No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

This is our unabridged interview with Mike Cosper.  How do you raise criticisms about a group of which you consider yourself to be a member?  Mike Cosper hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a podcast critiquing a lot of the tendencies of American Christianity. “ People are looking at Christianity and saying, is it true?” he says. “I think where I landed after my own negative experiences was ask...

 How do you raise criticisms about a group of which you consider yourself to be a member?  Mike Cosper hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a podcast critiquing a lot of the tendencies of American Christianity. “ People are looking at Christianity and saying, is it true?” he says. “I think where I landed after my own negative experiences was asking, is it good?”  In this episode, we cover some o...

This is our unabridged interview with Rainn Wilson. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica… and spirituality? In a time of cultural division and political polarization, what role can spirituality play in healing our fractured world? Rainn Wilson—best known as Dwight Schrute from The Office—isn't just a comedy icon. He’s also become an unlikely voice for spiritual reflection in Hollywood, where such co...

Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica… and spirituality? In a time of cultural division and political polarization, what role can spirituality play in healing our fractured world? Rainn Wilson—best known as Dwight Schrute from The Office—isn't just a comedy icon. He’s also become an unlikely voice for spiritual reflection in Hollywood, where such conversations are often taboo. In this candid and thou...

This is our unabridged interview with Marisa Franco.  How important is it to have friends?  Loneliness has reached epidemic levels in many countries, with research suggesting that it’s harder than ever for us to make and keep friends. And according to Marisa Franco, the issue isn’t trivial. “ Loneliness is as toxic for our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” she says. “We are fundamentally soc...

How important is it to have friends?  Loneliness has reached epidemic levels in many countries, with research suggesting that it’s harder than ever for us to make and keep friends. And according to Marisa Franco, the issue isn’t trivial. “ Loneliness is as toxic for our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” she says. “We are fundamentally social creatures… it's okay that you really want friends....

This is our unabridged interview with Drew Holcomb.  ”The scarcity of life is what gives it value,” says singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb. “If we all lived forever, there would be no sort of rush to love and rush to justice and rush to mercy and rush to know people.”  Drew’s new album, Memory Bank, co-created with his wife Ellie, is full of personal stories of love, resilience, mortality, and a stro...

”The scarcity of life is what gives it value,” says singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb. “If we all lived forever, there would be no sort of rush to love and rush to justice and rush to mercy and rush to know people.”  Drew’s new album, Memory Bank, co-created with his wife Ellie, is full of personal stories of love, resilience, mortality, and a strong but subtle social conscience. It was his father th...

This is our unabridged interview with Jacques Pépin.  “Food is the great equalizer.”  This is the mantra that has fueled the career of Jacques Pépin, who is respected as one of the finest chefs in the world. It has led him to cook for presidents and in world-class restaurants, and inspired him to write over thirty books.  In this episode, he explains the role food plays in a flourishing life, desc...

“Food is the great equalizer.”  This is the mantra that has fueled the career of Jacques Pépin, who is respected as one of the finest chefs in the world. It has led him to cook for presidents and in world-class restaurants, and inspired him to write over thirty books.  In this episode, he explains the role food plays in a flourishing life, describing how it breaks down barriers, builds community,...

This is our unabridged interview with Francis Collins.  Francis Collins has led some of the most significant scientific initiatives of our time, including the Human Genome Project and the National Institutes of Health under three U.S. presidents. In his new book, The Road to Wisdom, Collins grapples with the erosion of public trust in science, the polarization of society, and the challenge of disc...

Francis Collins has led some of the most significant scientific initiatives of our time, including the Human Genome Project and the National Institutes of Health under three U.S. presidents. In his new book, The Road to Wisdom, Collins grapples with the erosion of public trust in science, the polarization of society, and the challenge of discerning truth in the modern age.  In this conversation, C...

This is our unabridged interview with Nancy French.  Nancy French has spent her career helping others tell their stories. As a five-time New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, she has worked with prominent conservatives, celebrities, and political figures. But in her new memoir, Ghosted: An American Story, Nancy turns the pen on herself, recounting her own journey through faith, politics, and per...

Nancy French has spent her career helping others tell their stories. As a five-time New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, she has worked with prominent conservatives, celebrities, and political figures. But in her new memoir, Ghosted: An American Story, Nancy turns the pen on herself, recounting her own journey through faith, politics, and personal betrayal.  A lifelong conservative, Nancy never...

This is our unabridged interview with Mpho Tutu van Furth.  What does it mean to ask someone for forgiveness? The experience after Apartheid in South Africa has much to teach us.  “In English, you say, ‘I’m sorry, forgive me.’ It’s all about me”   Says Mpho Tutu van Furth, daughter to the late Desmond Tutu.  But in the South African language of Xhosa  “You say ndicela uxolo which means ‘I ask for...

What does it mean to ask someone for forgiveness? The experience after Apartheid in South Africa has much to teach us.  “In English, you say, ‘I’m sorry, forgive me.’ It’s all about me”   Says Mpho Tutu van Furth, the daughter to the late Desmond Tutu.  But in the South African language of Xhosa  “You say ndicela uxolo which means ‘I ask for peace’. And that’s a very different thing than ‘forgive...

This is our unabridged interview with Russ Taff.  “I was 24 when I won my first Grammy,” says Russ Taff. “And within an hour, all the joy is gone.”  Russ is a legend in Gospel music circles. His accolades include six Grammys, sixteen Doves, and three inductions into the GMA Hall of Fame for his work as a solo artist and a member of multiple bands. But underneath—his career, his success, and his pa...

“I was 24 when I won my first Grammy,” says Russ Taff. “And within an hour, all the joy is gone.”  Russ is a legend in Gospel music circles. His accolades include six Grammys, sixteen Doves, and three inductions into the GMA Hall of Fame for his work as a solo artist and a member of multiple bands. But underneath—his career, his success, and his past, almost broke him.  In this episode, Russ gets...

This is our unabridged interview with Alexandra Solomon.  Is your love life in need of a tune-up?  Just in time for Valentine's Day, renowned relationship expert Dr. Alexandra Solomon joins us to share powerful insights from her book, "Loving Bravely."  Discover how self-awareness and understanding your past can dramatically improve your present relationships.  Dr. Solomon unpacks the secrets to t...

Is your love life in need of a tune-up?  Just in time for Valentine's Day, renowned relationship expert Dr. Alexandra Solomon joins us to share powerful insights from her book, "Loving Bravely."  Discover how self-awareness and understanding your past can dramatically improve your present relationships.  Dr. Solomon unpacks the secrets to thriving intimacy, from mastering the art of apology to sta...

This is our unabridged interview with Shankar Vedantam.  We all like to believe that we live our lives rationally, deliberately, consciously. But what if our conscious decision making is just the tip of the iceberg?  “ I feel like I have a full picture of what's happening inside my own mind,” says Shankar Vedantam. But it turns out “there is a large portion of our mind that's working outside of ou...

We all like to believe that we live our lives rationally, deliberately, consciously. But what if our conscious decision making is just the tip of the iceberg?  “ I feel like I have a full picture of what's happening inside my own mind,” says Shankar Vedantam. But it turns out “there is a large portion of our mind that's working outside of our conscious awareness.”  Shankar founded Hidden Brain Med...

This is our unabridged interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber.  “When I left the Christian Fundamentalism of my childhood, I became an activist.”  Christian Fundamentalism is often looked down upon for its dualistic, black-and-white outlook, which is often used for policing behavior. But, Nadia Bolz-Weber explains, these are the same extreme tendencies that she found in secular activism after she left th...

“When I left the Christian Fundamentalism of my childhood, I became an activist.”  Christian Fundamentalism is often looked down upon for its dualistic, black-and-white outlook, which is often used for policing behavior. But, Nadia Bolz-Weber explains, these are the same extreme tendencies that she found in secular activism after she left the church.  Later in life, after working as a comedian and...

This is our unabridged interview with Esau McCaulley. What is it like growing up Black in the American South?  The question is too particular to answer with abstraction. Instead, Esau McCaulley answers it in the most personal, humble way available, by telling the story of his family in his new memoir, “How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American Sout...