The Habit

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Emily P. Freeman , author of The Next Right Thing , creator of the Next Right Thing Podcast , and co-founder of the online writing community Hope Writers. They discuss writer’s block as a form of decision fatigue, the demand on our attention created by unmade decisions, the problematic desire “to be great,” how her training as a sign language...

Jonathan Rogers loved Matt Conner's interview with Jericho Brown so much that he wants you to hear it, too. Jericho Brown won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection The Tradition  and is one of America's great literary geniuses. Originally aired on The Resistance Podcast , Matt and Jericho discuss the necessarily conflictive posture of the poet as one who speaks truth to a cult...

Jonathan Rogers talks with Amy Alznauer , author of The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity and The Strange Birds of Flannery O'Connor .. They discuss Flannery O’Connor’s early-onset fascination with birds and the ways O'Connor's birds taught her how people react to strangeness; how Amy’s father taught her to love mathematics; and the ways in which both math and writing invite the discov...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Michael Ward , C. S. Lewis scholar and author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis.   They discuss Michael’s surprising thesis about the Narnia books, the medieval notion of the “music of the spheres,” and the necessity of allusivity in communicating theological reality. Find out more about Michael Ward's...

In this episode, Jonathan and Scott discuss the difference between being for and being against, why we've recently seen such a renewed interest in Fred Rogers, writing as an instrument of peace, and how gentleness can survive in a world that has made hostility into an asset. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonathan Rogers talks with Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well and Booked .  They discuss common mistakes in how we read classic literature, the vaster meaning of the word “comedy,” the excellent new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma , and the difference between portrayal and endorsement in art. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See...

Jonathan Rogers talks with Leif Enger, author of Virgil Wander and Peace Like A River . They discuss Leif’s love of beautiful places in his favorite novels, the ability of readers to feel the delight of the author, and the magic of discovering the way a story goes as you’re writing it. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Jonathan and Diana discuss how the Inklings got started and the factors that contributed to their health, the sharpening power of writing groups, and the “curse of knowledge”—knowing so well what you’re trying to say that you’re unable to say it well. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poet-priest Malcolm Guite has become one of the most important Christian poets of our time. In this episode, Jonathan and Malcolm discuss the “salvaging of the mistakenly abased gift of imagination,” the vital distinction between what things are and what they are made of, how Malcolm inherited the gift of poetry from his mother, and the invention of writing as the gateway both to remem...

Scott James is a pediatric physician and author of Where Is Wisdom? A Treasure Hunt Through God's Wondrous World, Inspired by Job 28. In this episode, Jonathan and Scott discuss the practical complexity of applying wisdom, the role of empathy in good reading, the instructive power of story for life's moral questions, and grace as God’s surprise ending. Support the show: https://therabbitroom...

This week, Jonathan Rogers talks with Laura Fabrycky , author of Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus: Exploring the World and Wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer . They discuss the multiple competing narratives of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the centrality of place in the stories of our lives, and connections between writing and civic housekeeping. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnyst...

In this episode, Jonathan and Nancy discuss the invaluable resource of deep focus, research as practicing the posture of learning, and the clarifying power of talking before writing. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ned Bustard is a graphic designer, illustrator, author, and printmaker from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In this episode, Jonathan and Ned discuss the fraught topic of success in art, the clarifying effect of working for one’s community, and how he and his wife, Leslie, have planted seeds in their hometown. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio....

Jeremy Casella is a singer-songwriter in Nashville. In this episode, Jonathan and Jeremy discuss songwriting as a means of processing life, the abiding value of failure, and the centrality of truth-telling. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trillia Newbell is the author of several books including United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity , and, most recently, Sacred Endurance: Finding Grace and Strength for a Lasting Faith . She is a former journalist and currently the Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention. Jonathan and Trillia discuss the role of...

A man of many interests, Lee Camp is a theology professor, the host of the Tokens variety show, and the author of Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians . In this episode, Jonathan and Lee discuss Lee’s controversially orthodox assertions, the necessity for a hermeneutic of love, and the inextricability of true hope and the courage to encounter a new story. Support t...

Going all the way back to 2008, here's an episode of the old Rabbit Room Podcast in which Jonathan reads aloud his release day review of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness —with an introduction by Andrew Peterson impersonating Alfred Hitchcock. Yeah, we never were sure exactly what that was about. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener...

Francis Su is the author of Mathematics for Human Flourishing . In this episode, Jonathan and Francis talk about revealing the unseen, the ability of math to teach virtue, and what it might mean to re-enchant the discipline of math. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Jonathan and the Circe Institute's David Kern reminisce about the work of the recently deceased Charles Portis. They discuss the connections between fiction and flim-flammery, the role of the ridiculous in comic storytelling, the importance of leaving some work for the reader to do, the world's smallest perfect man, and one of the world's most perfect opening sentences. David Kern...

Jen Pollock Michel is the author of three books, most recently Surprised By Paradox: The Promise of And in an Either-Or World . In this episode, Jonathan and Jen discuss the role of paradox in writing, the difference between either-or and both-and, and the difference between mystery and paradox. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Writer and photographer Seth Haines is the author of Coming Clean and The Book of Waking Up . In this episode, Jonathan and Seth discuss the slow process of waking up in the "key of joy," the instructive power of pain, and the under-publicized companionship between creativity and sobriety. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher are co-authors of Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women . In this espisode, Jonathan, Elyse, and Eric discuss writing as an antidote to reducing other people to categories, the church’s responsibility to defend victims of sexual abuse, the cowriting process for Elyse and Eric, and how they have chosen to navigate a politically fraught topic. Support the...

Lore Ferguson Wilbert is the author of Handle With Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry . She has been blogging since 2000 at Sayable.net . In this episode, Jonathan and Lore talk about the idea of touch as the mother of all senses, the exceeding vulnerability of Jesus, and the surprisingly symbiotic relationship between tenderness and resilience. Support the show: https...

Heidi Johnston is the author of Choosing Love , a book that tries to tell teenage girls the truth about relationships. Jonathan and Heidi discuss the various roadblocks to writing—particularly procrastination and imposter syndrome—the task of writing to tell a truer story, and the wellsprings of originality.  Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfuel.com/member See omnyst...

Meredith McDaniel is the author of In Want + Plenty: Waking Up to God's Provision in a Land of Longing. She's also a licensed professional counselor. Jonathan and Meredith discuss the deep connections between counseling and storytelling, the importance of bodily liturgies for a writer, and learning to give no more or less than what we have to give. Support the show: https://therabbitroom.givingfue...