Makers & Mystics
Makers & Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life.
Episodes
332 episodes
The Art of Slow: Making Things That Last with Jake Weidmann
We live in a world of fast content, instant communication, next-day shipping, and things designed to be quickly replaced. But what happens when an artist chooses to work against the grain of social norms? Jake Weidmann is one of onl...
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Seeing Through The Tropes: How Art History Shaped Women's Identity | Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
How do the images we see shape the way we understand ourselves and one another?In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with art historian and author Eli...
Strange Glory: A Case for Unconventional Art
What does it mean to glorify God through art?For many artists, the desire to glorify God can become an expectation that their work should communicate an explicitly religious message. But what happens when that expectation begins to const...
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The World Needs Your Art: The Spiritual Roots of Why Artists Suffer | Stephen Roach
Every great artist from Caravaggio to Frida Kahlo has fought the same invisible war, and Stephen Roach makes the case that it is not a coincidence.In this solo reflection, Stephen traces a decade-long question that has haunted him: why ...
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Evelyn Underhill: Mother of Modern Mystics
Evelyn Underhill: The Mother of Modern MysticsArtist Profile Series 40Who was Evelyn Underhill, and why does her work continue to shape the modern contemplative movement more than a century later?In this Artist Pro...
Making Room at the Table: Art, Justice, and The Stories That Shape Us | Steve Prince
What if art isn't simply something we admire, but something that asks something of us?In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with acclaimed printmaker, educator, and storyteller Steve Pr...
Missionaries of Beauty: An Antidote to a Cultural Crisis with Sacred Artist Kate Capato
Can beauty change a person? A community? A culture? Sacred artist Kate Capato believes it can.In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with Kate to explore why authentic beauty has the power to...
One Last Monster: Gene Kim on Animation, Storytelling, and the Art of Human Transformation
Animation has a unique ability to carry profound truths beneath colorful worlds, unforgettable characters, and compelling adventure. Beneath the spectacle, the best stories invite us into questions of identity, grief, hope, and transformation.<...
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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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