The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail Ken shares thoughts from the memorial for a good friend lost to Covid. He reminisces about a return to the church where he served as college pastor in the late seventies and early nineties. Carla identifies more complications relating to the Supreme Court's review of Roe v. Wade . Secretary Pete and V.P. Kamala Harris are getting noticed as potential presidential candidates. ...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes long-time listener, Darcy McKenzie . She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, not far from George Floyd Square , where Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on his victim's neck resulting in a death viewed by millions around the world. Darcy shares her experience, which includes a Prayer Tent on the site of the square providing space for people to come together from all wal...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes you to the podcast. It replaces the original welcome - so much has changed in over eighteen months and one-hundred-fifty episodes. He shares the saga of the podcast's beginnings just as Covid isolated us in our homes, bringing "normal life" to a sudden halt. It's been a steep learning curve for Ken, addressing issues of race, politics, and religion...

Send us Fan Mail On this Thanksgiving week, and on the occasion of the release of WHOLEHEARTED FAITH , we re-release Ken's conversation with Peter Held. When Rachel died in May of 2019, she left behind a nearly finished manuscript. This month, with Jeff Chu's able assistance, that book has been released. On this podcast,  Ken has the honor of a long talk with Professor Peter Held , Rache...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Carla reconvene for their weekly Beach Talk. Thanksgiving is coming. Carla shares her perspective on the signing ceremony at the White House making the bi-partisan Infrastructure legislation the law of the land. Along with some 800 mayors, governors and legislators standing close to the President is Secretary of Transportation , Pete Buttigieg . On Carla's recommendat...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes theologian, professor, former pastor, Bible teacher, and Co-Founder of THE PUBLIC , an organization that promotes anti-racism through education, advocacy, and action. It's purpose: so that their community will experience healing, equity, and justice for all its residents. A fellow graduate of the Moody Bible Institute , the two talk about backlash throughout hist...

Send us Fan Mail From their beach chairs, Ken and Carla raise a glass as the Infrastructure is passed . They talk about how the "sausage got made." It's a long-awaited win for President Joe Biden , and a huge responsibility for Secretary Pete to show what he can do. Adam Kinzinger becomes more and more effective as an influential Republican. They reflect on the two big trials in the...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong and Ken Kemp review Fong's powerful conversation with Dr. Russell Jeung , named one of the Top 100 Global Influencers by TIME Magazine. Dr. Jeung is co-founder of Stop AAPI-HATE (Asian American hate). Conservative author, Jennifer Rubin's Washington Post article suggests that Evangelicals can never get what they really want. The recent Virginia election (Republi...

Send us Fan Mail This week's Beach Talk start with a visit to an Alpaca Farm ,  and then Gus Buttigieg in the hospital in his Halloween outfit with his two dads. After last week's prediction of victory for Democrats, the two move into post-mortem mode, unpacking the election results. In Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin had the advantage, Democrat Terry McCauliff took a beating. They t...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes author, activist and pastor Nathaniel Manderson . After reading Nate's article on Salon.com (" Evangelical Theology Is What Made the Texas Abortion Outrage Possible "), Ken reached out to learn more. Nate agreed to a podcast interview. We learn that Nate, an ordained Baptist minister , is, like Ken, a seminary graduate (M. Div., Gordon-Conwell Theologic...

Send us Fan Mail Carla is on a roll after listening to a conversation between Joe Scarborough and Lawrence O'Donnell who inspire her to action.  She's been engaged in working the Virginia gubernatorial election ,  where Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin complains that Toni Morrison's Beloved was read by a high school senior who objected - she claimed - because he was traumatized...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Greer, Licensed Clinical Social Worker , joins Ken for a conversation about redemption, recovery and living well . Ken and Chris's friendship began over a decade ago in a small town in California's Central Valley where Ken was interim pastor in a local church. About 5 years after Chris suffered a serious auto accident at age eighteen. Chris shared the harrowing sto...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes author, spiritual director, activist, and preaching minister at the University Church of Christ (Pepperdine),  Eric Wilson . The two met at a spiritual retreat for the facilitators of the Center for Racial Reconciliation where Eric led a day of refreshment and restoration around the theme of Brush Arbor . "It's soul work," Eric says. The two take us bac...

Send us Fan Mail The 2 Ken's pick up where they left off. In the last 2 KENS podcast editions, Ken Fong and Ken Kemp discussed the first four editions of Mike Flanagan's Netflix drama, Midnight Madness .  They both went back to Netflix and took in the remaining three episodes. SPOILER ALRT : We cover the entire series, all seven episodes. They talk about characters and scenes and relate...

Send us Fan Mail Carla attended the World Premier of the Jesse Moss documentary "Mayor Pete." It features the presidential campaign of Pete Buttigieg . Carla shares her impressions and the electric Ford Mustang presented to the Secretary as a gift to the government. (For Release on Prime Video in November.) Collin Powell , the powerful military and political figure lost his life to compl...

Send us Fan Mail The Two Kens - Asian America the Ken Fong Podcast and The Beached White Male (Ken Kemp) - review an interview by Ken Fong with Claire Chao and her breakout memoir/novel, Remembering Shanghai . It's a living, breathing model of the cost-benefit of "deconstruct." Their conversations turns to a reflection on the popular new Netflix series, Midnight Mass . The character...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Carla have been watching baseball . They have different loyalties - but a love for the game. It's a welcome diversion from the acrimony of the political scene. Mark Galli has created a stir rebuking outspoken evangelicals like Russell Moore and David French who are attempting to counter the assumption that evangelicals are synonymous with the religious right. Russell...

Send us Fan Mail Carla welcomes Ken home from his 3,600-mile road trip. They talk about the beauty and wonder still out there in America - the California Coast , the white-capped volcano-shaped peaks of the Pacific Northwest , the deep green forests, and wide desert plains. Then the fall colors - aspen trees in glittering gold and brown and red against a deep blue Utah sky . California's oil...

Send us Fan Mail Osahon Obasuaye is a pastor, a podcaster, and a deep thinker. He's been a businessman and now a dad. He's the son of a college professor in political science and that gives him unusual insight into the current political climate. Osahon has been a co-host with Ken on two Table Talks with the Center for Racial Reconciliation . In this podcast, Osahon shares his concern abo...

Send us Fan Mail SPECIAL EDITION - Ken checks in with Carla from his road trip - 3,500 miles in all - up the West Coast through San Francisco up to the Pacific Northwest and around to Utah's scenic highways . Carla bids an emotional and difficult farewell to her beloved pet, Gracie . Ken shares his experience with Barnabas, his Golden Retriever . Carla catches Ken up on the political scene. A...

Send us Fan Mail Philip Yancey's courageous and penetrating new book, his memoir - Where the Light Fell - will be released on October 5. There's a big audience for Philip's story. There are over 100 million claim to have experienced Christian fundamentalism and 25 million more identify as " exvangelicals ." Brother Marshall , a musical prodigy, had perfect pitch. Philip&ap...

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 In the 50th Edition of Beach Talk , Ken and Carla talk about the California RECALL - they record just before the results ate in. Gavin Newsome's challenge from Larry Elder , a "Trump Clone" has California in the national news. Ken pays tribute to his friend Jim Adkins . They review their memories of the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico : Tommy Smith and John Carlos fore...

Send us Fan Mail Ken introduces his long-time friend, Dr. Scott McClelland . They talk about awakenings. Scott is a New Testament scholar who has been a professor, a pastor a dean, and now director of the Doctor of Divinity program at South University . After graduating from Wheaton College , Scott was accepted at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland where he pursued and completed his doctoral...

Send us Fan Mail SPECIAL EDITION - Just a few days ago, my cherished friend, Jim Adkins , after a courageous and hard-fought battle against Covid, left us for the home he lived for to be with the God he loved and the Lord he served so faithfully. This is a trimmed version of Episode 27 recorded in August of 2021, edited so that you can hear him tell his story in his own words. - Ken Kemp, Septembe...