I was a latecomer to podcast listening. Give me a book any day. But then I realized that my friends were wondering why I didn’t say anything about their new media projects. Time to create a Spotify podcast playlist! It’s been several years now, and more friends have joined the streaming (air?) waves to talk rather than write. And they are good!
These five lead my podcast playlist. The common thread—Jesus, women, and wisdom. Go ahead and set your playback speed to 1.5x, and you can listen faster.
The Alabaster Jar
Dr. Lynn Cohick, theologian and professor of New Testament (and many other titles) partners up with Center for Women in Leadership director Kelly Dippolito to interview guests with expertise in all things Bible, theology, and church history, particularly as it pertains to women in the past and now.
One special subseries recorded in Spring 2024 highlighted the Visual Museum of Women in Christianity. VizMu, as we call it, is an online library of photographs taken of art decorating the walls of ancient European churches and galleries. In each image we see women from the biblical text or church history, their stories teaching us about their place in the church and by extension the place of women today in the church. The visual museum is in its infancy, with new images being curated by seminary students and professors, and the podcast episodes discuss theology, history, people, and art.
Honestly Though, the Podcast: Real talk, Real life, Real faith
My friends Rebecca Carrell, Nika Spaulding, and Liz Rodriguez co-host this energetic and insightful podcast that tackles a wide variety of topics. Their banter is top-notch; their guests are always interesting, sometimes entertaining, and terribly smart. If you're looking for conversations connecting faith with real-life issues from folks who don't claim to have it all together but who trust the One who does, subscribe to the Honestly, Though podcast. They are on a break this summer but you will find months’ worth of episodes waiting for you.
Curiously, Kaitlyn
Have you ever heard a child ask a question about the Bible that you secretly wanted to know too? Are you tired of trying to decipher the big dictionary words pastors and scholars use to describe theological concepts? You're not alone, and you will love this podcast. Kaitlyn Schiess, an author and theologian studying at Duke Divinity School, hosts this weekly show in which she interviews a scholar must answer a child's question about the Bible in a way the child can understand. For instance, some of the recent episodes are titled “Is God a boy or a girl?” “What will we look like in heaven?” “How do we know the Bible is true?” “Where did Jesus go when he died on the cross?” And while this podcast is led by questions from children, the content is actually aimed at adults, both those who work with children or have children in their homes and anyone who wants to know more about God. You won’t be disappointed!
Made Ya Smile
The Skitzy Chicks are two best friends who are basically letting us sit next to them while they have their weekly chat. It's helpful that Carrie and Melinda are also comedians who act, sing, write skits and scripts, and generally know their way around the stage. These middle-aged moms on the brink of grandmotherhood love Jesus and fun, and if you don't smile and laugh at least once during each twentyish-minute episode, it's not their fault. Every so often they invite their resident Bible nerd (that’s me!) to join them when they have a Bible question, and sometimes they invite their crafty (as in crafts, not deceit) friend to help them brainstorm ideas for moms with no creativity (hi, me again!) or just no energy. Their closing tagline says it all: Jesus loves you, and you can’t mess that up.”
Holy Curiosity with Kat Armstrong
Kat is a Bible study author who writes about the threads that connect Bible stories to one another. She's got a great talent for noticing themes that run throughout the Scriptures. In this inaugural podcast series, she connects the story of Dinah, daughter of the patriarch Jacob, with the woman at the well whose story is found in John 4. Her own reflections are joined by different scholars who have studied these women and their contexts. And by delving into these ancient stories, she wants to spark a holy curiosity in our own faith so that once we see those connections we won't unsee them, and we will start to notice other through-lines in the Bible. This short series is only six episodes long, and I can't wait to see what Kat comes up with next.