At Sea with Justin McRoberts

By Justin McRobertsSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity Arts Philosophy Performing Arts

At Sea with Justin McRoberts episodes

October 26The Truth About Getting Published (From a Literary Agent) | Joy Eggerichs Reed
Writing the Book Is Only Half the Story
Literary agent and author Joy Eggerich joins Justin McRoberts for a conversation about the realities of modern publishing and what it means to pursue creative work in an industry that doesn’t always reward the things artists value most.
Joy explains how the publishing landscape has changed, why traditional publishers have become more cautious, and how the rise of independent publishing has created new opportunities for authors.
Justin reflects on his own experiences self-publishing his early books, including CMYK, and how those experiences helped him develop a healthier relationship with his work.
Together, they explore the tension between artistic freedom and commercial expectations.
Topics include:
The changing publishing industry
Why traditional publishing is more complicated than it once was.
How publishers evaluate potential books.
The growing importance of an author’s platform.
What authors should understand about publishing contracts and rights.
Writing versus publishing
Why writers shouldn’t chase publishing trends.
Separating the creative process from the business process.
What Justin learned from self-publishing.
Why independent publishing can be a valuable learning experience.
The role of a literary agent
Joy’s unconventional journey into publishing.
Why she became an agent.
How writing her own books has made her more empathetic toward authors.
What makes a strong book proposal.
Why comparable titles matter.
Marketing without losing yourself
Why authors don’t necessarily need to become social media personalities.
Choosing marketing approaches that fit your personality.
The importance of personal relationships.
Why word of mouth remains valuable.
Understanding who your book is actually for.
Creativity and the long game
Why meaningful creative work requires learning.
The importance of mentors and guides.
How publishing can become part of an artist’s development.
Why success doesn’t always look the way we imagined.
Books and resources mentioned
CMYK: The Process of Life Together — Justin McRoberts
Get to the Publishing Punchline — Joy Eggerich
Bega — Joy Eggerich and her father
You’re So Strong — Leslie Harderburg
The Correspondent — discussed as an example of word-of-mouth success
Punchline Agency
Punchline Publishers
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
46 min
September 29 Greta Gerwig's Narnia, Art, Religion, Control and Curiosity
Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia adaptation has generated plenty of conversation, particularly around the reported casting of Meryl Streep as the voice of Aslan.
Rather than deciding whether that interpretation is right or wrong, Justin uses the controversy to ask a larger question: What happens to art once the artist releases it into the world?
Justin shares the story of artist Laura Van Daren’s “Truth Scope” and her realization that an audience’s experience of her work becomes part of the work itself. He also remembers meeting someone whose deeply personal interpretation of one of Justin’s songs bore little resemblance to what Justin originally intended.
From there, he looks at Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” Jeff Buckley’s interpretation of it, and Johnny Cash’s transformation of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt.”
The conversation eventually returns to Narnia and the particular intensity surrounding interpretations of religiously significant art.
Justin considers why Christians can become protective of Narnia, the difference between Aslan and the Jesus to whom Aslan points, and even the multiple ways Christians already engage sacred scripture, from historical and exegetical study to practices like Lectio Divina.
The question underneath it all is about posture.
Can we become more curious about what an artist is exploring before deciding what their work means? Can we leave room for another person’s spiritual and creative journey? And can we trust that a new interpretation won’t destroy what we already love?
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
16 min
September 24 The Calling of the Artist with W. David O. Taylor
Justin welcomes back W. David O. Taylor, theologian, author, and professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, for a conversation about art, faith, and the vocation of the artist.
They begin with David’s own creative process and his somewhat unexpected path toward becoming a writer. David talks about learning to write in public, studying writers whose craft he admired, and discovering that while he loves writing, the classroom remains one of the places where he feels most alive.
From there, the conversation widens into the theological questions at the heart of David’s work: Why does art matter? What role does an artist play in the life of the church and the world? And why have Christian communities so often struggled to understand creative work that doesn’t fit neatly into categories like worship, ministry, or evangelism?
Justin and David explore the ways art can invite rather than dictate, how beauty can reach beyond preference, and why the familiar distinction between “sacred” and “secular” may be far less useful than we think.
David ultimately offers artists a larger vision of calling: creative work can participate in God’s love for the world without needing to become explicitly religious or justify itself through measurable outcomes.
As David puts it near the end of the conversation: artists can get on with the thing they’ve been called to do, doing it well, humbly, and joyfully, trusting that over a lifetime, goodness will come from it.
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
56 min
August 24AI, Cults, and Phoebe Bridgers
Why the AI conversation is bigger than functionality

The hidden story underneath productivity and efficiency

When accomplishment becomes a measure of human worth

Why peace should be the source of work, not the reward for it

Navigating religion when the rest of life is falling apart

Spirituality as something that encompasses the whole person

Signs that a religious system may be functioning like a cult

The danger of institutions claiming exclusive access to God

What healthy spiritual practice should actually produce

Phoebe Bridgers and the power of familiar-yet-challenging art

Why great artists invite rather than demand

Art, friendship, and love as forces that meet us where we are and move us forward
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
17 min
August 06Nihilism & The Odyssey
Nihilism is not the same as apathy

Why nihilism can become a justification for inaction

The pain and personal cost of continuing to care

How information overload creates paralysis

Why the systems feeding us outrage benefit from our inaction

Turning down global noise without abandoning social responsibility

Why meaningful action is usually local

Art-making as an antidote to reactivity and overwhelm

Becoming generative rather than merely responsive

The controversy around casting choices in The Odyssey

Why audiences increasingly approach art as propaganda

The artist’s job is not to reinforce conclusions we already hold

How propaganda sacrifices craft to deliver its message

Why much so-called religious art is actually political propaganda

Beauty as an invitation into discomfort, growth, and transformation

Why “wokeness” and “anti-wokeness” are both too small for what art can do
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
20 min
July 09When Everything Falls Apart: Jess Janz on Hope, Creativity & Beginning Again
Starting with the surprisingly complicated question, “Does a book ever actually feel finished?”, they wander into the deeper realities of creativity, friendship, identity, vulnerability, and hope.
Together they explore:
Why is releasing creative work emotionally complicated?

The people who quietly shape our work behind the scenes.

How trusted relationships help us become better artists and better humans.

Why uncertainty is an essential part of every creative process.

Living as a “border walker” between certainty and mystery.

The importance of staying curious instead of rushing toward resolution.

Why does making art ultimately become a way of making a life?
Whether you’re writing a book, starting a business, raising a family, or simply trying to become more fully yourself, this conversation offers an invitation to embrace the unfinished nature of the creative life.

Pick up Jess's new book, "The Table Where we Meet," here - https://www.jessjanz.com/book
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
54 min
July 02What’s Really Holding You Back? (And 5 Other Questions I Can’t Stop Thinking About)
This episode is a listener Q&A covering some surprisingly connected themes: ambition, gratitude, creativity, faith, neurodivergence, and artificial intelligence.
Justin explores:
Why “being held back” isn’t always something to overcome.

How gratitude changes our relationship with ambition.

What to do when your faith feels like it’s falling apart.

ADHD, executive functioning, and practical ways to get unstuck.

Why creativity begins with play rather than performance.

Whether AI can actually participate in the creative process.

Why the tools we use ultimately shape the people we become.
Referenced:
Austin Kleon – Don’t Call It Art

C.S. Lewis on beauty

The Atlantic AI Search Database

Spiritual direction as a practice of discernment
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
23 min
May 19Design Your Good Life: Why Purpose Matters More Than Productivity with Charles Lee
Justin sits down with Charles Lee for a deep conversation around meaning, implementation, purpose, and the future of human fulfillment.
Drawing from Charles’ new book framework, the conversation moves beyond surface-level productivity into the deeper questions most people avoid:
Why are you doing what you’re doing?

What kind of life are you actually building?

What happens when achievement no longer satisfies?
Together they explore:
Why implementation builds confidence

The emotional cost of unfinished ideas

Community as an intentional practice

Contribution vs self-platforming

Creativity, meaning, and human flourishing

Why the modern world is making it easier to avoid purpose

The growing existential crisis hiding underneath productivity culture
This episode challenges the idea that success alone leads to fulfillment and argues for a more intentional, deeply human way of living.
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
49 min
May 06 AI Can’t Replace the Part That Makes Art Matter
Justin reflects on a recent interview with Diplo about AI replacing singers and uses it as a doorway into a deeper conversation about art, product, beauty, and human value. He argues that art is not valuable because it sells or because it reaches technical perfection. Art matters because it comes from a human being in process.
Drawing on examples from Diplo’s collaborations, Billy Corgan’s resistance to AI songwriting, CS Lewis on beauty, and Justin’s own work coaching artists, this episode invites creators to resist the machine’s value system and remember that the work is not the point. The human becoming through the work is. Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
13 min
February 11 How to See Invisible Things With Stephen Roach

Breath and Clay as a “house of refuge” from cultural noise
Community as collaboration, not organization
Why the event works: clarity plus mystery
Makers show up with projects, not just opinions
Real-world outcomes: collaborations that keep growing after the weekend
Letting fruit scatter without controlling the pipeline
The 2026 theme: Making Space https://www.thebreathandtheclay.com
The icon: the chair
Stephen’s new book: How to See Invisible Things
Inner life and outer life of the artist
“Border-walker” artists and the liminal, unresolved middle
Art as a way of seeing, not a utilitarian product
Scarcity vs abundance as a spiritual and creative posture
Mary “treasuring” as a model for creation and formation
Book excerpt: John Cage 4’33, Quaker silence, sacramental vision
Call to action: make the investment, ditch something else, come to Winston-Salem

https://www.thebreathandtheclay.com
Links For Justin:
Read Justin's Substack
Order In The Low - NEW Book with Scott Erickson
Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems
Order Sacred Strides
JustinMcRoberts.com
Support this podcast
NEW Single - Let Go
NEW Music - Sliver of Hope
NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird
The Book - It Is What You Make it
Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble
46 min

About At Sea with Justin McRoberts

From the publisher's feed

A weekly interview show with culture makers and shakers. In each installment, host Justin McRoberts talks with artists, creatives, policymakers, and theologians that are striving and pushing for…