In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer
by Frank Schaeffer
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What Do You Think Friendship Is? Meeting The Nightingales with Emil…
What Do You Think Friendship Is? Meeting The Nightingales with Emil…
About this podcast
Conversations with the Artists, Authors, Activists, and Change-Makers Who Are Shaping Our World Today.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 297 episodes
- What Do You Think Friendship Is? Meeting The Nightingales with Emil Wilson. · 1 h 7 min · Season 6 Episode 44Frank Schaeffer welcomes artist and author Emil Wilson to discuss The Nightingales, his illustrated novel inspired by a remarkable act of friendship during the AIDS crisis. In…
- Ilan Stavans on Why America Keeps Wrestling With God · 1 h 6 min · Season 6 Episode 43Why does religion continue to occupy such an important place in American life? Frank Schaeffer talks with Ilan Stavans, Amherst College professor, publisher of Restless Books…
- Warren Throckmorton on Christian Nationalism, False History, and Political Power · 60 min · Season 6 Episode 42Frank Schaeffer welcomes author and retired psychology professor Warren Throckmorton to discuss his book, The Christian Past That Wasn’t: Debunking the Christian Nationalist…
- Stephen O’Connor on How Fascism Returns and Why We Look Away · 1 h 9 min · Season 6 Episode 41Frank Schaeffer talks with novelist Stephen O’Connor about We Want So Much to Be Ourselves, a novel exploring psychoanalysis, self-deception, and ordinary life during the rise of…
- Inside Stephen King’s Archives with Caroline Bicks · 1 h 25 min · Season 6 Episode 40Caroline Bicks spent a year studying Stephen King’s personal archives, including early drafts of Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Night Shift, and Pet Sematary. She was also…
- Shadi Hamid: Can Religion Save Democracy? · 1 h 8 min · Season 6 Episode 39Shadi Hamid joins Frank to discuss Can Religion Save Democracy?, the book he co-authored with Christian theologian Matthew Kaemingk. Their friendship doesn’t depend on pretending…
- Jennifer Breheny Wallace on Being Seen, Being Needed, and Mattering · 1 h 1 min · Season 6 Episode 38Jennifer Breheny Wallace joins me to talk about her book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose. We talk about her father and the way he made people feel…
- Daisy Fancourt: How Art Can Change Our Health and Our Lives · 58 min · Season 6 Episode 37Frank Schaeffer talks with Professor Daisy Fancourt, author of Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives, about something many artists, parents, teachers, and grandparents…
- April Reynolds on The Shape of Dreams, Grief, and Community · 1 h 8 min · Season 6 Episode 36Frank talks with novelist and creative writing professor April Reynolds about her novel The Shape of Dreams, set in East Harlem during the crack and AIDS epidemics of the 1980s…
- Gretchen Sisson: Adoption, Reproductive Justice, and Supporting Families · 1 h 19 min · Season 6 Episode 35Gretchen Sisson, author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, joins me for a conversation about what adoption looks like when we…
- The Psalms Don’t Ask You to Get Over It with Richard Bruxvoort Colligan · 1 h 2 min · Season 6 Episode 34Richard Bruxvoort Colligan has spent years living with, studying, singing, and rewriting the Psalms. What interests me is that he doesn’t turn them into easy answers. We talk…
- What Do We Do With the Past? Dr. Craig Yorke on Race, Memory and Medicine · 1 h 19 min · Season 6 Episode 33Frank talks with Dr. Craig Yorke, author of Steep: A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey, about growing up in Boston, the fierce expectations of his parents, Harvard and medical school…
- The Religion of Whiteness with Michael Emerson and Glenn Bracey · 1 h 19 min · Season 6 Episode 32Frank talks with sociologists Michael O. Emerson and Glenn Bracey II about their book The Religion of Whiteness: How Racism Distorts Christian Faith. Their research asks why…
- David Dault on The Accessorized Bible · 1 h 3 min · Season 6 Episode 31Frank Schaeffer talks with David Dault about his book The Accessorized Bible and the difference between treating the Bible as an object and living Scripture as a practice of…
- Whiplash: From the Battle for Obamacare to the War on Science · 1 h 6 min · Season 6 Episode 30Frank Schaeffer welcomes David Blumenthal and James Morone to discuss their book Whiplash: From the Battle for Obamacare to the War on Science. The conversation explores the…
- Boz Tchividjian on Abuse, Accountability, and the Cost of Telling the Truth · 1 h 27 min · Season 6 Episode 29Attorney Boz Tchividjian joins Frank Schaeffer for an honest conversation about abuse inside churches, institutional cover-ups, Christian nationalism, and the work of helping…
- Matthew Boedy on The Seven Mountains Mandate · 1 h 18 min · Season 6 Episode 28Professor Matthew Boedy joins Frank Schaeffer to discuss The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy. Drawing on both…
- Why Congress Is "Stuck" with Maya L. Kornberg · 1 h 14 min · Season 6 Episode 27Frank Schaeffer speaks with Maya Kornberg about her book Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress. They discuss how Congress has been weakened by money…
- Helen Benedict on War, Refugees, and The Soldier’s House · 1 h 10 min · Season 6 Episode 26Frank Schaeffer talks with author and journalist Helen Benedict about her novel The Soldier’s House, the Iraq War, military trauma, refugees, and the hidden costs of American…
- Paul Eastwick, PhD, on Love, Attachment, and the Myths We Tell About Relationships · 1 h 25 min · Season 6 Episode 25Frank talks with psychologist Paul Eastwick about the science of attraction, attachment, marriage, and long-term companionship. Drawing from his book Bonded by Evolution: The New…
- Atima Omara Asks "What Happens When Democrats Refuse to Learn?" · 1 h 7 min · Season 6 Episode 24Frank Schaeffer talks with political strategist and author Atima Omara about her new book The Instigators and the deeper failures shaping American politics today. They discuss…
- Michael O. Emerson on Race, White Evangelicalism, and Christian Nationalism · 1 h 24 min · Season 6 Episode 23Frank Schaeffer talks with sociologist Michael O. Emerson about the updated edition of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. They discuss why…
- Elise Ann Allen on Pope Leo XIV, Friendship, Humanity, and Moral Leadership · 59 min · Season 6 Episode 22Frank Schaeffer talks with Vatican journalist Elise Ann Allen about her new biography of Pope Leo XIV and why the new pope has already become such an important moral figure for…
- America 250 and the Return of Christian Nationalism with Keri Ladner, PhD · 57 min · Season 6A conversation about power, fear, nationalism, and the rewriting of American history. Keri Ladner joins Frank Schaeffer for a conversation about the rise of Christian nationalism…
- Jonathan Tepper on Grief, Addiction, Empathy, and Growing Up Missionary · 57 min · Season 6 Episode 21Jonathan Tepper joins Frank Schaeffer to discuss his memoir Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Addiction. The conversation explores growing up in Madrid during the AIDS…
- Exploring A Writing Marriage with Lori Carlson-Hijuelos · 1 h 17 min · Season 6 Episode 20I haven’t been this struck or fallen in love this fast with a book in my life. I started reading it to my wife and couldn’t stop. I don’t usually react to books this way. I…
- Tia Levings on "I Belong to Me" and the Long Work of Healing Religious Trauma · 1 h 12 min · Season 6 Episode 19I talked with Tia Levings about what it’s like to come out of a world that shaped you completely and what happens after you leave; not just the belief system, but the habits, the…
- The Myth of Good Christian Parenting · 1 h 23 min · Season 6 Episode 18Frank talks with Marissa Franks Burt and Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, authors of The Myth of Good Christian Parenting, about evangelical parenting, obedience, spanking, authority, and…
- Why Tolkien Still Matters with Professor Michael D.C. Drout · 1 h 32 min · Season 6 Episode 17Frank Schaeffer speaks with Professor Michael D.C. Drout about Tolkien’s work and why it continues to resonate. They explore themes of loss, beauty, and moral clarity, and talk…
- Melissa Duge Spiers: You Don’t Leave a High-Control Religion. Not Really. · 1 h 26 min · Season 6I joined Melissa Duge Spiers to talk about her upbringing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and what it means to leave a high-control religious system. We talked about the…
- How Did We Get This Lost? With Becky Garrison · 1 h 5 min · Season 6 Episode 4Frank Schaeffer talks with Becky Garrison about the deeper cultural forces shaping our moment. They discuss economic insecurity, media collapse, masculinity, and the rise of…
- Keri Ladner on American Dominion and the Rise of Dominionism · 58 min · Season 6 Episode 16Keri Ladner joins Frank Schaeffer to discuss her book American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom. They talk about how dominionist theology moved from the…
- Matthew Davis on Mount Rushmore and the Histories We Don’t Tell. · 1 h 8 min · Season 6 Episode 15This is a conversation with writer Matthew Davis about Mount Rushmore and the story beneath it. What begins as a discussion of a monument turns into something more personal and…
- Leah Libresco Sargeant on The Dignity of Dependence · 58 min · Season 6 Episode 14Leah Libresco Sargeant and I talk about something simple that we spend a lot of time avoiding. We are not autonomous. We talk about women’s bodies, pregnancy, and the way those…
- Amplified: What Happens When America Exports its Culture Wars? · 1 h 2 min · Season 6I sat down with filmmaker Mike Sheridan to talk about his documentary Amplified: The Exportation of the Culture Wars. It looks at something we don’t often stop to think about…
- Healing Yourself Before Raising Your Children with Dr. Terence Lester, PhD · 1 h 34 min · Season 6 Episode 13This conversation with Dr. Terence Lester begins with his journey from dropout to doctorate, but it quickly becomes something deeper. We talk about growing up with fear, living…
- Gaslighting For God: Becky Garrison on Spiritual Narcissists, MAGA, and What Comes Next · 2 h 39 min · Season 6 Episode 12In the first hour we get into spiritual narcissism, not as an abstract idea but as something that shapes real communities and does real damage. We talk about MAGA as a kind of…
- Where Snowbirds Play: Palm Beach, Power, and the Choices That Define Us · 1 h 14 min · Season 6 Episode 11I sat down with Gina Goldhammer to talk about her novel Where Snowbirds Play, which is set in 1991 at what she describes as the end of the golden age of Palm Beach, a world of…
- Dr. Warren Farrell: From The Boy Crisis to Role Mate to Soulmate; Fixing Modern Relationships · 1 h 7 min · Season 6 Episode 10Dr. Warren Farrell: From The Boy Crisis to Role Mate to Soulmate; Fixing Modern Relationships What Men, Women, and Modern Coupling Are Getting Wrong In this candid conversation…
- “Scratch” by Kate Cohen | Why Making Things Is a Radical Act · 1 h 10 min · Season 6Writer Kate Cohen joins Frank Schaeffer to talk about her new Substack “Scratch,” a project devoted to the things we make that keep us human. From cooking and sewing to carpentry…
- Marianne Leone: Catholic Guilt, Italian Fire & Becoming Bold · 1 h 27 min · Season 6 Episode 9Marianne Leone joins Frank Schaeffer to discuss her novel Christina the Astonishing, growing up Italian-American under Irish Catholic nuns, religious trauma, losing faith after…
- My Conversation with Andrew Lownie, The Author Who Brought Down The House of York · 58 min · Season 6 Episode 8In this revealing Conversation, I speak with historian, publisher, and author Andrew Lownie about his investigation into Prince Andrew, the aura of untouchable royal privilege…
- Too Precious to Lose: Jason G. Green on Obama, His Grandmother, and the Work of Community · 58 min · Season 6Jason G. Green joins me to discuss his memoir Too Precious to Lose. We talk about his years serving President Obama, the lessons he learned from his grandmother, and why…
- America’s Best Idea: Randall Balmer on Church, State & Christian Nationalism · 1 h 4 min · Season 6 Episode 7Historian and ordained Episcopal priest Randall Balmer joins Frank Schaeffer to discuss his powerful new book, America’s Best Idea. Together they explore the true history of…
- Furious Minds: The Intellectual Engine Behind Trumpism with Laura K. Field · 1 h 30 min · Season 6 Episode 6Why the MAGA movement is far smarter, and far more dangerous, than liberals want to admit. Political theorist Laura K. Field joins me to expose the philosophical, religious, and…
- When Evangelicals Put Guns Where Faith Used to Be | In Guns We Trust by William J. Kole · 1 h 7 min · Season 6 Episode 5Journalist William J. Kole joins me to talk about In Guns We Trust and the rise of gun culture inside white evangelical Christianity. We discuss fear, politics, self-defense…
- Why Play Matters for Children and Families | Making It Up with Christopher Mannino · 1 h 13 min · Season 6 Episode 4Why Play Matters for Children and Families | Making It Up with Christopher Mannino A conversation about play, attention, and why being fully present with children is some of the…
- Doing Small Things With Great Love — Sharon Eubank · 1 h 16 min · Season 6 Episode 3In this conversation, I speak with Sharon Eubank about what it really means to help other people without stripping them of dignity or agency. Drawing on decades of humanitarian…
- The Christian Nationalist Dystopia We Pretended Was Fiction with TJ Poortinga · 1 h 5 min · Season 6 Episode 2Novelist TJ Poortinga joins me to discuss Electric Orange, a prophetic satire exposing Christian nationalism, evangelical power, masculinity, and political rage — written by…
- Apocalypse in the Tropics: Faith, Power, and the Fall of Democracy · 1 h 17 min · Season 6 Episode 1Filmmaker Petra Costa and producer Alessandra Orofino join Frank Schaeffer to explore how evangelical movements fused with authoritarian politics in Brazil—and why the same…
