The Dry Land features a tight, well-written script and outstanding performances as it tells the heartfelt story of a veteran and his family and friends, all of whom are dealing with unforeseen changes in his life when he returns home from the Iraqi war. After seeing the film Hollywood news writer Bob Fischer said, Put “The Dry Land” on your must see list if you are going to be at Sundance. Host Craig Detweiler interviews Producer Heather Rae, writer/Director Ryan Piers Williams and cast members Ryan O’Nan and Jason Ritter.

 

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Host Craig Detweiler interviews writer, Director Thabo Wolfaardt (UCLA) and Producer Melanie Blair about their film Joburg, the story of a young newspaper vendor who struggles to care for his ailing brother. A pregnant woman discovers a terrible secret about her fiancé. At the height of their desperation, these two worlds collide in a life-altering event. Winner of the Director’s Choice Award at Angelus Film Festival.

 

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Dick Staub discusses The Gospel According to Motown with guests Dr. Jeff Keuss a professor at SPU and an engaging interpreter of theology in popular culture. Rev Jennie Spohr ordained Presbyterian pastor, producer of the Kindlings Muse and a gadfly on a myriad of issues and Chris Estey who has been writing about music in Seattle since 1986. He has written for The Rocket, The Stranger, Seattle Sound Magazine, and other publications. He has worked at labels since the late 90s. (Or the alternative bio: Driving Mrs. Estey crazy with music and conversation about it; giving her a break tonight by talking about it with other people someplace else besides their apartment.) Motown was a record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. More than a record company it was really a movement that played an important role in the racial integration of popular music featuring African-American artists who achieved crossover success. It launched The Motown Sound ~ soul music with a distinct gospel and pop influence.

 

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In this show host Dick Staub and Earl Palmer discuss the most quotable of all American literary figures, Mark Twain, who was fiercely independent, consistently critiqued religion, yet was married and devoted to his wife who was a very devout Christian and counted Christians among his best friends. Did he believe more than he let on?

 

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The fact that you’re reading this column, likely means you are a reader. I don’t mean a reader, as in you are capable of reading, I mean someone who loves to read and reads a lot each day.

My father was a clergyman who started his career in Bly, a rough and tumble, logging town in Southern Oregon. I remember as a four-year old sitting in a clearing in the woods and watching a deer at a salt lick, while dad sat on a tree stump reading. By the time I was a teen we had moved to Fullerton, California and dad went back to school part time to get an M.A. in English Literature. Books were piled everywhere.

I don’t remember a day when my parents weren’t sitting in adjacent chairs reading books and stopping occasionally to share some pithy excerpt. I read eagerly in school and remember how delicious it was to learn a new word like “fiddlesticks.” It was a long word, the longest I knew until I encountered Mississippi, and it sounded vaguely illicit, which is the kind of word a pastor’s son is sure to treasure. Read more