Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good.

He is Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation. and a podcaster with Learning How to See. He is a co-host of Southern Lights.

His newest books are Faith After Doubt (January 2021), Do I Stay Christian? (May 2022), and Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart (2024). His co-authored children’s book Cory and the Seventh Story was released in 2023. The first book of a new science fiction trilogy, The Last Voyage, was released in July, 2025.

In this episode, Fran and Brian discuss:

00:00 - How Brian describes younger person's reactions to the book, "Life After Doom".

05:15 - Brian's history from English teacher to pastor to environmental activisit.

06:00 - Brian's Christian family of origin believed and taught that God would destroy the world.

08:08 - Why becoming an English teacher helped him read the bible more critically.

09:55 - Why the shift away from the religion of his childhood?

14:40 - How the 12-Step program enriched Brian's own understanding of God.

17:40 - We are past the environmental tipping point, and what that means for us and future generations.

22:40 - Hope is complicated; it can be shallow or deep, or defiant.

23:40 - Why defiant hope reflects the overturn of the slave economy in historical USA.

25:30 - Capitalism and religion and it's intertwined relationship.

31:06 - Indigenous history and why "overshoot" of the earth's balance will eventually catch up to us.

34:20 - How Indigenous people used the land to increase biodiversity and was good for generations to come.

36:25 - Why hope is so essential to change.

37:11 - Crazy Horse and his famous quote

46:40 - Brian's new book "The Last Voyage" coming out in July, 2025.

49:42 - Not everyone needs to read "Life after Doom", but why some of us must read it.

Brian can be found at:

website: www.brianmclaren.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-D-McLaren/65814657989?ref=ts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brian_mclaren/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@brian_mclaren

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@brianmclaren

Bluesky: @brianmclaren.bsky.social

Short Ebooks: Why Don't They Get It? (on Bias), and Authoritarianism

Books: Faith After Doubt, Do I Stay Christian, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, and new 2025 Sci Fi release: The Last Voyage.

Podcast: Learning How to See (https://cac.org/podcast/learning-how-to-see/)