JUST FYI POD: Conversations about Culture, Ideas, and Life

Christopher B. Barnett
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Spirituality

Professor, scholar, and writer/novelist Christopher B. Barnett is joined by fellow authors Amy Welborn and Clark J. Elliston to explore issues pertaining to religion, philosophy, and contemporary culture. Episodes with Amy will be dubbed JUST FYI POD: CULTURE and anchored in topics such as movies, TV, and literature. Episodes with Clark will be called JUST FYI POD: IDEAS and centered on various topics in theology, philosophy, and higher education. In both cases, the goal is to provide informative yet accessible discussions of the issues and questions that make life meaningful.

  1. Aug 5

    JUST FYI POD: CULTURE: "On Christopher Nolan, THE ODYSSEY, and the Spirit of Our Cinematic Age"

    The overarching theme of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE‘s third season is: “The Future of American Christianity: A Conversation in Ten Questions.” On today’s episode—our season finale—my cohost Amy Welborn and I take a more indirect approach to our guiding question. In previous discussions, we have explored topics such as Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical on AI and the changing landscape of American religion, but today we will dig into a broader cultural issue—namely, the release of Christopher Nolan’s latest film, The Odyssey. By almost any conventional measure, The Odyssey has garnered an almost pious reception. The movie has eye-popping scores on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and audiences alike. As one commentator sums it up, The Odyssey is “a masterpiece in every way.” Coming on the heels of Nolan’s widely acclaimed 2023 biopic Oppenheimer, The Odyssey is thus poised to cement its director’s status as “the voice of our generation.” But what is that voice saying? After a survey of Nolan’s diverse filmography, Amy and I wrestle with this question and, in the process, probe what films like The Odysseysay about Western culture today. You can listen to the pod right here on Substack, or you can access it via Spotify and/or Apple Podcasts. Links are provided below. As always, your generosity and support are much appreciated. Please consider liking or sharing our work. Subscribe for free today!

  2. Jun 25

    JUST FYI POD: IDEAS: "Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era, Finale: What Will Higher Ed Look Like in 2050?: Three Theses"

    The main task of Just FYI Pod: Ideas’ third season is to consider: “Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era: How Did We Get Here? Where Is It Going?” On today’s season finale, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will explore the topic: “What Will Higher Ed Look Like in 2050?: Three Theses.” After a substantial introduction, in which Clark and I discuss the release of my latest book Kierkegaard, Statecraft, and Political Theology, we turn our attention to a trio of “theses” or contentions about education over the next 25 years: The American South Will Be the Vanguard for Educational Achievement. The Humanities Will Cease to Be a Proper Academic Field. The Professorate Will No Longer Exist. The goal of our debate is not to make predictions. It is to ponder both why, and why not, these claims make sense. After all, in an era of rapid technological change, a variety of possibilities exist. Thus our task here is to sketch out potential trajectories and, in doing so, to draw our season to a proper close. Please visit Just FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details and much more content. Subscribe for free today. As ever, consider following, liking, rating, and sharing our work. Your generosity and support are much appreciated!

  3. Jun 3

    JUST FYI POD: CULTURE: "'Magnifica Humanitas' + Has the Digital Age Helped or Hurt the Church?"

    The overarching theme of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE‘s third season is: “The Future of American Christianity: A Conversation in Ten Questions.” On today’s episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I focus on the following issue: “Has the Digital Age Helped or Hurt the Church?” However, before delving into that controversial topic, Amy and I discuss Pope Leo XIV’s recent (and much celebrated) encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Famously, the pope’s first encyclical confronts the emergence of generative artificial intelligence over the last few years—a topic that I am quite interested in as well—but Amy and I endeavor to set Magnifica Humanitas in the wider context of church teaching on information and communications technology, including film, the Internet, and social media. Only then can we properly address the question of how the Church has been impacted by the Digital Age. Please visit JUST FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details, plus much (much!) more content. As always, your generosity and support are much appreciated. Please consider liking or sharing our work. Subscribe for free today!

  4. May 11

    JUST FYI POD: IDEAS: "Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era, Part VI: "*Why* Have Universities Embraced AI in the Classroom?"

    The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS’ third season is to discuss: “Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era: How Did We Get Here? Where Is It Going?” On today’s episode, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will explore the topic: “Why Have Universities Embraced AI in the Classroom?” As usual, this is a wide-ranging discussion, which will touch on a variety of topics, including data on the prevalence of AI in higher ed, student perceptions of (and fears about!) generative AI, and the increasing “mission drift” of the university in an era of cost-cutting efficiency and techno-fatalism. Please visit JUST FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details and much more content. Subscribe for free today! As ever, consider following, liking, rating, and sharing our work. Your generosity and support are much appreciated!

  5. Apr 20

    JUST FYI POD: CULTURE: "The Trump-Leo XIV Rift + Does the Future of Catholicism Lie with 'Trad Catholics'?"

    The overarching theme of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE‘s third season is: “The Future of American Christianity: A Conversation in Ten Questions.” On today’s episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I focus on the following question: "Does the Future of Catholicism Lie with 'Trad Catholics'?" However, before delving into that topic, Amy and I discuss the recent (and much ballyhooed) "rift" between the White House and the Holy See. In both cases, we see the long-simmering tension between Church and State, religion and politics, bubbling up to the cultural surface. Is this, then, "business as usual," or is something new emerging? Please visit JUST FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details, plus much (much!) more content. Subscribe for free today! As always, your generosity is much appreciated! Hit the share button; leave a review! We can't thank you enough for your support!

  6. Mar 18

    JUST FYI POD: CULTURE: "Can Christian Art Be Resurrected?"

    The overarching theme of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE‘s third season is: “The Future of American Christianity: A Conversation in Ten Questions.” On today’s episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I focus on the following question: “Can Christian art be resurrected?” We approach this question in a variety of ways. First, in a discussion recorded prior to last Sunday night’s awards ceremony, we offer an overview of the Oscars, noting that it was a good, if somewhat predictable, year in movies. Indeed, while political themes continue to abound in Hollywood, religious ones do not. Next, we turn to what might be called the “crisis” of Christian art today: like the “information silos” on social media, so it seems that Christian art has been siloed off from popular culture. To be sure, there are niche corners of the Christian art world, but they are ostensibly reserved for “believers.” Third, and finally, we consider the history and nature of Christian art—and why its “resurrection” depends on a rethinking of how contemporary Christians both receive and make art. Please visit JUST FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details, plus much more additional content. Subscribe for free today! As always, your generosity and support are much appreciated!

  7. Mar 2

    JUSY FYI POD: IDEAS: "Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era, Part V: What Is a University *for* Anyway?"

    The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS’ third season is to discuss: “Higher Ed in the ChatGPT Era: How Did We Get Here? Where Is It Going?” On today’s episode, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will explore the topic: “What is a university for anyway?" This is a wide-ranging discussion, which will touch on student perceptions of university life, different models of higher education, and how twenty-first-century political polarization may very well lie downstream of university culture. Listener pro tip: this episode opens with a fairly long (and very off-topic) discussion about coaching youth sports! If you're not interested--and that would be totally understandable--just skip to the break. Please visit Just FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for more details and much more content. Subscribe for free today! As ever, consider following, liking, rating, and sharing our work. Your generosity and support are much appreciated!

  8. Feb 2

    JUST FYI POD: CULTURE: "What, if Anything, Will Replace Mainline Protestantism?"

    The overarching theme of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE‘s third season is: “The Future of American Christianity: A Conversation in Ten Questions.” On today’s episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I focus on the following question: “What, if Anything, Will Replace Mainline Protestantism?” We approach this question in two main ways. First, we examine a handful of new religious surveys, including (but not limited to) a major study released in December 2025 by the Pew Research Center. They all paint a similar picture: after decades of diminution, American religious affiliation, belief, and practice have begun to level off. But this overarching period of “stasis” comes with a number of qualifiers: markers of diminishment in one quarter suggest pockets of renewal in others. Next, we ponder what these findings tell us about American religious life going forward. If, as political scientist and statistician Ryan Burge has recently argued, the decline of mainline Protestantism is irreversible, then is some other religious institution poised to take its place? Please go to JUST FYI (cbarnett.substack.com) for access to this pod and much, much more. Subscribe for free today! As always, your generosity and support are much appreciated!

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About

Professor, scholar, and writer/novelist Christopher B. Barnett is joined by fellow authors Amy Welborn and Clark J. Elliston to explore issues pertaining to religion, philosophy, and contemporary culture. Episodes with Amy will be dubbed JUST FYI POD: CULTURE and anchored in topics such as movies, TV, and literature. Episodes with Clark will be called JUST FYI POD: IDEAS and centered on various topics in theology, philosophy, and higher education. In both cases, the goal is to provide informative yet accessible discussions of the issues and questions that make life meaningful.

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