Give and Take

Conversations at the Heart of the Matter

About the show

Someone once observed that if Howard Stern and Krista Tippett had a love child, it would be Scott Jones. Scott liked that.

At "Give and Take,” Scott Jones talks with artists, authors, theologians, and political pundits about the lens through which they experience life. With empathy, humor, and a deep knowledge of religion, current events, and pop culture, Scott engages his guests in a free-flowing conversation that's entertaining, unexpected, occasionally bizarre, and oftentimes enlightening. He likes people, and it shows.

Past interviewees include Mark Oppenheimer, Melissa Febos, David French, Miroslav Volf, Dan Savage, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Rob Bell, and (yes) Krista Tippett.

Scott is the former host and producer of the popular Mockingcast podcast (https://themockingcast.fireside.fm) and an in-demand consultant on all things “pod.” He’s also the co-host, with Bill Borror, of New Persuasive Words (https://npw.fireside.fm). Scott is also a prolific writer, a frequent conference speaker, a PhD candidate in Theology, and an ordained minister.

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Episodes

  • Episode 122: Idleness, with Brian O'Connor

    September 1st, 2018  |  52 mins 16 secs

    For millennia, idleness and laziness have been regarded as vices. We're all expected to work to survive and get ahead, and devoting energy to anything but labor and self-improvement can seem like a luxury or a moral failure. Far from questioning this conventional wisdom, modern philosophers have worked hard to develop new reasons to denigrate idleness. In "Idleness", the first book to challenge modern philosophy's portrayal of inactivity, Brian O'Connor argues that the case against an indifference to work and effort is flawed--and that idle aimlessness may instead allow for the highest form of freedom.

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    Episode 121: American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, with Arjun Sethi

    August 24th, 2018  |  47 mins 17 secs

    My guest is Arjun Sethi. In his new book American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, he chronicles the stories of individuals affected by hate. In a series of powerful, unfiltered testimonials, survivors tell their stories in their own words and describe how the bigoted rhetoric and policies of the Trump administration have intensified bullying, discrimination, and even violence toward them and their communities.

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    Episode 120: Talking Tariffs and International Trade, with Steven Wallace

    August 21st, 2018  |  50 mins 58 secs

    My guest is Steven Wallace.Steven Wallace is the founder and CEO of the Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, the first company to sustain exports of premium chocolate manufactured entirely in Africa, and credited with producing the world's first single-origin chocolate bar in 1994. He shares his experience with tariffs and their impact on international trade and the world economy.

  • Episode 119: Learning To Speak God From Scratch, with Jonathan Merritt

    August 20th, 2018  |  48 mins 58 secs

    My guest is Jonathan Merritt. His newest book is "Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing--and How We Can Revive Them." As America rapidly becomes a pluralistic, postmodern society, many of us struggle to talk about faith. As America rapidly becomes a pluralistic, postmodern society, many of us struggle to talk about faith.

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    Episode 118: From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity, with Michele F. Margolis

    August 13th, 2018  |  53 mins 19 secs

    My guest is Michele Margolis. One of the most substantial divides in American politics is the “God gap.” Religious voters tend to identify with and support the Republican Party, while secular voters generally support the Democratic Party. Margolis' new book "From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity" challenges the conventional wisdom that suggests that religious differences between Republicans and Democrats have produced this gap, with voters sorting themselves into the party that best represents their religious views.

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    Episode 117: Redeeming Capitalism, with Kenneth J. Barnes

    August 10th, 2018  |  49 mins 47 secs

    My guest is Kenneth J. Barnes. His new book "Redeeming Capitalism" explores the history and workings of this sometimes-brutal economic system. He investigates the effects of postmodernism and unpacks biblical-theological teachings on work and wealth. Proposing virtuous choices as a way out of such pitfalls as the recent global financial crisis, Barnes envisions a more just and flourishing capitalism for the good of all.

  • Episode 116: Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, with Alan Noble

    August 9th, 2018  |  1 hr 6 mins

    My guest is Alan Noble. His new book "Disruptive Witness" casts a new vision for the evangelical imagination, calling us away from abstraction and cliché to a more faithful embodiment of the gospel for our day.

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    Episode 115: Jell-O Girls, with Allie Rowbottom

    August 8th, 2018  |  48 mins 46 secs

    My guest is Allie Rowbottom. Her debut book is "Jell-O Girls: A Family History." It's a memoir that braids the evolution of one of America's most iconic branding campaigns with the stirring tales of the women who lived behind its façade - told by the inheritor of their stories.

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    Episode 114: Believe Me: The Evangelical Road To Donald Trump, with John Fea

    August 6th, 2018  |  47 mins 19 secs

    My guest is John Fea. John is professor of American history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. His previous books include "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction", and he blogs regularly at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. His newest book "Believe Me: The Evangelical Road To Donald Trump" argues that the embrace of Donald Trump is the logical outcome of a long-standing evangelical approach to public life defined by the politics of fear, the pursuit of worldly power, and a nostalgic longing for an American past.

  • Episode 113: Friends Bearing Gifts, with Joseph Cicio

    August 3rd, 2018  |  1 hr 9 mins

    My guest is Joseph Cicio. Lauren Bacall, Bill Blass, Rose Marie Bravo, Carol Channing, Prince Charles, Brooke Hayward Duchin, Erté, Princess Grace, Audrey Hepburn, Lady Nancy “Slim” Keith, The Kissingers, Kenneth J. Lane, Eleanor Lambert, Dawn Mello, Robert Mondavi, Josie Natori, and Joan Rivers, are just a few of the great friends of Joseph Cicio. His first book, Friends* *Bearing Gifts is about these relationships and his memories through the beautiful objects they gave him.

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    Episode 112: The Blessing of Sorrow, with Rabbi Ben Kamin

    July 29th, 2018  |  39 mins 54 secs

    My guest is Rabbi Ben Kamin. He is a nationally-known clergyman, teacher, counselor, and the prize-winning author of twelve books on human values, civil rights, and spirituality. His most recent book is "The Blessing Of Sorrow: Turning Grief into Healing."

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    Episode 111: Kosher Movies

    July 27th, 2018  |  39 mins 49 secs

    My guest is Rabbi Herbert J. Cohen. His column, “Kosher Movies,” has appeared in newspapers in Atlanta, Toronto, and Denver. Rabbi Cohen also blogs regularly in The Times of Israel and the Religion Section of The Huffington Post on the intersection of film and faith.

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    Episode 110: Who Will Speak For America?, with Stephanie Feldman

    July 6th, 2018  |  49 mins 32 secs

    My guest is Stephanie Feldman. She co-edited "Who Will Speak For America?", with Nathaniel Popkin. The editors and contributors to "Who Will Speak for America?" are passionate and justifiably angry voices providing a literary response to today’s political crisis. Inspired by and drawing from the work of writers who participated in nationwide Writers Resist events in January 2017, this volume provides a collection of poems, stories, essays, and cartoons that wrestle with the meaning of America and American identity.

  • Episode 109: God, Improv and the Art of Living, with MaryAnn McKibben Dana

    June 27th, 2018  |  42 mins 26 secs

    My guest is MaryAnn McKibben Dana. Her newest book is "God, Improv and the Art of Living." In it she blends Scripture, psychology, theology, and pop culture in a wise, funny, down-to-earth guide to improv as a practice for life. Offering concrete spiritual wisdom in the form of seven improvi­sational principles, this book will help readers become more awake, creative, resilient, and ready to play--even (and perhaps especially) when life doesn't go according to plan.

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    Episode 108: Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together, with Andrew Selee

    June 22nd, 2018  |  47 mins 47 secs

    My guest is Andrew Selee. In his new book, "Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together", he argues that there may be no story today with a wider gap between fact and fiction than the relationship between the United States and Mexico. Wall or no wall, deeply intertwined social, economic, business, cultural, and personal relationships mean the US-Mexico border is more like a seam than a barrier, weaving together two economies and cultures.

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    Episode 107: Vodka Is Vegan: A Vegan Bros Manifesto for Better Living and Not Being an A**hole, with Matt & Phil Letten

    June 5th, 2018  |  52 mins 18 secs

    My guests are Matt & Phil Letten. Think you could never go vegan? They beg to differ. As this smart, funny and persuasive manifesto makes clear, you're already 90% vegan anyway. That's right--you already love animals and are slowly but surely eating less meat than you used to. With the insider tips and inspiring stories in this book, you'll be ready to go whole hog (see what they did there?) and eat vegan for good.