Makers & Mystics

Strange Glory: A Case for Unconventional Art

What does it mean to glorify God through art? For many artists, the desire to glorify God can become an expectation that their work should communicate an explicitly reli

The World Needs Your Art: The Spiritual Roots of Why Artists Suffer | Stephen Roach

Every great artist from Caravaggio to Frida Kahlo has fought the same invisible war, and Stephen Roach makes the case that it is not a coincidence. In this solo reflecti

Evelyn Underhill: Mother of Modern Mystics

Evelyn Underhill: The Mother of Modern MysticsArtist Profile Series 40 Who was Evelyn Underhill, and why does her work continue to shape the modern contemplative movemen

Making Room at the Table: Art, Justice, and The Stories That Shape Us | Steve Prince

What if art isn't simply something we admire, but something that asks something of us? In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with acclaimed printmaker, educator,

Missionaries of Beauty: An Antidote to a Cultural Crisis with Sacred Artist Kate Capato

Can beauty change a person? A community? A culture?  Sacred artist Kate Capato believes it can. In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with

One Last Monster: Gene Kim on Animation, Storytelling, and the Art of Human Transformation

Animation has a unique ability to carry profound truths beneath colorful worlds, unforgettable characters, and compelling adventure. Beneath the spectacle, the best stori

Threads of Beauty: On Fashion, Fabric and Theology

In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach revisits The Pace of Beauty series with artist and designer Jennifer Sturrock.  Drawing from her background in c

The Problem with Beauty: From The Grotesque to The Sublime

Beauty is one of the most celebrated words in art and faith conversations, but it may also be one of the most misunderstood. Is beauty simply what pleases the eye, or is

The Beauty of Vulnerability | Zan Fiskum

What does it cost an artist to tell the truth? Singer-songwriter Zan Fiskum has built her entire creative life around finding out. In this episode, host Stephen Roach sit

Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument

Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument A conversation with Whitney Lynn In this episode, I sit down with embodiment coach, creative director,

Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark: Contemporary Art and The Path of the Mystics with James K. A. Smith

Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark A conversation with James K. A. Smith In this episode, I sit down with philosopher and author James K. A. Smith (Jamie) to explore

Taking Up The Tale with Malcolm Guite

What can ancient stories teach us about creativity, courage, and our own place in the modern world?  In this episode, Stephen Roach welcomes poet and priest Malcolm Guit

Making Space for Meaning: The Renewal of Myth and Storytelling with Jonathan Pageau

In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with cultural critic, writer, and iconographer Jonathan Pageau to explore the state of contemporary storytell

The Ethics of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas

In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach continues the series The Pace of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas, author of The Ethics of Beauty. Focusing on Chapter

REPLAY: Beauty As Prophetic Vision with Brian Zahnd

This replay episode features excerpts from a 2017 conversation with author Brian Zahnd, exploring his insights on Christian aesthetics and the role of beauty in faith. 

On Beauty And Repair with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

What does it mean to repair what has been broken, and can there be beauty in that work? In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach is joined by Rabbi Danya Rutte

The Beauty of Authenticity with songwriter John Van Deusen

The Beauty of Authenticity — John Van Deusen Songwriter John Van Deusen joins Makers & Mystics to explore the beauty of authenticity in art, faith, and vocation. In a cr

How Beauty Will Save The World with Winfield Bevins

What role does beauty play in a fractured and hurried world—and what might happen if we allowed it to slow us down? This episode marks the beginning of a new Makers and

Beauty and Resistance with Jonathan P. Walton

What if beauty isn’t an escape from the outrage and exhaustion of the world—but a form of resistance against it? In a culture overrun with anxiety and uncertainty, turni

The Pace of Beauty

Moving at the Pace of Beauty Season Introduction — Makers & Mystics Podcast Elaine Scarry writes that “beauty quickens. It adrenalizes. It makes the heart beat faster.”