Growing up during the northern Ireland Troubles, author Gareth Higgins experienced some of the devastation stories can effect on individuals and communities. He joins us to talk about his subsequent development and growth, reflecting on the role of story telling and inviting us to consider its role in our own beliefs, relationships and communities. Following the interview Nomad hosts Joy Brooks and Tim Nash reflect on Gareth’s journey, and ponder how it might inform their own evolving faith. Int...
Feb 24, 2023•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 291
In this episode we chat with journalist and editor Katelyn Beaty about Christian celebrity. After distinguishing between celebrity and fame, Katelyn explores the ways celebrity has shaped the church and Christian faith in unhealthy ways, how it has led to the abuse of power, the pursuit of growth at all costs, and the fall from grace of so many celebrity Christian leaders. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own relationship with Christian celebrities, bot...
Feb 10, 2023•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 290
Psychotherapist and philosopher Mark Vernon chats with us about his evolving faith journey, and his conviction that nurturing our spiritual intelligence is crucial if we are to survive and thrive in these troubled times. Known by many names, spiritual intelligence, Mark contends, is the foundation of who we are and the foundation of peace, purpose and solidarity. After the interview, Nomad hosts Anna Robinson, Joy Brooks and Tim Nash reflect on the framing of spirituality as an intelligence and ...
Jan 24, 2023•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 289
In this episode we listen in on a conversation between Jo Dolby, Hub leader of Oasis Church Bath, and Anglican Priest Azariah France-Williams. Together they reflect on their faith shifting experiences alongside navigating church leadership roles. With honesty and humour they communicate the challenges and rewards of growing towards a wider understanding of faith, whilst carrying responsibilities within a Christian setting. Conversation starts at 16m 26s Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nom...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 288
Since the world has all been a bit much lately, here are your loving Nomad hosts talking about Christmas songs and films, weird dreams, family gatherings, the smell of tinsel and other varying shades of Christmas nostalgia, with songs and jingle bells included. Merry Christmas one and all. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like ...
Dec 22, 2022•55 min•Ep. 287
Christmas is just round the corner, so we’ve invited Professor Kyle Roberts to help us ponder the idea of Jesus’s virgin conception. Kyle helps us wrestle with questions like, where did Jesus get his Y chromosome from? What’s so great about virginity? And can Jesus stand in solidarity with humanity if he came into the world in a way that no other human has before or since? After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson talk about the understanding of the virgin birth they inherited,...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 286
Passionate about creating safe spaces for people on the margins of faith and life, Kathy Escobar talks to us about the values and practices that help us to connect with ourselves and others at difficult times. Through shifting faith and traumatic loss, she shares principles that have guided her towards a more congruent and healthy spirituality. Following the interview, Nomad hosts Nick Thorley and Joy Brooks consider how they have related to emotional and physical challenges alongside their own ...
Nov 24, 2022•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 285
Therapist, researcher and writer Hillary McBride is back on the show, this time to talk about toxic masculinity. Hillary takes us through some of the various characteristics and manifestations of toxic masculinity, reflects on why it has become so pervasive in Western society, why it often show up in our images of God and in the religious leaders we follow, and how men can begin to recognise and move beyond these limiting and oppressive social constructions. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim ...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 284
Having read the Gospel of John, Nomad hosts Joy Brooks, Nick Thorley and Tim Nash get together for a chat about the Bible. They reflect on the view of the Bible they inherited, the role it played in their deconstruction, how it felt reading the Bible again after a number of years, and what role the Bible might play in the ongoing evolution of their faith. Conversation starts at 26m 16s Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally th...
Oct 23, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 283
We chat with author Heather King about how the faith she inherited was profoundly reshaped both by recovery from addiction to alcohol and the discovery of the 19th Century French saint Thérèse of Lisieux. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash, Anna Robinson and Nick Thorley, reflect on their own experiences of brokenness and addiction and how it contributed to the deconstruction of the evangelical faith they inherited. They also ponder the role Thérèse’s Little Way might play in the ongoing ...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 282
We chat with professor, researcher and clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller about her fascinating research into the benefits of spirituality. Dr. Miller’s groundbreaking research has revealed that humans are universally equipped with a capacity for spirituality, and that our brains become more resilient and robust as we engage with healthy spiritual beliefs and practices. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley talk about out how Dr. Miller’s research fundamentally challenges...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 281
We chat with activist and scholar Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza about their journey towards reconnecting with their body, and the role bodies play in dismantling oppression. Robyn inhabits a non-binary, autistic, trans, Latinx body, and we ask if they were able to find a safe space within church for their embodiment journey, whether the Christianity they inherited needed deconstructing, and whether they could find a home in a more progressive Christianity. After the interview Tim Nash and Joy Bro...
Sep 09, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 280
The last two decades have seen a growing consensus that we have entered a new geological epoch, triggered solely by human behaviour. The anthropocene is an idea with huge implications for how we see ourselves as part of the living planet. Mark Maslin is Professor of Earth Science at UCL and co-author of The Human Planet . Catherine Keller is professor of constructive theology at Drew University, New Jersey, and is the author of many books including Facing Apocalypse . This is an Everybody Now po...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 279
Writer, academic and activist Alastair McIntosh became a Quaker as a young adult. In this interview he reflects on how the Quaker tradition has shaped his life and his practice, how it intersects with mystical experiences, and where Jesus sits amidst his own generous worldview and in the Quaker tradition. After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley talk about other religious traditions, what it might mean for a religious tradition to be Christ-centred, and how they understand ...
Aug 10, 2022•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 278
We welcome back to Nomad author, activist, and public theologian Brian McLaren . This time we talk with Brian about his new book Do I Stay Christian? , in which he helps us reflect on the pros and cons of holding onto a Christian identity and, more importantly, what kind of human beings we want to be. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley talk about their own faith deconstruction and move towards a more progressive spirituality, and whether they now still identify as Christi...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 277
We talk to the hymn-writer John Bell, who is a member of the Iona community , about the roots and traditions of Celtic Christianity, which took shape in the British Isles and modelled a very different way to the Roman church that followed shortly after. After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Anna Robinson talk about their own experiences of Celtic Spirituality, and the role it’s played in the evolution of their faith. Interview starts at 14m 40s Books, quotes, links → The creation of ...
Jul 11, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 276
Feminist and trauma theologian Karen O’Donnell shares her experiences of repeated reproductive loss. Describing the physical, emotional and spiritual impact, she explores the complexity of faith from the perspective of the miscarrying person. Karen brings thoughtful sensitivity to a reality that has often been ignored and offers her responses to some of the many questions we are likely to encounter in the face of trauma, suffering and grief. After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Broo...
Jun 24, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Ep. 275
Philip Carr-Gomm is a Druid, psychologist and writer, who has a particular interest in combining psychological understanding with spiritual perspectives to help people lead richer, more fulfilled lives. Although his spiritual practice is rooted in Druidry, he believes we have entered an era in which we can move beyond attachments to labels, drawing instead upon the Perennial Tradition, being inspired by the wisdom in all spiritual paths and teachings – following the way of the Universal Mystic. ...
Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 274
Faith Van Horne left the fundamentalist Pentecostal tradition that she’d grown up in as a young person. Years later, after exploring various spiritualities, she was surprised to find herself drawn back to her Pentecostal roots, allbeit on very different terms. In this podcast we talk to Faith about her academic studies in atonement theories, embodied spirituality, and healing from traumatic experiences. After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Joy Brooks talk about their own experiences...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 273
Priest Karen Rooms and transgender poet, author and educator Jay Hulme describe what it's like for them to be part of an ancient and LGBTQ+ affirming church. As they recall the story of their developing friendship, their conversation guides us through the pandemic, Jay's early faith experiences and Karen's reflections on being a cisgender heterosexual woman entrusted with the care of a diverse and fully inclusive congregation. With humour, insight and creativity they offer a unique perspective o...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 272
We chat with author of With All Your Mind: Autism and the Church , Erin Burnett about her personal experience and research into autism and the unique ways Christians with autism understand and experience God. We ask her why she was initially attracted to more fundamentalist expressions of Christianity, what triggered her deconstruction, and why she’s now more at home in progressive Christian spaces. After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Joy Brooks reflect on what neurotypical people can l...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 271
In this Devotional podcast, psychologist and theologian Richard Beck explores what it means to take sides without becoming hardened, and how he remains hopeful in a world on fire. Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad’s online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplat...
Apr 11, 2022•32 min•Ep. 270
Nomad hosts Anna Robinson and Joy Brooks have a conversation about the challenges of joys of experiencing a shifting faith, their ambivalence to the word deconstruction, the deconstruction groups they’ve been hosting and what they’ve learnt from them. If you'd like to be part of one of these group, contact Anna through her website . Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, yo...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 269
In this episode we speak with social psychologist, theologian, activist and author of God Is a Black Woman , Dr Christena Cleveland . Christena speaks with us about her journey of unmasking the white male image of God and the hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression it has caused. Christena shares with us the intellectual and spiritual journey that led her to the sacred black feminine and the discovery of a new and hopeful way of connecting with the divine and honouring the sacrednes...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 268
In this episode we chat with native American, author, songwriter and storyteller, Terry Wildman. Terry was also the lead translator and general editor of the First Nations Bible , a fascinating project that produced a translation of the New Testament that reflects the language, symbolism and rituals of native peoples. So we ask Terry to unpack indigenous spirituality for us, and to reflect on how the Church has historically treated native peoples, how this triggered his deconstruction and the ro...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 167
In this episode we speak with author and director of creative writing at Alma College, Sophfronia Scott . We speak with Sophfronia about how her faith has been shaped by the author, monk and mystic, Thomas Merton. Having struggled to connect with Merton through his autobiography, Sophfronia immersed herself in his journals, and there she found a mentor, friend and kindred Spirit. So we ask her what we can learnt from Merton about being “spiritual but not religious”, the relationship between acti...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 266
In this episode we chat with clinical social worker and a trauma-informed coach, Brian Peck . Brian grew up in a fundamentalist Christian church and upon leaving he began to realise the trauma this had caused, which triggered his faith deconstrcution. He now specialises in helping people work through their experiences of religious trauma. So we talk to Brian about why religious spaces seem predisposed to traumatic experiences, what red flags we should be looking out for, how we can protect ourse...
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 265
In this episode we speak with former church pastor, author and teacher Keith Giles . Like many evangelicals, Keith inherited a dispensational understanding of the End Times. If you’re not sure what that is, think anti-Christ, mark of the Beast, the rapture, Jesus’s return, and the New Jerusalem. Keith slowly became aware that this was a relatively new, ill-informed and damaging way of reading the bible. So he set about discovering a healthier ‘End Times’ vision. After the interview, Nomad hosts ...
Jan 09, 2022•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 264
Merry Christmas to One and All from Nomad Podcast. In this devotional episode, Fr Azariah France Williams recalls the story of Viraj Mendis , who sought sanctuary in the UK from Sri Lanka. He lived for several years in a room in the Church of the Ascension, in Hulme, Manchester, being protected by the community. In 1989, the police raided the church and he was forcibly deported. This episode also features the poet and artist Steve Beal . And David Benjamin Blower performs the medieval traditiona...
Dec 20, 2021•24 min•Ep. 263
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams carries a lifelong love for the theology and practice of the Eastern Church. His recent book, Looking East in Winter gives a window into the beautiful contemplative practices of the Eastern tradition. In this conversation we explore the life of contemplation, political solidarity, simplicity, and "the natural process of becoming natural." After the interview, Nomad hosts David Blower and Nick Thorley ponder how Dr. Williams’ ideas might shape...
Dec 06, 2021•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 262
