In this episode, I talk with Author and Professor ,Mary McCampbell about her book, Imagining Our Neighbors As Ourselves: How Art Shapes Empathy. In our conversation, we discuss how narrative art serves as an invitation to awaken and expand our capacity for empathy. Buy Mary’s Book Support The Podcast! Your generosity enables this work to continue. Featured music by: Jessamyn Day Interlude music by: Luke Vandergriff...
Jun 28, 2022•35 min•Season 9Ep. 12
Sho Baraka is a globally recognized recording artist, performer, culture curator, activist, and writer. His work combines his artistic platform with his academic history to contribute a unique perspective, elevating the contemporary conversation on faith, art, and culture. In this episode I talk with Sho about his book, He Saw That It Was Good: Reimagining Your Creative Life to Repair a Broken World We discuss how art and imagination address the issues we face in today’s society in ways other fo...
Jun 21, 2022•36 min•Season 9Ep. 11
In this Round Table Discussion, I talk with visual artist and performance speaker, Scott Erickson along with trauma therapist, ritual-maker and NYC-based artist, Heather Stringer. In this round table, we talk candidly about disorientation and the process of re-orienting after two years of social and personal upheaval. Join the Creative Collective Official Website Follow Us on Instagram...
Jun 14, 2022•31 min•Season 9Ep. 10
Joshua Luke Smith is a British rapper, poet, and producer with a dramatic, socially conscious style rooted in explorations of the Christian faith. He was born in London raised in Pakistan, and holds a degree in philosophy, which informs his music with a unique perspective on the world both from his education and experience. In this episode, I talk with Joshua about his upbringing, his creative process as well as well as philosophy and overcoming addiction. Get Joshua’s new book Something You Onc...
Jun 07, 2022•36 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Naming The Animals is a new podcast by Makers and Mystics! This eight episode series follows a chapter by chapter discussion of Stephen Roach’s book Naming The Animals: An Invitation To Creativity. Each week, Stephen will be joined by Square Halo ’s Creative Director, Ned Bustard and a variety of biblical scholars, professional artists and creative thought leaders on topics such as inspiration, contemplation and beauty. This podcast is an accompaniment to the Makers and Mystics Creative Collecti...
Jun 02, 2022•1 min
William Day is an American painter known for his large-scale compositions of colorful shapes and energetic marks. His process leads him to create paintings in series, each focusing on different nuances of the human experience. In this episode, Stephen talks with Will about his latest series titled Breakout which explores themes of reset and rebirth. This discussion includes topics such as: The impact of isolation, How to handle negative critique and living beyond fear. Patrons of the podcas t ca...
May 31, 2022•30 min•Season 9Ep. 8
In this episode Stephen Roach talks with philosopher, James K.A. Smith about the role of imagination in "re-storying" the narratives we believe about ourselves and society. connect with James K.A. Smith Sponsor: Brightbell Creative : Meaningful Marketing For The Creative Artist Support The Podcast! Contributing as little as one to ten dollars a month makes a huge difference in our ability to produce quality content and lift a voice of encouragement to artists and creatives around the world. Patr...
May 24, 2022•37 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Ryan Lott of the experimental, electronic trio talks with Stephen Roach about composing for the film Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Son Lux Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Brightbell Creative: Creating Meaningful Marketing For the Creative Artist.
May 17, 2022•34 min•Season 9Ep. 6
This Artist Profile explores the spiritual life of French Philosopher Simone Weil. Join the Makers & Mystics Creative Collective! We have some new stuff happening in the crew! Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing for The Creative Artist. Let us help you clarify the language your art speaks and connect your work with your audience.
May 10, 2022•13 min•Season 9Ep. 35
In this third and final segment of The Artist Round Table on Mental Health, Stephen, John Mark and Vesper talk about neo-monasticism, the worship of youth culture, art as a means of therapy, and making sense of the darker parts of our existence with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Sponsor: Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing for The Creative Artist Join Our Creative Collective!...
May 03, 2022•36 min•Season 9Ep. 5
In this second segment of our 3 part conversation on mental health and the artist, my discussion with singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan and author/illustrator Vesper Stamper takes us to topics of art and identity, genius and madness and the dangers of isolation. Listen to the NPR talk about Kanye West and Mental Health Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing for The Creative Artist Join Our Creative Collective!...
Apr 26, 2022
What does Kanye West, Thomas Edison and Psychologist Adam Grant have to do with Social Media, Depression, Suicide and the Pursuit of Calling? These are all discussed in this round table discussion on Mental Health and the Artist with John Mark McMillan, Vesper Stamper and Stephen Roach. This discussion begins with the question, "Can you separate the art from the artist.... and should you?" Listen to the NPR talk about Kanye West and Mental Health Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing for The...
Apr 19, 2022•27 min•Season 9Ep. 3
In this episode social worker Holly Oxhandler discusses chronic burnout, compassion fatigue and Holly’s latest book, The Soul Of The Helper: Seven Stages To Seeing The Sacred Within Yourself So You Can See It In Others. Holly Oxhandler The Soul of The Helper Book CXMH podcast Become a Patron of the Makers & Mystics Podcast Brightbell Creative: Meaningful Marketing for the Creative Artist Composer Sean Williams...
Apr 12, 2022•32 min•Season 9Ep. 2
In this season opening episode, Stephen Roach returns to the podcast for this timely conversation with trauma therapist Dan Allender about creativity, the troubled nature of the artist and Dan’s latest book, Redeeming Heartache: How Past Suffering Reveals Our True Calling. Connect with Dan Allender Join the Makers & Mystics Creative Collective! Instagram Music by Sean Williams Mentions In The Episode: Picasso, Shegal, Trauma, Therapy. The World Needs Your Art! We Provide Meaningful Marketing...
Apr 05, 2022•44 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Gabrielle Grace is a singer-songwriter committed to telling stories. She believes that authenticity is one of the most important qualities when it comes to music. Gabrielle was born & raised in a small town in southeast Texas before moving to Nashville TN. Her indie/pop-folk/acoustic sound developed as she made her way into the scene, playing show after show and growing as a touring musician. In this episode, Gabrielle joins Porchlight facilitator, Justus Stout and concert host, Cary Brege f...
Mar 10, 2022•14 min•Season 8Ep. 2
In this episode, our friend and fellow arts advocate Justus Stout interviews songwriter Carly Taich and introduces Porchlight Art + Hospitality Network. Carly Taich is a storyteller with the ability to lasso the darkest parts of the soul and deliver them with a smile. Her lyrics, often framed by swooning violins and barbershop harmonies, take us to another era, or dimension, where forgiveness is free and honesty, commonplace. There is a storybook mysticism to all Taich produces with one foot pla...
Mar 01, 2022•13 min•Season 8Ep. 1
In this episode, guest-host and MM Collective facilitator, Corey Frey, gives an overview of the eccentric life and poetry of Emily Dickinson. Join the Creative Collective Explore our Library of interviews and profiles
Jan 17, 2022•20 min•Season 8Ep. 34
John Hendrix is a New York Times Bestselling illustrator and author of many children's books, including Shooting at the Stars, Drawing is Magic, John Brown: His Fight for Freedom, Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus, The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler. His illustrations have appeared on book jackets, newspapers and magazines all over the country. John is a Professor of Art, teaching illustration at the Sam Fox School of Art and Design at Washington University in St. Lo...
Sep 02, 2021•31 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Silicone Boone is an Ex-Amish artist from the hills of Kentucky. With minimal exposure to contemporary music throughout his childhood and teen years, his songwriting and music are refreshingly original. In 2019 he released “The Reaches,” a space opera of sorts, a concept album spanning big bang to universal death – a project he thinks of as a “love song to humanity.” In this episode, guest-host John Mark McMillan talks with Silicone Boone about growing up Amish, the influence of Carl Sagan’s opt...
Aug 24, 2021•37 min•Season 8Ep. 6
Vanessa Brantley Newton was born during the Civil Rights movement and attended school in Newark, New Jersey. She was part of a diverse, tight-knit community and learned the importance of acceptance and empowerment at early age. As an illustrator, Vanessa includes children of all ethnic backgrounds in her stories and artwork. She wants all children to see their unique experiences reflected in the books they read, so they can feel the same sense of empowerment and recognition she experienced as a ...
Aug 17, 2021•33 min•Season 8Ep. 5
Have you ever wondered what distinguishes art from non-art? What are the distinctions and who gets to decide? What makes something a work of art? Is it the result of a conscious act? Does it require skill and originality? What about memes and propaganda? Can these be considered works of art as well? These are some of the questions we discuss on today’s show. This episode is Part Two of our round table discussions with author/illustrator Vesper Stamper, visual artist and designer Brandon Willett ...
Aug 10, 2021•39 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Does commerce feed or take away from your artwork? Does getting paid to do it validate your work? How do you make the leap from hobby to vocation in your work and more importantly, should you? These are among the questions our Summer Series round table guests songwriter, John Mark McMillan, author/illustrator, Vesper Stamper & visual artist Brandon Willett discuss in this episode. Find out more about today’s guest hosts. John Mark McMillan Vesper Stamper Brandon Willett Become a patron of th...
Aug 03, 2021•44 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Jason “Jay” King is the founder and owner of World Citizen Media and a twenty-year veteran of the music industry. He manages Los Angeles based duo JOHNNYSWIM, Propaganda, and Pop writer/artist TRELLA. World Citizen’s core mission is to help BUILD, LAUNCH, and ACCELERATE meaningful projects, with strong foundations, that contribute good back into the world. Jay’s background includes working with renowned artists including Platinum selling hip-hop group GRITS, 4th Avenue Jones, Hillsong United, Gr...
Jul 16, 2021•33 min•Season 8Ep. 2
David Chang is an NYC based artist merging the traditions of Western calligraphy and Eastern philosophy that is shaped by immediacy of his urban environment. Chang’s art is a sustained exploration into the significance and meaning of words and texts as embodied through physical gestures. Centuries-old eastern techniques in calligraphy find new form in the western alphabet as the artist shapes his own hermeneutics of the hand. The artist's brushwork, vacillating between traditional scripts and co...
Jun 29, 2021•30 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Shara Nova is a classically trained vocalist and self-taught multi-instrumentalist. She records dazzling, shapeshifting music under the moniker My Brightest Diamond. Her music resists the conventions of genre, blending elements of rock, art pop, and chamber music into a sound totally her own. Over the span of her career, Shara has released multiple ground breaking albums, as well as composed a baroque chamber opera titled, "You Us We All.” She has recorded as a guest vocalist with notable artist...
Feb 12, 2021•30 min•Season 8Ep. 15
We may not care to be famous or even desire to make art as a full time vocation, but we each carry a need for our work to matter. We want to know that what means something to us may also mean something to others or that what we give our time, attention and resources to may serve to beautify or to better the lives of those around us. In this episode, I discuss what it means to make a significant contribution through our creative work. I invite the listener to reframe the narratives we believe abo...
Feb 05, 2021•22 min•Season 8Ep. 14
Temi Coker is a Multidisciplinary artist based in Dallas, Texas. He creates visually compelling artwork for campaigns, products, activations & more. Temi’s use of vibrant colors and textures come from his upbringing in Nigeria as well as his love for the colors, patterns and storytelling of the African Diaspora. He has worked with clients such as: Adobe, HBO, Apple, and Facebook. In today’s episode, Temi and I discuss color as a means of storytelling along with themes such as the business si...
Jan 29, 2021•32 min•Season 8Ep. 13
J.F. Martel is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has directed a number of French and English documentaries for Canadian television as well as created several dramatic short films. His writing has appeared on Reality Sandwich, The Finch, Metapsychosis, and in anthologies published by Tarcher-Penguin, North Atlantic Books, and Intellect Books. His book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice was published in 2015 by Evolver Editions; The back cover tells us the book is an essential rea...
Jan 15, 2021•43 min•Season 8Ep. 12
Amy-Jill Levine (“AJ”) is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and Short Stories by Jesus; four children’s books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III); and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edited with Marc Brettler). In 2020 she published The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christ...
Jan 08, 2021•34 min•Season 8Ep. 11
In this episode, I share highlights from some of my favorite conversations from the year. Highlights include my interviews with Kimbra, Elephant Heart, Padraig O’ Tuama, John Eldredge and others. Support the podcast! Join our creative collective! Tickets to BC21
Dec 30, 2020•36 min•Season 8Ep. 10
