The Stand-Up Theologian

Get in touch via text Yes. Season 1 is finally wrapping up. In this episode - Episode 34! - I explain why (it's episode 34?), what I'm up to next and why I'm doing something as chronically unprofitable as The Wycliffe Papers . I also refer to my blog, The Situation Room and this post: https://thesitutationroom.substack.com/p/amuse-yourself I'll be back. Have no fear. You can&ap...

Get in touch via text What is England’s day if not St George’s Day? Who even is St George? Why don't the English celebrate it? Can we walk and talk around Hinton St George, a village in Somerset? Want to see the beautiful church? Here's the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/clk4SIcFUWc See also Cary's Almanac: https://jamescary.substack.com/p/st-george-and-the-dragon-are-dead Want to...

Get in touch via text Back once again with friend of the show, Rhys Laverty , Editorial and Research Director of the Prosperity Institute who wrote this brilliant article for The Critic about the now retracted and rescinded Quiet Revival report: https://thecritic.co.uk/the-truth-about-the-quiet-revival/ Want to talk about the podcast and engage with other listeners? Come on over to the Facebook Gr...

Get in touch via text James on the War Movie Theatre podcast  and the website here . James on the Wit + Grit podcast and on Apple Podcasts Want to talk about the podcast and engage with other listeners? Come on over to the Facebook Group . Find out about my touring show, God the Bible and Everything (in 60 minutes) and get in touch via my website . If you’re serious about the Bible and church hist...

Get in touch via text The Sacred Art of Joking is available in all formats on Amazon/Audible. Every few weeks a politician, pundit or soap star causes a media storm by making a gaffe or tweeting a joke that some people do not find funny. Comedy is very hard to get right and yet we think it's important to have a sense of humour and not take yourself too seriously. On the other hand, a sense of...

Get in touch via text In this longer episode, I wonder about whether I have productivity addiction, and whether this podcast is part of that. So I talk to fellow productivity addict and podcaster, Kenny Primrose . This was prompted by a recent Modern Wisdom podcast episode in which Chris Williamson interviews Oliver Burkemann ( 4000 Weeks ) Then there’s Tim Ferriss talking to Jim Collins. 4000 Wee...

Get in touch via text Matt Searles is an author, songwriter and mindfulness teacher. We're talking about reading the Bible without devotionals or commentaries, and reflecting - and the perspicuity of scripture. Buy Quiet Paths here . Listen on Spotify here . More info here . The Bible Overbrew with Matt Searles and Rachel Redeemed is here . And James wrote an e-book called Psalm Psupplement ....

Get in touch via text This time, I'm in conversation with Ros Clarke, Associate Director of The Church Society . We are talking about Bishop Hugh Latimer, burned by Queen Mary on 16th October 1555. Why? And what does that tell us about life and the church today? Watch the video on YouTube here ! And this is The Situation Room where I write about writing situation comedy Want to talk about the...

Get in touch via text In this episode James and returning guest Nate Morgan Locke explore Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, asking whether his warning still stands, whether he romanticises 19th century America and whether the very invention of the clock as destroyed our sense of the eternal. How does this book affect how Nate makes videos and James makes podcasts. WARNING: Contains opini...

Get in touch via text Yes, another episode. I can't stay away. A solo episode on fasting. And Avoiding Fudge in Lent. Cary’s Almanac on William Laud Cary’s Almanac on Fasting Cary’s Almanac Avoiding Fudge in Lent   The Psalm Psupplement is Here: James Acaster on Netflix You can watch Bill on iPlayer (in UK) Want to talk about the podcast and engage with other listeners? Come on over to the Fa...

Get in touch via text I have a conversation with Tilly Dillehay, author of “My Dear Hemlock”, a book in the style of CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters that does not pull its punches on the female condition. We also talk about writing, sitcom and sketches and then ‘pivot’ into story structure and The Princess Bride. We also talk about books that broke the rules and made us laugh out loud. Check out  Car...

Get in touch via text A deep dive into Conspiracy theories - not a big long list of them, but why we might believe them, or find it hard to prove them one way or the other. A fascinating conversation with Dr (Dr) Jonny Woodrow, host of the Stop it! You're Killing Me Podcast . Listen the episode with with Yours Truly here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/stop-it-youre-killing-me/id173809...

Get in touch via text In this solo episode, I introduce the Psalm Psupplement, forty reflections on the Psalms that might be handy for Lent. This is an audio version of the first batch on Psalm 1. Loyal Lollards (paid subscribers to the Wycliffe Papers) will be getting all forty them thrown in with their membership. Why not join? Plus there'll be a load of bonus audio content to keep you goin...

Get in touch via text I have a conversation with Andrew Ollerton who has written a new book called God’s Book: An Honest Look at the Bible’s 7 Toughest Topics . And he’s been at the front line of talking about the Bible to people who are just picking it up for the first time. What do they want to know? Check out Cary's Almanac for a weekly newsletter about the Christian way of life with refer...

Get in touch via text Two culture vultures pick over the plentiful remains of Stranger Things. I talked to Caleb Woodbridge who is an imaginative disciple, freelance writer and editor,  fan of sf/fantasy, children's & YA literature, Doctor Who, Tolkien & C S Lewis. He writes and podcasts at Bigger Inside . We talk about Stranger Things but also JK Rowling; CS Lewis; Narnia; Harry Pott...

Get in touch via text Last year, I wrote an article about home education for Gareth Crispin, editor of Premier NexGen: https://www.premiernexgen.com/education/why-home-education-is-the-best-option-for-christian-families/20440.article And we talked about it! Oh yes. We talked about it. And here's Dumbing us Down by John Taylor Gatto Want to talk about the podcast and engage with other listener...

Get in touch via text In this New Year’s Day solo walk-and-talk, I reflect on what happens when long-running momentum finally runs out. Turning 50, finishing six years on the Archbishop's Council, and watching the comedy industry shift have forced me to face an uncomfortable question: have I been relying on professional habits while avoiding fully intentional choices? Prompted by Steven Press...

Get in touch via text It's just like old times! Cary and Cooper are reunited for this review of the year in books. We revisit Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth, and James explains why there are a number of books he has some serious problems with (I'm looking at you, George RR Martin). Barry's read some Thomas Hardy. Seriously. Very seriously. And Cary does not care for The Way...

Get in touch via text What a treat! James gets to geek about CS Lewis, That Hideous Strength and The Abolition of Man - with the world's leading expert on all things Inkling, Dr Michael Ward! Why should we NEVER call his science fiction books 'The Space Trilogy'? And is The Magician's Nephew actually going to be good? Enjoy! Planet Narnia After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s...

Get in touch via text Is there a book in you? Have you checked? Do you need to be talked into it? Or out of it? And who cares? You care! But will anyone else? Matt Bird helps people write their story. So this is a conversation about the pain, euphoria, self-delusion, vanity and the therapeutic nature of writing a book. Find out more about Matt Bird and PublishU HERE . Want to talk about the podcas...

Get in touch via text What is Christmas? When does it start? And how long does it last? What is advent? So many questions! James Cary has a few answers in this solo episode with a bonus bit of The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer at the end. Get hold of Word Made Flesh Sitcom Geeks Ep208 What’s so special about the Christmas Special? Popcorn parenting Christmas Movies episode Christmas Carol re...

Get in touch via text There was a time when the BBC completely ruled the airwaves, both TV and Radio. What happened? Where did it go? Especially the comedy. And where did the BBC come from? In this episode, James talks to comedian, writer, author and presenter of the British Broadcasting Century podcast, Paul Kerensa .   Want to talk about the podcast and engage with other listeners? Come on over...

Get in touch via text Stand-Up Theologian James Cary talks to James Sherwood, musical comedian (or comedic musician?). Together they've been writing a musical, although they could have sworn that they wrote one in 2017 ( A Monk's Tale ) and again in 2019 ( A Turbulent Priest ). Apparently not. James and James (you decide which is which) explain how they found out what a musical actually...

Get in touch via text In this solo episode, I connect my long-running fascinations with comedy, World War II, and Indiana Jones — exploring why one scene in my favourite Indy film falls flat, why Armstrong and Miller’s RAF sketches are so funny (and a bit sad) and how The Producers got away with being in such poor taste. Timed around Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, it’s a reflection on humou...

Get in touch via text In this episode, James talks Aaron Edwards from That Good Fight and Pod of the Gaps podcast about 'The Machine' as laid out by Paul Kingsnorth, who as written Against the Machine which I recommend listening to on Audible - and here's an affiliate link to THAT BOOK . We also talk about Jacques Ellul and The Technological Society , CR Wiley and The Household and...