Origami Elephants

Bryne and JR. welcome author and professor Tripp York to discuss the recent death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo. Bringing insights from his book THE END OF CAPTIVITY to bear, Tripp invites us to consider the very nature of zoos - and the animal kingdom.

Origami Elephants returns after an extended hiatus! Maybe it's Bryne's new baby, but we've been thinking about Zika, and the implications the virus has for questions of human existence. Listen up as we debate life, death and everything in between.

Bryne and JR. recap some of our favorite films of a very good year, then dive into a couple that signal a shift in how we are telling stories as a culture. The Big Short, Sicario and Netflix' Making a Murderer demonstrate an important shift away from the traditional virtue narrative Americans like so much toward more complicated, complex and honest storytelling. We evaluate this shift, and why we are so excited for it.

In the wake of protests at Mizzou and Yale, Bryne and JR. investigate how protests make invisible persons visible, and explore how those in power ought to respond.

Bryne walks JR. through her recent lessons on privilege. They discuss Playboy's surprising announcement and then move into a conversation about Amnesty: International's controversial decision to support decriminalized prostitution worldwide.

Bryne and JR. wonder whether Evangelicals can proselytize in ways that respect the Other. Along we way, we investigate why we often struggle with the silence of God.

Bryne and JR. welcome Clay Morgan of the StoryMen podcast to help us sift through the legal ramifications of some recent Supreme Court cases. We investigate the federal ruling on same sex marriage as well as the Oklahoma ruling to remove the 10 Commandments monument from the State Capitol grounds.

Bryne and JR. welcome blogger and activist Grace Sandra to reflect on the shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston and the strange case of Rachel Dolezal pretending to be black. We investigate what race is, how it's similar to and different from gender, and how these comprise our identity.

Bryne and JR. investigate the recent spate of scandals in the Evangelical world concerning sexual abuse. From the Duggars to Tony Jones to the Village Church, we ask why religions tend to blame victims and what our response should look like.

Bryne and JR. welcome Rachel Stine and Evie Allport to discuss gender issues in recent comic works. We focus specifically on AGE OF ULTRON's Black Widow problem and the criticisms of MARVEL's new A-Force comic.

Given the glut of new films about Artificial Intelligence, Bryne and JR. ask what counts as consciousness. We revisit Chappie, dive deeply into Ex Machina, and touch on Age of Ultron, Terminator: Genesys, Her, Avatar and Stephen King's The Jaunt. Packed with listern questions, we are ready to welcome our robot overlords!

Bryne and JR. catch up after a very busy season. They discuss Bryne's conference on Marion and JR.'s Easter celebration. Then they discuss the sensational new horror film It Follows.

Bryne and JR. investigate three recent instances of conflicts involving Islam and outside cultures and religions. From Charlie Hebdo to the Duke University Chapel to Oxford University Press, we wonder what is at stake in each circumstance and how we can be religious in non-religious spaces. BONUS: We also review SELMA.

Bryne and JR. catch up in the New Year. They review the best films of 2014 and spend some specific time praising the Babadook. They then use Allan Edwards' interview with NPR to examine what makes a marriage.

Bryne and JR. are joined by Clay Morgan of the StoryMen and Mikey Fissel of Reel World Theology to conduct a panel at the Baylor IFL Conference on Faith and Film. We explore the nature of possession films, and what they say about the Church and contemporary spirituality. A Q&A follows.

Just in time for Halloween (and the Baylor Film & Faith Symposium!), Bryne and JR. investigate the new "it" monster: Demons. From possession in popular culture to exorcising pastors, we ask how demons function in our world, and how we can respond to stories and experiences of possession.

After a tangent on horror films, Bryne and JR. discuss getting settled in their new homes. Both find themselves in communities divided by religious controversy - from gay marriage to atheist invocations. They consider what neighborliness looks like, and whether Civil Religion or Religious Civility is more important.

Bryne and JR. are going through some big transitions. After they process the last couple of big episodes, they explore the nature of change. How do we change well? What's at stake if we refuse to change? As a bonus, we add 20 minutes of off-the-cuff conversation about TV and film they've been watching recently.

Bryne and JR. welcome two pastors - Josh Butler and Eric Knox - to discuss the mess that is Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown. We examine how the media shapes the story, how the militarization of police feeds the conflict, and the extent to which race and privilege shape and are shaped by the events in Ferguson.

Bryne and JR. return from busy summers to dive into the conflict between Israel and Gaza. We explore the history of the region, what's at stake for both sides and land on a discussion of Just War. Is violence ever morally permissible? Is Pacifism an effective, realistic alternative to violence? How can we become peacemakers?