A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar
Mixing a cocktail of philosophy, theology, and spirituality.
We're a pastor and a philosopher who have discovered that sometimes pastors need philosophy, and sometimes philosophers need pastors. We tackle topics and interview guests that straddle the divide between our interests.
Who we are:
Randy Knie (Co-Host) - Randy is the founding and Lead Pastor of Brew City Church in Milwaukee, WI. Randy loves his family, the Church, cooking, and the sound of his own voice. He drinks boring pilsners.
Kyle Whitaker (Co-Host) - Kyle is a philosophy PhD and an expert in disagreement and philosophy of religion. Kyle loves his wife, sarcasm, kindness, and making fun of pop psychology. He drinks childish slushy beers.
Elliot Lund (Producer) - Elliot is a recovering fundamentalist. His favorite people are his wife and three boys, and his favorite things are computers and hamburgers. Elliot loves mixing with a variety of ingredients, including rye, compression, EQ, and bitters.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 66 minutes
- Episodes
- 136
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Evolution + Christianity, Part II: An Interview w/ Dr. Jim Stump
More Jim Stump!
We hope you loved Part I of our conversation with Dr. Jim Stump as much we did. Here's Part II! In this one, we talk about the problem of evil and more about AI.…
Evolution + Christianity, Part I: An Interview w/ Dr. Jim Stump
Are Christianity and evolution compatible? Can a person trust God and trust science at the same time? Jim Stump wrote a book called The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolutio…
Sarah McCammon on Exvangelicals
Welcome to Season 5!
We're joined by Sarah McCammon, a National Political Correspondent for NPR and author of The Exvangelicals, an insightful and empathetic look at the stories…
The Book of Belonging: An Interview w/ Mariko Clark and Rachel Eleanor
How do we grow and steward our children's spirituality when we've deconstructed so much of the spirituality that we were raised with? And even if we figure that out, how do we …
The Bible, Evangelicalism, and Propaganda with Scott Coley
Good, Bible-believing Christians should just automatically be Republicans. Everybody knows this.
Have you heard that sort of argument or been led to believe that this is just th…
Pastors Behaving Badly with Sheila Gregoire
Evangelical megachurch pastors saying cringe things is nothing new, right? However, there's a point when cringe turns destructive and abusive. That's what this episode is about…
God, Goodness, and Choice: A Conversation with Bruce Reyes-Chow
We speak with Bruce Reyes-Chow about his recent book Everything Good about God Is True, a primer on what it means to choose faith in the midst of a bleeding world and an often …
Q&A Bonus Episode: Corporate Deconstruction
Jeff Cook is back with us to dive deeper into deconstruction, inspired by our interview with Keri Ladouceur, the Executive Director of the Post-Evangelical Collective. We discu…
Recovering Enchantment in a Secular Age: Interview with Richard Beck
Psychologist and author Richard Beck joins us to discuss his recent book Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age. Richard is an engaging critic of …
Is American Democracy in Danger? Interview with David Gushee
David Gushee is back on the show to discuss his book Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies, an erudite, timely, and disturbing take on American democracy, its struggle…
Making Sense of Negative Theology: Peter Rollins, Part 2
Believe it or not, this is our 100th episode! And what better way to spend it than diving back in with Peter Rollins, a guest who is unusually suited to the regular themes of o…
Disillusionment, Pyrotheology, and the Death of God: Peter Rollins, Part 1
Break out your dictionaries folks, this one got in the weeds a bit. But if you're familiar with Peter Rollins, you're probably not too surprised by that. Peter is a philosopher…
Is Your Theology Too Small? A Conversation with Trey Ferguson
Trey Ferguson of the New Living Treyslation and Three Black Men podcasts joins us to discuss his new book Theologizin' Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly. We t…
Is There a Soul?
In this episode, Kyle and Randy discuss the philosophy of the soul and its implications for religious belief, the lived experience of faith, and even ethics. Kyle is a material…
Randy Quit
... drinking.
This is a more personal episode for us, particularly for Randy. As you know, we like alcohol around here, especially whiskey. In this episode, we chat about that a…
Changing Our Mind with David Gushee
David Gushee is an influential Christian ethicist who famously changed his mind about LGBTQ Christians. His 2014 book Changing Our Mind (now in its third edition) has been cele…
Philosophy in the Wild: Aaron Simmons
Philosopher Aaron Simmons joins us to discuss his new book Camping with Kierkegaard. It's all about living life in a way that is "worthy of your finitude," avoiding becoming an…
After Evangelicalism with Keri Ladouceur
Where do we engage when we're done with evangelicalism, but we don't want to be done with the church? Thanks be to God, there are new signs of life springing up in the post-eva…
William Paul Young & Brad Jersak: Judgment, Wrath, Hell, and the God Who Is Love (Re-Release from S01E11)
For New Year's, we're re-airing an episode from Season 1 in which we discuss God and love in the context of suffering, abuse, betrayal, and addiction with William Paul Young an…
The Other Side of Advent with Brian Zahnd
Merry Christmas! Brian Zahnd is back on the show to discuss his Christmas devotional The Anticipated Christ. We talk about why he's "trying to be religious," the difference bet…