The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

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...

Send us Fan Mail On this last day of the year, Ken gets sentimental. It's a retrospective of 2022, the political events, the podcast episodes, books, and movies that shaped Ken for good. He starts with a review of stats for The Beached White Male Podcast and gives special thanks to his series co-hosts, Betsey Newenhuyse, Ken Fong, and Osahon Obazuaye. Ken Announces the Table Talk that begins...

Send us Fan Mail As 2022 comes to a close, Ken Fong and Ken Kemp review a powerful new podcast series produced by their mutual friend, Dr. Brad Onishi (Straight White American Jesus) called Charismatic Revival Fury . Written by Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies (ICJS), Dr. Matthew D. Taylor , the series reveals a little-known or understood movement that became a major influence i...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey close out 2022 and Season 3 with a celebration of the Christmas season. Snow begins to fall in Chicago as the two share their reflections and memories. Betsey calls it the onset of " snowpocalypse ." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to a full session of congress in a rare non-partisan display of support for a nation under seige. The two reflect on comm...

Send us Fan Mail In today's Beach Talk, Betsey reflects on her recent bout with the Covid virus. This week, President Joe Biden signed The Respect for Marriage Act . Betsey and Ken talk about their change in perspective on LGBTQ+ . For Betsey,  that changer of heart accelerated with her support of Secretary Pete Buttigieg , who appeared conspicuously at the signing. The legislation prompted K...

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 December is here! Ken and Betsey reconvene after a great Thanksgiving in anticipation of the Christmas season . After recounting turkey weekend, they dive right into politics and religion. Three appellate judges overturn Trump appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon's appointment of a Special Master. Kanye (Ye) and Nick Fuentes make headlines. The Supreme Court orders the release of t...

Send us Fan Mail Randall Balmer is a scholar, professor, author, documentarian (Emmy nominee), and Episcopalian Priest. Ken and Dr. Balmer talk about his new book, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right . They discuss notable players in the movement like Senator Mark Hatfield, Harold O.J. Brown, W.A. Criswell, Paul Weyrich, Ralph Reed, and Richard Land . In the right's celebratio...

Send us Fan Mail For Thanksgiving week, Ken and Betsey review the documentary, God Forbid , which is much more than an exposé on the Jerry Falwell, Jr . scandal. It's a commentary on the power of the religious right and Liberty University's alliance with Trumpism.  Their Beach Talk covers the mid-Term elections , and reviews Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to end her long and effect...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes his good friend of the podcast, Dr. Theon Hill . Just recently, Christianity Today published Dr. Hill's review of the recent full-length feature film that's getting high marks and a great review: Till (starring Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till and Jalyn Hall as Emmett). Just this fall, Dr. Hill hosted a conversation at Wheaton College featuring author David...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey and Ken review the intense emotional impact of election day on the nation and on themselves personally. Betsey has been invested in the process, volunteering, addressing envelopes, and participating in social media (see her on Twitter @newenhuyse ). "There is so much at stake" - Democracy is on the ballot. The morning after, both were relieved. Both Illinois ( Pri...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong and Ken Kemp reconvene for a morning after review of the mid-term elections. The predicted "Red Wave," touted by the former President and his political imitators, failed to materialize - more like a ripple. On his podcast, Asian America the Ken Fong Podcast , Fong interviewed  Christopher Huang , a professional photographer, and Hollywood blogger. Huang has writ...