 41 secs

My guest is Suzanne Stabile. Her newest book is "The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey To Healthy Relationships." This book on the nine Enneagram types and how they behave and experience relationships will guide readers into deeper insights about themselves, their types, and others' personalities so that they can have healthier, more life-giving relationships.

Episode 98: Portrait of an Unreasonable Man, with Michèle Gerber Klein

April 17th, 2018  |  45 mins 6 secs

My guest is Michèle Gerber Klein. Michèle is a philanthropist, collector and author whose topics are fame, fashion and art. Her first book is Charles James: Portrait of An Unreasonable Man, a biography of the iconic and controversial designer Charles James, published by Rizzoli ex Libris.

Episode 97: Sexy: The Quest for Erotic Virtue in Perplexing Times, with Jeff Mallinson

April 8th, 2018  |  1 hr 56 secs

My guest is Jeff Mallinson. Jeff is Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Concordia University, Irvine, a 1517 Thinking Fellow, and Co-Host of the Virtue in the Wasteland podcast. His newest book is "Sexy: The Quest for Erotic Virtue in Perplexing Times." In it he asks what would happen if we reframed contemporary conversations about sexuality altogether? Instead of focusing on taboos, boundaries, and rules of sexual engagement, what if we let holy desire seduce people back to erotic virtue?

Episode 96: Martin Luther's Theology of Beauty, with Mark C. Mattes

April 7th, 2018  |  46 mins 12 secs

Mark C. Mattes (PhD, University of Chicago) is professor of philosophy and religion at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. His newest book is "Martin Luther's Theology of Beauty: A Reappraisal." Many contemporary theologians seek to retrieve the concept of beauty as a way for people to encounter God. In this volume, one of today's leading Lutheran theologians argues that while Martin Luther's view of beauty has often been ignored or underappreciated, it has much to contribute to that quest.

Episode 95: The Very Worst Missionary, with Jamie Wright

April 6th, 2018  |  52 mins 30 secs

My guest is Jamie Wright. After finding her faith at a suburban megachurch, Jamie trades in the easy life on the cul-de-sac for the green fields of Costa Rica. There, along with her family, she earnestly hopes to serve God and change lives. But faced with a yawning culture gap and persistent shortcomings in herself and her fellow workers, she soon loses confidence in the missionary enterprise and falls into a funk of cynicism and despair.

Episode 94: My Old Faithful, with Yang Huang

March 30th, 2018  |  48 mins 50 secs

My guest is Yang Huang. Her debut novel "Living Treasures" won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal in fiction. Her newest book is "My Old Faithful." Evoking both the drama of familial intimacy and the ups and downs of the everyday, "My Old Faithful" introduces readers to a close-knit Chinese family. These ten interconnected short stories, which take place in China and the United States over a thirty-year period, merge to paint a nuanced portrait of family life, full of pain, surprises, and subtle acts of courage. Richly textured narratives from the mother, the father, the son, and the daughters play out against the backdrop of China's social and economic change.

Episode 93: Unafraid, with Adam Hamilton

March 30th, 2018  |  45 mins 20 secs

My guest is Adam Hamilton. Adam is the senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, one of the fastest growing, most highly visible churches in the country. His newest book is "Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times." It's a book for persons and communities desiring find hope and serenity in an anxious age.

Episode 92: The Delight of Being Ordinary, with Roland Merullo

March 29th, 2018  |  33 mins 44 secs

My guest is Roland Merullo. He is the acclaimed author of twenty previous books, including the international favorite "Breaking with the Buddha", now in its twentieth printing. Against a landscape of good humor, intrigue, and spiritual fulfillment, "The Delight of Being Ordinary" showcases the uniquely charming sensibilities of author Roland Merullo. Part whimsical expedition, part love story, part spiritual search, this uplifting novel brings warmth and laughter to the universal concerns of family life, religious inspiration, and personal identity—all of which combine to transcend cultural and political barriers in the name of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Episode 91: The Talmudic Account of the Trial of Jesus, with Chaim Saiman

March 27th, 2018  |  52 mins 52 secs

My guest is Chaim Saiman. He's a Professor of Law at Villanova University Law School, and is an expert in Law and Religion and Jewish Legal theory. He wrote a fascinating piece for First Things a few years ago called The Halakhah of Jesus' Trial. In it he reflects on the only piece of Talmud that talks about the trial and death of Jesus.

Episode 90: The Ashokan Way, with Gail Straub

March 23rd, 2018  |  42 mins 54 secs

My guest is Gail Straub. Gail is the Executive Director of the Empowerment Institute, which she co-founded in 1981. Her most recent book is "The Ashokan Way: Landscape's Path into Consciousness."

Episode 89: Reconstructing The Gospel: Finding Freedom From Slaveholder Religion, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

March 21st, 2018  |  43 mins 19 secs

My guest is Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. He is a celebrated spiritual writer and sought-after speaker. A native of North Carolina, he is a graduate of Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. His newest book is "Reconstructing The Gospel: Finding Freedom From Slaveholder Religion." In it he argues that just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond.

He lives with his family at the Rutba House, a Christian community and house of hospitality, in Durham, North Carolina, where he directs School for Conversion.

Episode 88: Democracy In Exile, with Daniel Bessner

March 20th, 2018  |  1 hr 30 secs

My guest is Daniel Bessner. Daniel is the Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Assistant Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. His new book is "Democracy In Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual."

Episode 86: The Gender Effect, with Kathryn Moeller

March 13th, 2018  |  1 hr 54 secs

My guest is Kathryn Moeller. She is Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies and an affiliate of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her newest book is "The Gender Effect: Capitalism, Feminism and the Corporate Politics of Development."