Lament of Hope

Abbie Stockard sat down with me several weeks ago to talk about her faith, passion to raise awareness regarding cystic fibrosis, and the beauty pageant journey. Miss America 2025 is an important season in Abbie's life, but her ultimate goal is to care for children facing severe illness. She is a senior at Auburn University pursuing a degree in pediatric nursing.

Catherine Coldstream's memoir,  My Years as a Nun , was published last year, and details Catherine's over a decade-long experience in a silent, Carmelite monastery in Northumberland. Catherine sat down with me to talk about how she came to live in the monastery, what the day-to-day looked like, and how her experience impacted her faith and the way she views monastic orders now.

Mary Alice Hostetter's memoir, "Plain: A Memoir of Mennonite Girlhood," was published in December of 2022, and the paperback copy hit shelves about six weeks ago. Mary Alice shared her journey with me from growing up in a sect of the Mennonite community to leaving it as a young woman and pursuing higher education. We also talked about being lesbian, and her transition to the Quaker f...

Jean Lee's memoir,  Alzheimer's Daughter , is a raw and moving account of a daughter caught in the tension of wanting to honor her parents while also needing to address their worsening mental and physical abilities. Jean Lee sat down to talk with me about her story, and how her life has been impacted by writing a memoir and helping to found AlzAuthors.com. AlzAuthors.com is a nonprofit org...

Maria Rose Evans is a rising vocalist based in Colorado. Her song,  "Drunk Again,"  created in collaboration with Song House Collective and released in the fall of 2023, has amassed over 3.5 million plays on Spotify and almost a million views on YouTube. I spoke to Maria about her life and walk with the Lord as a young woman who struggles with mental health and has faced several tragedie...

Don Most sat down with me for half an hour to talk about his life and acting career. We talked about his reflective personality, his passion for acting and music, and explored big life questions.

Nabeel Masih was imprisoned in 2016 on blasphemy charges, sentenced to ten years in 2018, and then released on bail in 2021. Nabeel was taken from his home in 2016 after reposting a social media post that officials found offensive to one of Islam's most holy worship sites. Nabeel endured beatings, physical deprivation, and unsanitary conditions in prison before being released on bail. He await...

Bonus episode! This is the second of three interviews with individuals in Pakistan who have experienced pain and suffering due to Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Nawab Bibi is the wife of Zafar Bhatti, who is the longest serving blasphemy prisoner in Pakistan. He was imprisoned for alleged blasphemous texts in 2012, given a life sentence in 2017, and then sentenced to death in 2022. Zafar along wit...

This is the first of three interviews with individuals in Pakistan who have experienced pain and suffering due to Pakistan's blasphemy laws. This episode tells the story of a young couple, Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, who were brutally killed in 2014 by a mob for allegedly burning pages of the Quran. There was no conclusive evidence found for this allegation, and several members of the mob ar...

Viggo Mortensen sat down with me to talk about his newest film, "The Dead Don't Hurt," which tells the story of two lovers in the nineteenth century. Holger goes to fight in the Civil War, while Vivienne endures the trials of being left behind. We talked about different perspectives of specific scenes, Viggo's thoughts on the film and its characters, and what our culture looks li...

Jordan Smith is a gospel singer who became nationally known when he won season 9 of NBC's The Voice in 2015. In addition to the creation of his upcoming album, Jordan shared with me his musical journey from a pop to gospel focus as well as the deep love and admiration he has for his wife, Kristen. Jordan also talked about his faith in Jesus Christ and his thoughts on masculinity in our culture...

What a gift to connect with Ruta Lee! I spoke with Ruta over the holiday season and am so glad to finally get this out there for my listeners. Ruta Lee has been in numerous films and television shows from Hollywood's classic era ranging from "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" as Ruth, Lettie in "Funny Face," to episode appearances on "The Twilight Zone," "I Lo...

Louisa John-Krol is a fascinating individual to speak with, and I hope one day I can visit her, and we can sit down in-person with a cup of tea and talk more about her life. Louisa has a strong belief and passion for the fairy world, otherworldly music, and storytelling. We talked about those topics as well as her husband's experience with PTSD and her physical illness. She ended our time sing...

I was introduced to Yazdan's acting talent through his voice work on the recent anime release, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim . Yazdan was the voice of Hama, son of Helm Hammerhand and sister of the protagonist, Héra. Yazdan talked with me about his love and experience of acting on the stage as well as how to balance his mental well-being with the rigor of show after show. He a...

It was an absolute delight to speak with Lucie . Lucie took a break from taking down her Christmas decorations to talk with me about the hard in the world right now. She had kept her decorations up just a bit longer to hold on to the warmth and hope of Christmas. We talked about the LA fires, working through trauma and growing as individuals, and marriage. 

This is one of the most fascinating interviews I have had so far. Dr. Catherine Raven lives in a cabin she built on an isolated piece of land in Montana. Her life changed forever when a wild fox knocked on her door to get her attention. That fox became Catherine's closest friend to the point where she even read him an illustrated story outside when he would come visiting. Their friendship beca...

I loved getting to sit down with Lisa Brenner and talk to her about her career and the choices she has made in Hollywood. We talked about navigating sexual intimacy on screen, how aging affects landing roles, and her love and passion for her family and storytelling.

Meredith Hall wrote the New York Times Bestselling memoir,  Without a Map , which documents her story as a pregnant teenager without the support of her family or New Hampshire community. Meredith shared with me her journey from that frightened and vulnerable young woman, who was forced to give up her son at birth without even laying eyes on him, to a brave woman who bears the scars with the ambiti...

Katherine Paterson is an incredible individual to talk to. Her interview was full of anecdotes about her life, ranging from childhood, to writing, to hardships, and her strong faith in Christ. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Kechi Okwuchi was one of two survivors of a devastating plane crash that killed 107 passengers in Nigeria in 2005. Kechi sustained burns to her body, but her physical scares do not define her. She was a finalist for her singing talent on the 12th season of AGT in 2017, published a memoir five years later entitled  More Than My Scars , and currently advocates for several causes close to her heart....

Dave Pelzer  is a New York Times and International bestselling author. He has written several books, but the one that Dave talked about in this interview was the memoir of his childhood,  A Child Called "It."  Dave's mother called him "It" and targeted him out of his siblings for horrendous abuse that led him to fear for his life. Dave was taken from his mother at age 12 and went through several f...

Robin Jones Gunn is a best-selling Christian author of more than 100 books including the Christy Miller series, the Haven Makers series, her memoir, Victim of Grace , and four novels that ended up being adapted into Christmas movies for Hallmark. Robin talked with me about her newest book, Tea with Elephants , which begins her newest series, the Suitcase Sisters . We also talked about tough writin...

Naghmeh Panahi's husband, Saeed Abedini, was arrested in 2012 while visiting Iran. Naghmeh spent three and a half years advocating for her husband's release around the globe. She spoke with American presidents, the U.S. Congress, and the United Nations as well as numerous media outlets to bring attention to the plight of the persecuted church. Her husband was released in 2016, but Naghmeh chose se...

Cristiana was such a gift to interact with as we talked about topics ranging from her acting journey all the way to her thoughts on the meaning of life. Cristiana even read some of her poetry for me! One of my favorite interviews so far. Please take the time to listen to this episode to know more about the actress who played the leading role in Angel Studios' Cabrini , which was released earlier t...

Anne Ursu is the author of "The Real Boy," "The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy," her newest book, "Not Quite a Ghost," and others. Anne sat down with me to talk about several of her books, how she started writing middle grade novels, her journey with chronic fatigue syndrome, and her love of animals. It was such a delightful conversation, and I am so grateful Anne and I got to connect.