The Christ and Pop Culture Podcast Network

The show eases off the accelerator to focus on a single film this week. Acclaimed director Ramin Bahrani ( Chop Shop , Goodbye Solo ) is back with a new film for Netflix that positions itself as the anti- Slumdog Millionaire . Adapted from Aravind Adiga's novel of the same title, The White Tiger tells a story of a lower-caste servant in India (Adarh Gourav) who chafes under the yoke of his family'...

In his continuing journey to give an award-worthy performance in every existing film genre, Tom Hanks is back in 2021 with his first crack at a Western, Paul Greengrass's News of the World . Based on the novel about a traveling newsreader in post-Civil War Texas, the film asks the question: can Hanks's persona as "America's dad" heal tensions in a divided country? Wade and Kevin also take a closer...

Our holidays are usually marked by all kinds of festivities. There are family gatherings, dinners with friends, work parties, community celebrations, church programs, and more. But this year? Most of these are cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. We will miss out on gift exchanges and cookie swaps and catching up with friends and family. It's disappointing for everyone. Learn more about your ad ch...

Seeing and Believing heads to the British Isles this week with a pair of films poised to make their way into the end of the year awards talk. First up is Tomm Moore and Ross Stewarts's Wolfwalkers , the new project from the highly esteemed Cartoon Saloon. A mixture of myth and magic, Wolfwalkers uses stunning animation to tell the story of a young girl caught between the forces of prior allegiance...

Thanksgiving is typically full of feasting and family and friends. But this year? For most of us, gathering with others to enjoy our typical feast is off the table due to the global pandemic. Even if you are able to celebrate with your immediate family, the day is likely to be tinged with emptiness. And emptiness has a way of diminishing our gratitude, even on Thanksgiving. Learn more about your a...

With family gatherings just around the corner (or not) for Thanksgiving, Wade and Kevin take a look at a couple of new family dramas that are just hitting streaming platforms this week! First up is Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy , starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. How does the cinematic adaptation of J.D. Vance's bestselling memoir fare in its transition from page to screen? The guys also review T...

In this episode of Persuasion,  Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson kick off a new miniseries titled Happy, Thankful, People. Each episode of the series includes a special guest who has something specific to share about how we can clear some of the hurdles that come with the holiday season. Barnabas Piper joins this episode to discuss our expectations of seasonal happiness and joy. In Hoping for Happi...

Dust off your chess sets and start reminding yourself of the difference between pawns and bishops because the world of competitive chess is the talk of the town again. Netflix's lends some midcentury glamour to the cerebral, famously nerdy pursuit with its new miniseries The Queen's Gambit , featuring Anya Taylor-Joy as a fiercely ambitious chess prodigy who strives to excel in a game that is well...

Seeing & Believing spend some time on the HBO streaming service this week! First up is Robert Zemeckis's try at remaking Roald Dahl's classic children's book The Witches . Transplanting the story to the 1960s American South and featuring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, Zemeckis's new film aims to refresh Dahl's tale of grotesque witches plotting to transform the world's children into mice....

Sofia Coppola directs the first of several films for A24 and Apple+, On The Rocks which Wade and Kevin review first. The film reunites Coppola with Murray and brings in Office alum Jones as a Father/Daughter pair who are intent on catching Jones' fiancé in the act of betrayal while wrestling with Murray's own history of infidelity. The second half of the show reviews Ben Wheatley's remake of Alfre...

As Election Day inches closer, Seeing & Believing devotes some time to a movie about the fallout from another chaotic election season: the riots that surrounded the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Aaron Sorkin writes and directs The Trial of the Chicago Seven with his usual verbal flair; does he find the cinematic flair to match? Wade and Kevin also look to the future of movieg...

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson wrap up their For God and Country series. Each episode has tackled an aspect of how faith and politics collide. This final conversation looks at the value and power of a single vote, the one we've been entrusted with for each item on our ballot. Voting truly is a privilege, but in these politically charged days, the weight of casting o...

It's documentary week here on Seeing & Believing, featuring two new films from Netflix. Wade and Kevin dig into Dick Johnson Is Dead , an intensely personal new film from Cameraperson director Kirsten Johnson. By turns irreverent, playful, and deeply emotional, Johnson's film explores the prospect of death and what it means to say goodbye. The guys also spend some time with The Social Dilemma...

With the amount of turmoil that's typically associated with political conversation and engagement, it can be very tempting to look for a reprieve. Every issue truly is connected to the common good that we're called to work toward. But when every conversation turns into a politically charged exchange, it's quite tempting to demand that others stop being so political all the time. While tempting, ho...

Detectives are the name of the game on Seeing & Believing this week. Netflix's new film starring Stranger Things ' Millie Bobby Brown has arrived, adding to the Sherlock Holmes Cinematic Universe with Enola Holmes . Brown plays the famous Sherlock's younger sister, who embarks on her own sleuthing adventure involving the disappearance of her mother and political intrigue in late Victorian Engl...

Racial reckoning, a threatening pandemic, devastating wildfires... our country is practically pulling apart at the seams. In the middle of all this, we're facing the usual fervor associated with a presidential election. Except this isn't like other presidential elections, because of heightened turmoil of our times makes the discord all the more obvious. Emotions are running high. Everyone is looki...

Perhaps during this series you've become open to the idea that political engagement is an avenue for kingdom flourishing to bring about the common good. And perhaps you've also clarified the sort of nation you want to build with your political engagement. Now we move from theory into practice, because political engagement will actually require you to dig into the system we have in order to make th...

With Wade on vacation, Kevin calls on Sarah Welch-Larson this week to help make sense of Charlie Kaufman's latest brain-bender. I'm Thinking of Ending Things , now streaming on Netflix, features Kaufman's trademark metafictional flourishes and thematic concerns; does it stand alongside Synecdoche, NY and Anomalisa in pulling off the balancing act between "challenging" and "inscrutable"? Sarah also...

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the For God and Country series. In this conversation, Erin and Hannah look to the pain points Christians are feeling and use them to unearth the way fear can sway our political leanings. In Christian circles, there has been increasing concern about religious rights and freedoms, as well as rally cries to take our nation back f...

The calendar says that summer is drawing to a close, but Seeing & Believing refuses to accept it! Blockbuster season goes on as the guys take the plunge on the Disney+ exclusive Mulan , the latest live-action remake of a Disney animated feature. The "Summer of Darkness" also continues with a review of Brick , Rian Johnson's 2006 debut, which sets the familiar hard-boiled detective story in a h...

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson kick off their fall series called For God and Country. Each episode of the series will tackle an aspect of how faith and politics collide. To get the conversation started, Erin and Hannah host fellow Christ and Pop Culture writer Kaitlyn Schiess . Kaitlyn is a seminary student and bright thinker with a new book releasing September 8 fr...

Brush up on your air-guitar skills and get your SoCal dude-accents ready, because Seeing & Believing embarks on another excellent adventure this week. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter may be getting a little long in the tooth, but that doesn't mean they can't bring their iconic slackers back for another victory lap around time and space. Wade and Kevin review Bill and Ted Face the Music to see if...

Humor has been rather hard to find in 2020. We've had month after month of very serious happenings. When the world is falling apart, laughter feels wrong—even callous. Serious things call for a serious countenance... right? In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson kick off a late summer miniseries called Getting By . Each episode of the series includes a special guest who has...

As election season spins up in earnest, the guys get into the spirit of the season with a new documentary. Boys State explores what happens when over a thousand bright high school boys from Texas get together to form their own two-party government: is it more Frank Capra or more Lord of the Flies ? Also on the docket is the next installment in the "Summer of Darkness" film noir marathon, featuring...

Our current moment of political, social, and even religious upheaval has been isolating in many inexplicable ways. COVID-19 restrictions have eliminate many of our opportunities to build friendships and network with colleagues. Many of us are now working, schooling, and worshiping from home, severing limiting our social circles. As a result, psychologists are reporting higher rates of depression....