Ep 42: Artist Alec DeJesus

Alec DeJesus is a Peoria, Illinois based artist. His works seem to come from another time while also drawing from pop culture. They are familiar and otherworldly, earthy and sacred, mythical and everyday. In our conversation we covered where he draws inspiration from and how he has developed entrepreneurial skills to become a working artist. You can stream the episode below or subscribe on itunes, Stitcher, or other podcast services. A number of Alec's works are mentioned in the interview, most of which I include in this article. You can follow Alec on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/alecdajesus/

Subscribe to the podcast on itunes 
Check out the podcast page to subscribe on Stitcher, Tunein, and PocketCasts.

Past Episodes on Peoria Artists:
Episode 13: Artist Jessica Ball—Owner of the Art Garage
Episode 22: Artist Blair Jeffers
Episode 21: Carol McPherson—Director of the Fost Gallery
Episode 38: Musician Jared Grabb
Episode 35: Christmas Album Excerpts and Commentary

Episode 40: Coffee Artist Kagan Masters

PCR Podcast Episode 10: David Leo Schultz director of Brennan

Director/actor/writer David Leo Schultz is our first repeat guest on the PCR podcast (and it's our 10th episode as well!). This time he is talking about his new film Brennan, which is an intimate character study of the author and speaker Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel, Ruthless Trust). You can read my review of the film here: Brennan Film Review. We get into the frustrations of making films that are not 100% family friendly with American Christian culture, the difficulties of portraying someone as enigmatic as Brennan Manning, and how we are all pretty messed up and desperately in need of God's grace. For more info on Brennan, including show times and places, visit their website: http://www.brennanmanningmovie.com/.

Subscribe to the podcast on itunes You can financially support the film here: https://www.gofundme.com/brennanthemovie

What Marc Maron's Interview With President Obama Means

I have let it be known before that I am pretty skeptical of any and all politics and politicians. Be they right, left, or independent I do not think they have merited much of a reason for me or any of us to trust them. I mean really, in a post-Nixon world, will we ever be able to believe in politicians again, believe they are in reality the kind of person they said they are, believe they will do what they said they will do, and believe why they said they would do it? This recent Fresh Air interview with the author of a new book on Nixon and his recently released personal records leads me to believe not. My cynicism of the political process is something I will forever be working out.

Interview: Peter Spencer Director of Return to the Hiding Place

This coming Sunday, June 7 at 6:30 my school, Aletheia Christian School, and Living Waters Lutheran Church are hosting a free showing of the film Return to the Hiding Place. I was able to set up an email interview with the film's director, Peter Spencer. I am incredibly grateful to his staff and Mr. Spencer himself, who gave quite a thought provoking interview.

Return to the Hiding Place was originally the memoir of Hans Poley who was the first person taken into hiding in the ten Boom house during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and acts as a parallel to Corrie ten Boom's modern classic The Hiding Place. Poley, along with many others, became an active member in the Dutch underground, a group who attempted by almost any means necessary to subvert the work and ideology of the Nazis in their country. The book and film stands as a challenge to good-hearted people of faith who might one day have to rise up and face evil head on (especially pacifist types like myself). Spencer addresses these very issues in his interview.

Please visit our event page for more information on the showing of the film and if you plan to attend the premier go to our cinema page so you can register online to show you are coming. Much more information on the film can be found at the official website: http://www.hide-movie.com/

Peter Spencer is an accomplished writer, director, producer, and speaker. His previous works include Heroes of the Faith and the art film "Holy Art." 

Unanswerable Questions #3b: Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell

These are the questions I must ask little Sufjan.

I am in the midst of conducting the most epic interview ever recorded with musician Sufjan Stevens. The only problem is he doesn't know it's going on yet. Maybe it's because I declared my undying hatred of him a couple of years ago, which isn't actually true. (I was just kidding Sufjan!)