Podcasts, BBC Sounds, Red Hand Files…out walking or jogging No1.The Robcast with Bonnie Tyler and her book ‘The Spark of My Womb’
The podcasts in no particular order:
The Robcast with Rob Bell – interviews or monologues on the human condition
Inspired with Simon Guillebaud – interviews with Christians with stories to tell
How to Fail with Elizabeth Day – interviews with celebrities, 3 failures and their responses
The Life Scientific with Jim Al-Khalili - interviews with leading scientists
(DiD) Desert Island Discs (BBC Sounds/R4)
(FOOC) From Our Own Correspondent with Kate Adie
More or Less (BBC Sounds, R4) with Tim Harford examining statistics in the news
Curious Cases (BBC Sounds, R4) with Hannah Fry and Dara O’Briain – Science questions
Dead Ringers (BBC Sounds, R4) – comedy
The Rest is Politics with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell
Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast – a poet each week
Unlocking the Bible – David Pawson
In Our Time (BBC Sounds, R4) with Melvyn Bragg
Red Hand Files – Nick Cave with a weekly letter/email answering questions from fans
Sunday 6th July
Walk 4.65K : Strawberry Line from Winscombe N to gate into fields, across road to Banwell, and into Thatcher’s Cider orchards, to Barton Lane and back through fields, dodging cows.
Podcast: The Robcast, Rob Bell’s lively interview with Bonnie Lewis, author of The Spark of My Womb under the name B. Coil.
For those not familiar with Rob Bell, he was a pastor of Mars Hill Church, Michigan, a mega-church, until 2012 when he left to pursue a non-evangelical-friendly path of spirituality. Why, then, you might well ask, are you, Mr Stevens, listening to The Robcast?
It’s true that if I had a 1:1 with Mr Bell, I would want to explore his reasons for abandoning his evangelical beliefs. And what he now believes about Jesus Christ.
And it’s also true that over the past few years, when I have listened to The Robcast, I think it would be accurate to say he hasn’t interviewed an evangelical Christian. Perhaps he should?
So, where’s the doorway into listening to The Robcast? In the same way that I might have tuned into Michael Parkinson, or, to be more up to date, Elizabeth Day (see above), or any interviewer who has that knack of attracting interesting individuals who can articulate their experience of life.
His interview with Bonnie Tyler was a cracker
His interview with Bonnie Tyler was a cracker. Most of it orbited around her new book The Spark of My Womb. If I’ve gleaned anything from the interview, the book is a fictional pastiche that is semi-autobiographical and serves as a vehicle for Bonnie to tell her readers what it’s been like to be Bonnie Tyler, and a woman. Be prepared for a very non-evangelical perspective…we’re probably talking New Age ++
Not only is Bell a skilled interviewer, but the reason I listen to his monologues and interviews is that he is attempting to communicate what it’s like to be a human being in the context of today’s world, and his world in the United States – and does it well, with characteristic cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and occasional tears.
Of course, I don’t agree with every statement, but that’s not the point. In previous articles, I’ve lumped Bell, McClaren, and Richard Rohr in the same boat. I disagree with many of their viewpoints, but they are better than many at talking about the human condition.
The crunch question: will I read The Spark of My Womb? It’s hardly a blokey title.
If I do, I shall report back.
In the meantime, maybe listen to a few Robcasts and see what you think.