No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

Drew Holcomb, whom the Rolling Stone recently called “one of Americana’s Most Popular Stars,” talks with Lee about his surprising road through academia to becoming a singer-songwriter; the tragic loss of his younger brother; and what it’s like to have courage and hope as a songwriter, artist, husband, and father in the midst of the current polarized cultural moment. PLUS! Live in-the-studio-perfor...

Bill Cavanaugh, professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University, discusses with Lee his recent provocative article entitled "Electing Republicans has not Reversed Roe vs. Wade. It's Time to Change Our Strategy." in which Bill shares some shocking realities which are being little discussed and appear to be little known about the abortion debates in America. In addition, Lee and Bill discuss Bill...

An interview with Megan Barry, former mayor of Nashville. Lee and Megan discuss the tragic subject of addiction and how it led to the accidental overdose and death of her son Max; what it has been like to find hope and healing in both the midst and aftermath of such a tragedy; what there may be to learn, both personally and communally, about the various stigmas and statistics currently surrounding...

An interview with Justin McBrayer, Professor of Philosophy at Fort Lewis College, Executive Director of the Society of Christian Philosophers, and the author of a new book entitled Beyond Fake News: Finding the Truth in a World of Misinformation. Lee and Justin discuss the current crisis of a world plagued with false information, made worse by new media and technology; some surprising ways in whic...

An interview with justice-seeker Lindsey Glenn Krinks on her experience as an advocate for the incarcerated, the sick, and the homeless; what it has been like to be a woman interested in the male-dominated field of theology; stories she has lived as a co-founder of Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit which seeks to disrupt cycles of poverty; and her new book, Praying with Our Feet: Pursuing Justice...

An interview with Alister McGrath, esteemed professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and one of the world’s leading Christian apologists. Lee and Alister discuss one of the great modern dichotomies of our day: the supposed mutually exclusive choice between science and faith; why the teachings and writings of Einstein played a significant role in undermining McGrath’s own form...

A special episode chronicling the capital punishment case of Pervis Payne, an inmate for over three decades on Tennessee’s death row; a similar story from former death row inmate Ndume Olatushani; and commentary from author and activist Shane Claiborne about the Christian church’s complex relationship with capital punishment. Plus musical performances by Buddy Greene, Sonya Isaacs, Vince Gill, and...

Each year since 2008 we've spent the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Nashville's Historic Ryman Auditorium for an evening centered on gratitude and hospitality. This special episode of the Tokens Podcast reflects on over a decade of Thanksgivings spent at the Mother Church of Country Music with some of our favorite performances. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about y...

Naomi Shihab Nye is the author and/or editor of more than 30 volumes, the Young People’s Poet Laureate, and as we used to say in Alabama, the winner of more awards than you can shake a stick at. In this sort of wisdom-of-the-ages interview, Naomi discusses kindness, the joy which accompanies sorrow, paying attention, and living life large.  She also shares two of her well-known poems:  “Kindness,”...

Diana Oestreich, a combat veteran of the Iraq war, had a “desert experience” precipitated by her sergeant’s orders in a 4.00 a.m. combat convoy safety briefing. We discuss that story and the unfolding of her remarkable experiences deployed to a combat  zone, the exercise of a new kind of courage, and her new book entitled Waging Peace: One Soldier's Story of Putting Love First See omnystudio.com/l...

An interview with Dr. Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University, on his book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. Jennings argues that the medieval European colonialist Christian vision imagined the entire globe in terms of a racist imagination; and that the continue to reap the consequences to this day; and th...

Stanley Hauerwas was once dubbed by Time Magazine with the moniker, “America’s Greatest Theologian.” This is ironic because he’s spent much of his life criticizing American Christianity. Join us for our evening with Stanley, a beloved, profane, beautifully grumpy theologian, as he shares about non-violence, the story of Billy Dick, and a brief commentary on Christians and Donald Trump. PLUS: Stanl...

Irish poet, peace-maker and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama joins Lee for a discussion on practices of peace-making, including peace with oneself. They both discuss the great significance of John 21 for their own lives. And Pádraig shares readings from his poems “The Facts of Life,” “The Pedagogy of Conflict,” and “Shaking Hands.” LINKS: Padraig Books: In the Shelter Sorry For Your Troubles Daily Praye...

Loretta Ross is a black feminist, a human rights activist, and an advocate for most things for the American political left. But in a recent New York Times opinion piece, she argues that American culture is sick with calling out, cancelling, and virtue signaling. Co-host Lauren White joins Lee Camp for a provocative conversation sure to be simultaneously celebrated and criticized by both right and...

Mark McMinn, Professor of Psychology discusses the presumed antagonism between Christianity and psychology; the recent new research findings which posit a much larger ground of overlap; The surprising consensus between new findings in psychology and traditional Christian virtue theory; one of the common denominators in cases of psychosis and depression; and Lee discusses some of his own experience...

Charlie Strobel is a sort of elder-statesman in Nashville, a Catholic priest, and founder of Room in the Inn. In a moving conversation with Charlie about some of his most important life moments, Lee and Charlie discuss loneliness and solitude; therapy and the opening of the self; receiving hospitality from the homeless as a boy; and the murder of Charlie’s mother. Charlie shares things regarding w...

Host Lee C. Camp in a recap of season one, wandering hither and yon through the archives: on the burning of the world; the apparent irrelevance of poetry, song, and story; the importance of shutting up and listening; on the refusal to practice “othering”; and the deep need for humility as a social virtue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Author and story practitioner travels to some of the globe’s most contentious socio-political locales. He’s convinced you cannot argue people into a new way of seeing the world, you can only story them into new ways of thinking. In this compelling episode, we hear some of the troubling and violent, yet nonetheless hopeful, stories he’s learned. And we reflect upon personal practices of peace-makin...

Grammy and Dove Award winner Ashley Cleveland holds back little, and discusses major life lessons: from her adolescent “bad habit of behaving badly” through the storm of subsequent consequences and recovery; plus a conversation about the south and race, a horrifying murder, and Anne Lamott’s wisdom about what we do, and do not, have time for.  Links: Master Course with Miroslav Volf See omnystudio...

No theology of grumpiness here: Miroslav Volf (Professor of Theology, and Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Yale University) sketches some initial direction for a Theology of Joy. Volf himself having suffered under a communist regime, and his father have imprisoned in a forced labor camp, he provides compelling possibilities for joy in some of the most difficult of circumstances. AND...

Ian Cron, host of the Typology podcast and author of The Road Back to You, discusses finding himself and helping others find themselves, through the gifts of both recovery and the Enneagram. Facing resentments, as well as one’s shadow side, turn out to be key practices in becoming more truly human. LINKS:  Ian’s Podcast, Typology Tokens Online Courses Tokens 2020 Subscriptions See omnystudio.com/l...

What do you get when a woman from north Alabama, raised conservative in most every way, goes to a private Christian college, earns her master’s degree in literature from another Christian college, and then earns a PhD in theology from Divinity School? A Christian feminist, of course. Get a crash course on feminism, and learn why and how Christianity made Lauren Smelser White a feminist.  LINKS: Jo...

Jewish Vanderbilt Divinity school Professor of New Testament AJ Levine, self-described as a Yankee Feminist, joins Tokens to talk about two of her books; but more, how she once wanted to be the pope, what she does not like about liberal Christians, and a marvelous telling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. LINKS: Amy-Jill's books: The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish...

Andrew Collins, a white, dirty cop, falsifies his testimony. A black innocent man, Jameel McGee, gets sentenced to ten years in the Federal Pen. This is the story of the unanticipated consequences of a false-arrest gone bad, and then gone bad again. LINKS: Convicted: An Innocent Man, the Cop Who Framed Him, and an Unlikely Journey of Forgiveness and Friendship Tokens 2020 Subscriptions See omnystu...

In the only instance of a papal address to a joint session of Congress, Pope Francis heralded Dorothy Day as one of four Americans worthy of great emulation. Host Lee C. Camp interviews Martin Doblmeier on his new film about Dorothy Day, along with his work on two other American theologians and activists Reinhold Niebuhr and Howard Thurman. EPISODE LINKS: Pope Francis Address Dorothy Day Film Howa...