No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

Our guest today says that for 50% of our lives, we are not paying attention to what we’re doing. In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us are coming to terms with the fact that our capacity for paying attention is laughably weak. Our work, mental health, and relationships suffer because of it. But what if there was a tried-and-true way to change this, something like “push-ups for...

This is our unabridged interview with Rabbi Shai Held. “I think part of what it means to live in an honest way with a religious tradition is to live with its ragged edges.” It’s not unusual to assume that one of religion's prime functions is to give us answers. But what if some of life’s hardest questions weren’t meant to be answered, but rather perpetually asked? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held,...

“I think part of what it means to live in an honest way with a religious tradition is to live with its ragged edges.” It’s not unusual to assume that one of religion's prime functions is to give us answers. But what if some of life’s hardest questions weren’t meant to be answered, but rather perpetually asked? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held, author of the book, "Judaism is About Love: Recovering...

This is our unabridged interview with Pete Enns and Jared Byas. “It was our curiosity about the Bible that is now leading to conclusions that are no longer welcome in these institutions.”Pete Enns and Jared Byas host The Bible for Normal People, a podcast which is loved by some, lambasted by others. They started it as a way to have honest conversations about the Bible, for folks both religious and...

“It was our curiosity about the Bible that is now leading to conclusions that are no longer welcome in these institutions.”Pete Enns and Jared Byas host The Bible for Normal People, a podcast which is loved by some, lambasted by others. They started it as a way to have honest conversations about the Bible, for folks both religious and non-religious -- conversations that cost them both previous job...

This is our unabridged interview with Stanley Hauerwas (Part II). “This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal op...

This is our unabridged interview with Stanley Hauerwas (Part I). “This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal opp...

“This is my life. I want no other.” Time Magazine has recognized Stanley Hauerwas as the best theologian in America. But you don’t get that title by making everybody happy. Stanley's enigmatic personality is loved by some, lambasted by others. His dogged pacifism is laced with profanity. He’s a stereotypical Texan, but is a vocal opponent of gun ownership. Many think him to be a liberal, but he di...

This is our unabridged interview with Jeffrey Rosen. “In many ways, we're living in the founders’ nightmare,” says Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center. “All of the founders thought that we could not govern ourselves as a democracy unless we first achieved self-government as individuals.” For Independence Day, Rosen shares how the "pursuit of happiness" mentioned in the Dec...

“In many ways, we're living in the founders’ nightmare,” says Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center. “All of the founders thought that we could not govern ourselves as a democracy unless we first achieved self-government as individuals.” For Independence Day, Rosen shares how the "pursuit of happiness" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is defined differently than...

This is our unabridged interview with Emi Nietfeld. “When I was 13, I went to the psych ward for the first time,” recalls Emi Nietfeld. After a childhood spent in manipulative therapy, institutional facilities, foster care, and even times of homelessness, Emi got into Harvard, and then went on to get a great job at Google. This is the classic American rags-to-riches story, of someone overcoming mi...

“When I was 13, I went to the psych ward for the first time,” recalls Emi Nietfeld. After a childhood spent in manipulative therapy, institutional facilities, foster care, and even times of homelessness, Emi got into Harvard, and then went on to get a great job at Google. This is the classic American rags-to-riches story, of someone overcoming misery to find success and happiness, right? Not exact...

This is our unabridged interview with Charles Duhigg. How do you form a good habit? How do you change a destructive one? “It's up to us to decide which…habits that we wish to embrace,” says Charles Duhigg, author of the longtime bestseller "The Power of Habit." In this episode, he explains how to tackle new and old habits in an empowering way.  Plus, Duhigg discusses his new book "Supercommunicato...

How do you form a good habit? How do you change a destructive one? “It's up to us to decide which…habits that we wish to embrace,” says Charles Duhigg, author of the longtime bestseller "The Power of Habit." In this episode, he explains how to tackle new and old habits in an empowering way.  Plus, Duhigg discusses his new book "Supercommunicators," in which he shares how to understand the type of...

“​​We started the public desegregation of the nation,” says Reverend James Lawson, “and we did it without hating anybody.” In this episode, the man who Martin Luther King Jr. called friend, mentor, and the very conscience and architect of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend James Lawson, discusses the United States’ past and present, and what it took to organize a whole population across the count...

Juneteenth celebrates the day that the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was given in Texas, officially making slavery illegal in the U.S. But what factors led to the worldview that condoned slavery in the first place, and how might those factors still be affecting the country today? Martin Luther King Jr.’s attorney Fred Gray discusses his work against segregation in the South, p...

What has the power to change our minds about the world? In John Blake’s case, it was a surprise encounter. “I knew I had a white mother,” says award-winning journalist John Blake. “Her name is Shirley, and her family hates black people… that's all I knew.” At age 17, John Blake’s father casually asked him if he’d like to meet his mother for the first time. Three days later, he found himself in the...

John Blake’s father was Black. The mother he never knew was white. The two met in Baltimore in the 60’s when interracial marriage was illegal. “I knew I had a white mother,” says the award-winning journalist. “Her name is Shirley, and her family hates black people… that's all I knew.”  At age 17, John Blake’s father casually asked him if he’d like to meet his mother for the first time. Three days...

This is our unabridged interview with Naomi Shihab Nye. What do scientists and poets both agree on? On this show, we often host guests whose work is in scientific or concrete fields, such as psychology or sociology, which rely on experiments and research to come to helpful conclusions. But such conversations sometimes fall short of the wonder and beauty we experience in everyday life, and for such...

What do scientists and poets both agree on? On this show, we often host guests whose work is in scientific or concrete fields, such as psychology or sociology, which rely on experiments and research to come to helpful conclusions. But such conversations sometimes fall short of the wonder and beauty we experience in everyday life, and for such subjects, we turn to the poets. In this episode, award-...

This is our unabridged interview with Kristin Neff. Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance? “The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice. Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at...

Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance? “The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice. Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s also a pro...

This is our unabridged episode with Amy-Jill Levine. What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of...

What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of t...

This is our unabridged interview with Angela Williams Gorrell. What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering? In this episode, author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale whe...