Host Dick Staub discusses a film the NYT describes as  “A big, warm hug of feel-better entertainment and a community salve.” The film tells the story of New York-based actor James Lecesne, choreographer Gerry McIntyre and musical director Randy Redd Who embark on a journey to New Orleans  to see how they can help in the aftermath of Katrina.  The artists quickly discover St. Mark’s Community Center at the edge of the historic French Quarter.  It had been hit hard and forced to close, leaving a tremendous hole in the neighborhood’s heart. Why not mount a Broadway production with local teenage talent a raise money for the community? Writer/Director Hilla Medalia and Producers John and Ed Priddy are our guests as we discuss this thought-provoking, heart-warming story.

 

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Dick Staub interviews Ralph Winter, a Hollywood film producer who has produced blockbuster movies such as the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Star Trek series.  Films on his resume, stretching back to 1982, have earned more than four billion dollars at the box office worldwide. Winter is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

 

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Music is a language of the gods and when the lyrics are thoughtful all the more so. Tonight our topic is Beatnik Spirituality for Today: The New Dylans”A look at Dylan, Low, The Long Winters, Parenthetical Girls, Bright Eyes and Cold War Kids with Chris Estey, and special guest musicians Robert Deeble and Molly Rose. Chris Estey 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. Seattle Sound Magazine said, “Molly Rose draws intricate landscapes of narrative poetry. Her music is as driven by the intrinsic rythms of her words as by whatever nameless muse guides her. There’s nothing conventional about her songs, but she’s hardly a weirdo folksinger. She’s just a lovely songwriter, and if you’re ready to listen closely, you wont be disappointed.” Robert Deeble’s music has been described as “Wistful folk-pop, sparsely arranged, gracefully performed, and achingly beautiful to behold.”Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase “Beat Generation” in 1948, his social circle to characterize the underground, anti-conformist young (50’s early 60’s). When asked, what is beatnik spirituality?” at a Brandeis Forum titled Is There A Beat Generation? he answered, ““It is because I am Beat, that is, I believe in beatitude and that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to it… Who knows, but that the universe is not one vast sea of compassion actually, the veritable holy honey, beneath all this show of personality and cruelty.”

 

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At the annual gathering of the International Arts Movement 2009, Dick Staub interviewed Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff prior to his lecture on an updated look at his classic work, Art In Action. Dr. Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, Fellow of Berkeley College at Yale University, and Senior Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia.

 

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Host Dick Staub and guests Dr. Jeff Keuss a professor at SPU and an engaging interpreter of theology in popular culture, Jennie Spohr producer of TKM, Ordained Presbyterian Clergy, shameless U2 stalker and Chris Estey, who has been writing about music in Seattle since 1986, discuss U2’s album which Rolling Stone describes as “Hymns for the Soul”, saying it fuses their spiritual uplift from the 80’s with their future-schock sonics of the 90’s.

 

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Host Dick Staub facilitates a discussion of film with author and film critic Jeffrey Overstreet , producer and film critic Jennie Spohr and Greg Wright Managing Editor of Hollywood Jesus and Past The Popcorn.  Films discussed on this podcast include: Angels and Demons; Departures; Star Trek; Audience of One; Times and Winds; Wise Blood; The Wrestler; A Walk to Beautiful; Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray;  Moon.

 

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A discussion of the theology of the five nominees for Academy Awards in the Best Picture category. Hosted by Dick Staub with guests Gregory Wright Managing Editor of HollywoodJesus.com and Past the Popcorn, Jennie Spohr film critic, ordained Presbyterian clergy and Dr. Jeff Keuss a professor at SPU and an engaging interpreter of theology in popular culture.

 

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A Dick Staub conversation with Anne Rice. You can’t judge a book by its cover goes the old adage. After years of interviewing culturally influential authors I would add, neither can you always judge the author by the book. Who knew Margaret Atwood, author of “A Handmaid’s Tale,” would tell me (off-the-air) of her insistence on attending Sunday School as a child, Read more

 

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Eugene Peterson asks “Is U2 a prophetic voice?” in the forward of “Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog.” In this Dick Staub interview, author Beth Maynard answers the questions in the affirmative in a provocative discussion about U2’s lyrical relevance for today’s spiritual seeker and finder.

 

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In August 2007 Dick Staub interviewed C.S. Lewis stepson Douglas Gresham aboard Sea Cloud II as it sailed on the Irish Sea. This First Century Voyages trip also included presentations from Lewis’ Scholar Dr. Jerry Root from Wheaton College.

 

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