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Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker
A podcast about reimagining the good life through the lens of disability, faith, and culture. Host Amy Julia Becker interviews guests in conversations that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and help us envision a world of belonging.
Episodes
167 episodes
What Solitude Gives Us After Catastrophe with Pico Iyer
What happens when we step into silence? Author Pico Iyer joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss his book Aflame: Learning from Silence. He reflects on his time spent in monasteries and how he grounds th...
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Season 8
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Episode 13
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58:07
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Americans & Foreign Aid: A Crisis of Compassion? with Dr. Matthew Loftus
When U.S. foreign aid is frozen, what happens to the people who depend on it? In this episode, Dr. Matthew Loftus and Amy Julia Becker dive into the effects of USAID cuts, including:The life-or-death consequences for HIV patients
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Season 8
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Episode 12
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45:13
Why Religion Still Matters with Ross Douthat
In the work of reimagining, religion can play a significant part. What does it mean to be human? Does God exist? Is the universe good? Is there order and purpose to human life? These are the types of questions that help to shape our imagination...
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Season 8
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Episode 11
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52:35
The Myth of a Colorblind, Meritocratic Society with David M. Bailey
Recent political changes and executive orders have polarized the complex conversation around diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). David M. Bailey, the Founder and CEO of Arrabon, joins Amy J...
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Season 8
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Episode 10
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46:27
How to Talk About Disability with Carrie Hahn
Is disability a tragedy? Are disabled people “inspiring”? The language we use often reveals our assumptions about disability. Carrie Hahn, a pediatric speech-language pathologist and mother, joins me on the podcast to talk about her book
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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41:30
The Discipline of Inspiration with Carey Wallace
"Just try harder. Work harder. Think harder." But what if the key to creativity, whether that’s in our art or in the art of our daily lives, isn’t more effort but surrender? Carey Wallace, artist and author of ...
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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50:14
The New Testament in Color with Esau McCaulley, Ph.D.
How do we attend to diverse voices in our churches and society without silencing or patronizing each other? Author and professor Esau McCaulley, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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44:59
A Life Worth Living? Reimagining Life, Choice, and Disability with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Ph.D.
How do we decide who has a life worth living? Author and professor emerita Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to discuss what it means to:be humanlive in communitycare for one an...
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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52:26
How to Be Christian During Election Season with Corey Widmer, Ph.D.
Political divides don't just disappear after elections. If you long for a hopeful way forward, this conversation is for you. Pastor Corey Widmer talks with Amy Julia Becker about how to navigate political polarization with humility, love, and a...
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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48:19
The Measure of Intelligence with Pepper Stetler, Ph.D.
What freedom could we offer one another as humans if we weren’t so stuck on the "treadmill of achievements and quantified learning"? Pepper Stetler, PhD, is the author of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mothe...
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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50:43
How Stories of Hope Empower Justice with Jemar Tisby, Ph.D.
The way we tell the stories of our past plays a crucial role in shaping our imagination for the future. Author and historian Jemar Tisby, Ph.D., insists in his work that we tell a fuller story of our past, especially when it comes to the histor...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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50:14
What’s Normal? The Anthropology of Disability with Tom Pearson, Ph.D.
What does it mean to be human? Who counts as a human being and why? Anthropologist Tom Pearson has been asking these questions for a living for a long time, and then his daughter was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome, prompting him to ask t...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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48:44
Narrow Path, Spacious Life with Rich Villodas
The ways we have envisioned success—whether it’s more wealth, social media followers, recognition, or power—might actually lead us away from an abundant, spacious life. Pastor Rich Villodas, author of The Na...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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49:08
Introducing Season 8 of Reimagining the Good Life
How do we envision the good life in a way that is hopeful and human and freeing and good? My name is Amy Julia Becker. I help people reimagine the good life through my writing and speaking on disability, faith, and culture.My ho...
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Season 8
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5:22
Exploring the Good Life with Meghan Sullivan, Ph.D.
What does it mean to live a good life? How do we find meaning and happiness in our everyday lives? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker sits down with Meghan Sullivan, co-author of The Good Life Method...
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Season 7
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Episode 18
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46:37
Chasing the Intact Mind with Amy Lutz, Ph.D.
In a society often obsessed with intelligence, can we reimagine a good life that encompasses joy, meaning, and respect for all? What does it mean to respect and support individuals with profound intellectual disabilities? What role do those mos...
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Season 7
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Episode 17
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54:11
Hope That Heals in a World That Hurts with Katherine Wolf
How do you hold onto hope in the midst of suffering? How can we trust in the goodness of God in a world of pain? What does the good life look like in the midst of disability and uncertainty? Katherine Wolf, author with Alex Wolf of
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Season 7
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Episode 16
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49:38
Bringing Politics Under the Power of Love with Michael Wear
We are heading into another contentious Presidential election. For people of faith, for people who care about character and gentleness and values, for people who are inclined to disengage from politics altogether, what are we to do? Michael Wea...
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Season 7
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Episode 15
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46:51
How to Honor Limits in a World That Doesn’t with Micha Boyett
What's the difference between limitations and brokenness? What does it mean to be blessed? How can a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism be a part of a flourishing life? Micha Boyett, a writer, poet, and mom, joins Amy Julia Becker to ta...
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Season 7
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Episode 14
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55:39
When Your Church and Political Group Turn on You with Nancy French
{Please note that we discuss abuse in this episode.}How do we love people across our political and social divides? What are the costs and gifts of loving our political neighbor? Nancy French, author of
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Season 7
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Episode 13
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48:47
Reimagining Church Leadership and Disability with Andrew Draper, Ph.D.
Why does it matter that most churches don’t welcome people with disabilities in leadership? If a church excludes people with disabilities, is it really a church? Rev. Dr. Andrew Draper, coauthor of
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Season 7
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Episode 12
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53:02
Flannery O'Connor and the Prophetic Imagination with Jessica Hooten Wilson, Ph.D.
Why would a Christian author immerse her stories in darkness? Why would she use violent imagery that directly relates to Christianity, race, class, disability, and illness? And how can this darkness guide us toward the importance of love in the...
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Season 7
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Episode 11
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45:29
Disability and the Language We Use with Andrew Leland
Is blindness an incidental characteristic, like hair color? Or is it an identity? What language should we use to talk about disability, and why does it matter? Andrew Leland, author of
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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1:01:21