Pop Culture Coffee Hour

This week, the guys take on one of the greatest bands of all time: The Beatles. They discuss how the band represented a beacon of hope in a bleak time, the burden of the immanent frame, and how the human person must find ways to reach toward life. They close with their Top 5 Most Influential Musical Acts.

The girls take on the long-awaited sequel to the classic film, Mary Poppins Returns. They discuss how true life stands in contrast to despair, how our perspectives shape our realities, and the role of wonder in the spiritual life. They close with their Top 5 Imaginary Places.

Just in time for Christmas, the girls rewatched the 2003 rom-com, Love Actually. They discuss what actually makes something a Christmas story, how true love involves sacrifice, and the connectedness of our lives. They close with their Top 5 Christmas Movies.

The girls take on Stephanie Storey’s Oil and Marble, a historical fiction novel based on the rivalry between Leonardo and Michaelangelo. They discuss true beauty and personhood as it can be portrayed through art, the power of true forgiveness, and the role of desire in the Christian life. They close with their Top 5 Old Testament Characters.

The guys take on CS Lewis’s classic saga, The Space Trilogy. They discuss the human instinct to relate with others, how the effects of sin cannot be quarantined, and how evil seeks to dominate life in order to control death. They close with their Top 5 Christ Figures.

The guys take on Isaac Asimov’s classic sci-fi short story, “The Last Question.” They discuss ever-changing views on technology, the inherent meaning in God’s act of creation, and the answer to the ultimate question: what happens when we die? They close with their Top 5 Characters with Artificial Intelligence.

The ladies watched the recent hit movie, A Star is Born. They explore how true commitment is borne out of true love, how sin causes deep brokenness in the world and in ourselves, and how our authentic selves find true healing in Jesus Christ. They close with their Top 5 Movies About Show Business.

The guys decided it was time to discuss a classic: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They discuss how love demands honoring people’s quirks, how each of us desires to be the hero in our own stories, and how a little bit of laughter goes a long way in dealing with life. They close with their Top 5 Reimagined Myths.

The girls saw the new children’s movie, Smallfoot. They discuss the complex nature of truth, how important it is to ask questions, and how we can use technology to create false images of ourselves. They close with their Top 5 Mythical Creatures.

The guys spend this week discussing the Netflix series, Magic for Humans. Besides both being magic enthusiasts themselves, the guys were interested in how magic opens the door to wonder, how mystery preserves faith, and how love demands our engagement with otherness. They close with their Top 5 Magic Tricks They’ve Ever Seen.

The girls take on not one, not two, but three dystopian stories! They take a look at Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, and Lord of the Flies, in order to discuss the question of whether human beings, at their core, are good. They also cover how fear drives people to commit heinous acts, how perfect love casts out fear, and how sacrifice is the ultimate expression of God’s love. They close with their Top 5 Dystopian Books.

You asked for it, so the guys did it. They finally took on The Office. They discuss the beauty of the ordinary, the centrality of relationship, and the dynamics of human personality. They close with their Top 5 Bosses.

Emma and Christina take on the Netflix film, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. They discuss the ways humans deal with suffering, how true love demands vulnerability, and how our choices impact the world around us. They close with their Top 5 Sister Friendships.

For the Season 2 Finale of PCCH, the guys watched the new documentary on the life and work of Fred Rogers. They discuss the formative power of media, the inherent dignity of each human person, and whether the Gospel needs to be explicitly preached in order to be the Gospel. They close with their Top 5 Inspirational Public Figures.

The guys watched The Incredibles 2 and loved it! They discuss the role of family, the effects of trauma, and how media affects our lives. They close with their Top 5 Quirky Families.

This week, the girls take on Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet. They discuss the role of poetry in Scripture, how Christians should understand work as an expression of God’s love, and how generous giving is actually more salvific for the giver than the recipient. They close with the Top 5 Spiritual Books To Read Instead of The Prophet.

The guys watched the new Steve Martin and Martin Short comedy special on Netflix. They discuss how the age of authenticity impacts our sense of humor, the nature of the cult of celebrity, and the God-given role of humanity’s priesthood. They close with their Top 5 Performers of All Time.

The girls take on the new star-studded Ocean’s 8. They discuss how it’s harder to look for God when things are going great, the impact of storytelling in our lives, and how community ought to be formed around a shared vision of a common goal. They close with their Top 5 Actresses That Weren’t in Ocean’s 8.

It’s another Star Wars Special! This time, the guys take on Solo, and they discuss spiritual and character formation, the landscape of a world without transcendence, and what constitutes that nature of life. They end with their Top 5 Bad Guys (Who Were Actually Good Guys).

The guys watched the haunting Netflix special, The Push. They discuss the influential nature of authority, the reality of having limited willpower, and the complexity of moral decision making. They close with their Top 5 Difficult Moral Choices.