The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Send us Fan Mail Ken and Betsey reflect on the Late Great Planet Earth , the monster 197o best-seller by Hal Lindsey, who passed away on November 25th. The cottage industry of apocalyptic books and movies spawned by Lindsey’s book live with us to this day. While they acknowledge the need to move on from the distress and anxiety of election day, they invite their listeners into a continued conversa...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back professor, author, and activist Dr. David Dark to discuss his new book, We Become What We Normalize . David shares the recent tragedy on Belmont University's campus in the shooting of the popular freshman, accomplished musician Jillian Ludwig . He tells us about the impact of this horrible incident on his students. The entire nation took note - raising the i...

Send us Fan Mail SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen the movie or read the book CONCLAVE , you may not want to listen (until you've seen the film or read the book). The Two Kens take a deep dive into the symbolism and message of this highly acclaimed motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow, and more. There’s much to discuss, unpack, and explore...

Send us Fan Mail Ken shares his latest Substack entry: Factions - Tribal Warfare Has A Long History . It’s inspired by the Apostle Paul and Robert Harris’ novel, Conclave (now a highly acclaimed feature film). As we gather, let’s embrace the gifts that surround us, even in troubled times. Ken’s Substack Support the show Become a Patron  - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of t...

Send us Fan Mail As we somehow adjust to the presidential election results, we bid farewell to an evangelical leader who stood for integrity over conformity. As Ken and Betsey connect again and share their disappointment over the election results, they begin with a lengthy reflection on the life of a powerful communicator, an inspirational influencer, a compelling professor/theologian, and an ente...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back to the podcast the originator of the hashtag that launched a movement: #exvangelical, Blake Chastain. They discuss his new book, Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement Fighting Back. An undergraduate at an evangelical university in Central Indiana, Blake had questions - about the Bible, the exclusive truth claims, the ide...

Send us Fan Mail Ken joins Ken Fong for a morning after the election review. It’s not so much an autopsy on what went wrong as it is a reflection of their visceral response to the news that the 45th President won a decisive victory. He will become the 47th President of the United States. More than half the nation is celebrating this week - but celebrating what? The other less than half is deeply d...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back essayist, teacher, guidance counselor, and ordained minister Nathaniel Manderson from his home in Boston. Last Summer, Nate took thirty days to walk the 500 mile Camino do Santiago pilgrimage tradition says was taken by St. James, the Apostle. It's the same journey memorialized by the Emilio Estevez film starring his father, Martin Sheen called The Way . Nat...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes writer, teacher, preacher and justice advocate, Jim Wallis. Rev. Wallis’ new book, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy is getting high marks and a wide reading. It’s a timely and prophetic challenge in an era of polarization and worse, the advancement in America of what Jim calls an heretical version...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes historian, author, and media commentator Martyn Whittock from his home across the Pond just outside London. Martyn read Ken’s Substack series on Biblical Authority and reached out with some comments. It prompted this lively conversation - and led to another focus: Martyn’s article recently published in the UK - How US Evangelicals Could Affect the Entire World . Whitt...

Send us Fan Mail For a second time, Ken welcomes Rev. Ben Cremer to the podcast for Season 5. Ken starts by thanking Ben for that first interview, "Myths We Believe," which is far and away the most downloaded podcast of Ken's more than 300 episodes (exceeding the former first-place interview with Kristin Kobes Du Mez). Ben is a prolific author, just finishing up the manuscript of hi...

Send us Fan Mail In this election year, immigration has become a major political issue. Some would like you to believe immigration is tantamount to a veritable “invasion” of undesirables or worse. However, since the 1980s, a little-known faith-based movement has taken a very different view. Humanitarian organizations, legal advocates, and religious groups have collaborated to provide advocacy, she...

Send us Fan Mail The two Ken’s reconvene at about 23 days out. The predictions seem to be coming true. The conspiracies, the threats, the misinformation, the falsehoods, and name-calling all proliferate. Kemp and Fong remain stymied that the race could possibly be this close. From the outset, the Two Kens make movie recommendations: Kemp - Bad Faith and Fong - Conclave . It opens up a conversation...

Send us Fan Mail Just this year, Neelam Warren-Pal graduated from DePauw University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. Her late grandfather, Melvin Warren, was Ken's classmate in the late 1960s. When Ken left Southern California after graduating high school in 1966, he traveled to Chicago where he became a student at the Moody Bible Institute. Among his freshman dorm mates was...

Send us Fan Mail The Republican Vice-President candidate had two objectives: 1) to appear the “nice guy” (as opposed to the extreme MAGA champion) and 2) to make the former President’s campaign sound reasonable (which it isn’t). It seemed to work until the second half. New to the national stage, Tim Walz had a rough start. Prepped by Pete Buttigieg, he appeared nervous and over-prepared. Ken compa...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Ed Oxford, key researcher and contributor to the film 1946 - The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture. Ed, who identifies as a gay Christian, graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Talbot Theological Seminary in New Testament. In the years that followed, his study of the original languages and the many English translations of the Christian scriptures brought h...

Send us Fan Mail When Adey and Tom Wassink launched a Vineyard Church in the university town of Iowa City (IA) twenty-five years ago, it didn’t take long to fill the worship center. A winsome and intelligent couple, they brought a love for the church, an intense engagement in the wider community and a focus on their own education. Tom, a medical doctor, when on to certify as a psychiatrist. Adey p...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. David Gushee returns to continue the timely discussion of his new book, The Moral Teachings of Jesus . Ken and David expand on the Golden Rule. Gushee’s doctoral work at Union Seminary focussed on ethics and the Holocaust. His work on the horrors of torture got the attention of Christianity Today when the horrific American abuses against prisoners held at Abu Ghraib and Guanta...

Send us Fan Mail As promised, here is the heartwarming, personal story - when Mark Bodnarczuk reached out to Philip Yancey’s brother Marshall. Phillip shared Marshall’s story in his memoir and on the podcast. The two brothers responded to their father’s early death and their hyper-fundamentalist church in their own unique way. Philip became a prolific writer of Christian books. Marshall began as a...

Send us Fan Mail The Two Kens are back with their take on the Presidential Debate. Just a few days later, the spin masters have already had their impact, obscuring Kamala Harris’ blistering victory over her opponent, Donald Trump. Most everyone agreed, including Republican politicians and pundits, that Harris won. Kemp and Fong recorded the day after the debate, with fresh commentary from start to...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Mark Bodnarczuk back to the podcast.  As he shared with Ken in March of this year, the fentanyl crisis in our country is real - and made an unwelcome visit to his home. Thomas, Mark’s then 17-year-old son, took a pill he bought on the Internet that he believed was  Xanax. He died a short time after swallowing the tablet. The autopsy showed that it was fentanyl - a dea...

Send us Fan Mail David Gushee - author, ethicist and global influencer - returns to talk about his new book entitled The Moral Teachings of Jesus: Radical Instruction in the Will of God. Professor Gushee, like Ken, interacts with many folks of all ages and stages who have become disillusioned with Christianity - particularly the evangelical version that has become identified with political conserv...

Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes Darcy McKenzie back for a follow-up conversation post-DNC (Democratic Convention). When Tim Walz made his acceptance speech on Thursday Night, Darcy contacted her considerable network of political activists in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to come to her home for a Tim Walz watch party. Local ABC affiliate Eyewitness News (Channel 5) sent a crew to Darcy and Dane’s ho...

Send us Fan Mail The morning after the 2024 Democratic Convention closed with a dazzling acceptance speech from Kamala Harris. Ken Fong joins Ken for a week’s end review. Harris is the first woman of color in history to receive a party’s nomination for President of the United States.      Kemp’s Substack Article became the theme of their talk, rooted in Abraham’s Inaugural Address from 1861 when h...

Send us Fan Mail Piper Dellums, keynote speaker, author, filmmaker, poet, and activist returns to the podcast as the nation’s political drama intensifies. Piper responded enthusiastically to Ken’s Substack article, “ Yeah, … She’s a DEI hire ” (a reflection on the Republican’s vain attempt to diminish the Democratic nominee for President, Kamala Harris.) Piper brings profound insight into the stat...