In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer

Landscape designer Steve Griggs joins Frank Schaeffer for a raw, funny, deeply human conversation about rising from a working-class New York childhood to becoming one of America’s premier landscape artists — featured in Forbes, WSJ, HuffPost and Bravo’s Backyard Envy.

Steve reveals the truth about designing for the ultra-wealthy, why taste beats money every time, how stonework builds character, what 40 years in the dirt taught him, and why water + fire belong in every garden — from mega-estates to tiny balconies.

Frank and Steve go deep on class, beauty, craftsmanship, fathers, work ethic, climate, art, and the joy of creating a space people never want to leave.

_____

LINKS

Check out Steve’s stunning book Straight Dirt

Follow Steve on Instagram @SteveGriggsDesign

Visit Steve Griggs Design Online

_____

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Frank Schaeffer talks with bestselling author and theologian Diana Butler Bass about Advent, spiritual resilience, and her new book A Beautiful Year. In this powerful conversation, they explore the meaning of “fear not” in a time of political turmoil, the role of the Christian liturgical calendar in daily life, and how ancient spiritual practices help us navigate modern anxiety, grief, and uncertainty. Diana reflects on the raw beauty of the Christmas story, the humanity of Mary, and why light and darkness are central to Christian spirituality. If you’re searching for insight on Advent, progressive Christianity, the intersection of faith and politics, or how to find hope in overwhelming times, this episode offers clarity, grounding, and real-world encouragement.

_____

LINKS

A Beautiful Year

Diana Butler Bass: The Cottage

_____

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Neurologist Dr. Carolyn Larkin Taylor, MD joins Frank Schaeffer to talk about her powerful new memoir Whispers of the Mind — a life in neurology, grief, intuition, near-death stories, medical gaslighting, and one extraordinary golden retriever named Prancer who became a four-legged healer in the clinic.

_____

LINKS

https://www.carolynlarkintaylorauthor.com/

Whispers of the Mind: A Neurologist's Memoir

https://bookshop.org/a/99692/9781647429362

_____

Across three decades of practice, Dr. Taylor has walked families through ALS, Parkinson’s, dementia, addiction, traumatic brain injury, concussions, and devastating strokes — including the massive stroke that took her own brother. She and Frank go deep on:

• How women are routinely dismissed and “gaslit” in medical settings
• Her own almost-missed endometrial cancer, brushed off as “just stress”
• The emotional cost of telling families the worst news a human can hear
• Why she nearly quit medicine after her mother died in an ICU
• The hidden danger of youth sports concussions and second-impact syndrome
• Near-death experiences, souls, and why she believes something comes after this life
• Prancer the therapy dog: intuitive diagnoses, comforting the paralyzed, and angels in fur

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

What happens when a former evangelical-turned-atheist-who-prays sits down with a Catholic engineer–philosopher who nearly became a priest… and then founded a medical device company… and then wrote a book arguing that logic, science, and divinity aren’t enemies but dance partners?

Frank Schaeffer speaks with Brian Cranley, author of The Call of Wonder: How the God of Reason Created Science in His Image, about the Big Bang, Aquinas, Plato, Aristotle, cosmology, consciousness, mystery, logic, faith, doubt, and why wonder might be the deepest human instinct we share.

A conversation that moves from cosmology to parenting, from quantum beginnings to spiritual hunger, from medical science to metaphysics, and straight into the heart of what it means to be human.

Brian’s book: The Call of Wonder: How the God of Reason Created Science in His Image

https://briancranley.com

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Karen Elliott House joins Frank Schaeffer to talk about her remarkable new book, The Man Who Would Be King, Muhammad bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia.

Across four decades of reporting on the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, Karen has developed rare access to the kingdom’s inner world — including seven in-depth meetings with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS), often late at night inside the palace.

In this conversation, Frank and Karen dive into:

• How a strict Texas church girl became one of the world’s sharpest Saudi observers
• Why MBS is part Peter the Great, part Napoleon, and part ruthless modernizer
• Women’s stunning rise in the Saudi workforce — and how religious men are left behind
• The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, internal repression, and the culture of “disappearing” critics
• How MBS is navigating Gaza, Hamas, Israel recognition, and the Wahhabi clerics
• Parallels between Islamic fundamentalism and American evangelical extremism
• Whether America is in decline — and why Karen still believes in renewal, history, and family

Karen’s book: The Man Who Would Be King, Muhammad bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Engineer and author Barbara Oakley joins Frank Schaeffer to explore how censorship damages the brain, why education is broken, and how real thinking can save democracy.

_____

https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

https://www.lovechildrenplanet.com/events/barbara-oakley-how-free-speech-amp-cognitive-flexibility-save-democracy

_____

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Unpacking The Gospel with Christian Smith, PhD

Frank Schaeffer joins sociologist Christian Smith, PhD, author of "Why Religion Went Obsolete" and "Moral Believing Animals", for a deep conversation about Frank’s new book, "The Gospel of Zip."

Together they explore the book’s central themes: how dogs teach us humility, forgiveness, and connection; what Frank calls the “survival of the friendliest”; and how love, caregiving, and beauty offer a countercultural answer to division and loneliness.

Frank reflects on growing up as the son of theologian Francis Schaeffer, the lessons of failure and forgiveness, and why he’s giving away "The Gospel of Zip" for free on YouTube.

Watch "The Gospel of Zip"
https://youtu.be/IiYjrYmMWhA

They discuss faith, loss, and finding meaning beyond dogma—and how religion, evolution, and a sweet little brown dog named Zip all point toward the same truth: “Together is good. Alone is bad.”

_____
0:00 Introduction – Frank introduces Christian Smith
4:00 What The Gospel of Zip is about
10:00 Dogs, humility, and “the survival of the friendliest”
20:00 Writing for younger generations who don’t read
30:00 Faith, doubt, and “an atheist who prays”
45:00 Lessons in regret, forgiveness, and family
1:00:00 The Schaeffer legacy and American evangelicalism
1:20:00 Loneliness, social media, and the loss of connection
1:35:00 Dogs as teachers of mercy and belonging
1:50:00 Closing reflections – “Of course, Ba will come.”
_____

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Why am I giving my book away for free?

I’ve been a writer my whole life, but this book—The Gospel of Zip—is different. It’s about my dog, Zip. It’s about my fifty-six-year relationship with my wife, Genie. It’s about what I’ve learned really matters: love, caregiving, family, friendship. In a world that feels more divided than ever, I wanted to offer something honest and healing. That’s why I’m not just selling this book. I’m giving it away for free.

For the last seven years, I’ve poured myself into this project. No strings attached. No catch. Not because I don’t value my work, but because I value the message even more. At seventy-three, I don’t need to chase a publisher’s advance or turn this into a fundraising campaign. What I want most is to share what I’ve discovered: that the secret to surviving hard times—Trump years, culture wars, political dysfunction—is the same secret that has kept Genie and me together for over half a century. Love. Care. Community. Or, as I put it in the book, “the survival of the friendliest.”

We live in an era of echo chambers and algorithms that divide us. But history—and even a dog like Zip—teaches us something better. People have endured far darker times than these by leaning into cooperation, connection, and kindness. That’s the lesson Zip lives out every day: greeting everyone as a friend, finding common ground where I might not, reminding me that forgiveness and joy are more powerful than resentment. If we can learn to live that way ourselves, there’s no need to stay trapped in bitterness or fear.

So I’m giving The Gospel of Zip away freely because I believe its message belongs to everyone. You don’t have to buy into one ideology or another. You don’t have to agree with me on politics. What unites us is more important: our shared humanity, our longing for love, our need for friendship. Loneliness is deadly. Connection saves lives. If my book can help even a few people rediscover those truths, then every hour I’ve spent on it has been worthwhile.

This is my answer to Donald Trump, to division, to despair. It isn’t hate—it’s love. It isn’t ideology—it’s humanity. That’s why The Gospel of Zip is free. Because the best things in life always are.

Love, Frank

P.S. If you’d like to read my book on kindle or in print you can pick up a copy at thegospelofzip.net. If you'd like to talk to me about this project, email me at [email protected]. If you'd just like to help me out, please subscribe and share this message with your network.

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Dr. Clint Heacock spent decades pursuing the “victorious Christian life” promised by Bill Gothard and conservative Christianity.

Instead, he witnessed spiritual control, family harm, and the failure of authoritarian religion.

In this conversation, Clint shares:

• Growing up in Gothard-influenced Christianity
• His journey through Bible college, ministry, and a Ph.D. in theology
• Why he left the faith he once devoted his life to
• How he now studies cult dynamics & religious extremism
• What healthy community looks like after deconstruction

A powerful conversation for anyone healing from high-control religion and rebuilding a life rooted in compassion, freedom, and truth.

_____

LINKS

https://www.lovechildrenplanet.com/events/it-has-to-be-read-not-so-shiny-not-so-happy-people-by-dr-clint-heacock-phd

The Dismantling Doctrine Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dismantling-doctrine-podcast/id1199559501

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

Sam Daley-Harris has spent more than four decades proving that ordinary citizens can make extraordinary change. He founded the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS, co-founded the Microcredit Summit Campaign with Muhammad Yunus, and leads Civic Courage to empower citizen advocacy around the world.

In this conversation, we talk about reclaiming democracy, building political will, and why real change starts with you.

LINKS

https://bookshop.org/a/99692/9781953943385

https://www.lovechildrenplanet.com/events/it-has-to-be-read-reclaiming-our-democracy-by-sam-daley-harris

_____

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.
 
Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.
 
Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast