Listen in as I interview my friend Jamie Tworkowski of TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms). Jamie and I discuss the formation of TWLOHA, the recent death of Michael Jackson, and the importance of community.

Read the entire TWLOHA story here...

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

VISION:

The vision is that we actually believe these things…

You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters.

We live in a difficult world, a broken world. My friend Byron is very smart - he says that life is hard for most people most of the time. We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments. You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck.

We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of people live with problems of pain. Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay. We know that pain is very real. It is our privilege to suggest that hope is real, and that help is real.

You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption. We're seeing it happen. We're seeing lives change as people get the help they need. People sitting across from a counselor for the first time. People stepping into treatment. In desperate moments, people calling a suicide hotline. We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take. We want to say here that it's worth it, that your life is worth fighting for, that it's possible to change.

Beyond treatment, we believe that community is essential, that people need other people, that we were never meant to do life alone.

The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence.

The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles.

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world.

The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need.

The vision is better endings. The vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships. The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love. The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise. The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change.

The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead.

The vision is the possibility that we're more loved than we'll ever know.

The vision is hope, and hope is real.

You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.

Listen in as I interview journalist and author Cathleen Falsani. Cathleen and I discuss how grace is a counter-cultural concept, the role of Christianity in America, and how people can have dialog on contentious issues like religion.

Cathleen Falsani, author of Sin Boldly, The Dude Abides, and The God Factor, is the award-winning religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. She attended Wheaton College and also holds masters degrees in journalism and theology. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, with her husband and fellow journalist, Maurice Possley.

Items discussed in this interview:

• Vasco Sylvester
• The Dude Abides
• Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace
• The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People
• The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers

Listen in as I interview my friends Josh Jackson and Nick Purdy of Paste Magazine. In this interview we discuss Paste's underlying "agenda", how the music industry has changed over the years, and how you can help Save Paste. I am biased having worked at Paste at the very beginning, but in a world of throw-away pop culture, Paste is the real deal. I am so very proud of my friends who have created something that actually matters.

PASTE is one of the fastest-growing independently published music magazines in the country. We pride ourselves in being the premier music magazine for people who still enjoy discovering new music, prize substance and songcraft over fads and manufactured attitude, and appreciate quality music across a broad stylistic spectrum--indie rock, Triple-A, Americana, folk, blues, jazz, etc.

Mentioned in this interview:

• Paste Magazine
• Passion Pit
• The Low Anthem

read more »

Listen in as I interview Richard Doster, author of the new book, Safe At Home.

Safe At Home is the story of how a small town in the South in the 1950s grapples with having its minor league baseball team integrated. Not only did this book rekindle my love of baseball but it illuminated race relations in the pre-Civil Rights era in an authentic and compelling voice.

Richard and I discuss his inspiration for the book, how he dealt with writing about sensitive issues of race, and how sometimes ordinary people can change things. read more »