The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail In this second installment of Ken's special series, TRUTH QUEST - Exploring the History of Race in America , we launch the Civil Rights tour of the South in New Orleans.  The Whitney Plantation in St. John the Baptist Parish is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of slavery in Louisiana. You'll hear an in-depth description of the exhibits, display...

Send us Fan Mail TRUTH QUEST brings Ken's participation on the Civil Rights Tour of the South to his podcast. This is the first of five episodes, bringing sixteen voices (of 39 travelers) to the microphone. Each will share what motivated them to join the tour, how the history and sites impacted them, and the commitments that emerge from this quest. In future episodes, we'll visit the ico...

Send us Fan Mail In my Christian tradition, we were taught that we are all created in the imago Dei , the image of God. According to our scriptures, that idea entered human consciousness from the very beginning, when God played the role of Creator. He (our English translation of the Bible uses the male pronoun) created ex nihilo , out of nothing. If we are made in that image, then we were made to...

Send us Fan Mail Ken fielded so many recommendations that he took in the box-office hit of the "faith-based" summer "Sound of Freedom." While he was told that it was an important contribution to raising awareness of a global tragedy, it didn't take long to realize that this film has its critics. It has become a major rallying point for right-wing culture warriors including...

Send us Fan Mail This week's Beach Talk takes us to the shores of Maui and the tragic fire that stunned the world. The losses are immeasurable. The New York Times speaks to the pastor of the oldest church on the island. Ken shares something of the profoundly moving memorial he attended for his friend Sharon "Snoopy" Fong (born and raised in Hawaii) - Betsey tuned to the live stream...

Send us Fan Mail Carole Holiday thinks of herself as an "Accidental Author." Her new book (release date: September 19, 2023), "I Don't Know Who I Am Anymore," is heartily endorsed by Ken. He wrote, "I met Carole Holiday when she was seventeen. I was twenty-two. She was as engaging then as she is now. Over the decades, we’ve known some remarkable successes. But we both...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Ken and Betsey decide not to focus on politics - even with yet another indictment coming down. It's summer... time to dwell on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."* They talk about Ken's new Substack proje...

Send us Fan Mail In his shortest episode ever, Ken announces the launch of his Substack Page - and his first post: "All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs."* The podcast just passed a new milestone. After 283 episodes, in a phrase borrowed from author Steven Pressfield (The War of Art), this podcast is exactly what Ken "cannot not do." He expresses his deep appreciation to the...

Send us Fan Mail Rick Pidcock is a regular contributor to Baptist News Global, an independent news organization that provides "original and curated news, opinion and analysis about matters of faith." As a regular reader, Ken noticed Rick's impressive weekly article collection. With a background in homeschooling and private Christian schools, Rick graduated from Bob Jones University....

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Sharp's expansive book, The Other Evangelicals, dials back the clock to the early days of evangelicalism. Isaac identifies a significant collection of high-profile, self-identified "evangelical" Christians who just do not fit the current stereotype. Some were liberal, others black or progressive or feminist even gay. What these believers have in common is that t...

Send us Fan Mail After a courageous, tireless battle, Sharon "Snoopy" Fong left us on July 1, 2023. This Two Kens episode is the twenty-seventh time Ken Fong and Ken Kemp have come together for a podcast conversation - this time, it's a somber, solemn occasion.  It's a moment of reflection - filled with both grief and gratitude. Today's title comes from C.S. Lewis, the Bri...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey reconvene for another summer Beach Talk. They begin by relaying the news that their friend and podcast colleague, Ken Fong , just this week bid farewell to his life-long partner, Snoopy, after a protracted and heart-rending battle with cancer. Betsey shares something of her own loss a few years back. A regular Twitter user with over a thousand followers, Betsey give...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes author, professor, and scholar of religion Isaac Sharp, Ph. D. to talk about his new book,  The Other Evangelicals: Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians - and the Movement that Pushed them Out.   Recently, a raft of scholarship has emerged around the question - who are "The Evangelicals" and how did they manage to wield such social and p...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Osahon ("O") pick up on another Cabana Talk - this time to unpack the great cultural divide in our churches and beyond. The tidal wave of conservatism that targets race, gender, and education in our country has exacerbated the polarization that is so prevalent across the nation. Some celebrate. Others lament. Millennials are exiting the churches of their childhoo...

Send us Fan Mail This week the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued rulings that will have a dramatic impact on our nation. Ken welcomes Dr. Gilbert Walton for a wide-ranging conversation around Affirmative Action, higher education, and the roles of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Clarence Thomas . Ken and Gilbert met on the Civil Rights Tour of the South . Dr. Walton was a featur...

Send us Fan Mail This episode takes the two podcasters named Ken into very personal territory. The whole world's attention was captured for several days by the plight of five adventurers who plunged into the depths of the North Atlantic in the Ocean Gate Titan to catch a glimpse of the hundred-year-old ruins of the ocean liner Titanic resting on the ocean floor. With sudden silence, just an h...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Kristina Flanagan , retired psychotherapist, MSW, Vedic astrologer and soon-to-be graduate of Richard Rohr's Living School . At Kristina's invitation (after Ken invited himself!), Ken and Carolyn spent a few days in a beautiful casita on her property, a lovely expanse of New Mexico's rolling hills and meadows just south of Santa Fe . She, her architect,...

Send us Fan Mail On Juneteenth weekend, Ken returns from his New Mexico road trip and reconnects with Betsey for Beach Talk #105. One more time, the former president was arraigned facing a damning indictment for obstruction of justice and obstinate refusal to return classified documents. The Southern Baptists overwhelmingly voted to disenfranchise Southern California's Saddleback megachurch i...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes first-time guest, author Martyn Whittock to discuss his recent book, The End Times, Again? -2000 Years of the Use & Misuse of Biblical Prophecy. While listening to the BWM podcast at his home near Bath in England (the UK), Martin reached out to Ken to discuss his book's themes and how they play out in the US... and much more.  Ken shares his concern about the...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Dr. Shandra McDonald , student success strategist, and fellow podcaster. The two met on a Civil Rights tour of the South in 2019. As she observes, Shandra's strategy took her from "clueless to Cum Laude." The two podcasters discuss the unique challenges facing students with academic ambitions - exploring Shandra's powerful personal story.  She&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes PhD Candidate, writer, and educator, Rebecca Rea Ross. Podcaster and author, Brad Onishi, made the introduction. "Ken - here is a perfect person to interview on your podcast," he said.  He was right. Rebecca's passion is energizing her dissertation's focus. She combines her journey from ultra-conservative home school in eastern Washington State to...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong stumbled across an opinion piece in the L.A. TIMES by Osamudia James , Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina . Entitled - Florida’s censorship of ‘diversity’ efforts are a tantrum born of white guilt - Kemp agreed the article is worthy of full discussion. The author's phrase, " white innocence ," underscores the claim made by Robyn DiAngelo i...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes tenured UCLA Professor and prolific author, Dr. Robert Chao Romero to the podcast. They discuss his new book : Christianity and Critical Race Theory: A Faithful and Constructive Conversation. CRT and “Wokism” have become misappropriated political tropes across the country. Dr. Romero and Jeff Liou have collaborated on a compelling book that makes an important contribu...

Send us Fan Mail After a few weeks break, Ken and Betsey reunited at their imaginary beach and catch up on the headlines. The passing of the popular pastor and author Tim Keller signals the loss of an unusual evangelical: theologically and socially conservative, but a fresh, intelligent, innovative voice who left a lasting impact on the city of New York and beyond. Ken offers a review of his curre...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Peter Enns returns to the podcast to discuss his brand new book Curve-ball - When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming* or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God. Pete admits it's the longest title in the history of publishing. The popular professor, author (see show notes for his many other books), and podcaster ( The Bible for Normal People ) d...