Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

Amy Julia Becker
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A podcast about reimagining the good life through the lens of disability, faith, and culture. Host Amy Julia Becker interviews guests in conversations that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and help us envision a world of belonging. 

  1. 2H AGO

    You Were Never Meant to Do It All with Kelly Kapic

    S9 E3 — What is the good life? Is it a life marked by money and success and achievement? Or a life marked by love? Author and professor Kelly Kapic joins Amy Julia Becker to rethink our obsession with productivity and self-reliance. They explore: Why “independence” is not the idealHow love—not intelligence or achievement—defines our humanityHow receiving our limits can lead to rest, belonging, and deeper joySubscribe to Amy Julia’s Substack newsletter: amyjuliabecker.com/subscribe/ 00:00 Exploring Humanity's Limits and Gifts 04:30 The Distinction Between Limits and Brokenness 09:35 Redefining Human Value Beyond Achievement 12:16 The Role of Love in Defining Humanity 19:45 The Gift of Humble Dependence in Relationships 26:03 Recognizing and Cultivating Gifts 28:21 The Good Life: Beyond Material Success and Happiness 34:33 Embracing Limits within Work, Rest, and Love 39:16 Practices for Accepting Limits and Cultivating Love __ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Books: You Were Never Meant to Do It All, You're Only Human, and Embodied Hope by Kelly KapicFour Thousand Weeks by Oliver BurkemanWhen Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Becoming Whole by by Brian Fikkert and Kelly KapicWorld Happiness ReportI Corinthians 13__ WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ _ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College, University of London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught since 2001. He is a popular speaker and the award-winning author or editor of more than fifteen books, including the devotional You Were Never Meant to Do It All, The God Who Gives, and the Christianity Today Book Award winners You're Only Human and Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering. Kapic has been featured in Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition and has worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation. He also contributes to the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and various other journals. kellykapic.com ___ We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    46 min

  2. OCT 21

    When the Church Tries to Fix What God Calls Good with John Swinton

    What if disability isn’t something to fix, but a way to see God and one another more clearly? Theologian John Swinton joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how our ideas of perfection, healing, and humanity can distort—or deepen—our understanding of the good life. Together, they imagine a church and a world that welcomes every body as good, beloved, and whole. They explore: How culture shapes (and distorts) our perceptions of disability and beautyWhat it means for a world to be both wounded and belovedWhy the difference between goodness and perfection mattersHow interdependence includes both beauty and a cost__ TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST: amyjuliabecker.com/step/ SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia’s newsletter: amyjuliabecker.com/subscribe/ __ 00:00 Introduction 02:54 Significance of Disability in Faith 05:50 Cultural Perceptions of Disability 08:50 The Image of God and Human Relationships 11:45 Understanding Goodness vs. Perfection 18:18 Goodness and Suffering 23:55 The Power of Naming and Identity 27:38 Relationality and the Cost of Interdependence 35:38 Resisting Culture's Distortions of the Image of God __ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Christianity Today essay: “It Was Good, Not Perfect.”Genesis 1-3_ WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ _ ABOUT OUR GUEST: John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade John worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for a number of years as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain alongside of people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He has published widely within the area of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, end of life care, qualitative research and pastoral care. John is the author of a number of monographs including Finding Jesus in the Storm: The spiritual lives of people with mental health challenges. (Eerdmans 2020) which won the Aldersgate prize for outstanding interdisciplinary work within theology. His book Dementia: Living in the memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing.  We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    46 min

  3. OCT 7

    How Do You Know Your Calling? with Karen Swallow Prior

    Some people get paid to do what they love, but most don’t. How can we find meaning in everyday work that we don’t always love doing? How can we discover our purpose in life? Author Karen Swallow Prior and Amy Julia Becker explore: Why passion is not the same as callingHow vocation centers on service and relationships, not just careerPursuing truth, goodness, and beauty in ordinary lifeHow multiple callings unfold across a lifetimeWisdom for discerning and living into a deeper purposeSubscribe to my weekly newsletter: amyjuliabecker.com/subscribe New! Take the Next Step podcast: amyjuliabecker.com/step 00:00 Introduction 02:04 Exploring the Call to Creativity 05:39 The Myths of Passion and Work 08:55 Defining Calling and Vocation 12:32 The Relational Aspect of Calling 15:31 Pursuing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty 22:28 The Intersection of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful 26:04 The Good Life and Purpose 31:46 The Role of Suffering in Calling 36:55 Navigating New Callings and Responsibilities 40:44 Finding Meaning and Calling in Everyday Tasks __ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful by Karen Swallow Prior_ WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ _ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D. is the 2025-26 Karlson Scholar at Bethel Seminary. She is a popular writer and speaker, a contributing writer for The Dispatch, and a columnist for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and many other places. Her most recent book is You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Brazos 2025). CONNECT with Karen: karenswallowprior.com Facebook: Karen Swallow PriorInstagram: karenswallowpriorX: @KSPrior Substack: @karenswallowprior We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    44 min

  4. SEASON 9 TRAILER

    Reimagining the Good Life: What's Coming This Season

    What really makes life worth living? This season on Reimagining the Good Life, Amy Julia Becker dives into the ideas, assumptions, and cultural narratives that shape how we live. Upcoming conversations include: Karen Swallow Prior on callingSharon Hodde Miller on self-forgetfulnessKelly Kapic on human limitationsLeah Libresco Sargeant on the dignity of dependence If you’re curious about culture, disability, family, and faith—and how big ideas can change everyday life—this season is for you. __ WATCH on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    3 min
  5. [Take the Next Step] Ep 1 • Don’t Wait to Celebrate: Disability and Delight with Katherine Wolf

    SEP 17 · BONUS

    [Take the Next Step] Ep 1 • Don’t Wait to Celebrate: Disability and Delight with Katherine Wolf

    This is the very first episode of my new podcast, Take the Next Step, and I’m sharing it here so you won’t miss the launch. Be sure to follow Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker wherever you listen so you don’t miss future episodes. (New episodes of Reimagining the Good Life are coming in October!) Follow the new podcast at: amyjuliabecker.com/step/ __ Feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of disability? Katherine Wolf, author, advocate, and co-founder of Hope Heals, joins Amy Julia Becker to explore how families can reimagine disability, build connection, and celebrate life.  From the dinner table to the slow work of recovery, learn how to find delight in the story you have. Discover: How to experience joy in the process, not just the outcomeDaily habits to cultivate gratitude and delightHow to build a supportive, connected communityWhy purpose and contribution matter for every family_ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Katherine’s books, resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities: hopeheals.com. Luke 14_ WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ _ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Katherine Wolf is an author, advocate, and co-founder of Hope Heals. After she survived a near-fatal brainstem stroke at age 26, her family’s journey through disability has become a public witness that good and hard can co-exist in the same story. Through caregiving, storytelling, and lived theology, Katherine is inviting others into a vision of hope, interdependence, and embodied resilience. She and her husband Jay live in Atlanta with their two sons. Website: www.hopeheals.com  Instagram: @hopeheals _ Take the Next Step is produced in collaboration with Hope Heals. Hope Heals creates sacred spaces of belonging and belovedness for families affected by disabilities to experience sustaining hope in the context of inclusive, intentional, inter-ability communities. Find out more about our resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities at hopeheals.com. Follow us on Instagram @hopeheals. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    31 min

  6. SEP 11 · BONUS

    Something New: Take the Next Step Podcast

    I’m so excited to share something new with you! My new show, Take the Next Step, is a podcast for families experiencing disability—filled with real talk, real tools, and real hope. Tune in over at Take the Next Step each week for conversations with parents, therapists, and advocates about how we can cultivate belonging and build a flourishing future for the entire family. You can find the new show by searching "Take the Next Step with Amy Julia Becker" on your podcast app, or find it online at amyjuliabecker.com/step And stay tuned - new episodes of Reimagining the Good Life coming in October. __ WATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTube SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.com JOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabecker LISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/ _ Take the Next Step is produced in collaboration with Hope Heals. Hope Heals creates sacred spaces of belonging and belovedness for families affected by disabilities to experience sustaining hope in the context of inclusive, intentional, inter-ability communities. Find out more about our resources, gatherings, and inter-ability communities at hopeheals.com. Follow us on Instagram @hopeheals. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    3 min

  7. JUN 17

    The Lucky Few: Finding Delight and Belonging in Disability with Heather Avis

    When Heather Avis says she’s one of “the lucky few,” she means it. In this episode, we talk about growing up with our children with Down syndrome, what it means to delight in our kids, and how all of us can participate in shifting the narrative around disability toward love and belonging. Our conversation highlights her new children’s book, I Like You So Much, and focuses on: Proclaiming the worth of our childrenThe role of children's books in shifting disability narrativesUnderstanding identityExploring mutuality in relationshipsThe importance of spaces of belongingDelight and celebration in parentingMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: I Like You So Much by Heather AvisMore of Heather’s booksThe Lucky Few podcastSmall Talk by Amy Julia BeckerHeather’s SubstackReimagining the Good Life WorkshopSubscribe to Amy Julia’s Substack newsletter_ WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast. _ ABOUT: Heather Avis is a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, podcaster, and a Down syndrome advocate. She is the founder of and chief visionary officer at The Lucky Few, an advocacy organization dedicated to shouting worth, shifting narratives, and reimagining what it looks like when we create spaces of belonging. She lives in Southern California with her husband Josh and three kids, Macyn, Truly, and August and two Goldendoodles, Maeby and George Michael. Website: https://www.heatheravis.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theluckyfewofficial/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLuckyFewOfficial/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC99_OFh29y9lVqZyHY2Xztw Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lucky-few/id1349646917 New Book, I Like You So Much: https://www.amazon.com/Like-You-So-Much-Celebrating/dp/0310166594/ Photo Credit: © Camilynne Photography ___ Let’s stay in touch. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly reflections that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging where everyone matters. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    48 min

  8. JUN 3

    The Cost of Ambition with Miroslav Volf, PhD

    Ambition is the air we breathe—but what is it costing us? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker and theologian Miroslav Volf discuss his latest book, The Cost of Ambition. They unpack the hidden damage of a culture obsessed with competition and invite us to imagine a new way of being, for ourselves and our society, rooted not in achievement, but in love, mutuality, and genuine abundance. They explore:   Striving for superiority in American cultureThe dark side of competitionLonging for what we haveStriving for excellence vs. striving for superiorityThe illusion of individual achievementPractices for embracing love and generosityReimagining human relationships beyond superiority__ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse by Miroslav VolfAbundance by Ezra KleinThe Sabbath by Abraham HeschelLuke 18:9-14, Philippians 2, 1 Corinthians 12:21-26, Mark 10:35-45The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)Works of Love by Søren KierkegaardSubscribe to Amy Julia's newsletter_ WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast. _ ABOUT: Miroslav Volf (DrTheol, University of Tübingen) is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture in New Haven, Connecticut. He has written or edited more than two dozen books, including the New York Times bestseller Life Worth Living, A Public Faith, Public Faith in Action, and Exclusion and Embrace (winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and selected as among the 100 best religious books of the 20th century by Christianity Today). Educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, Volf regularly lectures around the world. CONNECT with Miroslav Volf on X at @miroslavvolf. Photo Credit: © Christopher Capozziello ___ Let’s stay in touch. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly reflections that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging where everyone matters. We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text! Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

    51 min
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A podcast about reimagining the good life through the lens of disability, faith, and culture. Host Amy Julia Becker interviews guests in conversations that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and help us envision a world of belonging. 

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