Makers & Mystics

Luke Burgis is an author , creative thinker and entrepreneur. He has founded and led multiple companies. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, a...

Julianna Barwick is a Los Angeles based composer, vocalist, and producer who makes deep, reflective compositions rooted in the human voice.  Over the years she has made six critically acclaimed records as well as contributed her sound to the world of film scoring.    Her self-released debut “Sanguine” came out in 2007, followed by "Florine" in 2009, and “The Magic Place” in 2011.  In 201...

Jeremy Begbie is a Scottish theologian, author and musician. We interviewed Jeremy in Season 5 of the podcast on his book Redeeming Transcendence In The Arts. . In this bonus REPLAY episode, we are revisiting a segment from this conversation which ties in perfectly to the theme of Season 11. Join Our Creative Collective! Instagram Listen to the full episode from Season 5 Send us Fan Mail Support t...

Peter Rollins is an author, philosopher, storyteller, producer and public speaker. Peter gained his higher education from Queens University, Belfast where he earned degrees (with distinction) in Scholastic Philosophy (BA Hons), Political Theory and Social Criticism (MA) and Post-Structural thought (PhD). He's the author of numerous books, including Insurrection, The Idolatry of God,  and  The...

Bruce Herman is a contemporary artist, writer, and speaker. His art has been shown in more than 150 exhibitions — nationally in many US cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston — and internationally in England, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Canada, and Israel. Bruce taught at Gordon College for nearly four decades, and is the founding chair of the Art Department...

Dr. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt is Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Her research and writing consider representations of race and gender in 19th and 20th century art and visual culture, but she is most passionate about equipping laypeople to engage generatively with the images they already see.   In this episode, Dr. Weichbrodt and I discuss...

Father Christopher Foley  is the priest at Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Kernersville, NC where he has been serving for 17 years. Fr. Christopher is a convert to the Orthodox faith from an Evangelical background. While studying missiology and art history in college, he became interested in Eastern Orthodoxy and went on to receive a Master of Divinity degree at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theolo...

Brie Stoner is a bilingual indie rock musician and songwriter, creative thinker and podcaster. She co-hosted Richard Rohr’s “Another Name for Every Thing” podcast before launching her own podcast titled “Unknowing”, which explores the unexpected path of creative possibility with guest artists, authors, and activists. Brie studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary and served as program designer a...

Kevin "KB" Burgess is a Dove-Award winning rapper, speaker and podcaster with four full-length albums to his name. In this episode, KB talks to me about the importance of staying rooted in truth as an antidote to living the status quo. His book Dangerous Jesus much like his music, presents a disruptive, subversive, system threatening portrait of jesus that counters the Christianity of th...

This is Part 2 of our Roundtable discussion on Art & The Urge For Transcendence, featuring cultural theologian, author, and fellow podcaster Paul Anleitner (Deep Talks Podcast,) Chicago pastor, Ted Kim and singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan. Join the Creative Collective Listen to Paul’s Deep Talks Podcast Send us Fan Mail Support the show Sign Up for Our Newsletter! http://eepurl.com/g49Ks1...

This Roundtable discussion on Art & The Urge For Transcendence, features cultural theologian, author, and fellow podcaster Paul Anleitner (Deep Talks Podcast,) Chicago pastor, Ted Kim and singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan.   In this loose discussion, the conversation meanders its way to the subject of longing and survival and how these sometimes competing drives can lead us to the doorway o...

Wynn Everett is an American actor based in Atlanta Georgia. She has acted in films such as Justin Timberlake’s Palmer, HBO’s Doom Patrol, Marvel’s Agent Carter as well as familiar Television shows - Modern Family, The Walking Dead and will appear in the upcoming season of Sweet Magnolia’s. In this episode, Wynn and Stephen discuss the contrast between performing and transforming, discovering trans...

Aundi Kolber   is a licensed professional counselor and author of the critically acclaimed Try Softer . She specializes in trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. In this episode Stephen talks with Aundi about her latest book Strong Like Water and how we can move through pain into the expansiveness of our deeper yearnings for transcenden...

In this Season Opening Primer, Makers & Mystics host Stephen Roach sets the stage for the season’s conversations on Art & The Urge For Transcendence. You can download a transcript of this episode here Music provided by Some Were At Sea. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Sign Up for Our Newsletter! http://eepurl.com/g49Ks1 Connect with Makers & Mystics Website: https://makersandmystics....

The human heart is designed to be astonished. We carry within us, an innate yearning for wonder, for awe, for reverence.  This deep-rooted urge to reach beyond ourselves, to be immersed in that which is greater than our own limitation, greater than our own materiality is where the spiritual and the creative impulses overlap. What does it mean to carry within us, such deep longings for something be...

Jeri Jones Sparks is a Tamil Indian-Australian poet and writer living on Wangal Country. She is the winner of the third annual Bright Wings Poetry Contest hosted in partnership with Ekstasis Magazine. She works as the Outreach Pastor at St James Anglican Church in the Inner West of Sydney. In this bonus episode, Jeri shares her winning poem, January Born. Join The Makers & Mystics Creative Col...

Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish, polar explorer born February 15th 1874 and died on January 5th, 1922. Although Shackleton is arguably neither artist nor mystic, the key events of his life carry both a beautiful tale of artistic level devotion and deep mystical encounter. In this artist profile, host Stephen Roach details a mystical encounter that transpired in Shackleton's life during h...

Asthmatic Kitty recording artist John Ringhofer is the man behind Half-Handed Cloud. His music is a quirky combination of tape manipulation, electronic and folk soundscapes. He has collaborated with artists Sufjan Stevens, Daniel Smith of The Danielson Family and John Van Deusen. In this bonus episode, Stephen Roach talks with John about the creative process of his latest album, Flutterama. Join T...

When we think about restoration, we typically refer to restoring something that once was but no longer is. We mean bringing something back to its original condition that was either altered or strayed from the intended design. But restoration doesn’t necessarily mean going back to something that once was. We can ‘restore the future’ as well. In this season finale episode, Makers and Mystics host, S...

Patronage has long been a vital part of enabling artists to create their work.  I think of historical examples like  Lorenzo de’ Medici who funded artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo. I think of Peggy Guggenheim whose patronage gave us Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.  In this brief bonus episode, I share with you how you can help Makers & Mystics continue our work...

Arthur Aghajanian is a Christian contemplative, essayist, and educator. His work explores visual culture through a spiritual lens. His essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Ekstasis, Radix, Saint Austin Review, The Curator, and many others. He holds an M.F.A. from Otis College of Art and Design. In this episode, I talk with Arthur about his spiritual background, the nature o...

Juanita Campbell Rasmus is a speaker, writer, spiritual director, and contemplative teacher. She is the co-pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in downtown Houston which she founded with her husband, Rudy in 1992. In this episode, Juanita shares with me how a major depressive episode became the catalyst for personal renewal. Following our season ten theme of restoration for the heart of th...

This episode is Part 2 of the Re-Creation of Meaning Roundtable (The Fire Dragon Edition) featuring John Mark McMillan, Stephen Roach, Vesper Stamper and Brandon Willett. In this part of the discussion, we talk through: - self absorption vs. self awareness - the role of the audience in the artist's creative process. - meekness and confidence - Fire Dragons and Jackalopes - How the intimate re...

What does Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Beck, Nick Cave, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko have to do with singer/songwriter, John Mark McMillan , art-instigator, Stephen Roach , author/illustrator, Vesper Stamper & visual artist/designer, Brandon Willett ? You’ll find out in this Artist’s Round Table. My guests and I discuss the “Re-creation of Meaning” a...

Josh Nadeau is a print maker, writer and clothing designer living in Western Canada. His Instagram account, Sword and Pencil, features a library of images and musings about goodness, truth and beauty. His work, both in word and in image, aims to offer solutions to disenchantment and acts as an antidote to Christian culture’s rampant mediocrity. In this episode, Stephen talks with Josh about the ro...