Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

Holiday culture wars and consumerism bring more chaos than joy to the world. But there’s hope. The countercultural season of Advent offers a different way to prepare for Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, former New York Times columnist and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:How the practices of Advent disarm the culture warsWays that Advent helps us grieve and hopeWhy waiting to celebrate Christmas mattersPLUS why Tish chose to leave the New York TimesGive a book for Christmas!__Guest Bio:Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is a former New York Times columnist the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year). Her latest book is Advent: The Season of Hope. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in Austin, Texas.__Connect Online:Visit Tish's website at tishharrisonwarren.comFollow Tish on Instagram: @tishharrisonwarren__On the Podcast:Advent: The Season of HopeMore of Tish's booksTish’s final essay at the TimesAmy Julia's books__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com//tish-harrison-warren/__YouTube Channel: video with closed captions__Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Anxious parents. Anxious families. Anxiety is contagious. How do I know if I’m an anxious parent? And if I am one, how is that affecting my kids? What can I do about it—for their sake and for mine? Therapist and author Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to talk about:How to identify and stop anxiety loopsWhy failure is good for parents and kidsCommon parenting strategies that DON’T workPractical tools for changing thought and behavior patternsPLUS you get to listen in to Amy Julia’s own parenting therapy session when she tells Sissy the hardest thing for her as a parent right now! Advent Devotional: Prepare Him Room is available now!__GUEST BIO:“Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, has worked as the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries since 1993. She speaks to parents and children's ministers across the country, is a frequent guest on media outlets, and is the author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent. She also co-hosts the chart-topping Raising Boys and Girls podcast, with fellow Daystar Counselor David Thomas.”__Connect Online:Website: www.raisingboysandgirls.comInstagram: @RaisingBoysandGirls and @sissygoffFacebook: @raisingboysandgirlsYouTube: @raisingboysandgirls__On the Podcast:The Worry-Free Parent: Living in Confidence so Your Kids Can Too (Bethany House)The Worry-Free Parent Workbook__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/sissy-goff/__YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsSeason 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking 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 show up for each other in the midst of pain? Is it possible to hope when we’re suffering? Psychiatrist Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:How to identify the denial and shame we’ve connected to sufferingHow to form durable hope in the darkest placesHow to help a friend in the midst of suffering__Guest Bio:“Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known. He helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God, and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Curt and his wife, Phyllis, live outside of Washington DC and have two adult children.”__Connect Online:Website: curtthompsonmd.comInstagram: @curtthompsonmdFacebook: @CurtThompsonMDTwitter: @curt_thompsonmd__On the Podcast:The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of HopeAmy Julia’s book: To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and HopeHope Heals CampHebrews 12:1-3The Bible ProjectGenesis 2Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard by Paul Borgman__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/curt-thompson/__YouTube Channel (interview video with closed captions)__Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

What happens when women receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome? How does that diagnosis affect those women and their families? How does it affect our whole society?  Stephanie Meredith joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation about her new report on the bias doctors have when giving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, including:The landscape of prenatal testingHow doctors approach it and what they could do betterWhy these conversations matter outside the Down syndrome space__FREE DOWNLOAD: ​​5 THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN WHEN OUR DAUGHTER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME__Guest Bio:Stephanie Meredith is the Director of the National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Resources at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute and co-author and lead author of numerous studies, including “The impact of implicit and explicit bias about disabilities on parent experiences and information provided during prenatal screening and testing” in the Disability and Health Journal. In addition, she is a 4th-year doctoral student at Georgia State University with a focus on disability and health and the mother of a 23-year-old with Down syndrome and two younger daughters.__Connect Online:www.lettercase.orgInstagram: @lettercaseorgFacebook: @lettercaseorg__On the Podcast:Report in the Disability and Health JournalTIME: Doctors Don’t Know How to Talk About Down SyndromeLettercaseHHS and Disability DiscriminationNYT: When They Warn of Rare Disorders, These Prenatal Tests Are Usually WrongS7 E3 | Netflix’s Down for Love with Robyn Paterson__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/stephanie-meredith/YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsSeason 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Have you watched the new show on Netflix called Down for Love? It’s a reality dating show for people with Down syndrome, and we’re celebrating the start of Down Syndrome Awareness month with a conversation with the producer of Down for Love, Robyn Paterson. We talk about:How the show was createdThe diversity of the Down syndrome communityThe universal desire for love, relationships, and connectionBONUS CONTENT: At the end of the episode, I talk with Penny, our 17-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome, about her thoughts on Down for Love.___FREE DOWNLOAD: ​​5 THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN WHEN OUR DAUGHTER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME___TIME ESSAY: Doctors Don't Know How to Talk About Down Syndrome___GUEST BIO:“Robyn Paterson is a New Zealand-based producer, director and writer known for Down for Love (2022), Grand Designs New Zealand (2015) and In the Zone (2018). She works across various roles within multiple formats, including television factual, documentary & entertainment series, documentary feature, web-series, comedy, and drama. She has a background as an actress and presenter, and is the current president of the Directors & Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand.”___Connect Online:Website: https://www.robynpaterson.co.nz/Instagram: @_robynpaterson____On the Podcast:Down for LoveNew Zealand Down Syndrome Association ___TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/robyn-paterson/YouTube Channel: video with closed captions___Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Do you wrestle with anxiety? Are you plagued with worries? Do you think you’ve conquered anxiety? Curtis Chang, author of The Anxiety Opportunity, joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation that uncovers: what anxiety really is all aboutspiritual practices for facing anxietypractical ways we can grow in the midst of anxiety__Guest Bio:Curtis Chang is a theologian and consulting faculty member of Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the founder of Redeeming Babel and the host of the Good Faith podcast. His latest book is The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self. __Connect Online:Redeeming BabelInstagram: @redeemingbabelFacebook: @redeemingbabelTwitter: @hcurtischangRB__On the Podcast:The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best SelfTo Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and HopeThe Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der KolkThe Good Faith podcastMatthew 6:25-34Matthew 26:36-46Psalm 139Jesus Is the Question: The 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered by Martin B. Copenhaver__Transcript: amyjuliabecker.com/curtis-chang/YouTube Channel: video with closed captions  __Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

“Whose stories matter?” Esau McCaulley, author of How Far to the Promised Land, joins Amy Julia Becker for an honest, hopeful conversation about:being Black in Americahonoring the messiness and complexity of our humanityholding on to hope in the goodness of God“How do the people whom we love, who hurt us, shape the kind of people we become? And how do we make peace with that?” _Guest Bio:“Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His writing and speaking focus on New Testament theology, African American Biblical interpretation, and Christian public theology. His new memoir How Far to the Promised Land, questions the narrative of exceptionalism that he, and other Black survivors, are conditioned to give when they “make it” in America. His book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope won numerous awards, including Christianity Today’s book of the year. Esau is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. His writings have also appeared in places such as The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Christianity Today.”_Connect Online:Website: esaumccaulley.comInstagram: @esaumccaulleyFacebook: @OfficialEsauMcCaulleyTwitter: @esaumccaulley_On the Podcast:Previous episode: S3 E11 | The Black Church’s Gift to Christianity with Esau McCaulleyReading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in HopeChildren’s book: Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy SpiritLent: The Season of Repentance and RenewalGenesis 25:19-27:45_For transcript, go here: amyjuliabecker.com/esau-mccaulley_Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com._*A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day on my website, and a video with closed captions will be available on my YouTube Channel.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Love is stronger than fear. What if we really believed it? What if we lived into love and weren’t overcome by anxiety? What if, even in the midst of the harrowing realities of our global catastrophes and the mundane realities of our everyday lives—what if we could live in a way that deepens who we are, that connects us to ourselves, to God, to one another? I’m Amy Julia Becker, and this is a podcast about what it means to be human beings who seek love rather than fear, hope rather than cynicism, healing rather than division.In this season, I am excited to talk with Esau McCaulley about wrestling with his humanity as a Black man in America, and with Curtis Chang about the possibilities that open up when we face our own anxiety. Other guests include New York Times columnist Tish Harrison Warren and bestselling author Curt Thompson. We’ll talk about disability and culture and spirituality and maybe some politics and, again, about walking with courage along a way of grace and love. The first episode will drop on September 5th. Meanwhile, now is the time to let other people know about this podcast by sharing this trailer with them, leaving a rating or review, and, if you haven’t already, subscribing so you can get new content every two weeks. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Is racism baked into our nation’s DNA? Is there any hope for change? John Blake, a CNN journalist and author of More Than I Imagined, explores the personal and social aspects of race as he shares:his own experience as a biracial kid growing up in West Baltimoretime at Howard University and working for CNNunderstanding of race and faith in Americaexperience of learning about his own white family as a young adultreasons for hope_Guest Bio:John Blake is an award-winning journalist at CNN.com and an author. He has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Academy of Religion, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council and with the GLAAD Media Award…He has spoken at high schools, colleges, symposiums and in documentaries about topics such as race, religion and politics.  Blake is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a graduate of Howard University._Connect Online:WebsiteTwitterFacebook_On the Podcast:More Than I Imagined by John BlakeCry of the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Beloved by Toni MorrisonTranscript available at: amyjuliabecker.com/john-blake/_Season 6 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com._A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day on my website, and a video with closed captions will be available on my YouTube Channel.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How do we prepare now to die well? Can we reimagine care of the dying in all of its messiness as a gift? Dr. Lydia Dugdale, a medical ethicist, internal medicine doctor, professor, and author of The Lost Art of Dying, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:DisabilityDeathMedical assistance in dyingHonoring all human life as the gift it is without idolizing life__Guest Bio:“Lydia Dugdale MD, MAR, is the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University. Prior to her 2019 move to Columbia, she was Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics and founding Co-Director of the Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion at Yale School of Medicine. She is an internal medicine primary care doctor and medical ethicist. Her first book, Dying in the Twenty-First Century (MIT Press, 2015), provides the theoretical grounding for this current book. She lives with her husband and daughters in New York City.”__Connect Online:Website: lydiadugdale.com__On the Podcast:Book: The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom__Interview transcript and more: amyjuliabecker.com/lydia-dugdale__Season 6 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.__*A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day on my website, and a video with closed captions will be available on my YouTube Channel.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!