This is a bit of a departure from book reviews, but I enjoy hearing about other's favorite podcasts, so I thought I would share some of mine. We spent so much time at home this year with cover lockdown, John's training, etc. that I decided to start educating myself about various subjects through podcasts.
Books/Reading
Read Aloud Revival: Sarah MacKenzie is amazing. She has started a whole movement based on the importance of reading aloud to your children, even and especially when they can read for themselves. She has fabulous book lists for kids of all ages and she interviews interesting authors/illustrators. I highly recommend her website and the RAR Premium membership that opens up a couple times a year. It includes Mama book clubs, kid book clubs, drawing and writing workshops for kids, workshops for homeschool moms, and more. I recommend her books also: The Read Aloud Revival Family and Teaching from Rest (currently reading).
What Should I Read Next? with Anne Bogel: Anne Bogel is Modern Mrs. Darcy. Every week she has a guest on her show, and they tell her three books they love, one book they hate, and what they are reading lately. Then she gives them three recommendations to read next. Anne also puts together a fun, highly anticipated summer reading guide each year for her website subscribers.
Pop Culture
The Popcast with Knox and Jamie: Knox and Jamie's tagline--the things that entertain but do not really matter. They have different episodes each week regarding anything and everything pop culture. Sometimes this includes movie deep dives, Bachelorette episode previews, the more you know segments, etc. They are very entertaining, but I must forewarn that this is not a kid-friendly show. They do have inappropriate conduct that you would want to preview before listening with children.
Office Ladies: Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Jenna Fischer (Pam) rewatch every episode of The Office and share all sorts of fun details from the show. If you are an Office fan, I would definitely suggest a listen. Their content is relatively clean, but The Office was often an inappropriate show for kids, so keep that in mind before playing it with your kiddos around.
An Oral History of the Office: Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone) from The Office recorded a 12 episode miniseries exploring why The Office has become so beloved to fans who watched it in real time, and new audiences today. He interviews other actors from the show along with producers and writers. I found it fascinating. There is some language.
Church History
Luther in Real Time: Ligonier Ministries is releasing episodes 500 years to the day from October 1520. Martin Luther has been declared a heretic by Pope Leo X and has 60 days to recant before being burned at the stake. Only two episodes have been released thus far and they are around 10 minutes each. We can hear from Luther's performed writings what Protestants were protesting and why this still matters in 2020.
5 Minutes in Church History: Dr. Stephen Nichols takes five minutes to discuss different people, places, and ideas surrounding church history. I have learned lots of interesting tidbits that make me want to dive in deeper.
Christian: Digging Deeper
Knowing Faith: hosts Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley believe that learning the Bible is for everyone. All members of the church need to be trained in Biblical literacy. This season they are making a deep dive into Genesis 1 with guests like Nancy Guthrie and Russell Moore. A new friend in Germany introduced me to this podcast, and I'm thankful. I am a big Jen Wilkin fan.
BibleProject Podcast: If you are not familiar with the fantastic videos that the Bible Project makes, check it out! Their team is incredibly talented. They have video overviews for every book in the Bible along with major themes and spiritual beings. Their podcast episodes are Tim and Jon along with guests discussing how they are making the videos, what they are including, and other related Biblical thematic discussion.
The B.A.R. Podcast: B.A.R. stands for biblical and reformed. In each thirty minute episode, Dawain Atkinson interviews a Christian leader/writer/podcaster/etc. His goal is to provide listeners with Reformed biblical resources to grow in their faith. He has a great theme song too!
Ask Me Anything with JD Greear: JD is president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he was our pastor when we lives in RDU and attended The Summit Church. We have a great deal of respect for him and his teaching. These episodes are usually less than 20 minutes. He answers questions about church, culture, etc.
Apologetics
Mama Bear Apologetics: I just recently found this podcast and have been knocking out episodes starting at the beginning. This is for moms (biological, adoptive, spiritual) who want to be able to defend their faith, understand the worldviews that challenge Christianity, and teach these things to their children. So many kids raised in church walk away as adults due to lack of training and understanding in why Christianity is true and how to defend the truth.
The Alisa Childers Podcast: If you listened to Christian music in the early 2000s, you may remember the band Zoegirl. Alisa is one of the former members, and now she hosts an apologetics podcast calling out the dangers of Progressive Christianity. She has interviewed some fantastic people like former New Ager Marcia Montenegro, Sean McDowell, Neil Shenvi, and Dr. Christopher Yuan. She also reviews books written by famous progressives like Jen Hatmaker and Glennon Doyle. Highly recommend.
Let My People Think by Ravi Zacharias: I heard one of the Ravi's sermons for the very first time when I was attending Liberty University. He was such an intelligent and well-spoken apologist. These podcast episodes are about 30 minutes long and have fantastic messages about the credibility of Christianity, why Jesus is more than just a teacher, etc. Super good.
Politics/Current Issues
Just Thinking Podcast: Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker are the dynamic hosts of this podcast. This is a long-form podcast, meaning episodes can run up to 2.5 hours. They are incredibly intelligent men who cover politics and current events with a Gospel perspective. They also dive deep into Christian topics like assurance of salvation, Christian contentment, and woke theology. I routinely keep a notebook nearby to take notes. This is probably one of my very favorites.
Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey: Allie Beth is a conservative Christian political commentator who approaches each topic in light of her conservative Christian worldview. I appreciate her episodes because she continually points back to the Gospel--that God is in control no matter what. As a somewhat anxious person, I need that reminder.
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