This is our unabridged interview with David Blight. “If you’re not ready on some level for the tragedies of history, they’re coming to get you.” In September of 2020 Professor David Blight got an unexpected call from his boss. The President of Yale wanted Blight to work on a project about Yale’s historical involvement with slavery. The undertaking was so enormous that the Pulitzer Prize winning historian remembers sitting on the phone “wishing that conversation wasn't happening.” But 4 years lat...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 32 min
“If you’re not ready on some level for the tragedies of history, they’re coming to get you.” In September of 2020 Professor David Blight got an unexpected call from his boss. The President of Yale wanted Blight to work on a project about Yale’s historical involvement with slavery. The undertaking was so enormous that the Pulitzer Prize winning historian remembers sitting on the phone “wishing that conversation wasn't happening.” But 4 years later the book was published. Yale and Slavery: A Histo...
Jun 30, 2025•49 min
This is our unabridged interview with Juliet Schor. Are we working too much? “Time is a vital resource for us to connect with each other, to connect with the earth and …to come together in solidarity, to try and fix what's wrong.” We have accepted the 5 day work week as the status quo—caught in a cycle of working more so we can spend more, just to keep up with the Jones’. But what if there's a better way to live: For our own happiness, the economy, and our planet? Economist and Sociologist Julie...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Are we working too much? “Time is a vital resource for us to connect with each other, to connect with the earth and …to come together in solidarity, to try and fix what's wrong.” We have accepted the 5 day work week as the status quo—caught in a cycle of working more so we can spend more, just to keep up with the Jones’. But what if there's a better way to live: For our own happiness, the economy, and our planet? Economist and Sociologist Juliet Schor, has spent decades researching the way we wo...
Jun 23, 2025•51 min
This is our unabridged interview with Jemar Tisby. “The work of justice is daunting…It requires courage.” Have you found yourself asking the question “what can I do in the face of so much injustice?” Historian and New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby may have some answers for you. From his own experience as one of the only Black worshipers at the “color-blind” Evangelical services of his youth, to his political awakening in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri. Tisby...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 6 min
“The work of justice is daunting…It requires courage.” Have you found yourself asking the question “what can I do in the face of so much injustice?” Historian and New York Times bestselling author Jemar Tisby may have some answers for you. From his own experience as one of the only Black worshipers at the “color-blind” Evangelical services of his youth, to his political awakening in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri. Tisby explores the history of social justice in the Chri...
Jun 16, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Amy Grant. Five weeks before her 16th birthday in 1976, Amy Grant was offered her first record deal. Now, after tens of millions of record sales, six Grammy awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a receipt of Kennedy Center Honors, she is widely recognized as the “Queen of Christian Pop.” From the outside, one might assume that Amy must be a character with a personality larger than life. But in this exclusive interview, Amy opens up about her care...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Renowned theologian Walter Brueggemann passed away in June 2025 at the age of 92. In this special retrospective episode of No Small Endeavor, we celebrate his remarkable life and legacy. Drawing from memorable conversations and insightful lectures, we revisit Brueggemann’s piercing critique of what he called the "totalism of market ideology"—the pervasive cultural force shaping American thought and suppressing dissenting voices. With characteristic wisdom, clarity, and wit, Brueggemann challenge...
Jun 11, 2025•51 min
Five weeks before her 16th birthday in 1976, Amy Grant was offered her first record deal. Now, after tens of millions of record sales, six Grammy awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a receipt of Kennedy Center Honors, she is widely recognized as the “Queen of Christian Pop.” From the outside, one might assume that Amy must be a character with a personality larger than life. But in this exclusive interview, Amy opens up about her career as a singer, her family life, and her faith, a...
Jun 09, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Charles Marsh. Has religion ever kept you from doing something that was actually good for you? It did for Charles Marsh. As a boy growing up in the evangelical South, Charles was taught to distrust his own body, to fear his desires, and to treat suffering as a gift from God. So when debilitating panic attacks shattered his world as a young man, he thought that he should count these panic attacks as something he was supposed to feel “joy” about. Charles is no...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Has religion ever kept you from doing something that was actually good for you? It did for Charles Marsh. As a boy growing up in the evangelical South, Charles was taught to distrust his own body, to fear his desires, and to treat suffering as a gift from God. So when debilitating panic attacks shattered his world as a young man, he thought that he should count these panic attacks as something he was supposed to feel “joy” about. Charles is now the Commonwealth Professor of Religious Studies at ...
Jun 02, 2025•54 min
This is our unabridged interview with Holy Post. Can you do insider critique with a sense of humor? You might know Phil Vischer as the creator of the beloved children’s show VeggieTales, or Skye Jethani for his work as a pastor, speaker, and author. Both of them are long-time public Christian voices. These days, though, they find themselves hosting the Holy Post podcast, doing the hard work of insider critique of a Christian subculture that, in recent years, has boiled over with white nationalis...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Can you do insider critique with a sense of humor? You might know Phil Vischer as the creator of the beloved children’s show VeggieTales, or Skye Jethani for his work as a pastor, speaker, and author. Both of them are long-time public Christian voices. These days, though, they find themselves hosting the Holy Post podcast, doing the hard work of insider critique of a Christian subculture that, in recent years, has boiled over with white nationalism, Trumpism, and many forms of injustice. In this...
May 26, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Freddie O'Connell. “If we want to thrive across the board, then there has to be an accounting for the fact that you may have things that befall you in your life that you have no control over.” In this episode of No Small Endeavor, Lee C. Camp sits down with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for a conversation about moral leadership, political realism, and the promise of community. Growing up in Nashville, Freddie O’Connell was eager to leave for Brown Univer...
May 23, 2025•1 hr
“If we want to thrive across the board, then there has to be an accounting for the fact that you may have things that befall you in your life that you have no control over.” In this episode of No Small Endeavor, Lee C. Camp sits down with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for a conversation about moral leadership, political realism, and the promise of community. Growing up in Nashville, Freddie O’Connell was eager to leave for Brown University. But after his career in tech was interrupted by the...
May 19, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Michele Norris. “I wanted to create a vehicle that allowed people to talk about this allegedly toxic topic on their own terms.”- Michele Norris. Could you describe your experience of race in America in just 6 words? That’s the very thing Journalist Michele Norris asked 200 strangers to do back in 2015, when she printed a stack of postcards with these simple directions: Race, your story, 6 words, please send. What began as an exercise to spark conversation be...
May 16, 2025•1 hr 2 min
“I wanted to create a vehicle that allowed people to talk about this allegedly toxic topic on their own terms.”- Michele Norris. Could you describe your experience of race in America in just 6 words? That’s the very thing Journalist Michele Norris asked 200 strangers to do back in 2015, when she printed a stack of postcards with these simple directions: Race, your story, 6 words, please send. What began as an exercise to spark conversation became The Race Card Project, a growing online archive c...
May 12, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Kristin Neff. Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance? “The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice. Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s also a prominent expert on the topic of self-compassion, w...
May 09, 2025•45 min
Today, we are sharing an episode of “What It’s Like to Be…” from author Dan Heath. On the podcast, Dan explores the world of work, one profession at a time, and interviews people who love what they do. He finds out: What does a couples therapist think when a friend asks for relationship advice? Is a Secret Service Agent supposed to pretend like they’re not there when they’re around the president? What are the 3 clocks that govern the life of a long-haul truck driver? If you’ve ever met someone w...
May 07, 2025•39 min
In stressful times, what if the key to mental and emotional well-being was not a mystery, but a set of daily, accessible practices that you could start today? In this special compilation episode we’ve curated guidance from some of the world’s leading voices in the science of wellbeing—including Dacher Keltner, Kristin Neff, Robert Waldinger, Marc Schulz, Judith Moskowitz, Marisa Franco, Amishi Jha, and Oliver Burkeman—to explore how awe, self-compassion, relationships and mindfulness shape our l...
May 05, 2025•49 min
This is our unabridged interview with Sissy Goff. We are living in a rapidly changing world. Whether politics, technology, or climate - the future that our children face will likely look very different than previous generations. Given the modern challenges of smartphones, social media, and rising mental health issues, should our parenting also be evolving? Sissy Goff is the author of 13 books full of practical parenting advice for just such questions. She's been counseling for over 30 years, and...
May 02, 2025•56 min
There is no doubt that we are living in a rapidly changing world. Whether the topic is politics, technology, or climate - the future that our children face will likely look very different than previous generations. Given the modern challenges of smartphones, social media, and rising mental health issues, should our parenting also be evolving? Sissy Goff is the author of 13 books full of practical parenting advice for just such questions. She's been counseling kids and families for over 30 years,...
Apr 28, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Sheryl Crow. After a stellar performance on No Small Endeavor Live, 9 time Grammy Winner Sheryl Crow sits down with Lee to discuss the tension between ambition and creativity, the profound realization that accompanied her breast cancer diagnosis, and the impact of mindfulness and meditation on her daily life. Crow also tells the story behind her posthumous duet with Johnny Cash, the social advocacy that has defined her career, and how embracing an unconventi...
Apr 25, 2025•59 min
After a stellar performance on No Small Endeavor Live, 9 time Grammy Winner Sheryl Crow sits down with Lee to discuss the tension between ambition and creativity, the profound realization that accompanied her breast cancer diagnosis, and the impact of mindfulness and meditation on her daily life. Crow also tells the story behind her posthumous duet with Johnny Cash, the social advocacy that has defined her career, and how embracing an unconventional life led her to motherhood. All that, plus She...
Apr 21, 2025•48 min
This is our unabridged interview with Mike Cosper. How do you raise criticisms about a group of which you consider yourself to be a member? Mike Cosper hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a podcast critiquing a lot of the tendencies of American Christianity. “ People are looking at Christianity and saying, is it true?” he says. “I think where I landed after my own negative experiences was asking, is it good?” In this episode, we cover some of the key issues such a question has raised for Mike...
Apr 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min
How do you raise criticisms about a group of which you consider yourself to be a member? Mike Cosper hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, a podcast critiquing a lot of the tendencies of American Christianity. “ People are looking at Christianity and saying, is it true?” he says. “I think where I landed after my own negative experiences was asking, is it good?” In this episode, we cover some of the key issues such a question has raised for Mike - like celebrity culture and toxic masculinity - a...
Apr 14, 2025•49 min
This is our unabridged interview with Rainn Wilson. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica… and spirituality? In a time of cultural division and political polarization, what role can spirituality play in healing our fractured world? Rainn Wilson—best known as Dwight Schrute from The Office—isn't just a comedy icon. He’s also become an unlikely voice for spiritual reflection in Hollywood, where such conversations are often taboo. In this candid and thought-provoking interview, Wilson opens up about w...
Apr 11, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica… and spirituality? In a time of cultural division and political polarization, what role can spirituality play in healing our fractured world? Rainn Wilson—best known as Dwight Schrute from The Office—isn't just a comedy icon. He’s also become an unlikely voice for spiritual reflection in Hollywood, where such conversations are often taboo. In this candid and thought-provoking interview, Wilson opens up about why he believes our divided world desperately needs a...
Apr 07, 2025•49 min
This is our unabridged interview with Marisa Franco. How important is it to have friends? Loneliness has reached epidemic levels in many countries, with research suggesting that it’s harder than ever for us to make and keep friends. And according to Marisa Franco, the issue isn’t trivial. “ Loneliness is as toxic for our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” she says. “We are fundamentally social creatures… it's okay that you really want friends.” In this episode, she explains why friendship i...
Apr 04, 2025•57 min
How important is it to have friends? Loneliness has reached epidemic levels in many countries, with research suggesting that it’s harder than ever for us to make and keep friends. And according to Marisa Franco, the issue isn’t trivial. “ Loneliness is as toxic for our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” she says. “We are fundamentally social creatures… it's okay that you really want friends.” In this episode, she explains why friendship is a crucial aspect of a flourishing life, and gives h...
Mar 31, 2025•48 min
