Give And Take

My guest is John Temple. His newest book is Up in Arms: How the Bundy Family Hijacked Public Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America’s Patriot Militia Movement. (https://www.amazon.com/Up-Arms-Hijacked-Outfoxed-Government/dp/1946885959) Up in Arms chronicles how an isolated clan of desert-dwelling Mormons became the guiding light—and then the outright leaders—of America’s Patriot movement. The nation was riveted in 2014 when hundreds of Bundy supporters, many of them armed, forced federal agents to abandon a court-ordered cattle roundup. Then in 2016, Ammon Bundy, one of Cliven’s 13 children, led a 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Those events and the subsequent shootings, arrests, and trials captured headlines, but they’re just part of a story that has never been fully told. John Temple, award-winning journalist and author of American Pain, gives readers an unprecedented and objective look at the real people and families at the heart of these highl

My guest is Stanley Corngold. His new book is Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic (https://www.amazon.com/Walter-Kaufmann-Philosopher-Humanist-Heretic/dp/0691165017). Walter Kaufmann (1921–1980) was a charismatic philosopher, critic, translator, and poet who fled Nazi Germany at the age of eighteen, emigrating alone to the United States. He was astonishingly prolific until his untimely death at age fifty-nine, writing some dozen major books, all marked by breathtaking erudition and a provocative essayistic style. He single-handedly rehabilitated Nietzsche’s reputation after World War II and was enormously influential in introducing postwar American readers to existentialism. Until now, no book has examined his intellectual legacy Stanley Corngold provides the first in-depth study of Kaufmann’s thought, covering all his major works. He shows how Kaufmann speaks to many issues that concern us today, such as the good of philosophy, the effects of religion, the persistence of tragedy, and the crisis o

My guest is Ari Meisel. Ari is the best-selling author of “The Art of Less Doing“, and “The Replaceable Founder.” He is a self-described Overwhelmologist whose insights into personal and professional productivity have earned him the title, “The Guru’s Guru.” He can be heard on the award-winning Less Doing Podcast, and on international stages speaking to thought leaders and influencers around the world. We had a wide ranging conversation about everything from time tracking, the why's and how's of living a meaningful and productive life, to comforting the dying. Take a listen for all this and more. Special Guest: Ari Meisel.

My guest is Dan White Jr. His new book is Love over Fear: Facing Monsters, Befriending Enemies, and Healing Our Polarized World (https://www.amazon.com/Love-over-Fear-Befriending-Polarized/dp/0802418880/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=love+over+fear+dan+white&qid=1568749250&s=gateway&sr=8-1). Whether it's the news, social media, or well-intentioned friends, we're told daily to fear "others." We fear strangers, neighbors, the other side of the aisle, even those who parent differently. And when we're confronted with something that frightens us, our brain sees only two options: Attack or Avoid. But either way, polarization intensifies. What if you could defy your own instincts and choose a third option--scandalous, disruptive, unthinkable LOVE? Sure, we love people who are like us, who are easy to enjoy. Everyone does. But what about our enemies, the people we consider monsters? Loving them requires exceptional strength--strength only the Spirit can provide. Love over Fear is a compelling guide to conquering fear with love

My guest is Jennifer Frey. She teaches at the University of South Carolina, and hosts The Virtue Blog (https://thevirtueblog.com) and the philosophy and literature podcast, Sacred and Profane Love. She writes about virtue, action, practical reason, and what it might mean to live well as a human person. Special Guest: Jennifer Frey.

My guest is David Shields. In this episode we talk about G.K. Chesterton and his insights into the human condition on a beautiful hotel patio in New York City. Special Guest: David Shields.

My guest is David Shields, New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books. He has just written, directed and produced a documentary film, Marshawn Lynch: A History. The film explores the silence that nonconformist NFL star Marshawn Lynch deploys as a form of resistance. Culling more than 700 video clips and placing them in dramatic, rapid, and radical juxtaposition, the film is a powerful political parable about the American media-sports complex and its deep complicity with racial oppression. Born and raised in in Oakland by a single mother, Lynch became an All-American, an All-Pro running back, and a Super Bowl champion, but over the last five years he has emerged as a nationally significant figure precisely because he has refused to “play the game” of being a dutiful, cliché-bound interviewee. Silence-as-rebellion has African-American roots tracing back to slavery, and it’s a gesture that has flourished spectacularly in Oakland, where Lynch is deeply involved in the betterment of his hometown a

My guest is Dan Conway. His new book is Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire: My Unlikely Escape from Corporate America. (https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Crypto-Millionaire-Unlikely-Corporate-ebook/dp/B07VBS7Z5K) When the Financial Times interviewed Dan Conway for a story about cryptocurrency millionaires, he told them the unvarnished truth: "I invested because I wanted the underdogs to win, for once - losers like me who didn't make the rules and didn't have the money... We'd been forced to tweet corporate philanthropy hashtags, and we weren't going to take it anymore." For years, Dan scuffed his way up the corporate ladder. He made a good salary - just enough to support his family and save for a distant retirement. His perky LinkedIn profile should've said he was a caged animal, looking to escape by any means necessary. Facing career turmoil, bills and an existential crisis, he turned to a corporate-killer blockchain called Ethereum which promised to upend work as we know it. Statistics show most people ha

My guest is Natasha Diaz. Her debut novel is Color Me In (https://www.amazon.com/Color-Me-Natasha-Diaz/dp/0525578234). In it Natasha Díaz pulls from her personal experience to inform this powerful coming-of-age novel about the meaning of friendship, the joyful beginnings of romance, and the racism and religious intolerance that can both strain a family to the breaking point and strengthen its bonds. Who is Nevaeh Levitz? Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time. Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins can't stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh's dad dec

My guests are Rev. Molly Baskette and Dr. Ellen O’Donnell. Their new book is Bless This Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World (https://www.amazon.com/Bless-This-Mess-Parenting-Chaotic/dp/1984824120). When the two first met, they were both new mothers seeking parenting wisdom. They read a lot of books on the topic, but none of them contained practical suggestions that would help their families psychologically and spiritually while maintaining their progressive values: How do we teach the art of forgiving and serving others? How do we raise kids who are tolerant, curious, and honorable? And what about the sex talk? Taking matters into their own hands, Baskette and O’Donnell began creating actionable steps addressing these questions and more. This book is the fruit of their many conversations begun long ago during the daycare carpool, from angsty moments to hallelujahs. In Bless This Mess, readers will gain constructive tools as they learn how to talk to their children about social justi

My guest is Michael Patrick Lynch. His newest book is Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture (https://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Society-Arrogance-Political/dp/1631493612). Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internet―where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting them―has contributed to the rampant spread of “intellectual arrogance.” In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought; and we glorify a defensive rejection of those different from us. Interweaving the works of classic philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Bertrand Russell and imposing them on a cybernetic future they could not have possibly even imagined, Lynch delves deeply into three core ideas that explain how we’ve gotten to the way we are: • our

My guest is Chavisa Woods. Her newest book is 100 Times: A Memoir of Sexism (https://www.amazon.com/100-Times-Memoir-Chavisa-Woods/dp/1609809130). In it this award winning author presents one hundred true stories of sexism, harassment, discrimination, and assault. Recounting her experiences with sexist discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence—beginning in childhood, through the present—Woods lays out clear and unflinching personal vignettes that build in intensity as the number of times grows. Individually, and especially taken as a whole, these stories amount to powerful proof that sexual violence and discrimination are never just one-time occurrences, but part of a constant battle all women face every day. In these extraordinary pages, sexual violence and sexist discrimination occur regardless of age, in all spheres of society, in rural and urban areas alike, in the US and abroad, from Woods' youth through adulthood. Demonstrating how often people are conditioned to endure sexism and harassme

My guest is Scot McKnight. His newest book is Reading Romans Backwards: A Gospel of Peace in the Midst of Empire (https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Romans-Backwards-Gospel-Empire/dp/1481308777). In it he argues that to read Romans from beginning to end, from letter opening to final doxology, is to retrace the steps of Paul. To read Romans front to back was what Paul certainly intended. But to read Romans forward may have kept the full message of Romans from being perceived. Reading forward has led readers to classify Romans as abstract and systematic theology, as a letter unstained by real pastoral concerns. But what if a different strategy were adopted? Could it be that the secret to understanding the relationship between theology and life, the key to unlocking Romans, is to begin at the letter’s end? Scot McKnight does exactly this in Reading Romans Backwards. McKnight begins with Romans 12–16, foregrounding the problems that beleaguered the house churches in Rome. Beginning with the end places readers right

My guest is Nathaniel Popkin. Set against the backdrop of 1976 Philadelphia, his new novel The Year of the Return (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1948598191/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=year+of+return+popkin&qid=1564840658&s=gateway&sr=8-2)follows the path of two families, the Jewish Silks and African American Johnsons, as they are first united by marriage and then by grief, turmoil, and the difficult task of trying to live in an America failing to live up to its ideals. Paul Silk and Charlene Johnson are journalists whose love for each other and commitment to social justice were formed in the peace movements of the 1960s. But the idealism of that era leads to the urban deterioration of the 1970s. Mayor Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia is a place of crime, white flight, and class resentment that is inhospitable to their interracial marriage, forcing them to move away. But when Charlene dies of cancer, Paul returns. Special Guest: Nathaniel Popkin.

My guest is Timothy McMahan King. His new book is Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals about Us (https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Nation-Opioid-Crisis-Reveals/dp/1513804073). When a near-fatal illness led his doctors to prescribe narcotics, media consultant Timothy McMahan King ended up where millions of others have: addicted. Eventually King learned to manage pain without opioids—but not before he began asking profound questions about the spiritual and moral nature of addiction, the companies complicit in creating the opioid epidemic, and the paths toward healing and recovery. We have become a society not only damaged by addiction but fueled by it. In Addiction Nation, King investigates the ways that addiction robs us of freedom and holds us back from being fully human. Through stories, theology, philosophy, and cultural analysis, King examines today’s most common addictions and their destructive consequences. In stark yet intimate prose, he looks not only at the rise of opioid abuse but at polic

My guest is Phillip Cary. His newest book is The Meaning of Protestant Theology: Luther, Augustin, and the Gospel That Gives Us Christ (https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Protestant-Theology-Luther-Augustine/dp/0801039452). This book offers a creative and illuminating discussion of Protestant theology. Veteran teacher Phillip Cary explains how Luther's theology arose from the Christian tradition, particularly from the spirituality of Augustine. Luther departed from the Augustinian tradition and inaugurated distinctively Protestant theology when he identified the gospel that gives us Christ as its key concept. More than any other theologian, Luther succeeds in carrying out the Protestant intention of putting faith in the gospel of Christ alone. Cary also explores the consequences of Luther's teachings as they unfold in the history of Protestantism. This creative and illuminating discussion of Protestant theology helps readers rethink their own theology and its place in the larger story of Christian thought. Philli

My guest is Jake Meador. His new book is In Search of the Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World (https://www.amazon.com/Search-Common-Good-Christian-Fractured/dp/0830845542/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=jake+meador&qid=1563991428&s=gateway&sr=8-2). Common life in our society is in decline. Our communities are disintegrating, as the loss of meaningful work and the breakdown of the family leave us anxious and alone―indeed, half of all Americans report daily feelings of loneliness. Our public discourse is polarized and hateful. Ethnic minorities face systemic injustices and the ever-present fear of violence and deportation. Economic inequalities are widening. In this book, Jake Meador diagnoses our society's decline as the failure of a particular story we've told about ourselves: the story of modern liberalism. He shows us how that story has led to our collective loss of meaning, wonder, and good work, and then recovers each of these by grounding them in a different story―a story rooted in the deep traditio

My guest is Summer Rayne Oakes. Her new book is How to Make a Plant Love You: Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart (https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Plant-Love-You/dp/0525540288/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=summer+rayne+oakes&qid=1562628040&s=gateway&sr=8-2). She's an urban houseplant expert and environmental scientist, is the icon of wellness-minded millennials who want to bring nature indoors, according to a New York Times profile. Summer has managed to grow 1,000 houseplants in her Brooklyn apartment (and they're thriving!) Her secret? She approaches her relationships with plants as intentionally as if they were people. Everyone deserves to feel the inner peace that comes from taking care of greenery. Beyond the obvious benefits--beauty and cleaner air--there's a strong psychological benefit to nurturing plants as a path to mindfulness. They can reduce our stress level, lower our blood pressure, and improve our overall outlook. And they offer a rare opportunity to find joy by caring for another living being.

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) is best known as the author of Night, survivor of Auschwitz and a powerful, enduring voice of the Holocaust. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he was a hero of human rights, professor and author of more than 50 books. Among his accomplishments, Wiesel co-founded Moment Magazine with Leonard Fein in 1975 to be a place of conversation for America’s Jews. For editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein, he became a mentor and friend after she took over the magazine in 2004. In this striking volume (https://www.amazon.com/Elie-Wiesel-Extraordinary-Life-Legacy/dp/1942134576/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3L2E7TU5HPM9H&keywords=elie+wiesel+an+extraordinary+life+and+legacy&qid=1561563097&s=gateway&sprefix=extraordinary+elie%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1), Epstein shares her memories of Wiesel and brings together 36 interviews with friends, colleagues and others who knew him – including, his son Elisha, Michael Berenbaum, Wolf Blitzer, Father Patrick Debois, Ronald S. Lauder, Bernard Henri-

My guest is National Review writer and NY Times best selling author David French. He was the subject of a recent piece in First Things by NY Post op-ed editor Sohrab Ahmari entitled "Against David French-ism." (https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-david-french-ism) In it Ahmari decries French's commitment to classical liberalism and civility, which make one unable "to fight the culture war with the aim of defeating the enemy and enjoying the spoils in the form of a public square re-ordered to the common good and ultimately the Highest Good." David French responds to Ahmari on the podcast, shares his thoughts about the Game of Thrones finale and talks about the state of conservatism today. Special Guest: David French.