The Habit

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Joel Clarkson, author of Sensing God: Experiencing the Divine in Nature, Food, Music, and Beauty . They discuss writing’s role in waking us up to the physicality of the world, Jesus as both firstborn of creation and firstborn from the dead, and the limits of intellect to account for the depth of what it means to believe. Support the...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Renee Mathis, fellow writing teacher and mentor at the CiRCE Institute's apprenticeship program. They discuss Renee's experience as a Jeopardy champion, her philosophy on mentoring teachers, the teaching methods used by Jesus, rhetoric as the pursuit of truth in community, and the still-relevant application of Aristotle's principles of rhetoric. Support the sh...

It's the season for writing Christmas letters. This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with letter-writer Reagan Dregge. They discuss the art of physical letter-writing, the personal attention it involves from sender to recipient, and the inherent embodiment that comes with putting pen to paper. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Randall Goodgame, songwriter, TV show host, and leader of the Slugs & Bugs universe. They discuss the essential role of collaboration in all of Randall’s work, the importance of writing out of freedom and not out of condemnation, and the irrepressibility of childlike joy. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/mem...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Christiana Peterson, author of Awakened by Death: Live-Giving Lessons from the Mystics . They discuss the link between mysticism and mortality, our culture’s lack of rituals for confronting death, the writer’s role in engaging with mortality as an antidote for self-absorption, and death’s ability to teach compassion. Supp...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Tsh Oxenreider , teacher, podcaster , literary tour guide, and author of Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent . They discuss the challenging art of graceful endings, the perils of absolute accessibility, and what sets the Advent season apart from merely a "happy clappy countdown to Christmas." Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member Se...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan talks with Crystal Downing, author of Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L. Sayers. They discuss the danger of Christian celebrity, the strategy of shock in Dorothy Sayers' work, and the subversion at the very heart of the Christian faith. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Charlotte Donlon, author of The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other and host of the Hope for the Lonely podcast. They discuss the two-way street between loneliness and belonging, the power of stories to de-stigmatize our loneliness, and the crucial difference between loving someone and understanding them. Support the sho...

Jonathan Rogers talks with Dane Ortlund, former Senior Vice President of Bible Publishing at Crossway and current Senior Pastor of Naperville Presbyterian Church near Chicago. They discuss the simultaneous necessity and insufficiency of theological correctness, the recovery of beauty as a meaningful philosophical category, and sanctification as the ongoing renewal of surprise. Support the show: ht...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Andrew T. Le Peau, former Associate Publisher at InterVarsity Press and author of Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality. They discuss the simple power of physical exercise to generate creative ideas, what Andrew has learned as an editor about what gets in the way of the writer's voice, and the constructive tension...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Anne Snyder, editor-in-chief of Comment Magazine and host of the podcast, The Whole Person Revolution .  They discuss our culture's antipathy towards institutions, the role of theological reflection during a time of crisis, and her work with Comment Magazine to serve both readers and writers in uniting thought and action. Support the...

Jonathan Rogers talks with music industry legend Brown Bannister about the difference between “Here I am” and “There you are” personalities, the similarities between producing a record and teaching students, and how Brown has stayed away from cynicism over his long career. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Russell Moore, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and author of The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear without Losing Your Soul. They talk about the various ways that fear presents itself to the writer, the self-sabotage of chasing relevance, the temptation to write our own life stories, and the timeless danger of t...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers interviews Barnabas Piper, author of Hoping for Happiness . They talk about the unrealistic expectations that artists can sometimes project onto their craft, how much easier it is to write while sad than while happy, and the distinction between hope and optimism. Transcripts are available for The Habit Podcast. View them at RabbitRoom.com/podcast. Su...

This week on The Habit Podcast, Jonathan Rogers talks with Marilyn McEntyre, author of Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict . They discuss the rich etymological depth of the word "conversation" and its connection to "dwelling with," the lost art of visiting, the transactional nature of conversation in a capitalist world, poetry's abiding danger to the status quo, and the recovery of metaphor. S...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Dr. Irwyn Ince, pastor and author of The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best . They discuss beauty's refusal to be possessed, the aesthetic impact of pursuing racial justice, and the joy to be found in responding to God's calling—even and especially when that call entails "divine dissatisfaction." Support the show: https://t...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Nashville singer/songwriter Ross King about the instructive power of rejection, the complexities of writing for a living in today's world, and advice for dealing with artistic competitiveness. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Vesper Stamper, illustrator and author of A Cloud of Outrageous Blue . They discuss how illustration became for Vesper a doorway into storytelling, what her research into the Middle Ages for her new book has taught her about plagues, and synesthesia as the beginning of metaphor. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/l...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Gina Dalfonzo, author of Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis . They discuss the often overlooked friendship between Dorothy Sayers and C. S. Lewis, Sayers' innovative depiction of Jesus in The Man Born to Be King , and her lifelong wrestling with Lewis on the issue of artistic conscience and calling. Support the s...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with bestselling author, pastor, and podcast host Daniel Darling about the complex mix of motivations that go into online interaction, the double-edged sword of content curation, and how to communicate well in an age that prioritizes communicating quickly above all else. Daniel Darling's new book is A Way with Words: Using our Online Conversations for Good . Suppor...

Jonathan Rogers talks with Christine Flanagan, English professor at the University of the Sciences in Pennsylvania and editor of The Letters of Flannery O'Connor and Caroline Gordon. They talk about the fascinatingly elusive influence of Caroline Gordon on Flannery O'Connor, the mystifying invisibility of some writers in our collective historical record, and the indispensability of thoughtful, eng...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with singer/songwriter and hymn writer Sandra McCracken. They talk about the formative power of hymns, the ancient balance established by the psalms between lament and a vision for what lies ahead, Sandra's first book, and the role of true confidence in human flourishing. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Cindy Bunch, author of Be Kind to Yourself and associate publisher and director of editorial at InterVarsity Press. They talk about how to maintain a healthy relationship with the inner critic, the many misplaced wishes that writers often throw onto their writing, and the mystery of which readers resonate and which readers don't. Support the show: https://ther...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with music industry veteran and host of The Pivot podcast Andrew Osenga. They talk about what Andrew’s podcast has taught him about listening, the multilayered complexities of career, and how Andrew's own pivots have changed the way he approaches songwriting. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with singer-songwriter Claire Holley.  They discuss the role of fear in writing, object writing prompts, how to discern what music is “saying,” and what Claire has learned over time about her songwriting process. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.