The Understory

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In late May 2026, more than a thousand people gathered for three days beneath the vaults of Washington National Cathedral for the first Understory Festival: a living experiment in Christian humanism, where argument and silence, music and lament, poetry and debate were honored as different ways of attending to reality, and of exploring this question of what might be struggling to be born today. This limited series gathers the festival's main-stage talks and carries them to everyone who wasn't in the room, as well as to everyone who was and wishes to return. Voice by voice, you'll hear the thinkers, weavers, institution-builders, artists, and pastors who came together to ask: what is struggling to be born, what is a human being, and who is Christ for us today. Presented by Comment.

  1. 2d ago

    Renewal and the Academy: Reimagining Institutional Stewardship — Shirley Hoogstra, Robin Baker, Shirley Mullen, Claude Alexander, and Aaron Winkle

    We measure a forest by the height of its trees, but its future takes root lower, in the understory. Colleges, churches, and schools are part of that soil: formative communities shaping the moral imagination of future leaders. Those who lead them are stewards, not mere administrators, and they steward under strain—fiscal pressure, threatened accreditation, political scrutiny, phone-shaped students, and a doubting public. Shirley Hoogstra, president emerita of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), handed four leaders a phrase from the Comment Manifesto. Robin Baker of George Fox University argues we face not a season of change but a change of age. Houghton University's Shirley Mullen insists that institutions need constant tending. Aaron Winkle of Grand Rapids Christian Schools tells what a student named Max taught him about being loved. And bishop Claude Alexander turns the premise back: Those who form others must themselves be formed. Recorded in the Virginia Mae Center on the Understory festival's final morning. Mentioned: Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, by Felicia Wu Song; the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7); a New York Times essay on Deep Springs College; the work of Robert Putnam and Aaron Renn; the festival debate between David Brooks and Ross Douthat; the Comment Manifesto Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Episode Highlights "We're not living through a season of change but a change of age, which requires reinvention rather than just strengthening." (Robin Baker, quoting Aaron Renn) "They are foundational. But they are foundational in the way that agriculture is foundational, not the way that stone walls are foundational." (Shirley Mullen, on the necessity and value of institutions) "I would never go work at an … institution that wasn't fully committed to including students of all abilities. Not because it's good for them. But because I need it." (Aaron Winkle, on full inclusion) "Clarity about from whom the trust comes, for whom the trust is exercised, to whom the trust goes." (Claude Alexander, on stewardship) "There was simply no response that was adequate. So I simply had to listen." (Robin Baker, on a public reckoning in Portland) About the Panel Shirley Hoogstra, moderator, is president emerita of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, which she led from 2014 to 2024.  Robin Baker is a historian and president of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, a role he has held since 2007.  Shirley Mullen is a historian, president emerita of Houghton University, and author of Claiming the Courageous Middle.  Aaron Winkle is superintendent of Grand Rapids Christian Schools and former head of school at Living Stones Academy.  Claude Alexander is bishop and senior pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and author of Necessary Christianity. Helpful Links and Resources Robin Baker, president of George Fox University: https://www.georgefox.edu/about/president/index.html Claiming the Courageous Middle, by Shirley Mullen: https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/shirley-a-mullen/3799 Grand Rapids Christian Schools: https://www.grcs.org Becoming the Church: God's People in Purpose and Power, by Claude R. Alexander Jr.: https://www.ivpress.com/becoming-the-church  "Shirley: A Lasting Legacy," on Shirley Hoogstra's CCCU tenure: https://www.cccu.org/magazine/shirley-lasting-legacy Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, by Felicia Wu Song (2021): https://ivpress.com/restless-devices #TheUnderstory #CommentMagazine #RenewalAndTheAcademy #HigherEducation #ChristianHumanism #InstitutionalStewardship #ChristianEducation #Leadership

    Renewal and the Academy: Reimagining Institutional Stewardship — Shirley Hoogstra, Robin Baker, Shirley Mullen, Claude Alexander, and Aaron Winkle

  2. Oct 14

    Deep Roots or Open Arms? — Bishop Claude Alexander, Tim Dixon, Maria Liu Wong, Bishop Vivian Grubb, Brian Dijkema, Chris Oldfield, and Shirley Mullen

    The deepest resources of the Christian tradition refuse the false binary of rootedness and openness. On the festival's second afternoon, six practitioners gathered around expansive questions: Must deep roots and open arms compete? What traditions are worth nurturing and passing on to the next generation? Can the open-armed avoid thinning into nothing in particular, or the followers of a way avoid hardening into closed systems? What does that look like in the lived reality of institutional practice? Tim Dixon, cofounder of More in Common, opens with a skeptic won over at Thanksgiving. Maria Liu Wong and Bishop Vivian Grubb share a twenty-year friendship across Chinese-Baptist and Pentecostal worlds at City Seminary of New York. Brian Dijkema, Cardus's president for Canada, ponders the tree's hidden roots and public branches. Philosopher Chris Oldfield describes hospitality as a near-monastic rule of life in a South London intentional community. Shirley Mullen, president emerita of Houghton University, recounts a divided room that learned to speak. Bishop Claude Alexander gathers the threads, and Miroslav Volf closes in prayer. Recorded in the Bethlehem Chapel at the Understory festival. Mentioned: "O Radix," by Malcolm Guite; "The Ephesian Moment," by Andrew Walls; Ivan Illich's 1996 radio conversation with Jerry Brown on hospitality; the 1619 Project from the New York Times; Paul's letter to the Ephesians Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Episode Highlights "It's not about an 'us' and a 'them,' it's about a larger us." (Tim Dixon) "Roots—even if there's crown shyness—roots overlap." (Brian Dijkema, on crown shyness in trees) "We sometimes say friendship is our theory of change." (Chris Oldfield on living in intentional community) "Part of the work of … the traditional, stereotypical power people in the room … was to be silent but not to be inactive." (Shirley Mullen) "Even at our best, each one of us is both prodigal and self-righteous." (Miroslav Volf, in prayer) About the Panel Tim Dixon cofounded More in Common, researching polarization and belonging across democracies; formerly speechwriter to two Australian prime ministers.  Maria Liu Wong is provost of City Seminary of New York and author of On Becoming Wise Together.  Vivian Grubb is bishop of True Holy Church "City of Refuge" in Brooklyn and is a faculty member of City Seminary of New York.  Brian Dijkema is president, Canada, at Cardus.  Chris Oldfield is a philosopher and research associate at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. He lives in community in Peckham, England.  Shirley Mullen is president emerita of Houghton University and author of Claiming the Courageous Middle.  Claude Alexander, moderator, is bishop and senior pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Miroslav Volf is a systematic theologian and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School. Helpful Links and Resources More in Common, Tim Dixon's organization: https://www.moreincommon.com City Seminary of New York: https://www.cityseminaryny.org Chris Oldfield at the Faraday Institute: https://faraday.cam.ac.uk/about/people/chris-oldfield Malcolm Guite's Advent antiphon sonnets, including "O Radix": https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/advent-antiphons "The Skill of Hospitality," L.M. Sacasas on Ivan Illich (Breaking Ground): https://breakingground.us/ivan-illich-technology-skill-of-hospitality/ The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History, Andrew Walls (home of "The Ephesian Moment"): https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/47237613 #TheUnderstory #CommentMagazine #DeepRootsOpenArms #Hospitality #Belonging #Polarization #ChristianHumanism #PublicTheology

    Deep Roots or Open Arms? — Bishop Claude Alexander, Tim Dixon, Maria Liu Wong, Bishop Vivian Grubb, Brian Dijkema, Chris Oldfield, and Shirley Mullen

  3. Oct 7

    Getting Unstuck on Immigration — Diego Sánchez, Jennie Murray, Jim Robb, Peter Skerry, and David Lapp

    Immigration debates tend to oscillate between abstract policy positions and individual stories conscripted by either side. This panel, inspired and moderated by Braver Angels' principles of structured civil dialogue, charts a new path toward finding common ground. Braver Angels cofounder David Lapp moderates four panelists: Diego Sánchez, an immigration lawyer, formerly undocumented for fourteen years and now a US citizen. Jennie Murray, president and CEO, National Immigration Forum. Jim Robb, vice president of alliances and activism for NumbersUSA. Peter Skerry, professor of political science, Boston College, who chairs Braver Angels' Immigration Policy Roundtable. The panelists address a wide range of current issues in immigration policy, including the sequence of legalization, the asylum backlog, employers' use of E-Verify to confirm legal employment status, and legal status for longtime undocumented contributors to the US economy. They also consider scarcity versus abundance and the cost of sentimentalizing immigration, asking, "Who is my neighbour?" This panel was recorded on day two of the 2026 Understory festival in the Saint Joseph of Arimathea Chapel at the Washington National Cathedral. Mentioned: the Dream Act; DACA; E-Verify; the "Gang of Eight" bill; the Voting Rights Act; Bibles, Badges and Business; Political Migrants: Hispanic Voters on the Move, by Jim Robb Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you get your podcasts. Episode Highlights "She said, 'You have to pray for this baby.' And she grabbed my hand and put it on her stomach. And that is why I'm in this work." (Jennie Murray, on a Matamoros trash dump) "We ought not to sentimentalize this issue." (Peter Skerry, on immigrant grandmothers) "So we're at a stage of mutually assured destruction on legislation, and I'm tired of it." (Jim Robb, on gridlock) "Behind closed doors, a lot of us look at each other and we say, 'All right, we agree on these things. But how are we going to get the politics to agree to us?'" (Diego Sánchez, on politics) "We do have resources and we are able to think out of that scarcity mindset, flip it to an abundance mindset and try to solve this together." (Jennie Murray, on scarcity) About the Panel David Lapp (moderator): Cofounder of Braver Angels and director of its Citizens Commission on Immigration. Diego Sánchez: Vice president of policy and strategy at the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, immigration lawyer, former DACA recipient. Jennie Murray: President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, which works with faith, law enforcement, and business leaders. Jim Robb: Vice president of alliances at NumbersUSA, which he helped found in 1996; author of Political Migrants. Peter Skerry: Boston College political scientist and author of Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent Minority; chairs the Immigration Policy Roundtable. Helpful Links and Resources Citizens Commission on Immigration, Braver Angels: https://braverangels.org/immigration The Dream Act of 2025, introduced by Senators Durbin and Murkowski: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-murkowski-introduce-the-dream-act "What is E-Verify," from the federal program: https://www.e-verify.gov/about-e-verify/what-is-e-verify Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform, National Immigration Forum: https://forumtogether.org/article/bibles-badges-and-business-principles NumbersUSA: https://www.numbersusa.org Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration: https://www.presidentsalliance.org #Immigration #BraverAngels #UnderstoryFestival #ChristianHumanism #Dreamers #EVerify #CommonGround #Polarization

    Getting Unstuck on Immigration — Diego Sánchez, Jennie Murray, Jim Robb, Peter Skerry, and David Lapp

  4. Sep 30

    Critical Yeast vs. Critical Mass — Cherie Harder, Lisa Slayton, Louis Kim, Ian DeWaard, and David Bailey

    How does cultural and moral renewal actually happen? Two schools of thought emerge to answer this recurring question from the 2026 Understory festival. The first argues that critical mass is the key to social change, requiring enough people mobilized to tip institutions, policies, and norms. The second, based on John Paul Lederach's theory of critical yeast, posits that culture change is rarely the size of a coalition but the quality and placement of small, leavening minorities operating in the right relationships at the right moments. While the distinction may seem academic, it shapes how funders deploy capital, how organizers build, how pastors imagine their congregations, and how every person of conviction decides where to spend their finite life. In this debate on tomorrow's theory of change, Cherie Harder, The Trinity Forum president and longtime Comment collaborator, stewards four perspectives. Leadership coach and nonprofit executive Lisa Slayton reflects on the critical yeast change that occurs in Alcoholics Anonymous. Louis Kim, a former VP at Hewlett Packard and now a master of divinity student at Duke, addresses the hazards of critical yeast becoming a "cocoon of righteous irrelevance." Ian DeWaard of the Christian Labor Association of Canada argues that while a small community can model dignity, it cannot on its own secure the kinds of societal changes that underlie that passion and those ideas. And David Bailey, founder of Arrabon, draws us back to the power of two-by-two ministry and what Jesus's form of ministry teaches us about scaling. Mentioned: The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, by John Paul Lederach; To Change the World, by James Davison Hunter; the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Rev. Sam Shoemaker; Abraham Kuyper and Pope Leo XIII; "Whispering to a Revolution," by Louis Kim (via Comment); Christianity at the Crossroads: The Global Church from the Print Revolution to the Digital Era, by David N. Hempton; Mark 4; Hebrews 11 Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you listen, and find every episode at https://comment.org/shows/the-understory/ Episode Highlights "Movements are rarely built by people obsessed with immediate results, high impact, and fast scale. They are built by people willing to plant faithfully, invest relationally, and surrender outcomes." (Lisa Slayton) "The stone is in the cathedral. It's not in the quarry." (Louis Kim, on purpose-built change) "Yeast is necessary, but it's not sufficient." (Ian DeWaard) "What oftentimes gets lost is the level of formation and discipleship." (David Bailey, on the Civil Rights Movement) "Show up, be fully present, tell the truth, release the outcomes." (Lisa Slayton, closing reflection) About the Panel Cherie Harder (moderator): President of The Trinity Forum, senior fellow at Cardus, and member of Comment's editorial board. Lisa Slayton: Founding partner and CEO of Tamim Partners, former Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation president, and coauthor of Life in Flux. Louis Kim: Comment contributing editor and former Hewlett-Packard vice president, now studying hospice and palliative care at Duke Divinity School. Ian DeWaard: Ontario and Manitoba director of CLAC (Christian Labour Association of Canada), with the union since 2000. David Bailey: Founder and CEO of Arrabon, a spiritual formation ministry cultivating reconciling communities; public theologian and ordained minister. Helpful Links and Resources The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, John Paul Lederach's book on peacebuilding and critical yeast: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-moral-imagination-9780199747580 "Whispering to a Revolution," Louis Kim's Comment essay on social movements: https://comment.org/whispering-to-a-revolution Christianity at the Crossroads: The Global Church from the Print Revolution to the Digital Era, David N. Hempton's book on networks, nodes, and nuclei: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/christianity-at-the-crossroads/85E469C200B4C553A9ADFB1234713E8B Cherie Harder at The Trinity Forum: https://ttf.org/about-us/trinity-forum-staff Life in Flux, coauthored by Lisa Pratt Slayton: https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/lisa-pratt-slayton/3814 Louis Kim at Comment: https://comment.org/contributors/louis-kim Ian DeWaard at CLAC: https://www.clac.ca/Your-voice/Article/clac-director-awarded-the-king-charles-iii-coronation-medal Arrabon, founded by David Bailey: https://arrabon.com/about #TheUnderstory #CommentMagazine #CriticalYeast #CriticalMass #SocialChange #TheoryOfChange #CultureChange #FaithAndPublicLife #CivilRights

    Critical Yeast vs. Critical Mass — Cherie Harder, Lisa Slayton, Louis Kim, Ian DeWaard, and David Bailey

  5. Sep 23

    In the Time of Fire — Christian Wiman

    With a jolt through his spine, Christian Wiman's poem "In the Time of Fire" came to him. Included in his latest collection of poetry, The Dance, the poem's speaker shifts from a man to a woman, addressing the world as a prophetic voice of wisdom. Recorded live on May 29, 2026, Wiman recited his poem in the great nave of the Washington National Cathedral, to the crowd at the Understory Uprising, the festival's public evening of music and testimony. Episode Highlights "I had a sense of a prophetic voice speaking, and it sort of came to me at night once." (Christian Wiman, on the poem's origin) "It went with a jolt through my spine, 'cause it hadn't occurred to me." (Christian Wiman, on the voice of wisdom) Mentioned: "In the Time of Fire"; The Dance, by Christian Wiman; Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian, by Miroslav Volf and Christian Wiman. Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you get your podcasts: comment.org/podcasts. About Christian Wiman is a poet, essayist, and former editor of Poetry magazine. He is the Clement-Muehl Professor in the Practice of Communication Arts at Yale Divinity School; his seventh collection of poetry, The Dance, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2026. Helpful Links and Resources The Dance, Christian Wiman's seventh poetry collection and the source of this poem (FSG, 2026): https://squarebooks.com/book/9780374617400  Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian, by Miroslav Volf and Christian Wiman: https://bookshop.org/p/books/glimmerings-letters-on-faith-between-a-poet-and-a-theologian-christian-wiman/1a13ad79a59080d1 #TheUnderstory #ChristianWiman #Poetry #UnderstoryFestival #ChristianHumanism #Comment #TheDance

    In the Time of Fire — Christian Wiman

  6. Sep 16

    Investing in Beauty — Roberta Ahmanson, Makoto Fujimura, Haejin Fujimura, and David Bailey

    Friendship was a central theory of change at the Understory, revealing itself in main-stage debates and quiet corridor chats. Few panels demonstrated its power more potently than David Bailey's conversation on arts and patronage. David—a musician, author, producer, and founder of Arrabon—brought together his longtime friend, renowned artist and author Makoto Fujimura, with their mutual friend, writer and philanthropist Roberta Ahmanson, along with justice advocate Haejin Shim Fujimura, Makoto's wife and co-author. The four artistic leaders explore why patrons in earlier eras believed they were responsible not only for funding works of art but for shaping the worlds people lived inside. Roberta describes the compelling example of Gregory the Great, who believed the beautification of a space was as important as the healing and social work that occurred within it. Beauty and service, she insists, cannot be separated. Makoto shares his story of meeting Roberta and her husband Howard decades ago, and of finally exhaling to feel that someone knew the depth of the spiritual intention in his art and the need for patrons to invest in beauty. Haejin calls us to a deeper understanding of patronage as being an advocate and "father figure" to someone, invested in their full flourishing, sharing a powerful story of the composer Vivaldi's work as a redemptive patron. Whether you are an artist looking for guidance on how to develop meaningful relationships with patrons or a patron desiring to deepen your convictions and broaden your reach as a trust-based philanthropist, this conversation among friends will leave you inspired to act and content to pray. This episode was recorded at the Virginia Mae Center at the Washington National Cathedral, on day two of the 2026 Understory festival hosted by Comment magazine. Mentioned: City of God, by Augustine; the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, edited by Thomas Oden; Called to Be Friends, on the friendship of John M. Perkins and Howard Ahmanson; Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Recommended reading: The Gift, by Lewis Hyde; Toxic Charity, by Robert D. Lupton; Art Is, by Makoto Fujimura; Beauty and Justice, by Haejin Shim Fujimura and Makoto Fujimura Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and comment.org. Episode Highlights "Beauty and service can't be separated … for the person you're serving because beauty gives them hope … beauty tells you that you matter." (Roberta Ahmanson) "This is not about the arts. This is about the gospel." (Makoto Fujimura) "You choose an artist based on their work and then you let them go … because it's to the glory of God." (Roberta Ahmanson) "Literally, 'patron' means acting as if you are a father of someone." (Haejin Fujimura) "Architecture spoke what the people believed." (Roberta Ahmanson) For artists looking for patrons: "The most important thing is that you become a patron first … you find out very quickly what the privilege of helping an artist means as a patron." (Makoto Fujimura) About the Panel Roberta Green Ahmanson: Writer, art collector, and philanthropist who shapes the arts-and-religion granting of Fieldstead and Company with her husband, Howard. Makoto Fujimura: Internationally renowned artist and writer; author of Art Is and Art+Faith. Haejin Shim Fujimura: Lawyer and justice advocate; author of Beauty and Justice; founding attorney of Shim & Associates and CEO of Embers International, an anti-trafficking NGO. David Bailey: Musician, public theologian, and founder of Arrabon, a ministry equipping the church for reconciliation and culture-making. Helpful Links and Resources Beauty and Justice, by Haejin Shim Fujimura and Makoto Fujimura: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beauty-and-justice-haejin-shim-fujimura/1147595972 Makoto Fujimura's website: https://makotofujimura.com Embers International, Haejin Shim Fujimura's anti-trafficking NGO: https://www.embersinternational.org Arrabon, David Bailey's reconciliation ministry: https://arrabon.com Roberta Green Ahmanson and Fieldstead and Company: https://www.fieldstead.com/ahmansons The Gift, by Lewis Hyde: https://lewishyde.com/the-gift/ Toxic Charity, by Robert D. Lupton: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Charity-Churches-Charities-Reverse/dp/0062076213 #TheUnderstory #Comment #Cardus #Arts #ArtPatronage #MakotoFujimura #Arrabon #FaithAndArt #BeautyAndJustice #Philanthropy #RobertaAhmanson

    Investing in Beauty — Roberta Ahmanson, Makoto Fujimura, Haejin Fujimura, and David Bailey

  7. Sep 9

    Acceleration, Resonance, and a Rule of Life — Steven Lawson and Manuel Andreas Dürr

    We live in a culture obsessed with productivity, efficiency, speed, and success. But after all the triumph of technological advance, it may still be that the defining condition of our time is not merely acceleration but alienation, marked particularly by the absence of what acceleration destroys: resonance. Coined by German sociologist Hartmut Rosa, "resonance" is the experience of addressing and being addressed by the world—touched, moved, and changed by a two-way relationship rather than one-sided control and consumption. Steven Lawson and Manuel Dürr ask what daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms restore resonance—not as retreat from the world but preparation to enter it. Lawson is Founder of Monk Manual, a daily formation system for peaceful being and purposeful doing. Dürr is a Swiss painter in Biel; his fourteen-painting Via Crucis was inaugurated in St. Peter's Basilica, February 2026. This episode was recorded at the Virginia Mae Center at the Washington National Cathedral, on day two of the 2026 Understory Festival hosted by Comment Magazine. Mentioned: The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis; The Lasallian prayer: "Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God"; Dürr's Via Crucis Vatical Commission; attention; productivity; relationships Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (https://comment.org), published by Cardus (https://www.cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you get your podcasts. Episode Highlights "The thing that I was looking for in productivity was peace. And it was producing the exact opposite effect." (Lawson) "Relationships are inherently inconvenient through the lens of being productive, through the lens of getting things done." (Lawson) "To be interrupted is very, very important because we calcify in our methods." (Dürr) "There's only a very, very short time in life where we could have the illusion of being in control. And I think it's very important to enjoy that we're not in control." (Dürr) Helpful Links and Resources https://monkmanual.com https://www.stevenvlawson.com https://www.manuelandreasduerr.ch https://comment.org/we-are-only-fragments/ (Anne Snyder's Comment interview with Manuel Dürr) https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/competition #TheUnderstory #CommentMagazine #Cardus #MonkManual #ViaCrucis #Resonance #RuleOfLife #AttentionManagement #ChristianArt #SlowProductivity

    Acceleration, Resonance, and a Rule of Life — Steven Lawson and Manuel Andreas Dürr

  8. Sep 2

    Screw-Ups — Amber Lapp

    Amber Lapp has spent years living among the people and places she writes about. Not merely taking on economically struggling communities as a neutral observer, but becoming a neighbor. A research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and co-investigator of the Love and Marriage in Middle America Project, she reads questions of civic renewal through the moral vocabulary of dignity, solidarity, hospitality, and hope—held open on behalf of people who have stopped holding it for themselves. On the opening night of the Understory Festival, she reflected on what those years of listening have taught her—stories of a friend who felt everything she touched turned to ash, a neighbor haunted by anxiety attacks that arrive without warning, and the peculiar loneliness of a life conducted across "a vast digital prairie," where alienation creates the feeling of "living among ghosts." Beneath all of it runs a single question: "How many of our social troubles are downstream from people doubting their dignity?" This reflection originally appeared in our episode, "What Is Struggling to Be Born?" framed by an address from Fr. Tomáš Halík and recorded at the National Cathedral on the Understory's opening night. Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at team@comment.org. The Understory is a production of Comment (comment.org), published by Cardus (cardus.ca). Hosted by Anne Snyder. Edited by Allie Crummy. Produced by Tiffany Thompson and Evan Rosa. Subscribe to The Understory wherever you get your podcasts. Episode Highlights "For us screw ups, it means not closing the door on hope." "She felt interiorly hollowed out, worthless, and like everything she touched turned to ash." "On the one hand, people of goodwill, working for nonprofits and institutions and wanting to do good. And then on the other, people who are alienated and squatters on a kind of institutional no man's land." About Amber Lapp Amber Lapp is a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, an adviser at American Compass, and co-investigator of the Love and Marriage in Middle America Project, a qualitative study of how working-class young adults form relationships and families. She and her husband David live in southwestern Ohio with their six children, where she volunteers as a catechist at their parish and at Lydia's House, a Catholic Worker house of hospitality for women and children. A member of Braver Angels, she is focused on how ordinary Americans might actually take part in public life. Her writing has appeared in National Review, First Things, USA Today, The Federalist, The American Conservative, Comment, and The Atlantic. She holds a BA in philosophy, politics, and economics from The King's College. Helpful Links and Resources Amber Lapp at the Institute for Family Studies: https://ifstudies.org/about-us/amber-lapp Her writing for IFS: https://ifstudies.org/blog/author/amber-lapp Episode 2: What Is Struggling to Be Born? — Fr. Tomáš Halík https://comment.org/podcasts/what-is-struggling-to-be-born/ pisode 1: Welcome to the Understory, Where the Future Quietly Takes Root — Anne Snyder https://comment.org/podcasts/welcome-to-the-understory/ #TheUnderstory #Comment #Cardus #AmberLapp #WorkingClass #Dignity #CivicLife #Loneliness

    Screw-Ups — Amber Lapp
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

In late May 2026, more than a thousand people gathered for three days beneath the vaults of Washington National Cathedral for the first Understory Festival: a living experiment in Christian humanism, where argument and silence, music and lament, poetry and debate were honored as different ways of attending to reality, and of exploring this question of what might be struggling to be born today. This limited series gathers the festival's main-stage talks and carries them to everyone who wasn't in the room, as well as to everyone who was and wishes to return. Voice by voice, you'll hear the thinkers, weavers, institution-builders, artists, and pastors who came together to ask: what is struggling to be born, what is a human being, and who is Christ for us today. Presented by Comment.

Information

  • Channel
    Comment
  • Creator
    Comment
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    The Understory

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