Ep 99: Christmas Traditions with April McClure Stewart

 

Reverend April McClure Stewart join PostConsumer Reports for the 99th episode, which also happens to be our annual Christmas episode! It's the last show of the year and the last show before we put together something special for the 100th episode. April is a Disciples of Christ pastor and has served in various leadership positions over the years. But what really makes her qualified for this particular topic is all of the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany traditions she celebrates with her family each year. This interview features a number of ideas people should consider implementing into their own annual traditions. You can find out more about her church here.

You can find my book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas here or most anywhere you purchase books. Thanks again to Magic Word for the lovely Amazon review. 

Ep 98: Wally Brath on Connexion a Jazz Psalter

 

Musician, composer, and professor Wally Brath joins the podcast to discuss his new album Connexion a Jazz Psalter. The album consists of nine compositions that set the words of the Psalms to music and along with Brath features the lead vocals of Nikki Lerner and the bass of John Patitucci. You can stream the album everywhere or purchase it on Bandcamp or at his website www.wallybrathmusic.com.

Ep 97: Christmas With Emily Hunter McGowin

 

It's time for another Christmas episode! Dr. Emily Hunter McGowin is here to discuss her new book Christmas: The Season of Life and Light. The conversation ranges from the joys and challenges surrounding the holiday, to reclaiming old traditions even while developing new ones, to a lightning round of Emily's Christmas favorites. Emily is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College and canon theologian for the Anglican Diocese Church For the Sake of Others (C4SO).

Christmas: The Season of Life and Light can be purchased here. An alternate version of this interview, with additional material, was released on the Tent Talks podcast.  She was one of the guests in Chris's previous series for the Tent Talks Podcast "Women in Church Leadership," which can be listened to here. You can find out more about her, including her other publications at her website.

If you are interested in reading Chris's book on the 12 days of Christmas you can find it here or here. Chris's Christmas music can be found here. Last year's Christmas episode on sad Christmas songs (from Tent Talks) can be found here.

Ep 96: Author Katherine Briggs on her novel The Eternity Gate

 

Katherine Briggs joins the podcast to discuss her new novel The Eternity Gate

a fantasy novel about a handmaiden named Seyo who has a key that will unlock the fate of her kingdom. Along with discussing the novel, this conversation goes into Katherine's writing process and her thoughts on the pressure that writers face in today's publishing industry.

You can visit her website https://katherinebriggs.com/ to signup for her newsletter and read some of her short stories. Katherine is a friend and also the former teacher of two of my children, so I'm incredibly excited to be part of helping her to release her first book.

Ep. 95: Austin Freeman on his book Tolkien Dogmatics

 Author and professor Austin Freeman joins episode 95 to discuss his book Tolkien Dogmatics, a theological reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Dr. Freeman is a professor at Houston Christian University where he teaches on theology, literature, and apologetics and has also contributed to other books on theological approaches to science fiction and fantasy. He will be a speaker at Urbana Theological Seminary's 2023 Tolkien Conference where Chris Marchand (the guy who runs PostConsumer Reports) will also be a speaker. You can register for it here. With the main speaker being Craig A. Boyd on Friday September 22, Dr. Freeman and Chris will be delivering their talks in the online sessions on Friday, September 23.

Melody Green was featured on a previous episode of the podcast, also talking about Tolkien. Also, Professor Mike Foster, who was influential in so many people's lives as a teacher of Tolkien and who died this past year, was on an earlier episode discussing his life and love of Tolkien's works.

Ep 94: Rachel Wilhelm on Singing The Words of Jeremiah

 

Rachel Wilhelm joins the podcast once again to discuss her new album Jeremiah, a collection of song adapted from the words of the prophet Jeremiah. Like with previous episodes this interview is also a kind of deep dive "radio special" for the album featuring excerpts of the song and the background behind them. Rachel previously appeared on the podcast discussing her album Requiem and she has even written an article for PostConsumer Reports the blog. Please check out her work on Bandcamp and all the streaming platforms, book her for songwriting retreat through United Adoration, or check out the music she's contributed for other projects through Cardiphonia and Resound Worship.

You can find her work on Bandcamp (where CD's can be purchased).

You can book a creative or songwriting retreat through United Adoration.

You can hear some other recordings and collaborations with Resound Worship and Cardiphonia.

Chris will speaking about teaching Tolkien to young people at the Tolkien Conference, which you can attend in person and online.

Rachel has previously appeared on the PostConsumer podcast here, she wrote a blog article here, and Chris reviewed her lament album here.

Ep 93: Caroline Cobb on her album Psalms: The Poetry of Prayer

Caroline Cobb joins episode 93 of PostConsumer Reports to discuss her new album Psalms: The Poetry of Prayer. Our conversation is a deep dive into the music and background behind the songs, her other Scripture-based albums, and her life as a working musician. You can stream her music wherever it is available or discover more of her work at: www.carolinecobb.com or https://carolinecobb.bandcamp.com/. 

You can listen to the episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts:

Thanks to Rachel Wilhelm for helping to get this interview set up.

You can read my article on sad Christmas songs here: https://christandpopculture.com/on-the-importance-of-sad-christmas-songs/

You can listen to my Tent Talks series about Women in Church Leadership here.

I also do a pop-culture podcast with my friend Joe Cook called Nostalgic Future, which you can find here.

Related Podcast Episodes:

Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"

Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James

Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem

Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor

Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship

Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard

Ep 50: Stu G on the Beatitudes Project

Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor

Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship

Ep 81: Rain For Roots 

Ep 67: Singer-songwriter John Van Deusen

Ep 52: Fernando Ortega's The Crucifixion of Jesus

Ep. 92: Rick Lee James on "As I Walk These Halls" and being a hospital chaplain

Songwriter Rick Lee James is on the podcast again to disucss his new single "As I Walk These Halls," a meditation on his experience of training to be a hospital chaplain. You can find out where to stream or download the song here. You can learn more about Rick and his music at his website and purchase his albums at his online store.

You can listen to Rick's Between the Songs Podcast interview here, and his previous PostConsumer interview here.

Related Podcast Episodes:

Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"

Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James

Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem

Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor

Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship

Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard

Ep 50: Stu G on the Beatitudes Project

Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor

Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship

Ep 81: Rain For Roots 

Ep 67: Singer-songwriter John Van Deusen

Ep 52: Fernando Ortega's The Crucifixion of Jesus

Ep. 91: Joel Heng Hartse on how Dancing About Architecture is a reasonable thing to do

 

Joel Heng Hartse is the author of the new book Dancing About Architecture is a Reasonable Thing To Do: Writing about Music, Meaning, and the Ineffable." He joins Chris on the podcast to discuss how writing about music is similar to dancing about architecture and they ponder their favorite bands and songs all while figuring out how to continue having a critical eye toward art while still allowing others to enjoy the music they love.

You can find Joel's book here and anywhere you purchase books and you can find out more about his writing and work at his website: https://www.joelhenghartse.com/

You can find Chris's old article on Plankeye's The Spark here.

Related Podcast Episodes:

Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"

Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James

Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem

Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor

Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship

Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard

Ep 50: Stu G on the Beatitudes Project

Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor

Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship

Ep 81: Rain For Roots 

Ep 67: Singer-songwriter John Van Deusen

Ep 52: Fernando Ortega's The Crucifixion of Jesus

BONUS Episode: The REAL War on Christmas

It's the REAL war on Christmas! It's THE real war on Christmas! It's the real WAR on Christmas! It's the real war on CHRISTMAS! You get what I'm saying? This is a talk I gave for the the Tent Talks podcast Patreon subscribers, but I'm offering it you here for free as a way of enticing you to go and listen to Tent Talks. There's a lot of great conversations on that podcast. For instance, coming up in 2022 our first episode is with a former U.S. presidential candidate. I wonder who it will be? To be sure, their name certainly doesn't rhyme with Schmillary Macklinton!  If you're interested in part one of this talk about resting and debauchery at Christmastime, please see the Tent Talks podcast.

Also, I've released a new Christmas song for the end of 2021. It's my electronic version of "What Child Is This?" Go have yourself an Xmas dance party! You can find my older Christmas album here. Also, here is last year's Christmas episode! (You're welcome!)

Oh hey, did you know I wrote a book about Christmas! It's all about the Christmas Culture Wars! And by the end of it, I've certainly won them. All of them. I am the victor. Here are all the places displaying the spoils of my victory:

Amazon
Christian Book Distributors
Wipf and Stock
Barnes and Noble
Google Play
Faithlife
Cokesbury
Lagron Miller (Roman Catholic book, gift, and vestment store in Peoria, Illinois)
Thrift Books

Check out the podcast page to subscribe on Stitcher, 
Google Play, Tunein, and PocketCasts.

You can stream the new song directly here: