Shifting Culture
On Shifting Culture we have conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, justice, and the way of Jesus. Hosted by Joshua Johnson, this podcast features long-form conversations with authors, theologians, artists, and cultural thinkers to trace how embodied love, courage, and creative faithfulness offer a culture of real healing and hope.
Episodes
411 episodes
Ep. 408 Kevin Burrell - Consider the Birds: Joy, Attention, and the Way of Jesus
Kevin Burrell joins me to talk about what it means to pay attention again - to consider the birds, as Jesus says, and to see how creation can lead us deeper into the life of God. We walk through Philippians, a letter written from prison yet ful...
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Season 1
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Episode 408
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48:10
Ep. 407 James K.A. Smith - Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark
In a world of misinformation and uncertainty, we’re often tempted to think our way out of our problems. But what if more knowledge isn’t the answer? In this episode, I talk with philosopher and author James K.A. Smith about his book Make Yo...
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Season 1
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Episode 407
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55:30
Ep. 406 Bethaney Wilkinson - A More Beautiful Way to Live
In this episode, I sit down with Bethaney Wilkinson to talk about the pressure so many of us feel to move faster, do more, and carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Bethaney shares her own story of burnout and how that crisis forced h...
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Season 1
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Episode 406
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49:13
Ep. 405 Josh Nadeau - Heaven Meets Earth: Beauty, Truth, Goodness and the Nicene Creed
Josh Nadeau, author of Heaven Meets Earth, joins me to explore what it looks like to move beyond intellectual faith into something embodied and transformative. Drawing on the Nicene Creed as a 40-day guide, Josh makes the case that goo...
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Season 1
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Episode 405
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56:52
Ep. 404 Jared Stacy - Reality in Ruins: Conspiracy, the Church, and the Way of Christ
In this episode, I talk with theologian Jared Stacy about why conspiracy theories have taken such deep root in our cultural moment and why they often find unique traction within American Christianity. We explore how an overload of information, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 404
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57:20
Ep. 403 Shannan Martin - Counterweights: Holding Hope in a Heavy World
In this episode, I’m joined by Shannon Martin to talk about her new book Counterweights and how we keep moving forward when life feels overwhelmingly heavy. We explore grief, collective trauma, and why quick fixes and toxic positivity ...
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Season 1
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Episode 403
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58:52
Ep. 402 Justin Ariel Bailey Returns - Discipling the Diseased Imagination
Justin Ariel Bailey joins me to talk about his book Discipling the Diseased Imagination and why imagination plays a crucial role in spiritual formation. We explore how the stories, habits, and media that capture our attention quietly s...
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Season 1
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Episode 402
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55:35
Ep. 401 Kendall Mariah - The Anchoring Tether in the Midst of Soul Friction
What do you do when your faith no longer fits the formulas you were given? In this episode, I sit down with Kendall to talk about what she calls “soul friction” — the holy discomfort that surfaces through disillusionment, infertility, adoption,...
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Season 1
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Episode 401
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57:26
Ep. 400 Sarah Bessey Returns - Braving the Truth with Rachel Held Evans
In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Bessey to talk about editing Braving the Truth, a curated collection of blog posts and essays from Rachel Held Evans that feel as timely now as when they were first written. We explore Rachel’s le...
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Season 1
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Episode 400
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53:43
Ep. 399 Preston Sprinkle Returns - What Does the Bible Really Say About Women in Leadership?
In this episode, I sit down with Preston Sprinkle to walk through one of the most debated questions in the church: women in leadership. We trace the story from Genesis to the prophets, through the ministry of Jesus, into Romans 16, 1 Corinthian...
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Season 1
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Episode 399
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58:15
Ep. 398 Miroslav Volf & Christian Wiman - Wrestling with Faith Together
What happens when a poet and a theologian decide to write letters to each other about faith? In this episode, I sit down with Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf to discuss their book Glimmerings and talk about the language we use for Go...
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Season 1
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Episode 398
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52:57
Ep. 397 Kristen LaValley - Finding Wholeness and Love After Spiritual Trauma
In this conversation, I sit down with Kristen LaValley to talk about the complexity of growing up in the church and what happens when faith both forms us and harms us. We talk about spiritual trauma, shame, neurodivergence, fear-based theology,...
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Season 1
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Episode 397
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55:05
Ep. 396 Christopher Beha - Why I Am Not an Atheist
Chris grew up Catholic, lost his faith in college after his twin brother nearly died and he was later diagnosed with stage three cancer, and spent years immersed in atheism shaped by thinkers like Bertrand Russell and the New Atheists. In this ...
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Season 1
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Episode 396
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47:24
Ep. 395 Tim Timmons - Holding Grief and Gratitude and The Story Behind "Even If" and "I Can Only Imagine 2"
A few weeks before leaving to pursue mainstream music, Tim Timmons was told he had five years to live. In this episode, we talk about the story behind his song “Even If,” how that confession was forged in the middle of stage-four cancer, and ho...
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Season 1
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Episode 395
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44:33
Ep. 394 Jason Green - Building Community in a Divided World
Jason Green was serving in the Obama White House when a phone call from his mother sent him home to sit with his grandmother in the hospital — and into a story he never knew was his. In this conversation, we talk about the hidden history of Qui...
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Season 1
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Episode 394
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51:09
Ep. 393 Hannah Miller King - Feasting on Hope
In this episode, I sit down with Hannah Miller King to talk about hope when life doesn’t resolve neatly. We explore what it means to live in the now and the not yet, how grief, loss, and unanswered prayers shape our faith, and why Christian hop...
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Season 1
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Episode 393
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47:39
Ep. 392 Michael Leach - Faith Over Fear
In this episode, I sit down with Michael Leach for a thoughtful conversation about fear, faith, and what it looks like to keep moving forward when clarity is hard to come by. We talk about his journey from growing up on the South Side of Chicag...
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Season 1
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Episode 392
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54:31
Ep. 391 N.T. Wright - God's Homecoming: What if the Point of Christianity Isn't to Go to Heaven When We Die?
What if Christianity was never meant to be about escaping earth for heaven, but about God coming home to the world? In this episode, I sit down with N. T. Wright for a wide-ranging conversation that reclaims the Bible’s larger story: heaven and...
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Season 1
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Episode 391
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57:28
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 390
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57:40
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 389
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50:51
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 388
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51:28
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 387
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54:29
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 386
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55:32
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 385
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53:57
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 384
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52:44
