Persuasion

Persuasion episodes:

• 11.09.2021

  Episode 229 | What We Make of It All, with Karen Swallow Prior

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin and Hannah end their reading of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with professor Karen Swallow Prior. The trio look back at the life of Mary Shelley and explore the context of the novel's place in literature,...

  
• 11.02.2021

  Episode 228 | What We Make of Destiny

  Destiny and fate are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which inspired our fall Persuasion series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the sixth and final reading (Volume III: Chapters 5–7), as...

  
• 10.26.2021

  Episode 227 | What We Make Of Our Mistakes

  Mistakes and regret are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which is inspiring our fall Persuasion's series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the fifth reading (Volume III: Chapters 1–4) and Victor’s...

  
• 10.19.2021

  Episode 226 | What We Make of Our Stories

  Stories and storytelling are central to Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, which is shaping our fall Persuasion‘s series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the fourth reading (Volume II: Chapters 5–9) and the stories shared by...

  
• 10.12.2021

  Episode 225 | What We Make Of Others

  Frankenstein, which is the foundation of our fall Persuasion's series, What We Make of Ourselves. In this episode, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the third reading (Volume II: Chapters 1–4), exploring the characters’ expectations of and dependence upon others....

  
• 10.05.2021

  Episode 224 | What We Make of Our Suffering

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the second reading of the series (Volume I: Chapters 4–7), in which the characters and their suffering take center stage. Shelley’s rich descriptions of the inner turmoil provide readers...

  
• 09.28.2021

  Episode 223 | What We Make of Our Time

  If we were to choose one word to describe modern life, busy would be a top contender. We are a busy people—busy making a living, busy making a name for ourselves, busy being busy. This is why productivity hacks are...

  
• 09.21.2021

  Episode 222 | What We Make of Ourselves: A Read-Along Series

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the background of the story, starting with what we've gotten wrong due to the many cultural adaptations. Hollywood has taken a seed of Mary Shelley's classic and grown...

  
• 09.14.2021

  Episode 221 | Imposter Syndrome

  Do you consider yourself a reader? That answer isn't so easy to come by. How many books do you need to read a year—or a month—to qualify as a true reader? And does it matter what kinds of books you...

  
• 06.29.2021

  Episode 220 | Rebuilding Community, with Adam Gustine

  Our world came to a screeching halt with the pandemic. Schedules that used to be packed to the brim opened wide, creating unexpected space. Now that the world is opening up again, we have the opportunity to decide if the...

  
• 06.22.2021

  Episode 219 | Real Conversations with Rebecca McLaughlin

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the summer miniseries called Showing Up. Each episode explores the challenges we face to show up in the world. Erin and Hannah invite Rebecca McLaughlin to help us...

  
• 06.15.2021

  Episode 218 | Real Relationships, with Rachel Pieh Jones

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the summer miniseries called Showing Up. Since 2004, Rachel has lived in Djibouti, a primarily Muslim country, where she and her husband run a school and where they...

  
• 06.08.2021

  Episode 217 | Showing Up

  When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March of 2020, none of us could have known the level of disruption we would be facing. In addition to the reality of illness and death, we also had to face...

  
• 05.11.2021

  Episode 216 | Nature is Healing

  Over the past year, as communities implemented social distancing protocols, daily life came to a screeching halt. People stayed home to work remotely or attend virtual school. Without all our usual human hustle and bustle, wild creatures began roaming more...

  
• 05.04.2021

  Episode 215 | Sustainable Living

  Some days life cruises along the course of your well-laid plans and everything runs like clockwork. Other days—most days, perhaps?—life takes a detour off the beaten path and you get lost in the wilderness and stuck in the muck. Life...

  
• 03.25.2021

  Episode 214 | Interlude

  In the last episode, Erin and Hannah discussed the hurdles and struggles we face in our attempts to cultivate goodness, finding another point of shared experience in the brokenness of the world. In keeping with that conversation, we're taking a brief...

  
• 03.09.2021

  Episode 213 | Survival Instinct

  Last week we discussed our shared call to cultivate goodness in the world. While that is true, it's not the whole picture. Because as we work, we also find another shared experience. We all struggle in our work. We encounter...

  
• 03.03.2021

  Episode 212 | Garden Variety, with Sarah Pabody

  In this episode, Erin and Hannah explore our shared desire to find meaning through our work and in life. Our work may be more mental than physical, but whatever it is, we hope it means something more than a paycheck....

  
• 02.24.2021

  Episode 211 | Universal Language, with James Bietler & Richard

  Communicating with others is something we're born doing. We emerge from the womb with limited skills, of course. Our skills grow in time, from wails to words and eventually to full sentences and fully nuanced, complex ideas. But that's not...

  
• 02.16.2021

  Episode 210 | Dust to Dust

  Death has been a constant thought this past year, due to the pandemic that continues to rage among us and around the globe. It's rare in our society to think much about the end of our days. We tend to...

  
• 02.10.2021

  Episode 209 | Finding Common Ground

  Erin and Hannah kick off a new series called Finding Common Ground. Each episode will consider a different aspect of natural revelation and how the world around us gives us the common ground we seek—and desperately need—with our fellow humans....

  
• 12.01.2020

  Episode 208 | People People, with Chris and Elizabeth McKinney

  Our holidays are usually marked by all kinds of festivities. There are family gatherings, dinners with friends, work parties, community celebrations, church programs, and more. But this year? Most of these are cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. We will...

  
• 11.24.2020

  Episode 207 | Thankful People, with Dustin Crowe

  Thanksgiving is typically full of feasting and family and friends. But this year? For most of us, gathering with others to enjoy our typical feast is off the table due to the global pandemic. Even if you are able to...

  
• 11.17.2020

  Episode 206 | Happy People, with Barnabas Piper

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson kick off a new miniseries titled Happy, Thankful, People. Each episode of the series includes a special guest who has something specific to share about how we can clear some of...

  
• 10.14.2020

  Episode 205 | Don't Waste Your Vote

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson wrap up their For God and Country series. Each episode has tackled an aspect of how faith and politics collide. This final conversation looks at the value and power of a...

  
• 10.06.2020

  Episode 204 | Don't Be So Political, with Kathryn Freeman

  With the amount of turmoil that's typically associated with political conversation and engagement, it can be very tempting to look for a reprieve. Every issue truly is connected to the common good that we're called to work toward. But when...

  
• 09.29.2020

  Episode 203 | Just Preach the Gospel

  Racial reckoning, a threatening pandemic, devastating wildfires... our country is practically pulling apart at the seams. In the middle of all this, we're facing the usual fervor associated with a presidential election. Except this isn't like other presidential elections, because...

  
• 09.22.2020

  Episode 202 | Toeing the Party Line

  Perhaps during this series you've become open to the idea that political engagement is an avenue for kingdom flourishing to bring about the common good. And perhaps you've also clarified the sort of nation you want to build with your...

  
• 09.19.2020

  Episode 201 Bonus | Interview with Sam Perry

  Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson invited Sam Perry to Persuasion to share about his research with Andrew Whitehead on Christian nationalism. Their book, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, helps us understand the driving factors...

  
• 09.15.2020

  Episode 201 | Taking America Back for God

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the For God and Country series. In this conversation, Erin and Hannah look to the pain points Christians are feeling and use them to unearth the way fear...

  
• 09.08.2020

  Episode 200 | For God and Country? with Kaitlyn Schiess

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson kick off their fall series called For God and Country. Each episode of the series will tackle an aspect of how faith and politics collide. To get the conversation started, Erin...

  
• 09.01.2020

  Episode 199 | Getting By... with Luke T. Harrington

  Humor has been rather hard to find in 2020. We've had month after month of very serious happenings. When the world is falling apart, laughter feels wrong—even callous. Serious things call for a serious countenance... right? In this episode of Persuasion,...

  
• 08.25.2020

  Episode 198 | Getting By... with Gina Dalfonzo

  Our current moment of political, social, and even religious upheaval has been isolating in many inexplicable ways. COVID-19 restrictions have eliminate many of our opportunities to build friendships and network with colleagues. Many of us are now working, schooling, and...

  
• 08.19.2020

  Episode 197 | Getting By... with Wendy Alsup

  In polite conversation, when someone greets you and asks how you are doing, the typical, benign reply is to say you "are doing just fine, thanks." But today, that reply feels disingenuous at best, considering the global pandemic, the racial...

  
• 08.11.2020

  Episode 196 | Just Getting By

  After four months of navigating COVID-19 worries and addressing societal inequalities, it seems that most of us are embracing the reality that our world is forever changed. We're learning new ways to work, build community, celebrate milestones, and more. But...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 195 | Looking Ahead in a Viral Age

  We’re a people that loves to manage every scenario and have backup plans for every contingency. So what happens when the whole world screeches to a near halt and all the data we’ve used for decision making is no longer...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 194 | Finding Goodness in a Viral Age

  Loss and grief are central to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve lost loved ones, jobs, freedoms, and security. Some have lost their wedding dates or vacations. Some have lost sleep or a sense of purpose. Discouragement is common as we all...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 193 | Releasing Control in a Viral Age

  COVID-19 has taken away so much from us, including our sense of control. Our plans have been cancelled, and our movements are restricted. We can no longer go where we want when we want with whomever we choose. Loss of...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 192 | Seeking Justice in a Viral Age

  Anger is on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic—and for good reason. Almost every aspect of our lives has been upended. We are now working and learning from home. All of our public gatherings have been cancelled or postponed, from...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 191 | Practicing Lament in a Viral Age, with John Starke

  The world is grappling with a pandemic that is changing life as we know it. We are grieving the loss of loved ones. Those who have recovered are facing uncertain long-term health conditions. The global economy is struggling along with...

  
• 04.09.2020

  Episode 190 | Pursuing Wholeness in a Viral Age

  Unless you’ve been offline or off planet, you are aware of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It is the major historical event of our time, affecting everything from work and school to church and community. We are all scrambling to figure...

  
• 03.24.2020

  Episode 189 | Finally Home

  If the meaning and purpose of home wasn’t top of mind before our Go Home! series began, it certainly is now. Of course, most of that credit belongs to the worldwide spread of COVID-19. Government leaders around the world have...

  
• 03.17.2020

  Episode 188 | Family Ties, with Aundi Kolber

  If home is truly where your story starts, then our family members are the characters that make the story come to life. Every family has its own narrative, its own way of functioning and operating together. Those patterns profoundly affect...

  
• 03.11.2020

  Episode 187 | Home + Work, with Rachel Anderson

  How does our perception of home affect the way we go about our work? One way is by adopting marketplace values and priorities and yielding our home life to achieve those ends—often to the detriment of our home life. The...

  
• 02.25.2020

  Episode 186 | The Missional Home, with Laura Fabrycky

  When John MacArthur told Beth Moore to “go home,” it revealed much about his framework for how the church and home should operate and who is responsible for each sphere. This perspective seems to see the spheres as quite separate....

  
• 02.18.2020

  Episode 185 | Family Values

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dissect the notion that families are under attack. Many a Christian leader has presented evidence of this war, pointing to everything from Hollywood films to dual income families to divorce...

  
• 02.12.2020

  Episode 184 | Home Bodies, with Wesley Hill

  You can’t think about home without thinking about the people in it. Our most formative and important relationships are rooted here, an inextricable part of what we conceive of when we think about home. In our modern society, home is...

  
• 02.04.2020

  Episode 183 | Home Making

  Our understanding of home affects everything about us, both individually and collectively. Home is vital to us all, but determining its value in a market-based society is fraught with troubles. Salary.com has attempted to help by giving stay-at-home-moms (or dads)...

  
• 01.28.2020

  Episode 182 | The Road Home

  Disagreements within the church are often and many, and in today’s digital age, that drama often spills out to the interwebs. Last fall, one in particular dominated Christian social feeds for several weeks that included Pastor John MacArthur and Bible...

  
• 12.31.2019

  Episode 181 | A Charlie Brown Christmas

  In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson wrap up their mini-series called A Persuasion Christmas. Each episode features conversation about a specific way pop culture is shaping our mindset and approach to celebrating the season. The first two...