No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp

John Blake’s father was Black. The mother he never knew was white. The two met in Baltimore in the 60’s when interracial marriage was illegal.“I knew I had a white mother,” says the award-winning journalist. “Her name is Shirley, and her family hates black people… that's all I knew.” At age 17, John Blake’s father casually asked him if he’d like to meet his mother for the first time. Three days later, he found himself in the waiting room of a hospital where he uncovered a long held family secret. “The meeting is nothing that I expected,” he recalls. “It's incredibly shocking.” Today, Blake tells the story of his childhood shedding light on the history of racial prejudice in the United States. He offers wisdom about the ways in which we might find hope and healing in the midst of all kinds of struggle and hostility.Show Notes:Resources mentioned this episodeMore Than I Imagined by John BlakePDF of Lee’s Interview NotesTranscription LinkJOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Naomi Shihab Nye.What do scientists and poets both agree on?On this show, we often host guests whose work is in scientific or concrete fields, such as psychology or sociology, which rely on experiments and research to come to helpful conclusions. But such conversations sometimes fall short of the wonder and beauty we experience in everyday life, and for such subjects, we turn to the poets.In this episode, award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye corroborates what researchers have confirmed—the benefits of paying attention. She shares abundant wisdom for living a good life through the lens of poetry. Her work has a quality that the best poetry has, that of paying rapt attention to small moments, making meaning and hope out of everyday wonders.Show Notes:Resources mentioned this episodeEverything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab NyePDF of Lee’s Interview NotesTranscript for Abridged EpisodeJOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye emphasizes the life-changing benefits of paying attention, offering wisdom for living through poetry. She explores the power of questions, kindness, and cultural diversity, promoting empathy and human connection. Nye's moving poems reflect moments of beauty and humanity, reminding us to cherish small wonders in life.

Professor Kristin Neff discusses how self-compassion is more effective than self-esteem for human flourishing. She explains the negative effects of high self-esteem and the benefits of cultivating self-compassion. Kristin shares insights on how self-compassion can help us flourish amidst stress and suffering, with a brief mention of psychiatrist Curt Thompson's research on shame.

Professor Kristin Neff discusses self-compassion vs. self-esteem, how to cultivate self-compassion, and its benefits in flourishing. She contrasts self-compassion with self-pity, explores interconnectedness, and addresses cultural influences on self-criticism. The podcast emphasizes the transformational power of self-compassion for personal growth.

This is our unabridged episode with Amy-Jill Levine. What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly. Show Notes: Similar episodes Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Resources mentioned this episode Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus? Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about. Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly. Show Notes: Similar episodes Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World Resources mentioned this episode Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our unabridged interview with Angela Williams Gorrell. What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering? In this episode, author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. Show Notes: Similar episodes Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection William Paul Young: Author of The Shack Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty Resources mentioned this episode The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell The Epidemic of Despair PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell Link to Transcript for Abridged Episode JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering? In this episode, two guests discuss joy, describing both what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. And Yale theologian Miroslav Volf, himself no stranger to suffering growing up in a war torn country, explains the connection between joy and sorrow. Show Notes: Similar episodes Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection William Paul Young: Author of The Shack Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty Resources mentioned this episode The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell The Epidemic of Despair PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell Transcription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karen Korematsu, daughter of civil rights activist Fred Korematsu, shares her father's story of defying unjust internment during World War II. They discuss the legacy of Korematsu v. United States, origins of courage, reopening of the Japanese American Incarceration case, and pursuit of social justice. An insightful conversation on historical injustices and the importance of standing up for civil liberties.