Rewrite Radio

On this episode of  Rewrite Radio , Anne Bogel, Byron Borger, and Karen Swallow Prior join Jennifer Holberg to explore how reading shapes empathy, humility, and imagination. Drawing from bookselling, teaching, and curation, this lively conversation considers why stories matter in distracted, polarized times—and how reading in community can transform how we understand others. Theme music is Modern...

“Enneagram godmother” Suzanne Stabile joins poet and pastor Sam Gutierrez at the 2024 Festival of Faith & Writing for a wide-ranging conversation on wisdom, creativity, and compassion. Stabile reflects on writing, faith, and the Enneagram as a spiritual tool for deeper self-understanding, healthier relationships, and a kinder world.

In this episode of Rewrite Radio , journalist and author Jim Dahlman reflects on the perceived tension between faith and journalism. Drawing on stories from his reporting and writing, Dahlman explores objectivity, curiosity, and the moral responsibilities of storytelling—inviting listeners to see journalism as a practice that can honor truth, humility, and the sacred in everyday lives.

What is the source of power in fantasy literature? Listen along as author Matthew Dickerson investigates the magical universes of C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and J.R.R. Tolkien, discussing how each author portrays magic as power, with inevitably severe implications regarding good and evil. In an uncanny reflection of the state of modern humanity, Dickerson unveils how he finds and holds onto hope in...

Can AI create art? And is that the question we ought to be asking? On this episode of Rewrite Radio, author and filmmaker Laleh Khadivi urges listeners to remember, in an age of increasing artistic blurriness, the necessity of the individual human being’s creativity. She links the creative process to prayer and asks, if AI is already creating and praying, must the human still too? Theme music is M...

In this episode, Dr. Sabrina Lee sits down with acclaimed novelist Peter Ho Davies for a wide-ranging conversation about craft, identity, and the stories that shape us. Together they explore several of his books, diving into themes of shame, race, joke-telling, and what it means to write from the in-between spaces of a biracial identity. With characteristic insight and generosity, Davies reflects...

This week on Rewrite Radio, poet and essayist Christian Wiman explores what it means to stay spiritually alert in a world shadowed by loneliness and lit by sudden joy. Drawing on poems by Wallace Stevens, Anne Carson, and his own collections—including Zero at the Bone—Wiman reflects on beauty as a form of justice, on grief as grace, and on the mysterious ways poetry calls us to pay attention. Chri...

Situating herself in the contexts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Ukrainian diaspora, Sonya Bilocerkowycz presents the roles and responsibilities of the reader, writer and artist in wartime. Bilocerkowycz emphasises the power writers have in influencing memory and narrative through their work in such times, and calls for the writer not only to prepare, learn, and inform, but to also use art to...

Both mothers of disabled children, authors Amy Julia Becker and Hilary Yancey discuss their experiences raising kids while navigating questions of identity and community. Amy Julia Becker helps people reimagine the good life through her writing and speaking on disability, faith, and culture. She is the author of  To Be Made Well ,  White Picket Fences ,  Small Talk , and  A Good and Perfect Gift  ...

What's next in our fight for racial justice? Interviewed by Craig Mattson, author and scholar Jemar Tisby (@jemartisby) discusses his helpful framework for justice efforts—the lenses of awareness, relationship, and commitment. He tackles how to apply these concepts to our day-to-day life with examples, humor, and most of all authenticity. A devout Christian, Tisby offers a valuable perspective...

This week on Rewrite Radio , author and scholar Karen Swallow Prior reflects on the power of imagination—not just as an individual gift, but as a force that shapes communities, cultures, and faith traditions. With insight, humor, and historical perspective, she invites us to notice the stories and symbols we live by and to consider how reimagining them might open the way toward a different future....

What happens when old models of power no longer serve us? In this episode of Rewrite Radio , Rabbi Elan Babchuck draws from his book Picking Up the Pieces to explore “Mosaic leadership,” a vision rooted in humility, resilience, and community. Through stories of Moses, modern innovators, and even his own children, Babchuck invites us to move from pyramids of control to circles of belonging—and to i...

In Episode 70 of Rewrite Radio , acclaimed author M.T. Anderson explores the sacred and the strange through riveting tales of stolen religious artifacts—from Nepal to Cambodia to the tomb of Saint Nicholas. With wit and insight, he examines the power of objects, cultural identity, and why returning sacred art matters.   M. T. Anderson writes widely, for both children and adults, including the 2024...

On this episode of Rewrite Radio , Rachel Pieh Jones joins us to explore how writing cultivates the humility, curiosity, and delight necessary to create a sense of home when nowhere, or everywhere, feels like home.  Jones is a prolific author whose essays have appeared in publications such as 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, and 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯.  Jones has also published several books, including 𝘚...

In Episode #68 of Rewrite Radio , Rebecca Sheir shares how folktales entertain, inspire, and unite us in this noisy, high-tech world, and act as a bridge between cultures and communities.  Rebecca Sheir is the author of the Circle Round books, The Tale of the Unwelcome Guest, A Taste of Honey, The Lion’s Whisker, and The Great Ball Game, and the host, writer, and producer of the Circle Round story...

In Episode #67 of Rewrite Radio , Virginia Stem Owens muses on the difficulties, disappointments, and goodness of real communities. She encourages her audience to seek genuine “local habitations” over abstract “airy nothings.” This talk was recorded live at the 1994 Festival of Faith & Writing. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In Rewrite Radio Episode #66, Thomas Lynch discusses faith, poetry, and their transformative powers. He asks us to see others as pilgrims on various roads of belief—all searching after a common table. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In episode #65 of Rewrite Radio , Newbery Medal winner Clare Vanderpool shares how stories transform us and how to maintain our most honest selves. She also sings a few yodel-ay-hee’s from her book Moon Over Manifest . Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In episode #64 of Rewrite Radio , Jennifer Trafton teaches her listeners and students that play is at the heart of creativity. She draws on her experiences as a child and in the classroom to invite writers to play so that the idea brings something new to the world. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In episode #63 of Rewrite Radio , Sefi Atta and Diane Glancy offer their own thoughts on writing across the borders of religion, culture, language and more. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In episode #62 of Rewrite Radio , Jeff Zentner tells how he invited his characters to live inside his head for months in order to let them tell their own stories. He encourages listeners to write who fascinates them and that the story threads will follow. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.

In Rewrite Radio episode #61, Brady Udall offers his thoughts on teaching how to write a novel as opposed to short story or poetry. He distinguishes the long-lived popularity of novels in today’s society and reminds us that the novel’s endurance lies in its messy, magnificent sprawl. This episode was recorded live at the 2010 Festival of Faith & Writing.

In Rewrite Radio episode #60, Dr. Anbara Salam teaches us more about the human interest in cults, how they are represented, and how they reveal our deepest vulnerabilities and anxieties.

In episode #59 of Rewrite Radio , author and minister Gloria Pinkney retells stories of how God answered her prayers through a reoccurring bumper sticker, through a yellow tow truck outside the LaGuardia Airport, and through many other signs. Listen as she encourages others to take time for God and ask Him questions.

In episode #58 of Rewrite Radio , Mitali Perkins offers five truths about fiction. Listen as she thinks of stories as windows and mirrors that teach us to make things right. Theme music is Modern Attempt by TrackTribe and June 11 by Andrew Starr.