On today's show we talk about heroes and superheroes as an entrance into talking about one of the great lost "superhero" stories of all time: the Heliand.  This story, a kind of Beowulf meets King Arthur meets the Gospels, was super important during a few critical times in our history.  The story is good, but it could be dangerous.  Do our heroes fall prey to the dark side of the myth? Tune in and check it out.

On Superheroes and the Heliand

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I am exhausted, emotionally and otherwise... hey all, Dan here... just posted this last episode with calls from listeners, and a song at the end with a story that wraps into ViW... So, this is it.  Thank you all.  Check out virtueinthewasteland.com for where you can find us, now that the curtain has descended on this episode of our life.  Make sure you check out Arnold Mitchem's "Drive" the song "Grace" is featured in this episode.  Jeff will live on at @Taosurfers and its internet cognates. You can find me at 1517, my name dot com, doing the Soul of Christianity podcast... it's the future... you know how to find things on the internet... EGBOK

Ep 326 What We Learned: The Final Episode

So, if the title of the show doesn't give it away.... surprise! After 300+ weeks, 3 continents, dozens of states and hours of conversation, we are hanging up the microphones and turning the lights out on the ViW project.  But, not without a bang. This is the second to last- we ask that you call the hotline at 844-393-0012 and leave a 60-second message as to what you learned while listening to the show. On this show we discuss the way forward, future plans and the big take away lessons for both of us, from thousands of hours of podcasting together.  Listen up, give us a call (or leave a message on FB or Twitter) and THIS Thursday, Feb 14th we will drop our final show with your calls and questions.

Ep 325 The Second to Last Show

Giving shows their titles is a funny thing. I’ve probably done 250 or so of them, and I rarely think much about it. Also, when I myself look for podcasts, all I care about is the title of the episode. The very thing I wasn’t paying attention to! Preposition! To which, I had not paid my attention. My attention bill was late…. you get it. So this title is descriptive, very descriptive. The kids might even call it descriptive AF, which I will pretend to know nothing about if asked. So you are going to hear us talking very specifically in this show about this one thing that might not sound that exciting: an imperial peace treaty. Well, it was called the “interim” so it didn’t expect to hang around much longer. It was also pegged with the location of Augsburg, the free imperial city that Charles V (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Spain and the Netherlands, and Austria. He was also kind of inbred, so that makes all of his stories a little weirder. Get this: his mom’s name was Juanita The Mad. Bad omen, homie. Nonetheless, Martin Luther had just died and Charles, Chucky 5, decided to put the hurt on the reeling Protestants and impose his will. And his will wasn’t that bad! He wanted to end the religious wears and call the Reformation over. A tie. We’ve got a grand idea to mix Catholics and Lutherans in a way that is sure to disappoint everyone! Today’s show is about that story, that peace treaty and goal for religious peace, and some observations on what we might have learned from this monumental historical event. Are their links? Nah, but you can always go to  or  or  or  Also, last week I wrote something at 1517 with you ViWers in mind- check it:

Religion, Empire, and Molech: Lessons from the Augsburg Interim

I used to think it was really cool when people broke the 4th wall.  You know, like, in Fight Club or the original Pink Panther when something happened to remind you that you were indeed watching a film reel. There is nothing as clever here, but a little twist which might make you take notice.  Usually we banter for a few minutes, talk around the subject, and then dig in.  Well, it seems to be only once every twenty years the Rams make the Super Bowl, so we spent some time talking about them, the game and a myriad of other things.    But to get to those hot takes, you need to wade through the actual subject matter. I've moved that 30 minute conversation to the back of our first conversation about dutch radicals, the reformation and the enlightenment.    And it is probably more interesting than you first think.  We talk a lot about the Reformation and how it has shaped the modern world, but often we miss out on one really important link, the connection between the radical reformation, skepticism, and the modern age. We talk about the nature of radicalism, and why we all kind of gravitate towards it (and what it might teach us).  Jeff talks about the Trinity.  Dan throws out a few ideas which might lead to further questions.  That's the whole point.  Have those conversations with your friends and co-workers and family and church group.  The point isn't that we come to something like a silly podcast with two professors for all our answers, or to confirm that they have the answers in the back ofd the book too, rather, it's that we start conversations and learn to talk about weighty things that matter with a bit of grace, a sense of humor, and the reminder that everything is going to be ok.   P.s. Because of the way this show was edited, it can be the answer to a trivia question sometime in the future.  The question is: is there a time, after ep 101, that the show didn't end with someone saying EGBOK? Yes, this one.  Because I edited it,

Dutch Radicals, The Reformation, and Wackysoup

Sometimes our shows start with really simple ideas.  For instance, one of us might think of something that would be relevant to the podcast and send the article, idea, etc… via text.  We do a little reading, figure out what the “bigger story” at play is, and… voila.  An hour and a half later, plus editing time (we sometimes do that!) and we’ve got another show.   Ok, now you know how the generic sausage is made.  This show, this sausage (?!) is al about the States of the Union.  Having just completed a road trip, Dan being in the middle of his own personal California Renaissance, and Jeff having wandered the earth much of his life, the guys reflect on the nature of these United States with regards to state rankings, biases, federalism, and all of this with two dogs running around the studio.   As we tell you in the beginning, this is a standard “let’s think through this together” show that involves postulating theses, changing them, rethinking them, and then coming together at the end of the show to discuss what we learned from the conversation.  We go on a few tangents, edited a few, but this is a kind of “at home with Jeff and Dan” type show where they talk about their lives, their dogs, the really big questions, and perhaps a Super Bowl prediction or two…

On Superheroes and the Heliand

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