The Habit

John Cal is a celebrity chef—at least among those who have participated in the Rabbit Room's Hutchmoot gathering in the past few years. His food-related essay/orations are a Hutchmoot highlight. In this final Habit Podcast episode of 2021, John Cal and Jonathan Rogers talk about feasting, fellowship, and other pleasures relevant to the Christmas season. Support the show: https://therabbitroo...

Shawn Smucker has published five novels in the last five years—most recently, The Weight of Memory . He has also co-written some thirty books. Shawn and his wife Maile Silva coach, teach, and encourage other writers in a creative community they call The Stories Between Us . They host a podcast of the same name. In this episode, Shawn Smucker and Jonathan Rogers discuss revision, point of vie...

Daniel Grothe is a pastor, a rancher, and the author of The Power of Place: Choosing Stability in a Rootless Age . In this episode, Daniel Grothe and Jonathan Rogers talk about embracing obligation, the value of thinking small, and the possibility that God is a materialist. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jill Phillips is a singer-songwriter and the star of the Gullahorn Happy Hour along with her husband, Andy Gullahorn. She’s also a Marriage and Family Therapist . Jill will soon be releasing a new album called Deeper Into Love , a collection of songs that take a journey through grief, healing, and redemption. In this episode, Jill and Jonathan talk about the gap between the truth and how it...

Carolyn Leiloglou writes books for children. Her picture book Library's Most Wanted was a 2021 WILLA Award Finalist. She was also a 2018 finalist for the Katherine Paterson Prize. Her poems and stories have appeared in children's magazines around the world, including Highlights, Ladybug, Cricket, and Clubhouse Jr . In this episode, Carolyn and Jonathan discuss rule-following, characters who take t...

Memoirist Carolyn Weber is the author of Surprised by Oxford and Sex and the City of God . This conversation between Dr. Weber and Jonathan Rogers was recorded in front of a live audience at New College Franklin, where Dr. Weber is a professor. They discuss St. Augustine, spiritual memoir, and the idea that "selection is the hardest part of creation." Support the show: https://therabbitroom.giving...

Elizabeth Harwell's new book is The Good King's Feast—An Invitation to the Lord's Table . It's a picture book that helps children understand Communion. In this episode, Elizabeth and Jonathan Rogers discuss writing for children and what it means to invite them into a story that they are already a part of. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listen...

Luci Shaw is one of the great living Christian poets. She has been a pioneer and a role model for generations of other writers. Her poem, "The 'O' in Hope" has become a picture book illustrated by Ned Bustard. In this episode, Luci and Ned speak with Jonathan Rogers about generativity, metaphor, the changes in Christians' attitudes toward art and creativity in recent decades, and other matters. Su...

Hannah Hubin is a writer, poet, lyricist, and the originator of All the Wrecked Light , a stage show that explores Psalm 90 through song and spoken poetry. In this episode, Hannah and Jonathan discuss collaboration as a way of reaching beyond one's own limits and what it means to pray, "Establish the work of our hands." Hannah is in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to produce a studio album of...

Dave Barnes is a singer-songwriter, a standup comedian, and a cohost of the Dadville podcast . This episode, the 2021 finale of the Sad Stories Told for Laughs series, was originally released in video form as part of the Rabbit Room's onllne conference, Hutchmoot: Homebound. In this episode, Dave talks about awkward radio promotions, disastrous shows, and doing standup comedy for patrons who thoug...

Don Chaffer is a singer-songwriter (Waterdeep), a composer-lyricist-librettist ( Son of a Gun, The Unusual Tale of Mary and Joseph's Baby ), and a professor (Lipscomb University's School of Music). His stories are often sad and often funny—and often at the same time. In this "Sad Stories Told for Laughs" episode, Don Chaffer talks to Jonathan Rogers about the difference between embarrassment...

Alan Noble is Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture . His new book is You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World . Tim Keller has said “Alan is, I hope, the beginning of a new generation of scholar-writers who can bring the insights of [more esoteric thinkers and philosophers] down to earth and apply them i...

After years overseas, poet Rachel Donahue settled into life on a property that had been in her husband's family for generations. Paying attention to that piece of land transformed her poetry. Beyond Chittering Cottage is a collection of the poems that grew out of that new attentiveness. In this episode, Rachel and Jonathan Rogers talk about stewardship, place, and writerly friendship. Support the...

Ben Palpant is a poet, memoirist, novelist, and writer of nonfiction. His new book, Letters from the Mountain , is a collection of letters to his daughter about writing, creativity, paying attention, and generativity. He speaks of these and other matters with Jonathan Rogers in this episode of The Habit Podcast. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/liste...

Ashley Hales is a writer, a speaker, and the host of the Finding Holy Podcast . Her new book is A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits . In this episode, Ashley Hales and Jonathan Rogers discuss a paradox: embracing your limitations can create more space and lead to greater creativity. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/li...

Dave and Licia Radford constitute the husband-wife duo, The Gray Havens . Their upcoming album, Blue Flower , is inspired by C. S. Lewis's autobiography, Surprised by Joy and explores "inconsolable longing" and every human's homesickness for a place they've never been. Most of the album's songs are available on Spotify . In this episode, Dave Radford and Jonathan Rogers talk about the ways that jo...

Singer-songwriter Taylor Leonhardt 's second solo album, Hold Still , releases in September, 2021. (You can hear several of the songs already on streaming services.) In this episode of The Habit Podcast, Taylor and Jonathan Rogers discuss what it means to be God's idea, and coming to terms with the truth that we are all in suspense and incomplete. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel...

Carrie Givens is a publisher and co-founder of Bandersnatch Books . She is also the author of the recently released novel Rosefire . In this episode, Carrie speaks with Jonathan Rogers about writers' groups, dry spells, the role of "namers" in our creative lives, and characters who arrive unbidden in our stories. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/list...

Bill Haslam was a two-term governor of Tennessee and a two-term mayor of Knoxville. In a political climate marked by metastasizing outrage and division, he found success by finding common ground and treating everyone—allies and opponents alike—with decency and respect. Bill Haslam is the author of Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square . Support the...

Professor Diana Pavlac Glyer is an expert on Tolkien and Lewis, especially with regard to their collaboration in the Inklings group. She is also the editor of A Compass for Deep Heaven —a collection of essays about Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. This book is the fruit of Professor Glyer's practicing what she preaches in generous collaboration with emerging scholars. Support the show: https://therab...

JJ Heller writes lullabies with her husband Dave and sings them for children, their parents, and the children inside the parents. Since 2017, the Hellers have released a new song on Spotify the first Friday of every month. One of those songs, "Hand to Hold," grew into a picture book by the same title, released a couple of weeks ago. In this episode, JJ and Dave talk with Jonathan Rogers about bedt...

For a decade and a half, Buddy Greene and Jeff Taylor have been making music together in a wide variety of venues and a wide variety of costumes. They are remarkable as performers, but even more remarkable is their friendship and good humor. As Jeff says, even a worst-case scenario performance is redeemed when it becomes a sad story told for laughs shared between friends. Support the show: https:/...

Doug McKelvey is best known as the author of Every Moment Holy , “new liturgies for daily life.” He has also been a songwriter and a screenwriter. In this episode, the Sad Stories Told for Laughs series continues with Doug’s stories of fan letters gone wrong, fostering misunderstanding for the sake of humor, and a finger puppet. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel....

Jessica Hooten Wilson is Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas. She’s a much sought-after speaker and the author of books about Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Walker Percy, and Flannery O’Connor. Spring of 2022 will see the release of her new book, The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints.  The academic world is a rich sourc...

Thomas McKenzie is an Anglican priest, the founding pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Nashville, and the author of The Anglican Way. Also, he once blew up a gas station. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.