In this episode, Mark and Branden sit down with Lisa Fields, the founder of the Jude 3 Project, to discuss the complexities of race, politics, and social justice in America. They delve into Lisa's background, her journey into ministry, her work with the G3 Project, and the importance of courageous conversations. Together, Branden, Mark and Lisa to think about personal responsibility, the importance of diverse viewpoints, and the transformative power of forgiveness and grace.
Jan 23, 2025•52 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode, Mark and Branden explore the complexities of belonging and acceptance in today’s fragmented culture. Joined by artist and leader Derek Minor, who shares his journey of resisting divisive systems and promoting authentic relationships, they delve into the shifting nature of community, especially among younger generations, and the role of acceptance in fostering true connection. With the upcoming national election, they reflect on the concept of healing, and the controversial doctr...
Jan 10, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode, Mark and Branden delve into the complex layers of identity with guest Brian Recker, who has critically reexamined the evangelical environment. Brian shares his personal journey of deconstructing deeply rooted beliefs, shedding light on biases related to race, religion, and identity. The conversation explores the need for environments that facilitate the exploration of biases, the courage to challenge ingrained beliefs, and the importance of belonging. They also discuss the impac...
Dec 26, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 2
After a two-year hiatus, hosts Branden Polk and Mark Bauer explore the personal and societal upheavals experienced during their absence. They discuss the importance of vulnerability, the impact of race, faith, and political divisions, and the broader challenges facing society. As they reflect on their own life transitions and the state of the world, they delve into themes of trust, leadership, and the necessity of meaningful dialogue.
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 1
Welcome to 'Behind the Scene' with Brandon Polk and Mark Bauer, a podcast dedicated to exploring the complex layers of identity and addressing challenging topics such as racial dynamics, political divides, and gender stereotypes. This season, they will engage in raw and unfiltered conversations with diverse guests, aiming to spark change and foster compassion and connection. Join them on a journey of growth that goes beyond comfort zones for an enlightening and necessary dialogue.
Dec 05, 2024•2 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Continuing with our #CheckTheBox theme for this season, special guest Karith Foster joins us to discuss two boxes we tend to put people in when it comes to the race conversation: Victim or villain. In reality, those labels aren't so cut and dried, especially when you introduce intersectional identities into the mix. Karith Foster is a comic turned motivational speaker, TV & radio personality, actress, author, blogger and entrepreneur—and her new book, 'You Can Be Perfect or You Can Be Happy,...
Aug 31, 2020•44 min•Season 3Ep. 6
What are barriers to men living conscious, compassionate, connected lives in their homes and communities? How does this apply to the race conversation? Guest: Addison Brasil, VP of branding for tethr, an online peer-to-peer support community for men. Follow us on Instagram Behind the Seen: @behindtheseenpod Mark Bauer: @BarkMauer Branden Polk: @BrandenPolk Tethr: @tethrformen
Jul 06, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode, we discuss policing behavior (behavior of police) and the act of policing other people's behavior in our day-to-day lives. Recent civil unrest around the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has shined light on inconsistencies in what we view as acceptable policing. More often, policing of any kind is a preservation of power and is an attempt to invalidate those who are being policed. #CheckTheBox Call to Action: Who are you policing in your life in attempt to preserve y...
Jun 09, 2020•28 min•Season 3Ep. 4
In this episode we discuss the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. A lot of white people are being confronted for the first time with the injustice of racism and unsure how to process it. Others are perplexed why race has to be dragged into the equation at all. In this conversation, Branden turns the questions on Mark to discuss how the unexamined identities of white moderates continue to perpetuate racism. The second part of the discussions turns to how to transform guilt into change. Follow us on Instag...
May 16, 2020•50 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Before the Tiger King, the quarantine binge was the reality show Love is Blind, which puts strangers in neighboring cubes and allows them to get to know one another without the benefit of seeing each other. Then, they fall in love. Or at least that's the idea. But is love REALLY blind? How do subtle ways we talk even give away things about how we were raised? And if love isn't blind, should it be? That's what we're talking about in today's episode. Follow us on Instagram Behind the Seen: @behind...
Apr 29, 2020•44 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Has coronavirus altered how you view racial disparity? Has it amplified it? Who are the populations most affected by coronavirus disruptions? Disruptions of this magnitude always allow for a shift in the landscape. When all of this lifts, how can we rebuild more equitably? Follow us on Instagram Behind the Seen: @behindtheseenpod Mark Bauer: @BarkMauer Branden Polk: @BrandenPolk Website Wonymedia.com/behindtheseen *The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and do not reflect tha...
Apr 14, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This is actually a replay of one of our favorite episodes from last season. I've experienced a lot of fear the last few weeks around quitting my job and moving to Los Angeles for the summer, and in conversations with friends there seems to be a widespread season of fear that a lot of folks are walking in. So, in this episode we go a little deeper into understanding what fear is trying to tell us and how we can practice getting over that fear. Continually pushing the boundaries of what you can ov...
Jun 05, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode, we review the Emanuel documentary , which covers the history of the black church in Charleston leading up to the church shooting in 2015 by Dylan Roof that killed nine congregants, including the pastor. The movie's primary emphasis is on the expressions of forgiveness by family members toward Dylan Roof, less than 48 hours after he committed that heinous act. Co-hosts Mark Bauer and Branden Polk explore the idea of forgiveness and who it is for, and why forgiveness doesn't need ...
May 22, 2019•49 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In the last episode on racism in dating, Todrick Hall briefly touched on something that a lot of listeners picked up on: Colorism—the idea that whiteness has defined some skin tones and features in people of color as more beautiful and acceptable in society. This twisted idea has resulted in a sort of prejudice and resentment from some blacks toward other blacks. In this episode, we discuss the origins of colorism, why it's an especially nasty form of prejudice, and how to differentiate colorism...
May 07, 2019•55 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In a freewheeling conversation about dating, singer/songwriter/producer Todrick Hall joins Behind the Seen to discuss our racial “preferences,” how we acquire those preferences in the first place, and why we are OK completely disregarding a different group of people as potential partners based on such inconsequential factors as race. References For more on the breakdown of numbers by Nathalie Reshard looking for a straight black man with multiple degrees, who is a high performing athlete and who...
Apr 23, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In today's episode, we're talking about code violations. We have our own personal codes, informed by religious texts or some other source, that we violate every day. And we have societal codes, laws and regulations that are in place to help guide, control and keep order in society. We discuss how easy it is to slip into a cycle of guilt and shame when we violate our codes, and how difficult it is to break that cycle. It takes a certain amount of privilege to be able to carve out the space necess...
Apr 09, 2019•53 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Welcome back to Season 2 of Behind the Seen! We kick off season 2 with an episode on what it means to be human. A lot of our experience as humans involves stumbling through life trying to figure out what, exactly, makes us tick. What makes us happy. And we have to do this while simultaneously fighting off identities that the world wants to put on us. But we’re never really able to fully comprehend because we have different things competing for our attention. How does this factor into racial just...
Mar 27, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 1
The Oscars never fails to provide good fodder for race discussions and this year proved no different. Despite the diverse representation of presenters throughout the program and several firsts for black honorees and other people of color, the show wasn’t without its detractors. Even the Best Picture winner, Green Book, was widely panned for historical inaccuracies and for how creators approached the storytelling of a black entertainer and his white driver. In this bonus episode of Behind the See...
Feb 27, 2019•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, we take the audio from our first Facebook Live that included special guest Bill Riedel, pastor of Redemption Hill Church in Washington DC. We brought pastor Bill on to discuss the race and the gospel series he preached earlier this summer. He discusses what compelled him to teach on this subject and what he learned in the process.
Dec 20, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode, we discuss Justification, a really strong word used both in a legal context and a theological context. Justification is the act of showing something to be right or reasonable. In the theological context, the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God. And in the race conversation, what we’ve done historically is justify legally and spiritually the mistreatment of people who look different from us. These justifications aren’t as explicit as they might have been d...
Nov 26, 2018•43 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode, we take a different approach to those articles you see all over the place this time of year that tell you how to talk to your relatives about politics. Our culture is so polarized that even a holiday about solidarity and gratitude can be hijacked to create division rather than unity. And so we will talk through what it looks like to have a posture of curiosity and gratitude, and offer some guidance on how to navigate political discussions that do end up getting a little heated. ...
Nov 19, 2018•52 min•Season 1Ep. 15
In this episode, we discuss Dehumanization, which is a pretty strong word but one that we all engage in in some degree or another. Dehumanization occurs when we don’t fully see other people for their inherent worth or value. We don’t see the hardships they might be enduring, the joy as well as their sorrows. You might argue that dehumanization is among the greatest sins. If Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, and then the other one is like it--...
Nov 12, 2018•43 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In this episode, we discuss the importance of safe spaces. They are certainly important for minority or marginalized people to associate to freely air grievances without feeling a need to defend themselves. Less often we hear about safe spaces in regards to white people. Steve Park, executive director and founder of Little Lights in Washington DC, joins the episode to talk about the community guidelines he has erected for a Race Literacy 101 class and why that's necessary to fostering healthy di...
Nov 05, 2018•40 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In today's episode, we discuss how identity politics--the associating of people around social groups by which they identify--is often necessary to advancing equity where these groups have been typically marginalized. Politics of identity flips that and is more of a manipulative device that seeks control rather than justice, and uses identity as a wedge.
Oct 30, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode we discuss the ego, and how the ego creates stories about ourselves and the world in a way to understand reality. Think of it as a sort of programming. And this programming that tells us how to see the world becomes integral to our identity. And any new information that is introduced that conflicts with what we know literally becomes an attack of the self. How can we posture ourselves for integrating new information into our lives that allows us to live harmoniously with others w...
Oct 22, 2018•45 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Today we’re going to talk about expectations, and how our expectations guide so many of our daily actions and how we see and interact with the world. So what are expectations? And what happens when we forfeit parts of ourselves to conform to unhealthy expectations put on us by others?
Oct 15, 2018•51 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Today's episode coincides with Columbus Day, a day dedicated to honoring a man for his contributions to history, but who also committed horrific atrocities in the name of colonization. How should history judge such unsavory characters? We'll discuss how we form ideas about people's reputations, and how too often we take snapshots of people's lives—oftentimes their worst moments—and use those to make judgments about their character and value.
Oct 08, 2018•44 min•Season 1Ep. 9
We all know that we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, but new understandings around a relatively new field called epigenetics, meaning “outside of genetics," shows how we can also inherit our parents fears, stress, and anxieties that even they themselves inherited from their own parents. In this episode, co-hosts Mark Bauer and Branden Polk discuss how that trauma passed down from slavery and Jim Crow might manifest today and what we should do with that knowledge.
Oct 01, 2018•48 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Privilege is a word given to an idea that says there are certain advantages that some people have access to based solely on their race, gender or economic status. These advantages are wholly unearned because we were born into them. We inherited opportunities from decisions that other people made. The most obvious ones are those our parents made, but also the decisions those in society have made leading up to the time and place where we find ourselves. In this episode, Branden Polk and Mark Bauer...
Sep 24, 2018•45 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode, we delve a little deeper into what it means to actually listen. It’s one thing to hear someone, but it’s another thing to actually understand what they are trying to communicate. Assuming that you two are speaking the same language, a variety of factors can get in the way of listening. You have the speaker, who is trying to communicate from their perspective and life experiences, and then you have the listener, who is interpreting that information and trying to make sense of it ...
Sep 17, 2018•44 min•Season 1Ep. 6
