Why does good writing matter, and why does the motive behind the writing matter? Seth and Tsh unpack the previous episode’s topic with Seth’s editor, Stephanie Duncan Smith. The three of them talk about what makes for good reading and writing, why we need better (new) stories, and with Stephanie’s business perspective, the sacramental act of bleeding on paper. This chat’s not just for writers.
Seth: Newsletter | Website
Tsh: Newsletter | Website
Stephanie Duncan Smith: Newsletter | Twitter | Instagram
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City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg


Stranger Planet, by Nathan W. Pyle


Sara Billups on Instagram


The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion


The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt


Escaping Into the Open, by Elizabeth Berg


A Burning in My Bones, by Winn Collier

 

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Pointing at the Sky

Writers and friends Seth Haines & Tsh Oxenreider chat over drinks about living sacramentally—seeing God in all things. Pour yourself a glass and pull up a chair as they talk about the sacramental nature of work, art, community, stories, love, the hard stuff, & more. 

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Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Religion & Spirituality

Other

Spirituality

Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Judaism

Islam

Books

In this last episode of the season, Tsh talks with Zack Kibodeaux of the band Blue Water Highway. They talk about the objective beauty of art, what it means to make a living as a working artist, and how to navigate secular art spaces as a Catholic Christian. Plus, the episode ends with a sampling of his band’s delightful work! It’s a great conversation to tie up this season — as always, more episodes will be coming this fall. * Host: Tsh Oxenreider / X * Guest: Zack Kibodeaux of the band Blue Water Highway * Blue Water Highway on Patreon * Create Your Rule of Life * Buy a round of drinks * Recommended reads * CS Lewis’ An Experiment in Criticism * Masters of the Air * How (& Why) I’m Taking a Summer Screen Sabbatical 

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Blue Water Highway

In this one I’m chatting with artist Chris Lewis, who runs his business, Baritus Catholic, as both a ministry and an independent (mom-and-)pop shop. We talk about what is it that makes art objectively good, why beauty is also objective, and how AI is such an insult to bonafide human artists. I also ask him what we, as appreciators of good art, can do in our ordinary, modern lives, to support more artists like him. * Host: Tsh Oxenreider / X * Guest: Chris Lewis / X / his store, Baritus Catholic * Create Your Rule of Life * Buy a round of drinks * Recommended reads 

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Objectively Good Art

Yes, it’s good for us to work with our hands, and we all should in some capacity. But what about making things with our mind, and even via (gasp!) our screens, too? Yep, that can be done well. Tsh chats with Faith Moore, novelist and (new) podcaster, about making things: she unpacks what it was like to write her first novel from her home as a busy mom, as well as launching a very successful podcast in a crowded niche. * Host: Tsh Oxenreider / X * Guest: Faith Moore / X / her podcast, Storytime for Grownups * Create Your Rule of Life * Buy a round of drinks * Recommended reads 

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Making a Novel & Podcast

Why do we humans, as embodied creatures, need to make things? And more specifically, why do we need to make things with our hands? What’s the benefit on both a personal and societal level? Nate Marshall and I chat about trade work (and the culture’s side-eye of it), what we learn about our souls when we work with our bodies, and what to do about this if we tend to live up in our heads. * Host: Tsh Oxenreider / X * Guest: Nate Marshall / X * Create Your Rule of Life * Buy a round of drinks * Recommended reads 

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Working With Our Hands

Why do we need to make things? Because we need to be people who make things (more than we need things that are made by us). Why? The reason is simple: because making things makes us more into who we’re meant to be. We’re made to make. * Host: Tsh Oxenreider * Create Your Rule of Life * Buy a round of drinks * Recommended reads * Ira Glass’ The Gap 

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Pointing at the Sky

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