A Better Story
By Sam Altis
We explore the spirituality of authors, artists and scholars, usually with a sense of levity. Guests give us a glimpse of the sacred: those times they were drawn toward living more vibrantly, acting more justly, seeing others more humanely - and into better stories. Along the way, we pick up pieces to build a better faith, and hopefully a better world.
A Better StoryJun 25, 2019
#40. Brit Barron: Freedom Over Fear
When Brit Barron fell in love with her wife, she was a pastor at an evangelical megachurch. As you might guess, it wasn't the kind of place that would've allowed, much less nurtured their relationship. She sat down to talk about that experience, and, even more, what it's like to make impossibly hard choices that lead to freedom.
To hear even more of her story, check out her new book Worth It. You can find out what she's up to at https://britbarron.com/.
#39. Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez: Jesus and John Wayne
Why are Donald Trump's most loyal supporters from a group that claims to follow a non-violent, impoverished Middle Eastern man (a.k.a. Jesus)? Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University) has a few well-researched suggestions. She unearths years of sexism, racism and militant nationalism within white American Evangelicalism that help us understand how we got here and how we can change it.
We hit the highlights in this conversation, but to get the full picture, check out her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. You can see more of her work at https://kristindumez.com/.
#38. Amy and Dr. Jeffrey Olrick: Wired for Connection
From an early age, we're wired to connect, particularly with our parents. Amy (author, advocate) and Jeffrey Olrick (psychologist) join the podcast to talk about how attachment works and how it invites us into more human ways of parenting. Whether you're in the middle of parenting or reflecting on how you were parented, their insights are eye-opening and life-giving.
To dig deeper, make sure to check out their new book The 6 Needs of Every Child: Empowering Parents and Kids Through the Science of Connection. You can find out more about their work at https://www.growingconnected.com/ and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
#37. Karen Gonzalez: Immigration, Refugees and Jesus
Make sure to check out Karen’s book The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong and get in touch with her at www.karen-gonzalez.com/.
#36. Andre Henry: Racial Justice, Hope and Nonviolence
To find more about Andre, visit www.andrerhenry.com/ and check out his podcast, Hope and Hard Pills.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Mothers of Massive Resistance by Elizabeth Gillespie McRae
On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
Blueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic
The Radical King by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cornel West (Editor)
This is what an antiracist America would look like. How do we get there? by Ibram X Kendi
#35. Dr. Jennifer Kaalund: Negotiating Identity
To hear more from her, check out her book, Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter with the African American Great Migration, or find her commentaries on Working Preacher.
#34. Lyz Lenz: God Land
She sat down to talk about all of it- faith, politics and divorce. She unpacks these realities in her incredibly compelling new book God Land, which you should absolutely order.
#33. Michael Gungor: This
#32. Barbara Brown Taylor: Holy Envy
Barbara sat down to talk about this experience, which she writes about in Holy Envy. If you enjoy the conversation, be sure to pick up the book and visit barbarabrowntaylor.com/ to find out when Barbara’s book tour will be near you.
#31. Kaya Oakes: No Religion, No Problem
You can find more from Kaya at www.oakestown.org/ and in America Magazine, The New Republic, Religion News Services and a host of other publications.
#30. Inderpreet Kaur: Getting to Know Sikhism
#29. Dr. Tom Oord: God Can't
Keep up with Tom at thomasjayoord.com/.
Don’t forget to check out Theology Corner for like-minded voices, and Light Theory if you enjoyed the intro and outro music.
#28. Nish Weiseth: Religion and Politics
Nish, along with Amy Sullivan, is the co-host of Impolite Company, a podcast that covers religions and politics with depth and insight. Nish’s op-ed pieces have been featured in Cosmopolitan and Christianity Today, and she authored the book Speak: How Your Story Can Change the World. Check out more from Nish at www.nishweiseth.com/.
Don't forget to head over to Theology Corner for like-minded voices, and check out Light Theory if you enjoyed the intro and outro music.
A couple of great organizations we mention in this episode: Autistic Self Advocacy Network and Refugee Council USA.
#27. Cindy Wang Brandt: Parenting for Progressives
You can catch Cindy on her own podcast, Parenting Forward, her website, https://cindywords.com, and on Twitter and Facebook.
A huge thank you to Leigh Thomas for the crisp new logo. Check out more of her work at www.leighkthomas.com. Don't forget to head over to Theology Corner for like-minded voices, and check out Light Theory if you enjoyed the intro and outro music.
#26. Dr. Catherine Keller: Tools for Building a Better World
Don't forget to head over to Theology Corner for like-minded voices, and check out Light Theory if you enjoyed the intro and outro music.
#25. Kaitlin Curtice: Mysticism for Everyone
To hear more from Kaitlin, head to kaitlincurtice.com/ and check out her book, Glory Happening. You can also catch her at On Being, Relevant and Sojourners.
As always, many thanks to Theology Corner for promoting the podcast and Light Theory for providing the intro and outro tunes.
#24. Dr. Tripp Fuller: Process Theology
Make sure to check out Homebrewed Christianity, in particular their upcoming Theologies of Resistance class with our friend Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza. Don't miss Tripp's upcoming movie, The Road to Edmond, which premiers at the end of July.
As always, many thanks to Theology Corner and Light Theory.
#23. Mihee Kim-Kort: God's Love is Queer
To hear more from Mihee, make sure to check out her forthcoming book, Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith, available July 1. You can keep up with her at miheekimkort.com or on Twitter.
Make sure to check out Theology Corner for some really great podcasts and blogs. If you're into the intro and outro music, give Light Theory's music a listen.
#22. David Gungor: Music for Evolving Faith
David Gungor (The Brilliance) sat down to chat about how his music has changed with his faith, how he can still appreciate some aspects of Christian music, and why the word "God" shows up less and less frequently in his music. Check out more from The Brilliance at http://thebrilliancemusic.com/, and look for new music from them this summer.
Also, make sure to check out Theology Corner for some really great podcasts and blogs.
#21. Austin Channing Brown: I'm Still Here
You can find more from Austin at austinchanning.com/.
#20. Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza: Beyond Gender Binaries
To hear more from Robyn, check out irobyn.com/.
Check out Theology Corner for like-minded podcasts and blogs and Light Theory, who provides the intro and outro tunes.
#19. Sarah Bessey: Reconstructing Faith and Reclaiming Terms
First, I'm talking to Sarah Bessey (mystically-minded author and speaker). We're looking at how we begin to reconstruct faith and what it looks like to reclaim some good old fashioned Christian terms...and which ones to leave behind. To hear more from Sarah, check out www.sarahbessey.com and her book Out of Sorts (or just win a copy below). Plus, she and Rachel Held Evans just launched a conference called Evolving Faith. Go to it!
Second, we're celebrating by raising money to prevent refugees from experiencing homelessness in Seattle. 100% goes to refugees, and, if every listener gave $10, 500 refugees would have an extra safety net to keep them housed. We've got this, people. Donate HERE, and pass it on.
Last, it wouldn't be birthday party without presents. We're giving away a set of books from our favorite guests, including:
Womanist Midrash by Wil Gafney
Out of Sorts by Sarah Bessey
Healing Spiritual Wounds by Carol Howard Merritt
The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper
Disarming Scripture by Derek Flood
To enter to win, head to A Better Story's Twitter or Facebook pages and share the post from this week's episode, or, if you're avoiding social media, just email me at abetterstorypodcast@gmail.com.
THANK YOU for a great year.
#18. Dr. Amanda Mbuvi: Race and Identity in Genesis
You can find even more on the topic from Dr. Mbuvi in her book, Belonging in Genesis. Use the discount code BDFW before April 30 for a 30% discount OR get 75% off if you order before March 31 and follow the instructions listed HERE. Keep up with Dr. Mbuvi at www.amandambuvi.com.
A gigantic thank you to Theology Corner for promoting the podcast and Light Theory for providing the intro and outro tunes.
#17. Adam Hamilton: Unafraid
Adam is the pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest mainline church in the country. He has also authored over a dozen books, including his latest, Unafraid, and Making Sense of the Bible, one of the best overviews of the Bible around.
As always, don't forget to check out Theology Corner and Light Theory.
#16. Tsh Oxenreider: The Art of Vocation
Check out Tsh's latest book, At Home in the World, and her brand new podcast, Women's Work. Keep up with her at The Art of Simple.
Don't forget to check out Light Theory, who provided the intro and outro jams, Theology Corner and CXMH Podcast.
#15. Carol Howard Merritt: Spiritual Wounds
And, of course, if you're into the intro and outro music, check out Light Theory.
#14. Dr. Richard Beck: Transgressive Hospitality
He sat down to talk about why it's so easy to dehumanize others and how we can start to move against that tendency. He even helps prepare you for those contentious political discussions you're going to walk into over the holidays.
To dig deeper, check out Richard's latest book, Stranger God, as well as his past books Unclean and Reviving Old Scratch. You can also hear from him weekly at experimentaltheology.blogspot.com.
#13. Lisa Sharon Harper: Very Good News in Bad Times
As always, a big thanks to Light Theory for the intro and outro jams.
#12. Byron Bland: Four Questions for Peacemaking
1. Are the parties willing and able to envision a shared future?
2. Are the parties willing and able to embrace the risks involved in creating trust about motives and goals?
3. Are the parties willing and able to accept painful losses and acknowledge that the other side will also be accepting similar losses?
4. Are the parties willing and able to accept what they believe is less than ideal justice and work together to rectify the most egregious injustice that living together in peace will impose?
As always, a big thanks to Light Theory for the intro and outro music.
#11. Dr. Tom Oord: Open and Relational Theism
If you're a fan of what Tom lays out, check out his book The Uncontrolling Love of God. You can even get a free audio version at homebrewedchristianity.leadpages.co/uncontrolling-love-of-god-audio-book/. You can keep up with him at thomasjayoord.com.
As always, a big thanks to Light Theory for the intro and outro jams.
#10. Dr. Wil Gafney: Womanist Midrash
For more from Wil, check out www.wilgafney.com and her books Womanist Midrash, Daughters of Miriam and Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah in the Wisdom Commentary series.
As always, a huge thanks to Light Theory for the intro and outro tunes.
#9. David and Constantino Khalaf: Modern Kinship
You can read their blog at daveandtino.com and find them on Patheos at www.patheos.com/blogs/modernkinship.
As always, don't forget to check out Light Theory’s music at joehamgeri.bandcamp.com/.
#8. Shane Claiborne: Politics, Jesus and Trump
For more from Shane, including his books, check out shaneclaiborne.com. To find out more about The Simple Way, the community Shane helps lead, visit thesimpleway.org.
As always, don’t forget to check out A Better Story on Facebook and Twitter, and listen to the sweet sounds of Light Theory, who does the intro music, at joehamgeri.bandcamp.com.
#7. Frank Schaeffer: Addiction to Certainty
Check out his latest book Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God and find out more at frankschaeffer.com.
#6. Yolanda Norton: Reading the Bible as a Black Woman
Of course, don't forget to check out Light Theory's music if you're into the intro tunes: joehamgeri.bandcamp.com/.
BONUS: More Yolanda Norton!
I Found God in Me: A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader by Mitzi J. Smith (with contributions from Yolanda Norton)
Psalms, Book 2-3 by Denise Dombkowski Hopkins (with contributions from Yolanda Norton)
Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse by Gay L. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace
The Woman Babylon and the Marks of Empire: Reading Revelation with a Postcolonial Womanist Hermeneutics of Ambiveilence by Shanell T. Smith
An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation by Nyasha Junior
Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda C. Gafney
#5. Dr. Ghazala Anwar: Understanding Islam
#4. Arinna Weisman: Privilege and the Practice of Buddhism
#3. Derek Flood: Disarming Scripture
Don't forget to check out A Better Story on Facebook and give more of Light Theory's music a listen at joehamgeri.bandcamp.com.