Announcement: Heaven & Earth, a New Podcast (What, Another One?)

For some time, I have been planning to start and release a new podcast. But I struggled to find the right process. I suppose it took the 2020 Pandemic to give me the motivation to start recording. And so I have, and I plan to start releasing episodes in June 2020!

But I suppose I need to explain why I am starting yet another podcast. As of May 3, 2020, there are 850,000 active podcasts. So why another one? Here is what I hope to accomplish and why I think it might fill in a gap that few podcasts fill right now. 

At the most basic level, the podcast is called Heaven & Earth and features conversations between myself and another person who knows something fascinating. In these conversations, I play the role of the listener and ask questions to learn more about a topic. 

Hopefully, this format helps you to find the joy of discovery. That forms the heart of Heaven & Earth because I am convinced most people learn through discussion, especially if the person they speak with has expertise in the topic at hand. 

Topics

What topics? Well, the podcast’s name lets me talk about anything in heaven and earth! Yet the main core of episodes will focus on theology within the tradition of Classical Theism. But that does not mean that it won’t host people with whom I personally disagree. What fun would that be? So there will also be a broader set of content for all sorts of theological and cultural topics. 

Two other things need to be said. First, the podcast will have seasons contained within its continuous release of episodes. These seasons will focus deeply on one topic and last for about ten episodes. The first season will be on Christology. The second season (Fall 2020) likely will cover the Book of Revelation. These will not be conversations but monologues and meditations on important topics. 

Second, I also plan to host discussions with a friend or family member on similar topics or important issues within a North American context. Instead of listening in place as a learner from an expert in subject matter, these podcasts invite you to overhear a conversation among friends. 

In summary, Heaven & Earth discusses all things in heaven and earth, but especially God and his creation. At its core, it invites you to listen and learn vicariously through me as I seek to learn from those who have mastered a topic of importance. At other times, it will invite you to sit around with a friend or talk and talk about the world around us.

Lastly, the podcast will also have seasons that last for about ten episodes each. Each season will have one specific topic, and it will take the form of a monologue. The first season should begin in July. 

Schedule

Regular episodes will release every ten days, although for the first seven weeks, I plan to release every Tuesday. This early compression of episodes will help get content out fast at the beginning, as well as to push through the cobwebs. I can already say that the first few episodes we recorded are not as well-done as later ones! So it is, but we are all learning! 

By way of preview, the first seven episodes are:

• Craig Carter on Classical Theism

• Chad Graham on Anglicanism

• Ryan Hurd on Thomas Aquinas

• Michael Haykin on the Puritans

• Mitch Chase on typology and allegory

• Rafael Bello on the non assumptus 

• Coleman Ford on Augustine

As these episodes come to an end in July, I hope to continue a weekly or bi-weekly schedule of conversations. 

I also plan to begin a specific sub-topic in the form of a season that will begin in July. It will host about twelve podcasts on the topic of Christology. I will provide more details as the time draws near, but suffice it to say these will aim to communicate topics with greater depth than otherwise possible. 

Format

I will release unedited versions of conversations on my YouTube channel (subscribe!) as well as the seasons on that platform too. The audio version will come out with minor editing (I stress minor), and I will release it across regular podcasting applications. I plan to focus on iTunes and Spotify. 

Thanks for your interest, and I hope you enjoy it! I’ve already learned a lot. I hope you will too. There are more things in heaven and earth than any one podcast can cover! But I hope to talk about some of the most important things.