Give and Take

My guests are David Shields, Nick Toti, and Rachel Kempf. We talk about The Very Last Interview (Shields' forthcoming book), film-adapted by Toti and Kempf and released this month. Shields is the author of over twenty books including Reality Hunger, Other People, How Literature Saved My Life, The Trouble with Men, That Thing You Do With Your Mouth, etc. While The Very Last Interview will not be re...

My guest if Frederick Schmidt. He holds the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. He's also an Episcopal Priest. He recently wrote a piece entitled "6 Spiritual Truths that Won’t Change with the Election." It's a timely piece for reflection and discussion. Special Guest: Frederick W. Schmidt .

My guest is John Burke. His newest book is Presidential Playbook 2020: 16 Nonpartisan Solutions to Save America. “And sometime, at some point, do something for your country.” That quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough resonated so deeply with Trek Bicycle President John Burke that he set out to write a book laying out his vision for the country, an America that can once agai...

My guest is Abdul El-Sayed. His new book is Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic. From a rising voice in progressive politics, a combination of memoir, science, and public policy, diagnosing the challenges facing America and laying out a way forward A child of immigrants, Abdul El-Sayed grew up feeling a responsibility to help others. He threw himself into...

My guest is Alan Jacobs. His newest book is Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind . W. H. Auden once wrote that "art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead." In his brilliant and compulsively readable new treatise, Breaking Bread with the Dead, Alan Jacobs shows us that engaging with the strange and wonderful writings of the past might help us live less...

My guest is Ariel Sabar. His newest book is Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife . In 2012, Dr. Karen King, a star professor at Harvard Divinity School, announced a blockbuster discovery at a scholarly conference just steps from the Vatican: She had found an ancient fragment of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene "my wife." The tattered manuscript made int...

My guest is David Norling. He is a California native, an evangelical refugee, and has a deep interest in spirituality, spiritual direction, and human flourishing. We spend time talking about his own spiritual biography and journey. We also talk narrative therapy and spiritual direction. Special Guest: David Norling .

My guest is Mike McHargue. His newest book is You're a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass) . Why is there such a gap between what you want to do and what you actually do? The host of Ask Science Mike explains why our desires and our real lives are so wildly different—and what you can do to close the gap, in this his newest book. For thousands of years, scientists, philosophers, and self-help gurus hav...

My guest is Todd Drezner. His newest film is The Campaign of Miner Bo . It’s probably safe to say that Bo Copley never expected to run for U.S. Senate. A lifelong resident of Mingo County, West Virginia, Copley worked in the coal industry for 11 years until he was laid off on September 18, 2015. In May of 2016, Copley was invited to join a roundtable discussion with Hillary Clinton, who was campai...

My guest is Richard Kreitner. His new book is Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. The novel and fiery thesis of Break It Up is simple: The United States has never lived up to its name—and never will. The disunionist impulse may have found its greatest expression in the Civil War, but as Break It Up shows, the seduction of secession wasn’t limited...

My guest is David Shields. He's the author of numerous books including Nobody Hates Trump More Than Trump: An Intervention . It can be read in a variety of ways: as a psychological investigation of Trump, as a philosophical meditation on the relationship between language and power, as a satirical compilation of the “collected wit and wisdom of Donald Trump,” and above all as a dagger into the rhet...

My guest is David Gessner. His newest book is Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness . “Leave it as it is,” Theodore Roosevelt announced while viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time. “The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” Roosevelt’s rallying cry signaled the beginning of an environmental fight that still wages today. To reconnect wi...

My guest is Alice Vaughn. She's the co-host of Two Girls One Mic: The Porncast . They review the holes and plot holes of your favorite porn. She also founded Offensive Crayons, a wildly successful company... https://www.offensivecrayons.com . We talk porn, politics, psychology and the pandemic's effect on the porn industry and the wider culture. Special Guest: Alice Vaughn .

My guest is Christian Miller. Have you ever wondered if you're a good person? Have you asked how you good be a better one? Do your moral failings bug you? Christian Miller has spent his whole life studying these questions. He's a moral philosopher and the author of The Character Gap . If you are thinking about what it means to live the good life than this is the episode for you.

My guest is Marcus Rempel. He's the author of Life At The End Of Us Vs Them . critics of both Christianity and culture. The end of us versus them can deteriorate into the chaos of each against each or it can open outward into freely chosen communion. It is an expectant - and apocalyptic - time. How does one live in this strange, endtime world? As a wanderer in the odd, cross-culture country Girard...

My guests are Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke. Their new book is Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk . We are all guilty of it. We call people terrible names in conversation or online. We vilify those with whom we disagree, and make bolder claims than we could defend. We want to be seen as taking the moral high ground not just to make a point, or move a debate forward, but to look a cert...

My guest is Scott Shay. Scott's second book, In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism , has been recognized as one of the best books of 2018 by Mosaic Authors and earned a finalist award from National Jewish Books. Scott gives talks around the country and is interviewed on TV, radio, and podcasts many times throughout the year. Special Guest: Scott Shay.

My guest is Bradley Klein. He's a political scientist turned renowned sports writer and golf consultant. We talk about a piece he recently wrote about the future of sports in the age of Corona. You can read Brad's piece here: https://kleincoronadiary.com/2020/06/20/arena/ . Special Guest: Bradley S. Klein .

My guest is Laura Briggs. Her new book is Taking Children: A History of American Terror . In these unprecedented times, one thing remains true--those who wish to enact racist and discriminatory practices will find a way to do so, often taking advantage of crises to make horrific changes more swiftly. As Laura Briggs shows in TAKING CHILDREN, America has a long history of using racist policies to d...

My guest is Marlena Graves. Her newest book is The Way Down Is Up . "Now, with God's help, I shall become myself." These words from Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard resonate deeply with Marlena Graves, a Puerto Rican writer, professor, and activist. In these pages she describes the process of emptying herself that allows her to move upward toward God and become the true self that God calls her...

My guest is Zena Hitz. She's the author of The Intellectual Life . In an overloaded, superficial, technological world, in which almost everything and everybody is judged by its usefulness, where can we turn for escape, lasting pleasure, contemplation, or connection to others? While many forms of leisure meet these needs, Zena Hitz writes, few experiences are so fulfilling as the inner life, whethe...

My guest is Satish Gaire. Satish has also started many companies to help businesses. This includes DirectPay, WooAgents, myDentalWebsite, BookSmartr and many more. Satish’s mission is to help humanity by spreading the knowledge that he has gained from his many years of doing internet marketing and running his own business. He wants to help others to achieve the same level of success. His ultimate...

My guest is Jennifer Michelle Greenberg. She's the author of Not Forsaken . Jenn Greenberg was abused by her church-going father. Yet she is still a Christian. In this courageous, compelling book, she reflects on how God brought life and hope in the darkest of situations. Jenn shows how the gospel enables survivors to navigate issues of guilt, forgiveness, love, and value. And she challenges churc...

My guest is Jordan Al-Zu’Bi. He's an economist who focuses on the health insurance industry. We talk about the health insurance industry and how the pandemic will impact it. Special Guest: Jordan Al-Zu’Bi.

My guests are Bradley S. Klein and David Shields. Klein has played golf with Trump, written about him as a sports journalist and consulted on his golf courses. David Shields has written one of the most provocative and revealing books about Trump, Nobody Hates Trump More Than Trump. If you're looking for an interesting Trump conversation in the midst of Corona, this is it. Special Guests: Bradley S...