In this Season Finale round table, founder of Ekstasis magazine, Conor Sweetman and essayist, Yi Ning Chiu discuss expressive individualism, various frameworks of community and why physical community remains essential in our modern, digitized culture. Alongside of Ekstasis, Conor serves as the director of innovation for Christianity today while Yi Ning writes Please Don’t Go, a newsletter about life in community—why it’s terrible, why it’s essential, and why we shouldn’t give up on cultivating i...
Jul 02, 2024•39 min•Season 13Ep. 13
If you’re a regular listener to the podcast then you know that we haven’t produced our regular episodes for the past few weeks. And if you follow us on Instagram or get our email newsletters then you know the reason why. On May 27th, my studio laptop was stolen. In light of this event and feeling disoriented, I began to study the word 'orient.' I discovered that ‘orient’ means to arrange something as to face east. The implication is to look in the direction of the sunrise. To be disoriented then...
Jun 27, 2024•5 min
Hospitality is more than the generous treatment of guests or strangers, but is a way of peeling back the layers of separation and getting closer to the heart of a group or individual. In this way, hospitality is the heartbeat of community and true friendship. The word hospitality comes from the Latin hospes , meaning "host", "guest", or "stranger". Hospes is formed from hostis , which means "stranger" or "enemy" (where we get terms like "hostile.”) So hospitality or coming to a shared table can ...
May 23, 2024•30 min•Season 13Ep. 12
Kimberly Phinney is a professor, counselor, poet and writer. She’s been published in Ekstasis Magazine, Fathom, Humana Obscura, and many other publications. She is the editor and founder of the literary community The Way Back To Ourselves . Earlier this year, Kimberly’s poem “An Ode to Hard, Dark Nights” won the Audience Choice Award in our Bright Wings Poetry Contest in partnership with Ekstasis magazine. In this episode, Kimberly shares how the vision for her creative community and her recent ...
May 15, 2024•33 min•Season 13Ep. 11
Andi Marie Tillman is an Appalachian comedian, musician, and self-proclaimed “recovering Pentecostal.” Her roots in performance began at the early age of 8 when she sang in churches across the Southeast. It was here Andi gathered much of the inspiration for what would later become her well-known cast of original characters. Andi has acted in numerous shorts, feature films, commercials, and music videos including Come and Save Me by Danielson. But it was Andi’s series of TikTok sketches that elev...
Apr 30, 2024•35 min•Season 13Ep. 10
What does it mean to be a culture maker in a world of hurt and wondrous possibility? And what does it mean to mend the world, to bring healing and hospitality through our art and the details of our everyday lives? Today’s episode features multi-Grammy winner Charlie Peacock and his wife and author, Andi Ashworth. Charlie and Andi have recently published a wonderful book together titled, Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt The book draws from th...
Apr 24, 2024•41 min•Season 13Ep. 9
Film director Chris White and songwriter Daniel Smith of The Danielson Family have crafted an 8-minute short film/music video titled " Come and Save Me, " a poignant exploration of acceptance and community as a cure to the loneliness epidemic of our post-pandemic world. In this episode, Daniel and Chris share about the film’s inception, working with lead actor and comedian Fred Armisen, and why the arts play a central role in addressing social concerns. Makers and Mystics Creative Collective Lis...
Apr 18, 2024•36 min•Season 13Ep. 8
Christen Lien is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates an innovative brand of musical storytelling. She disrupts the classical genre by integrating innovative technology and collaborating with artists and musicians from many mediums. Christen has performed for a diverse network of audiences around the globe, from the Dalai Lama to the Burning Man festival. Through her lifelong devotion to the viola and her innovative use of guitar pedals, loops and electronic soundscapes, Christen’s compositio...
Apr 09, 2024•33 min•Season 13Ep. 7
I recently traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where I participated in the 2024 Square Halo Conference: Return To Narnia: Creativity, Collaboration and Community. As part of the event, I hosted a live podcast recording on the topic of creativity and community. Joining me for this conversation is graphic designer, children’s book illustrator, author , and printmaker, Ned Bustard. Ned is the creative director at Square Halo Books and co-author of my book Naming The Animals. Joining us alongside of...
Mar 13, 2024•42 min•Season 13Ep. 6
This week's episode is a collaboration with Lisa Smith of the Be. Make. Do. Podcast! We are flipping the mic around for this one and inviting fellow podcaster, Lisa Smith to ask MM host, Stephen Roach a few questions about the importance of community in the life of the artist and why gathering together now is such an important part of our creative work and the process of healing from social isolation. You can learn more about Lisa’s community of artists at soulmakers.org or see the show notes of...
Mar 05, 2024•34 min•Season 13Ep. 5
Amanda Held Opelt is an author, speaker, and songwriter. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds. In today’s episode Amanda discusses the art of lament and how deep-rooted communal practices of shared grief can help us heal and grow through the difficult experiences of our lives. Drawing from her book Holy Unhappiness: God, Grief and the Myth of the Blessed Life , Amanda shares...
Feb 27, 2024•48 min•Season 13Ep. 4
As we prepare for The Breath & The Clay creative arts gathering, I’m going to be highlighting several of the speakers and performers who’ll be joining us at the event. For today’s episode I reached into the archives and pulled a segment of my conversation with BC24 headliners, Elephant Heart. Elephant Heart is the Los Angeles-based electronic duo Jason and Victoria Evigan. Elephant Heart’s music Is Rooted in their shared passion for international travels, world beats and global cultures Elep...
Feb 20, 2024•11 min
Relationships form the heartbeat of community life. The way we interact, the way we understand one another and hold space for the differences between us determines the quality and depth of our societies. Our guest today is relationship expert and author Christa Hardin. Christa is host of the popular Enneagram and Marriage podcast. She has been working with and researching marriage for two decades, providing hope for couples who are struggling to find their light, love, and mission together in an...
Feb 13, 2024•39 min•Season 13Ep. 3
Kaleb Moten is a singer, songwriter, composer, music producer, and musician, dedicated to revealing beauty and meaning, and liberating other artists to do the same. Kaleb has released four studio albums to date and is currently producing two more. In addition to his solo work, Kaleb also works as a music producer, with credits for artists such as Victory Boyd and Abbie Gamboa. In this episode, Kaleb shares one of the foundational encounters that shaped him as an experimental, musician, as well a...
Feb 06, 2024•38 min•Season 13Ep. 2
This cultural moment may be one of history’s most interesting times to find home among a community of likeminded people with whom we identify. On the one hand we are more connected than we ever have been (thank you internet) and yet at the same time, people feel more disconnected than ever before. Isolation and loneliness have become an epidemic. So much so, in May of 2023, the surgeon general put out a statement calling isolation and loneliness a public health crisis. In this introductory episo...
Jan 30, 2024•Season 13Ep. 1
Community is a vital component to our mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as a formative influence on our creative work. Throughout history, artists have gathered together with other artists for mutual support, inspiration and the sharing of ideas. Despite the overarching digital landscape of our present day, the need for gathering together is no less important. In fact, it could be argued that it is all the more important so we do not lose touch with what it means to be human, to loo...
Jan 16, 2024•3 min
In this season finale episode, podcast host, Stephen Roach shares how desire informs our sense of self and how the practice of detachment can help us navigate the journey from a false self to embracing our true identity as the beloved of God. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary is offering a Doctor of Ministry degree in The Arts, Ministry, and Mission as a part of a new initiative in theology, the arts, and gospel witness. Follow this link to learn more and apply. Join the Makers & Mystics C...
Dec 19, 2023•24 min•Season 12Ep. 16
One of the core markers of a person’s identity are the beliefs they hold to be true. A person’s faith becomes a fixed point from which they view and understand the world. But what happens when those beliefs are shaken? Or what happens when a person is confronted with a difficult truth that collides with or even contradicts their view of the world? Our guest today is storyteller and best-selling author of Returning to Eden: A Field Guide for the Spiritual Journey , Heather Hamilton . In this epis...
Dec 12, 2023•47 min•Season 12Ep. 15
Ours is a fast-paced digital world where technology has become such a personalized part of our daily lives, it’s hard to imagine who we are without it. Social media, augmented reality, and AI-driven personalization each contribute to the formation of a digital identity which impacts the way we connect with others and how we present ourselves online. We’ve grown accustomed to how our smartphones and smartwatches intertwine physical and digital experiences. We’ve become accustomed to the ways tech...
Dec 05, 2023•45 min•Season 12Ep. 14
How we show up in the world often takes on a wide variety of expressions. Our public and private lives reflect the many roles we play in society and the varying facets of personality traits we form to cope with different situations. From parent to co-worker, artist or spiritual practitioner, from a social media persona to a dinner guest with friends, even bygone roles remaining with us from childhood, our sense of identity moves through a myriad of shapes and forms. But what happens when these d...
Nov 21, 2023•51 min•Season 12Ep. 13
This Artist’s roundtable discussion was recorded live at Loom creative arts event in Spruce Pines, NC. The conversation centers on the importance of building creative community, the embodiment of the creative process and what it means to be an artist of faith amidst a culture in crisis. Joining us for this discussion is long time friend of the podcast, author/illustrator Vesper Stamper, photographer and founder of JHS pedals Josh Scott, conversation host Corey Frey and myself, Stephen Roach. Sup...
Nov 14, 2023•44 min
This year I’ve had the opportunity to participate in several creative arts gatherings including Loom, Hope Words writer’s conference and here recently, the Guild in Raleigh NC. The talk I gave at the Guild is a call to take a look at the mindsets we are cultivating in our lives and a reminder that what we feed is what will grow. Are we feeding a mindset of abundance or one of scarcity? Is our inner framework one of hope or one of negative anticipation? I wanted to share this live talk with you a...
Nov 08, 2023•25 min
At one time, religious identity and the Christian narrative formed the social imaginary of our western world. To be a part of a local church or to identify with some aspect of the values of traditional faith was an assumed part of American life. But today, autonomy, self-fulfillment and individual expression seem to have taken the forefront of how a generation defines themselves and lives out the search for meaning and deeper purpose. My guest today is novelist and prolific writer, Tara Isabella...
Oct 31, 2023•42 min•Season 12Ep. 12
Hugo Ball was a German sound poet, theatrical performer and mystic. He and his partner Emmy Hennings were the original catalysts of the infamous Dadaist art movement which they started in Zurich, Switzerland around 1916. What may be surprising to learn is that Hugo Ball was a Catholic and his bizarre forms of art were deeply informed by his theology. Joining me for this episode is visual artist, writer and art critic Jonathan Anderson . Jonathan writes about Hugo in his book, Modern Art & th...
Oct 24, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 38
What do we make of the world we have been given? How do we bring order from chaos, beauty from ashes and flourishing from what is formless and void? Echoing the words first spoken by the Great Artist in the Genesis narrative, we, too, have been invited to bring forth, to give birth, to call life into being. At this year‘s The Breath & the Clay creative arts gathering, we are extending this invitation to you. Come. Participate in the unfolding of your creative inheritance. As artists and crea...
Oct 18, 2023•5 min
Tasha Jun is a Korean American melancholy dreamer, wife, and mom, who grew up in a multicultural and biracial home. She’s spent her life navigating the space between worlds: American and Korean, faith and doubt, family devotion and fierce independence. As a Korean American, she wandered between seemingly opposing worlds, struggling to find a voice to speak and a firm place for her feet to land. In today’s episode, as we continue our exploration of art and identity, Tasha talks with me about her ...
Oct 10, 2023•31 min•Season 12Ep. 11
After accidentally fixing a broken guitar pedal in 2007, Joshua Heath Scott’s natural curiosity pulled him into the rabbit hole of electrical engineering and circuit design-- from this experience, his company, JHS Pedals was born. Today, JHS pedals has become one of the most influential pedal companies in the world, preferred by recording artists such as Beck, John Mayer, Madison Cunningham and many others . Josh’s YouTube series, The JHS Show , has garnered millions of views from audiences span...
Oct 03, 2023•35 min•Season 12Ep. 10
Qais Essar is a contemporary Afghan composer, instrumentalist, and producer who channels his melodic designs through the rabab, a 2,500 year old instrument from Afghanistan. He has toured extensively, sharing his new genre of music nationally and internationally. He has contributed original music to feature film and television also, composing for 2021’s Oscar-nominated film, Three Songs for Benazir. In 2017, Qais was recruited by director Nora Twomey to compose an original song for her Oscar-nom...
Sep 26, 2023•31 min•Season 12Ep. 9
In today’s episode we’re going to hear from a young adult fiction writer whose creative work is fueled by the inspiration of family and who gains tremendous creative energy both from his children and by writing for children. Our guest is S.D. Smith, author of The Green Ember Series , a bestselling middle-grade adventure saga. The Green Ember has reached hundreds of thousands of readers and spent time as the number one bestselling audiobook in the world on Audible. Smith’s stories are captivating...
Sep 19, 2023•34 min•Season 12Ep. 8
Today on the podcast, we are continuing our discussion of art and identity by taking a look at the vital role of our relationship to our bodies. Why is it important that we honor and understand our bodies? Why is having a right relationship to our bodies imperative to the quest of art and knowing our true selves? Joining us for this discussion is Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, David O. Taylor. David Taylor has long been a voice and an advocate for the arts with...
Sep 13, 2023•47 min•Season 12Ep. 7
