The Englewood Review of Books Podcast

Jen welcomed first-time ERB guest Russell Moore alongside returning guest Karen Swallow Prior to discuss their recent writings on the state of Evangelical religion and culture in American life, as well as a fascinating and unexpected list of titles they are currently enjoying.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by R Moore
• The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis by Karen Swallow Prior
• On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books by Karen Swallow Prior
• Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior
• Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior
• "How Do People Actually Change?" Article by Simeon Zahl for Mockingbird
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
• The Priory - Karen Swallow Prior on Substack
• The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
• An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis
• A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
• Cultural Liturgies Trilogy by James KA Smith
• Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories
• High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley
• A Time to Build by Yuval Levin
• The Godless Crusade by Tobias Cremer
• A World After Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right by Matthew Rose
• The Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich by Doris Bergen
• The Goat-Foot God by Dion Fortune
• The Green Man by Kingsley Amis
• The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Jen sat down with two first-time guests (and poets) to have the first-ever ERB  Podcast episode conversation focused entirely on poetry! They discuss whether the distinction between "poet" and "writer" is legitimate, their own writing processes, and even read a few selections of their recent publications.

Learn more about Heather Lanier here: https://heatherlanierwriter.com/

Learn more about Katie Manning here: https://www.katiemanningpoet.com/

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• Raising a Rare Girl by Heather Lanier
• Psalms of Unknowing (forthcoming) by Heather Lanier
• Hereverent by Katie Manning
• A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
• Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen
• The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service
• Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous

Jen takes a shift in a "panelist" seat for this episode, as Chris hosts a conversation between her and two other writers, Marilyn McEntyre and Ragan Sutterfield, as they reflect on the recent book on time and mortality by Oliver Burkeman. They discuss the impact of the book on their own ideas, as well as how it intersects with broader Christian thought.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
• In Good Time by Jen Pollock Michel
• Caring For Words in a Culture of Lies, 2nd edition by Marilyn McEntyre
• Wendell Berry and the Given Life by Ragan Sutterfield
• On Humus and Humility (forthcoming) by Ragan Sutterfield
• Make a List: How a Simple Practice Can Change Our Lives and Open Our Hearts by Marilyn McEntyre
• Jayber Crow: A Novel by Wendell Berry
• Remembering: A Novel by Wendell Berry
• Counterproductive: Time Management in the Knowledge Economy by Melissa Gregg
• Four Quartets: A Poem by T.S. Eliot
• The Fullness of Time: Jesus Christ, Science and Modernity by Kara Slade
• A Secular Age by Charles Taylor

Joel sat down with two ERB reviewers and contributors to discuss their recent reviews, as well as what they have been reading lately. A wide swath of genres are discussed, including biography, poetry, theology, and of course, some epic fantasy!

Amy Merrick is a senior professional lecturer in journalism at DePaul University in Chicago. She is also a freelance writer and editor, and a longtime member of the Religion in Literature book group at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois

Aarik Danielsen is the arts and entertainment editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune and an instructor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He writes a weekly column, The (Dis)content, for Fathom Magazine. His work has been published in Image Journal, Think Christian, Christ and Pop Culture and more.

Books and Writing Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
• Parting the Waters: America in the King Years by Taylor Branch
• Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Amy's Review of "King: A Life" by Jonathan Eig for ERB
• Touch the Earth: Poems on the Way by Drew Jackson
• Aarick's Review of "Touch the Earth" by Drew Jackson for ERB.
• Promises of Gold by Jose Olivares
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clark by Jenny Odell
• How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
• What Are People For? Essays by Wendell Berry
• Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age by Joseph Minich
• The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac
• The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• When Church Stops Working by Andy Root and Blair Bertrand
• Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams

Jen sat down at Urbana with two first-time podcast guests, Jeff Clark & Lynda MacGibbon to discuss place, habits, rhythms, and of course their own writing.

Books mentioned in this episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• My Vertical Neighborhood: How Strangers Became a Community — Lynda MacGibbon
• A Big Gospel in Small Places: Why Ministry in Forgotten Communities Matters — Stephen Witmer
• The Forgotten Church: Why Rural Ministry Matters for Every Church in America — Glenn Daman
• No Little Places: The Untapped Potential of the Small-Town Church — Ron Klassen, John Koessler
• The Power of Group Prayer: How Intercession Transforms Us and the World — Carolyn Carney
• Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story — Bono

Chris sat down at Urbana with two first-time podcast guests and recent co-authors of the recent book "Learning Our Names." They discuss the writing of this project, the importance of names, and their personal backgrounds.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• Learning Our Names: Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation — Sabrina S. Chan, Linson Daniel, E. David de Leon, La Thao
• Voices of Lament: Reflections on Brokenness and Hope in a World Longing for Justice — Natasha Sistrunk Robinson
• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma — Stephanie Foo
• Motherhood: A Confession — Natalie Carnes

Chris sat down with Josh Harper and Lowell Bliss at Urbana for a thoughtful and impassioned conversation about Christianity, environmentalism and creation care, as well as their work and what they're reading.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• Environmental Missions: Planting Churches and Trees — Lowell Bliss
• People, Trees, and Poverty: A Snapshot of Environmental Missions — Lowell Bliss
• The Wisdom of Your Body: Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection through Embodied Living — Hillary McBride
• Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth — Randy Woodley
• In Deep Waters: Spiritual Care for Young People in a Climate Crisis — Talitha Amadea Aho
• The Ministry for the Future — Kim Stanley Robinson

Chris sat down with Andy Crouch and Wendy Quay at Urbana 22 for a conversation about vocation, calling, purpose, and how these topics intersect with their work and writing.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World — Andy Crouch
• Sacred Pace: Four Steps to Hearing God and Aligning Yourself With His Will — Terry Looper
• Three Mile an Hour God — Koyama Kosuke
• Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work — Miroslav Volf
• Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture — Christopher Watkin
• Where the Crawdads Sing — Delia Owens
• The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire — Alan Kreider
• Piranesi — Susanna Clarke

Chris sat down at Urbana with first-time guests Terry & Darlene Wildman for an insightful and illuminating conversation about the process of writing the First Nations Version of the New Testament, as well as the work of writing and contextualization in general.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

•  When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us — Terry M. Wildman
• First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament — Terry M. Wildman, First Nations Version Translation Council

Jen sat down with two first-time podcast guests at Urbana to discuss their recent work and the topics of belonging and loneliness.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

If you’d like to order any of the following books, we encourage you to do so from Hearts and Minds Books(An independent bookstore in Dallastown, PA, run by Byron and Beth Borger) 

• A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn’t a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another — Sam Kim
• No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation — Greg Coles
• Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another — Rowan Williams
• Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• “The Body” — Stephen King
• Castaways of the Flying Dutchman — Brian Jacques