Things Not Seen Podcast (Religion & Spirituality)

For 15 years, theologian Stanley Hauerwas has been writing letters to a young man about essential virtues. Now, he has shared those letters in a new book.

Direct download: TNS-1824a_Hauerwas_96K_CBR_47m46s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:12pm CDT

In Los Angeles, Chicago, and around the world, Soraya Deen is working with women across faiths to build bridges and heal the world.

Direct download: TNS_1834_DEEN_96K_CBR_48m17s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:30pm CDT

We talk with Fr. Dan Horan, OFM, about his new book, All God's Creatures.

Direct download: TNS-1833_HORAN_96K_CBR_48m48s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:48pm CDT

We speak to Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana about her new book, God, Improv, and the Art of Living. She discusses the philosophy of improvisation and how it can inform our decisions about life and faith.

Direct download: TNS-1811a_Dana_96K_CBR_47m30s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

Our guest, Diana Butler Bass, returns to the show to discuss her new book, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks

Direct download: TNS-1820a_Bass_96K_CBR_49m4s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:25pm CDT

Rev. Sherry Cothran returns to Things Not Seen to talk about a new album, Kiss the Ground, and a new book, Tending Angels

Direct download: TNS_1810_COTHRAN_96K_CBR_47m46s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:18pm CDT

David Dault speaks to historian John Fea in a live interview at Chicago's Seminary Co-op Bookstore

Direct download: TNS-1831_FEA_96K_CBR_47m47s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

We talk with Robert Williamson Jr about his new book, The Forgotten Books of the Bible

Direct download: TNS-1832_WILLIAMSON_96K_CBR_47m45s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:49am CDT

We discuss Dr. Schmisek's book, The Rome of Peter and Paul, as well as the Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago.

Direct download: TNS-1805a_Schmisek_96K_CBR_47m20s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:47am CDT

Our guest Shawn Casselberry talks about his new book, Soul Force: Seven Pivots Towards Courage, Community, and Change, co-authored with Reesheda Graham-Washington

Direct download: TNS-1830_CASSELBERRY_96K_CBR_47m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:25am CDT

We welcome back Rick Lee James to talk about his new album, Thunder, and his twitter feed that highlights positive quotes from Mister Rogers

Direct download: TNS-1828_LEE-JAMES_96K_CBR_48m46s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:26pm CDT

In this powerful interview, Loyola University professor timone davis recounts her journey from doubt and anger back to a fiery faith

Direct download: TNS-1807a_davis_96K_CBR_48m50s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:07pm CDT

Our guest Dr. Jacqueline Bussie has a radical idea about how far love should go to build bridges and mend broken relationships. She talks about her journey, both the joys and the costs, with our host, David Dault.

Direct download: TNS-1829-Bussie-96K_CBR_48m53s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:53pm CDT

Our guest Steven Milles has written a thorough account of the last hundred years of Catholic political life in America, from the margins to the mainstream to the halls of power.

Direct download: TNS-1827_Millies_96K_CBR_47m47s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:04am CDT

American culture still suffers from inequality, and academia is deeply affected. Our guest, Dr. Kelly J. Baker, has chronicled these struggles in her recent book, Sexism Ed.

Direct download: TNS-1826_BAKER_96K_CBR_47m47s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:36pm CDT

The Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana is helping to train leaders in contextual theology for the 21st century. As the director of OMNIA Leadership, he is working around the globe to help ministers make an impact in their communities.

Direct download: TNS-1709a_Premawardhana_96K_CBR_47m56s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 5:04pm CDT

Amy Lillis is former Acting Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs. In our conversation, we discuss why the State Department took up religion as a diplomatic issue.

Direct download: TNS-1707a_LILLIS_96K_CBR_47m55s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:48am CDT

We speak to film critic and radio host Josh Larsen about his work and his recent book, Movies are Prayers

Direct download: TNS-1822_Larsen_96K_CBR_47m50s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:46pm CDT

Zach Mills discusses his biography The Last Blues Preacher, about the life and legacy of civil rights leader and gospel singer Rev. Clay Evans

Direct download: TNS-1825_Mills_96K_CBR_57m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:58pm CDT

Our guest, Dr. Heidi Russell, pays close attention to the discoveries of contemporary physics. In them, she finds analogies for how we can think about theology.

Direct download: TNS-1818_Russell_96K_CBR_47m53s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:57pm CDT

We speak with Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear Pashman about her career and what she has learned in 15 years on the religion beat.

Direct download: TNS-1823_Brachear-Pashman_96K_CBR_49m0s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:28pm CDT

We speak with Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear Pashman about her career and what she has learned in 15 years on the religion beat.

Direct download: TNS-1823_Brachear-Pashman_96K_CBR_49m0s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:28pm CDT

For 15 years, theologian Stanley Hauerwas has been writing letters to a young man about essential virtues. Now, he has shared those letters in a new book.

Direct download: TNS-1824_Hauerwas_96K_CBR_47m46s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

Our guest helped write a book on an ancient Prayer Wheel, a wonderful tool for modern spirituality, hidden for centuries in the pages of a book

Direct download: TNS-1816_Riess_96K_CBR_47m44s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:47pm CDT

Jessica Mesman Griffith is a spiritual writer and curator of artistic communities for curious and wandering souls. We discuss her recent projects and events, as well as her own journey from brokenness to healing and community.

Direct download: TNS-1806a_Mesman-Griffith_96K_CBR_48m17s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:50pm CDT

We revisit an interview with Loyola University professor Jean-Pierre Fortin. We discuss his work to uncover moments of hope and grace during the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Direct download: TNS-1809b_Fortin_96K_CBR_47m43s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 1:24pm CDT

Our guest Jordan Denari Duffner found a rejuvenated connection to her Catholic faith in an unlikely place: praying alongside her Muslim friends. We discuss her new book, Finding Jesus Among Muslims: How Loving Islam Makes Me a Better Catholic

Direct download: TNS-1821_Duffner_96K_CBR_48m17s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:07pm CDT

Our guest, Diana Butler Bass, returns to the show to discuss her new book, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks

Direct download: TNS-1820_Bass_96K_CBR_49m4s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:50am CDT

John Fontana has a vision to transform today's retiring executives into tomorrow's nonprofit leaders. He's using Ignatius Loyola's spiritual exercises to do it.

Direct download: TNS-1814_Fontana_96K_CBR_48m20s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:14am CDT

Host David Dault talks with Merton scholar Robert Hudson about the tumultuous final years of Catholic monk Thomas Merton.

The story involves two love affairs - one with a young nurse, and the other with the music of Bob Dylan. Both deeply affected the course of Merton's life and writing.

Direct download: TNS-1813_Hudson_96K_CBR_48m19s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:03pm CDT

We talk with Jon Sweeney about his long friendship and new biography of the late Phyllis Tickle, who helped chronicle Emergence Christianity and popularize daily prayer practices.

Direct download: TNS-1812_Sweeney_96K_CBR_48m0s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 1:30pm CDT

We speak to Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana about her new book, God, Improv, and the Art of Living. She discusses the philosophy of improvisation and how it can inform our decisions about life and faith.

Direct download: TNS-1811_Dana_96K_CBR_47m30s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 1:19pm CDT

Jean-Pierre Fortin studies the most awful moments of human history, to discover the stories of those who become the presence of God's grace in God-forsaken conditions.

Direct download: TNS-1809_Fortin_96K_CBR_47m43s_LUFS.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:08pm CDT

We talk with world-renowned Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan about a fifteen year detective story to find a missing understanding of Easter. Crossan and his wife, professional photographer Sarah Crossan, take a journey across the near east to discover images that rearrange western understandings of the Christian resurrection.

Direct download: TNS-1808_Crossan_96K_CBR_48m22s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

In this powerful interview, Loyola University professor timone davis recounts her journey from doubt and anger back to a fiery faith

Direct download: TNS-1807_davis_96K_CBR_48m1s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:58pm CDT

We revisit a 2016 interview with Bishop Spong to mark the release of his new book, Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today

Direct download: TNS-1612_SPONG_96K_CBR_54m31s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:33pm CDT

Jessica Mesman Griffith is a spiritual writer and curator of artistic communities for curious and wandering souls. We discuss her recent projects and events, as well as her own journey from brokenness to healing and community.

Direct download: TNS-1806_Mesman-Griffith_96K_CBR_48m17s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 2:39pm CDT

We discuss Dr. Schmisek's book, The Rome of Peter and Paul, as well as the Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago

Direct download: TNS-1805_Schmisek_96K_CBR_47m20s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

Joel Hamernick moved with his family to a poor neighborhood in south Chicago with a lot of big ideas about how he could make things better. Over time, his neighbors taught him how to actually make a difference. This is a frank conversation about race, privilege, and the power of humble faith.

Joel Hamernick is the executive director of Sunshine Gospel Ministries and Sunshine Enterprises, based in Woodlawn, a neighborhood on Chicago's south side.

Direct download: TNS-1804_Hamernick_96K_CBR_48m17s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:48am CDT

Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ is the founder of Homeboy Industries in L.A. We talk about his three decades of work to heal the trauma of gang violence in the city, and discuss his new book, Barking at the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.

Direct download: TNS-1803_Boyle_96K_CBR_47m30s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:49am CDT

Mark Galli, editor in chief of Christianity Today, has written an accessible biography of Karl Barth, as an introduction for Evangelicals and others who might benefit from the work of this great theologian.

Direct download: TNS-1802_GALLI_96K_CBR_47m21s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

Antonio 'Ton' Sison is a theologian, film critic, and film maker. We talk to him about his new book, The Sacred Foodways of Film

Direct download: TNS-1801_Sison_96K_CBR_48m30s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:45am CDT

Mahany's new book, Motherprayer, is a meditation on divine love, seen through the lens of mothering love.

Direct download: TNS-1706a_Mahany_96K_CBR_49m24s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:10pm CDT

We revisit our far-ranging conversation with Diana Butler Bass. Her recent book Grounded: Finding God in the World--A Spiritual Revolution is now out in paperback

Direct download: TNS-1603b_Butler-Bass_16K_CBR_49m15s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:19am CDT

We speak with Christian Coon, co-founder and co-pastor of Chicago's Urban Village church, about his new book and lessons learned

Direct download: 1712-Coon_96K_CBR_49m16s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:06pm CDT

We revisit our conversation with Valparaiso University professor of religion, Melanie Trexler, about her book, Evangelizing Lebanon, which looks at the history of Baptist mission work in the Near East

Direct download: TNS-1701b_Trexler_96K_CBR_53m53s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 5:17pm CDT

We revisit our 2014 interview with Reza Aslan. He has recently released a new book, God: A Human History

Direct download: TNS-1417b_Aslan_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:07am CDT

Best-selling author and Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber pastors a small church in Denver, at the same time that she has become more of a celebrity and well-known writer.

She is fiercely protective of her congregation, House for All Sinners and Saints, in Denver, Colorado. "The are very willing to share me," she says, referring to her rising celebrity status, "but when I am there, I need to be their pastor. Not take selfies."

In our conversation, Bolz-Weber discusses her conservative upbringing, her addiction and recovery, and her journey to become a pastor and church planter. We talk about her new book, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People.

Direct download: TNS_1516b_Bolz-Weber_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 6:24am CDT

Fr. Stephen Katsouros, SJ, talks about Arrupe College, a new dimension of Jesuit education designed to reach the students at the margins

Direct download: TNS-1711_Katsouros_96K_CBR_49m44s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:44pm CDT

The Christian Gospels, and the holy writings of many religions, focus on the importance of welcome and fellowship. Our guest, Joshua Jipp, speaks to us about the centrality of hospitality to religious traditions, and we discuss his new book, Saved by Faith and Hospitality.

Direct download: TNS-1710_Jipp_96K_CBR_48m49s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:42am CDT

The Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana is helping to train leaders in contextual theology for the 21st century.

Direct download: TNS-1709_Premawardhana_96k_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:46pm CDT

Attorney John Mauck has spent decades on the front lines of religious freedom litigation. We discuss his new book, Jesus in the Courtroom: How Believers Can Engage the Legal System for the Good of His World.

We discussed Mauck's role in the passage of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in a previous episode, The Miracle on Capitol Hill.

Direct download: TNS-1708_Mauck_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:43pm CDT

On Palm Sunday in 1990, attorney Jeanne Bishop received a phone call with the news that three members of her family - including her sister - had been brutally murdered. We take the full hour of our show this week to hear Bishop's account of her twenty-five-year journey towards forgiveness and reconciliation with her sister's killer.

Direct download: TNS_1419c_Bishop_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:09pm CDT

This hour we revisit our interview with actor and director Curt Cloninger, who has spent 30 years traveling the country performing thoughtful and thought-provoking one-man shows.

Direct download: TNS-1506_Cloninger_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:38pm CDT

Kenneth Briggs went on a road trip to discover the condition of the Bible in America. What he found may surprise you.

Direct download: TNS-1622c_BRIGGS_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:48pm CDT

Jason Micheli has cancer, and its not going away. His recent book, Cancer is Funny, is an honest, heartfelt reckoning with the reality of mortality and the Gospel.

Direct download: TNS-1703b_96K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:32pm CDT

We revisit our award-winning talk with Nancy Ellen Abrams, author of A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet, about new discoveries in cosmology and their profound effect on our understanding of the universe and religion.

In 2016 this episode won a national award for excellence in radio and podcasting from the Religion News Association.

Direct download: TNS-1508c_Abrams_64K_CBR_49m45s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:52pm CDT

Amy Lillis is former Acting Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs. In our conversation, we discuss why the State Department took up religion as a diplomatic issue.

Direct download: TNS-1707-Lillis_96K_CBR_49m44s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:58pm CDT

Michelle Van Loon has been a writer for more than three decades. With her recent book, If Only: Letting Go of Regret, the author has turned her attention to the important subject of grief and regret, and has written a practical spiritual guide for getting over the feelings of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" that affect us all.

Direct download: TNS-1501b_Van-Loon_96k_CBR_49m44s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:19pm CDT

Author and journalist Susan Katz Miller is both an interfaith child and an interfaith parent. Her book, Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family, is both a memoir and a call to action for intentional interfaith community.  In this rebroadcast from 2014, we talk about how her experiences have shaped her approach to family and religious practice, and the politics of raising interfaith families.

Direct download: TNS-1420_Miller_96K_CBR_49m44s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:43am CDT

We're rebroadcasting our 2014 interview with the late Phyllis Tickle. In our conversation we explore the idea that our culture has been shaped by roughly 500-year cycles, which have helped define our major religious traditions for the past two millennia. According to Tickle, our present epoch - referred to by some as "The Great Emergence" - has the potential to yield a new Christianity distinct from Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. Dr. Tickle passed away in 2016.

Direct download: TNS-1401a_Tickle_128K_CBR_49m43s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:26pm CDT

We revisit our 2015 interview with Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners. We discuss his recent book, America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America  

Direct download: TNS-1518c_Wallis_128K_CBR_49m24s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:32pm CDT

We revisit our 2015 interview with Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners. We discuss his recent book, America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America  

Direct download: TNS-1518c_Wallis_128K_CBR_49m24s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:32pm CDT

Mahany's new book, Motherprayer, is a meditation on divine love, seen through the lens of mothering love. 

Direct download: TNS-1706_Mahany_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:51am CDT

We talk with Heather King about her life as a poly-addicted alcoholic, and the central role of her religious faith in her recovery. Her most recent book, Holy Desperation: Praying As If Your Life Depends On It, is a chronicle of her journey.

Direct download: TNS-1705_King_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:27am CDT

We talk with Heather King about her life as a poly-addicted alcoholic, and the central role of her religious faith in her recovery. Her most recent book, Holy Desperation: Praying As If Your Life Depends On It, is a chronicle of her journey.

Direct download: TNS-1705_King_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:27am CDT

Michelle Alexander's work examines the hidden structures of control exerted by our criminal justice system, and the effects this control has particularly on minority populations in America. Her 2010 book, The New Jim Crow, set the tone of the conversation for understanding recent events in race relations.

Direct download: TNS-1509a_Alexander_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:19am CDT

Professor Plate's teachings and writings explore relations between sensual life and spiritual life. He has authored/edited eleven books and writes regularly for the Huffington Post, Religion Dispatches, Killing the Buddha, OnFaith, and other sites. He is co-founder and managing editor of Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief, co-founder and president of SCRIPT (Society for Comparative Research in Iconic and Performative Texts), president of CrossCurrents/ The Association of Religion and Intellectual Life, and is a board member of the Interfaith Coalition of Greater Utica, NY. His most recent book is A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to its Senses.

Direct download: TNS_1413a_Brent-Plate_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:47pm CDT

Heidi Neumark spent twenty years as the pastor of Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the South Bronx in New York City, and has spent the past decade at Trinity Lutheran Church in Manhattan. At both posts, she has encountered the same need: people on the margins - cast out and unwanted - who need to hear the Good News that they are wanted, needed, and valued.

So Reverend Neumark has focused her ministry on immigrants, the homeless, and queer and LGBTQ youth, offering them shelter and welcome in a city that is often harsh and violent.

Host David Dault speaks to Reverend Neumark about what motivates her ministry, how she reads the Bible, and what gives her hope.

Also on the show, our guest producer, Katie Lynn Murphy, files a report about her experiences of China during the recent protests.

Direct download: TNS_1418a_Neumark_128K_CBR_47m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

Tattoos, foul language, and a heart for the Gospel. pastor and author Nadia Bolz-Weber talks about her new book, Accidental Saints, and the centrality of grace.

Direct download: TNS-1516a_Bolz-Weber_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:16am CDT

In the year 2000, against strong opposition,  pasthe Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, passed Congress by unanimous vote. It's supporters proclaimed that "God worked a miracle" that day on Capitol Hill. Our guest, John Mauck, was instrumental in crafting the ideas and language that became the Act. He tells us the story of how it became law.

Direct download: TNS_1414a_John-Mauck_128K_CBR_49m_01s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:19am CDT

We revisit our 2012 interview with Furman University philosophy professor J. Aaron Simmons, to discuss the relationship of Christianity and postmodern thought. Simmons identifies as a Pentecostal, a traditionally conservative Christian denomination. But his views on social issues complicate this easy label. We talk about the complexities he sees in the life of faith during this hour of conversation.

Direct download: TNS-1222a_Simmons_128K_CBR_48m_59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 2:01pm CDT

Our host David Dault speaks with award-winning poet, author, and journalist Judith Valente. We discuss her career as a religion reporter, as well as her explorations of modern monasticism.

Direct download: TNS-1505a_Valente_128K_CBR_48m_59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:04pm CDT

For Earth Day, we welcome back Boston Law Professor Jay Wexler to talk about his recent book, When God Isn't Green, which finds him exploring the points around the globe where religion and environmentalism come into conflict.

Direct download: TNS-1608_Wexler_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 6:34am CDT

Around the world, Catholic and Protestant Christians are making preparations for Holy Week, a series of worship services leading up Easter, the day that Christians proclaim Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. During the day known as Good Friday,there is a tradition in many Christian communities to reflect on a series of phrases known as the "Seven Last Words" of Jesus as he hung on the cross.

We speak with Fr. James Martin about his book, Seven Last Words, a collection of his meditations on the final hours of Jesus, and what it means for believers and nonbelievers alike. 

Direct download: TNS-1604a_Martin_128K_CBR_48m_59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:49pm CDT

Marge Nykaza is the founder and director of Harmony, Hope and Healing - a ministry to homeless and under-resourced families across the Chicago area. The most visible part of the ministry is choral groups composed of the homeless - but as Nykaza points out, their work is much more about the soul repair, which happens through the music.

Direct download: TNS-1601a_Nykaza_128K_CBR_48m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 9:32pm CDT

On Palm Sunday in 1990, attorney Jeanne Bishop received a phone call with the news that three members of her family - including her sister - had been brutally murdered. We take the full hour of our show this week to hear Bishop's account of her twenty-five-year journey towards forgiveness and reconciliation with her sister's killer.

Direct download: TNS_1419a_Jeanne-Bishop_128K_CBR_49m01s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:24pm CDT

This hour we revisit our interview with actor and director Curt Cloninger, who has spent 30 years traveling the country performing thoughtful and thought-provoking one-man shows.

Direct download: TNS-1506a_Cloninger_128K_CBR_48m55s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:08pm CDT

Jason Micheli has cancer, and its not going away. His recent book, Cancer is Funny, is an honest, heartfelt reckoning with the reality of mortality and the Gospel.

Direct download: TNS-1703_Micheli_128K_CBR_49m28s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:00pm CDT

We revisit our award-winning talk with Nancy Ellen Abrams, author of A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet, about new discoveries in cosmology and their profound effect on our understanding of the universe and religion.

In 2016 this episode won a national award for excellence in radio and podcasting from the Religion News Association.

Direct download: TNS-1508_Abrams_128K_CBR_49m28s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:24pm CDT

Kenneth Briggs went on a road trip to discover the condition of the Bible in America. What he found may surprise you.

Direct download: TNS-1622_Briggs_128K_CBR_49m28s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 4:27pm CDT

We revisit our 2014 interview with Reza Aslan. In early March, Aslan will premiere "Believer," a new documentary series on CNN

Direct download: TNS-1417a_Aslan_AM_96K_CBR_49m25s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 1:18pm CDT

#1401a - Emerging, Emergence, Emergent: Phyllis Tickle [Rebroadcast]

We're rebroadcasting our 2014 interview with the late Phyllis Tickle. In our conversation we explore the idea that our culture has been shaped by roughly 500-year cycles, which have helped define our major religious traditions for the past two millennia. According to Tickle, our present epoch - referred to by some as "The Great Emergence" - has the potential to yield a new Christianity distinct from Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. Dr. Tickle passed away in 2016.

Direct download: TNS-1401a_Tickle_128K_CBR_49m25s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:31am CDT

#1518a - The Gospel Is Personal, Never Private: Jim Wallis [Rebroadcast]

We revisit our 2015 interview with Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners. We discuss his recent book, America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America  

Direct download: TNS-1518a_Wallis_49m06s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:56pm CDT

#1604a - Rethinking the Church in the 21st Century: Diana Butler Bass [Rebroadcast]

We revisit our far-ranging conversation with Diana Butler Bass. Her recent book Grounded: Finding God in the World--A Spiritual Revolution is now out in paperback

Direct download: TNS-1603a_Butler-Bass_128K_CBR_49m06s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:27pm CDT

#1701 - Evangelizing Lebanon: Dr. Melanie Trexler

We speak with Melanie Trexler about her new book, which looks at the history of Baptist mission work in the Near East

Direct download: TNS-1701_Trexler_96K_CBR_55m06s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:20pm CDT

#1512a - The Fear of Islam: Dr. Todd Green [Rebroadcast]

Todd Green returns to our show to discuss his new book, The Fear of Islam: an Introduction to Islamophobia in the West.

Direct download: TNS-1512_AM_Green_128K_CBR_45m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:16pm CDT

#1513a - Soul Repair: Rev. Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock

We speak to Rita Nakashima Brock, one of the scholars working on the issue of moral injury and co-author of the book Soul Repair

Direct download: TNS-1513am_Brock_128k_CBR_45m_59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:32am CDT

#1515am - Civic Virtue: John Danforth on Religion and Politics

For our first radio broadcast, we revisit a conversation with Senator John Danforth

Direct download: TNS-1515_Danforth_AMCLOCK-45m59s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 3:23pm CDT

#1625 - An Interfaith Ecology: Rev. Brian Sauder

Faith In Place works across Illinois to empower congregations to care for our common environment. We talk to their Executive Director, Rev. Brian Sauder

Direct download: TNS-1625_Sauder_POD_64K_CBR_52m07s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:49pm CDT

#1201 - Women in Ministry: Stacy Smith [Rebroadcast]

This week, we revisit our FIRST EVER EPISODE, with the Rev. Dr. Stacy Smith. She is the author of Bless Her Heart:Life as a Young Clergy Woman, and she is the former editor of Church Health Reader magazine.

Direct download: TNS_1201b_Stacy-Smith_PODCAST_56KB_CBR.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 10:29pm CDT

#1514b - Tales from Pakistan: Saadia Faruqi [Rebroadcast]

We revisit our 2015 interview with Pakistani-American author Saadia Faruqi

The power of narrative to create understanding and empathy is well known. Pakistani-American author Saadia Faruqi has written a new book of short stories, Brick Walls, that brings us seven stories that introduce American readers to the people and the land of her birth.

Direct download: TNS-1514b_Faruqi_POD_64K_CBR_54m05s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 12:25am CDT

#1626 - Report from Standing Rock: Taylor Gould

We speak to seminary student Taylor Gould about her recent visit to the Standing Rock site, where hundreds of pastors converged to support the resistance efforts of the Native Americans who call themselves the "Water Protectors" at the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Direct download: TNS-1626_Gould_POD_64K_CBR_55m10s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 6:40pm CDT

Religion Moment: November 17: Undermining the Initative

In today's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses a massacre in Luxor

Direct download: RM1117.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 11:14pm CDT

#1624 - Called to the Contrast: Noel W. Sterett

Chicago attorney Noel W. Sterett fights for religious liberties for those of all faiths, as a way of expressing his Christian witness.

Direct download: TNS-1624_Sterett_POD_64K_CBR_55m07s.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 5:33pm CDT

Religion Moment: November 16, 2016 - A Nobel for the Mechanic

In today's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses Portuguese poet and novelist José de Sousa Saramago

Direct download: RM20161116.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 8:00am CDT

Religion Moment: November 15, 2016- The Reluctant Lama

In Tuesday's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses the 6th Dalai Lama.

Direct download: RM20161115.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:00am CDT

Religion Moment: November 14, 2016- Expanding the Egyptian Church

In Monday's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses Shenouda III.

Direct download: RM20161114.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:00am CDT

Religion Moment: November 13, 2016- Protecting the Wilds, Protecting Liberty

In Sunday's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses the goddess Feronia.

Direct download: RM20161113.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:00am CDT

Religion Moment: November 12, 2016- A Second Statute for Mary

In Saturday's Religion Moment, Katy Scrogin discusses the Second Statute of Repeal.

Direct download: RM20161112.mp3
Category:Religion & Spirituality -- posted at: 7:00am CDT