For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Recent psychological studies find that gratitude can help us create, cultivate, and maintain the kinds of relationships that make life worth living. Other studies are finding that gratitude is far more complicated, and plays a nuanced role in our complex emotional lives. Research psychologist Jo-Ann Tsang (Baylor University) joins Ryan McAnnally-Linz to talk about the complicated emotional world that gratitude inhabits, the scientific study of giving thanks and the contexts where its prosocial or adaptive for us, the dark side of gratitude, and the role it plays in a life of flourishing. This episode was made possible in part by the support of the Gratitude to God Project.About  Jo-Ann TsangJo-Ann Tsang is a social psychologist, and is Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Baylor University.Show NotesGratitude to God Project Website: Psychological, Philosophical and Theological InvestigationsTryptophanic food coma dreams of John Madden ranting about football and turduckenDaniel Tiger: “Sometimes you feel two feelings at the same time, and that’s okay.”Empirical psychological research on gratitudeIntrinsic vs instrumental reasons for being gratefulSelf-determination theoryThe downsides of gratitudeGratitude in marriage: matching affective responses of support and gratitude in relationshipsGratitude toward GodJulie Exline on Spiritual Struggle (link)“It’s not always adaptive to be happy?”Prosocial behaviorFind, Remind, Bind TheoryWhat is pro-sociality?What is adaptivity?Happiness is not always adaptive.What’s adaptive depends on your goal in a certain situation.Happiness and adaptivity as malleable concepts that depend on your definition of the good.Does gratitude reduce protest?Increased forgiveness and willingness to accept oppression rather than oppressionQuietism and perpetuating unjust structuresGratitude might put on the brakes for the motivation to protest or press for change“Give thanks in all things.” vs “Give thanks for all things.”“Life is complicated.”Gratitude doesn’t rule out anger“How can I feel happy when there’s all these bad things going on?”Is gratitude related to prejudice, stigma, or discrimination?Why is it we keep chasing after happiness?“If you're in a bad relationship, and gratitude's making you stick more strongly with that relationship partner, then that's not good.”The role of gratitude in a life worth livingProduction NotesThis podcast featured research psychologist Jo-Ann Tsang and theologian Ryan McAnnally-LinzEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge and Kaylen YunA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Why do we like horror films? Why do we gravitate to the theatre for a collective catharsis—living out our nightmares vicariously through the unwitting victim on the screen? What draws us to the shadows? All the more poignant for the Christian who shouldn’t watch the bad movies. But let’s take the point seriously: How might we watch horror films Christianly? Which is to say: How do we watch them well?Theologian and film critic Kutter Callaway (Fuller Theological Seminary) joins Evan Rosa for a discussion of some truly frightening horror films. His new podcast “Be Afraid” is produced by Christianity Today, and explores horror films and the theology and psychology of fearing rightly.In addition to discussing some of our favorite scary movies Kutter Callaway and Evan Rosa discuss: The psychology of fear and why people might willingly rehearse their fears; the radical vulnerability of human life that makes us susceptible to horrors; the Bible as horror genre; the human inclination toward the numinous, unknown, mysterious, and uncanny; managing our terror about death; and ultimately, how to fear rightly.This episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.Show NotesListen to Be Afraid, with Kutter CallawayWhat’s so scary about clowns and dolls? And why is Kutter Callaway afraid of them?Toy Story as Horror FlickThe Shining, psychological horror, and when children are involved.William James, Father of American PsychologyRudolf OttoMysterium Tremendum et Fascinans—the numinous, equal parts compelling and terrifyingAwe and terror—”big, overwhelming, and unknown”Marilyn McCord Adams’ Christ & Horrors“It brings us to the end of ourselves”“There’s nothing to be afraid of” is a lie!Should we be afraid?“Perfect love casts out fear”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.Learning how to fear rightlyChristian leverages fear all the time“Fear the one who can destroy both body and soul.”M1028—graphically violent and theologically backwardsWhat have you learned about fear from a psychological perspective?Justin Barrett and the cognitive science of religionHumans have the near-universal tendency to infer agency to things that go bump in the night.“We don't run from a bear because we're afraid. We're afraid because we're running.”Practicing and rehearsing “how to be afraid”Storytelling and catharsisSophocles, Oedipus Rex, and feeling the chills of tragedyArt and storytelling that traffics in empathyGet Out—empathy and viscerally feeling something—”that movie disturbed me on a level that I needed to be disturbed.”Paul Riceour on narrative and reappropriation—applied to horror and feeling empathy for the otherThe Exorcist—slow and quiet by modern standards, but outbursts of terrorTheodicy in The ExorcistAre horror films beautiful?About Kutter CallawayKutter Callaway is the William K. Brehm Chair of Worship, Theology, and the Arts, as well as associate dean of the Center for Advanced Theological Studies, and associate professor of theology and culture. He is actively engaged in writing and speaking on the interaction between theology and culture—particularly film, television, and online media—in both academic and popular forums.Dr. Callaway holds two PhDs, one in theology and the second in psychological science, both from Fuller. His most recent book is Theology for Psychology and Counseling: An Invitation to Holistic Christian Practice (2022). Past books include Techno-Sapiens in a Networked Era: Becoming Digital Neighbors (2020), which he coauthored with Fuller’s Associate Professor of Church in Contemporary Culture Ryan Bolger; The Aesthetics of Atheism: Theology and Imagination in Contemporary Culture (2019); and Deep Focus: Film and Theology in Dialogue (2019). Past books include Breaking the Marriage Idol: Reconstructing our Cultural and Spiritual Norms (2018), Watching TV Religiously: Television and Theology in Dialogue (2016) and Scoring Transcendence: Contemporary Film Music as Religious Experience (2013). In addition, he contributed to God in the Movies (2017); Halos and Avatars (2010), the first book on theology and video games; and Don’t Stop Believin’ (2012), a dictionary of religion and popular culture.Callaway cochairs the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture group at the American Academy of Religion. He also partnered with Paulist Productions to produce the YouTube series Should Christians Watch? His professional memberships include the American Academy of Religion, American Psychological Association, and the Society of Biblical Literature. He is ordained as a Baptist minister.Production NotesThis podcast featured Kutter CallawayEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie BridgeA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveThis episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

Evan Mawarire, an activist, pastor, and global leader, discusses the role of Christian faith in democratic leadership. He focuses on three Gospel passages that teach leaders to prioritize peace, humility, compassion, and faith. Mawarire emphasizes the importance of finding inner peace and anchoring oneself in turbulent times. He also explores the need for Christian faith to develop leaders for democracy and addresses the misunderstanding of true leadership. The podcast concludes with a discussion on rebuilding trust and reconnecting in democratic leadership.

“Wrestling with oneself, with one’s past, with one’s relationships, with God … These stories push us to use disability to think about the human condition more broadly.”Longstanding narratives about disability shaped our emotional responses, our caregiving responses, and our social commentary, and our treatment of the disabled. But what if we saw disability as the site of divine revelation about God’s kingdom and our place in it? As an expression of power and wisdom and agency, rather than a merely a source of suffering and lack and ignorance.Calli Micale (Palmer Theological Seminary) joins Evan Rosa to discuss how disability reframes our humanity in the Bible. They reflect on three passages: starting in the Old Testament—in Genesis 32—with the story of Jacob wrestling with the Angel, and walking away with much more than a limp and a new name. Continuing with the Gospel, John 9, the story of the Man Born Blind, famous for at least two reasons: the utter stupidity of the disciples to assume “Rabbi, who sinned that this man was born blind?” and the utter visceral of having Jesus make mud with his spit and rub it in the man’s eyes. And finally The Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, the story of the bleeding woman—a story of reaching out in desperate faith, an act of incredible agency and audacity, to touch the edge of Jesus’s garment and be healed.Whether its intellectual disability or physical disability, and regardless of how its acquired, disability plays a role in what we might call God’s subversive kingdom. God’s upside-down-ness (or, maybe we should say human upside-down-ness). The least of these in the eyes of human society are chosen by God to communicate the good news of shalom and justice and salvation—that even those who are already “whole” can be saved.This episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.Show NotesArtwork: “Untitled (The Bleeding Woman)”, Unknown, Fresco, 4th Century AD, Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter, Rome, ItalyArtwork: “The Healing of the Man Born Blind”, Duccio, 1311, Tempera on wood, National Gallery, LondonArtwork: “Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)”, Paul Gauguin, 1888, Oil on canvas, Scottish National GalleryGenesis 32:22-32 (see below for full text)“Wrestling with oneself, with one’s past, with one’s relationships, with God”Disability as a plot device: exploitElaborate disguise of Jacob’s impersonization of EsauEach of us wrestles with our identity“No one can see God and live”Jacob’s limp: a narrative and metaphorical significanceIs disability a sign of or consequence of one’s sinfulness?Is disability a divine punishment?Subverting our understanding of disability“Disability extends beyond Jacob’s physical form and continues to influence the the community—how they relate with their tradition and their practices.”“The memory of the struggle with God and the intimate presence of God in the wrestling in the body, and then is preserved in memory of the body.”Is being struck on the hip socket a blessing to Jacob?The wounds of martyrs as battle woundsDisability becomes inextricable from histories of violenceIs it Jesus that strikes and maims Jacob’s hip?John 9: The Man Blind from BirthJesus rejects the assumption that disability is a punishment for sin.“Dumb and blind”Disability as the site of divine revelationJesus spitting in the mud is kind of gross. It takes a lot of spit to make that much mud.Vulnerable and visceral moment of pasting dirty mudThe question of Jesus’s sin (for breaking Sabbath law) is now in playAn extended metaphor about where knowledge and wisdom apply.Mark 5: The Hemorrhaging WomanAgency and PowerMutual caregiving within disabled communities“These stories push us to use disability to think about the human condition more broadly.”Genesis 32The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.John 9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.Mark 5:25-34See also Luke 8:43-48 and Matthew 9:20-22Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.  Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”’ He looked all round to see who had done it.  But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’About Calli MicaleCalli Micale is Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics and Director of the MDiv Program at Palmer Theological Seminary. She is a theologian with a particular interest in the ethical implications of theological talk for the whole of human life. Her research brings together the history of Christian thought with sustained attention to rhetoric as it grounds perceptions of the body and health in Western societies. She joined the Palmer Theological Seminary faculty in 2023 after earning a PhD from Yale University.Writing and teaching correspond in Dr. Micale’s work to form students as faith leaders oriented towards gender, disability, and racial justice. She has published articles with the Journal of Disability and Religion and the Disability Studies Quarterly (forthcoming). Micale is currently working on a book manuscript, tentatively titled Crip Conversion: Narratives of Disability and Grace. The book analyzes the stories theologians tell about intellectual disability and argues that deploying intellectual disability as narrative metaphor allows one to come at the Protestant tradition from a helpful vantage point—such that the significance of sensation for the reception of grace comes to the fore.As a candidate for ordination in the ELCA with 10+ years of preaching experience, Dr. Micale delights in the variety of ways her students take up theological resources for ministry and social justice action. In each course, she aims to take students beyond learning concepts by letting divergent beliefs shape and change their perspective on what really matters—their own intellectual and spiritual lives called to make a difference in the worldProduction NotesThis podcast featured Calli MicaleEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge and Kaylen YunA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveThis episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

Alissa Wilkinson discusses her book exploring the lives of nine revolutionary women through the lens of food. Topics include friendship, love, evil, difference, and southern cuisine. They emphasize the importance of encounters and letter-writing in friendships, and delve into the historical roots of farm-to-table cooking. The podcast highlights the power of food, justice, and hope.

Show NotesInstructive irony: Evan’s disabling experience of setting up a microphone for a podcast interviewThree ways to think about disability: Minority Model (Impairment of Individuals), Social Model (Societal factors create impairment), and Political Model (emerges from collective action and identity; generated from Americans with Disabilities Act)Chronic pain, real sufferingAll three models are important“Look at the arrangement of society—the conditions of possibility that empower our lives or that create obstacles to our flourishing.”How to Speak About Disability 101Care, solidarity, advocacy, and inclusionUnderstanding the ethics of disability through stories: narratives of the body, biblical narratives of healing, and theological storiesAugustine’s City of God and moral impurity and the wounds of martyrs as glorified and amplified in resurrected bodiesThe hurt of “fixing” those with disabilitiesDoubting Thomas and exploring the resurrection wounds of ChristStory: Physical disability and amputation“It always starts with thinking about the loss”Hope and possibility through the lossReligion and spirituality as a tool to both help and also a self-critique of the “wholeness” or “normal” narrative.Critiquing the brokenness-wholeness narrative of disability“Drawing attention to the site of divine activity.”Is disability connected to sin?John 9:1-41: Jesus Heals the Man Born BlindSlowness, constancy, unwavering faithStory: Intellectual disability and autismOxana’s CymbalsternCymbalstern (or Zimbelstern) is a star-shaped organ stop that makes a clanging, ringing sound during organ playing.Xenophobia, fear of difference, and stigmaCalli reacts to the truism: “There are only two kinds of people: those who are disabled and those who will be disabled.”Visible and invisible disabilities: depression, anxiety, and mental healthAre disabled lives worth living?Story: A surgeon develops multiple sclerosisRadical dependence on othersPower, agency, and interdependency on othersStart with the bare conditions of possibility, and then how those conditions of possibility change when disability emerges?AboutCalli Micale is Director of the MDiv Program; Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics at Palmer Theological Seminary. She is a theologian with a particular interest in the ethical implications of theological talk for the whole of human life. Her research brings together the history of Christian thought with sustained attention to rhetoric as it grounds perceptions of the body and health in Western societies. She joined the Palmer Theological Seminary faculty in 2023 after earning a PhD from Yale University.Writing and teaching correspond in Dr. Micale’s work to form students as faith leaders oriented towards gender, disability, and racial justice. She has published articles with the Journal of Disability and Religion and the Disability Studies Quarterly (forthcoming). Micale is currently working on a book manuscript, tentatively titled Crip Conversion: Narratives of Disability and Grace. The book analyzes the stories theologians tell about intellectual disability and argues that deploying intellectual disability as narrative metaphor allows one to come at the Protestant tradition from a helpful vantage point—such that the significance of sensation for the reception of grace comes to the fore.As a candidate for ordination in the ELCA with 10+ years of preaching experience, Dr. Micale delights in the variety of ways her students take up theological resources for ministry and social justice action. In each course, she aims to take students beyond learning concepts by letting divergent beliefs shape and change their perspective on what really matters—their own intellectual and spiritual lives called to make a difference in the world.Production NotesThis podcast featured Calli MicaleEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Logan Ledman, Macie Bridge, and Kaylen YunA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveThis episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

Where does boredom come from? Have humans always experienced boredom, or has it only come on in the entertainment age, having more time than we know what to do with? Kevin Gary (Valparaiso University) is author of Why Boredom Matters: Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life. He joins Drew Collins & Evan Rosa to reflect on the discontent and disconnection that boredom constantly threatens. They discuss the phenomena of boredom, the childhood experience of it, whether its good or bad, the definition of boredom, its connection to entertainment and education, and finally the role of attention and leisure in cultivating a healthy understanding and response to being totally bored out of our minds.This episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.About Kevin GaryKevin Gary is a Professor of Education at Valparaiso University. He has a Ph.D. in cultural and educational policy studies from Loyola University Chicago with a focus in the philosophy of education and an M.A. in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame. His teaching experience includes 10 years of teaching theology at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, Illinois.; seven years as a professor of education and philosophy at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana; 8 years as a professor of education at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana; and one year as faculty director of Goshen College’s international studies program in Lima, Perú.Dr. Gary’s research is primarily in philosophy of education. He recently published, Why Boredom Matters: Education and the Quest for a Meaningful Life with Cambridge University Press in 2022. K-12 educators (and parents) face bored students every day. Drawing on multiple disciplines Dr. Gary makes a case for teachers guiding students to engage with boredom constructively, steering clear of restless boredom avoidance on the one hand, or passive submission to boredom on the other.Dr. Gary has published in multiple journals, including Educational Theory, the Journal of Philosophy of Education, and Studies in Philosophy and Education.Dr. Gary is one of the founding executives of the North American Association for Philosophy and Education (NAAPE), launched in 2018. NAAPE provides an international forum for scholars working at the intersection of philosophy and educational thought, where disciplines such as ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophical anthropology, history, and others meet the practical challenges of teaching and learning.Dr. Gary is passionate about liberal education, especially within the context of a Christian liberal arts university, which aims to cultivate practical wisdom, compassion, and a Renaissance spirit.Show NotesKevin Gary’s Why Boredom Matters: Education and the Quest for a Meaningful LifeA quick and incomplete history of boredomThe Preacher of Ecclesiastes laments over human toil, “everything is vanity and chasing after wind” around 250 BC. “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.”Stoic Roman philosopher Seneca noticed a nauseating tedium in his famous letter “On Tranquility,” describing a familiar quote “vacillation of a mind that nowhere finds rest, and the sad and languid endurance of one’s leisure. Thence comes mourning and melancholy and the thousand waverings of an unsettled mind, which its aspirations hold in suspense, and then disappointment renders melancholy. Thence comes that feeling which makes men loathe their own leisure and complain that they themselves have nothing to be busy with.”The ancient Christian monks of the desert struggled with the noonday demon of acedia, a spiritual boredom with their vocation of prayer and faithfulness.Aquinas and other scholastics disciplined the “roving mind.”Variants of the English “boredom”—including being bored to death!—show up in Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, and Herman Melville in the mid 19th century.Kierkegaard calls it the root of all evil.Heidegger sees it in a positive light, saying that philosophy begins in the nothingness of boredom.C.S. Lewis’s Uncle Screwtape advises that “anything or nothing is sufficient to attract the wandering attention” of Jr. Demon Wormwood’s human patient.The French bourgeoisie nailed it with ennui that many a suburban latchkey kid can relate to.In the King-Kubrick masterpiece, The Shining, boredom goes very dark when “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”Boredom for children: How to respond to the boredom children feelIs boredom bad or good?What’s the definition of boredom?Tolstoy on boredomKierkegaard on living life to avoid boredomKierkegaard as a form of existential despair; boredom as an indicator that we’re not comfortable with ourselves.Chasing novelty, looking for the new; or giving up and resigning our agencyHeidegger was influenced by Kierkegaard; and thought you must push through it to find your true, authentic self.Kierkegaard’s view of the “authentic self” is the self resting in God.“Schola” (Latin): attentively receptive.Simone Weil on tedium, boredom, and attentionLiving in an “attention economy” and controlling or stewarding others’ attentionAttention as an antidote to boredomSimone Weil’s experience working in a car factory and losing her sense of agency and selfPhilosopher Albert Borgmann on “focal practices” and guardrails.Go chop wood for an hour, and simply do it.Go for a walk for an hour without your smartphone.Boredom and entertainment in a perverse binary orbitSimone Weil “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God” in Waiting for God (link to PDF)Entertainment is, therefore, not the problem.“The entertainment-boredom cycle just becomes more boring.”Leisure as antidote to boredomSabbath as oasis from work filling up our lives.Thomas Aquinas’s “roving mind”Let’s go birding!Liturgy as the guardrails of attentionBe an apprentice and learn to experience and perceive in a new way.Mindful in the mundaneGordon Wood’s History of the American Revolution: politicians as “disinterested men of leisure”Fighting against instrumentalization.Intrinsic goods of doing the dishes.“The bored mind is missing an opportunity for leisure.”“I like to fish… and any fishing guide will tell you they call it fishing, not catching, for a reason.”“Having resources does not guarantee the experience of leisure.”Josef Pieper and Abraham Heschel and the tradition of Intellectus and WonderHow leisure as both active and contemplative, and its role in a flourishing lifeProduction NotesThis podcast featured Kevin Gary and Drew CollinsEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge and Logan LedmanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveSpecial thanks to the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

The final installment of our 5-part book club series on Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, produced and hosted by Kelly Corrigan, and featuring Claire Danes & Kate Bowler. Special thanks to the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable Fund for making this series possible.Show Noteshttps://katebowler.com/about/https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/kate-bowlerhttps://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcastAbout Kelly CorriganKelly Corrigan has written four New York Times bestselling memoirs in the last decade, earning her the title of “The Poet Laureate of the ordinary” from the Huffington Post and the “voice of a generation” from O Magazine.  She is curious and funny and eager to go well past the superficial in every conversation.  More on KellyCorrigan.com.Show NotesThis episode featured Kelly Corrigan, Kate Bowler, and Claire DanesEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Kaylen Yun, and Logan LedmanSpecial thanks to Tammy Stedman, Kelly Corrigan, and the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable FundA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Show Noteshttps://katebowler.com/about/https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/kate-bowlerhttps://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcastAbout Kelly CorriganKelly Corrigan has written four New York Times bestselling memoirs in the last decade, earning her the title of “The Poet Laureate of the ordinary” from the Huffington Post and the “voice of a generation” from O Magazine.  She is curious and funny and eager to go well past the superficial in every conversation.  More on KellyCorrigan.com.Production NotesThis episode featured Kelly Corrigan, Kate Bowler, and Claire DanesEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Kaylen Yun, and Logan LedmanSpecial thanks to Tammy Stedman, Kelly Corrigan, and the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable FundA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Today’s episode is part 3 of a 5-part book club series produced and hosted by Kelly Corrigan. The PBS host and author of four New York Times bestselling memoirs is taking a deep dive into the latest book from the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. Written by Miroslav Volf, Matt Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, the book is based on a Yale College course that takes up some of the most pressing questions of life, but doesn’t keep the implications, challenges, confusion, and demands of those questions at arms length. Both the course and the book invite life-long learners to ask, “For any idea, if that idea were true, how would your life have to change?”In this episode, Kelly convenes a podcast book-club with two really cool friends: Kate Bowler—host of the Everything Happens podcast and Associate Professor of American Religious History at Duke Divinity School—and celebrated actress Claire Danes, who starred in the Showtime series Homeland and the 90s MTV hit series My So-Called Life.If you’re interested in reading along with Kelly, Kate, and Claire, please visit lifeworthlivingbook.com—that’s where you can find links to buy the book and a free discussion guide when you sign up for the Life Worth Living email list.About Kelly CorriganKelly Corrigan has written four New York Times bestselling memoirs in the last decade, earning her the title of “The Poet Laureate of the ordinary” from the Huffington Post and the “voice of a generation” from O Magazine.  She is curious and funny and eager to go well past the superficial in every conversation.  More on KellyCorrigan.com.Production NotesThis episode featured Kelly Corrigan, Kate Bowler, and Claire DanesEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Kaylen Yun, and Logan LedmanSpecial thanks to Tammy Stedman, Kelly Corrigan, and the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable FundA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give