Ye Gods! with Scott Carter

Rabbi Steve Leder: Yom Tov

ENCORE EPISODE Author and Senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, Steve Leder joins Scott to discuss his book For You When I Am Gone; Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story. Scott asks Rabbi Leder about his path to becoming a Rabbi, his personal struggles with mental health, and how he points people to the light when they are in the valley of shadows.
Listener advisory: this episode touches on topics that may be sensitive to some including attempted suicide. We can all help prevent suicide. Free and confidential emotional support is available from the National Suicide & Crisis website (988LifeLine.org), or simply dial 988 in the U.S.
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Have you got regrets? Scott has a few. On this week’s IMHO Scott asks if we can bridge the gap between aspiration and action. 
Email Scott at YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Guest: Steve Leder currently serves as the Senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, a prestigious synagogue in Los Angeles with three campuses and 2,700 families. He is a regular contributor and guest on The Today Show, writes regularly for TIME, Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, Woman’s Day Magazine, contributed a chapter to Charles Barkley’s book Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man?, and has published essays in Town and Country, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Jewish Journal where his Torah commentaries were read weekly by over 50,000 people.  His sermon on capital punishment was included in an award winning episode of The West Wing.  He regularly appears on the Today Show, CNN, NPR and weekly on Spectrum 1 News.  Rabbi Leder received the Louis Rappaport Award for Excellence in Commentary from the American Jewish Press Association and the Kovler Award from the Religious Action Center in Washington D.C. for his work in African American/Jewish dialogue and in 2012 presented twice at the Aspen Ideas Festival. He is the author of four books including More Beautiful Than Before; How Suffering Transforms Us and the recently published For You When I Am Gone; Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story. Newsweek Magazine twice named him one of the ten most influential rabbis in America but most important to Steve is being Betsy’s husband and Aaron and Hannah’s dad.  He is also a Jew who likes to fish. Go figure.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer, Dossie McCraw; Co-Executive Producer, Selena Lauterer; Associate Producer, Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Yvonne Orji: Bamboozled by Jesus

Today a conversation of biblical proportions with actress, comedian, author, and producer, Yvonne Orji. Her book, Bamboozled by Jesus: How God tricked me into the life of my dreams is now out in paperback. Scott is someone who's read a lot of celebrity memoirs, some written by friends. This book is different. Yvonne doesn't just recount the peaks and valleys in the upward trajectory of her career. She compares her challenges with the biblical stories and parables that inform her life choices.
Can God love you and still leave your prayers unanswered?  yegodspodcast@gmail.com
More about BAMBOOZELD BY JESUS: How God Tricked Me Into the Life of My Dreams By Yvonne Orji
 "Yvonne somehow found a way to brilliantly weave her humor, insight, courage, and faith into pages that feel like a weekend retreat hanging with your best, boldest, brightest and most blessed girlfriend. Bamboozled by Jesus is real talk about deep faith put in practice from a woman committed to living a life of vision, purpose, service and success."
 ―Kerry Washington, actress, producer, & director
 Actress, comedienne and now author, Yvonne Orji, hilariously, and with tremendous wisdom, exposes the trials and victories she has experienced on the way to the life of her dreams, in her memoir, BAMBOOZLED BY JESUS. Whatever greatness, whatever joy we may hope for, Yvonne is here to tell us that God has something even bigger and better in store for us, if we can just trust Him and be open to having our minds blown by His goodness, His creativity, and His knack for surprises! Orji takes readers on a journey through twenty-five life lessons, gleaned from her own experiences and her favorite source of inspiration: the Bible. But this ain’t your mama’s Bible study!
 Whether you're a college graduate coming up with your "next step" or a 30-something experiencing a sudden change in career or relationship status, Yvonne is here to remind you God has custom-designed your life to be magnificent, and by default, the magnificent is uncertain. Living your best life forces you beyond your capacity and demands reckless abandon of your comfort zone.
 Yvonne infuses wit and heart in sharing pointers like why the way up is sometimes down, and how fear is synonymous to food poisoning. Her joyful, confident approach to God will inspire everyone to catapult themselves out of the mundane and into the magnificent. Yvonne's story will encourage you to believe that more is possible for your own life when you let go and embrace the adventure.
 Along with her own captivating stories, Yvonne takes a thoughtful look into the lives of some of her favorite characters from the Bible, breathing new life and fresh perspective into familiar stories about bravery, resilience, and taking risks. If you're truly ready to live a life beyond your wildest dreams, hold on for the ride and be prepared to be bamboozled into a new way of thinking about embracing your unique destiny.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer, Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer, Selena Lauterer; Associate Producer, Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Robert Costa: Faith in the Truth

ENCORE EPISODE: Journalist, co-author with Bob Woodward of “Peril”, and Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent for CBS News Robert Costa joins Scott to discuss his Catholic upbringing and how faith brings him a respite from dark times. He muses on his reluctance to talk about himself in his reporting and his dedication to facts and objectivity in every story. Scott and Robert also get into his reporting on the religious right and his understanding of the politics of the conservative Christians in the GOP. 
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Judge not, lest ye be judged. But sometimes we can’t help it. Scott discusses the final season of HBO’s Succession and how Logan Roy’s “suspicions” about the afterlife sparked comparisons to real life media moguls Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone.
Email your suspicions to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
 
Guest: Robert Costa is the Chief Election & Campaign correspondent for CBS News, where he covers national politics and American democracy. Based in Washington D.C., he is a regular contributor to the "CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell," "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," "CBS Mornings," and "Sunday Morning," as well as to CBS News Streaming programs such as "Red & Blue." Before joining CBS News in 2022, Costa and reporting legend Bob Woodward co-wrote "Peril," which was published by Simon & Schuster in September 2021. The book documented the tumultuous transition between the Trump presidency and the Biden presidency and was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. It was also cited in congressional subpoenas issued by the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. From 2014 to 2021, Costa was a national political reporter at The Washington Post. Costa served as the moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" on PBS from 2017 to 2020. 
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Supernatural

On each episode of YE GODS, Scott Carter starts with the same question: If life is a mystery, whodunit?  No one knows what happens when we die, neither the devout believer nor the fervent atheist. 
This special episode presents excerpts from past interviews in which guests have described experiences of forces connecting them to unexplainable energy – some say the work of God, some say maybe something else. But each has an unshakable sense of connecting to a powerful...something. You'll hear from writer producer Larry Wilmore, Emmy winning actress Patricia Heaton, novelist and podcast host Jack Wilson, conservative radio host Eric Erickson,  and journalist Ana Marie Cox.
Why limit the size of the miracle you are willing to accept? If you believe in miracles.  Send your stories of miracles and close encounters with the supernatural to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Susie Essman: Praying to the Humor God

ENCORE - Actress and comic Susie Essman from HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm joins Scott to discuss praying to the humor gods, the connections between comedy and Judaism, why Larry David the creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm and co-creator of Seinfeld is a sort of Rabbi, plus remembrances of their mutual friend, the late comic genius Gilbert Gottfried.  
Guest: Susie Essman has played the sassy Susie Greene for all eleven seasons of the critically-acclaimed HBO comedy series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her hilarious bouts of withering sarcasm and uninhibited insults have become her character’s trademark. The Los Angeles Times calls Susie, “The most lyrical purveyor of profanity on television.  She makes the entire cast of  “The Sopranos” look like rank amateurs.  It really is a gift.”  Susie’s streetwise vernacular is perfectly suited for her life in Manhattan where she has been a veteran of the world of stand up comedy for thirty-nine years.  She has appeared in her own half-hour HBO comedy special, made numerous appearances on Broad City, The View, Hacks and The Tonight Show, to name just a few of her many television credits.  She has also acted in numerous films. Susie resides in New York with her husband and one-eyed Shih Tzu.
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Larry Wilmore: Cathnostic

ENCORE with Comedian-writer-producer Larry Wilmore who has one of the most impressive resumes in TV from In Living Color, to The Bernie Mac Show, The Daily Show to Blackish and HBO’s Insecure. He now hosts the Larry Wilmore: Black on Air Podcast with The Ringer. He stops by to talk about his epiphany as a door-to-door salesman, his Catholic upbringing and his comedic love of The Marx Brothers and their 1930 classic vaudeville film Animal Crackers.
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Do we all have a reason why we are here? Scott Carter honors his friend the late and great comedic genius Garry Shandling. Scott tells the story of how writer/director Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin), while researching for the documentary The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling discovered a note from Garry that only Scott could decipher about Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Garry’s legacy as a mentor to Sarah Silverman and many others.
Guest: Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air on The Ringer Podcast Network. The show, which premiered in 2017, features Wilmore’s unique mix of humor and wit as he weighs in on the issues of the week and interviews guests in the worlds of politics, entertainment, culture, sports, and beyond. He can also be seen in the Paramount+ film Jerry and Margo Go Large, alongside Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening. He also serves as executive producer alongside Kerry Washington, in the Hulu legal drama Reasonable Doubt for Hulu’s Onyx Collective. Larry is currently in development on the comedy series Lately for ABC, a behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show. Wilmore released his first book, “I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts”, in January 2009. He lives in Los Angeles.
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and host Scott Carter, Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer, Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Sam Harris: Being Nothing, is Everything

ENCORE EPISODE: Is there a there-there? A place within the mind separate from our thoughts? This week Scott talks to neuroscientist and founder of the Waking Up meditation app, Sam Harris. They discuss how meditation helps us to be happy in the most ordinary of moments and make the most of each moment, vs. the need to extract the greatest pleasure from our greatest moments. 
And that there are things to discover about the nature of the mind that are liberating, with the potential to reduce suffering of emotional anguish and ultimately lead to improvements in wellbeing.
Regarding atheism, Sam remarks that, “it’s not so much a claim that the universe isn't much stranger than we realize, (but) in fact, maybe it’s stranger than we can possibly imagine.” And that there are propensities of the human mind that are universally available regardless of culture or geography, and one can find truths across beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism,Islam and others, yet we need to have 21st century non-sectarian conversations.
Sam shares this quote from Tibetan Lama Kalu Rinpoche: 'What we live in is an illusion. There is a reality, you are that reality. When you understand this, you'll realize that you're nothing and being nothing, you are everything.'  And a recommendation of literature from Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reads from Oscar Wilde’s “De Profundis” and discusses his belief that there is a need for ritual even in the lives of the irreligious. He asks the listeners if God hides himself from us or do we just not know where to look for him?
 
Guest: Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, and author of five New York Times best sellers. His work covers a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, political polarization, rationality—but generally focuses on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. His books include The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, and Waking Up. Sam hosts the popular Making Sense podcast and is the creator of the Waking Up app, which offers a modern approach to living a more examined life, through both in-depth mindfulness training and secular wisdom. Sam has practiced meditation for over 30 years and has studied with many Tibetan, Indian, Burmese, and Western meditation teachers, both in the United States and abroad. He holds a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.
Photo credit: Christopher Patey
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer, Dossie McCraw; Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer; Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Stephen Mitchell: Faith in Practice

Author and poet Stephen Mitchell has spent a career pursuing life's meaning as taught by history's great spiritual practices. His is a hero's journey, which ends with the presenting of an elixir, a blessing to the world. His gift to the world are his works, which distill his long sought and gained wisdom.
Guest: Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen training. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, The Gospel According to Jesus, The Book of Job, Gilgamesh, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Second Book of the Tao, Bhagavad Gita, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and Catullus: Selected Poems. He is also the co-author of three of his wife Byron Katie’s bestselling books: Loving What Is, A Thousand Names for Joy, and A Mind at Home with Itself. You can read extensive excerpts from all his books at www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.  
Photo credit: Brie Childers.
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reflects on the words of the sixth U. S. President, John Quincy Adams who once wrote (building on words his father had also written), “I am a warrior so that my son may be a merchant so that his son may be a poet.” With a volunteer army, few Americans are warriors. And the merchant class has been gobbled up by massive big box chains. Modern appliances and digital devices have relieved most of us from the back breaking labor that once consumed Americans' waking hours. We have more discretionary time than our ancestors. How many of us are poets? How do we use this gift of time? Time, once a luxury, is now a commodity. To pass, to kill. How could distracting ourselves be life's purpose?
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios: Creator and Host, Scott Carter; Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Ana Marie Cox: There’s A New Day

Today's encore conversation touches on topics that may be sensitive to some including attempted suicide. Life can be hard, but suicide is preventable and free and confidential support is available by dialing 988 or go to 988lifeline.org
Guest: Ana Marie Cox is a political columnist and culture critic whose writing has appeared in The New Republic, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and NBC.com. Through 2022, she wrote a “Sober Questioning” column at The Cut. She’s also a prolific podcast host including Space the Nation with Dan Drezner and With Friends Like These from Crooked Media. She’s a regular on the Stephen King podcast The Losers Club (a favorite episode is this one on recovery themes in King’s work). Her memoir, “Just Like Your Mother” — a reported account of addiction, recovery, and intergenerational trauma — will be published by Random House in 2024.
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott is keeping the door ajar with ​​a one-step-at-a-time willingness to consider new things and challenge old beliefs that do not work.
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media, Executive Producer Dossie McCraw, Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer and associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound: Song, There’s a New Day by Staffan Carlén.

Michael Patrick King: Part 2 ”Lost in the Painting”

In the concluding episode of a two-part interview with Emmy and Golden Globe winning television writer-producer Michael Patrick King, we learn where he is today with the Catholic church and how he’s learned that faith, like art, is really about transitioning people out of where they are to someplace they need to be. He tells a moving story about visiting the Vatican with a friend and witnessing her being overcome while gazing at Michelangelo’s Madonna della Pietà sculpture, a first hand illustration of how “art can actualize emotion hundreds of years later in somebody unsuspecting –it came out of nowhere!”
In My Homily Opinion: A memorial to Oscar winning actor, Alan Arkin (1934-2023) whose work includes the films Glengarry Glen Ross, Little Miss Sunshine, Argo, The Kominsky Method and so much more goodness.  May he rest in peace.
Guest: Michael Patrick King has won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards as well as numerous nominations from the Writer’s, Directors and Producers Guilds for his writing, directing and producing work on the HBO phenomenon “Sex And The City. “ King piloted the hit series through all six seasons on television then continued on as the writer, director and producer of both blockbuster “Sex and The City” movies.  In addition to his ”Sex” life, he is also known for creating, executive producing and directing another HBO series:  “The Comeback” with Lisa Kudrow. Michael started his television writing career when he was hired by Diane English to join the staff of the CBS series “Murphy Brown” during their “infamous” Dan Quayle year.  His work on “Murphy Brown” garnered him his first Emmy nomination as well as the first of his many Writers Guild Award nominations. Post “Murphy Brown”, he worked as a writer/producer on other popular sit-coms including “Cybil” and “Will & Grace”.  Before writing for television, Mr. King was a New York playwright and had his plays produced in New York City, Los Angeles and at the Aspen Comedy Festival.  In 2011, he created the hit CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls” with Whitney Cummings.  It ran for six seasons and is now in syndication.  His first streaming series:  “AJ And The Queen”, created with and starring RuPaul Charles, can be found on Netflix.  His most recent series “AND JUST LIKE THAT…” a new chapter of SEX & THE CITY was Max’s most watched series ever. His latest feature, “The Back Nine” which he wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith, is being produced by MRC and is currently casting.  His production company, Michael Patrick King Productions develops projects for film, television and theater.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine and Co-Executive Producer Selena Lauterer. Hosting services provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound.Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com

Michael Patrick King: Part 1 ”Untangle the Chain of Your Sadness”

In part one of this two-part interview with Emmy and Golden Globe winning television writer Michael Patrick King, we learn how to be the holiest altar boy. The “Sex and The City” and “2 Broke Girls”  showrunner sits down with Scott to discuss how attending Catholic Church made him love performance and influenced his own spiritual play Thorn & Bloom, how standup made him realize he wasn't telling his truth, and the spiritual gift his mother left him in a letter after her passing. Come back next week for more from the “And Just Like That…” creator Michael Patrick King!
Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com
Guest: Michael Patrick King has won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards as well as numerous nominations from the Writer’s, Directors and Producers Guilds for his writing, directing and producing work on the HBO phenomenon “Sex And The City. “ King piloted the hit series through all six seasons on television then continued on as the writer, director and producer of both blockbuster “Sex and The City” movies.  In addition to his ”Sex” life, he is also known for creating, executive producing and directing another HBO series:  “The Comeback” with Lisa Kudrow. Michael started his television writing career when he was hired by Diane English to join the staff of the CBS series “Murphy Brown” during their “infamous” Dan Quayle year.  His work on “Murphy Brown” garnered him his first Emmy nomination as well as the first of his many Writers Guild Award nominations. Post “Murphy Brown”, he worked as a writer/producer on other popular sit-coms including “Cybil” and “Will & Grace”.  Before writing for television, Mr. King was a New York playwright and had his plays produced in New York City, Los Angeles and at the Aspen Comedy Festival.  In 2011, he created the hit CBS sitcom, “2 Broke Girls” with Whitney Cummings.  It ran for six seasons and is now in syndication.  His first streaming series:  “AJ And The Queen”, created with and starring RuPaul Charles, can be found on Netflix.  His most recent series “AND JUST LIKE THAT…” a new chapter of SEX & THE CITY was Max’s most watched series ever. His latest feature, “The Back Nine” which he wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith, is being produced by MRC and is currently casting.  His production company, Michael Patrick King Productions develops projects for film, television and theater.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound.

Tim Gunn: Thou Shalt ’Make It Work’...Again

ENCORE EPISODE Tim Gunn stars on the hit Amazon series, "Making The Cut," and served as co-host for 16 seasons of the revolutionary fashion competition series, "Project Runway," and he has written best sellers like Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible. But when people respond to his expertise and energy, they are reacting to – in an age of moral relativism – his affirmation of actual values: work hard, be decent. In this episode we learn more about Tim’s upbringing in the Episcopal church and how it shaped his ability to be a critical thinker. About his reverence for great masterworks of art as evidence of a higher power. About his epiphanies in the classroom, both learning from and being inspired by the students he teaches, while imparting on them the values of craft, curiosity and compassion. And the wisdom matriculated in the school of life through the dogma of perseverance – or simply stated, “make it work.”
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott Carter asks is teaching the humanities dead?
Article: The New Yorker, The End of the English Major by Nathan Heller
Book: In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Photo credit: Scott McDermott
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed by Epidemic Sound.

Ken Burns: We Hold These Truths

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better watch Ken Burns films. His body of work is a moving picture portrait gallery of who we've been as a nation and who we are. No contemporary artist has ever succeeded more by trusting so much in the American public's curiosity and attention span. To paraphrase Ken from his conversation with Scott, history changes but human nature doesn’t necessarily change. Ken references Ecclesiastes 1:9 from the Bible as one summation of that paradox: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is no new thing under the sun. 
In My Homily Opinion (IMHO): Scott reflects on the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 as a lesson in choice - Should you answer the belligerent or conciliatory message? 
Send your thoughts (and prayers) to YeGodsPodcast@gmail.com
Guest: Ken Burns has been making documentary films for over forty years.  Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; and, most recently, The U.S. and the Holocaust. Future film projects include The American Buffalo, Leonardo da Vinci, The American Revolution, Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others. Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations.  In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.  In November of 2022, Ken was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Photo credit: Alvin Kean Wong
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

Charlie Sykes: Let’s Be Frankl

Political commentator and founder of The Bulwark, Charlie Sykes joins Scott to discuss judgment, the hereafter, and the state of American democracy. Charlie talks about converting to catholicism in his teens, the influence of his father on his life, and his hopes for his legacy. Charlie recommends The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
In My Homily Opinion: 
Viktor Frankl was a Jewish-Austrian holocaust survivor and psychiatrist who wrote that we should decide what gives life meaning, then live life, so that on our deathbed, our memories may match our meaning. Scott doesn't think we need to wait for our death bed to look back. We can do it whenever we pass from one stage of life to another. Father’s Day was one of those moments for Scott. 
Share your regrets and blessings. Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com
Guest: Charlie Sykes is a founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and an NBC/ MSNBC contributor. He is also the author of nine books, including his most recent book, How the Right Lost Its Mind, published by St. Martin’s Press, released in October 2017. An updated paperback edition was released in October, 2018. Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic,  The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time.com, USA Today, National Review, The New York Review of Books, the New York Daily News,  and other national publications. He has appeared on Meet the Press, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, State of the Union with Jake Tapper, the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, the BBC, and has been profiled on NPR. He has also spoken extensively on university campuses. He is a former contributing editor to the Weekly Standard; he also has served as editor of Milwaukee Magazine; editor of Wisconsin Interest Magazine; and founder and editor in chief of Right Wisconsin. Until he stepped down in December 2016 after 23 years, Sykes was one of Wisconsin’s top-rated and most influential conservative talk show hosts. In 2017, he was co-host of the national public radio show, “Indivisible,” which originated from WNYC. He lives in Mequon, Wisconsin with his wife and three dogs. He has three children, and two grandchildren.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound.

Killer Mike: Radical Love

This week Michael Render, aka Killer Mike: rapper, activist, and host of the PBS talk show Love & Respect with Killer Mike (Executive Produced by Scott Carter) as well as half of the rap duo Run The Jewels. He joins Scott to talk about the influence of his grandmother on his faith, how blackness informed his experience of church and why the teachings of Jesus Christ made him a radical in his time and today. Mike’s latest album “Michael” drops June 16th. 
Michael’s recommendation is the 1791 book by Count Constantin-François Chassebœuf, The Ruins of Empires.
In My Homily Opinion:  Scott tells the story of how he and Mike met and asks if we all could use more hugs.
Email us at yegodspodcast@gmail.com
 
Guest: Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, is a Grammy-award winning rapper, businessman and activist. He is one half of the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, host of the PBS talk show “Love & Respect with Killer Mike,” and co-owner along with Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris of famed Atlanta restaurant, Bankhead Seafood.  A native of Atlanta, Render has released five full-length albums as a solo artist and four albums for Run the Jewels. His latest solo album “Michael” releases on June 16, 2023. He began organizing at the age of 15 and made a name for himself as an activist well before he recorded a single song. In addition to advocating for the decriminalization of marijuana, and restorative justice programs for young people, Render has worked locally with the anti-violence organization, Black Teens for Advancement and the Atlanta/Fulton Commission on Children and Youth through its Kids 4 a Change program. Through his SWAG Shop barbershops, which he co-owns with his wife, he’s held back-to-school events offering free haircuts, braids, and school supplies for Atlanta children. He was named to NME's "The Ten People Who Defined 2020" list for his powerful lyrics and activism, his album, RTJ4, made Variety's "Best Albums of 2020" list alongside Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and he was named as the recipient of 2020's Billboard Change Maker Award. Of all his roles and responsibilities, recognition and celebration, Mike is most proud to be called “husband” to Shana, and “father” to two sons and two daughters.
Ye Gods is produced by Efficiency Studios in association with Dossie Media. Special thanks to Associate Producer Robyn Rose Valentine. Hosting services and other fun stuff provided by Podbean. Music licensed via Epidemic Sound.

Rainn Wilson: Soul Boom - Part Two

In part two of our interview with actor and Soul Boom author Rainn Wilson, we discuss his new show Rainn Wilson and The Geography of Bliss, now streaming on Peacock. Rainn shares some of his favorite memories from filming around the world, which places he thinks find happiness best, and where he’d like to go in season two. Rainn also talks about how our culture’s aversion to death hurts our ability to appreciate life.
Rainn recommends this inspiring quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin the Jesuit priest: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Guest: Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominated and SAG award-winning actor, writer and producer who has found himself in a variety of comedic and theatrical roles throughout his career. His first
breakthrough role came when he played assistant mortician “Arthur Martin” on HBO’s Six Feet Under, winning him and the cast a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Wilson is best known for playing the inimitable ‘Dwight Schrute’ for nine seasons on NBC’s Emmy award winning comedy, The Office, a role which
garnered him three Emmy Award nominations. Wilson’s book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution released on April 25th. In this book, he explores the benefits spirituality gives us in creating solutions for an increasingly challenging world. Wilson can be seen in Rainn Wilson and The Geography of Bliss a six-part travel docuseries in which he travels around the world to discover the happiest places on Earth. The series debuted on Peacock on May 18th.
In My Homily Opinion:
Scott encourages Rainn to stay weird. The search for meaning cannot be done without our authentic selves. 
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