In this episode we discuss radical theology with author, philosopher and storyteller Peter Rollins. Peter explores the freedom that comes when we accept and embrace the lack within us and the struggle within life. He believes that letting go of the frenetic pursuit of that which will make us whole and complete opens the way to accepting the lack within and finding enjoyment within the struggles of life. From this place of freedom we find God in the act of love, the depth dimension of our experie...
Sep 10, 2020•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 231
Toxic masculinity is a term that seems to be cropping up more and more in academic and media discussions, as we become more aware of the harmful effects - on men, women and society in general - of men conforming to traditional masculine ideals, like dominance, self-reliance, and competition. So we dialled up Stephen Whitehead, who is an author, researcher, consultant and lecturer on gender, sexuality and identity, and asked him where these traditional expressions of masculinity came from, what e...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 230
In this episode we speak with artist, poet and author Emily Garcés. It’s a heart-warming, heart-breaking, inspiring and challenging conversation, as Emily shares with us her journey through life and faith, with all of its joys and struggles, as she wrestles with what it means to be fully alive. After the interview, Nomad hosts Jemimah McAlpine and Tim Nash reflection on their own faith deconstruction and what has subsequently brought them life. Interview starts at 11m 48s You can buy Emily's boo...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 229
In this episode we speak with therapist, theologian and author, Mark Karris. For anyone going through a faith deconstruction, prayer is often near the top of the list of things we struggle to make sense of. And Mark is certainly no exception to this. He had the kind of traumatic childhood you’d only expect to see in a film. But despite all his prayers, and the prayers of his church, the situation steadily deteriorated. So we asked Mark why so often our prayers aren’t answered? How can a God of l...
Jul 24, 2020•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 228
Dr. Hillary McBride is a clinical counselor in Vancouver. When she’s not doing clinical work she is researching, speaking, writing and podcasting (as a host on The Liturgists Podcast), about the intersection of spirituality and mental health, trauma, and trauma therapies, embodiment, eating disorders, body image, and sex and sexuality. But we wanted to focus in on embodiment, so we spent a hour chatting about what it means to be truly embodied, why many of us feel so disconnected from our bodies...
Jul 08, 2020•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 227
In this episode, black liberation theologian Prof Anthony Reddie and the poet Ravelle-Sadé Fairman reflect on black experience. These searching thoughts begin with the recent murder of George Floyd at the hands of US police officers, and from there reach into a knotted web of power and oppression: the disproportionate suffering of black people from Covid19, the enduring roots of European colonial rule, the dynamics of white fragility, the experience of black embodiment, the veneration of the sta...
Jun 23, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 226
In this episode Mark Oakley shares with us his lifelong relationship with poetry. He believes poetry is the language of the soul, and should therefore be the person of faith’s native language. For Mark poetry has put to words his deepest longing, has sustained him through troubled times, and has transformed the way he’s come to see God, himself and others. And Mark believes that in our ever more chaotic world, now more than ever we need to rediscover the language of poetry. After the interview, ...
Jun 09, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 225
Theologian, poet and author Nicola Slee joins Jemimah to talk about when she first encountered feminist theology and its potential to challenge, inform and enrich our Christian faith and practice. Nicola Slee is Director of Research at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theology and Professor of Feminist Practical Theology in the Faculty of Religion at VU Amsterdam. Her research interests range around Christian feminist practical theology but also encompass poetry and theology and other aspec...
May 22, 2020•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 224
In this episode vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church at Trafalgar Square, London and professor of Christian ethics at King's College, Sam Wells shares his belief that to live well is to improvise well. He defines improvisation in the theatre as "a practice through which actors seek to develop trust in themselves and one another in order that they may conduct unscripted dramas without fear." And that, he believes, is how we should approach life. Building trust, overcoming fear, conducting rel...
May 06, 2020•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 223
We felt these unprecedented times deserved an unprecedented episode of nomad. So for the first time we recorded a remote episode, with Jemimah beaming in from Cardiff, David from Birmingham, and Tim and Nick from Nottingham. To help stimulate the conversation, we thought we'd ask the Listener Lounge for questions. So tune in if you want to know how we’re coping with the pandemic, what signs of hope we’re seeing, whether we still believe in God, what prayer means to us, the most significant thing...
Apr 17, 2020•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 222
In this final meditation of the series, Anna reflects on the power of the greeting that Jesus gave his disciples when he met them in the upper room on Easter day. She considers what Pádraig Ó Tuama shares about this greeting in his book In The Shelter: Finding a home in the World . She then leads us in a stilling exercise followed by an Ignatian style meditation, using our imaginations to enter into the scene in the locked room as told in John and Luke’s gospels. Anna then finishes with a short ...
Apr 14, 2020•25 min•Ep. 221
In this meditation Anna Robinson reflects on our struggles with fear, anxiety and distress. She looks at how Jesus himself felt great fear, particularly at this time of Easter. Then, drawing on the wisdom of James Finley, Anna leads us through a stilling exercise and meditation where we can bring our deepest fears and distress to Jesus. Through this we hope together we can find freedom from our experience of the tyranny of fear. David Blower compliments the meditation with original music and amb...
Apr 10, 2020•23 min•Ep. 220
In this contemplation, Anna Robinson considers the significance of acknowledging how we are feeling in these uncertain and unsettling times. She considers the importance of kindness and compassion to others and ourselves, recognising our shared human experiences. Anna then leads us into a stilling exercise to help us become fully present, after which she guides us a Loving-Kindness meditation that fosters feelings of compassion and kindness and enables us to feel more connected to those we love ...
Apr 08, 2020•30 min•Ep. 219
Rather than an interview based episode, we felt these strange times required something a little more meditative. Each month for the last year Anna Robinson has been producing some wonderful meditations for our patrons. So we asked her to produce a short series for our main podcast feed, called Meditations for Isolation . In this meditation, Anna reminds us we are not alone in finding ourselves weighed down by worry and concerns. Anna will lead us in contemplating divine presence and peace. We wi...
Apr 02, 2020•31 min•Ep. 218
Just a few weeks into lockdown, the world already felt unfamiliar. In this episode—our first recorded during the pandemic—we speak with sociologist and Baptist minister Sally Mann , based in London’s East End. Sally shares how her local community, marked by resilience and vulnerability, was navigating the early days of the coronavirus crisis. From mutual aid groups to moments of unexpected stillness, she reflects on the emerging cracks in the old systems—and the glimmers of a new way of being. W...
Mar 26, 2020•28 min•Ep. 217
Mike McHargue is the host of the podcast Ask Science Mike , co-founded of the The Liturgists Podcast and author of Finding God in the Waves . He’s a public educator who weaves together insights from science and faith to help people navigate what it means to live well. We ask Mike the question that scientists, philosophers, theologians and self-help gurus have wrestled with for thousands of years: why we do the things we do? Or rather, why we so often don't do the things that we want to do! Why, ...
Mar 09, 2020•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 216
In another break from our usual interview format, we listen in on a conversation between Jemimah McAlpine and Joy Brooks as they reflect on their experiences as women who grew up immersed in evangelical Christianity. Unpicking some of the messages they absorbed over the years, they examine what it means for them to move away from repression and reconnect with their embodied and internal experiencing. Learning to value their own voice, they also explore the responsibility that comes with agency a...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 215
In this episode we speak with anabaptist, anarchist and Christian animist, Noel Moules. Christian and animism are perhaps two words you haven’t heard together before, in fact you may well think that animism sounds somewhat dodgy! Noel shows us though how Jesus himself held to this ancient indigenous worldview, where rather than matter and spirit being understood as dualistic opposites, the entire natural world is sentient, personable and alive. So we ask Noel how this revelation has changed the ...
Feb 10, 2020•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 214
Ann Morisy is a community theologian, community worker and author who has researched and written on everything from the spirituality of public transport, through to the spirituality of ageing. Her works draws on a wide range of research and influences, including sociology, political science, economics and theology. We ask Ann whether in these increasingly troubled times, her community work and studies are leading her to hope, what can get in the way of our discovery of hope, and what a genuinely...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 213
There’s a handful of guests that have appeared on Nomad a number of times, and Steve Chalke is one. Why? Because he keeps speaking and writing about really interesting things. He was one of the first high profile evangelicals to critique the penal substitutionary understanding of the cross, and to bless a same sex marriage. Not only that, but he founded and leads one of the UK’s largest charities, whose volunteers, activists and professionals work in 36 communities across the country. In this ep...
Jan 10, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 212
It's Christmas! And so we thought we'd share a festive Devotional episode with you all. Pub landlady, touring musician and anglican priest Em Kolltveit talks about community building and hospitality when there’s no room at the Inn. We produce Devotionals like this every month. If you're interested, you can access them by making a small monthly donation on our Patreon page. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and ...
Dec 20, 2019•22 min•Ep. 211
Rather than our usual interview format, in this episode we host a conversation between Zoe Heming and Nick Thorley. Zoe is a priest in the Church of England and for many years has suffered with chronic pain, which often means she has to use a wheelchair. Nick works for Christian Aid and (as you may be aware) hosts Nomad Podcast. He has been visually impaired since he was a teenager. Zoe and Nick talk openly and honestly about their experience of disability, how it has shaped their life, faith, a...
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 210
Richard Beck is Professor of Psychology at Abilene University, author, blogger and leader of a weekly bible study for inmates at the maximum security French-Robertson unit. He’s also a big fan of the country musician Johnny Cash (who also knew a thing or two about prison). David Blower (another Cash fan) asks Richard what we can learn from the faith of Johnny Cash, a man known for his deep empathy for the marginalised and who risked commercial success to stand in solidarity with them, but who wr...
Nov 29, 2019•2 hr•Ep. 209
In this episode we speak with writer, speaker and researcher, Vicky Walker . Vicky conducted a survey with nearly 1500 people about their experiences of the changing nature of relationships and how, if at all, their faith and churches have helped them make sense of this. It turns out (spoiler alert!) the Church hasn’t always been that helpful. So where do we look for signs of hope in these confusing times? After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Jemimah McAlpine and Nick Thorley discuss how t...
Nov 12, 2019•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 208
In this episode Jemimah speaks with Irish poet, storyteller and theologian, Pádraig Ó Tuama. It’s a profoundly wise and insightful interview, touching on themes of language, story, gospel, power, community, sexuality and religion. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Jemimah McAlpine reflect on Pádraig faith journey and ponder how the lessons he's learnt might shape their own evolving faith. Interview starts at 16m 10s During the conversation, Padraig reads the poems Narrative Theology ...
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 207
When Jennie Hogan was 11 years old she had a brain haemorrhage. Then at the age of 14 she had another one. This devastating experience left her with a brain injury that would transform her life. So we met up with Jennie at Goodenough College where she is a chaplain, to talk with her about how her experience of trauma, illness and disability has caused her to reflect on how she relates to her body, what an embodied faith means to her, how she’s learnt to live with uncertainty, and about the emerg...
Oct 10, 2019•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 206
Author, speaker and activist Brian McLaren knows a thing or two about navigating an evolving faith. He was raised in the fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren tradition, but is now a passionate advocate for "a new kind of Christianity" - just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He also knows a thing or two about raising children, with four of his own, grandchildren, and he’s the author of the children’s book Corey and the Seventh Story . So he seemed like the perfect...
Sep 25, 2019•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 205
Fr. Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest, who in 1986 was appointed pastor of a church in one of the most deprived areas of Los Angeles, in a church that sat between two large public housing projects, which had the highest concentration of gangs in the country. Amidst shocking levels of violence and murder (Greg has personally conducted the funerals of some 229 young men), Greg slowly began to make connections with the gang members, and eventually established the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entr...
Sep 11, 2019•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 204
Instead of our regular show we're treating you to a Nomad Devotional. Community development worker Simon Jay reflects on life in his neighbourhood and his discovery of urban walking as a form of prayer and community building. David Blower responds with music and ambient sounds. You can enjoy devotionals like this every month, along with Nomad Contemplations and access to our Listener Lounge. Simply donate $5 a month through Patreon . Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-...
Aug 30, 2019•35 min•Ep. 203
How do we face change? How do we move through suffering? How do we receive joy? And how do we mature in service? According to psychologist, spiritual director, liturgist and author Alexander Shaia , these four questions are the questions of our lives. They are universal, sequential, and cyclical, and are recognised by every major religious faith and school of psychology and forms the very heart of Christian belief and practice. In fact, Alexander made the startling discovery that each of the fou...
Aug 13, 2019•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 202
