The UpWords Podcast

Artist Leslie Iwai joins Melissa as they discuss Leslie's path toward becoming an installation artist, the themes and concepts in her work, and art's relationship to faith and culture. For more on Leslie, including information on her installations, see her personal website . Upper House's ongoing exhibition through May 6, which includes Leslie's "Share Table," is titl...

Curtis Chang discusses COVID-19 vaccines and the role that churches can play in the healing of society. He speaks with Science for the Church co-founder Greg Cootsona.  Curtis Chang is co-founder of Redeeming Babel and the resource site Christians and the Vaccine . He is also on the faculty of the Duke Divinity School, a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of multiple books in...

Science for the Church co-founder Drew Rick-Miller interviews Rob Barrett, until recently the chief operating officer of The Colossian Forum , an organization specializing in conflict resolution. Rob shares about his journey to this work, the philosophy and practice of "The Colossian Way," and some of the key areas of church conflict around issues of faith and science. The UpWords Podcas...

Rebecca hosts a group of multiethnic Christians to reflect on the unique beauties--and challenges--of living out mixed ethnic and cultural identities. Along with Rebecca the group includes Aiden Detienne, Niccole Khail, Peter Shackelford, and Chandra Crane, author of Mixed Blessing: Embracing the Fullness of Your Multiethnic Identity (IVP, 2020) .  This conversation follows a live event at Upper H...

Melissa speaks with Peter Tan, the Chief Design Officer at Strang, Inc., an award-winning architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm in Madison, WI. Together they cover the spiritual significance of space, how architects are responding to COVID realities, the missional significance of buildings, and much more.  We welcome comments on this episode at podcast@slbrownfoundation.org...

Cam Anderson, Associate Director at Upper House, talks with friend and fellow artist Makoto Fujimura about his new book, Art and Faith: A Theology of Making (Yale University Press, 2021). They cover a wide range of topics including the nature of creativity, imagination and faith, and an artist's response to the world's brokenness. Makoto Fujimura is a world-renowned artist, writer, and s...

Eric Carlsson interviews friend and fellow UW history alumnus Paul Grant on Paul's new book, Healing and Power in Ghana: Early Indigenous Expressions of Christianity (Baylor, 2020). Paul shares about his upbringing as a missionary kid, his fascination with the Gold Coast, and his efforts to try to understand both missionaries and Ghanan Christians on their own terms. The book, and this discus...

Melissa recently interviewed anthropologist Christine Jeske about her new book, The Laziness Myth: Narratives of Work and the Good Life in South Africa (Cornell, 2020) . Christine's extensive fieldwork in South Africa is the basis for this wide-ranging conversation on the nature of vocation, the structural barriers to vocational fulfillment in both South Africa and the United States, and Chri...

In this episode, Dan talks to historian James Ungureanu about the origins of the "conflict thesis" between faith and science. In his important new book, Science, Religion, and the Protestant Tradition: Retracing the Origins of Conflict (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), James examines the intellectual and religious terrain of the late nineteenth century and especially John William D...

Happy MLK Day! In this episode, we replay one of Upper House's speaker events from last October, "Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach Us About Freedom" by Kelley Ninkodeha . Kelley is co-director for Communities of Hope, a community development enterprise in Burundi, as well as a theologian and author. When she visited Upper House, she spoke on multiple topics, all viewable on o...

In this episode, Rebecca talks to LaToya Wilson and Paul Kamps, two participants in Upper House's recent cohort on the practice of lament. They discuss the biblical basis for lament and the power of prayer, all while sharing their personal journeys. LaToya and Paul also each share a written lament.  Led by Rebecca, the cohort used Mark Vroegop's book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy as a shared t...

In this episode, John talks to Randy Franz and Kenman Wong , two professors at Seattle Pacific University and producers for Faith & Co , a documentary film series about people who live out their businesses as their vocational callings. They discuss the backstory to the films, some of the most memorable episodes, and the broader Faith and Work movement. The Faith & Co. series, now in its fo...

In this episode, Science for the Church co-founder Greg Cootsona interviews mathematician, Christian apologist, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford, John Lennox . They cover some of the core issues in the contemporary faith and science conversation, and talk about John's new film, Against the Tide . The UpWords Podcast is an initiative of Upper House . This episode was produced...

In this episode, Melissa talks with Marilyn McEntyre about writing, teaching, and the creative life. Marilyn's work includes Make a List: How a Simple Practice Can Change Our Lives and Open Our Hearts ; her most recent book, Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict ; and her upcoming Dear Doctor: What Doctors Don't Ask, What Patients Need to Say .   Marylin's recent events with Upper...

In this inaugural episode, Dan talks with Darren Dochuk , professor of history at the University of Notre Dame,  about his formation as a historian, his contributions to the history of American evangelicalism, and how he hopes Christians will use his scholarship. Also, Dan and Darren run through two speed rounds of questions. The UpWords Podcast is an initiative of Upper House . Send us a message...

Welcome to the official Upper House podcast! Send us Fan Mail CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace. This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House. Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour Edited by Dave Conour