The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong and Betsey Newenhuyse join Ken Kemp for a special edition - The Two Kens and Beach Talk. Betsey made her third annual trip to California and the studios of the Beached White Male podcast. The three friends join together to interact over their weekend and a conversation is triggered by an unlikely Atlantic article (April 3, 2024, Issue) they all read - The True Cost of The...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Peter Enns returns to the podcast to discuss his new book Curve-ball - When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming* or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God. Pete admits it's the longest title in the history of publishing. The popular professor, author (see show notes for his many other books), and podcaster ( The Bible for Normal People ) drops h...

Send us Fan Mail Author, pastor, educator, counselor and storyteller Jeffrey Munroe shares his new book, Telling Stories in the Dark: Finding Healing and Hope in Sharing our Sadness, Grief, Trauma, and Pain . Jeff draws on a lifetime of ministry in churches, universities, and Young Life both in the USA and Europe. He’s concluded that spiritual health is not so much about right beliefs as it is abo...

Send us Fan Mail On the 56th Anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King , Ken shares his final in the Substack series - Biblical Authority . On this day, we remember the tragedy and the legacy of the Civil Rights champion. While the Bible has been and is today abused and weaponized, there’s a beauty we dare not miss. MLK illustrates the point. Ken’s Substack Page - Biblical Authority P...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes historian, author, and media commentator Martyn Whittock from his home across the Pond just outside London. Martyn read Ken’s Substack series on Biblical Authority and reached out with some comments. It prompted this lively conversation - and led to another focus: Martyn’s article recently published in the UK - How US Evangelicals Could Affect the Entire World . Whitt...

Send us Fan Mail In honor of Ken's new Golden Retriever - Brandy., We welcome back  Kristina Flanagan , retired psychotherapist, MSW, Vedic astrologer and graduate of Richard Rohr's Living School . At Kristina's invitation (after Ken invited himself!), Ken and Carolyn spent a few days in a beautiful casita on her property, a lovely expanse of New Mexico's rolling hills and mead...

Send us Fan Mail Today, after some introductory remarks, Ken shares his most recent Substack post. It's time to sound the alarm. Here's the post in its entirety - you may read along. ( Ken's Substack Page ) Biblical Authority Part III The Plan to Institute a “Biblical America” - Project 2025 If you’ve been following this series, you know that I have come to question the ubiquitous a...

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 wit...

Send us Fan Mail This is a brief supplement to Beach Talk #117 which included the title: The Pairing Nobody Wants. Last night changed that. Ken and Betsey connect the day after to review the historic speech that will live in the history books. It's a pairing of old guys - but the 81-year-old shows his mettle, his endurance, his passion, and his priorities. It's what our nation needs. Sup...

Send us Fan Mail Betsey, who has been a proud supporter of Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg since he ran for the presidency in 2020, would like to see him on the ballot again. Both Ken and Betsey share a deep appreciation for our aging President Joe Biden. His accomplishments are solid. He's a decent human being. His priorities are in line. But his approval ratings are a clear indi...

Send us Fan Mail The Alabama Supreme Court has lit the fuse exploding into yet another level of controversy in our divided nation. It's not just the question of when life begins, but whether the religious convictions espoused by a few will be imposed as the law of the land on everyone else. The two Kens talk about how this development underscores the threat of Christian nationalism on our dem...

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...