The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp

Ken Kemp

Religion and Politics - subjects we avoid in polite society. But not here. Stories and people who challenge our assumptions and blaze new trails. Inspiring. Challenging. Out of the box. For Blog and Official BWM site, go to www.thebeachedwhitemale.com.

  1. 2d ago

    S7E33 Why Religion Went Obsolete: A Conversation with Sociologist Christian Smith, Ph. D.

    Send us Fan Mail REPRISE: Today, we welcome a conversation with Dr. Christian Smith, one of America’s leading sociologists of religion. He studied at Wheaton and Gordon College, earned an M.A. and PhD at Harvard, and currently serves as the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. You may know him from his groundbreaking research on adolescent spirituality, but in this episode, we dive into the sweeping themes of his current book, Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America, released in April 2025 from Oxford University Press. We examine the profound cultural and generational shifts that have contributed to the decline of religion in America—what Dr. Smith refers to as a slow but steady obsolescence. From the rise of the “nones” and the “spiritual but not religious,” to the scandals, the loss of clergy credibility, and the overwhelming politicization of faith, especially within evangelical circles, we unpack it all. Dr. Smith is data-driven, deeply thoughtful, and committed to honesty—he doesn’t just describe the trends; he interprets them with nuance and care. We also talk about the fears that drive some religious communities to build protective bubbles—Christian schools, worldview camps, media silos—and how those moves may be accelerating the very decline they fear. This is a conversation about cultural change, generational transitions, science, sexuality, and what it means to seek moral grounding in a rapidly shifting world. This episode invites us to ask: When has religion truly been good? And can it be good again? As James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” SHOW NOTES Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E33 Why Religion Went Obsolete: A Conversation with Sociologist Christian Smith, Ph. D.

  2. Sep 8

    S7E32: 9/11 at 25: What Have We Become? - the Two Kens

    Send us Fan Mail Twenty-five years ago, we woke up to a terrible tragedy. We remember the images. The first plane. The second plane. The towers collapsing. The Pentagon burning. The field in Pennsylvania. We remember the smoke, the sirens, the stunned faces—and the terrible realization that the most powerful nation on earth was suddenly, frighteningly vulnerable. But we also remember something else. For a brief moment, we seemed to remember how to be Americans together. We stood in line to give blood. We gathered in churches and synagogues and mosques. We put flags on our cars. We embraced strangers. We grieved together. And then something changed. Twenty-five years later, the question for us isn't simply what happened on September 11, 2001. We know what happened. The harder question is: What happened to us afterward? How did the trauma of that morning reshape our understanding of God? How did it change American Christianity? How did fear of terrorism become fear of Islam—and eventually, perhaps, fear of one another? We went to war. We expanded government surveillance. We embraced a doctrine of preemptive military action. We spent trillions of dollars. And somewhere along the way, the extraordinary unity we experienced after 9/11 began to fracture. So today on this special edition of the Two Kens, Ken Fong and I go back—not simply to the morning America was attacked, but to the 25 years that followed. We two former pastors are asking questions that are both political and deeply personal: Where was God? What did we become? And what, if anything, can we learn from 9/11 before fear teaches us the same lessons all over again? SHOW NOTES Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E32: 9/11 at 25: What Have We Become? - the Two Kens

  3. Sep 2

    S7E31 A Life Guided by Curiosity with Scott Chesebro Part 2

    Send us Fan Mail In Part One of my conversation with Scott Chesebro, we talked about a life shaped by curiosity - by people, places, questions, and a willingness to look beyond the boundaries of his own religious and cultural experience. Scott has never understood faith as simply a system of beliefs about heaven and hell. For him, it has been a way of being in community and of remaining open to the lives and experiences of others. In Part Two, our conversation becomes more intimate. Scott is living with an incurable lung disease and has made the deeply personal decision to enter hospice. Yet this is not simply a conversation about illness or dying. It is about how a person looks back on a life well lived - and what he hopes to leave behind. We talk about Norene, his partner in marriage and tireless companion; about raising their two sons on Chicago’s South Side and now watching their grandchildren grow up there; about race, public schools, faith communities, and the former students who continue to visit him. We talk about travel, including a journey through West Africa and along the Slave Road, and the curiosity that has guided Scott since childhood. And eventually, we arrive at the question all of us must face: What do you want the people you love to remember? Scott’s answer is both simple and profound: “I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to leave.” SHOW NOTES Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E31 A Life Guided by Curiosity with Scott Chesebro Part 2

  4. Aug 26

    S7E30 What I Want My Grandchildren to Know with Scott Chesebro PART 1

    Send us Fan Mail There are some conversations we know we will remember for the rest of our lives. This is one of them. My longtime friend Scott Chesebro and I share a history that stretches back decades - our education, our years in Chicago, our careers, our families, and our love for a city that has meant so much to both of us. But this conversation took place at a very different moment in Scott’s life. Scott is now receiving hospice care at home, living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive disease that has severely damaged his lungs. After being denied a lung transplant, Scott made the deeply personal decision to enter hospice. When I called him, the people helping with his cremation had just visited - and had suggested that he record something to be played at his memorial service. “Did that feel weird?” I asked. What followed was anything but morbid. Scott was alert, thoughtful, philosophical - and remarkably open. We talked about his journey from Bible School to the University of Michigan to Notre Dame, his career as a professor and four decades as director of the Chicago Center, his beloved wife Noreen, his children and grandchildren, and the city he has loved since 1966. Most of all, we talked about life, death, memory, and what he hopes his grandchildren will know about their Grandpa Scott. This is a conversation about dying—but even more, it is a conversation about living. SHOW NOTES Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E30 What I Want My Grandchildren to Know with Scott Chesebro PART 1

  5. Aug 13

    S7E29 Faith, Power & Politics: A Professor’s Story with Julia Inglis, Ph.D.

    Send us Fan Mail What happens when you take a position at a university because you believe it will honor your faith—only to discover that the institution you trusted is not what you imagined?  That’s the story of my guest, Julia E. Inglis, Ph.D., MPH, RD. Julia is a nutrition scientist, researcher, clinician, writer, and educator who spent nearly four years as an associate professor at Liberty University, teaching nutrition, chronic disease, research methods, and sports nutrition. She came to Liberty University with high hopes. Here was a university that openly affirmed her Christian faith. She expected an institution where faith and rigorous scholarship could coexist - and perhaps even strengthen one another. Instead, Julia encountered an academic culture that, in her experience, too often placed ideology ahead of scholarship. She describes low academic standards, grade inflation, unqualified faculty, closed doors when she raised questions, and a campus culture increasingly shaped by ultra-conservative politics and Christian nationalism. She also became deeply troubled by how allegations of sexual abuse were handled. Eventually, Julia resigned. But she didn’t simply walk away. She decided that her experience needed to be told - not as an attack on Christianity, but as a warning about what can happen when a university becomes more committed to protecting its institution, its politics, and its power than to pursuing truth. Today, Julia tells that story—and what she learned from it. Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E29 Faith, Power & Politics: A Professor’s Story with Julia Inglis, Ph.D.

  6. Aug 7

    S7E28 Beach Talk with Betsey: A Little Adventure. A Little Outrage. A Lot of Hope.

    Send us Fan Mail Today, we begin by looking ahead to Betsey Newenhuyse's upcoming three-week adventure in Costa Rica, where she'll explore the rainforest and indulge her family’s passion for birding. I also share highlights from four memorable days in Park City, Utah, with my three brothers - a rare gathering of just the four of us. Between hot air ballooning, river rafting, and long conversations filled with memories, laughter, and hopes for the future, it became a time I'll treasure for years. Then we shift to the unsettling congressional hearing targeting Dr. Anthony Fauci. It brought back memories of those frightening early days of the pandemic and how quickly a public health crisis became a political battleground. We discuss Fauci's remarkable career under Dr. Francis Collins, the honors he received from both George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Figures like Rand Paul and Adam Kinzinger have become part of a much larger story about truth, politics, and public trust. From there, we talk about the rapidly approaching midterm elections. We review Pete Buttigieg's growing national presence - and the disturbing rise of political intimidation.  Finally, we end with a discussion of that remarkable Concert for Peace featuring Pope Leo, Andrea Bocelli, inspiring young voices from war-torn countries around the world, and a moving rendition of "Amazing Grace" that left both of us reflecting on what reconciliation might actually look like. Ken’s Substack: The Concert of Peace - Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E28 Beach Talk with Betsey: A Little Adventure. A Little Outrage. A Lot of Hope.

  7. Aug 1

    S7E27 TWO KENS - The Myth of Being Colorblind: What We Refuse to See and Why It Matters

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Two Kens with my good friend, Ken Fong. Every so often we record a conversation that challenges us as much as it challenges our listeners. This is one of those episodes. We begin with a hilarious - but surprisingly insightful - clip from Leslie Jones that opens the door to an honest conversation about race, the myth of colorblindness, code-switching, white fragility, and the stories America tells itself. Then we turn to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, where Odysseus is portrayed not as an untouchable hero but as a man scarred by war. It raises powerful questions about trauma, empathy, and whether compassion still has a place in a culture that rewards certainty. Finally, we welcome musician Joseph Tseng, whose remarkable album Shanghai: An American Story explores immigration, identity, family, and belonging. Ken and I aren't trying to win arguments. We're trying to ask better questions, believing that curiosity, empathy, and honest conversation still have the power to change us. Robin D’Angelo - White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Leslie Jones on Colorblind White Guys Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E27 TWO KENS - The Myth of Being Colorblind: What We Refuse to See and Why It Matters

  8. Jul 25

    S7E26 The Gospel According to Theo

    Send us Fan Mail Every once in a while I read a book that stays with me long after I've turned the final page. That's exactly what happened when I discovered Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. In fact, I was so moved that I immediately read it a second time - something I almost never do. The novel inspired two essays for my Substack, and in this episode I bring those reflections together. More than a book review, this is an invitation to consider the quiet power of kindness, empathy, hospitality, and grace - and why those virtues may be exactly what our divided world needs today. Substack #1 - Theo of Golden: A Paradigm Shift in an Era of Culture War Substack #2 - The Gospel According to Theo: Allen Levi is my kind of Christian Support the show Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken’s Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

    S7E26 The Gospel According to Theo
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About

Religion and Politics - subjects we avoid in polite society. But not here. Stories and people who challenge our assumptions and blaze new trails. Inspiring. Challenging. Out of the box. For Blog and Official BWM site, go to www.thebeachedwhitemale.com.

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