The Mockingcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 219: Hell Is Getting Everything You Want Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk the fastest growing sport in America, the allure of conspirituality, exvangelical hashtags, and renamed churches. Also, a pair of golden girls wipe the pickleball court with Mr. Zahl.

Click here to read Craig Coyne's piece on "How Pickleball Won Everyone Over" in Vanity Fair.
Click here to check out Alex Da Corte's sculpture on the top of the Met.
Click here to read Ian Bogost's piece "People Aren't Meant to Talk This Much" in The Atlantic.
Click here to read Eva Wiseman's exploration of "The Dark Side of Wellness."
Click here to read Zack Verham's piece on "Faith After Exvangelical Deconstruction."
Click here to read Giles Fraser writing about Trendy Vicars (and St. Mike's).

Episode 218: Too Good to Be True Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk travel selves, generational generalizations, optimistic pitfalls, and forgiving bad fathers. Also, Sarah spies some aliens and RJ jumps off several cliffs.

Click here to read “You’re a Different Person When You Travel” by Jen Rose Smith in The Washington Post.
Click here Louis Menand’s essay “It’s Time to Stop Talking about ‘Generations’” in The New Yorker.
Click here to read Arthur Brooks piece on The Difference Between Optimism and Hope.
Click here to read Joseph Keegin's essay on Death and Forgiveness.

Episode 217: Not Captain Material Sep 28, 2021

Show notes

In which Sarah, Dave, and RJ talk self-awareness, gracious friendships, nap ministries, and the "gift" of rejection. Also, RJ explores his haze-ability while Sarah buys a bridesmaid dress.

Click here to read David Brooks column on "Is Self-Awareness a Mirage?"
Click here to read the interview with Anne Lamott in Time.
Click here to read about the Nap Ministry.
Click here to read Dave's water polo story. (And here to order the book in question).

Oh and click here to learn more about Storymakers.

Episode 216: No One Is Enjoying Their Life Sep 17, 2021

Show notes

In which RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk favorite comedians, status games, personal progress, deconversion narratives, and the allure of re-enchantment. Also, somehow RJ keeps winning. He's insufferable that way.

Click here to watch Norm Macdonald deliver the Moth Joke.
Click here to read Will Storr's article on Status Games in The Guardian.
Click here to read Ed West's review of Storr's book on UnHerd.
Click here to read Hannah Anderson article in Christianity Today on how COVID Killed Our Sense of Personal Progress.
Click here to read Shivani Radhakrishnan's article "Uncertain Terms" in The Point.
Click here to order Megahan O'Gieblyn's new book God Human Animal Machine.

Episode 215: Blessed Are the Brokenhearted Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

In their first episode after the summer hiatus, Dave, RJ and Sarah talk misbehaving consumers, trapped perfectionists, and controversial forgiveness before taking a detour to a little church in Mississippi. Also, Sarah dons a babooshka while Dave drums up some tips.

Click here to read Amanda Mull's article on how American Shoppers Are a Nightmare
Click here to read Josh Cohen's essay on The Perfectionism Trap
Click here to read Nadia Bolz Weber's newsletter on what to do If You Can't Take In Anymore
Click here to read the Vox interview with Elizabeth Bruenig about forgiveness
Finally, click here to read Sarah's account of what happened with the stained-glass window

Episode 214: God Is On The Bathroom Floor Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

In their last episode before the summer hiatus, RJ, Sarah, and Dave talk brand loyalty, thought-terminating cliches, father's day championships, the religion/psychoanalysis intersection, and God's downstairs neighbor. Also, RJ changes his mind about Michael Jordan (sort of).

*To support Mockingbird, please visit www.mbird.com/support.
*

To read Sophie Gilbert's review of Cultish, click here.
To read Hanif Abdurraqib's column "On Sneakers", click here.
To read Kelsey Osgood's essay on "Ernest Becker and Our Fear of Death", click here.
To read Nightbirde's piece God Is On the Bathroom Floor, click here.

Episode 213: Don't Count Another Man's Money May 24, 2021

Show notes

In which Sarah, RJ, and Dave talk spite, ubiquitous burnout, chaplaincy booms, and our conflicted relationship with newness. Also, Dave marvels at how refreshed the cicadas are looking.

Click here to read Charlie Tyson's review in The Atlantic on Why Are We So Spiteful?
Click here to watch Todd Brewer's talk on Anger ("If Jesus Had a Twitter Account") from our Tyler Conference.
Click here to read Jill Lepore's essay on Burnout in The New Yorker
Click here to read Katie Heaney's piece on The Clock-Out Cure in The Cut
Click here to read Vice's article on Why Chaplains Are in High Demand in an Increasingly Secular America
Click here to read Sam Bush's post on Facing the Strange
Click here to read Dave's post on Becoming a Cliché

Recommendations:

Click here to order Spencer Reece's All the Beauty Still Left
Click here to listen to Natalie Bergman's new album Mercy
Click here to read the profile of Sinead O'Connor in the NY Times

Episode 212: The Secret to Complete Mastery May 11, 2021

Show notes

Recorded live in front of an audience at the Mockingbird Tyler festival, Sarah, RJ, and Dave talk ambivalent mothers, Nordic expectations, getting "on top of things", and elite religiosity. Also, Sarah indulges in some, er, splendid show-and-tell.

Click here to read How Adult Children Affect Their Mothers' Happiness
Click here to read about The Grim Secret of Nordic Happiness in Slate.
Click here to read Oliver Burkeman's newsletter on mastery.
Click here to read Audrey Pollnow's newsletter on elite American religion.
Click here to read Michael Gerson's sermon from The National Cathedral.

Special Episode: The Surprise Issue May 03, 2021

Show notes

Surprise! It's a special edition episode of The Mockingcast, in which CJ Green introduces the unpredictable content of the Surprise issue of The Mockingbird magazine. You'll hear an incredible personal essay read by author and professional listener, Helena Dea Bala; an interview on unexpected grief with the Rev Liz Tichenor; and a discussion about jazz and John Coltrane with musician Sam Bush. Plus some stuff about Disneyland. Lots of twists and turns, needless to say.

Click here to order the issue.

Episode 210: Don't Stop Beliebing Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

In which Dave, RJ and Sarah talk subtraction strategies, birth order effects, Bieber's redemption, and the spiritual dangers of courting controversy. But maybe that's just what a couple of oldest children (and one middle child) would discuss.

Click here to read The Washington Post's report on our aversion to subtraction when it comes to problem solving.
Click here to read Lynn Berger's article in Time on Birth Order.
Click here to read Zach Baron's profile in GQ on The Redemption of Justin Bieber.
Click here to read John Newton's letter on the dangers of courting controversy.

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