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 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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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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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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Dick Staub hosts a Theology of Music Show with guests Jeff Keuss and Nigel Goodwin. The discussion includes a look the idea of “new spirituals” through the music of Bob Dylan, Sufjan Stevens and Fleet Foxes.

 

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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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On this podcast host Dick Staub takes up the subject of the theology of Coldplay & Bruce Springsteen…We’ll listen to the music, review the lyrics and then do some exegesis of the text to discover some of the theology we find there. Our guests are: Dr. Jeff Keuss a professor at SPU and an engaging interpreter of theology in popular culture 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.

 

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Our annual Christmas special, hosted by Dick Staub, features guests from the previous year’s Hale’s show and Kindlings Hearth alum bringing poems, songs, essays and reflections on Christmas. This year we feature:  Jenny Spohr, producer with baby Sienna, Greg Wright Managing Editor of HollywoodJesus.com, Filmmaker Rick Stevenson, Pastor/humorist Bill Hogg, Writer & Poet Marcie O’Donnell, Singer/songwriter Robert Deeble, Theologian Bryan Burton and businessman/musician, Dan Voetmann.

 

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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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My friend Marty sent me an email that said. “Watch This.” Good friends don’t waste good friends time in seasons where there is none to be wasted, so I knew he meant business…the business of rekindling creativity among thoughtful creatives for whom God is of central importance. I now pass it on to you. “Watch it! Taped at the renowned TEDS event, Sir Ken Robinson asks: “Do schools kill creativity?”  The questions he raises and implications of his answers are simple and profound. Best of all–he tells a story of a little girl drawing God that I’ve been Read more