

The Cartographers
Ashley Hales and Bryce Hales
Welcome to The Cartographers, a podcast to help Christian leaders map a changing cultural landscape in the 21st century. Join us, Bryce Hales and Ashley Hales, Pastor and PhD, as we explore with our guests how to cultivate fruitful and resilient lives and communities.More at: https://www.willowbrae.org/media
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 4, 2025 • 37min
Midseason Reflection: Double Standards and Hallucinogenic Violence
Take a peak behind the curtain with Bryce and Ashley as they discuss some of the articles they've been mulling over recently. Bryce and Ashley discuss the existence of double standards against men today, the cross-gender pornification of our culture, the desire men and women feel for discipleship, and how we can meet those desires in ways that are both affirmative and redemptive.
The Agenda:
- Jen Hatmaker and the double standard against men
- Is hypermasculinity a problem?
- The shift from individualism to mob identity
- Pornography is a violent hallucinogen
- Reflection questions!
Sign up for The Willowbrae Institute substack here and find out more about the work Willowbrae does here.
The Cartographers is a production of The Willowbrae Institute, a think tank researching the intersection of American Christianity and the common good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 21, 2025 • 44min
How Safe Should We Be? A Conversation with Jeremy Lundgren
How safe should we be? This week, Jeremy Lundgren joins Bryce and Ashley to discuss the cultural pressures of 'safetyism' today, the shifting ways humans have related to safety across history, and the spiritual good of healthy risk in childhood.
Jeremy Lundgren is director of the Nicolet Bible Institute and a professor of theology at Wheaton College. He is also the author of The Pursuit of Safety: A Theology of Danger, Risk, and Security.
Sign up for The Willowbrae Institute substack here and find out more about the work Willowbrae does here.
The Cartographers is a production of The Willowbrae Institute, a think tank researching the intersection of American Christianity and the common good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 7, 2025 • 41min
What is a man? A Conversation with Sam Allberry
What is it to be a man or woman, according to the Bible? Sam Allberry joins Bryce and Ashley to discuss the relationship of culture to the biblical vision of masculinity and femininity, the need for both grace and truth in discussions of gender today, and the constance of God's grace and presence in uncertain times.
Sam Allberry is an apologist, speaker, and pastor at Immanuel Nashville. He is the author of several books, including Is God Anti-Gay?, Seven Myths About Singleness, and What God Has to Say About Our Bodies.
Sam Allberry - "How Should We Think About Gender Identity?"
Sign up for The Willowbrae Institute substack here and find our more about the work Willowbrae does here.
The Cartographers is a production of The Willowbrae Institute, a think tank researching the intersection of American Christianity and the common good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sep 23, 2025 • 48min
How Do We Form Men? A Conversation with Chris Bruno
How do we actually form men? Bryce and Ashley sit down with Chris Bruno of the Restoration Project to talk about rites of passage, how men are formed, and what healthy masculinity looks like.
Be sure to register for Restoration Project's free Restorative Manhood Digital Summit, taking place on Sept. 25-28, 2025. (If you're listening after the event, see the Grove Collective to get access).
Sign up for our substack here and find out more about the work Willowbrae does here.
The Cartographers is a production of The Willowbrae Institute, a think tank researching the intersection of American Christianity and the common good.
Note: This conversation was recorded before the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sep 9, 2025 • 23min
New series: Redeeming Manhood
Welcome back! On this season of The Cartographers, we are looking at Redeeming Manhood. In this episode, Bryce and Ashley map out what experts are saying about men, note the unique challenges young men and boys face in our society, and begin to present a vision for a redeemed masculinity that is neither a social construction nor a 1950s stereotype.
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The Cartographers is a production of The Willowbrae Institute, a think tank researching the intersection of American Christianity and the common good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 4, 2025 • 47min
More than a Life Hack: Spiritual Formation in a Therapeutic Age
In this episode of the Cartographers, we sit down with Kyle Strobel, professor at Talbot Seminary, to get at what spiritual formation is and isn't. It isn't a life hack or even growth. Find out more about Kyle, his substack and his courses here. The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter and rate and review the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nov 20, 2024 • 44min
Make Christianity Weird Again?
Brad East joins us to talk about Gen Z, the rise of magic, and what it might take to make Christianity weird again in a secular age. Tune in for a fascinating, down-to-earth conversation about what faith in Christ offers the world. Brad East is a professor at Abilene Christian University and we talk about his CT article, "Make Christianity Spooky Again." His most recent book is Letters to Future Saints.The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 14, 2024 • 45min
The Worshiping Church in a Secular Age (Gordon T. Smith)
Gordon T. Smith joins us to talk about the position of the church in a secular age. Do we stay put? Do we form a moral enclave? How does worship form us into disciples? Join us for this conversation on the words and practices that form our imaginations: liturgical and sacramental. Gordon T. Smith is currently president of Ambrose University and the author of several books. We focus the conversation on his book Wisdom from Babylon and mention Evangelical, Sacramental, and Penecostal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 23, 2024 • 33min
But do we really need the church?
Exploring the impact of church in a hyper-individualistic society, discussing communal spaces, women leadership in Christianity, and the formative power of communal worship. The episode also includes AI creativity and show promotion.

Mar 25, 2024 • 43min
The Formational Power of Gratitude with Cornelius Plantinga
How do things like gratitude and thanksgiving form us? In this conversation with Cornelius Plantinga on his latest book, Gratitude, we talk about the importance of gratitude, sin, confession, and growth in the worshipping life of a church. We also talk about practical next steps and what the global church has to teach North American churches.Links:Neal's book, Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks is Key to Our Well-beingNot the Way it's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of SinSpecial Offer: Do you want to invest in your marriage and work out some relationship kinks?For the month of March, for readers of “Beauty Leads the Way” and Cartographers listeners, we have a code for the Thrive Marriage Lab, a cohort program to get out of relational autopilot from our friends at ReStory Counseling.Use code “Hales” for $20/ off each month. Last day to sign up is April 7!The Cartographers is a production of Willowbrae Institute. Find out more at willowbrae.org. Be sure to signup for Willowbrae's newsletter and rate and review the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


