The Front Porch Podcast

In this long-awaited final installment of the staff spotlight series, Hailey is here to tell us about her new album, Dove. We talk about her artist name, Mr. Marigold, what it has to do with a fish-shaped purse, her creative process, and what it takes to make an album while working full-time at Front Porch. 

This week, on our penultimate staff spotlight, Front Porch's director Joel Drenckpohl hops on the pod to talk about his backyard, how to make radically inclusive space, and where we might find the modern commons.

For the second installment of our staff series, 2nd-year intern Emily Biekert jumps on the mic to talk about friendship in post-grad life. Where do we find them? How do we make them? When no longer in the controlled college environment where ANYONE in your proximity could reasonably be a friend, it takes a little more intentionality. 

This week, we are back after a little hiatus with the first installment of a new series.  For the next few weeks, we will be put up some conversations with the staff of Front Porch on things they are passionate about, projects they're working on, or just subjects they think the people should know about. Up first is our Associate Director Dom Floyd on self-care, and the radical potential of incorporating such a practice into our lives. 

What's the deal with Easter? Another holiday special with the director of Front Porch, Joel Drenckpohl.  

Dedicated to the memory of Kennedy Love, a forever friend of the Front Porch. 

Why do we put kids in jail? What is restorative justice? Why does the US hold a quarter of the globe's incarcerated population? What does gardening have to do with any of this? Sarah Maloney talks about addressing these issues through her Landscape Architecture senior project, "A Garden Can Cultivate An Inmate: Reimagining Youth Incarceration."

Our first installment of a three-part miniseries on white christian nationalism. Three guests, three stories of christian nationalism from California to South Dakota. What is christian nationalism? How does it show itself not just in those worst cases of an attack on a federal building, but in run-of-the-mill church culture throughout the US?

Over the next three weeks, we will be sharing stories and insights from people who have witnessed christian nationalism, how it got here, and how we might see a new sort of Christianity on the other side.

Guests this week:

Mitch F.

This week, we hear from Lisa Swartz who is running the campaign #DivestTheCSU to get the largest 4-year university program in the US to divest entirely from the fossil fuel industry. We talk university endowments, structural versus individual action, and how to create a new future not dependent on fossil fuels.  

Content warning: this episode deals with themes of suicide and disordered eating that may be triggering to some listeners.

This week, sophomore Kallie Kidder hops on the mic to talk about eating disorders, what treatment looks like, and the structural causes of mental health crises. You don't want to miss this one. 

Check out the book Kallie mentioned, Anti-Diet: Reclaim your Time, Money, Well-Being and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating, by Christy Harrison. Available wherever fine books are sold.

This week, FP alum Erik jumps on the pod to share his expertise in saying "I don't know," navigating the powers that be in Cal Poly engineering, and what the heck the "real world" is.  

Music this episode:

Christmas in the midst of a pandemic--perhaps we can learn a little from the circumstances how absurd Christmas really is, and how it might provide new opportunities for our more rebellious energies.  

This week--if after college is the "real world," then is during college...the "fake world"? What would make it so fake?  And Danielle shares what she's learned from her time in start-up culture. Ben and Danielle are a couple of Front Porch alum's learning to navigate the "real world."

Check out Weyes Blood on Danielle's recommendation.  

Headspace, being (accidentally?) religious in college, and our general inconsistency as people.  Mike is a Cal Poly/Front Porch alum, and resident expert on talking ad nauseam about things he knows nothing about.  

This week--what does depression look like during a pandemic?  Among other things, like the Chicago Bean, a visit to Minneapolis, and going outside.  

Donate to Tabitha's fund to get her a replica of the Bean on Venmo.  Her handle is @tabitha-tolsma

Book referenced: How To Weep in Public by Jacqueline Novak

This week, former Front Porch intern, Ryan, and FP house alum, Sarah, jump on the pod to talk about self-doubt, growth, and post-grad outcome pie charts.  What is self-doubt doing to us? How does it get in the way of our growth? Why should we bother with trying something new? What does phenomenology have to do with any of this? 

This week, Michael tells us what he knows about cultures of engineering, specifically at Cal Poly.  How can engineers think in a way that takes into account their objects, inventions, and systems' impact on those who interact with them? How can a university with so much funding from the defense industry navigate "public welfare?"

Readings from the week: 

Long time Front Porch-goer Jenna Kintner tells us what she knows about dystopia, particularly concerning the present state of the US. We do some post-utopian dreaming in an attempt to escape the non-place of "utopia" and consider the alternative good-place of "eutopia."

References:

This week, what we're learning. 

This week, we get into, well, this week.  Learning in action, gettin' educated, protesting while white, and what "abolishing the police" means.  

Protest action recorded by Paul Gillis-smith

Resources referenced, and some extra ones as a treat:

Zooming too hard? Try this out. 

Resources referenced:

This week, our last discussion from winter quarter in our politics of the divine series.  What does it mean to be an advocate, and how can we do it well?

Each week this quarter, we've been gathering on Zoom to discover together the "why" of Front Porch, discussing a talk, message, or video that we share earlier in the week.  This coming week, one of the interns at Front Porch, Theresa, shares some thoughts on failure and success, and how failure is just as much a part of our becoming as the rest of the parts of us we label as good or acceptable.  

Tune in to hear Theresa, and join us on Zoom this coming Saturday, May 16th, for a community discussion on these themes!

Another feature in the Politics of the Divine series!  This week, on money, capitalism, the economic situation of first century Jews, and how might we continue to put questions to the ways we think about and work with money in the present.  These issues seems increasingly pertinent in the present moment, as so many of us find ourselves without money in the midst of a global health and economic crisis. Moments like these are the ones where some reconfiguration might happen--where we realize the stories we've told about how money works and who gets to have it could be questioned.  

This episode, we’ve got some discussion from a worship gathering in February on how the notions of scarcity and plenty affect our worldview and behavior, and some post-mortem reflection from Emily and Paul on how scarcity and plenty seem to be the name of the game in the midst of a pandemic--whether it's tests, toilet paper, or ICU beds. 

Hosts: Paul and Emily

featured in discussion: Joel D, Danielle D, Mikaela M

This episode, we’ve got some discussion from a worship gathering in February on visions of utopia in Christianities and feminist movements, and Emily and Paul accompanying this discussion from thoughts on utopia in the midst of a pandemic.

Hosts: Paul and Emily

featured in discussion: Kallie K, Ben T, Ben C, Joel D, Jenna K, Danielle D

On this episode, our third installment of the series on the politics of the divine. Social hierarchy, outsiders, and the God who sees! All that and more.

In our first episode of the new year, Front Porch director Joel Drenckpohl’s talk on The Politics of the Divine, introducing some themes and pondering some questions about themes of exile, oppression, and blessing. How could an affluent, imperial country like the US connect with a people group from millennia ago, whose history was marked with being dominated by every empire of the day?

Hear these talks and be a part of the discussion when they happen, every Saturday at 5 pm at Front Porch, in beautiful San Luis Obispo, CA.  

On the first installment of the Front Porch Podcast, we ask the public the question: how much coffee do you think Front Porch drinks in a day?? The answers we found may surprise you.  Hear students from all backgrounds doing math in their heads, guessing at cups of coffee per pot, consider student life factors causing such a changing amount of coffee consumed,  and why--why are we doing this to ourselves with all the caffeine??

Music by Lifegrid

Editing and production by Paul Gillis-Smith