Christian Piatt's Blog, page 7

Talking Sex with Invisibilia’s Hanna Rosin

I’ve wanted to interview Hanna Rosin, host of NPR’s Invisibilia Podcast, contributor to/former editor of The Atlantic, writer for Slate and author of “The End of Men,” for a couple of years and I’m geeked out to get to share this conversation we had about and power. She, much like Malcolm Gladwell (another of my favorite [Read More...]

Nerds, Bullies and Why Trump is Winning

If you’re like me, you were baffled at first by Donald Trump’s success in his presidential bid, but I think it get it now: he’s a bully in a room full of nerds. I don’t think anyone would argue that Trump isn’t a bully; the question is why it’s working in the political sphere. In [Read More...]

THE FINEST HOURS’ Producer Jim Whitaker, Star Wars Fails & Political Geekery

When the cohosts are away, Christian will play. Slim and Amy were out this week, so I decided to go solo. The main course of this week’s episode is my talk with co-producer of the new film, “The Finest Hours,” Jim Whitaker. He worked on “8 Mile,” “Thank You for Smoking” and many others, but [Read More...]

The Burns, Oregon Occupation with Public Radio’s John Sepulvado

After the tragic death of one of the occupiers at the nature preserve in Burns, Oregon and the arrest of several others, this interview I did with Oregon Public Broadcasting/National Public Radio’s John Sepulvado is particularly prescient. As he states in this interview, there seemed to be no way the Malheur Preserve occupation wouldn’t end [Read More...]

Was the Tree of Knowledge the First Baptism?

Author and Theologian Leonard Sweet says that everything in the bible ultimately points back to the Garden. I’m inclined to agree. Here’s an example. St. Justin Martyr, an early church father, says the following about baptism: …at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice…but may become the children of choice and [Read More...]

Church Sign Epic Fails, “Jesus Germs” Edition

Yes, Ladies and Gents. After an extended hiatus, I bring you the resurrection of the infamous Church Sign Epic Fails. Got one you think I should post? Send it to cpiatt (at) christianpiatt (dot) com.      

Cyber Ethics, Star Wars-ing and the Trump Factor

I know, I know. Cyber-ethics may not sound that riveting on first blush, but from Wikileaks and Anonymous to your kids on Youtube and every time you swipe a credit card, cyber security is everywhere. And with that incredible power comes both the potential to use and abuse it. Kinda like chainsaws. Or Bibles. Anyway… [Read More...]

No More “Far Away” and Belly Button Death

This is a different Homebrewed CultureCast show this week. First of all, apologies for the delay in release, as Amy and I (Christian) had to make an emergency trip to be with Papa Russ while he died. You’ll hear more about it in the show, actually. It’s a somewhat shorter and differently structured episode this [Read More...]

Daddy, What Does a Dead Body Look Like?

We got the call Thursday night and were on a plane from Portland to New Mexico Friday morning. Papa was dying and we needed to come soon to help care for him and say our goodbyes. Cancer was everywhere: in his bones, his one remaining kidney and other organs throughout his frail body. My six-year-old [Read More...]

Why ISIS Doesn’t Have to Win (and We Can’t Defeat Them)

Yesterday I wrote an article about a discussion I had with my son about the instability and conflict in the Middle East. Following is a personal reflection to follow up on the article. Read the previous piece HERE.  In the wake of the Paris attacks, the continuing exodus of Syrian refugees and the growing destabilization wrought [Read More...]