The Antioch Podcast

In today’s episode, we are going to talk about some of the academic ideas related to Biblical Antiracism. Critical Race Theory – or CRT – may be something you have heard discussed in recent years in Christian circles. Marxism and Socialism have been terms repeatedly used and weaponized in political discourse in the United States. … Continue reading Episode 115: Christianity &#038...

Social scientists tell us that multiracial churches are growing in number from 6% in 1998 to 16% in 2019. These same social scientists are telling us that these same churches may not be promoting the flourishing of Black people and other people of color. Jemar Tisby, president of the Witness: a Black Christian collective, podcaster, … Continue reading Episode 114: “Why Multiethnic Chur...

Songs: O Come All Ye Faithful Silent Night Angels We Have Heard on High O Little Town of Bethlehem Sweet Little Jesus Boy Come Thou Long Expected Jesus Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming Hark the Herald Angels Sing Jesus the Light of the World Go Tell It On the Mountain Joy to the World … Continue reading Episode 113: Eric Nykamp – “Christmas Songs for Quarantine.”

Michelle Loyd-Paige is the most senior contributor to the Antioch Podcast in our group. She is a woman with a lot of life experience and a LOT of titles she has racked up: preacher, professor, doctor, and most recently Executive Associate to the President for Diversity & Inclusion at Calvin University. She also is a … Continue reading Episode 112: Michelle Loyd-Paige – “My S...

Where we are recording in Michigan, the leaves have now blown off the trees, there is no sunlight by the time we eat dinner, winds are picking up and the temperature is dropping. We are in a time of transition. Winter is coming. The election is behind us (mostly) and we await a new administration. … Continue reading Episode 111: “Antiracist Inspiration.”

We caught Professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez at her home on a Friday afternoon after a week of teaching American History at Calvin University. It also happened to be the week of the 2020 election, and at the time we recorded, no presidential winner had been formally declared. Her past month had been a blur … Continue reading Episode 110: Kristin Kobes Du Mez – “Jesus and John Wayne.&...

On October 28th 2020, USA Today ran an article stating that 70% of U.S. adults say that the presidential election is a significant source of stress, according to the American Psychological Association’s Stress in America Survey. This is up dramatically compared to stress rates during the 2016 election which clocked in at 52%. In an … Continue reading Episode 109: The Antioch Team – &#8...

This is a special episode of the Antioch Podcast where we stepping away from our regular conversational format to hear from two of our regular team members. Up first, we will hear a chapel presentation given by Dr. Michelle Loyd Paige for Calvin Univerity’s Unlearn week. Unlearn is a yearlong program that kicks off with … Continue reading Episode 108: Michelle Loyd-Paige & Susie Dixon &...

In antiracism conversations, there sometimes is a tendency for these conversations to focus primarily on the differences between black and white people. There are a lot of reasons for this, but often this black-white binary overlooks those representing “middle voices” in antiracism conversations. While the popular term “People of Color” lumps all non-white people into … Continue reading Epis...

We are in the final days before a deeply divisive election.  Tempers are high, and it seems as though every few days something alarming makes the news.  The day before we recorded this episode, an armed militia was arrested in our city and across our state for plotting to kidnap our governor, take her to … Continue reading Episode 106: “LIVE” at Unlearn 365 – “Antirac...

In this series, we have been looking at things that white people and people of color can do to “fix” racism, so to speak. In this last episode of the “I Can Fix It” series, we will address the last suggestion for white people, a suggestion called “take action.” By this point in the journey, … Continue reading Episode 105: The “I Can Fix It” Series – “White People: Tak...

Some weeks are harder than others to do antiracism work, and this was one of those weeks. To give you a sense of the setting, we recorded this conversation just days after the verdict on the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Breonna grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where several of us are from, so her … Continue reading Episode 104: “After the Breonna Taylor Verdict”

In this series, we have been looking at a document called “I CAN FIX IT”, compiled by artist and author Damali Ayo of things that white people and people of color can do to “fix” racism, so to speak. This week, we pick up the balance of last week’s conversation where we began discussing how … Continue reading Episode 103: The “I Can Fix It” Series – People of Color: Take Ca...

In this series, we have been looking at things that white people and people of color can do to “fix” racism, so to speak. This week, we return to Damali Ayo’s piece “I Can Fix It” to explore the last suggestion for people of color, a suggestion Damali calls “Take Care.” Racism, and combatting it, … Continue reading Episode 102: The “I Can Fix It” Series – “People of C...

This week we return to our “I Can Fix It” series, a series that looks at concrete things that white people and people of color can do to “fix” racism so to speak. We pick up where we left off in Episode 99, on step 4 of the 5 steps white people can do to … Continue reading Episode 101: The “I Can Fix It” Series – “White People: Broaden Your Experience.”

This is episode 100 of the Antioch Podcast. This week we take a pause from our “I Can Fix It” series to reflect as a team (minus Josh, who was handing a last-minute emergency) on what makes our cross racial conversations about Biblical Antiracism possible. Many times after we stop recording, our team sticks around … Continue reading Episode 100: The Antioch Podcast Team – “What M...

This week the Antioch Podcast team returned to our discussion of artist and author damali ayo’s piece “I Can Fix It” – and ended up spending the hour talking about the ramifications of one sentence in the document, a sentence written to white people about something they can do to “fix” racism, which reads as … Continue reading Episode 99: “I Can Fix It” Series – &#822...

This week the Antioch Podcast team returns to our discussion of artist and author damali ayo’s piece “I Can Fix It” – a distillation of the opinions of 2000 people she polled to get ideas about how to address individual acts of racism. This week, we talk about how people of color need to “build … Continue reading Episode 98: “I Can Fix It” Series – “People of Co...

This is the 5th episode in our series entitled “I Can Fix It” in which the Antioch Podcast team discusses the “Now Art” piece by artist and author damali ayo. Damali Ayo polled 2000 people for their ideas about how to fix racism, and curated their responses into her written piece “I Can Fix It.” … Continue reading Episode 97: “I Can Fix It” Series – Everybody: Educate Yours...

In the past few episodes of the podcast, we have used the expression “Yeah… but” as a shorthand way to express the way white people often interrupt people of color’s narratives to explain racism to discount or question the accuracy of the information they are saying. These “yeah… but” interruptions get in the way of … Continue reading Episode 95: Pastor Joy Bonnema – “Yeah…...

This is the third episode in our series entitled “I Can Fix It” in which the Antioch Podcast team discusses the “Now Art” piece by artist and author damali ayo. Damali Ayo polled 2000 people for their ideas about how to end individual racism, and curated their responses into her written piece “I Can Fix … Continue reading Episode 94: “I Can Fix It” Series – “White Peo...

This is the second episode of our “I Can Fix It” series based on the document by the same name by author and artist Damali Ayo. Damali polled 2000 people for their thoughts on how to end individual racism for this piece. She curated their responses into this list of five things individual people can … Continue reading Episode 93: “I Can Fix It” Series – “People of Col...

We are in a time of transition. Demonstrations against racism in policing are decreasing around the country, and while the attention-grabbing headlines of racial unrest are diminishing, many white people are beginning to ask the deeper questions about how to fix America’s problems with racial injustice. Dr. Michelle Loyd-Paige brought a great document to the … Continue reading Episode 92: &#...

There is a lot going on right now. For weeks the United States has been making news for the racial disparities and unrest in this country. For those whose jobs or passions lead them to antiracism advocacy, as demonstrations wind down, the longer, less attention-grabbing work of antiracism education, negotiation, and policy-making has taken on … Continue reading Episode 91: “Self Care i...

For those of you new to the podcast, our multiethnic team is comprised of Dr. Michelle Loyd Paige, Pastor Reggie Smith, PhD, Susie Dixon, MDiv, Libby Huizenga MDiv, and myself. All of us are active in antiracism initiatives at various Christian institutions in and around the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. We gather at the … Continue reading Episode 90: the Antioch Team – “Truth...