Hello! Long time no post! Alissa is writing her book and Sam is working on [REDACTED] and we have let this fall by the wayside a little bit in the interest of drawing out the length between episodes, since we have precious little time to record these days. But we really ought to announce that sort of thing in the future, and for this we apologize. …

Hello! We are back with friend of the pod Jamelle Bouie to talk about the new Batman flick, which is good. We hope you enjoy it! Soon Alissa’s book will be out and we will announce the winner of our subscriber contest! This episode of Young Adult Movie Ministry is produced by John Kemp. Our theme song is Louis Armstrong and His Hot 5’s Muskrat Ramb…

Hello! We have acquired a wonderful producer, John Kemp, an old friend of Sam’s who offered to help a bit ago and whom Sam in his generalized lack of organization finally followed up with much more recently. John’s great, as you can hear, and we’re thrilled to have him aboard. This may also mean a more regular pod sked for a bit, and as such, we of…

Hello! Today we watched the critically acclaimed and Best Picture-nominated 138-minute $75 million Netflix dramedy Don’t Look Up so you don’t have to! We hated this. We hated it so much we didn’t have the heart to make a guest watch it. Sam is kind of ranty on this one. If you like hearing him angry, please subscribe. If you can’t do that (we under…

This episode we have the marvelous Helen Shaw, New York magazine’s theatre critic, to talk about Joel Coen’s new film of Macbeth, which we all enjoyed immensely. The movie can be streamed on Apple TV and might still be in theaters; it’s good. Watch it. Our theme song is Louis Armstrong and His Hot 5’s Muskrat Ramble, made freely available by the Bo…

We got to have Jeffrey Overstreet back! Hooray! Jeff is the author of the Auralia’s Colors fantasy novels and Through a Screen Darkly, as well as being writer-in-residence at Seattle Pacific University. We hope you enjoy this one. It’s free, but please subscribe if you haven’t! Jeff, Alissa, and Sam are talking about The Secret of Kells, Tomm Moore…

Details, credits, errata: Merry Christmas! This week’s episode is about The Muppet Christmas Carol, NOT A Muppet Christmas Carol, or Carol. Or Scrooge. Or Scrooged. There are lots of versions of the Charles Dickens novella, which you can see in its original manuscript form here. You can also visit it in person at the home, now museum, of real-life …

Details, credits, errata: It is a two-episode week! Sam has finally gotten around to editing our episode on Free Guy, a very good one, if we do say so ourselves. The movie is fun! It’s neither a stone classic nor something we feel the need to apologize for inflicting on you, but it is fairly new and we do have to spoil it for you a bit to talk abou…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s returning guest is the wonderful Tyler Huckabee, of Relevant magazine! He knows his Jack Kirby upside-down and backwards and he was definitely the guy to talk abou Eternals, Chloe Zhao’s new, much-discussed Marvel movie. It is… okay? There’s a lot of theology in it. This is a free episode, so please consider su…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s guest is Meg Conley, the terrific writer of homeculture, a newsletter about, uh, home culture! It’s very good and you may have seen it around as Meg’s work often attracts the kind of attention that elevates thoughtful writing into the general discourse. Meg was incredibly forthright and insightful about this we…

Details, credits, errata: This week we watched Netflix’s incredible, terrifying show about [SPOILER] and Christian theology, Midnight Mass, which I don’t think I call Black Mass during the episode but if I do, please know that Alissa has already teased me about it and you will only be encouraging her if you do the same. Black Mass isn’t very good, …

Details, credits, errata: This week Alissa and I watched Dogma, Kevin Smith’s goodhearted, filthy movie about theology and goofy stoners, a film that is very easy to watch but very hard to see! Alissa notes that there’s a YouTube upload and an Internet Archive version, neither of which seem terribly legit but since there’s no way to stream the movi…

Details, credits, errata: This week we’re delighted to have the great Vinson Cunningham, theater critic at The New Yorker, essayist, humorist, and all-around terrific writer whose work we heartily recommend to you. We watched P.T. Anderson’s 2007 masterpiece There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano, beloved of our hosts but new …

Details, credits, errata: Our guest this week is Friend of the Pod Isaac Butler, journalist and cultural historian who has a new and very good book called The Method coming out in February; he would be grateful if you’re able to toss him a pre-order—he’s a terrific writer and you won’t regret it. He also hosts a podcast of his own, Working, at Slat…

Details, credits, errata: Our guest this week is the delightful Lyz Lenz, returning to watch another awkwardly erotic 1950’s Biblical epic with us. It’s a goofy one. Our film is The Prodigal, a notorious turkey that lost the studio a ton of money despite having the beautiful Lana Turner as a fertility priestess. It is, as you might imagine, “based …

Details, credits, errata: Welcome back! We took a break and now are thrilled to return to you with a new episode about Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Philip Kaufman’s 1978 remake, and guest Jeff VanderMeer, short-story writer and novelist whose masterly book Annihilation got made into a terrific movie by Alex Garland and whose books Hummingbird Sa…

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Jason Pettus, senior pastor of Living Hope, about his testimony and his call to ministry.

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Savannah Pratt, director of the Center for Pregnancy about how God led her to vocational ministry and how each of us are chosen for ministry.…

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Bill Wade, Shepherding Pastor for Living Hope, about his call to ministry and about how others can discern and follow their calling.

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Kathryn Brisolara about how God brought here to Bowling Green and how He has led her to service in the church.

Details, credits, errata: This week we’re delighted to have the great comics writer Mark Russell on the pod to discuss another 1980’s classic action movie, Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 sci-fi satire Robocop, much of which has come to pass in the years since its release. Mark calls it the best of the superhero movies; we are inclined to agree. It adapts an…

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Jenni Meredith about her leadership in Living Hope's Women's Ministry: Women of Hope.

Hosted by Abby Lawalin, this series will dive into the ministries of leaders in our church and how God called them to that ministry. In this episode, Abby talks with Hunter Sewell about his pastorship over the College ministry at Living Hope.

This week we are privileged to have the great Gregory Thornbury, author of Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music and some terrific essays as well, notably this one on QAnon, to talk with us about The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Jeff Feuerzeig’s 2005 documentary about the late, supernaturally gifted, near-unknown singer-songwriter whose strugg…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s guest is friend of the pod and all-around good guy Spencer Ackerman, who won the Pulitzer and the IRE Medal for his work on the Guardian’s Snowden coverage team and a National Magazine Award for his reporting on anti-Muslim training materials used to teach FBI recruits. His book Reign of Terror, which builds on…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s film is another A24 horror picture, Saint Maud, director Rose Glass’s first movie and a terrific flick Alissa has been trying to get Sam to watch for months. It has pretty much everything we like to talk about on this podcast, so it’s just the two of us this week, and we think you’ll dig the discussion. Our hea…

Details, credits, errata: Saddle up your horses, we’re back and want to thank you so much for your patience during our unannounced week off. We have some great episodes banked and here’s the first of them: friend of the pod Emily VanDerWerff returns with her friend Cassie LaBelle to talk about, appropriately, A Week Away, country music video direct…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s episode is about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s classic film of faith, missionary life, and repressed desire, Black Narcissus, as chosen by our wonderful guest, Jessica Winter, an editor at The New Yorker and the author of the new novel The Fourth Child, which Alissa read, loved, and recommends to all …

Hunter teaches from Ruth chapter 4 completing our series on Redeeming Love. Taken from: The College Ministry at Living Hope, March, 24, 2021

Details, credits, errata: This week we had the wonderful Sarah Welch-Larson, Alien franchise scholar extraordinaire, on to discuss the least-loved and weirdest movie in the series, Alien Resurrection. It was great. You can read an excerpt from Sarah’s excellent book, Becoming Alien: The Beginning and End of Evil in Science Fiction's Most Idiosyncra…

Details, credits, errata: This week we have the delightful Rob Weinert-Kendt, editor of American Theatre magazine and contributor to America, The New York Times, and many other discerning publications, and absolutely one of our favorite people. His terrific pitch was to watch Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent drama The Passion of Joan of Arc, one o…

Details, credits, errata: This week we have the delightful Natasha Oladokun, the poet, journalist, and teacher; her most recent arcticle is here and two of her wondeful poems can be read here. Our film, as we have threatened for many months, is Left Behind: The Movie, directed by Vic Sarin and starring, though perhaps that word is misleading, Kirk …

Details, credits, errata: For Holy Week, we have decided to be a bit daring and look at Martin Scorsese’s 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ, the much-maligned work of two Christians, Scorsese and Paul Schrader, based on the work of a third, Nikos Kazantzakis, who published Last Temptation in 1955, two years before his death. With us is dear f…

Pastor Jason teaches from Ruth chapter 3 on biblical rest. Taken from: The College Ministry at Living Hope, March 17, 2021

Details, credits, errata: This week’s documentary double-feature is Cameraperson and Dick Johnson Is Dead, both directed by Kirsten Johnson, the former available through the Criterion Channel and the latter on Netflix, both eminently and easily watchable and well worth your time. Our wonderful guest this week is Eric Hynes, curator of film at Astor…

Trevor teaches from Ruth 2 on the providence of God. Taken from: The College Ministry at Living Hope, March 10, 2021.

Hunter teaches from Ruth chapter 1 on the goodness and sovereignty of God. Taken from: The College Ministry at Living Hope, March 3, 2021

Details, credits, errata: First, a quick explanation—last week Sam had some unexpected childcare stuff and had to bail out on an episode that he and Alissa still plan to do. This week we’ll have two for you: This one, and, to sweeten the deal for potential subscribers, an unlocked episode from our archives, going up on Friday. Thanks for your patie…

Details, credits, errata: This week we watched the extremely lurid and silly 2007 Robert Zemeckis CGI movie Beowulf, easily the best of on-location shoots in the uncanny valley, starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Crispin Glover, and John Malkovich, and written by Neil Gaiman (Good Omens) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction). It’s bot…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s episode is about the ridiculous 2005 horror-noir Constantine, one of the early comic-book movies of the modern era and probably the best DC movie in… ever? Our guest is Vox’s terrific healthcare reporter Dylan Scott, a stand-up guy, an interesting Christian with an enormous brain, and a big fan of this flick, w…

Details, credits, errata: This week we watched Darren Aronofksy’s 2017 horror film mother!, the baby-eatingest Bible allegory in all the land. It was great? One error: Sam said Téa Leoni when he meant Marisa Tomei; he is forever making this mistake despite having met Marisa Tomei a few times and had pleasant conversations with her. He apologizes to…

Details, credits, errata: We almost called this “Mel O’Drama” and were also considering “Claymore Minds” and “No Relation,” since our wonderful guest is Tyler Huckabee (no relation) and this film’s most famous line—“Every man dies, not every man really lives”—was written by the poet William Wallace, also no relation. This week’s film is the unbeara…

Details, credits, errata: This week we subjected ourselves to Adam Shankman’s 2002 surprise hit romantic drama A Walk to Remember, an amazing time capsule of a movie about the importance of gender roles but not exactly about Christian complementarianism? It’s confusing. Don’t worry, we get into it. Our guest is Katelyn Beaty, founding editor of her…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s movie is Paul Schrader’s 2018 romcom First Reformed, a feel-good romp about a fish-out-of-water preacher (Ethan Hawke) in the New York exurbs who finds his faith tested by a beautiful widow (Amanda Seyfried), a conniving businessman (Michael Gaston) and a bumptious supervisor (Cedric the Entertainer). Just kidd…

Details, credits, errata: This week we have a crossover episode for Christmas, starring our friends at the Good Christian Fun podcast, Kevin T. Porter and Caroline Ely! Please listen to their pod, subscribe, buy their merch, and wish them a merry Christmas. Our film is the amazingly bad yuletide confection Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas, starring …

Details, credits, errata: Hello! This week’s guest is the wonderful Emily VanDerWerff, critic at Vox alongside Alissa, the first TV editor of The AV Club, author with Friend of the Pod Zach Handlen of Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files, available at a number of fine booksellers, and host of her own mystery-comedy p…

Details, credits, errata: This week Sam and Alissa discuss Gabriel Axel’s beautiful 1987 comedy Babette’s Feast with the great Jeffrey Overstreet, professor at Seattle Pacific University, film critic at Christianity Today for many years, author of the Auralia Thread series of fantasy novels, and current contributor to the film journal Image. Jeffre…

Details, credits, errata: This week is a Sam and Alissa special, in which we discuss an obscure but hugely influential direct-to-VHS kids’ movie, Rick Garside’s 1985 Jumanjoid stop-motion extravaganza Hoomania, which is sort of the ur-Adventures in Odyssey and was billed as “A journey into Proverbs!” when it debuted in Christian bookstores across t…

Details, credits, errata: This week’s guest is the wonderful Alan Scherstuhl, whose incredible Studies in Crap column is one of the great works of 21st century journalism and can be read here. Alan suggested we watch Carl Reiner’s 1977 box office smash Oh, God!, starring John Denver as a schmoe and George Burns as God. It’s a really interesting art…

Details, credits, errata: Today, with our special guest Tara Isabella Burton, we finally ask the question: How did we get Trump? We watched the Liberty University-produced drama The Trump Prophecy to answer this question. It was… an experience. Tara is an all-around genius: read her great piece on this film here and buy all her books for yourself a…