The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail When Ken's Substack article ( The Big Beautiful Wall ) appeared on Philip Yancey's popular blog ( Hole in the Wall) , among the many comments was a grieving father who shared the tragic loss of his 19-year-old-son to fentanyl poisoning. Ken reached out to Mark Bodnarczuk to hear more of a story that would underscore the tragic crisis facing our nation. Mark's academ...

Send us Fan Mail Today we re-air Ken's conversation with Tim Whitaker, creator of The New Evangelicals. Ken begins with some commentary on the new Rob Reiner documentary, God and Country. 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 comm...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back essayist, teacher, guidance counselor, and ordained minister Nathaniel Manderson from his home in Boston. Last Summer, Nate took thirty days to walk the 500 mile Camino do Santiago pilgrimage tradition says was taken by St. James, the Apostle. It's the same journey memorialized by the Emilio Estevez film starring his father, Martin Sheen called The Way . Nat...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey connect for another lively talk on their imaginary beach. Ken shares his encounter with the atmospheric river, which leads to the deluge of headlines over the 14th Amendment, our aging candidates for President, and the collapse of the bi-partisan border bill. The conversation was recorded before the Superbowl, but Betsey predicted a Chiefs victory and stellar perfor...

Send us Fan Mail Brenda Renderos and Lamont Hartman join Ken for a lively discussion around the illusive dream of reconciliation in our neighborhoods, politics, and churches. Lamont is the lead Pastor of Reconcile Church - a place for seekers, the disillusioned, and those who no longer relate to traditional places of worship. Brenda traveled with Ken on the Civil Rights Tour of the South and has w...

Send us Fan Mail The southern border crisis, Gaza, and untenable beliefs prompt Kemp and Fong to cut loose in a lively discussion. The podcast allows these two retired former pastors to share their genuine convictions without fearing losing their employment. Kemp shares his experience at the opening in the "Big Beautiful Wall," near the small town of Jacumba featured in this week's...

Send us Fan Mail As the nation debates the border crisis, Ken reads his Substack post - The Big Beautiful Wall. Philip Yancey picked it up and with Ken's permission and a few edits posted it on his popular blog. It elicited many comments. As the congress heats up and the border gets clogged, Ken makes a strong appeal for an authentic partisanship that leads to solutions, without the vitriol....

Send us Fan Mail For a second time, Ken welcomes Rev. Ben Cremer to the podcast for Season 5. Ken starts by thanking Ben for that first interview, "Myths We Believe," which is far and away the most downloaded podcast of Ken's more than 300 episodes (exceeding the former first-place interview with Kristin Kobes Du Mez). Ben is a prolific author, just finishing up the manuscript of hi...

Send us Fan Mail On New Year's Day, Ken opened his email to find a long letter of gratitude for the podcast. It came from a person he'd never met. An emerging leader and Bible teacher, her world was shaken when many of the women in her organization's Bible study group and church became Trump supporters. Kristyn shares her faith journey from her early years raised by a single mother....

Send us Fan Mail Leah Rothstein, author and activist, discusses her book Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law . Her father, Richard Rothstein, wrote the award-winning New York Times Bestseller The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (2018)which Bill Gates named as one of his "Amazing Books" of the year. Rothstein...

Send us Fan Mail It's a New Year - Betsey's resolution opens up a lively conversation around the heavy consequences of this political season. They share a beautiful letter from a new listener about the meaning of the podcast in her life - recognizing that many of us need supportive friendships as our country slips deeper into divisiveness and conflict. Joe Biden's campaign is coming...

Send us Fan Mail We launch the new year with Osahon Obazuaye - the presidential election year looms large. Osahon shares his return to pastoral ministry - this time in a church populated by a significant percentage of immigrants. Ken and Osahon discuss a book explored by Tim Alberta in his bestselling book, The Kingdom the Power and the Glory. Brian Zahnd raises a key question - how does the bibli...

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 As Ken closes out Season 4 and welcomes in the New Year and the new Season, he shares the top podcasts for the year. He also identifies and reviews the top seven books from the year's reading. To conclude, he reads his Substack essay, Universalism. The Top Five Podcast Downloads for 2023 - S4E15 Rev. Ben Cremer : Myths We Believe - Mar 17, 2023  S4E3 Rev. Nate Manderson - J6...

Send us Fan Mail Christmas is here. Ken and Betsey banter over the challenge of finding just the right gift. Ken shares his plans to visit a remote camp where migrants found a gap in the Big Beautiful Wall (designed to KEEP THEM OUT) that separates the U.S. from Mexico. Kate Cox , the pregnant woman forced to file a lawsuit to get the health care she needs in a state that has some of the most seve...

Send us Fan Mail The two Kens celebrate the news that Ken F has rediscovered his high school sweetheart. On a recent episode of Asian America the Ken Fong Podcast , Fong shared his budding affection for Doreen with his audience. Kemp shares in the celebration and happiness as Ken and Doreen begin their sweet courtship.  As we approach the holiday season, Fong asks Kemp to read his most recent Subs...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes author, pastor, professor, and advocate Dr. Troy Jackson to talk about his new book Living Undivided : Loving Courageously for Racial Healing and Justice (To be released January 2024).  Along with Co-Author  Chuck Mingo , Dr. Jackson tells the story of an initiative designed to "bring people together to learn from each other with honesty, integrity, and vulnerabi...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes blogger, musician, and author Jamin Coller. In his soon-to-be-released book, Dear Evangelical, Letters From A Reluctant Deconstructionist , Jamin leaves no stone unturned. Raised in a fundamentalist church pastored by his father, Jamin was in church his entire life. It was naturally expected that he become a career pastor and worship leader. Plagued by private doubts...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey loved the two episodes with David Dark - and the heart of an activist. Betsey comments on the embarrassing confession that both Dr. Dark and Ken went through a Rush Limbaugh phase. The two of them made an exception and tuned into Fox News (which generally is off-limits) to take in some of the "debate" between Ron DeSantis (Florida) and Gavin Newsom (California). T...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back professor, author, and activist Dr. David Dark to discuss his new book, We Become What We Normalize . David shares the recent tragedy on Belmont University's campus in the shooting of the popular freshman, accomplished musician  Jillian Ludwig  . He tells us about the impact of this horrible incident on his students. The entire nation took note - raising the...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Judy Peterson, also known as "The Walking Pastor." In 2019, Judy's eleven-year tenure as Campus Pastor at a highly respected Christian university (North Park U. in Chicago) came to an unwelcome end. She was terminated because she officiated a same-sex wedding. Earlier in her working career, while she tended bar in a popular tavern, she had a powerful sp...

Send us Fan Mail Next week, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Ken and Betsey share what they are grateful for, including over one hundred Beach Talks. They return to their conversation around the Israeli/Palestinian War - noting the speech by Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on the floor of the Senate. The Jewish politician captures the tension between the rights of Israel to engage terrorism and the plight of...

Send us Fan Mail Today Ken reads an essay he posted on his new Substack Account. "OK. So I’m admitting it right from the top. I loved this movie. It’s got the same title as this post, but it’s not Ken - it’s Margaret. Based on the beloved 1970s novel by Judy Blume, well, the film got me. I’ve watched it twice. Maybe I’ll watch it again. Maybe you’ve read the book.  I know, I know. I’m a sappy...

Send us Fan Mail Ethicist, author and professor, Dr. David Gushee returns to the podcast to talk about his new book: Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies.  They begin talking about what many have called "the Nones," but Gushee calls Conscientious Objectors like Tim Whitaker and Pete Briscoe. (Ken includes himself.) Many of those "Nones" - those who claim to have no re...

Send us Fan Mail Join Ken and Betsey in a review of current headlines. Betsey begins with a review of  Ken's compelling conversation with David Dark. Congress finally has a Speaker of the House. Fears that Jim Jordan might get the gavel left them relieved when Jordan was defeated after grueling three votes. But the new Republican Speaker of the House, a relative unknown up until now, may appe...