Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 31
September 29, 2019
When Reading Got Fun, How Not to Impress Girls, & What Not to Read During Class
Dave and I are back in the studio while Barnabas is still off doing something else. So, we’re joined by our friends, Nick Rynerson and James Kinnard, to talk about our reading through different seasons of life. Listen in as we discuss:
How our reading habits grew and changed from high school through adulthoodIf teen boys will successfully impress girls by reading eastern philosophyBooks we read in high school that we ended up likingWhat happens when a middle-schooler reads CamusIf Bloomingto...
September 27, 2019
Links I like (9/27)
Katherine Forster:
...It’s the story of a perfect world ruined by an evil villain. It’s the story of a promise, given after our first parents chose a false narrative, that a hero would come and suffer and make things right. It’s the story of how the Creator became a man and sacrificed everything, dying only to emerge victorious over sin and death itself. It’s a story with an ending yet to come—a resolution where everything is made new and tears are no more.
September 22, 2019
Creeping on Wendell Berry, coffee talk, & why physical books are best
[image error]
Dave’s back from vacation, Barnabas is off doing something else, and we’re uncomfortable in the studio with a special guest: our friend Nick Rynerson. Nick is the chief creative officer at Useful Group (a digital marketing agency you’ll be hearing more about in the future); more importantly he loves to read—and he adores Wendell Berry.
So we’re going to talk about that.
Listen in as we discuss:
How Nick fell in love with Wendell Berry’s writing (but really doesn’t want to sound like he’s a...September 20, 2019
Links I like (9/20)
This was a fun video to do for work:
Jesus Knows What To Do With Your ApathyMichael Kelley:
Let’s not miss that, too—sin isn’t so much an action as it is a condition. It’s true, whenever we violate God’s revealed will we sin, but we do because it’s in our nature. Let me put it another way—we don’t become sinners when we sin; we sin because we are sinners. That’s our heritage. It’s the spiritual DNA we inherited from the parents of the human...
September 15, 2019
Destroying Books, Writing Tell-Alls, and Our Favorite International Authors
[image error]
It’s rabbit trails, non sequiturs, and listener questions on today’s episode! Dave continues to allegedly be on vacation during this episode, leaving it to us to discuss these important issues:
Is Cat Lady Dave played out?Have we ever deliberately destroyed a book?What are some of our favorite international authors?If we could write the history of or a tell-all on anything, what would it be?What are a few of our favorite words that sound like something else entirely?As always, thanks to ou...
September 13, 2019
Links I like (9/13)
It’s been a few weeks since I did one of these (sorry y’all). Let’s get to it!
He Must Increase; Our Churches Must DecreaseJared Wilson:
A gospel-centered church makes that not just a spiritual slogan but her spiritual blood. A gospel-centered church is not aiming to be the nicest church in town. That’d be nice. A gospel-centered church is not aiming to be the most popular church in town. That’d be cool. A gospel-centered church is not aiming to be the smartest church in town. That’d be okay...
September 8, 2019
Pat Conroy, Loving Yourself Appropriately, & (mal)Contents vs Gut Check
[image error]
It finally happened: I (Aaron) finished the book I’ve been struggling to read for months, and Barnabas and I decided to talk through it while Dave was on vacation. (Because that’s what friends do.) Listen in to a surprisingly earnest discussion about family dynamics, what Dave’s doing on vacation, and our desperate need for coffee:
Why all of Pat Conroy’s books are an emotional rollercoasterThe risks of writing honest memoirs (even if that memoir is told as a work of fiction)Why it’s a huge...September 1, 2019
Great westerns, frustrating sci-fi tropes, & capturing the creative imagination
[image error]
Things get super-nerdy—and even more middle-aged—on this episode of the show as Andrew Osenga joins us for a great conversation about science fiction, westerns, and being cat or dog people. Listen in as we discuss:
Why Star Trek: The Next Generation looked like a Holiday Inn circa 1994How we really feel about John SteinbeckWhy westerns are great to read, and what makes a great westernIf mindless violence really has a place in booksThe parallels between westerns and sci-fiThe sci-fi storytel...August 25, 2019
Midlife Crises, Ordinary Lives, and #Chafey
[image error]
As you can imagine, we’re all getting older and (theoretically) maturing. Well, one of us is, at any rate. In honor of my (Aaron’s) 40th birthday (on August 21st), and the tendency for guys to start chucking their lives in an attempt to recapture their youth as soon as they officially become middle-aged, we decided to talk through the idea of midlife crises related to reading. Listen in as we discuss:
How our reading habits have changed as midlife approachesSparkly vs dark-and-brooding vamp...August 18, 2019
Our favorite sidekicks, the first books in our book clubs, & 3-word descriptions
We’re back in the sauna/podcast studio for another round of Q&A thanks to our friend Andy Whisenant and the fine folks at Goodreads. Listen in as we dig into the following questions:
Who are our favorite sidekicks—and do Ron and Hermoine qualify?If we were starting book clubs, what is the first book we would introduce to our audiences?What do our favorite books have in common?Which books do we have on our shelves that we really feel like we should have read, but haven’t?How would we describe...
