Freedom Road Podcast

In this episode we are joined by Rev. Julio Hernandez, Executive Director of the Congregation Action Network, based in DC and serving the DC, Maryland, Virginia area (aka the DMV). We invited Julio to talk with us on Freedom Road about the nearly invisible struggle taking place in the immigrant community in the U.S.. They are receiving the tip of the spear in the current administration’s policy of...

This episode we are joined by Rev. Dr. Charles Lattimore Howard, the University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity and Community at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. Rev. Dr. Lattimore Howard is also the author of several books, including: The Souls of Poor Folk, The Awe and The Awful, Black Theology as Mass Movement, and Pond River Ocean Rain, a small book about going dee...

This episode we are joined by, Rich Logis, former MAGA podcaster who is now the founding executive director of Leaving MAGA and author of the short e-book, My MAGA Odyssey, available at LeavingMaga.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Thread or Insta Lisa @lisasharper or to Freedom Road @freedomroad.us. We're also on Substack! So be sure to subscribe to freedomroad.substack.com. And, keep sharing...

This episode we are joined by Isaac Samuel Villegas, author of the new book, MIGRANT GOD: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Thread or Insta Lisa @lisasharper or to Freedom Road @freedomroad.us. We're also on Substack! So be sure to subscribe to freedomroad.substack.com. And, keep sharing the podcast with your friends and networks and letting us know what yo...

This episode, we are joined by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice—a project of the Bethlehem Bible College—and Pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Rev. Dr. Munther is the author of The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope and his new book, Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and...

In this episode, we are joined by documentary filmmaker, Ilana Thrachtman, director of several films, most recently, “Ain’t No Back on a Merry-Go-Round” about the 1960 Civil Rights Movement in Washington DC that you never heard of. This is a powerful film that resonates with us today. It reminds us of where we’ve been in a not-too-distant America and how we overcame. Ilana was invited to talk with...

In this episode, we are joined by the Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, III. Dr. Moss is senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. He is a preacher, poet, activist, author and filmmaker with an eye toward justice and equality, as evidenced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, III was invited to be in conversation because we are entering into a new phase of our world...

In this episode we are joined by womanist theologian and author, Rev. Dr. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas, an African-American Episcopal priest, womanist theologian, and interim president of Episcopal Divinity School. She was previously the inaugural Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary. She also serves as Canon Theologian of the Washington National Cathedral. She has writ...

In this episode we are joined by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author, Eliza Griswold, author of the book, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church. In Circle of Hope Griswold explores how conflict around anti-LGBTQ inclusion, white supremacy and roots in the church growth movement eventually led the network of congregations to dissolve in January 202...

This month we are joined by Maya Moore Irons and Jonathan Irons! Basketball icon, Maya is a two-time NCAA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion, and WNBA MVP. In February of 2019, Maya revealed that she would miss the upcoming season to focus on family and ministry dreams. Later that year, in a New York Times feature, Maya first went into detail about Jonathan Irons and...

In this episode we are joined by Corey Nathan, host of Talkin' Politics and Religion Without Killin' Each Other, producer of Freedom Road Podcast and the founder of SCAN Media. We invited Corey to join us on Freedom Road for a frank, raw conversation meant to help us process the results of election 2024 and their implications for years to come. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Thread or Insta Lisa...

This episode we are joined by indigenous theologians and practioners, Randy and Edith Woodley, authors of the new book Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Wellbeing. Randy and Edith are the founders of the Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, based in Oregon, which focused on developing, implementing and teaching sustainable and regenerative earth practices. They...

In this episode we are joined by theologian and author, Khristi Lauren Adams. Speaker, writer and youth advocate, Rev. Adams is an ordained Baptist Minister. She is the award winning author of Parable of the Brown Girl, as well as Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way. Khristi was invited to join us on Freedom Road to explore the value of children, particularly Black girls, in all of our p...

In this episode we are joined by innovator and podcaster, Tim Whitaker, founder and host of The New Evangelicals podcast and growing organization. I also found out he’s a sought after professional drummer! Who knew?! You’ve probably seen Tim’s short, power-packed videos on Instagram and YouTube. We invited Tim to join us on Freedom Road to explore what it means to be a New Evangelical in a politic...

In this episode we're joined by the amazing duo of award-winning Truth’s Table Podcast and Foundation, Dr. Christina Edmondson and the inimitable Ekemini Uwan. Cofounder and cohost of Truth’s Table Podcast and Foundation, Dr. Christina holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology and is a certified Cultural Intelligence facilitator, speaker and trainer. Ekemini Uwan is co-host of the award-winning podcast...

This episode features three of our favorite people on the planet—Lisa's cohosts on The Four Podcast which cut a blaze of glory in 2022! The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III is senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. He is a preacher, poet, activist, author and filmmaker with an eye toward justice and equality, as evidenced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. He founded The Unashamed Me...

This episode we are joined by one of our favorite people shaping the political landscape right now! The inimitable Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas 30th District, basically Dallas County). You might have seen the viral clip of Congresswoman Crockett handing it to Marjorie Taylor Greene in the middle of a hearing on Capital Hill. The term was “Beach blonde bad built butch body.” As AOC said...

This episode we are joined by Daniel Bannoura: PhD Candidate, Palestinian theologian, Qur’an scholar, Podcaster, and Entreprenuer. Daniel was invited to speak with us today, because he was one of the authors of the October 2023 Palestinian leaders’ call for western church leaders and theologians to repent. We wanted to talk about the condition of the western church and its response to what is happ...

This episode we are joined by Dr. Paul Zeitz, a preventative medicine epidemiologist, author, and award-winning champion of global justice and human rights. Zeitz is the initiator of the Unify Movements, a movement building platform dedicated to catalyzing new, social, economic, and political systems committed to our collective repair, justice and peace. We invited Dr. Zeitz to speak with us today...

In this episode we are joined by speaker, educator and author, Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, who is Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies and Director of the Reconciliation Studies program at Seattle Pacific University. Rev. Dr. Brenda is also associate pastor of preaching and reconciliation at Quest Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the author of several books, including Becoming...

In this episode we are joined by the filmmaker of the new power-house documentary, True Believer, Kristen Irving. You might have noticed we’ve spoken with several filmmakers recently. All have released documentaries focused on White Christian Nationalism. They are all fabulous. But, folks, as Lisa mentioned, "True Believer hit me in a place I didn’t even know I had. As the credits rolled, I wept l...

In this episode we are joined by theologian and author, Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim. Dr. Kim is Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion and the author or editor of 24 books, including: Surviving God, Spirit Life; Invisible; Hope in Disarray; Keeping Hope Alive and Reimagining Spirit. She is a co-editor for the Palgrave Macmillan Book Series, “Asian Christianity in the Diaspora” and she is the...

This episode comes to you in partnership with Inverse Podcast. The diverse InVerse podcast community explores how the Scriptures can turn the world upside down, or be weaponized to uphold the status quo. So, this episode we’re going to talk the “T” word—theology. Theology is simply how we understand God and our relationship with God. Christian social ethics teaches that our understanding of God fo...

This episode comes to you in partnership with The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the spirit of the Historic Black Church, which has begun to rise up and call for a ceasefire in Gaza, St. Thomas’s 17th rector, The Very Rev. Canon Martini Shaw and his team decided to focus the church’s Lenten season on understanding what’s going on in Gaza and why i...

This special episode comes to you in partnership The Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. In the spirit of the Black Church, which has begun to rise up and call for a ceasefire in Gaza, St. Thomas’s 17th rector, The Very Rev. Canon Martini Shaw and his team decided to focus the church’s Lenten season on understanding what’s going on in Gaza. So, a portion of this episode has been liste...