The Iconocast

In episode 75 of the Iconocast, Joanna and Mark Van Steenwyk, co-founder of the Iconocast, take a trip down memory lane. They discuss what motivated them to start the podcast and how their thinking has changed since then. They wrestle with moving beyond an apologetic Christian witness to one that seeks connection with the subversive spirit of God.  Mark Van Steenwyk is the Executive Director at the Center for Prophetic Imagination. Mark is a writer, teacher, organizer, and spiritual director. For nearly 15 years, Mark has sown seeds of subversive spirituality throughout North America. He co-founded the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis in 2004 with his wife Amy. Mark is the author of That Holy Anarchist, The unKingdom of God, and A Wolf at the Gate.  

In this episode of the Iconocast Joanna interviews L. M. Bogad. L. M. Bogad is an author, performance artist/activist, professor of political performance at UC Davis, Director of the Center for Tactical Performance, and co-founder of the Clown Army.  He has performed across the USA, Europe and South America, including occupied zones and a squatted military base in Barcelona.   Bogad's first book, Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements, analyzes the international campaigns of performance artists who run for public office as a radical prank. His new book, Tactical Performance: On the Theory and Practice of Serious Play, analyzes and critiques the use of guerrilla theatre/art for human/civil rights, social justice, labor and environmental campaigns.   Bogad's performances have covered topics such as the Egyptian revolution, the Haymarket Square Riot, the Spanish Civil War, the FBI's COINTELPRO activities, and the Pinochet coup in Chile. His ECONOMUSIC: Keeping Score, has been performed at festivals in Helsinki, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, San Francisco, and Barcelona.  His play, COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act was recently performed at the San Francisco Mime Troupe's Studio, in New Orleans, and in Mexico City. Bogad has led Tactical Performance workshops, helping activists create performative, nonviolent images to contest and critique power, in Cairo, Barcelona, Riga, Helsinki, Buenos Aires, Trondheim, and across the United States.

In episode 73 of the Iconocast Joanna interviews David Brazil and Sarah Pritchard. Together they discuss Christian discipleship founded on hospitality, in-depth bible study and the dismantling of capitalism. Sarah Pritchard is an experimental dancer and choreographer, a third generation preacher, founding member of SALTA dance collective, improvisational cook in the kitchen and cat co-parent to Alvin and Isadora. David Brazil is a pastor and translator. His third book of poetry, Holy Ghost (City Lights, 2017) was a finalist for the California Book Award. Sarah and David co-pastor the Agape Fellowship, in Oakland, California. Agape Fellowship is a Christian-interfaith community church and 'spiritual safe space' dedicated to building the spiritual foundations of liberation movements for our generation.

In part two of her interview with Chude Allen, Joanna and Chude talk about her awakening to class consciousness, her organizing within the women's liberation movement and her thoughts on our political moment today.  Chude is a member of the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964 Chude participated in the student movement in Atlanta, Georgia while a white exchange student at Spelman, a historically black college. After leaving the South, Chude was an organizer of the Women's Liberation Movement, first in New York City and then in San Francisco. She is author of the 1970 classic, Free Space, A Perspective on the Small Group in Women's Liberation. In the mid-seventies she joined Union Women's Alliance to Gain Equality and became editor of their newspaper, UNION WAGE. She is featured in the film, She's Beautiful When She's Angry.

Chude Pam Allen is a member of the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. She coordinates speakers for schools and community groups and has spoken widely about her own experiences. Her writings can be found on their website, www.crmvet.org, which is considered by many veterans to be the best source for information on the Southern Freedom Movement. In 1964 Chude participated in the student movement in Atlanta, Georgia while a white exchange student at Spelman, a historically black college. That summer she was a freedom school teacher in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She is featured in Doug McAdam's book, Freedom Summer and in the award winning film, Freedom on My Mind. After leaving the South, Chude was an organizer of the Women's Liberation Movement, first in New York City and then in San Francisco. She taught anti-racism workshops for both women's liberation groups and the YWCA. She is author of the 1970 classic, Free Space, A Perspective on the Small Group in Women's Liberation and wrote the chapter on woman suffrage for the book, Reluctant Reformers: Racism and Social Reform Movements in the United States. In the mid-seventies she joined Union Women's Alliance to Gain Equality and became editor of their newspaper, UNION WAGE. She is featured in the film, She's Beautiful When She's Angry.

In episode 70 Joanna interviews Beth Roy. Beth Roy was born into a Jewish family and raised in Texas where she attended a segregated high school at the time that the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education. Nurtured by parents committed to racial equality, she has built a life with a quest for justice at its center. She is an author, educator, therapist and restorative justice practitioner. She was part of founding the Practitioners Research and Scholarship Institute, a dynamically diverse group promoting writing and relationships among oft-marginalized people. In 2008, the project published its first anthology, Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice. She resides in San Francisco with her partner and two playful dogs.

In episode 69, recorded in the fall of 2017, Joanna interviews Carol Lee and Sarah Lee. Carol is second generation Chinese American of Toi San background. Carol works with PICO California growing faith communities' institutional capacity for long-term justice work in Oakland, California. Their program creates accessible on ramps to uncover the root causes of injustice in housing, policing, and immigration policy, while cultivating communal spaces to creatively, seriously, and maximally steward their communities' power and resources for collective liberation. Sarah is a second generation Chinese American of Hokshan and En Ping descent. Sarah works as a Sanctuary Organizer with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, developing networks of community safety for immigrants through congregations and immigrant justice coalitions. Her specific focus has been uplifting the stories of formerly incarcerated immigrants and those most in danger of deportation through a project called Migrants in the Pulpit. In 2017 they created the “Reading is Resistance” Readathon for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. The commitments of the readathon included: to speak and act from a deep foundation of the historical work for liberation, to imagine and create a more loving and just world, to resist cultural amnesia by reading and sharing knowledge, and to support organizations doing critical work.

In episode 68 Joanna interviews David Solnit. David is an organizer, writer and puppeteer. His activism began in high school with draft resistance organizing and hasn't stopped since. He was part of shutting down the WTO in Seattle in 1999 and in San Francisco the day after Iraq was invaded in 2003. This past year he spent time at Standing Rock, creating art and telling the story of that struggle, as well as helped to organize art at the People's Climate March in Washington DC in April. He currently works with 350.org as the North American Arts Organizer.  In the San Francisco Bay Area he organizes with anti-corporate capitalist, climate justice, anti-war, human rights, and environmental justice groups. He is editor of Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World and with his sister, Rebecca Solnit, he co-wrote The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle.

In this episode, recorded at the Kinsler Bartimaeus Institute in February of 2017, Elaine Enns and Ched Myers reflect on the fragmentation of movements for justice since the Beyond Vietnam speech. Ched shares about the disillusionment following the 60s when justice-minded people broke into niches, focusing on one issue to the exclusion of the rest. Elaine offers the wisdom of Audre Lorde who challenged people to "do their own work" and recognize that our very bodies are intersectional and therefore our movements must be as well. Elaine Enns and Ched Myers are co-directors of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. Elaine recently completed a doctorate of ministry on historical responsibility and intergenerational trauma among Canadian Prairie Settler Mennonites and their relationship with Indigenous neighbors. Ched Myers has authored many books, including Binding the Strong Man and Say to This Mountain. Together Ched and Elaine reside in the Ventura River Watershed. Opening song by Joshua Grace, with Charletta Erb on violin.

In this episode, recorded at the Kinsler Bartimaeus Institute in February of 2017, Elaine Enns, Ched Myers and Joanna Shenk offer input on the history of enslavement, the eras of reconstruction and the drafting of the Beyond Vietnam speech that Dr. King delivered on April 4, 1967, one year before he was assassinated. Many people in movement communities are familiar with the Beyond Vietnam speech, but few know about the man who drafted it, Dr. Vincent Harding. Elaine and Ched offer analysis of the history of movements for justice in the United States, encouraging us to neither overplay our current political reality or underplay the obstacles and oppression of the past. Joanna shares from her personal relationship with Dr. Vincent Harding and from his own words describing the experience of drafting the Beyond Vietnam speech and what it means for us today. Elaine Enns and Ched Myers are co-directors of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries. Elaine recently completed a doctorate of ministry on historical responsibility and intergenerational trauma among Canadian Prairie Settler Mennonites and their relationship with Indigenous neighbors. Ched Myers has authored Binding the Strong Man and Say to This Mountain. Together Ched and Elaine reside in the Ventura River Watershed.

This special episode of Iconocast Canvas features live performances from Standing with Standing Rock: A Benefit Event, which took place November 12, 2016. The fundraiser, which was emceed by Canvas hosts Nekeisha and Seth, brought together musicians, dancers and artists to support water protectors resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline in Cannonball, North Dakota. All of the proceeds, more than $2,500, went to the Standing Rock legal defense fund. The event, which took place at Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana, was co-organized by students of Goshen College's EcoPax Club and Students for Social Reform Clubs, and by Iconocast Canvas. Read a full report back on the benefit here.  Intro music: “FHH 12” by FREE Hip Hop Music on Soundcloud Performers and speakers (in order of appearance) Group song: Mimi Salvador Lucero Song: Nayo Ulloa Q&A: Mechelle Sky Walker, Water protector of the Omaha tribe from the Buffalo Clan residing in territory known as Lincoln, Nebraska. Facilitator: Mimi Salvador Lucero Spoken word: Antonius Northern Spoken word: Mimi Salvador Lucero Song: Nekeisha Alayna Alexis Song: Nayla Jimenez Rap: Abe Medellin Speakers: Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, Katerina Friesen and Jimmy Betts Song: Seth Martin (singer) and Evra Tshisola (bass) Group song: Led by Nicole Bauman and Jason Shenk. Written by Keisha Soleil. CreditsOrganizers (alphabetical order): Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, Naomi Gross, Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, Mimi Salvador Lucero, Seth Martin, Chelsea Risser and Hannah Yoder. Dancers: Phil Chan and Nimoy Vaidya. Rockport campaign information: Jason Shenk. Photography: Verlin Miller. DJ: Caley “DJ Rushmor” Ortman. Location: Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Indiana and Suella Gerber, pastor. Correction: Nekeisha sincerely apologizes for saying Mimi Salvador Lucero's name incorrectly in the special thanks during the opening. We also regret neglecting to thank event DJ, Caley “DJ Rushmor” Ortman on the podcast.

On episode 65 of the Iconocast Joanna interviews Father Richard Smith. Father Richard Smith was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1978 and worked for several years in parishes in Washington State. Later, after receiving a Ph.D. in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union, he taught Religious Studies at various San Francisco Bay Area Universities, before working as a technical writer in Silicon Valley. After his reception as an Episcopal priest in 2000, he served as a Priest Associate at St. John the Evangelist, working heavily for immigration reform in San Francisco's Mission District, a largely Latino community. In 2013, he became Vicar at St. John's and has worked to deepen his congregation's commitment to the larger community. He helped establish Mission Nightwalks, an effort by faith communities to stem both police and gang violence in their neighborhood. His congregation now opens their doors each weekday morning for homeless neighbors to sleep in a safe, dry space. And, with hostility toward immigrants increasing, St. John's has now become a Sanctuary congregation, accompanying and protecting newly arrived undocumented immigrants in San Francisco. Father Richard lives in San Francisco with his husband Rob and their son David.

In episode 64 Joanna interviews Zephyr Elise. Zephyr Elise is mixed indigenous artist, filmmaker, animator, and activist. They graduated from the Evergreen State College in 2012 with a B.A. in film and a specialization in queer and indigenous studies. Born in San Diego, CA they have since lived up and down both coasts, but currently call the #NoDAPL encampment at Standing Rock, ND home. In former incarnations, they have been an organizer with Idle No More- Two Spirits on Ohlone Lands, the executive media assistant for Indian Canyon Nation of Ohlones, and sat on the Two Spirit Council of Indian Canyon. They will be overseeing the Winyan (Lakota: woman) camp, a woman, children, and two spirit safe space in the Oceti Sakowin camp for the winter.

In episode four of Iconocast Canvas, Nekeisha and Sarah hang out at Activism Row at Afropunk Festival in Commodore Park, Brooklyn. At the August 2016 "Power to the Party" themed event, they talked with several organizers for Black and other liberation  and anti-oppression struggles. Interviewees include Allen Kwabena Frimpong and Walter Cruz from Black Lives Matter: NYC; Olaronke Akinmowo, founder of the Free Black Women's Library; Taliba Obuya, national coordinator of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Emma Chu Murphy, festival-goer and doula with Ancient Song Doula Services and Mia Anderson from the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network. Nekeisha and Sarah open the conversations by reflecting on their experiences at the eclectic gathering dedicated to dynamic and alternative expressions of Black music and culture. Also mentioned: Every Black Girl and Kleaver Cruz's Black Joy Project. Music: "Spanish Winter" by The Passion HiFi (Evil Twin Records) https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

In episode 63 Joanna interviews Clayborne Carson.  Clayborne Carson has devoted his professional life to the study of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movements King inspired. Since receiving his doctorate from UCLA in 1975, Dr. Carson has taught at Stanford University, where he is now professor of history and founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. During his undergraduate years at UCLA, Dr. Carson participated in civil rights and antiwar protests, and many of his subsequent writings reflect his experiences by stressing the importance of grassroots political activity within the African-American freedom struggle. Carson's scholarly publications have focused on African-American protest movements and political thought of the period after World War II. His other publications include In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (1981); Malcolm X: The FBI File (1991); African American Lives: The Struggle for Freedom (2005, co-author); and a memoir, Martin's Dream: My Journey and the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013).

In episode 62 Joanna interviews Chris Carlsson. Chris is a writer, San Francisco historian, bicyclist, tour guide, photographer, and a book and magazine designer. He's lived in San Francisco since 1978. He's written two books (After the Deluge and Nowtopia) and edited six books, including: Critical Mass: Bicycling's Defiant Celebration and Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco, 1968-78. He helped co-found Critical Mass in September 1992, and has ridden with Critical Mass rides in a dozen cities on three continents since then. He has directed Shaping San Francisco, a participatory community history project, since its inception in the mid-1990s, and continues to be co-director of the archive of San Francisco history at FoundSF.org. He also conducts award-winning bicycle history tours a dozen times a year, and hosts an ongoing Public Talks series in San Francisco.

In episode three of Iconocast Canvas, Nekeisha and Seth interview Roman GianArthur. Roman is a singer, composer, arranger, producer, performer and artist on Wondaland Records. He is consistently broadening the expectations of what a soul singer can do: writing musicals, composing concertos, conducting orchestras, scoring films, picking up new instruments and learning their mysteries at prodigious speed, all while offering heartfelt reflections on the social implications of art and the need for more beauty in the world around us. Intro and outro credit:  "Me in Your Life" by The Passion HiFi (Evil Twin Records) https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

In this episode Joanna interviews Sara Miles. Sara is the founder and director of the The Food Pantry and serves as director of ministry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Her books include City of God: Faith in the Streets, Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead and Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. She speaks, preaches and leads workshops around the country, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and on National Public Radio. Joanna is joined by fellow interviewer Suella Lehman Gerber. Suella is pastor of Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., and was visiting San Francisco on sabbatical.

In episode 60 Joanna interviews Ellen Dahlke and Rick Ayers about education and liberation. Ellen is a former high school English teacher and currently coordinates the outside end of a GED program with radical leanings that was founded and is led by incarcerated men for incarcerated men. Rick Ayers is an assistant professor of education at the University of San Francisco in the Urban Education and Social Justice cohort. He is author of A Teacher's Guide to Studs Terkel's Working, and the author of An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student. He has also co-authored with his brother Bill Ayers, Teaching the Taboo: Courage and Imagination in the Classroom.

In episode two of Iconocast: Canvas, Nekeisha and Seth interview sculptor, painter and poet Jake Webster. Born and raised in Greenville, Miss. during the 40s, Jake's roots as an artist reach back to his childhood and extend into the present. Jake was a painter for more than a decade before adding direct carving to his skills in 1974. A resident of Elkhart, Ind. for 21 years, he often uses local materials, including wood from fallen logs in the area and excess limestone from quarries. Recycled materials is a core part of his work, with used nails, bones and scrap metal figuring prominently in his sculptures, and articles like paper, rags and plastic wrappers appearing in his paintings. Jake's artistic pursuits have taken him as close to home as South Bend and Indianapolis, Ind. and as far away as Italy, Greece and France. He invites those who view his work to ask themselves two questions: "What in the hell is he doing?" and, "How do I make my life better from this day forward?" You can find out more about Jake and his work at www.artpostblog.com/jakewebster/ Music for Cavnas 002: ​​"FHH 27" by FREE Hip Hop Beats at soundcloud.com/freebeatshiphop/

In this episode Joanna interviews Dalit Baum. Dalit Baum is the director of economic activism for the American Friends Service Committee. Originally from Israel where she co-founded Who Profits from the Occupation, and of the Coalition of Women for Peace, Dalit now resides in the Bay Area. Dalit is a feminist scholar and teacher, who teaches about militarism and about the global economy in Israeli and American universities. She has been active with various groups in the Israeli anti-occupation and democracy movement, including Black Laundry, Boycott from Within, Zochrot, Anarchists against the Wall and Women in Black.

In episode 01 of The Iconocast Canvas, co-hosts Nekeisha and Seth discuss the origins and goals of the new segment of Jesus Radicals' long-running podcast. Together, they share their perspectives on the interplay of art, faith and politics in resistance and reconstruction; why they think it's important to make space to explore these connections with artists; and what they hope to do with this venture as it moves forward.

In this episode Joanna interviews Corrina Gould about the canonization of Junípero Serra and the enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in California missions. Corrina is a Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone woman and an activist in the Bay Area.  She is the mother of three children and currently works as the Title VII Coordinator, Office of Indian Education at the American Indian Child Resource Center. She is also the Co-Founder and a Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native run organization that works on issues affecting Indigenous people and sponsors an annual Shellmound Peace Walk to raise awareness of the desecration of the sacred sites in the greater Bay Area. On September 23, 2015, at the same time Serra was being canonized in Washington DC, Corinna and Joanna participated in a protest at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Their conversation delves into current indigenous activism and the practices that sustain it.

In this episode Joanna interviews Kazu Haga. Kazu is the founder and coordinator of the East Point Peace Academy and is a trainer in Kingian Nonviolence. Having received training from elders including Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Rev. James Lawson and Joanna Macy, he teaches nonviolence, conflict reconciliation, organizing and mindfulness in prisons and jails, high schools and youth groups, and with activist communities around the country. Kazu has been active in various social change movements since 1998, including Occupy Oakland and the Movement for Justice for Oscar Grant. He currently resides in Oakland, CA.

In this episode Joanna interviews Paul Kivel. Paul is a social justice educator, activist, and writer, and has been an innovative leader in violence prevention for more than 35 years. He is an accomplished trainer and speaker on men's issues, racism and diversity, and the impact of class and power on daily life, among other things. Paul is the author of numerous books and curricula, including "Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice" and "You Call This a Democracy?: Who Benefits, Who Pays, and Who Really Decides." In this interview he discusses his latest book, "Living in the Shadow of the Cross: Understanding and Resisting the Power and Privilege of Christian Hegemony" and invites others to join the conversation.

In this episode Joanna interviews Rev. Lynice Pinkard and Nichola Torbett. Lynice is a pastor, teacher and healer in Oakland, California. Her work is dedicated to decolonizing the human spirit and to freeing people from "empire affective disorder." Nichola is a contributor to the Jesus Radicals blog and the founding director of Seminary of the Street in Oakland. She is committed to  joining the move of God's spirit against the physical and spiritual deadliness of American culture under corporate capitalism. Together they discuss the national conversation on race and racism and the roles of people of color and white people in movements for justice.

In this episode Joanna interviews Joerg Rieger. Joerg Rieger is a professor, author and activist. Originally from Germany, his theological work is based on the recognition that more radical and faithful visions of Christianity are needed. Since 1994 he has taught constructive theology at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas. His books include Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude and Religion, Theology and Class: Fresh Engagement After Long Silence. He continues to develop this vision of radical Christianity in close collaboration with colleagues both nationally and internationally and with emerging grassroots movements. In Dallas, he and his spouse Rosemarie are active in the religion and labor movement.

In this episode Joanna and Mark interview Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers is an author, including the books, Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident;To Teach: The Journey in Comics with Ryan Alexander-Tanner; Race Course: Against White Supremacy, with Bernardine Dohrn. He co-founded the revolutionary group, Weather Underground, in 1969, a radical left-wing organization aimed at supported Black liberation movements and protesting US imperialism through the use of targeted bombing of government and bank property.Before retiring Bill served as distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is an education theorist and lives in Hyde Park, Chicago with Bernardine Dohrn. His partner, comrade and soulmate for close to half a century. In this episode he discusses his terrorist label, movement building and what it means to live in the present moment, moving away from generational separations and from cynicism to hope.

In this episode Joanna and Mark interview Micky Jones. Micky is a perpetual learner, communicator, facilitator, and contemplative activist living just south of Nashville, Tenn. She studies with the co-learning community at NAIITS (North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies) through George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Her early career includes the cutthroat world of contemporary Christian music, YMCA administration and community youth services through Rocketown in Nashville. She now engages groups through academic gatherings, conferences, blogs and podcasts on a wide variety of topics. Recently named one of the Black Christian leaders changing the world by the Huffington Post, she also serves on the leadership team of TransFORM Network as the director of training and program development.  Her special interests & scholarship include womanist & practical theology, the intersections of Black and Native American history and theology, the pursuit of shalom, faith-rooted organizing, intersectional justice, community formation and health issues. She believes in revolution love and never passes up a dance floor!

In this episode Joanna interviews Sandhya Rani Jha. They discuss the defining racist narratives of the United States, intersectionality, what it means to be an ally, intergenerational movement-buildling and more. These themes are explored at length in Sandhya's new book, Pre-Post-Racial America: Spiritual Stories from the Front Lines.  Sandhya serves as director of the Oakland Peace Center in Oakland, California a collective of 40 organizations creating access, equity and dignity for all in Oakland and the Bay Area. She also serves as Director of Interfaith Programs for East Bay Housing Organizations, where she organizes faith communities to advocate for housing as a human right and spiritual mandate throughout California's Bay Area. She serves as a consultant with Hope Partnership and an anti-racism/anti-oppression trainer with Reconciliation Ministries for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is a faith-rooted organizer with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (formerly Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice – CA) and is particularly proud of her podcast, Hope from the Hood, available on iTunes and at sandhyajha.com  

In this episode Joanna and Jason interview Willie Baptist.   Willie Baptist is a renowned anti-poverty organizer.  Coming to political awareness in the 1965 Watts uprisings, through the Black student movement, and as a shop steward with the United Steelworkers, Willie has ultimately dedicated 40 years to organizing the poor.  He provided vital leadership to the National Union of the Homeless, as formerly homeless father; the National Welfare Rights Union; the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign; and many other networks. Willie now serves as the Scholar-in-Residence of Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary (New York), which is dedicated to raising up generations of religious and community leaders dedicated to building a social movement to end poverty, led by the poor.  He is also the coordinator of the associated Poverty Scholars Program, a leadership development, technical assistance, and skills training program for grassroots organizers working around issues of economic justice, with the aim of building a national movement to end poverty united across lines of race, religion, geography and issue-focused organizing. Since 2007, the Poverty Scholars Program has focused on reigniting the Poor People's Campaign and finishing the unfinished business of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Willie has recently co-authored Pedagogy of the Poor, which draws on lessons from grassroots organizing and social theory for building a movement to end poverty.

In this episode, Mark talks with Thomas Gokey. Thomas, a Syracuse University art professor, is a part of Strike Debt. Strike Debt is a nationwide movement of debt resistors fighting for economic justice and democratic freedom. A little over a year ago, Strike Debt announced Rolling Jubilee. Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. They are trying to spark a movement that imagines and creates a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.

In this episode, Mark and Nekeisha interview Anthony Nocella. Anthony J. Nocella II, Ph.D., author, community organizer, and educator is a Visiting Professor in the School of Education at Hamline University and Senior Fellow of the Dispute Resolution Institute at the Hamline Law School. Nocella is a scholar-activist grounded in the field of education and peace and conflict studies. He is internationally known for his innovative, transformative, and intersectional collaborations among fields of study, social movements, scholars, communities, and activists. He has published numerous books and is the co-founder of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies and Save the Kids.

In this episode, Joanna and Tim interview Mark Van Steenwyk. Mark Van Steenwyk is the co-founder of the Mennonite Worker in Minneapolis, an organizer at JesusRadicals.com, a producer of the Iconocast podcast, and the author of That Holy Anarchist and the upcoming book, the unKingdom of God: Embracing the Subversive Power of Repentance (which is available for pre-order). This interview is co-sponsored by the Mennonite Church USA and the Christian Peacemaker Teams and is part of the Widening the Circle mini-series. To more deeply engage a commitment to undoing oppression with seasoned justice-seekers, the Iconocast is launching a mini-series, Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship. Editor Joanna Shenk and the co-hosts will interview chapter authors about their continuing journeys of discipleship, asking questions like: How has their thinking deepened around the themes they wrote about? What do they see happening in the discipleship community movement currently? What is taking shape in their community/organization? What have they let go? In the meantime, make sure to check out Widening the Circle, with stories including from Dr. Vincent Harding, Reba Place Fellowship, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Mark Van Steenwyk, Andrea Ferich, Anton Flores and Jesce Walz. * * * * * Intro and bumper music for this episode is  All Along the Watchtower as performed by Jimi Hendrix.

In this interview, Joanna and Jarrod interview Vincent Harding.   Vincent Harding is Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He is chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project, which he founded in 1997 with his late wife, Rosemarie Freeney Harding. As longtime activists and teachers, the Hardings began their work in the Mennonite Church in Chicago, Illinois, in the late 1950s and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1961 to join with Martin Luther King Jr. and others in the southern freedom movement. Vincent Harding occasionally drafted speeches for Martin Luther King, including his famous anti-Vietnam speech, "A Time to Break Silence" which King delivered on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City, exactly a year before he was assassinated. In ensuing years, the Hardings served as scholars, advisors, and encouragers for a wide variety of movements, organizations, and individuals working for compassionate social change in the United States and internationally. Three of his most recent books are: Hope and History: Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement; Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero; and We Changed the World. This interview is part of the Widening the Circle mini-series. To more deeply engage a commitment to undoing oppression with seasoned justice-seekers, the Iconocast is launching a mini-series, Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship. Editor Joanna Shenk and the co-hosts will interview chapter authors about their continuing journeys of discipleship, asking questions like: How has their thinking deepened around the themes they wrote about? What do they see happening in the discipleship community movement currently? What is taking shape in their community/organization? What have they let go? In the meantime, make sure to check out Widening the Circle, with stories including from Dr. Vincent Harding, Reba Place Fellowship, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Mark Van Steenwyk, Andrea Ferich, Anton Flores and Jesce Walz.

In this episode, Joanna interviews Mary and Peter Sprunger-Froese. Since 1979, Peter and Mary Sprunger-Froese have been Mennonite peace activists with an ecumenical community in Colorado Springs. They work with homeless people, refugees, and nonviolence seekers. They find the Anabaptist story deeply sustaining in their Christianized military setting. This is a part of the Widening the Circle mini-series. To more deeply engage a commitment to undoing oppression with seasoned justice-seekers, the Iconocast is launching a mini-series, Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship. Editor Joanna Shenk and the co-hosts will interview chapter authors about their continuing journeys of discipleship, asking questions like: How has their thinking deepened around the themes they wrote about? What do they see happening in the discipleship community movement currently? What is taking shape in their community/organization? What have they let go? In the meantime, make sure to check out Widening the Circle, with stories including from Dr. Vincent Harding, Reba Place Fellowship, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Mark Van Steenwyk, Andrea Ferich, Anton Flores and Jesce Walz.

In this episode, Joanna and Tim interview Noam Chomsky.   Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political critic, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. In addition to his work in linguistics, he has written on war, politics, and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books.

In this episode, Mark interviews Jin Kim.   Jin is the founding pastor of Church of All Nations. Born in Korea in 1968, he came to the US with his family at age 7, and grew up in Columbia, SC & Atlanta, GA in multiethnic environments. He holds degrees from Georgia Tech, Princeton Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Seminary. He serves on Minnesota Council of Churches' board, and formerly served as Presbyterian Church USA delegate to the National Council of Churches, as US delegate to the 3rd Lausanne Congress, as Moderator/Council Chair of Presbytery of Twin Cities Area, and as President of Presbyterians For Renewal. Jin has a passion for the ministry of reconciliation and a vision for the visible unity of the global church. His household includes his wife, Soon Pac, children Claire Nicea and Austin Athanasius, and Jin's parents. He is an avid golfer, enjoys volleyball, basketball, racquetball, table tennis & Monopoly, and will one day pick up ice fishing (?).

In this episode, Joanna and Nekeisha interview Ashanti Alston Omowali. Ashanti is an anarchist activist, speaker, writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and a former political prisoner. He was also the co-chair of the National Jericho Movement (to free U.S. political prisoners.) Ashanti came of age as the political action of the 1960′s was hitting its peak. He recalls struggling through Malcolm X's biography as a teen and feeling awestruck at the 1967 rebellions that saw numerous American neighborhoods temporarily taken over by the people who lived there, including his home town of Plainfield, New Jersey. He joined the Black Panther Party while still in high school, starting a chapter in Plainfield, and later going underground with the Black Liberation Army. For a while, he straddled the above ground Panther work of selling newspapers and running breakfast programs with more aggressive underground tactics. In 1974 he was involved in a Connecticut “bank expropriation,” captured and imprisoned for 11 plus years. Today, Ashanti is active in the prison abolition movement (Critical Resistance and the Jericho Movement), in Anarchist People of Color organizing, and in efforts to connect organizers of colour in the north with the Zapatistas (Estacion Libre) in Mexico. He is also a loving father to his son Biko and partner to fellow change agent, Viviane Saleh-Hanna. Episode produced by Orrin Pratt and Mark Van Steenwyk. Hosted by Joanna Shenk and Nekeisha Alexis-Baker. Intro and bumper music for this episode is De Usuahia a la Quiaca by Gustavo Santaolalla.

In this episode, Mark and Sarah interview Shannon T.L. Kearns. Shannon writes as the anarchist reverend. He is a seminary graduate (M.Div 2009 from Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York) on the ordination path who also happens to be a transsexual man. Many of his theological musings are on the intersection of theology and being trans*. He also writes about Christian anarchism and his dreams for the future. He is the co-founder and co-director of Camp Osiris, a camp for young adults aged 18-23 to come together and talk about the intersections between their sexualities/gender identities and their various spiritualities. The camp is located in Minnesota and welcomes youth from all over the country. He is also the founder of House of the Transfiguration, a new church plant in Minneapolis. He is the winner of the 2008 Queertopia homoletics preaching competition and has preached numerous times in various churches. He has also provided churches and other groups with Transgender 101 workshops and discussions.  The anarchist reverend resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In this interview, Mark and Sarah interview Richard Beck. Richard Beck is Professor and Department Chair of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. Richard is married to Jana and they have two sons, Brenden and Aidan. They also have a dog Bandit who keepsRichard company when he works away on his blog Experimental Theology. Richard's area of interest is on the interface of Christian theology and psychology, with a particular focus on how existential issues affect Christian belief and practice. Richard's published research covers topics as diverse as the psychology of profanity to why Christian bookstore art is so bad. He is the author of "Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality"

In this episode, Joanna and Sarah interview Starhawk–one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality.Starhawk is also well-known as a global justice activist and organizer, whose work and writings have inspired many to action. She is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, long considered the essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement, and the now-classic ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing. Starhawk's newest book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, forthcoming in November 2011, from New Society Publishers.

n this episode, Joanna and Mark interview Calenthia Dowdy.Calenthia Dowdy is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in urban youth culture(s) and Afro-Brazilian life. She teaches youth ministry and cultural anthropology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Calenthia was born, raised, and continues to reside in the city of Philadelphia. She's a Philadelphia Mennonite affiliate and has a keen interest in intentional discipleship community living and various expressions of the emerging church movement. Since 2003, Calenthia has been an antiracism trainer with Damascus Road, an antiracism education and organizing program.Recently, she contributed a chapter to Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship, where she addresses issues of race in intentional communities.

n this episode, Joanna and Mark interview Robert Ellsberg.Robert Ellsberg is the son of Carol Cummings and the American military analyst and whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg. At age 19, Robert dropped out of college, intending to spend a few months with the Catholic Worker Movement. He stayed to become the managing editor of The Catholic Worker for two years (1976-8), a job that would introduce him to Dorothy Day and consequently would allow him to work with Day for the last five years of her life. This life-changing experience prompted him to convert to Catholicism.In 1987 he began work as editor-in-chief of Orbis Books. He in theauthor of several books, including All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witness for Our Time, and the Saints' Guide to Happiness. His book Blessed Among All Women tied a Catholic Press Association record by winning awards for Gender, Spirituality, and Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. He is the editor of the published diaries and letters of Dorothy Day. He currently resides in Ossining, New York with his wife and their three children.

n this episode, Mark (with an impromptu question from Orrin) interviews Dr. Bruce Levine.Dr. Levine writes and speaks widely on how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. His latest book is Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite  A practicing clinical psychologist often at odds with the mainstream of his profession, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, CounterPunch, AlterNet, and Z Magazine. His articles and interviews have been published in Adbusters, Truthout, The Ecologist, High Times, and numerous other magazines.

This is the second of a two part interview with Bob Ekblad. For part one, go here.Bob Ekblad is executive director of Tierra Nueva and The People's Seminary in Burlington, Washington. Tierra Nueva is an ecumenical ministry located in Burlington, Washington, that seeks to share the Good News of God's liberation in Jesus Christ with migrant farmworkers, jail inmates, and Skagit Valley gang members. A minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Bob holds a ThD in Old Testament and is known internationally for his courses and workshops on reading the Bible.  Bob and his wife Gracie minister at Tierra Nueva and at their home-based retreat center New Earth Refuge. Bob is the author of Reading the Bible with the Damned and A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God.

In this episode Jarrod and Mark interview Bob Ekblad.Bob Ekblad is executive director of Tierra Nueva and The People's Seminary in Burlington, Washington. Tierra Nueva is an ecumenical ministry located in Burlington, Washington, that seeks to share the Good News of God's liberation in Jesus Christ with migrant farmworkers, jail inmates, and Skagit Valley gang members. A minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Bob holds a ThD in Old Testament and is known internationally for his courses and workshops on reading the Bible.  Bob and his wife Gracie minister at Tierra Nueva and at their home-based retreat center New Earth Refuge. Bob is the author ofReading the Bible with the Damned and A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God. This is the first of a two part interview.

In this episode Caleb and Joanna interview Alexia Salvatierra. Rev. Salvatierra is the founding director of FaithRooted.org and served as the executive director of C.L.U.E. (clergy and laity united for economic justice), an organization of religious leaders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. C.L.U.E. supports low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that effect them. C.L.U.E. is one of the coordinating agencies of the national New Sanctuary Movement, in which congregations accompany and support immigrant workers and their families facing deportation.

n this episode, Sarah and Joanna talk to thinker and activist Seth Donavan. Seth blogs at confessingqueer.com. Seth's work in her community focuses on what it means to create new ways of being while honoring the wisdom of our history & stories.

In this episode, Mark sits down with Nekeisha and Andy Alexis-Baker to discuss the recent decision by Goshen College to discontinue its playing of the National Anthem at sporting events. Since its founding in 1894, Goshen has refrained from playing the anthem at events…until Spring 2010, when it started playing an instrumental version. Due, in part, to acampaign started by Andy and Nekeisha, Goshen decided to reverse its decision in a June 2011 meeting and will, therefore, no longer play the anthem. But this decision–to reverse their earlier decision–has resulted in a backlash–including a deluge of hate mail and some unwelcomed coverage from Fox News.

In this episode, Mark and Nekeisha interview James Cone, who is considered by many to be the father of black liberation theology. Professor James H. Cone is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Cone is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is the author of a number of books (including Black Theology and Black Power, God of the Oppressed, and Martin and Malcom and America). Dr. Cone has lectured at more than 1,000 universities and community organizations throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.