Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

Political divides don't just disappear after elections. If you long for a hopeful way forward, this conversation is for you. Pastor Corey Widmer talks with Amy Julia Becker about how to navigate political polarization with humility, love, and a commitment to Jesus' way of life.Corey and Amy Julia discuss:Political engagement and identity formationThe dangers of political idolatry and hyperindividualism How to embody love and curiosity in political discourseLiving out the way of Jesus in a polarized worldHow to respond to the election results _FREE DOWNLOAD: 5 Ways to Experience God's Love and Practice Peace_ON THE PODCAST:Sermon on the MountThe BeatitudesRich Villodas on the podcastThe AND CampaignHow to Be Christian in the Election | White PaperHow to Be Christian in the Election | Sunday School seriesThe Good Life of the Kingdom | Sermon_Watch this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. Read the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast._Guest Bio:Rev. Corey Widmer is Senior Pastor of Third Church, a Presbyterian congregation in Richmond, VA. A graduate of University of Virginia and Princeton Theological Seminary, he also has a Ph.D. in theology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Corey is married to Sarah, a public health nurse, and they have 4 teenage daughters.  Corey loves reading, exploring the outdoors, and pickleball! -We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

What freedom could we offer one another as humans if we weren’t so stuck on the "treadmill of achievements and quantified learning"? Pepper Stetler, PhD, is the author of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test. She joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to share her personal journey navigating the world of IQ testing with her daughter Louisa, who has Down syndrome. Amy Julia and Dr. Stetler explore: the historical roots of these intelligence assessmentsIQ testing's societal implicationsthe ethical dilemmas the tests present for parents and educatorshow IQ tests shape our understanding of intelligence and the pursuit of a fulfilling lifeways to challenge conventional notions of achievement and success_Noonday Lucky Few bracelet (in celebration of Down Syndrome Awareness month): https://noondaycollection.com/products/lucky-few-bracelet_On the Podcast:A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test by Pepper Stetler Alfred BinetDSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)Henry Goddard_Connect with Dr. Stetler on her website (pepperstetler.com) or X (@PepperStetler)._Watch this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. Read the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

The way we tell the stories of our past plays a crucial role in shaping our imagination for the future. Author and historian Jemar Tisby, Ph.D., insists in his work that we tell a fuller story of our past, especially when it comes to the history of race and justice within the United States. Jemar joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss his latest book, The Spirit of Justice. Their conversation includes:The persistent spirit of justice in the Black Christian experience in AmericaThe historical and ongoing struggles against racismHow faith and storytelling fuel resilience and hopeAmy Julia's book: White Picket Fences: Turning toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege_Guest Bio:Jemar Tisby, PhD, is the author of new book The Spirit of Justice, and he also wrote the New York Times bestselling The Color of Compromise, and the award-winning How to Fight Racism. He is a historian who studies race, religion, and social movements in the twentieth century and serves as a professor at Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically Black college. _Connect Online with Dr. Tisby:Website: https://jemartisby.com/ | Instagram | Facebook | Substack/Newsletter_On the Podcast:The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance by Jemar TisbyThe Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar TisbyMississippi Civil Rights MuseumAmy Julia’s previous conversations with Jemar: S5 E10 | How Kids Can Fight Racism with Jemar Tisby, PhD S4 E1 | How Do We Fight Racism? with Jemar TisbyS3 E6 | Now Is the Time for Justice with Jemar Tisby_TRANSCRIPT here_YouTube video here with closed captions_Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

What does it mean to be human? Who counts as a human being and why? Anthropologist Tom Pearson has been asking these questions for a living for a long time, and then his daughter was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome, prompting him to ask the questions all over again in his book An Ordinary Future. Amy Julia and Tom discuss:Normalcy, disability, and the human experienceCultural perceptions of disability and the historical context of eugenics and institutionalization How prenatal testing influences societal views of disabilityInterdependence and its relationship to the human experienceThe ways disability is a source of innovation and community, not just an inevitabilityFREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future {especially for families with disability}Guest Bio:Tom Pearson is a cultural anthropologist with wide-ranging interests in the fields of environmental justice and disability studies. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where he also chairs the social science department. His writing has appeared in numerous scholarly journals and other public outlets. The birth of his daughter Michaela and her diagnosis with Down syndrome thrust him into an unfamiliar world of disability and difference. His book An Ordinary Future: Margaret Mead, the Problem of Disability, and a Child Born Different examines this experience in relation to Margaret Mead's path to disability rights activism. It confronts the dominant ideas, disturbing contradictions, and dramatic transformations that have shaped our perspectives on disability over the last century. Connect Online:Website | TwitterOn the Podcast:Washington Post: A mystery illness stole their kids’ personalities. These moms fought for answers.An Ordinary Future: Margaret Mead, the Problem of Disability, and a Child Born Different by Thomas PearsonTRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/tom-pearson/YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsLet’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

The ways we have envisioned success—whether it’s more wealth, social media followers, recognition, or power—might actually lead us away from an abundant, spacious life. Pastor Rich Villodas, author of The Narrow Way, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to examine how the Sermon on the Mount challenges prevailing notions of success and the good life and invites us to reimagine faithfulness to Jesus. Amy Julia and Rich discuss:Reimagining success, morality, and individualismInterior examination and the integration of loveThe paradox of the narrow path and the spacious life in Jesus’ wordsPractices for reimagining the good life in a world of distractionsEmbracing grace and seeking transformationCheck out Amy Julia's live, online WORKSHOP: Reimagining Family Life with Disability. Use code FAMILY24 at checkout and take 30% off!Guest Bio:Rich Villodas is the author of 4 books, including his latest The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls. He is the lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than 75 countries represented, in Elmhurst, Queens, and Long Island, New York. He is the co-host of the Resilient Pastor podcast. He’s been married to Rosie since 2006, and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan.Connect Online with Rich: Website | Instagram | Facebook | TwitterOn the Podcast:Matthew 5-7BibleProject Podcast: Sermon on the Mount seriesHope Heals CampMatthew: A Commentary, Volume 1 by Dale BrunerPete ScazzeroTRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/rich-villodas-2024/YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsLet’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How do we envision the good life in a way that is hopeful and human and freeing and good? My name is Amy Julia Becker. I help people reimagine the good life through my writing and speaking on disability, faith, and culture.My hope for the work I do, and for this show, is that we would:–Challenge the assumptions about what makes life good–Proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being–And envision a world of belonging–Where everyone mattersDiscover captivating conversations with leading authors, professors, and experts who delve into what it truly means to be human and what makes life good. If you're ready to explore helpful, beautiful perspectives on belonging and belovedness and mattering, now is the perfect time to join.Subscribe today to catch new episodes every other week, beginning September 10. Let’s reimagine the good life together. Mark your calendar, and make sure you’re subscribed. You won’t want to miss this.REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE is available wherever you get your podcasts.Also, check out my live, online WORKSHOP: Reimagining Family Life with Disability. Use code FAMILY24 to take 30% off registration! It begins September 18th!YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsLet’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

What does it mean to live a good life? How do we find meaning and happiness in our everyday lives? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker sits down with Meghan Sullivan, co-author of The Good Life Method and philosophy professor at Notre Dame, to explore:The narrow American understanding of the good lifeHow to help students (and all of us) explore the big questions about life, purpose, and meaningHow individuals with intellectual disabilities contribute to our understanding of humanityThe relationship between love, attention, and the good lifeExpanding our conceptions of work and vocation _SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Reimagining the Good Life newsletter._Guest Bio:Meghan Sullivan is the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. She serves as Director of the University-wide Ethics Initiative and is the founding director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, which will launch in the summer of 2024. In 2022, Sullivan published The Good Life Method with Penguin Press (co-authored with her teaching collaborator Paul Blaschko) based on a wildly popular introductory philosophy course she developed at Notre Dame called “God and the Good Life.” Sullivan has degrees from the University of Virginia, Oxford University, and Rutgers University, where she earned a PhD in philosophy. She studied at Balliol College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar._Connect Online:Website: meghansullivan.orgFacebook: @sullivan.meghan_On the Podcast:The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning by Meghan Sullivan, Ph.D. and Paul BlaschkoQuestions for a Life Worth Living with Matt Croasmun (Yale)Young Minds in Critical Condition by Michael Roth _TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/meghan-sullivan/_YouTube: video with closed captions_Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

In a society often obsessed with intelligence, can we reimagine a good life that encompasses joy, meaning, and respect for all? What does it mean to respect and support individuals with profound intellectual disabilities? What role do those most intimately involved in providing care have in advocacy? Professor Amy Lutz, Ph.D., author of Chasing the Intact Mind, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss:How the severely autistic and intellectually disabled were excluded from the debates that affect them mostControversy and misconceptions about sheltered workshops/14(c) programsThe importance of meaningful relationships and communityBuilding a caring and committed workforce of caregiversListening to caregivers and families_FREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future (especially for families affected by disability)_GUEST BIOProfessor Amy Lutz, Ph.D., is a historian of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research locates at the intersection of disability history and bioethics. She is a founding board member of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) and the author of Chasing the Intact Mind and several other books. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children, including Jonah, her 25-year-old son with profound autism. _CONNECT ONLINEWebsite: amysflutz.com/_ON THE PODCASTChasing the Intact Mind: How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded from the Debates That Affect Them Most by Amy Lutz, Ph.D.The Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autismSection 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards ActUnited States Commission on Civil Rights 2020John SwintonAmy Julia’s essay about the spiritual lives of people with intellectual disabilities_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/amy-lutz/_YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsLet’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com and subscribe here to receive my weekly thoughts and reflections.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How do you hold onto hope in the midst of suffering? How can we trust in the goodness of God in a world of pain? What does the good life look like in the midst of disability and uncertainty? Katherine Wolf, author with Alex Wolf of Treasures in the Dark, survived a catastrophic stroke at the age of 26 and continues her recovery to this day. She offers thoughtful answers to these questions as she talks with Amy Julia Becker about: Her personal journey of suffering and hopePractices and habits of hopeCaring for others in painDifferences between hope and toxic positivityThe non-linear journey and unexpected realities of healingFREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future (especially for families affected by disability)_Guest Bio:Katherine & Jay Wolf are communicators and advocates. They married and moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers in law and the entertainment industry. Their son, James was born in 2007, and six months later Katherine’s life nearly ended with a catastrophic stroke. Miraculously, she survived and continues her recovery to this day, including having a miracle baby, John in 2015. Katherine and Jay have shared their journey of steadfast hope through their books and at speaking events. Together, they founded Hope Heals camp, a community for families with disabilities like them. Katherine, Jay and their two sons live in the Atlanta area._Connect Online:Website: hopeheals.comInstagramFacebook_On the Podcast:The GoodHard Story podcastTreasures in the Dark by Katherine Wolf, with Alex Wolf (+ more of Katherine’s books)Hope Heals CampMend Coffee & Goods in AtlantaSara Groves’ Open My HandsMike Foster | People of the Second ChancePsalm 84:11John 16:33John 9Isaiah 45:3FREE RESOURCE: 10 Ways to Move Toward a Good Future (especially for families affected by disability)_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/katherine-wolf/_Watch on YouTube_Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

We are heading into another contentious Presidential election. For people of faith, for people who care about character and gentleness and values, for people who are inclined to disengage from politics altogether, what are we to do? Michael Wear, author of The Spirit of Our Politics, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:His work as a staffer in the Obama White House (Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships)How political anger and polarization malform individuals, families, churches, and communitiesHabits and practices for gentle, hopeful political engagementStewarding political influence for the good of our neighborsPolitics and identityA new imagination for political engagementWorkshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability_Guest Bio:“Michael Wear is the Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution based in the nation's capital with the mission to contend for the credibility of Christian resources in public life, for the public good. For well over a decade, he has served as a trusted resource and advisor for a range of civic leaders on matters of faith and public life, including as a White House and presidential campaign staffer. He is the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, a paradigm-shifting book that advances a vision for spiritual formation in the context of political life, and the author and co-author of several other books.”_Connect Online:Website: www.michaelwear.comInstagramFacebookTwitter_On the Podcast:Dallas WillardThe Center for Christianity and Public LifeThe Divine Conspiracy by Dallas WillardThe Great Omission by Dallas WillardEitan HershActs 8Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/michael-wear/_YouTube Channel: video with closed captions_Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!