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
156 episodes
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
Reimagining the Good Life
This podcast has a new name: Reimagining the Good Life. If you’re asking, “Why a name change?” and “Why now?”—I have answers! Author and teacher Patricia Clarke talks with me about:How disability challenges assumptions about the goo...
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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30:25
The Gifts of an Evolving Faith with Sarah Bessey
Is faith something that should always stay the same? Or is it something that evolves by necessity? Sarah Bessey, author of Field Notes for the Wilderness, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:<...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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57:09
How Advent Resists the Culture Wars with Tish Harrison Warren
Holiday culture wars and consumerism bring more chaos than joy to the world. But there’s hope. The countercultural season of Advent offers a different way to prepare for Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, former New York Times columnist and autho...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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46:33
How to Become a Worry-Free Parent with Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP
Anxious parents. Anxious families. Anxiety is contagious. How do I know if I’m an anxious parent? And if I am one, how is that affecting my kids? What can I do about it—for their sake and for mine? Therapist and author Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, joi...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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49:58
Finding Hope in the Dark with Curt Thompson, MD
How do we show up for each other in the midst of pain? Is it possible to hope when we’re suffering? Psychiatrist Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk a...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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52:25
Breaking Down Bias: Prenatal Diagnoses and Comprehensive Care with Stephanie Meredith
What happens when women receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome? How does that diagnosis affect those women and their families? How does it affect our whole society? Stephanie Meredith joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation about...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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50:12
Netflix's Down for Love with Robyn Paterson
Have you watched the new show on Netflix called Down for Love? It’s a reality dating show for people with Down syndrome, and we’re celebrating the start of Down Syndrome Awareness mo...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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41:55
Anxiety: A Doorway to Your Best Self? with Curtis Chang
Do you wrestle with anxiety? Are you plagued with worries? Do you think you’ve conquered anxiety? Curtis Chang, author of The Anxiety Opportunity, joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation that unco...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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49:47
The Hope and Hurt of Being Black in America with Esau McCaulley, Ph.D.
“Whose stories matter?” Esau McCaulley, author of How Far to the Promised Land, joins Amy Julia Becker for an honest, hopeful conversation about:be...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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54:32
Introducing Season 7 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear
Love is stronger than fear. What if we really believed it? What if we lived into love and weren’t overcome by anxiety? What if, even in the midst of the harrowing realities of our global catastrophes and the mundane realities of our eve...
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Season 7
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2:22
Why Stories of Hope Subvert Racism with John Blake
Is racism baked into our nation’s DNA? Is there any hope for change? John Blake, a CNN journalist and author of More Than I Imagined, explores the personal and social aspects of race as he shares:
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Season 6
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Episode 22
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49:47