The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail For Part II in our series, Ken welcomes political activist and friend of the podcast, Darcy McKenzie. Darcy has been actively involved in local politics from her home in Mendota Heights, just south of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Darcy gives us the backroom story of the selection of her Governor, Tim Walz, to be Kamala Harris’ running mate in her pursuit of the Presidency. Like our fri...

Send us Fan Mail In a two-part series, we explore the Vice President’s decision to invite Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. Ken admits his unbridled enthusiasm, especially following that Philadelphia Rally where the two made a joyful, energetic launch in front of a roaring, capacity crowd. Betsey’s enthusiasms are somewhat muted because for the past few weeks, she has been active...

Send us Fan Mail When a young man gets bored during the sermon in a starched Presbyterian Church on a Sunday morning, he pages through the Hymnal. That was Scott barely twelve years old who found, of all things, a Swastika at the top of the page at the end of the book he found in the church pew. The Swastika was crossed out. A cross appeared beneath it, indicating a clear Christian protest against...

Send us Fan Mail The Two Ken’s reconvene to talk about Joe Biden’s decision to step aside and pass the torch. He gave his full endorsement to his Vice President. Kamala Harris quickly emerged as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. It triggered an explosion of enthusiasm. After the assassination attempt, the Republican Campaign reported that their candidate was a “changed man.” Determi...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey returns to review the historical events unfolding right before us. The former President’s final convention speech upended the claim that he is “a changed man.” Betsey and Ken were depressed when headlines blared talk of a landslide victory for him - but then, the news came that Biden would relinquish his role as presumptive nominee. The announcement that VP Kamala Harris wo...

Send us Fan Mail THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED PRIOR TO THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN BUTLER< PA. Ken and Betsey reconvene for a post-debate debrief. Just before highly anticipated Presidential debate between the 45th and 46th Presidents, Ken and Betsey gave their predictions. They agreed that the “State of the Union Joe” would show up, energetic, focused and ready to take on his vulnerable opponent...

Send us Fan Mail Ken shares some brief thoughts about the shocking events at a Butler, Pennsylvania political rally.  Support the show Become a Patron  - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site : TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Send us Fan Mail When Ken first knew Rick Axtell, he was a high school student. Ken, a seminarian in his early 20s, was his Youth Pastor at a church in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Rick was a leader in the youth group. When Rick moved to Mississippi and Ken graduated, they bid farewell - turns out, for fifty years. Just in the past few months, they have become re-acquainted, chatting on video...

Send us Fan Mail The headlines are filled with tragic stories of clergy misconduct - abuse, power, control, and church cover-ups. Elizabeth Pankey-Warren, M.Div., MSW, and Spiritual Director (The Living School), has counseled the victims and perpetrators of abuse both as a therapist and as an ordained minister. In her work, she has also encountered clergy abuse in the context of her own church wor...

Send us Fan Mail The two Ken’s check in the day after the GREAT DEBATE. While Ken Fong refused to make pre-debate predictions, Ken Kemp did. In the pre-debate Beach Talk with Betsey Newenhuyse, they anticipated that the energetic, focussed, forceful “State of the Union Joe” would appear. Most Republican commentators, including the 45th President, did, too. That’s why they concocted stories about J...

Send us Fan Mail Ken checks in with Betsey to make some predictions in anticipation of the Presidential debate. Betsey predicts that Joe Biden will step up and perform as he did at the State of the Union and that Donald Trump will announce his VP pick in an effort to make news that will overshadow any possible gaffs. Betsey points out that the abortion issue is triggering a serious backlash among...

Send us Fan Mail Amanda Munroe shares her personal journey of life and faith; justice and pluralism. She currently serves as Director of Restorative Practices for Engaged Pluralism at Vassar College in Upstate New York. (Founded in 1861 as the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, Vassar became coed in 1969.) Amanda is a specialist in conflict resol...

Send us Fan Mail In 1997, when Philip Yancey submitted his manuscript to his publisher, he had serious doubts that his new offering (which followed his popular book, The Jesus I Never Knew ) would find an audience. He knew his evangelical readers. In Yancey’s mind, the chapters on a Democrat President (Bill Clinton) and a fellow author who “came out” as gay (Mel White), would not set well - especi...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Christine Talbot who recently retired from her significant role as Senior Vice President for Human Resources at the highly regarded global relief non-profit, World Vision. During her eight-year tenure, she worked closely with CEO Richard Stearns in Federal Way, Washington. Ken asks Christine to share her unique philosophy that is not only rooted in her years at World...

Send us Fan Mail Continuing the conversation around the first-ever criminal conviction of the former President, Ken reaches out to Ken Fong. The two podcasters further explore the implications of this watershed, historical moment. Fong opens the podcast by quoting Fox sports writer Colin Cowherd on the trial’s outcome. The MAGA Republican spin masters (including Mike Johnson, John Cornyn, Steve Sc...

Send us Fan Mail With the verdict declared to the world, Ken calls Betsey in for an unscheduled Beach Talk. This relatively brief conversation recounts the moment the news came to them both: the 45th President is guilty of all 34 counts - a unanimous decision of the twelve jurors after five grueling weeks of testimony. At long last, there is accountability. The two compare and contrast the moment...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes writer, teacher, preacher and justice advocate, Jim Wallis. Rev. Wallis’ new book, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy is getting high marks and a wide reading. It’s a timely and prophetic challenge in an era of polarization and worse, the advancement in America of what Jim calls an heretical version...

Send us Fan Mail Laura Bullard on Vox, suggests that the UMC tells us something about America. Recently, the denomination voted, by policy, to be fully inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community, eliminating any and all restrictions regarding membership, leadership in the church and ordination for clergy roles. The vote tallied in at 479 to 203 in favor of the historic change. Bullard posits that in Americ...

Send us Fan Mail After comparing notes on Mother’s Day, Ken and Betsey dive into Ken’s most recent Substack. Bart Ehrman, a fellow graduate of Ken’s Bible School, gave up his Christian faith over the problem of evil. He’s not alone. Theologian Thomas Oord has written a book that addresses the problem. He proposes that we focus not on an Omnipotent (all-powerful) God but on a God of Love. Betsey sh...

Send us Fan Mail Today, Ken shares his most recent Substack post. You'll find the full text here . Amipotence over Omnipotence - Love over Control A fellow graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Bart Ehrman, when he explains why he is no longer a Christian, points to the problem of theodicy. After years of academic study of the Christian Bible, for Ehrman, it was the problem of evil that...

Send us Fan Mail John Jay Alvaro is Lead Pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Pasadena. A friend of the Center for Restorative Justice, John Jay opened the door for the Center to move their offices into the church facility. The website puts it this way: “First Baptist Pasadena is a passionate, diverse, quirky, and kind congregation. We know that God loves this world, so we love fiercely,...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back historian and author Michael Jimenez , the History Department Chair at Vanguard University in Southern California. He has published several articles focussing on the iconic United Farm Workers Union organizer from the Civil Rights era in the 1960s and 70s. He believes that Cesar Chavez should be considered the Latinex Martin Luther King. Like King, Chavez’s life...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey returns to her home on the north side of Chicago. She and Ken reminisce over her 3rd Annual trek to Southern California. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson , surprises the nation and the world as he stands up to the Freedom Caucus (led by Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz , and their Republican friends). He garners bi-partisan support releasing necessary and long-delayed fu...

Send us Fan Mail Award-winning author, journalist, and fellow podcaster Brian T. Kaylor joins Ken to talk about his soon-to-be-released (June 6, 2024) book, Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism . Brian adds a significant contribution to the discussion about the pervasive Christian Nationalism so prevalent today - the movement that became highly visible in...

Send us Fan Mail Andy Wells returns to the podcast with an update on his popular book, Tried to be Straight . The first two-part interview with Andy has been one of the most popular BWM episodes to date. In that episode, Andy shares his journey growing up in church ( All Saints Episcopal Church and Lake Avenue Congregational Church both in Pasadena, CA) where he served in leadership roles - and on...