Pop Culture Coffee Hour

The girls take on the popular podcast This American Life. They discuss how a culture of confession brings people together, the need to empathize with our larger society, and the ways we're all torn between belief and doubt. They close with their Top 5 Podcasts.

The guys reunite to discuss Rod Dreher’s controversial book The Benedict Option. They discuss religious freedom, their mutual desire for Christian community, and how our best religious arguments often cede ground to secular positions. They close with their Top 5 Books on the Christian Life.

Reunited at last, Christina and Emma bring their own perspective to Wonder Woman. They discuss the characteristics of heroism, how femininity and power are related, and the line between virtue and naïveté. They close with their Top 5 War Films.

It’s another crossover episode of PCCH! This time Christina and Christian take on one of their favorite shows: Parks and Recreation! They discuss the interplay between communion and otherness, the theological value of beauty, and the redemption of all things, including our own pasts. They close with the Top 5 Parks and Recreation Quotes.

At the beginning of the new season, Steve and Emma stir things up with the first ever crossover episode of PCCH! They take a look at HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. They address the controversy surrounding the show’s grittier content, the possibility of personal transformation, and the only true battle that matters: the battle between Life and Death. They close with their Top 5 Tragic Heroes.

In the final episode before the summer break, Steve and Christian discuss DC’s hit summer blockbuster Wonder Woman. They discuss the nature of human beings, the power of compassion, and (as always) how secularism has taken hold of our notions of the transcendent. They close with their Top 5 Heroines.

This week the guys listen to Crack-Up, the triumphant return of the Fleet Foxes after a 6-year hiatus. They wrestle with this complex album while exploring disappointment with social structures, the ambivalence of self-reliance, and the Christian promise of hoping in Christ. They close with their Top 5 Artsy Albums.

Christian and Steve take a dive into the world of stand-up comedy with the John Mulaney’s Netflix special The Comeback Kid. The guys discuss views of masculinity, the power of self-reproach and honesty, and the ability of comedy to take heavy topics and make them approachable-if-irreverent. They close with their Top 5 Comedy Specials.

This week the ladies discuss one of Christina’s all-time favorite books, A Swiftly Tilting Planet. They discuss the reality that all things are connected, the healing power of the transcendent, and the habitual sticking power of every virtuous (or vicious) decision we make. They close with their Top 5 Books from Childhood.

This week, the guys decided to talk about their first overtly Christian piece of art: Josh Garrels’ album, Love & War & the Sea In Between. They discuss the unique power of poetry and music to speak our hearts, the struggle and necessity of facing our own brokenness, and the tension between what we see and what we hope for. They close with their Top 5 Western Christian Church Hymns.

This week, the girls take on Disney’s animated film, Moana. They discuss the power of Christian vocation, the quest to find ourselves in Christ, and the uniqueness of the Christian salvation narrative—they even occasionally sing while doing so. They close with their Top 5 Disney Animal Sidekicks.

This week, the guys read the 2011 novel Ready Player One. The book, itself an homage to video games and the 80s, prompted discussions of human personhood, the journey of the spiritual life, and how love can pierce through our obsession with the illusory. They close with their Top 5 Classic Video Games.

This week, Christina and Emma watched The Promise. They discuss the film’s depictions of Christianity, the power of unity between people, the reality that Life overcomes death, and cultural responses to suffering. They close with their Top 5 Predictable (But Still Enjoyable) Movie Love Stories.

The guys watched Get Out, a film with all the makings of a paranormal horror film, except no paranormal stuff: just rich, white New Englanders. They discuss the racial implications of the film, what it means to be a human person, and the centrality of the body in the human experience. They close with the Top 5 people they wished they were as kids.

This week, Emma and Christina read (and watched) A Light Between Oceans. Join them as they discuss the danger of spiritual delusion, the path toward true love and repentance, and how the film adaptation missed the heart of the novel. They close with their Top 5 Worst Book-To-Film Adaptions.

The guys watched Martin Scorcese’s newest film, Silence, and it left them feeling…conflicted. Join Steve and Christian as they discuss immanent expressions of faith, the gruesome (and hopeful) reality of martyrdom, the pain of the dark night of the soul, and the depth of the Lenten struggle. They close with their Top 5 Conflicted Characters of All Time.

This week, Christina and Emma join the PCCH Team and offer their thoughts on "Beauty and the Beast." Apart from adding a new perspective to the film, they discuss the power of revisiting fairy tales as an adult, the communal nature of life as a servant of God, and how images of repentance make the film good viewing for Holy Week. They close with their Top 5 Disney songs!

This week, the guys watch Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. They discuss how the narrative was deeper than in the original cartoon version, the power of self-sacrificial love, and the reality that what we do (both good and bad) touches everything. They close with their Top 5 Most Unlikely Couples.

This week, the guys take a look at NBC’s new hit show, This is Us. They discuss how men are portrayed in pop culture, the role of the virtuous person in a family, and the reality that families make us who we are. They close their conversation with their Top 5 Fictional Dads.

This week, the guys watched Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade. They discuss what it’s like to not be the intended audience for a work of art, listening to experiences we don’t share, the human need to make sense of tragic events, and the album's struggle through infidelity and pain. They end with their Top 5 Music Videos.