Things I Said Out Loud

Feel like the wonder of Christmas gets lost amidst all of the digital distractions and busyness of the season? Take a few minutes to listen to Day One of Hearts Adorned with Wonder , adapted from my popular Advent devotional series on YouVersion. Day One of the three-day plan will help you to reconnect with wonder by imaging the story of the Wisemen on their epic journey to Bethlehem. Today’s Wond...

In this episode Killer Whales are the stars and we go deep into an ocean of intrigue to explore the mindset that leads sea mammals to commit shocking acts of marine violence. In lieu of lifejackets, we hope the fanny packs and travel bags Petra brings to the pod will do. Andrew won’t stop talking about documentaries and there’s so many stars named, you’d think we’re angling for a job at TMZ. We ho...

November 5 is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, so I spoke with Jared Vander Meulen from Open Doors Canada. The organization that works to “strengthen Christians where faith costs the most.” In this episode we discuss: * How Open Doors’ work began and its famous founder Brother Andrew , known for smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain and bold prayers in this bold subversion...

In this episode, I chat with Tim Bratton, the Artistic Associate for Burnt Thicket Theatre who’s bringing his My Little Plastic Jesus to living rooms across Canada. Part confession, part history lesson, part multimedia extravaganza, Tim finds hilarity and heartache as he unpacks his upbringing in evangelical pop culture, examining its folly and redeeming its faith. We chat about: * How Tim develop...

On today's episode, I chat with my brother Daniel Kooman the best-selling author of Breath of Life . We talk about: * Dan's newly released book Sons of the Father * Leaving a legacy as a parent * Pushing against limitations in creativity * Why creativity thrives when we venture into new territory * Consistency and spontaneity in the creative process * Rom-coms * The why behind my new book, Popcorn...

In this episode we share a big life updated ( spoiler : we moved) and Andrew makes Things I Said Out Loud history with his first every on-air ad. We also share a few hot takes and learnings from our move and explain why the song Yellow is booming from the speakers. Jump to the show notes to see Andrew's office room with a view and a before/after snapshot of our kitchen. This week’s mocktail is a v...

In this episode we talk talk about an amazing new opportunity in Petra’s career, Andrew cracks open the unbelievable with the greatest egg story of all time and just as Oceans marks 10 years on the airwaves, we get ready to plaster it on our wall. Petra also shares a clip of human laughter that’s made us chuckle all week: beware the giggle. This week’s mocktail is a virgin Singapore Sling. (We inc...

In this episode we talk about our meet-cute of Parliamentary proportions, celebrate streaming palindromes and put out an audience advisory for anyone considering inviting us to a dinner party . Andrew also asks an important book etiquette Q of the audience. Listen carefully to hear if Petra names the book . This week’s mocktail is a Virgin Cranberry Moscow Mule from the Happy Kitchen. (We started...

This week Petra and I talk about the Netflix series we couldn’t stop watching and the song Andrew’s been playing ad nauseam. From current literary fiction that’s all the rage to some burning historical fiction, we cover some serious ground with laughs, a few more MAiD references and the big reveal on the colour of the year that we won’t be throwing on our walls any time soon. This week’s mocktail...

Welcome to our first Mocktail Monday where we mix a non-alcoholic drink and sit down for a conversation about noteworthy things read, watched and seen during the week. This week’s feature mocktail is a simple Cranberry Spritzer from the Food Network. Things we’ve read * Petra: Never Split the Difference * Andrew: All things MAID Things we heard * Petra : Maverick City Music - (don’t miss AK’s perf...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Featured book The Cross and the Switchblade , (1962). David Wilkerson with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Berkley Publishing Group, 2008. Today I’m sharing a book that I ripped through after discovering...

In this episode I share a review of the new Ron Howard film Thirteen Lives about the dramatic cave rescue of the boys’ soccer team in Thailand. This is a film in which the story is shown and not told, and it’s the absolute right choice. It’s trim. And the sparse dialogue pushes the action forward. Howard lets the story unfold and we are quickly swept up in the dramatic events featuring characters...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Today I highlight a book that I’m using in my morning devotions. I inherited from my Grandma and is a throwback to an author whose writing about spiritual subjects, at least in my view, holds greater weig...

On its face it's not fair, this dare. You see, I'm on vacation and so have the luxury and the time to step away from the rush of everyday life and take a breath. In this episode, I share how creativity and leadership thinking is refreshed in the outdoors. And I record from the edge of a cornfield. Film and pop culture references in the episode * M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs * Christopher Nolan’s The...

So, how do you feel right now? I don’t know about you, but I’m very aware of how much I need to lean into God. That’s partly an acknowledgement of the limitations I feel as I wear multiple hats (work, creativity, parenthood, plain ol’ life) . It’s also a recognition that I’m stepping out of a complex and difficult season into new and exciting things. How about you? In this short episode I chat abo...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. I probably should have put this in the first book-pod episode, since it’s a lifetime top pick. It’s a joyful, humorous account of finding faith, a book that rocketed to the top of my reading list upon the...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Yesterday was World Refugee Day, and I wanted to take some time and highlight an author with a powerful story about refuge and migration. Make sure you jump over to Unveil’s Substack to check out the film...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Featured book Annie Dillard,  Pilgrim at Tinker Creek .  Harper, 1974. Quotes dropped in this book-pod I think that the dying pray at the last not please but thank you, as a guest thanks his host at the d...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Featured book The Sentinel ,  Lee Child and Andrew Child.  Dell. Highlights * Andrew shares his first introduction to Reacher (after witnessing a terrible car accident on a busy street in Kuala Lumpur) *...

What’s a book-pod? I’m glad you asked! It’s a short podcast episode about a book . It’s my way to introduce you, the kind soul reading these words, to a book that I enjoyed and want to recommend. Why are you sending these unsolicited book recommendations my way, Andrew? As we approach summer, I felt it was my public duty to recommend books for your reading list. Books that I think are perfectly su...

I don’t know if it’s fair to call this a “podcast” “episode” quite yet. But I did just want to drop a note to give you a first listen to where I hope to take Things I Said Out Loud in the future. As an audio companion to my newsletter Things I Wrote Down , this podcast will be a place to talk about books and movies, to chat about how creatives are using their talents and faith to make real world i...