Carlos Whittaker is committed to creating spaces–online and in person–where people are safe to engage in conversation about the topics that matter most but are often avoided. He’s a speaker, he’s the host of the podcast “Human Hope with Carlos Whittaker,” and he is the  cultivator and nurturer of a huge and engaged instagram community he calls his instafamilia. He has just released a book called How to Human: Three Ways to Share Life Beyond What Distracts, Divides, and Disconnects Us. In this episode, Carlos and Jonathan Rogers talk about courage and creativity, seeing what's in front of you, and Carlos's commitment to "walk with people, not stand on issues."

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Edmund Spenser's 1590 epic poem, The Faerie Queene, is one of the monumental works of English literature. But it doesn't get read much any more. Rebecca Reynolds is doing something about it. She has rendered Spenser's 36,000 lines of very difficult poetry into much more accessible prose. Artist Justin Gerard has painted beautiful illustrations. The books start coming out later this year, but you can get involved now by contributing to the  Kickstarter campaign.

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Chris Nye is a pastor and an academic. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and other publications. He is the author of three books, most recently A Captive Mind: Christianity, Ideologies, and Staying Sane in a World Gone Mad. In this episode, Chris and Jonathan Rogers talk about ideological captivity, the writer’s temptation to confirm the reader’s biases, and the ways we can be consumed by the content we consume.

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Jen Pollock Michel's latest book is In Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry, and Practicing Peace. As we look ahead to a new year, with all its goals and resolutions, Jen’s thoughts on productivity, fruitfulness, and time are especially helpful.

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Loren Warnemuende is the author of Exile, Book 1 of the Daughter of Arden trilogy. She started writing Exile in 1995. But life intervened, and the story languished for two decades and more. That delay, as it turned out, made it possible for Loren to write a better book. Anyone who has faced writing roadblocks will find Loren's story encouraging.

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Dawn E. Morrow writes poems for people who think they don't write poetry. Her debut collection is The Habit of Hope.

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Drew Bratcher is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in Oxford American, Los Angeles Review of Books, Paris Review, Nowhere Magazine, Garden & Gun, and Image Journal. His debut book is Bub: Essays from North of Nashville. It combines memoir and arts criticism—particularly country music criticism. In this episode, Drew Bratcher and Jonathan Rogers talk about oral storytelling, jam sessions, and MFA programs, among other topics.

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Rachel Marie Kang is the author of Let There Be Art: The Pleasure and Purpose of Unleashing the Creativity Within You. In this episode, Rachel and Jonathan Rogers discuss creative collisions, finding balance between art-making and other life-responsibilities, and creating right where you are.

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Sean Dietrich is a blogger, a storyteller, a musician, a novelist, a memoirist, and a columnist. On his blog, Sean of the South, he posts a new story every day about the people and places of the American South. His new book is You Are My Sunshine: A Story of Love, Promises, and a Really Long Bike Ride.

In this episode, Sean and Jonathan Rogers talk about paying attention, talking to strangers, and the unconventional path that took Sean to his work as a writer.

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Andrew Roycroft is a poet and pastor in Northern Ireland. His new collection, 33, consists of 33 poems, each 33 words long, meditating on the life and words of Jesus from the Gospel of John—plus 33 essays about the 33 poems. In this episode, Andrew and Jonathan Rogers talk about poetry's power to distill meaning, the poetic implications of John's idea of Logos made flesh, and Seamus Heaney.

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