That's What I Meant to Say

"On the field... From Madison, Wisconsin... The Madison Scouts!" Back in the 1980s and 90s, when those words were spoken through the PA system at the local drum corps competition, the crowd knew exactly what was going to happen. Precision. Discipline. Young males crossing the threshold into manhood in real time. And that sound... Hitting you as though you’re running into a brick wall at 70 miles a...

What if Christianity is not primarily a moral code, a private belief system, or a set of religious customs, but a way of seeing reality? In this episode, Dr. Zachary Porcu joins the podcast to discuss his book Journey to Reality: Sacramental Life in a Secular Age . The conversation begins with the origin of the book, which grew out of Zac’s work teaching theology to students who often knew the bas...

Composer Daniel Elder found himself at the center of intense public backlash after an Instagram post made during the unrest following George Floyd’s death. In this written interview, presented with AI-synthesized voices, Daniel gives his account of what happened, why he chose not to apologize, how institutions responded under pressure, and what the experience revealed about mob mentality, artistic...

What does it mean to ask about “the role of history”? Is history its own entity with agency of its own, or is there more to the story? In this episode, we reflect on how the past shapes the present through context, inheritance, memory, precedent, and constraint.

https://jamesdnewcomb.com/jeannie “The Orthodox mind, the mind of the Church, is the mind of Christ.” We welcome biblical scholar and author Dr. Jeannie Constantinou for a sweeping, heartfelt, and clarifying conversation on phronema —the ancient Christian mindset preserved in the Orthodox Church. I open the conversation by sharing my own journey of transitioning into Orthodoxy, reflecting on how W...

Honest speech requires the freedom to be wrong. In this episode, I reflect on students afraid to speak, a mob moment from my trumpet podcast days, and the difference between correction and public shaming. When decent people are afraid to speak, fools fill the silence. I’m James Newcomb, and that’s what I meant to say. Get full access to James D. Newcomb at jamesdnewcomb.substack.com/subscribe

I was recently asked by Deacon Stephen Wehr at my home parish (St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis) for a personal conversation about, well, me. Steve asked me about my upbringing, my military service, my musical endeavors, marriage, faith, and how I discovered and was drawn to Orthodox Christianity. This is not some tidy conversion story, but a life shaped by vocation, risk, patience,...

Why do people cling to beliefs even after they’ve been proven wrong? In this episode, we explore what happens in the mind when deeply held beliefs are challenged, why facts alone often fail to persuade, and how emotional investment shapes what we accept as true. Drawing on decades of psychological research, this conversation unpacks why corrections sometimes backfire, why empathy matters more than...

Why do intelligent, well-informed people so often talk past one another? Why do we cling to our beliefs, even when presented with overwhelming evidence that on the surface disproves them? In this episode, we explore a phenomenon known as “Confirmation Bias.” This is the tendency to favor information, even blatantly false, that supports what we already believe to be true. Drawing on research from H...

The American Founders are often remembered as champions of reason, restraint, and religious liberty. But beneath that story lies a less examined assumption: a deep certainty about which forms of belief were acceptable—and which were dangerous. In this episode, we revisit some of the important documents of that era, namely Federalist Nos. 10 and 51 and explore how fear of factions, combined with cu...

Most Americans assume the founders intended a rigid wall between church and state. In fact, many Christians even consider it a great blessing. Yet the historical record tells a more complicated and far more interesting story. In this episode, we examine how the Establishment Clause was originally understood, why the founders opposed state churches while wholesale embracing religion in public life,...

In this episode, we explore how the theology of the New England Puritans shaped a distinctive political imagination—one that continues to echo through American culture, governance, and foreign policy. Drawing on historian Perry Miller’s concept of an “errand into the wilderness,” the conversation reframes the Puritans not as caricatured zealots, but as idealists who believed they were participatin...

This episode presents a dialogue exploring how religious rhetoric functioned as a form of political power in colonial New England. The conversation examines how Puritan clergy used biblical typology to justify political authority, shape collective identity, and frame historical events as divine confirmation. It also highlights dissenting voices such as Robert Cushman and Roger Williams, whose chal...

I had a conversation with the founder of a pretty well-known American brass group yesterday. We were talking about a possible collaboration for an event here in Minnesota later this year. If anything comes of it, I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as there’s anything to report. But something this gentleman said to me stuck out from everything else we discussed. When he began his group in the 198...

We all know what has happened in Venezuela in the last 48 hours. What we’re not so sure about is what to make of it. There’s been no shortage of opinions from all corners of the globe re: the actions of the U.S. intervening in Venezuela. I will share my own in due time. But I want to share with you today two vastly different opinions on this matter. One is from an academic, the other from a true b...

Happy New Year! This is a time of reflection, and even a bit of optimism as we think about what has transpired the last year, and how we hope it can change for the better in the upcoming year. Follow my work at jamesdnewcomb.com. Get full access to James D. Newcomb at jamesdnewcomb.substack.com/subscribe

What makes music feel alive? Technical precision and flawless execution are essential, but they do not explain why certain performances linger long after the final note fades. In this solo episode, James Newcomb reflects on the difference between playing notes and creating meaning, exploring how lived experience, embodiment, discipline, and humility shape real musical expression. Drawing on decade...