In Good Faith

Our guests this week, Rainn Wilson and Brent Plate, discuss the need for spirituality and how to bring it into our lives. Steve and Rainn discuss Rainn's experience finding religion again and his hopes for his son's experience with the sacred. Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominated and SAG award-winning actor, writer, and producer. Wilson's book, "Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution," explores the benefits spirituality gives us in creating solutions for an increasingly challenging world. Wilson co-founded SoulPancake, a digital media company designed to celebrate humanity and champion creativity. Heather chats with Brent about the physical objects that create spiritual experiences. Professor Rodriguez-Plate has traveled the world studying ways that people practice and/or fight against religious traditions. Convinced that religion has less to do with belief than with bodies, Rodriguez-Plate investigates the ways people connect with physical objects through sense perception: the things we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch are what gives us our spiritual dimension, ideas captured in "A History of Religion in 5½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to Its Senses".

Steve discusses The Stewardship Principle with author and podcast host Ganel-lyn Condie in the first half of the show. Her recent book examines how people can face challenges and thrive, without taking ownership, but instead turning to God. In the second half of the show, Steve interviews Marian Edmonds-Allen, who worked with Utah legislators to protect homeless LGBTQ teens and shares how she's learned to solve issues facing our community.

Steve discusses homeland, holocaust, and humanity in the first half of the show with Americanish podcast hosts Adela Cojab & Mariam Wahba, learning about their experiences finding friendship with each other. Both women are from the Middle East: Mariam is a Coptic Christian and Adela a Syrian Jew; both are working to foreground faith in America. In the second half of the show, Steve chats with his dear friend Asker Ashkenazi, who discusses the Israeli high school tradition of a field trip to Auschwitz. When these field trips were canceled during the global COVID-19 shutdowns, Asher made sure to take his son on his own.

Before going off-air for the month of April, the In Good Faith podcast is foreshadowing their future episode format. With two guests per episode and an intermediate producers chat, you can expect great things! In this episode, Steve talks with Lucy Bregman and Howard Wettstein. Intermittent thoughts are offered by senior producer Heather Bigley and student producer Lia King. Lucy Bregman received her B.A. from Brown University, her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and taught at Temple University’s Religion Department in Philadelphia PA until her retirement in 2019. She taught a course on “Death and Dying” for undergraduates, and mentored graduate students to teach in this area. Howard Wettstein holds a B.A from Yeshiva University and a Ph.D. from City University of New York. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy at UC Riverside. His main research areas are the philosophy of language and the philosophy of religion.

Steve talks to Mathew Schmalz about the different ways suffering enters our lives and how God's presence can heal and teach us. Mathew Schmalz is a professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, and founder of the "Journal of Global Catholicism". His publications engage global Catholicism (particularly in South Asia), Catholic theology and spirituality, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has written a personal spiritual memoir, "Mercy Matters: Opening Yourself to the Life Changing Gift". He is also co-author with Alonzo Gaskill (BYU) of the forthcoming "Understanding our Catholic Neighbors: A Guide for Latter-Day Saints". He lives in Worcester, Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters.

Today on In Good Faith, we have a special panel discussion on “How to Talk About Religion” featuring four local clergy members–if you are a long-time listener, you’ll recognize some of our guests from past episodes. Rabbi David Levinsky currently serves at the Temple Har Shalom in Park City. Bishop Carla Long, from the Community of Christ, has previously volunteered with the World Service Corps. Imam Shuaib Din of the Utah Islamic Center has led American groups to Mecca on the Hajj for the past 15 years. And, last but not least, Jan Saeed of the Baha'i faith has served with a number of community organizations including presenting at the Parliament of World Religions in 2004, 2015, and 2018. Listen as this esteemed panel explores (how to talk about) religion.

Steve chats with Lynne Twist about her new book "Living a Committed Life"--a grander approach to reconcile daily commitments. Twist is the co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance and founder of the Soul of Money Institute. For over 40 years, she has led workshops, provided coaching, and given presentations in 50 countries. Her primary focuses are alleviating poverty, ending world hunger, and supporting social justice and sustainability.

Daisy Khan describes her work in women's rights related to the Hajj to Mecca. Father Diaz talks to Steve as they walk through the Stations of the Cross. Rachel Rueckert explains her memoir and what lead her and her new husband to embark on the Camino de Santiago. Marcus Smith discusses his visit to Nauvoo, Illinois.

This week, Steve talks with Patrick Q. Mason, American historian specializing in Mormon History and Culture at USU. He teaches courses on Mormonism, American religious history, and religion, violence, and peacebuilding. Professor Mason was a Fulbright Scholar in Romania in 2015 and is a past president of the Mormon History Association. He is frequently consulted by the national and international media on stories related to Mormon culture and history. Mason has written or edited several books, including "Planted: Belief and Belonging in an Age of Doubt", which aims to normalizes struggling yet remaining faithful.

Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" (2004) illuminates the value of life and the reality of death, as narrated by Reverend John Ames. Typical of Robinson's writing, themes of faith are intertwined within the narrative. Listen as author Terryl Givens, Tennery Norton, and Heather Bigley discuss their reactions to this novel with host Steven Kapp Perry. Join the book club today! We are reading Richard Rohr's "The Universal Christ" for the next IGF Book Club episode airing May 2023.