The Fascinating Podcast

God has no gender, but we almost always refer to God as 'he'. What do we lose by ignoring the feminine attributes of God? Teresa Kim Pecinovsky joins us to explore her beautiful new book Mother God. Why is interacting with God as father AND mother vital to a robust faith?

Why are there so many bad marriage books? Marriage is anything but one-size-fits-all, and it's long past time we had a fresh vision of marriage - one that's good news for every kind of person and sexuality. Dr. Brian and Rev. Gail Song Bantum join us to pull back the curtain on their terrific new book CHOOSING US.

What is Asian America? Can we trace the origins of this distinctive and important pattern in the tapestry of American popular culture? Jeff Yang and Phil Yu say we can, and they join us to show how with their new book RISE. Plus: it wouldn't be a Fascinating season premier without a feral hogs update!

Your Fascinating pals close out the season (and the year!) by offering up their favorite media pics of 2021. What made our list? And what did we miss?

Remember the National WOMEN'S Football League? You don't? Well, sportswriter Frankie de la Cretaz joins us to share the surprising, thrilling story you've never heard. Plus: the latest feral hog update!

This one's been a long time coming: your four co-hosts trace key moments in our journey toward becoming LGBTQ+ affirming. What does that term mean? What does it look like to be affirming and faithful to the witness of Scripture? This is a super-sized episode so buckle up!

Jeff Chu joins us to discuss Wholehearted Faith, the last book from Rachel Held Evans. Jeff co-authored the book, and our own Kathy Khang recorded one chapter of the audiobook. We reflect on Rachel's legacy - including some clips from our final interview with her where she discussed this book. Ultimately, we consider a faith that is both deeply rooted in God's love and widely inclusive of all peop...

Moby Dick turned 170 years old this year, which got us thinking: what books from the last decade will still be around in 150 years? What makes a classic? And should every book strive to be a classic anyway? PLUS: Martian ketchup and other important Pittsburgh updates.

What is privilege? Why does talking about it get us so defensive? Dominique Dubois Gilliard returns to the podcast to dive into his new book SUBVERSIVE WITNESS. How is learning to spot our privilege good news? And what are we supposed to do when we identify it? PLUS: does one of your hosts have a secret passage in their house?

Matt Mikalatos is back in the hot seat. His latest book, Journey to Love, explores our deepest need: to live lives that are more full of love. We do a deep dive on what love is not - after all, knowing what love isn't makes it easier to spot!

Our Halloween episode features Dr. Brandon Grafius, author of Reading the Bible with Horror. He tells us how using horror as a lens can help us understand the Bible. We dive in deep on the Bible's most famous ghost story - Samuel being summoned by the witch of Endor.

Cancel culture seems impossible to escape. But what exactly IS cancel culture? We walk through the history of cancelling and consider the promise and danger of what's ahead. PLUS: Where in the world is Mikalatos this week?

What happens when you make a TV show about Native Americans with a Native show runner and an all-Native writers' room? You get the unparalleled new show Reservation Dogs. Rev. Sonya Brown (Dine/Navajo) joins us to dive into this groundbreaking show.

What does theology look like when you don't center white male theologians? Kat Armas has a radical suggestion: it looks like Abuelita Faith. Kat invites us into the kitchens and homes where theology is embodied. PLUS: a killer photoshoot for October babies.

After the excitement of 300, your Fascinating buds slow down and spend some time catching up. What big changes did we miss? And what's been fascinating us while we've been gone? It's the gap-episode you've been waiting for!

Fall began with a box-office dominated by Shang-Chi. What does this smash-hit mean for the future of fantasy fiction? We interview four experts for their insights. Ken Liu, Fonda Lee, Phil Yu and Andrea Stewart join us for a THREE HOUR episode 300. Plus, you know we have to weigh in on Shang-Chi. We're back with a big, big splash!

The Season 6 finale is here... and we're remembering things that turned 21 in 2021 - including the camera phone. Has any other device so accelerated social change, for good and ill?

Matt Mikalatos is in the hot seat again. He has concluded his epic fantasy trilogy The Sunlit Lands. What does it take to bring a world to a satisfying conclusion? What should we expect in this final volume? And how about that killer cover? All this and more as we dive into The Story King!

It's summer and with vaccinations, it's time to travel again. We share some of our travel plans, as well as some of our most embarrassing travel faux pas.

How do you deal with trolls? More importantly, how do you even spot a troll? And what about folks who aren't trying to troll, but still don't have good intentions? We do a deep (and wide) dive on how we spot, engage and deal with disagreement in online spaces.

Since May is Asian-American/Pacific Islander Heritage month, we share our favorite films, books and tv shows from and about AAPI folks. Plus, a deep dive into the term itself and its many meanings!

Author Graci Kim joins us to explore contemporary Korean mythology in a Los Angeles setting. Her new middle-grade fantasy The Last Fallen star carves out a place for kids in the Korean diaspora to find themselves in a whirlwind adventure to save the world. Get the tissues ready. There may be some tears at the end of this one!

Our annual Oscars recap is here. What did we love? What was overrated? And what did we miss? PLUS: a deep dive into one of our favorites - MINARI!

What does the future of humanity look like as we develop better AI? What does our treatment of Alexa, Siri and our Roombas say about us? Author S. B. Divya joins us to dive into her debut novel MACHINEHOOD!

Marvel Studio's first foray into television was a smash success. So what did we think of WandaVision? We do a deep dive on this surprising show. PLUS the final winner of the 2021 Pop Culture Tournament!