The Ethan C. Lewin Podcast

Ever wonder what goes on inside the mind of a painter after a lifetime of working quietly on a canvas? Barrett Smith gives voice to his life and his work.

In February, Barrett was told he didn't have years left. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he's been, in many ways, catapulted into reflecting on his life, and while in good conscience, mind, body, and spirit, he wants to pass on what he's learned.

Across this conversation, Barrett speaks with a rare kind of honesty: about the marriage he once damaged before deconstructing and rebuilding himself into somebody he actually liked, about the hurt he's come to believe sits underneath most cruelty, and about learning, later in life than he wishes, to feel real joy in another as joy in oneself, knowing that this is real loving.

He talks about his hope for others to know they are accepted for who they are, exactly as they are, and that hope itself is a discipline he's chosen to practice, even now. All of these things being a message he didn't necessarily receive when he was younger, and one he wants others to truly come to know.

This is a painter thinking out loud about the raw material of a life, what to pass on, what to let go of, and what it means to try to leave people, and the world, a little more whole than he found them.

His work can be viewed at the link below.

Welcome to episode 59.

Check Out:

Barrett N Smith

Lee Bontecou

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Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Rich and Mary Tate both grew up Catholic, but neither expected the path that would eventually bring them together.

Rich grew up in a large Italian Catholic family and spent years on autopilot—go to school, work hard, get married—until his first marriage came to an end and gave him the awakening he needed. Mary was raised in a deeply devout Catholic family before finding the New Church and the Bryn Athyn community, where she finally felt like she'd found home.

We talk about growing up Catholic and discovering a different kind of spiritual home, a first marriage that had to fail before this one could work, praying together every morning and reading Scripture side by side, creating a home marked by peace, and why, looking back, both of them believe their winding paths were exactly what they needed.

Welcome to episode 58.

P.S. Ivyland refers to Ivyland New Church.

Check Out:

"Pray about everything, worry about nothing."

The Dole Notes: Bible Study Notes (6-Volume Set) by Anita S. Dole 

The Essential Swedenborg: Basic Religious Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg by Sig Synnestvedt

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Scott has a powerful story, and it starts with basketball saving his life and winds through becoming a teacher, coach, and principal at the Academy — until the desire to isolate from that role took over and he pulled away from people entirely.

This past year, he started coming back. Why? Because he realized he had taken it to the extreme, is content with his life, and ready to pass on what he learned.

This episode is as much about the life that produced his new book, What Is New Church Education?, as it is about the ideas laid out in it — the principles and philosophy that guided his career as a New Church teacher.

If you attended a New Church School, teach, or are a parent weighing where to send your kid(s) to school, Scott and I get into why church and state split and what a fully secular education, cut off from God, actually costs a kid who only hears about Him for an hour on Sundays, if at all. 

Welcome to episode 57.

Check Out:

Scott’s new book, What is New Church Education: A Starting Point and Orientation to a Noble Cause, is in the process of being published by the General Church (expected release date: ~EOY) 

No.1 Christianity Expert: If You DON’T Believe in a God you need to hear this!

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

The Glenns are back in town, which made for the perfect 4th of July weekend and a golden opportunity to finally ask something I've been curious about for years: who was Angus before Kaylene, and who was Kaylene before Angus?

We talk about childhoods on opposite sides of the world, family, loss, friendship, and how two people from Pennsylvania and Australia found each other and built a life so many of us admire. Along the way, we discover it didn't happen by accident; it was built through sacrifice, deep friendship, honest conversations, and the quiet daily choice to keep showing up for one another.

Happy Fourth of July and happy 250th birthday, America — with a little collaboration from the Land Down Under.

Welcome to episode 56!

Check Out:

IG: @jason.lambertus (jaw harp intro/outro)

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Graham Bier, the man behind the music at the Cathedral, has always been a bit of a mystery to me. So I tried to solve it.

Graham grew up hands in the earth — free range, with miles of woods and wild to roam. The son of a conservation biologist who brought him through Pennsylvania forests hunting endangered species — Graham even discovered one that ended up in the Smithsonian with his name on it — and a small-scale subsistence farmer mother who had him up milking cows before school. He grew up caught between a father who doesn't believe and a mother who did, and has spent a lifetime wrestling somewhere beautifully in between.

From double-majoring in music and environmental studies at Oberlin, to a PhD at York, to singing in China's greatest concert halls and touring Europe alongside operatic superstars, to now leading sacred music in the very community he once dreamed of belonging to — Graham has lived a life that resists easy summary.

And on this Father's Day — the day we sat down to record — Graham reflects on what it actually looks like to build a life and a career alongside the person you love, and how he and Robin are doing everything they can to give their children the kind of childhood they are so deeply grateful they had themselves.

Welcome to Episode 55.

Check Out

Bryn Athyn Music Department Staff 

Reading Choral Society

Butterfly Bakery Hot Sauce 

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

Edmund Rhodes or “Mundo” doesn’t sugarcoat a thing. He feels comfortable to say what he thinks, even if it rubs you the wrong way — and if you disagree, good. He invites it. He doesn't back down from conflict, and he's not above stirring the pot. 

But he wasn’t always comfortable in his own skin. 

Growing up, Edmund was shy. It wasn't until he picked up the bottle that he discovered a version of himself that was confident, outgoing, and unafraid. Somewhere along the way, that version became the real one — though the path to get there was anything but straight.

ATVs, airplanes, and horses ran through all of it — but so did change. Construction in Appalachia. Charleston. A first marriage strained by his drinking. Love found again in Costa Rica. A stint in India seeking healing through Ayurvedic medicine. Mundo has lived many lives, and found himself right back where he started: Bryn Athyn.

But what makes this conversation compelling isn't necessarily Mundo's story—it's the question at its center: Is an honest agnostic searching for truth closer to God than someone who claims belief but never truly wrestles with it?

Welcome to Episode 54.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

At 94 years young, Major General Ronald K. Nelson reflects on nearly a century of experiences — from flying President Eisenhower as a young Marine helicopter pilot, to simultaneously building two careers over four decades: rising to the rank of two-star general in the Marine Corps Reserve while spending those same years coaching, teaching, and mentoring generations of students at the Academy of the New Church High School in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

He coached wrestling for over 30 years, founded the lacrosse program, and was eventually inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. When it was his turn to speak at the induction, he walked to the podium, pointed to the crowd of former wrestlers, and said: "The only reason I'm here is because of you guys. If you guys didn't win, I wouldn't be up here."

Despite a lifetime of accomplishments, Ron is always quicker to credit others than himself. 

Welcome to Episode 53.

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

I would like to say 52 weeks and 52 episodes flew by but I really can't. It's been long, rewarding, uncomfortable at times, and... really, really good for me.

I was reluctant to be in the guest seat but Tony refused to let me off the hook and I'm glad he didn't.

Tony did a great job keeping it grounded, using me as the lens to reflect on the podcast, the people, the stories, and what it's actually meant to show up 52 times in a row. We talk about how this journey has helped me become more present and curious, why I'm drawn to uncomfortable conversations, and how a lot of that comes from wanting answers myself.

Most of all, this one is a thank you. To every guest who trusted me enough to share their story. To everyone who's listened, reached out, or told me to keep going.

Tony ends by asking what's next and the answer is simple: we're going to keep chuggin'.

I cannot believe I am saying this… and at the same time I can.

Welcome to Episode 52.

Check Out:

Episodes 0-51 

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

“This is going to be a pretty dark interview… with suicide, Islamic dreaming, jihad… it may get a little dark. But anyhow, it is what it is, I guess. Welcome to my life.”

There you have it — straight from Ben himself. Hard to top an introduction like that. But I will add this: beneath all the darkness Ben deeply cares. And despite the weight of the conversation, we shared a lot of laughs too.

Ben Pendleton was born into a family deeply affected by mental illness — and as he openly shares, he didn’t quite dodge that bullet himself either. As we discover, his love of religion and inner spiritual struggle have helped him make meaning of his own suffering, his sibling’s, and others’.

Ben served in the United States Marine Corps, reported from Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War in 1983, and in 1991 photographed and interviewed legendary Afghan resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. Ben introduced me to a side of Islam, poetry, and the Middle East I likely never would have explored on my own.

As Ben says, afterward he went back to working construction — “boringly, scraping paint.” Well… I’m not sure I quite buy that. You can decide for yourself.

I feel genuinely lucky to bring Ben’s story, and in many ways the parts of ourselves we often wrestle with most, to you.

Welcome to Episode 51.

Check Out:

Ben’s page: The Use of Dreams in Islamic Jihad (@benyameenp)

Caleb’s Café: 583 Hawk Mountain Road, Kempton, PA (normally open Saturdays 8am–2pm)

Book Recs & Related Material:

Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader — Marcela Grad

To the Mountains: My Life in Jihad from Algeria to Afghanistan — Abdullah Anas

The Dream in Islam: From Qur’anic Tradition to Jihadist Inspiration — Iain R. Edgar

Surah Yusuf (Qur’an, Chapter 12) 

“Song of the Bow” (David’s lament for Saul) 

New Church Writings

Arcana Coelestia (full text archive) - see numbers 1975-1983

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott), AC 5091

Spiritual Experiences (#8) 

The Heavenly City, A Spiritual Guidebook #269

Divine Providence 326

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay Connected

Contact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!

John Rienstra was drafted ninth overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and later played for the Cleveland Browns. He played under Chuck Noll, Bill Belichick, and Bruce Arians — coaches who combined for 11 Super Bowl rings. He was nicknamed The Raging Rhino. At his peak, he could total over 2,000 pounds in powerlifting.But there was always an unseen side.

Since his first year at Temple, John battled crippling anxiety and panic attacks — often so severe that the only way through them was to vomit before every game. He hid it for a long time. And when coaches eventually did find out, the way they handled it said a lot about the era he played in.

What John and I really dig into today is the full arc — from a boarding school dorm room in Bryn Athyn to the NFL, and everything that came after: More than 20 surgeries. Teammates who died and were posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Going from a first-round pick salary to essentially starting over. From lifting 2,000 pounds to not being able to bench 10. 

John is living with the cognitive effects of a career's worth of repetitive head injuries and has been part of the NFL concussion lawsuit for over two decades. His story is a hard one. But John tells it like it is, and I admire him for it — and I think you'll walk away seeing football, and a lot of other things, in a completely different light.

Check Out:

Penn Sports Live Podcast with John Rienstra

A Quiet Warrior, The Story of Former NFL Player

Elevate the Experience

Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life: Venmo. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the All Secure Foundation (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the Academy of the New Church High School.

Stay ConnectedContact: https://ethanclewin.com/

A Note from Me

I’m inspired by the stories people carry, the power of honest feedback, and the magic that happens when creative minds connect. If you’re a brand interested in partnering, let’s talk: LinkedIn.

Thanks for being part of this journey—PEACE!