The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey reconvene for another summer Beach Talk. They begin by relaying the news that their friend and podcast colleague, Ken Fong , just this week bid farewell to his life-long partner, Snoopy, after a protracted and heart-rending battle with cancer. Betsey shares something of her own loss a few years back. A regular Twitter user with over a thousand followers, Betsey give...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes author, professor, and scholar of religion Isaac Sharp, Ph. D. to talk about his new book,  The Other Evangelicals: Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians - and the Movement that Pushed them Out.   Recently, a raft of scholarship has emerged around the question - who are "The Evangelicals" and how did they manage to wield such social and p...

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Osahon ("O") pick up on another Cabana Talk - this time to unpack the great cultural divide in our churches and beyond. The tidal wave of conservatism that targets race, gender, and education in our country has exacerbated the polarization that is so prevalent across the nation. Some celebrate. Others lament. Millennials are exiting the churches of their childhoo...

Send us Fan Mail This week the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued rulings that will have a dramatic impact on our nation. Ken welcomes Dr. Gilbert Walton for a wide-ranging conversation around Affirmative Action, higher education, and the roles of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Clarence Thomas . Ken and Gilbert met on the Civil Rights Tour of the South . Dr. Walton was a featur...

Send us Fan Mail This episode takes the two podcasters named Ken into very personal territory. The whole world's attention was captured for several days by the plight of five adventurers who plunged into the depths of the North Atlantic in the Ocean Gate Titan to catch a glimpse of the hundred-year-old ruins of the ocean liner Titanic resting on the ocean floor. With sudden silence, just an h...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Kristina Flanagan , retired psychotherapist, MSW, Vedic astrologer and soon-to-be 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 meadows just south of Santa Fe . She, her architect,...

Send us Fan Mail On Juneteenth weekend, Ken returns from his New Mexico road trip and reconnects with Betsey for Beach Talk #105. One more time, the former president was arraigned facing a damning indictment for obstruction of justice and obstinate refusal to return classified documents. The Southern Baptists overwhelmingly voted to disenfranchise Southern California's Saddleback megachurch i...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes first-time guest, author Martyn Whittock to discuss his recent book, The End Times, Again? -2000 Years of the Use & Misuse of Biblical Prophecy. While listening to the BWM podcast at his home near Bath in England (the UK), Martin reached out to Ken to discuss his book's themes and how they play out in the US... and much more.  Ken shares his concern about the...

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 welcomes PhD Candidate, writer, and educator, Rebecca Rea Ross. Podcaster and author, Brad Onishi, made the introduction. "Ken - here is a perfect person to interview on your podcast," he said.  He was right. Rebecca's passion is energizing her dissertation's focus. She combines her journey from ultra-conservative home school in eastern Washington State to...

Send us Fan Mail Ken Fong stumbled across an opinion piece in the L.A. TIMES by Osamudia James , Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina . Entitled - Florida’s censorship of ‘diversity’ efforts are a tantrum born of white guilt - Kemp agreed the article is worthy of full discussion. The author's phrase, " white innocence ," underscores the claim made by Robyn DiAngelo i...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes tenured UCLA Professor and prolific author, Dr. Robert Chao Romero to the podcast. They discuss his new book : Christianity and Critical Race Theory: A Faithful and Constructive Conversation. CRT and “Wokism” have become misappropriated political tropes across the country. Dr. Romero and Jeff Liou have collaborated on a compelling book that makes an important contribu...

Send us Fan Mail After a few weeks break, Ken and Betsey reunited at their imaginary beach and catch up on the headlines. The passing of the popular pastor and author Tim Keller signals the loss of an unusual evangelical: theologically and socially conservative, but a fresh, intelligent, innovative voice who left a lasting impact on the city of New York and beyond. Ken offers a review of his curre...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Peter Enns returns to the podcast to discuss his brand 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 ) d...

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...