Shifting Culture
Shifting Culture is a podcast about faith, justice, and spiritual formation in a divided world. Hosted by Joshua Johnson, the show features long-form conversations with authors, theologians, artists, and cultural thinkers exploring the way of Jesus, nonviolence, reconciliation, and human dignity.
Each episode goes beyond theory to ask practical questions: How do we break cycles of violence and fear? What does it mean to love our enemies? How do faith, culture, creativity, and justice shape the way we live together? If you’re searching for thoughtful conversations on spiritual growth, justice, and healing (especially for those disillusioned with shallow answers) Shifting Culture offers depth, honesty, and hope.
Episodes
393 episodes
Ep. 390 Martin Shaw - Liturgies of the Wild: Myths That Make Us
We live in a world flooded with stories, opinions, and noise, and I find myself wondering which ones are actually worth giving our attention to. In this conversation, I sit down with mythologist and storyteller Martin Shaw to explore why some s...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 390
•
58:33
Ep. 389 Fr. James Martin Returns - Work in Progress
In this episode, I talk with Father James Martin about his new memoir Work in Progress and the ways our ordinary jobs shape who we become. We explore summer work, vocation, grief, perseverance, and how faith is formed not just in churc...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 389
•
51:45
Ep. 388 Lori Melton - Walking with a Spiritual Giant
In this episode, I talk with Lori G. Melton, author of Journey with a Giant, about the practice of walking with spiritual giants from history as a way of formation. We explore slowness, silence, pilgrimage, and what Lori learned by wal...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 388
•
52:22
Ep. 387 Lisa Colón DeLay - The Wisdom of the Desert Elders and the Way of Spiritual Formation
The Desert Elders didn’t flee the world to escape it. Some left because Christianity had become comfortable, aligned with power, and disconnected from real transformation. In this episode, I am joined by Lisa Colón DeLay to explore the wisdom o...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 387
•
55:23
Ep. 386 Dr. Lee Warren - How to Change Your Brain, Build Resilience, and Change Your Life
In this episode, I sit down with neurosurgeon and author Dr. Lee Warren to talk about how our thoughts shape our brains and, over time, our lives. Lee draws from neuroscience, Scripture, and his own story, serving as an Army surgeon, living wit...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 386
•
56:25
Ep. 385 J.R. Briggs - The Art of Asking Better Questions
In this episode, I sit down with J.R. Briggs, author of The Art of Asking Better Questions, to talk about why questions matter in a culture shaped by certainty, polarization, and the pressure to always have the right answer. We explore...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 385
•
54:50
Ep. 384 Nathan Clarkson - I'm the Worst: How Freedom Is Found in Admitting Our Faults
In this episode, I sit down with Nathan Clarkson, author of I’m the Worst, for an honest conversation about brokenness, shame, confession, and freedom. Nathan shares what it was like growing up in a well-known Christian family, learnin...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 384
•
53:37
Ep. 383 Winfield Bevins - How Beauty Will Save the World
In this episode, I sit down with Winfield Bevins to talk about beauty and why it matters for everyday life, the church, and spiritual formation. We discuss his book How Beauty Will Save the World and how beauty shapes attention, format...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 383
•
54:32
Ep. 382 David Dault - The Accessorized Bible: How We Use the Bible For Harm or For Life
In this episode, I talk with David Dault about his book The Accessorized Bible and the ways the Bible is actually used in our churches, institutions, and public life. We wrestle with how the Bible can be taken seriously without being t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 382
•
57:26
Ep. 381 Best of 2025: Top 10 Movies of the Year
In this episode, I’m joined by Craig Detweiler and Elijah Davidson for our Best Movies of 2025 conversation. We count down our top films of the year and explain why each one made our list. We talk about the themes that stood out in 2025 movies,...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 381
•
1:26:19
Ep. 380 Ryan Burge - The Vanishing Church and the Cost of Polarization
What’s actually happening to the church in America and why does it matter beyond Sunday morning? In this episode I’m joined by Ryan Burge, a social scientist who studies religion in the U.S. and brings long-term data, charts, and lived pastoral...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 380
•
58:50
Ep. 379 Kelley Nikondeha Returns - Jubilee Economics
What does it mean to take Jesus seriously when he announces good news to the poor, freedom for the captive, and release from debt? In this episode of Shifting Culture, I’m joined by theologian and practitioner Kelley Nikondeha to talk ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 379
•
1:02:31
Ep. 378 Best of 2025: Most Listened to Episodes of the Year
As 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to pause and look back, not at what was loud or polarizing, but at what people actually stayed with. This episode gathers the 10 most listened to conversations of the year, and together they reveal something h...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 378
•
41:25
Ep. 377 Best of 2025: Top 10 Books of the Year
In this episode, I am joined by Lore Wilbert and Byron Borger for a roundtable countdown of our top ten books of 2025. Moving from number ten to number one, we reflect on the novels, memoirs, theology, and cultural criticism that most shaped ou...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 377
•
1:37:20
Ep. 376 Bill & Kristi Gaultiere - Receiving and Reflecting God's Great Empathy For You
In this episode, I sit down with Bill and Kristi Gaultiere for a thoughtful conversation about empathy - what it really is, why it’s so often misunderstood, and why it matters for the way of Jesus. We talk about God’s great empathy for us and h...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 376
•
1:00:07
Ep. 375 Leonard Sweet - Living into the Imagination of Jesus, the Maker, Mender, Minder, Master
In this episode, I’m joined by theologian and storyteller Leonard Sweet for a deep conversation on the imagination of Jesus and why imagination is central to faith, discipleship, and what it means to be human. We talk about how Jesus doesn’t si...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 375
•
49:14
Ep. 374 Kate Murphy - The Way of Jesus is Often Found in the Lost, Hidden, and Small
In this episode, pastor and author Kate Murphy shares the surprising story behind Lost, Hidden, Small, a season when ministry fell apart, illusions shattered, and the only way forward was surrender. Kate reflects on discovering that Go...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 374
•
55:21
Ep. 373 William J. Kole - Gun Violence Must End: Evangelical Gun Culture and the Nonviolent Way of Jesus
Journalist and author William J. Kole joins me to unpack the deep and often hidden ties between white evangelicalism, politics, fear, and America’s gun culture. Drawing from his new book In Guns We Trust, Bill shares how his own...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 373
•
50:35
Ep. 372 Dorothy Littell Greco - Rooting Out Misogyny For the Love of Women
In this conversation, I sit down with Dorothy Greco to explore misogyny not just as individual prejudice, but as a system that shapes our culture, our institutions, our churches, and even our closest relationships. Dorothy walks me through how ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 372
•
52:34
Ep. 371 Valentyn Syniy - Serving God in the Midst of the War in Ukraine
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Valentyn Syniy, president of a theological seminary in Kherson, to explore what it means to lead, shepherd, and hold on to hope in the midst of war. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Valentyn lost almos...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 371
•
53:05
Ep. 370 Stephanie Spellers - What the Nones and Dones Teach Us About the Future of Faith
The church is in a moment of honest reckoning. Attendance is shrinking, institutions are thinning, and many who once belonged now stand on the outside looking in. In this conversation with author and priest Stephanie Spellers, we explore what t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 370
•
57:19
Ep. 369 Mark Yarhouse & Julia Sadusky - Navigating and Understanding Emerging Sexual Identities
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Mark Yarhouse and Dr. Julia Sadusky about the rapidly expanding language of emerging sexual identities and what it means for the young people we care about. We explore why new terms keep appearing, how identity ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 369
•
57:07
Ep. 368 Faith Womack - Discovering the Fullness of Scripture: Context, Wonder, and Worship
In this episode, I’m joined by Faith Womack, known to many as Bible Nerd Ministries, for a deeply refreshing conversation on how to read Scripture with clarity, curiosity, and joy. Faith shares her own story of growing up with mishandled and mi...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 368
•
52:57
Ep. 367 Brian Recker - How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love
In this episode, I talk with Brian Recker about his new book Hell Bent and the ways fear-based theology has shaped so many of our spiritual imaginations. Brian grew up learning about hell and God in the same breath, and he unpacks how ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 367
•
1:03:11
Ep. 366 Jenny Marrs - Trust God, Love People
In this episode, I sit down with Jenny Marrs, author, adoptive mom, and co-host of HGTV’s Fixer to Fabulous, for a tender and deeply human conversation about grief, waiting, restoration, and the steady presence of God in the middle of ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 366
•
51:16
