Renew the Arts Podcast

Renew the Arts

Cultivating conversations about the intersection of the arts and faith in order to liberate Christian creativity.

  1. Aug 27

    Three Rules of Thumb to Avoid the Abuses of AI (with Chase Tremaine)

    Michael is joined for the second part of his conversation with Chase Tremaine about AI. This time they delve into some of the tendencies of over-reliance on technology, and the ways that affects and disrupts human creation. They then explore Chase’s three rules of thumb for using (or not using) AI, especially as it relates to artistic creation. Chase also mentions his upcoming single, “More Changed than Changing” in this episode. It would mean a lot to us if you would pre-save it (https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/chasetremaine1/more-changed-than-changing) and check it out when it releases. LINKS Porchlight Festival RSVP (https://porchlight.art/festival/) Transhumanism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism) On the Technology of the Book (Episode 75) (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/rich-kid-syndrome-and-the-decadent-empire-of-ai/) OpenAI’s Evolution from Non-Profit to For-Profit (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/28/openai-for-profit-restructuring) Second-Screen Media Shifts at Netflix (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jan/17/not-second-screen-enough-is-netflix-deliberately-dumbing-down-tv-so-people-can-watch-while-scrolling) Suno Liability Waiver Terms of Service Analysis (https://blog.startupstash.com/suno-terms-of-service-analysis-protecting-copyrights-amid-ai-music-innovation-3fb8b590a1d0) Streaming/iTunes vs. Actual Popularity (https://joelgouveia.substack.com/p/1-million-monthly-listeners-12-tickets) Scottish Psalter (1564) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Psalter_(1564))

  2. Jul 23

    How AI Affects Everything (with Chase Tremaine)

    Chase Tremaine joins Michael to discuss recent developments in AI news, as LLMs and Machine Learning have begun to touch on most every aspect of our lives. Is AI inevitable, or is its bubble ready to burst? LINKS AI IPOs and the Bubble (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ai-led-boom-ipos-raises-123807445.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANwQNnbJSMoZDbbgAzNPNKE_HKntMTw5TGFcEMS7ijOVUOFX9jAAcwhaUJ7zKL69NugKldqXCmKJEFnj97IptE8FkjSJ3ksniPnTkKU0SG73ww8r-2Aqa56ViYIMfypqw_T9UAUIJBif2Tjr6lddQGze3G10UguJd18EB0fRBLZX) Debt Margin at Record High (https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/07/20/margin-debt-finra-june-2026) Difference Between LLMs and Machine Learning (https://www.neuralconcept.com/post/ml-vs-llm-key-differences-applications-engineering-impact) Suicides Aided by Chatbots (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_linked_to_chatbots) ROI on AI Implementation (https://www.fullstack.com/labs/resources/blog/generative-ai-roi-why-80-of-companies-see-no-results) Data Center Watch (https://www.datacenterwatch.org/) Anthropic Resists Using AI for Surveillance and War (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3vlzzkqeo) AI and Government Surveillance (https://www.meritalk.com/articles/fbi-counting-on-ai-to-find-the-needle-in-the-haystack/) AI Psychosis and Addiction (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/20/nx-s1-5591473/ai-delusions-spiral-support-group-chatgpt) MIT Study on Cognitive Impact of Using ChatGPT (https://www.brainonllm.com/) Impact of Hyper-Scaling Data Centers on Water (https://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/drained-by-data-the-cumulative-impact-of-data-centers-on-regional-water-stress?utm_source=google-ad-grant&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=ceres_evergreen_keywords&utm_term=googleadgrant&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15876522884&gbraid=0AAAAADlebsJSBsWOsRL_L_07fU6bpx8No&gclid=Cj0KCQjw94bTBhDQARIsAN3vv0wUwIvQtxaX6qGX7MkQi0aFC-auDlduBQEi6dibmbHHEay118LMEy8aAtX_EALw_wcB) Were Poor Quinoa Consumers in Areas Who Grow It Worse Off? (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/31/472453674/your-quinoa-habit-really-did-help-perus-poor-but-theres-trouble-ahead) OpenAI Financial Leak (https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/) OpenAI ChatGPT Device (https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openais-first-hardware-device-is-reportedly-a-screenless-speaker-that-can-move/) “Mind Demons” in AI (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202403/quantum-weirdness-and-the-mind-demons-of-ai) Meta Employee Keystroke Surveillance (https://www.wired.com/story/meta-accidentally-let-employees-access-each-others-keystroke-data/) Deezer (https://www.deezer.com/us/) South Korea’s Chip Stock Drop (https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/korea-focused-koru-etf-dips-on-kospi-drag-samsung-sk-hynix-extend-selloff-into-us-big-tech-earnings-week/cZZLrtnR7Mr) Australia’s New AI Laws (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/23/openai-anthropic-australia-ai-regulation)

  3. Apr 23

    How Art Bots and AI Slop Will Rehumanize the Arts

    Michael continues his exploration of AI and its impact on the arts, discussing why he has hope the AI revolution will produce positive unintended consequences for artists of integrity and discipline. LINKS Iain McGilChrist, The Master and His Emissary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_His_Emissary) Chatbot Thinks Upside-Down Cup is Prank (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3fYiLXVfPa4) Ep 69 on Exploited Art (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/exploited-art-propaganda-pornography-pomp-and-product/) “Has God Really Called You to be an Artist? (https://renewthearts.org/has-god-really-called-you-to-be-an-artist/)” The Guardian, “How Hollywood writers triumphed over AI” (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/oct/01/hollywood-writers-strike-artificial-intelligence) On Franchise Fatigue (https://medium.com/@chiliflake/nostalgia-bait-and-franchise-fatigue-how-hollywood-manufactures-longing-dbb643a7bdf1) Six-Song Country Mashup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o) Christianity Today, “The Current No. 1 Christian Artist Has No Soul” (https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/solomon-ray-ai-christian-music-soul-singer/) 87% of Music Producers Use AI (https://www.landr.com/ai) 75% of Film Production Executives Cut Costs with AI (https://wifitalents.com/ai-in-the-movie-industry-statistics/) Audiofeed Music Festival 2026 (https://audiofeedfestival.com/) Porchlight Festival Save the Date! (https://porchlight.art/festival)

  4. Mar 26

    Rich Kid Syndrome and the Decadent Empire of AI

    Michael begins the 2026 season of the Renew the Arts podcast with an exploration of the benefits and costs of technology, the history of the book, and how the adoption of AI will force humanity into a crisis of meaning and discipline. LINKS Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (https://www.amazon.com/Technopoly-Surrender-Technology-Neil-Postman/dp/0679745408) The Homeric Question (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeric_Question) dactylic hexameter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter) oral tradition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition) John Milton, Paradise Lost (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost) Cara Bergeron, “Medieval Memory” (https://classicaldifference.com/medieval-memory/) WCF, Shorter Catechism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Shorter_Catechism) peruse (https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/peruse-usage) as contronym Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein (https://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-Everything/dp/0143120530) Warbler, “America!” music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPWZch9fGo) Principle of Least Effort (“Rich Kid Syndrome”) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_effort) Second Law of Thermodynamics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics) Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath (https://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204374/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=185689537145&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CPqHFx9A1Kp06D78bcDWde1LMvga5sa-8YEAjBUoN5aeOhFiqabp-49z8ULqbIB8HaOTah2U1SP8JKVjdrNFIl-1zfPGvKw80zc6v9JAUK3UcqKtzHZV6jRHhsWDpxFNCzSo8lDQWAArAikElhexLReCwGWzt1InO499XSVqvx1bhGbnPxtBb6IoULNMOwz2ywsP8ztFS8WXgmAABMwQhmEHpaKPiA_tF_Z_6Wsp0rg.DgRtMuhrw3XZznKNIcZatYd8X-bYFV0mMqrbz6iRbec&dib_tag=se&hvadid=779621993755&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9052933&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=13497645768722275385--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13497645768722275385&hvtargid=kwd-49103790031&hydadcr=15555_13842827_8870&keywords=malcolm+gladwell+david+and+goliath&mcid=0e341c02df7038d7a249032da3544a7e&qid=1774522574&sr=8-1) “Silk Slippers of History” (https://igcpublishing.com/2022/12/20/silk-slippers-of-history/) “Hard Times Hard Men” quote (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8751435-hard-times-create-strong-men-strong-men-create-good-times) Andrew Chow, “ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study” (https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/) (TIME) Pope Leo XIV, “Preserving Human Voices and Faces” (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/communications/documents/20260124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html) Matt Shumer, “Something Big is Happening” (https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening) Civilized Creature, “Think I’m Ready” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSC3ZDDwGlg&list=OLAK5uy_k5p6ecXgr3IqByjZAJSnoWwY3KYtFCa6M&index=1)

  5. 12/18/2025

    2025 Mailbag Full of Explicit Content, What Makes Art Good, and Unstrange Fire

    Michael answers an international mailbag full of great questions to close out 2025 on the Renew the Arts podcast, including discussions of how Christians should approach non-family-friendly biblical content, what makes art good, baking and cooking as an art, the Holy Spirit’s role in improvisational art as a prayer offering, and much more. Stay tuned at the end for “Spirit Move (https://civilizedcreature.bandcamp.com/track/spirit-move),” by Civilized Creature, featuring Isaac Wheadon, from the 2024 album Whose House (https://civilizedcreature.bandcamp.com/album/whose-house). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! LINKS 26k for 2026 Renew the Arts Fundraiser (https://renewthearts.donorsupport.co/page/26Kby2026?fbclid=IwY2xjawOxMWZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeKZ1jlpj-WSNq7z9la6PwtXqJh_ApufObto-MHc7aVvjXGJO2VtXLNDzh3KI_aem_KxWnG6e_TNIrVv9wYqSv0g) Sex ’n Hip-Hop with Sho Baraka (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/sex-n-hip-hop-with-sho-baraka/) Hosea, by Rachel Wilhelm (https://rachelwilhelm1.bandcamp.com/album/hosea) 1:07 — Go Bleep Yourself (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/007-go-bleep-yourself/) The Nothing Human Podcast (first fifteen episodes on Three Powers of the Human Spirit) (https://michaelminkoff.com/nothing-human-podcast/) Sight (2024 Angel Studios Movie) (https://www.angel.com/movies/sight) The Martyr Made Podcast (Daryl Cooper) (https://www.martyrmade.com/) Julianna Schlager (Ballet 5:8) (https://app.porchlight.art/artists/ballet-58) “Fellowship with the Worms,” by Lindsey Priest (https://www.ekstasismagazine.com/poetry/2023/fellowship-with-the-worms) “Forever Overhead,” by David Foster Wallace (https://welcometotheloonybin.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/forever-overhead/) Photay (https://pho-tay.com/) J. Lind, Rotations (https://jlindmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rotations) Kevin Schlereth, Settle In (https://kevinschlereth.bandcamp.com/album/settle-in) Brother James, Be Alive (https://justinjamessinclair.bandcamp.com/album/be-alive) Zane Vickery, “All Things New” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLCrsiJkJAI) Warbler, “America!” [Official Music Video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPWZch9fGo&list=RDZuPWZch9fGo&start_radio=1) Prayerbook, by Mike Roelofs (https://mikeroelofs.bandcamp.com/album/prayerbook)

4.9
out of 5
34 Ratings

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Cultivating conversations about the intersection of the arts and faith in order to liberate Christian creativity.

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