Best Evan Rosa Podcasts (2025)

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The Nail in the Tree: Sandy Hook School Shooting, Violence, Childhood, Poetry / Carol Ann Davis 58:38

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12d ago58:38

58:38

Poet and essayist Carol Ann Davis (Fairfield University) joins Evan Rosa for a searching conversation on violence, childhood, and the moral discipline of attention in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. Reflecting on trauma, parenting, childhood, poetry, and faith, Davis resists tidy narratives and invites listeners to dwell with grief, healing, beauty, a…

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How to Read Blaise Pascal: Grace, Modern Longing, and Wagering with Fire / Graham Tomlin 55:07

23d ago55:07

55:07

“Our longings are much more powerful than our logic, and our desires are stronger than our reason.” (Graham Tomlin on the thought of Blaise Pascal) The Rt. Rev. Dr. Graham Tomlin (St. Mellitus College, the Centre for Cultural Witness) joins Evan Rosa for a sweeping exploration of Blaise Pascal—the 17th-century mathematician, scientist, philosopher,…

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Creaturely Loneliness: Desire, Grief, and the Hope of Encounter / Macie Bridge & Ryan McAnnally-Linz (SOLO Part 6) 29:19

1M ago29:19

29:19

Loneliness seems to be part of what it means to be a relational being. Does that mean loneliness can never really be “solved”? Here’s one way to think about loneliness: As a gap between relational expectation and social reality—something that signals our essentially relational, reciprocal nature as human beings. This episode is part 6 of a series, …

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Dying Alone: Terminal Loneliness, Modern Medicine, and Contemplative Solitude / Lydia Dugdale (SOLO Part 5) 47:31

1M ago47:31

47:31

Living alone may be difficult, but what about dying alone? Physicians and nurses are the new priests accompanying people as they face death. But the experience of nursing homes, assisted living, and palliative wards are often some of the loneliest spaces in human culture. “He said, ‘Someone finally saw me. I’ve been in this hospital for 20 years an…

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Women Alone with God: Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women / Hetta Howes (SOLO Part 4) 50:19

2M ago50:19

50:19

What is the role of solitude in Christian history? Medievalist Hetta Howes comments on the allure of enclosure, how seeking solitude supports community, and what these ancient lives reveal about our modern search for connection. “Even those moments of solitude that she’s carving for herself are surprisingly sociable.” This episode is part 1 of a 5-…

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Lonely Tech: AI, Isolation, Solitude, and Grace / Felicia Wu Song (SOLO Part 3) 51:18

2M ago51:18

51:18

Is technology the source or salve of social isolation? Given the realities of increasing division, the epidemic of loneliness, and unwanted isolation today, how should we think about the theological, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of the human experience of aloneness? “AI technologies aren’t capable of creating conditions in which grace can happ…

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Notice the Absence: Ecological Loneliness, Local Attention, and Interspecies Connection / Laura Marris (SOLO Part 2) 39:55

2M ago39:55

39:55

Consider human ecological loneliness and our longing for reconnection with all creation. What healing is available in an era defined by environmental loss and exploitation? Can we strengthen the fragile connection between modern society and the space we inhabit? “Loneliness is the symptom that desires its cure.” In this episode Macie Bridge welcome…

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Flourishing Alone / Miroslav Volf (SOLO Part 1) 42:27

2M ago42:27

42:27

Theologian Miroslav Volf reflects on solitude, loneliness, and how being alone can reveal our humanity, selfhood, and relationship with God. This episode is part 1 of a 5-part series, SOLO, which explores the theological, moral, and psychological dimensions of loneliness, solitude, and being alone. “Solitude brings one back in touch with who one is…

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Christian Faith and Public Service / Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) 32:57

3M ago32:57

32:57

From bipartisan cooperation to prayerful gratitude, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Drew Collins to reflect on joy, wisdom, and love of enemy in a divided nation—offering a vision of public service grounded in the way of Jesus. “Jesus defied expectations—he welcomed the stranger, he fed the hungry, he loved his enemies.” Together they discuss the …

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Irrevocable Covenant: Against Supersessionism / R. Kendall Soulen 1:11:50

3M ago1:11:50

1:11:50

“The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Theologian R. Kendall Soulen joins Drew Collins to discuss supersessionism, the name of God (tetragrammaton), the irrevocable covenant between God and the Jews, and the enduring significance of Judaism for Christian theology. Together they explore religious and ethnic heritage, cultural identity, …

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Burnout and Sabbath / Alexis Abernethy 48:11

4M ago48:11

48:11

Clinical psychologist Alexis Abernethy explores burnout, Sabbath rest, and resilience—reframing rest as spiritual practice for individuals and communities. “For me, it’s knowing that the Lord has made me as much to work as much to be and to be still and know that he is God.” On this episode, clinical psychologist Alexis Abernethy (Fuller Seminary) …

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How to Read the Gospel of John / David Ford 48:30

4M ago48:30

48:30

The Gospel of John is a gospel of superabundance. The cosmic Christ made incarnate would of course yield an absolute superabundance of grace, love, and unity. What makes John’s Gospel so distinct from the Synoptics? Why does it continue to draw readers into inexhaustible depths of meaning? In this conversation, theologian David Ford reflects on his…

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Amor Mundi Part 5: Humility and Glory of Love / Miroslav Volf's 2025 Gifford Lectures 1:02:10

4M ago1:02:10

1:02:10

Miroslav Volf critiques ambition, love of status, and superiority, offering a Christ-shaped vision of agapic love and humble glory. “’And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?’ If you received everything you have as a gift and if your existence as the recipient is also a gift, all ground for boasting is gone. Correspondingl…

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Amor Mundi Part 4: The Earth Embraced / Miroslav Volf's 2025 Gifford Lectures 1:03:42

4M ago1:03:42

1:03:42

Miroslav Volf explores agapic love, creation’s goodness, and God’s grief—an alternative to despair, power, and world rejection. “When a wanted child is born, the immense joy of many parents often renders them mute, but their radiant faces speak of surprised delight: ‘Just look at you! It is so very good that you are here!’ This delight precedes any…

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Amor Mundi Part 3: Loving Our Fate? / Miroslav Volf's 2025 Gifford Lectures 1:03:48

4M ago1:03:48

1:03:48

Miroslav Volf critiques Nietzsche’s vision of power, love, and suffering—and offers Jesus’s unconditional love as a more excellent way. The idea that competitive and goalless striving to increase one's power is the final Good, does very important work in Nietzsche’s philosophy. For Nietzsche, striving is good. Happiness does not rest in feeling tha…

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Amor Mundi Part 2: Hating the World, Unquenchable Thirst / Miroslav Volf's 2025 Gifford Lectures 1:06:04

5M ago1:06:04

1:06:04

Miroslav Volf confronts Schopenhauer’s pessimism and unquenchable thirst with a vision of love that affirms the world. “Unquenchable thirst makes for ceaseless pain. This befits our nature as objectification of the ceaseless and aimless will at the heart of reality. ... For Schopenhauer, the pleasure of satisfaction are the lights of fireflies in t…

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Amor Mundi Part 1: Unchained from Our Sun / Miroslav Volf's 2025 Gifford Lectures 1:00:36

5M ago1:00:36

1:00:36

Miroslav Volf on how to rightly love a radically ambivalent world. “The world, our planetary home, certainly needs to be changed, improved. But what it needs even more is to be rightly loved.” Miroslav Volf begins his 2025 Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen with a provocative theological inquiry: What difference does belief in God make …

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How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse / Miroslav Volf 33:54

5M ago33:54

33:54

What if our relentless drive to be better than others is quietly breaking us? Miroslav Volf unpacks the core themes of his 2025 book, The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse. In this book, Volf offers a penetrating critique of comparison culture, diagnosing the hidden moral and spiritual wounds caused by competiti…

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The Body as Sacred Offering: Ballet and Embodied Faith / New York City Ballet Dancer Silas Farley 1:02:42

8M ago1:02:42

1:02:42

Silas Farley, former New York City Ballet dancer and current Dean of the Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, explores the profound connections between classical ballet, Christian worship, and embodied spirituality. From his early exposure to liturgical dance in a charismatic Lutheran church to his career as a professional dancer and chor…

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Remembering Pope Francis / Nichole Flores and Ryan McAnnally-Linz 34:43

8M ago34:43

34:43

Pope Francis died on Monday April 21, 2025. And to remember and celebrate his life, we’re bringing out an episode from our archives featuring social ethicist and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, Nichole M. Flores. Ryan McAnnally-Linz interviewed her in early 2021 about Fratelli Tutti, an encyclical teaching he…

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Art and Sacred Resistance: Art as Prayer, Love, Resistance and Relationship / Bruce Herman 1:01:48

8M ago1:01:48

1:01:48

“Art is a form of prayer … a way to enter into relationship.” Artist and theologian Bruce Herman reflects on the sacred vocation of making, resisting consumerism, and the divine invitation to become co-creators. From Mark Rothko to Rainer Maria Rilke, to Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” and T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, he comments on the holy risk of …

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The Fear to Hope: Ukrainian Pastor on Democracy, Fear, and Abundant Life in the Midst of War / Fyodor Raychynets 54:20

10M ago54:20

54:20

"Do not be afraid of your fears, but cope with them—learn how to deal with them—because unless you do, you cannot live your life abundantly and fully." (Fyodor Raychynets) Evoking courage, resilience, and faith in the face of overwhelming uncertainty, Ukrainian pastor and theologian Fyodor Raychynets returns to For the Life of the World three years…

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What the Devil: Christian Imagination, Morality, and Two-Step Devil / Jamie Quatro 59:28

10M ago59:28

59:28

Mystics and prophets have reported receiving visions from the Divine for centuries—”Thus saith the Lord…”—Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, Catherine of Siena, or Julian of Norwich. The list goes on. But what would you think if you met a seer of visions in the present day? Maybe you have. What about a prophet whose visions c…

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The Scandal of Giving and Forgiving / Miroslav Volf 32:04

10M ago32:04

32:04

It’s easy to forget how utterly scandalous the concepts of grace and forgiveness are. Grace is an absolutely unmerited, undeserved benevolence. Forgiveness is an intentional miscarriage of retributive justice, ignoring of the wrong by a wrongdoer. In Miroslav Volf’s understanding, forgiveness “decouples the deed from the doer.” Today’s episode feat…

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Kendrick Lamar's Political Theology / Femi Olutade 1:04:33

10M ago1:04:33

1:04:33

Super Bowl LIX was amazing, but not because of the football, or the commercials. It was the 13-minute half-time tour de force of political theology and protest art, brought to you by Kendrick Lamar. Acting like a parable to offer more to those who already get it, and to take away from those who don’t get it at all, the performance was so much more …

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The Psychology of Disaster: The Impact of Calamity on Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health / Jamie Aten and Pam King 58:28

11M ago58:28

58:28

Disaster preparedness is sort of an oxymoron. Disaster is the kind of indiscriminate calamity that only ever finds us ill-equipped to manage. And if you are truly prepared, you’ve probably averted disaster. There’s a big difference between the impact of disaster on physical, material life—and its outsized impact on mental, emotional, and spiritual …

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Our One and Only Earth: Environmental Ethics, Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Consumption / Ryan Darr & Ryan McAnnally-Linz 46:58

11M ago46:58

46:58

How should we treat our one and only home, Earth? What obligations do we have to other living or non-living things? How should we think about climate change and its denial? How does biodiversity and species extinction impact human beings? And how should we think about environmental justice, the rights of animals, and the ways we consume the natural…

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Divine Hiddenness / Deborah Casewell 36:16

11M ago36:16

36:16

Are you there God? It’s me… Why is God hidden? Why is God silent? And why does that matter in light of faith, hope, and love? In this episode, philosopher Deborah Casewell joins Evan Rosa for a discussion of divine hiddenness. Together, they reflect on: Simone Weil’s distinction between abdication and abandonment Martin Luther’s theology of the cro…

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We the (Chosen) People: Christian Nationalism Now / Eliyahu Stern & Philip Gorski 58:06

12M ago58:06

58:06

Is America a nation Chosen by God? A New Jerusalem and Shining City on a Hill? What is the shape of Christian Nationalism today? Now 4 years past Jan 6, 2021 and anticipating the next term of presidential office, Yale professors Eliyahu Stern and Philip Gorski join Evan Rosa for a conversation about religion, politics, and the shape of Christian na…

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How to Read Simone Weil, Part 3: The Existentialist / Deborah Casewell 1:05:43

12M ago1:05:43

1:05:43

“All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws analogous to those of physical gravity. Grace is the only exception.” … “It is necessary to uproot oneself. To cut down the tree and make of it a cross, and then to carry it every day.” … “I have to imitate God who infinitely loves finite things in that they are finite things.” … “To kno…

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How to Read Simone Weil, Part 2: The Activist / Cynthia Wallace 1:11:26

1y ago1:11:26

1:11:26

“What are you going through?” This was one of the central animating questions in Simone Weil’s thought that pushed her beyond philosophy into action. Weil believed that genuinely asking this question of the other, particularly the afflicted other, then truly listening and prayerfully attending, would move us toward an enactment of justice and love.…

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Orianna Rosa Royle - Success Associate Editor at Fortune 36:59

1y ago36:59

36:59

In a special bonus episode of ‘No Worries If Not!’, we chat to Orianna Rosa Royle, Associate Editor on the Success team at Fortune. After starting out in video journalism, Orianna now leads Fortune's coverage of leadership, culture, the future of work, success and careers from London. We had a great time chatting with Orianna about how PRs can land…

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How to Read Simone Weil, Part 1: The Mystic / Eric O. Springsted 59:24

1y ago59:24

59:24

This episode is the first of a short series exploring How to Read Simone Weil. The author of Gravity and Grace, The Need for Roots, and Waiting for God—among many other essays, letters, and notes, Weil has been an inspiration to philosophers, poets, priests, and politicians for the last century—almost all of it after her untimely death. She underst…

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Open the Gates: Immigration & the Book of Revelation / Yii-Jan Lin 43:08

1y ago43:08

43:08

Why do we have countries? Why do we mark this land and these people as distinct from that land and those people? What are countries for? Yii-Jan Lin (Associate Professor of New Testament, Yale Divinity School) joins Matt Croasmun to discuss her new book, Immigration and Apocalypse, which traces the development of distinctly American ideas about the…

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Akansha Dimri - Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Tech Funding News 34:41

1y ago34:41

34:41

In this episode, we talk to Akansha Dimri, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Tech Funding News (TFN). Over her 20 year career in journalism, Akansha has worked across four continents and has steered the ship at tech publications like UKTN and Silicon Canals. She founded TFN in 2022. Akansha chats with us about her fascinating journey into tech journal…

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Sadhbh O’Sullivan - Consumer Health Writer at The i 33:14

1y ago33:14

33:14

This week, we chat to Sadhbh O’Sullivan, Consumer Health Writer at The i Paper. After an impressive seven year stint at Refinery29, Sadhbh joined the health team at The i last year, where she writes about women’s health, digital culture, and LGBTQ+ issues. We loved speaking to Sadhbh about how she strikes a balance between long-form deep dives and …

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Letters to a Future Saint / Brad East & Drew Collins 54:00

1y ago54:00

54:00

“For those of us who are drawn into church history and church tradition and to reading theology, there is very little as transformative as realizing that history is populated by women and men like us who tried to follow Christ in their own time and place and culture and circumstances, some of whom succeeded. … Looking at the saints, they make me…

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Lindsay Dodgson - Senior Reporter at Business Insider 33:15

1y ago33:15

33:15

We’re joined this week by Lindsay Dodgson, Senior Reporter at Business Insider. Lindsay cut her teeth in journalism writing on energy for several B2B publications before moving to BI. In her eight years at the publication, she has taken on a number of different roles that have culminated in a ‘social culture’ beat where she covers everything from M…

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How to Read Henry David Thoreau / Lawrence Buell 1:00:19

1y ago1:00:19

1:00:19

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wa…

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David Prosser - Contributor at Forbes 29:34

1y ago29:34

29:34

In this episode, we chat with Forbes Contributor, David Prosser. After “falling into” financial journalism at the start of his career, David has spent nearly 30 years at some of the UK’s most well-read publications, including the Daily Express and The Independent. Since going freelance a few years ago, David now balances journalism - including writ…

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Cosmic Connections: Resonating with the World / Charles Taylor & Miroslav Volf 54:50

1y ago54:50

54:50

Has modern humanity lost its connection to the world outside our heads? And can our experience of art and poetry help train us for a more elevated resonance with the cosmos? In today’s episode, theologian Miroslav Volf interviews philosopher Charles Taylor about his latest book, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment. In it he turn…

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Jane Hamilton - Appointments Editor at The Times and Senior Reporter at The Sun 37:28

1y ago37:28

37:28

Today we're joined by Jane Hamilton: Appointments Editor at The Times and Senior Reporter at The Sun. Jane is a true journalism pro, with an illustrious career spanning 20 years and many different beats. In this episode, Jane explains how she splits her time between two of the nation’s best-read publications, the value in delivering “360 ideas” to …

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How to Read Teresa of Ávila / Carlos Eire 52:53

1y ago52:53

52:53

St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) was a sixteenth-century Spanish nun and one of the most influential mystics in all of Church history, writing two spiritual classics still read today: The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. Her autobiography (more accurately, a confession to Spanish Inquisitors) is The Life of St. Teresa of Avila, detailing h…

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Paul Sawers - Senior Writer at TechCrunch 31:50

1y ago31:50

31:50

Welcome to Series 3 of 'No Worries If Not!'. The PR podcast where we chat to journalists about how they like to be pitched. We're excited to kick off the new series with a conversation with Paul Sawers: a journalist from the UK team at tech behemoth TechCrunch. Paul started his career as a freelance copywriter, and went on to be one of the first jo…

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History Speaks the Spirit of Justice / Jemar Tisby 46:20

1y ago46:20

46:20

History reveals a lot of things about human nature: our innate drive towards progress, discovery, relationship, community. Often motivated by a drive to feel safe and flourish. But despite this instinct, history also shows that we’re prone to inflicting and being complicit to grave and violent injustices. We fail, regularly, at living well with our…

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Unity in Diversity, Empathic Wisdom / Christy Vines 56:20

1y ago56:20

56:20

In our American quest for a more perfect union, we often mistake unity for sameness. We mistake unity for conformity. But the functional unity of a system—seems to actually require diversity, distinction, and difference. In this episode, Christy Vines (Founder/ CEO, Ideos Institute) reflects on the problem of division today; how we increasingly inv…

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Baseball as a Road to God / John Sexton 1:17:20

1y ago1:17:20

1:17:20

To true fans, baseball is so much more than a sport. Some call it the perfect game. Some see it as a field of dreams. A portal to another dimension. Some see it as a road to God. Others—”heathen” we might call them—find the game unutterably boring. Too confusing, too long, too nit-picky about rules. In this episode, Yankee fan John Sexton (Presiden…

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Love and Judaism / Rabbi Shai Held with Miroslav Volf 1:01:54

1y ago1:01:54

1:01:54

There’s a common misconception that Judaism is a religion of law and Christianity is a religion of love. But the very love commandments at the heart of Jesus’s teaching are direct quotes from Deuteronomy 6. Jesus, after all, was Jewish. Joining Miroslav Volf in this episode is one of the most important Jewish thinkers alive today: Rabbi Shai Held—t…

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Love's Braided Dance / Norman Wirzba 1:04:53

1+ y ago1:04:53

1:04:53

Problem-solving the crises of the modern world is often characterized by an economy and architecture of exploitation and instrumentalization, viewing relationships as transactional, efficient, and calculative. But this sort of thinking leaves a remainder of emptiness. Finding hope in a time of crises requires a more human work of covenant and commi…

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Music & Joy / Daniel Chua 56:31

1+ y ago56:31

56:31

Can music teach us how to live? In this interview Evan Rosa invites Daniel Chua—a musicologist, composer at heart, and Professor of Music at the University of Hong Kong—to discuss his latest book, Music & Joy: Lessons on the Good Life. Together they discuss the vastly different ancient and modern approaches to music; the problem with seeing music f…