Table of (Mal)Contents

Every organization, church, blog, and even podcast can succumb to mission drift if its identity is not continually being clarified. So today, much like Derek Zoolander did when he saw his reflection in a puddle, we're getting a little introspective on the show and asking the question, "Who am I?" Listen in as we discuss: What we're really all about—and who are we really trying to be Why our faith can't not be a part of the show (even when we rarely discuss books connected to our faith) Carrying conversations when we're having a bad day Dave's thoughts as he's finally reading A Man Called Ove A few of the books mentioned on this episode: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

One of the creative cohorts & publishing companies Dave and Aaron both love is The Rabbit Room, for many different reasons, not the least of which being the people running it. So this week, Dave and Aaron are joined by none other than Pete Peterson, its executive director and managing editor. Listen in as we discuss: The story of The Rabbit Room The publishing philosophy of "do less better" The challenges of reading for pleasure when working in publishing The feedback Pete—and his brother Andrew—has received because of the content of his books Why it can be challenging for some authors to be too Christian and not Christian enough How Pete quit smoking A few of the books mentioned on this episode: Every Moment Holy Vol. 1, and the forthcoming Every Moment Holy Vol 2 by Douglas McKelvey The Fiddler's Gun and Fiddler's Green (the Fin's Revolution series) by Pete Peterson (Though really, get these direct from The Rabbit Room store—it's a great way to support them directly!)Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Dave and Aaron are excited to one of our favorite authors, Lin Enger, join us on the podcast this week for an outstanding chat about… well, pretty much everything. (In fact, we were having such a good time that we completely forgot the time and went about 20 minutes over—and you get to reap the benefits of it!)Listen in as we discuss: The recurring themes of religion, sacrifice, forgiveness, and father-son dynamics in Lin's writing The importance of place to storytelling What does Lin need to teach students about writing The danger of over-editing The relationship between end-times prophesying and the weird climate in which we find ourselves today Books written by Lin Enger: Undiscovered Country The High Divide American Gospel Comeback: A Gun Pederson Novel (co-authored with Leif Enger) Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

The day has finally arrived—Dave and I are talking about reading Undiscovered Country volume 1 by Charles Soule and Scott Snyder, which is his first time reading a graphic novel! But to make it extra fun, we decided to invite along a longtime listener, and extremely rare Zoomer, Deb Wampler to join in the conversation with us, for a good old fashioned Comic Book Club.Listen in as we discuss: How to read a graphic novel Different formats genres of graphic novels Whether we should have had Dave ease in with something a little easier (like Batman: The Long Halloween) What the experience of reading a graphic novel is like for someone who hasn't done it before If Dave and Deb are going to read Undiscovered Country volume 2 Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Dave and Aaron are joined by Russ Ramsey for a conversation about art, pastoring in a pandemic, and why we can't stop banging the drum on reading fiction.Listen in as we discuss: The results of the Dave's haircut poll How pastoring in a pandemic has affected Russ' reading The multiple-time guest jacket Why culture warriors should tell stories instead Does Calvin & Hobbes count as a graphic novel? When we might be doing the discussion of Undiscovered Country Some breaking news in the life of Russ Ramsey! A few of the books we mentioned: Norco '80 by Peter Houlahan A Contract with God by Will Eisner Maus by Art Spiegelman Art & Faith by Matoko Fujimura The War of Art by Steven Pressfield Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Dave and Aaron are joined by friend and former coworker Brandon Smith for a fun conversation about the Church Fathers, Batman, and the revolving door of heresy.Listen in as we discuss: How Christianity actually had faithful teachers before the Reformation What Batman graphic novels are good ones to read for a first-timer If there's such a thing as new heresy The only part of hockey Aaron talks about Should Dave take his hair all the way down, or keep working with what he's got A few of the books we mentioned: Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory by Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale Batman by Tom King Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller Batman: Year One by Frank Miller & David Mazzuchelli Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Dave, Scarlet, and Aaron are joined by former co-host/recurring guest Barnabas Piper to talk about… well, you'll just have to listen to hear.Listen in as we discuss: Dave's feelings on the graphic novel our listeners chose for him to read The dedication of Scarlet's next book How much we don't know about copyright law and fair use doctrine as it applies to music Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Check out another show on the Area Code Network, No Chill Enneagram: Watch Party:We can't stop talking about the enneagram, so we started a podcast to get it all out of our system. No Chill Enneagram: Watch Party is a safe space for ennegram and pop culture fanatics. Each week, pop culture expert, Richard Clark, and enneagram expert, Bethany Perkins watch a movie or tv show and talk about it through the lens of the enneagram.

Dave & Aaron are back on Zoom talking about all kinds of not-at-all controversial subjects. As one does when on a Zoom call with a microphone. Instead, we talked current events, Star Wars, stock markets, and books.Listen in as we discuss: The winning book in our graphic novel reading challenge Whether the president should have a job title The opening scene of the inevitable book about Wall Street Bets (and future film starring Nicolas Cage) Being inspired to read again How to rank the Disney-era Star Wars films so far A few of the books we mentioned on this episode Undiscovered Country by Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, et al. The Hardest Job in the World by John Dickerson My Last Name by Eric Schumacher In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Recently I (Aaron) went to the local Dollar General and was confronted with the most ridiculous book title I've seen in a long time. So naturally, I sent a picture to Dave and Scarlet, to which Dave immediately suggested that we talk about this on the show! So, with Scarlet out this week, that's what we did. And it was as silly and amazing as you would hope.Listen in as we discuss: Our favorites from a list of silly book titles we can't share (there are some that would definitely cross the line of the "don't get fired rule," so…) My vetting failure before making recommendations on graphic novels last week New graphic novel options for Dave to (maybe) read After last week's encouraging poll, we're back at it with another, which will go live sometime on Monday on Twitter. This one will, hopefully, be one that helps point Dave in a direction on which graphic novel he's going to try.A few of the books we mentioned on this episode Undiscovered Country by Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, et al. Birthright Vol 1: Homecoming by Joshua Williamson Paper Girls Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan & Cliff Chiang Once & Future by Kieron Gillen Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let’s talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.