Arc: The Podcast

A poet, a theologian, and Mark walk into a podcast studio: a conversation about faith, doubt, mortality, and friendship.

In honor of America's 250th, a special episode featuring Harvard's Danielle Allen on "The Declaration of Independence: Why an Old Text Serves Us Now"

Mark sits down with Paul Elie to discuss art and religion in the 1980s, from Madonna to Prince to Leonard Cohen to Martin Scorsese, and the age old question of whether God cares about pop music

Mark sits down with Zachary Davis to talk about the Latter Day Saints' rebrand, the role of religion in a secular age, and the commonalities between Mormons and Jews (aside from the fact that they’re both disliked)  

Mark sits down with Jay Michaelson to talk about the 17th century (Jewish) origins of Candace Owens's antisemitism

Mark sits down with Jeremy Carl to talk "white culture," leaving Judaism for the Presbyterian church, and whether politics trump truth in Washington

Mark sits down with Jacques Berlinerblau to talk woke politics and the canceling of comedians, whether public apology tours ever work, and how to think about free speech in the digital age

Mark sits down with Arielle Angel, editor in chief of Jewish Currents, to talk the Jewish left, the war in Israel and Gaza, and the job of an editor

Mark sits down with Christopher Beha to talk growing up Catholic in New York City, how he made his way back to the church, and whether Don Delillo is America's great religious novelist

Mark sits down with Rusty Reno to talk strong Gods, Trump's presidency, the right's antisemitism problem, and where the country might go from here

Mark sits down with Stefan Fatsis to talk the politics of language, the joys of slang, and Ted Cruz's slappable face

Mark sits down with Kelsey Osgood to talk religious conversion, eating disorders, and the songs she can't get out of her head

Mark sits down with Jessica Grose and Brad Wilcox to talk natality numbers, whether the New York Times should convince people to have more babies, and which American president best models good parenting

An Arc holiday special about how three different religious communities are managing our technological malaise

Mark sits down with The Atlantic's Yair Rosenberg to talk antisemitism on the right, antisemitism on the left, and the American Jews caught in between

Mark sits down with Ross Douthat and Phil Zuckerman for a live debate about whether we should all believe in God or all be atheists.

Mark sits down with Oliver Burkeman to discuss high-brow self-help books, nostalgia for the past versus dread for the future, and the lasting value of blowing through deadlines.

Mark sits down with Leah Libresco Sargeant to talk about her journey from atheism to Catholicism, her love for arguing about everything from God to public policy, and the moral necessity of taking our opinions seriously

Mark sends his deputy editor, David Sugarman, to Lithuania, to find out how the legacy of a bunch of Yiddish writers from the early 20th century is reshaping the region's present and future.

Mark sits down with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the aesthetics of yarmulkas, the crisis facing clergy-members, and how the war in Israel is changing American Jewry.  

Mark sits down with Matthew Schmitz to talk confession, converting to Catholicism, and Trump's morality. He then phones Maggie Phillips, self-described fan of the confession booth, to discuss this sacrament further.

Mark sits down with Gabriela Nguyen to discuss the cure to Gen Z's digital addictions, whether belonging to a religious community makes it easier to get off social media, and what to look out for in the age of AI 

Mark sits down with Thomas Chatterton Williams to discuss wokeness and its afterlives, the Hamas/Israel war, and whether kids these days have it too easy

Mark sits down with David Litt to talk surfing, surprising saviors, and America's political divide