The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail Professor, comedian, podcaster and now author, R. Scott Okamoto returns to the podcast to discuss his new book: Asian American Apostate - Losing my Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University (Ev. U.). After reading the volume cover to cover, Ken shares his written review which will appear on the Amazon site featuring Scott's book. Throughout Scott's college...

Send us Fan Mail If you missed the Coronation, you'll want to tune in here. Ken welcomes back author, historian, columnist, and lay minister in the Church of England, Martyn Whittock. It's a lively conversation between a curious American and a scholarly Brit. Ken acknowledges the appearance of excess, the residual of colonialism, and the confusion over the cozy Church/State dynamic. That...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey review her visit to Southern California, which included a visit to the high desert "Super Bloom" of poppies and spring color, an evening conversation around the topic "Reimagining the Church," and a tour of Ken Fong's beautiful Japanese garden. Joe Biden is an official candidate for the Democratic nomination for a second term as POTUS. Polls...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes the popular scholar, professor, author, and podcaster, Dr. Peter Enns . Pete's podcast, The Bible for Normal People ("the only God-ordained podcast on the internet") has a broad and wide reach, exploring the sacred text along with his co-host Jared Byas . They have interviewed a wide range of scholars from many religious and theological backgrounds. Ken...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes professor, fellow podcaster, and author Dr. Brad Onishi back to the podcast to talk about his new book - Preparing for War - The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next (release date: January 3, 2023) . A long-time friend of the podcast, Brad has been busy after a major event in Denver focussed on Christian Nationalism last month with a la...

Send us Fan Mail Podcasters Ken Fong and Ken Kemp come together again as The Two Kens to unpack the drama of an historical moment in American political history - a former President of the United States was indicted by a Grand Jury and arraigned on thirty-four felony counts . While the nation debates the merits of the case brought by District Attorney Alvin  Bragg before Judge Juan Merchan, the Two...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey's week in review - Wisconsin overwhelmingly elects Janet Protasiewicz as progressive Justice to the State Supreme Court and sends a message to a Republican-ruled Legislature. It's an indicator of public reaction to the draconian legislation advanced by extreme conservatism. In Betsey's Chicago, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot's successor, Brandon Joh...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes fellow sojourner and podcaster, Tim Whitaker . Tim is "Creator and Facilitator" of The New Evangelicals, a highly popular and widely followed non-profit that sponsors podcasts and commentary that appear regularly on YouTube, Instagram, and TikToc . His productions include everything from short spots to full-length interviews, In his conversation with Ken, Ti...

Send us Fan Mail Today's Beach Talk begins with a review of the 100th Episode aired last week with guests Darcy McKenzie and Ken Fong. Ken and Betsey turn their attention to the tragic shooting at the Covenant (Elementary) School in Nashville, Tennessee where three 9-year-old students and three adults, including the school's headmaster, were brutally murdered. The shooter was quickly tak...

Send us Fan Mail Lerone A. Martin, Ph. D . is Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute (MLKREI) and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University . A prolific author, lecturer and influencer, Dr. Martin discusses his most recent ground-breaking book, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of Christian Nationalism with...

Send us Fan Mail Rev.  Ben Cremer, Campus Pastor at Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise, Idaho, has a social presence that is getting a significant and growing response. Ken stumbled across his lengthy essay Ben called, "Myths We Believe" in which he details things he was taught to embrace, but he's had to unlearn. The article beautifully tracks Ken's journey, too. Ben was Home-s...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Kemp and Betsey Newenhuyse celebrate 100 Episodes of their regular podcast series "Beach Talk." The first Beach Talk aired August 26, 2020, began as an "experiment," but has run for over two years. It's been a near-weekly conversation around headline events from the Democratic Convention through the election, the insurrection, impeachments, mass shooti...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes the former guest of the podcast, Dr. Scott Chesebro.  Ken stumbled across an essay written by Scott that triggered a conversation around "First Voice Pedagogy" - a teaching philosophy that guided Scott's nearly four-decade career as the Director of the Chicago Center. The essay tells the story of Dr. Chesebro's appearance in a Florida courtroom to...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey and Ken are approaching a major milestone - 100 Beach Talks! In another wide-ranging discussion, they talk about California, hit by a serious snowstorm. Philip Yancey has made his difficult health news public. Ken and Betsey reflect on the impact of this prolific writer that editor and author Betsey Newenhuyse describes as the "Gold Standard" of Christian literatu...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes writer, speaker and personal coach, Jill Nagle. Jill listened to Ken's Podcast online and recognized their c ommon commitment to anti-racism. Jill's career focus has been "helping white people think about anti-racism." She recognizes that in this polarized world, relationships in the context of race and ethnicity are not getting better - they are g...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey are on the countdown for 100 episodes of Beach Talk. They reflect on the terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria . The State of the Union Address spurs commentary on the President's performance and many in the cast of characters that night - Kyrsten Sinema, George Santos, Mitt Romney, Marjorie Taylor Green, Kevin McCarthy and of course, Secretary Pete . Sarah H...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes journalist Anna Beahm.  While working as a full-time journalist for Reckon Media , Anna's specialty - reporting and researching - is sex education and purity culture in America. Her articles are receiving high reviews and a wide audience. Reckon Media is "an award-winning national news organization that covers the people powering change, the challenges shapi...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong and Ken Kemp join together for the first in the Two Kens series for 2023. Ken Fong recently returned from a wild photo journey, tracking down the Snowy White Owl way north in the Canadian Province of Quebec .  The mass shooting in Monterey Park , California, on the evening of the Lunar New Year celebration happened in Ken's former neighborhood where he served as a pa...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back Osahon Obazuaye to discuss the recent spate of mass shootings and the widely reported release of body-cam video of the altercation that led to the tragic death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at about 8:30 PM, January 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee. Ken solicits Osahon's perspective. He remembers that Osahon could not watch the deeply disturbing 8-minute video t...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey reconvene for another Beach Talk. Betsey quizzes Ken on his milestone birthday this past weekend. The two reflect on aging, keeping perspective, and the power of purpose. Ken remembers his former professors, Carl F. H. Henry, Clark Pinnock, and John R. W. Stott who represented a version of Evangelicalism that is unrecognizable today. The Atlantic Monthly posted an a...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back author and psychologist, Dr. Brian Rush McDonald to continue their conversation around his book A Long Surrender ... his memoir detailing his spiritual and academic journey in which he sheds a toxic version of fundamentalist religion and devotes his life and career to helping others through psychotherapy. They unpack the malady of religious trauma, relating their...

Send us Fan Mail It's Martin Luther King weekend. Ken and Betsey reminisce about the impact of Dr. King on the nation and on their personal lives. Turns out, Betsey is a football fan and names her pick for the  Super Bowl as they celebrate the victory of the Bills and Damar Hamlin's recovery. Classified documents are back in the headlines this week - an embarrassment to the current Presi...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back writer, former pastor, and educator, Rev. Nathaniel Manderson . As the year begins, Ken invites former guests who share a common perspective on politics and religion. Ken and Nate discuss his recent article, published last fall on Salon.com .  Entitled, "Theological pandemic: Why evangelicals embraced Jan. 6 and the Big Lie," they explore the question:...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Dr. Shandra McDonald , student success strategist, and fellow podcaster. The two met on a Civil Rights tour of the South in 2019. As she observes, Shandra's strategy took her from "clueless to Cum Laude." The two podcasters discuss the unique challenges facing students with academic ambitions - exploring Shandra's powerful personal story.  She&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey welcome the New Year - 2023 begins. Ken reviews Pasadena's Rose Parade on Monday, January 2 with Grand Marshall Gabby Gifford . They turn to the headlines that this week's drama on the floor of Congress - the vote to select a Speaker of the House . Republicans are in a deadlock conflict, displaying governmental dysfunction on a grand scale. To date, Kevin...