Makers & Mystics
Makers & Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life.
Episodes
324 episodes
Threads of Beauty: On Fashion, Fabric and Theology
In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach revisits The Pace of Beauty series with artist and designer Jennifer Sturrock. Drawing from her background in couture, contemporary art, and theological study, Jennifer sh...
The Problem with Beauty: From The Grotesque to The Sublime
Beauty is one of the most celebrated words in art and faith conversations, but it may also be one of the most misunderstood. Is beauty simply what pleases the eye, or is it something deeper? Can beauty exist alongside suffering, los...
The Beauty of Vulnerability | Zan Fiskum
What does it cost an artist to tell the truth? Singer-songwriter Zan Fiskum has built her entire creative life around finding out. In this episode, host Stephen Roach sits down with Zan to explore how ...
Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument
Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument A conversation with Whitney LynnIn this episode, I sit down with embodiment coach, creative director, and longtime Breath and The Clay collaborator
Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark: Contemporary Art and The Path of the Mystics with James K. A. Smith
Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark A conversation with James K. A. SmithIn this episode, I sit down with philosopher and author James K. A. Smith (Jamie) to explore the my...
Taking Up The Tale with Malcolm Guite
What can ancient stories teach us about creativity, courage, and our own place in the modern world? In this episode, Stephen Roach welcomes poet and priest Malcolm Guite back to Makers & Mystics to explore his poetic retelling o...
Making Space for Meaning: The Renewal of Myth and Storytelling with Jonathan Pageau
In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with cultural critic, writer, and iconographer Jonathan Pageau to explore the state of contemporary st...
The Ethics of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas
In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach continues the series The Pace of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas, author of The Ethics of Beauty.Focusing on Chapter Six, The Mystical Architect,...
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REPLAY: Beauty As Prophetic Vision with Brian Zahnd
This replay episode features excerpts from a 2017 conversation with author Brian Zahnd, exploring his insights on Christian aesthetics and the role of beauty in faith. The discussion centers on Zahnd's book, "Beauty Will Save the Wo...
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On Beauty And Repair with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
What does it mean to repair what has been broken, and can there be beauty in that work?In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach is joined by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg for a t...
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The Beauty of Authenticity with songwriter John Van Deusen
The Beauty of Authenticity — John Van DeusenSongwriter John Van Deusen joins Makers & Mystics to explore the beauty of authenticity in art, faith, and vocation. In a cre...
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Beauty and Resistance with Jonathan P. Walton
What if beauty isn’t an escape from the outrage and exhaustion of the world—but a form of resistance against it?In a culture overrun with anxiety and uncertainty, turning toward beauty can feel almost defiant. In this episode of Make...
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How Beauty Will Save The World with Winfield Bevins
What role does beauty play in a fractured and hurried world—and what might happen if we allowed it to slow us down?This episode marks the beginning of a new Makers and Mystics series, The Pace of Beauty, exploring how bea...
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The Pace of Beauty
Moving at the Pace of BeautySeason Introduction — Makers & Mystics PodcastElaine Scarry writes that “beauty quickens. It adrenalizes. It makes the heart beat faster.” Beauty is immediate in this way. It strikes us unawa...
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The Person and The Persona: Mental Health, Fame, and the Artist’s Soul
In this episode of Makers and Mystics, host Stephen Roach is joined by Jared Farley of Porter’s Call, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the emotional and mental health of touring artists and their families.Together, the...
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Making Space for Creative Community: Behind the Scenes of Breath and Clay 2026
In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with creative collaborators Justin McRoberts, Whitney Hancock, and Corey Frey for a conversation about the art of building authentic creative community.From introducing their new online off...
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Creating Monsters: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and the Horror of Unchecked Ambition
In this inter-seasonal episode, Stephen Roach is joined by returning guests Paul Anleitner and John Mark McMillan for a discussion of Guillermo del Toro’s new Frankenstein adaptation. Together they explore del Toro’s visu...
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S15 E15: Resistance and Flow (Season Finale)
In this season finale, Stephen Roach closes out our exploration of creative flow with a rich conversation with several artists from the Makers & Mystics Patreon community. Joining the discussion are artist and educator Angela Ho...
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S15 E14: Sound Symbols: Foley Art in Film with Ronnie Van Der Veer
Behind the curtain of cinema lies a hidden language, spoken not in words, but in sound.In this episode of Makers and Mystics, Stephen Roach interviews Foley artist Ronnie Van Der Veer, e...
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Artist Profile Series 39: Simeon Stylites
What does the life of a bizarre fifth-century monk have to offer our lives in the modern world today? This episode of the Makers and Mystics podcast explores the life and influence of Simeon Stylites, a Syrian Christian a...
S15 E13: Confessional Transcendence with Poet and Actor Amy Leigh Wicks
Amy Leigh Wicks is a poet, actress, and educator from New York City. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and an MFA from The New School in New York. ...
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S15 E12: The Ghost Life with Prasanta Verma
As artists, we live our lives between worlds, the one in which we imagine and the one in which we must survive. But what do we do when the life we imagine and the life we live are incongruent? Often our lives look much different on paper than t...
S15 E11: Urgency and Intimacy with Julian Davis Reid
“How do we hold both urgency and intimacy in our creative practices? How can an artist become a vessel of divine presence — not only in churches, but on club stages, in studios, and in everyday life?”In today’s episode, I’m join...
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S15 E10: The Art of Becoming: Jon Guerra on Music, Imagination, and Spiritual Formation
How does imagination shape not only our art but our spiritual formation? And what does it mean to hold space for play, growth, and even disappointment within our creative process?In this episode, Stephen Roach is joined by
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S15 E09: Ecstatic States and The Artistic Impulse P2
In this concluding segment of our Artist Roundtable, Stephen Roach, Corey Frey, and Donna Matthews continue their conversation on ecstatic experiences, flow states, and the artist’s impulse through a Christian lens. This episode explores ecstat...
