Ever wonder about “everybody getting a trophy” and the cult of self-esteem? Kristin Neff discusses the potential dangers of self-esteem—like bullying and narcissism—and the preferred practice of self-compassion.

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“Health inequities started with slavery,” says Dr. Quincy Byrdsong in this episode on healthcare inequities. We discuss at length the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis trials, and the persistent issues in healthcare and social justice. We close with a personal conversation about his experience as an African-American man, and how he has emotionally and professionally navigated doing such work.

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The US, says Harvard Prof. David Hemenway, does not have a “violence problem” in comparison to other high-income countries in terms of robbery, assault, or burglary. But we have much more homicide and gun-related problems: “A child in the United States is much more likely to be murdered with a firearm than children in these other countries: We are twenty-nine times higher.” From the perspective of public health, what practical helps might there be? Listener discretion is advised.

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Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College Randall Balmer tells of a meeting in Washington, DC that changed the course of his academic career, and set him on an unexpected investigation: the Religious Right’s origins is not to be located in the issue of abortion. Instead, he concludes, the movement began “to defend racial segregation.”

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Poet Christian Wiman discusses doubt and faith; the role of poetry “when the world is burning”; ways in which being raised in west Texas made him the poet and person he is; how “destitution and abundance are two facets of the one face of God”; along with four poem recitations.

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Not so sure about Christians touting second amendment gun rights? A discussion with the editors of God and Guns: The Bible Against American Gun Culture, who challenge the too-easy pro-gun rhetoric of many American Christians.

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“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble,” said Congressman John Lewis. Leigh Nash and Matt Maher met for a song co-write honoring Lewis’s wisdom, hoping to speak to issues of race in America. Knowing their white perspective was not sufficient for an honest song, some awkwardness and vulnerability led to a request of their third co-writer Ruby Amanfu. That gave rise to their moving song “Good Trouble.” Includes live performance.

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Conservative American Christianity insists we must not let the wider culture determine what we do, and yet we see that happening precisely in the patriarchy that characterizes much of American Christianity. So argues Dr. Barr, in her critique of the subordination of women in the church. Plus live satire from Tokens Show’s own Brother Preacher, aka Greg Lee. This and more, all playing off Dr. Barr’s book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.

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Eugene Cho is a Korean-born immigrant to the United States and now activist and author. We discuss his moving and distressing childhood experiences at age six; his journey to Christianity; and how both those realities have given him insight and possibilities for service to the world, as well as put him at odds with both the right and the left in America.

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Psychiatrist Curt Thompson joins Lee to discuss his book The Soul of Shame. They discuss the mechanism of shame, how it impedes joy, connection, creativity and human flourishing; and how vulnerability subverts shame. Don’t just listen to this one. Take notes, and try it…  But it’s not for the faint of heart.

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