Claim OwnershipThe Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp
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© 2026 The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp
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Religion and Politics - subjects we avoid in polite society. But not here. Stories and people who challenge our assumptions and blaze new trails. Inspiring. Challenging. Out of the box. For Blog and Official BWM site, go to www.thebeachedwhitemale.com.
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Send us Fan Mail Ken welcomes back Dr. Scott Chesebro. Just last week, Ken and Scott spent two days walking the streets of Hyde Park and the University of Chicago there on the South Side. Scott and Ken we classmates and fast friends, living in the city for three years and a second summer in the late 60s and early 70s. Scott became a sociologist and college professor with the Ph.D. he earned at Notre Dame. For over four decades, Scott was Executive Director of the Chicago Center for Urban Life...
Send us Fan Mail (REPRISE) Ken welcomes back to the podcast the originator of the hashtag that launched a movement: #exvangelical, Blake Chastain. They discuss his new book, Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement Fighting Back. An undergraduate at an evangelical university in Central Indiana, Blake had questions - about the Bible, the exclusive truth claims, the identification with conservative politics, the indifference to Earth care, to race, to soc...
Send us Fan Mail REPRISE - When Ken researched his Bible School classmate, Melvin Warren, he stumbled across Dr. Curtis’ book. It referenced a familiar, legendary press conference. In 1970, at the famed Arch entrance at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Melvin made a speech as the cameras rolled and journalists scribbled notes. He claimed that the school’s racism so marred his experience as a student that he tore up his diploma and tossed it into the trash. He made national news. That in...
Send us Fan Mail On this new episode of the Two Kens Podcast, Ken Fong and I sit down at a moment that feels like a hinge point in the American story. From the looming threat of a government shutdown to urgent debates over immigration reform and a President’s competency, we’re asking what kind of country we’re becoming—and who gets to shape that future. We walk through the surprising political momentum we’re seeing in 2025, where Democrats have been quietly flipping seats and building toward ...
Send us Fan Mail Ken's Latest Substack (REPRISE) Today, I welcome back a great friend of the show—ethicist, professor, pastor, and prolific author, Dr. David Gushee. Over the years, David and I have talked through several of his groundbreaking works: The Moral Teachings of Jesus, Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies, Introducing Christian Ethics, and After Evangelicalism. But today, we’re returning to the book that started a movement—Changing Our Mind—a book that, remarkably, ...
Send us Fan Mail In Honor of Dr. John Perkins 1931-2026 (REPRISE) Ken is pleased to welcome Lisa Sharon Harper and her new groundbreaking book, Fortune - How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All. It all began with the results of her submission of DNA to Ancestry.com. Lisa learned of her Nigerian roots - and ancestry that extends all the way back to the onset of slavery in America in the 1600s. Lisa shares her story of awakenings, which began when she became a Christian...
Send us Fan Mail REPRISE - After attending a recent event featuring Dr. Jemar Tisby, I had the chance to connect with the host of that gathering, Professor Jessica Wai-Fong Wong, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Azusa Pacific University and author of the groundbreaking book Disordered: Holy Icons and Racial Myths. In this episode, we reflect on that event, where Dr. Tisby shared moving stories about his relationship with the late Dr. Bill Pennell of Fuller Theological Seminary—a ...
Send us Fan Mail (REPRISE from AUG 2025) Today I welcome a familiar voice and a longtime friend—Dr. Randall Balmer. Back in the day, when we were “Trinity Men,” he was “Randy” to me. Today, he’s Dr. Balmer—historian, author, professor, and one of the leading voices on religion in America. He earned his graduate degrees at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Princeton, and Union Theological Seminary, and this marks our third interview together. Randall recently published a powerful piec...
Send us Fan Mail REPRISE - Ken welcomes pastor, historian, and special advisor to the President at Baylor University, Dr. Malcolm Foley. Just this month, his new book - The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward - has just been released. Dr. Foley shares something of his faith and spiritual journey. As an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, he majored in Finance and the Classics. After earning an M. Div. ...
Send us Fan Mail On this week’s Two Kens Podcast, Ken Fong and I dive headfirst into what can only be described as a political and cultural whirlwind. Turning Point USA is in open conflict — MAGA vs. MAGA — with Candace Owens and Erica Kirk trading fire. The Hollywood Reporter is calling it a civil war on the Right. What does that fracture mean for the movement… and for the country? We’ll unpack the renewed buzz around the Epstein files — from Julie Roys’ reporting on surprising names to the ...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to today’s podcast, a place where we share stories of awakenings—those moments when life disrupts the script and invites us into deeper truth, healing, and courage. Today’s conversation is especially timely and tender. My guest is Susan Reedy, a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in trauma recovery and resiliency. Susan works with people navigating grief and loss, traumatic experiences, life transitions, and anxiety—and she also trains other therapists...
Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is an invitation to listen closely—to grief, to courage, and to the hard work of hope. My guest is Darcy McKenzie, a social and political activist in Minneapolis, and our conversation begins where so many lives were altered: George Floyd. Where were you when it happened? What was your response? How did it change you? Darcy answers those questions with honesty shaped by experience—growing up in rural, agricultural America; living with a tenuous relationship to ...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Beach Talk with Betsey Newenhuyse — where we sift through the chaos and try to make sense of what’s really going on. From the heavy-handed ICE “invasion” of Minneapolis, where thousands of federal agents’ enforcement surge has sparked protests after the shootings and the unnecessary death of Renee Nicole Good. We unpack the video evidence, no hearings, and public outrage over federal power in local streets. Connecting the dots, we’ll talk about Tom Homan’s $50K bou...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome to The Beached White Male podcast—and to a milestone moment. As the show approaches 500 episodes and more than 75,000 downloads, this episode looks back at how it all began - why the continued commitment to the name (Beached White Male) - and anticipates what lies ahead. What started as a book project—and some unexpected advice to “start a podcast instead”—grew out of conversations around racial reconciliation and a first improvised interview recorded in a hotel...
Send us Fan Mail As Ken Fong and I wrap up another year of 2KENS, we wanted to create space not just to review what happened in 2025, but to reflect on what still matters—and what gives us reason to hope. This year-end conversation is grounded in honesty, but it’s also shaped by gratitude: for friendship, for thoughtful listeners, and for the enduring power of dialogue in unsettled times. We revisit the major moments that defined the year—from the inauguration and its ripple effects across go...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another Beach Talk with Betsey Newenhuyse—a conversation shaped this week by Christmas, contradiction, and the uneasy beauty of holding hope and lament at the same time. We start with sacred Christmas music. Betsey’s recent church experience reminded her of why Advent refuses to be sentimental. From dazzling GOVEE lights to the Moody Church Christmas concert (both of us have Chicago roots), from neighborhood parades with sirens, golf carts, and off-road vehicles to...
Send us Fan Mail As we close out the year, I’m bringing back one of our most compelling and courageous voices—Nate Manderson—for his sixth appearance on the podcast. And trust me, this conversation lands with urgency, clarity, and fire. Nate’s journey—from the docks to the classroom, from seminary at Gordon-Conwell to the front lines of working-class advocacy—has shaped him into a writer and thinker who refuses easy answers. You’ve read his work in Baptist News Global, The Boston Globe, and S...
Send us Fan Mail Today, I welcome back a great friend of the show—ethicist, professor, pastor, and prolific author, Dr. David Gushee. Over the years, David and I have talked through several of his groundbreaking works: The Moral Teachings of Jesus, Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies, Introducing Christian Ethics, and After Evangelicalism. But today, we’re returning to the book that started a movement—Changing Our Mind—a book that, remarkably, has never stopped selling since ...
Send us Fan Mail Today we’re celebrating a very special return guest: author, speaker, and independent scholar Diana Butler Bass. If you’ve been with us before, you’ll remember our deep dive into her beautiful book Freeing Jesus. Today, Diana is back with a brand-new offering: A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance—a book designed to guide us through the seasons, the stories, and the spiritual rhythms that shape a life. You’ve heard Diana’s Substack series, When? ...
Send us Fan Mail This Thanksgiving week on Beach Talk, Betsey Newenhuyse and I pause to reflect on what keeps us grounded and grateful in turbulent times. Retirement gives us the space to see the big picture, and family, friends, and caring neighbors remind us we’re never alone. We’re grateful for like-minded resisters, meaningful conversations, and the freedom to speak up. Experience tells us storms pass, truth still matters, and a new generation is rising to shape what comes next. Acts of e...
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