No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

Are many parenting styles doing more harm than good? Alfie Kohn discusses the surprising psychology behind the widely practiced reward/punishment model of raising kids, and why we should “work with” our children instead of trying to control their behavior.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Justice is what love looks like in public.” In this episode, Justin Jones discusses how his work for justice, particularly during a 62-day non-violent protest outside the Tennessee State Capitol, is itself an act of faith, steeped in self-denying love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do bourbon, bluegrass, and the Bible have in common? Just ask the Billboard charting Hillbilly Thomists, a group of Catholic Dominican Friars, clad in white tunics and rosaries—playing bluegrass music. Their name, Hillbilly Thomists, is indebted to the Catholic Southern Gothic writer Flannery O'Connor whose mixture of morbidity and grace show up in their songs. We assembled at the Soultrain S...

“Good conversations create personal closeness,” says Heather Holleman. “When you have good conversations, it could intervene in the loneliness epidemic.” Today, she discusses the many tried-and-true methods for becoming better conversationalists – a skill that just might be a central key to human flourishing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

“If we are to take heart from the really good things about American history, we have no choice but to reckon first with the dark sides of it,” says Bill McKibben, a prominent journalist, author, and activist. One of the most prominent of environmental activists and authors, McKibben also discusses racial justice, the economic impact of suburbanization, and the relation of the Christian church to s...

Are we as good as we think we are? Virtue theory suggests that things like compassion, honesty, and courage are the keys to living a good, happy life. But Christian Miller brings to light a troubling reality: though we all want to be virtuous, it turns out that it doesn’t take much to get us to forsake our values. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choice...

In a culture brimming with wealth, upward social mobility, and endless access to pleasure, why are we only becoming more anxious, depressed, and unsatisfied? Dr. Anna Lembke makes a claim many of us don’t want to hear, though we know to be true: “Every pleasure has a cost, and that cost is pain. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

Is friendship really a key to being happy? We often make our quest for human flourishing a solitary one, focusing on making changes in our personal mindsets and habits. Yet, much ancient and modern wisdom suggests that we cannot do it alone. In this episode, Andy Gullahorn, Gabe Scott, and Antsy McClain share stories and songs – full of high fives and trailer parks – that showcase the importance o...

Might we all be happier if we stopped taking ourselves too seriously? Singer-songwriters Andy Gullahorn and Antsy McClain describe how humor can make us comfortable enough to be vulnerable with each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hymns are often sentimentalized in the American church, cast aside as merely retired songs with dated language, bearing no real appeal or relevance. But of course it may be that our old hymnals have some crucial things to say to us in our current cultural moment. This is the challenge I posed to Odessa Settles, Phil Madeira, and Leslie Jordan: find and perform some old hymns which might be both in...

How music gives voice to people on the margins; how lament and hope co-exist in songwriting; and wondering what one is really supposed to do with “turn the other cheek,” all with Joy Oladokun. Plus, she performs five of her songs live from Nashville’s Sound Emporium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instagram culture, internet extremism, the Seven Deadly Sins, the hard work of parenting, learning how to grieve, and much more. Plus, KS performs five beautiful songs live from Nashville’s famed Sound Emporium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are the “seven deadly sins” merely a medieval-era reflection upon divine finger-wagging? Rebecca DeYoung explains why the “seven deadly sins” is better understood as a diagnostic tool which may instead facilitate a joyful and flourishing life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does evolutionary theory destroy morality? Barrett contends that evolutionary psychology might instead provide guidance toward practices of sociability, community, and love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A helpful conversation with Suzanne Stabile on the Enneagram: what it is, what it isn’t, and why it can be a helpful tool for the flourishing of the self and the community. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Edith Hall offers timely commentary on the virtue ethics of Aristotle: and how contemporary society may be missing fundamental keys to living life well. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do Christians get wrong about Jesus? Prof. AJ Levine discusses common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian Fragility” impedes one’s ability to listen and learn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David French discusses the culture of animosity in which he finds himself as a political commentator; what it’s like to critique conservatism as a conservative; and why he thinks America’s classical liberalism may yet be salvageable. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The commodification of almost everything is one fact of life in the late modern capitalist world in which we live in the west. But commodification even of war?  Justin Bronson Barringer joins us to discuss the business of war and the US military industrial complex. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Conservative Christianity necessarily opposed to reason? Dr. Molly Worthen discusses the history of Protestant Evangelicalism, and how this tradition has often been “perhaps the most preoccupied with squaring reason with their understanding of faith.” A complex and fascinating tale. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

“I did not go to divinity school to become a pastor. I went to figure out how people could read the Bible and not do justice.” Janet Wolf recounts her experiences doing justice and advocacy work in the face of misogyny, poverty, and racism as the first female Methodist pastor in Lawrence County, Tennessee.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

“People are not so afraid of holding a wrong opinion, as they are of holding an opinion alone,” says public theologian Dr. Russell Moore, paraphrasing Soren Kierkegaard. In light of his recent book The Courage to Stand, we discussed the dangers of waging debate for the sake of hostility; the immense value found in cultivating the virtues of courage, prudence, and humility; and why he believes that...

Marty Dodson is an acclaimed country singer-songwriter in Nashville. A number of years ago, he and his wife felt compelled to move from their home in Franklin, a wealthy and predominantly white suburb, to East Nashville, a historically black neighborhood which has been the site of much gentrification over the past few decades. When they moved in, they were instantly welcomed by Stephanie Knight, t...

“What should the right level of profit be for a corporation?” In this episode, Jay Jakub discusses why this question must be asked in order for a business to thrive, and how a more holistic approach to capitalism might be adopted to unlock a company’s full potential. And maybe help save the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

A special episode reflecting on over a decade of Thanksgivings spent at Nashville’s historic Ryman auditorium, with some of our favorite performances, sketches, and memories which we’ve shared together. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices