A Drink With a Friend

Latest Episodes:

The Gift of (& Need for) Advent Nov 24, 2023

Show notes

Whether you're a seasoned Advent adherent or a barely-even-heard-of-it curious onlooker, Advent really is for everybody. Writer Tsh Oxenreider shares why Advent, as well as the rest of the liturgical calendar, really is a gift to us, even in (especially in?) our insanely busy and information-packed world. She also shares a brief introduction to the season, as well as a few ideas on how to get started (sharing an excerpt from her Advent book!).

* Host: author Tsh Oxenreider

* Tsh’s Advent book, Shadow & Light

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Tsh’s 2023 Gift Guide

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Third Places Nov 10, 2023

Show notes

Third places are what they sound like: they’re not your home, and they’re not your workplace—they’re the third place where you hang out (think Cheers). Authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider chat about their third places, why they matter to neighborhoods and communities, and what to do if you haven’t yet found your third place. (Hint: they can’t be digital.)

* Hosts: authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch!

* Orthodox Farmhouse Brewery

* 309 Coffee

* Strong Towns

* New Polity’s series Good Cities

* Tsh’s essay: Third Places & Homesteads in the Shadowlands

* Not Just Bikes YouTube channel

* Out of the Silent Planet, by CS Lewis

* Come to Greece!

* Ask a question! Email adrinkwithafriend@gmail.com

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The Deep Down Things Oct 27, 2023

Show notes

Why hope? Because we have no other choice. A few years ago, Amber Haines entered a season of pain and despair when she resigned from her role as church curate and walked out those doors for the last time. Since then, she and Seth have been learning that hope requires a recognition of the deep-down things. Writers Seth, Amber, & Tsh Oxenreider talk about why we HAVE to hope, even when (especially when?) things are bleak.

* Guest: Amber Haines

* Hosts: authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider

* Seth & Amber’s new book, The Deep Down Things: Practices for Growing Hope in Times of Despair

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch

* Go to Greece with Tsh

* Why We’re Required to Find Beauty

* Orthodox Farmhouse Brewery

* Patty Griffin: her self-titled 2019 album

* God of the Garden, by Andrew Peterson

* Ask a question! Email adrinkwithafriend@gmail.com

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You Should Like This, Too Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

Social media isn't great for us, neither individually nor collectively. Know what's better? Substack. Not just for writers or creators — for readers and listeners, too! That means you. Writers Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider share why they dig this bright spot on the internet, and why you should, too. It's not perfect, but it’s doing a good thing.

* Hosts: authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch

* Go to Greece with Tsh!

* Buy Seth’s new book!

* Over the Field, by Hadden Turner

* La Beef, by Anonymous

* The Blue Scholar, Nate Marshall

* Flak Photo, by Andy Adams

* School of the Unconformed, by Ruth Gaskovski

* A Pilgrim in Metropolis, by B. Christof Wachtel

* Hearthstone Fables, by Kristin Haakenson

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A Case Against (& For) AI Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

We officially live in a world with AI, like it or not. It’s been around quite awhile, but its ubiquitous presence is escalating, and quickly. How shall we then live? Is there ethical space for AI? Writers Tsh Oxenreider and Seth Haines have thoughts.

* Hosts: authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch!

* Come see Tsh next Thursday, October 5 at Fabled Bookstore

* Tsh’s latest: First Light & Eventide

* Seth’s upcoming: The Deep-Down Things

* Ask Tsh & Seth a question! Email adrinkwithafriend@gmail.com

* Anna Tivel’s Outsiders: Live in a Living Room

* Joan Chittester’s The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century

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Fragile Objects Sep 15, 2023

Show notes

Why is adding beauty to our everyday lives worth the time and effort? Tsh Oxenreider talks with fellow writer Katy Carl about why the ongoing, noble pursuit of beauty (in its truest form) is essential for ALL of us. They also chat about grad school while raising kids, AI (of course), and other such sundry.

* Guest: Katy Carl

* Host: Tsh Oxenreider

* Katy's new book, Fragile Objects

* Tsh’s latest: First Light & Eventide

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch!

* Mariane Moore’s poem, “I too dislike it”

* Katy’s essay on AI

* Middlemarch, by George Eliot

* Reading Adventure playlist

* Ask a question! Email adrinkwithafriend@gmail.com

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Ignatian Bookends Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

We’re back for a new season of chatting over drinks! Writers Tsh Oxenreider and Seth Haines discuss the old idea of Ignatian examen and how it applies to us moderns. Also, why morning and evening bookends are a great idea.

* Hosts: authors Seth Haines and Tsh Oxenreider

* Buy a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* Merch!

* Tsh’s latest: First Light & Eventide

* Seth’s upcoming: The Deep-Down Things

* How to pray the examen

* Scientifically proven benefits of gratitude

* “The Want of Peace” by Wendell Berry

* Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles

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Good Finales Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

No need to panic; the podcast isn’t ending! It's simply time for a summer break. In this episode, Seth and Tsh chat about some of their favorite finales: the last lines of books, the final songs on an album, the ultimate episodes in a TV series. What makes a good ending? And what helps us forgive a story's less-than-ideal finale?

Drink episodes will take a brief hiatus for some offline summer revelry, but never fear—episodes will pick back up again soon!

* Seth’s Newsletter & Website

* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website

* Pick up a round of drinks

* Our recommended reads

* The Observationalist, by Seth

* Pre-order Seth & Amber’s new book, The Deep Down Things

* Pre-order Tsh’s journal, First Light & Eventide

* Summer 2024: Go to Greece with Tsh!

* Damien Rice’s album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy

* A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

* Typhoon, Offerings

* A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean

* Chuck (on Max and Amazon Prime)

* Battlestar Galactica (on Peacock)

* The Common Place, Vol. 5 Playlist

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Fiction is More Real Than Non-Fiction Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

Stories (the good ones, anyway) tell us more than an entertaining tale—they tell us why the world is the way it is, as well as the way it should be. In this way, fiction is often more real than non-fiction. Everyone should read fiction, especially folks who want to know how the world works and how we're called to make it better. Seth & Tsh unpack why good stories do just that.

* Seth’s Newsletter & Website

* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website

* Pick up a round of drinks

* Our recommended reads

* The Observationalist, by Seth

* Pre-order Seth & Amber’s new book, The Deep Down Things

* Pre-order Tsh’s journal, First Light & Eventide

* The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway

* Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

* Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr

* The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

* It Can’t Happen Here, by Lewis Sinclair

* The Awakening of Miss Prim, by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

* Free class: The Rise & Fall of the Roman Republic

* Tsh’s essay on leaving Instagram, one year later

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Love What Lasts Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

Is reading good books, watching good movies, and preferring good art a matter of subjective taste or objective reasoning? And if it’s objective, does that mean there’s a wrong preference for these things? Even a …moral wrong? Tsh talks with one of her favorite current thinkers and writers, Joshua Gibbs, about what it means to wisely know the difference between mediocre, common, and uncommon things, and why it matters beyond mere taste that we love that which lasts.

* Love What Lasts, by Joshua Gibbs

* Joshua’s annual summer conference

* Joshua’s podcast, Proverbial

* Joshua’s blog for CiRCE, The Cedar Room

* Joshua’s articles on ChatGPT and terrible family films

* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website

* Pick up a round of drinks

* Recommended reads

* The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (plus Dorothy Sayers’ notes)

* The Once and Future King, by T.H. White

Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe