Dedicated to wrestling with questions of faith, religion, and theology that arise in comic books and other pop culture media. Occasionally irreverent, rarely sacrilegious.
Related to the podcast of the same name.
Alan
and Em talk about what they've been doing the last little while, cover listener feedback, and talk about a couple of events in the music world that interest them.
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Alan and Em lament (a little) the cancellation of their favorite music festical, Audiofeed. But mostly they celebrate the bands that they wish they had seen, and play lots of songs.
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Alan and Em talk a bit about how they've been passing the time recently -- Dragon Age, Warrior Nun, theology podcasts, and the like. And then they empty out the entire bag of listener feedback.
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Alan
and Em revisit the concept of Blue Christmas, which they covered last
year on Episode 35. These are services that allow churches to make space
for people who aren't quite ready to celebrate
the season. But given the way that 2020 went, we're pretty sure that
EVERYONE is dealing with loss, discouragement, and depression this
year.
We
give our personal updates, talk about our 2020 holiday thoughts, and
then share some mostly (but not altogether) happy Christmas memories. Merry Christmas, seasons greetings, happy holidays, and we wish all out listeners a blessed and joyous 2021.
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Enjoy your Covid lockdown with this Harry Whodunit mystery audio adventure!
Back in Episode 31, we mentioned Harry Whodunit as one of our favorite little-known bits of Evangelical pop culture.
And in Episode 32, we played a digitized version of one of the two cassette sets we own. And then in Episode 36, we played a digitized version of the other set we own.
Alan
and Em discuss the original graphic novel The Book of Ruth, by Meredith Finch & Colin Dyer. The book retells the Old Testament story in the context of the Dust Bowl era. The discussion includes a deep dive into atonement theology, but somehow they manage to reference Babylon 5, Leverage ... and more!
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Alan
and Em discuss their Christmas 2019 holiday seasons -- church services,
family travels, Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts, Muppets movies ...
and more!
Click on the player below to listen to the episode:
"Harry Whodunit: The Mystery of the Spitball Ghost"
Start the New Year right with this Harry Whodunit mystery audio adventure!
Back in Episode 31, we mentioned Harry Whodunit as one of our favorite little-known bits of Evangelical pop culture. And in Episode 32, we played a digitized version of one of the two cassette sets we own.
And here is the second (and last) one ... with maybe not
the best results in digitization from a 20+ year old audio cassette ... we present "The Mystery of the Spitball Ghost."
Photos of the cards that came with the cassette can be found here in the blog, in the prior entry. .
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Here are pics of the fronts and backs of the cards that were included in the "Harry Whodunit: Kid Detective: The Mystery of the Spitball Ghost" box. A digitized version of the adventure will appear on the Dorkness to Light Podcast feed on Wednesday, 1/1. Enjoy!
Alan
and Em are not discussing the Elvis song in this episode. Instead, they are talking about the growing trend of "Blue Christmas" services, in which churches make space for people who aren't quite ready to celebrate the season, but are instead dealing with loss, grief, discouragement, and the general stresses of modern life. Merry Christmas, seasons greetings, happy holidays, and we wish all ot listeners a blessed 2020.
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Alan
and Em are joined by their podcasting buddy Chris Tyler from The Two True Freaks network to discuss the TV show Babylon 5.They talk about how well creator J Michael Straczynski did handling religious themes and content on the show. Special attention is given to the Season 3 episode "Passing Through Gethsemane," guest starring Brad Dourif.
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We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or Evangelical pop culture in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com
Alan
and Em take the huge chance of turning over the responsibility for
creating podcast content to their lovely listeners. Fortunately, The
Dorks ask great questions and make wonderful points.
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We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or Evangelical pop culture in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com
As
discussed on last episode, the Harry Whodunit series of audio mysteries
was one of Em's favorite things growing up. And here ... with maybe not
the best results in digitization from a 20+ year old audio cassette ...
is "The Phantom of the Barn Mystery."
"Surprisingly Good Things From Christian Pop Culture"
Alan
and Em talk about some of the surprisingly good products that have come
out from Evangelical pop culture over the years. They talk about some of
the music, books, and other items that they enjoyed long ago and still
think (mostly) hold up.
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Alan
and Em talk about the music of the harpist Timbre, who they discovered at the Cornerstone and Audiofeed festivals. We talk about her most recent album, Sun & Moon, which was recently awarded a prestigious honor by an arm of the United Nations.
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Alan and Em are joined by Garret Godfrey of the Good patron podcast to discuss Christian music in the 1980s. The episode also includes 25 minutes of a 1987 episode of Alan's college radio show, where he played "the best in today's Christian rock."
We
we
about the new album, and play portions of two songs.
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During our Audiofeed episode, we talked about the "Death by 1000 Cuts" seminar that featured musician Nate Allen, in which he discussed the spiritual abuse he had suffered, and his recovery process.
We were pleased to talk with Nate about his news album, "Hide No Truth," which he recorded under the name Good Saint Nathanael, in which he addresses many of those issues. This conversation covers the topic of spiritual abuse, the goods and bads of being raised in the church, the recovery process, and how to identify people who can help. We also talk about the new album, and play portions of two songs.
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On Sunday's upcoming episode #27, we talk with musician Nate Allen (performing as Good Saint Nathanael), about his new album, and the difficult circumstances that led him to produce the album.
Here is the first video from the new album:
And some info about it
About Hide No Truth (photos by Larissa Van Der Vyver)
Near the end of Nate Allen’s first
Destroy Nate Allen tour he spray painted the words “My Goal Is
Resolution” boldly on his acoustic guitar. The vulnerability and
complexity of that statement unknowingly charted a course for his life.
With
his new project Good Saint Nathanael, Nate Allen is turning to face his
demons leading with a rare-disarming vulnerability. On Hide No Truth
(available on Feb. 1st), the harder Nate looks at himself in the mirror,
the more humanity reveals its bitter, beautiful complexity.
The
nine songs on Hide No Truth find Nate stripping back his sonic pallet to
reveal stark, memorable, acoustic songs full of detail and intention.
In
what is a cathartic move towards self-choice, honest art and emotional
health, Nate uses religious language to explore human vulnerability and
his own broken Christian religious experience.
Faced with a
choice between ignoring his past or leaving his faith and community,
Good Saint Nathanael is a project seeking a 3rd path, one that lances
the wounds, protests somberly, and grieves deeply while still refusing
to give up.
Hide No Truth was recorded and mixed by Jon Terrey
(Listener, The Chariot). Then Nate assigned different friends to add
whatever their vision of “noise” was to each track, further adding to
the haunting soundscape. Lastly, the record was mastered by Jim Demain
at Yes Master Studios (John Prine, Frank Black, June Carter Cash).
