The Awkward In-between: Recent Episodes
Dave Schenk & DAMIEN
What do you do when the beliefs that once gave you certainty no longer work? How do you cope when you have questions surrounding a popular idea, but don't feel safe to express them? Why is it that society seems more polarised than ever, and yet you don't feel comfortable with either extreme?
These questions and more drive the hosts of this podcast. Meet Dave Schenk and DAMIEN, two individuals who are both on the long hard journey of questioning their once held certainties, as they are joined by a variety of guests who also find themselves in 'the awkward in-between'.
You can find & interact with us here: https://www.facebook.com/awkwardinbetween https://twitter.com/awkwardib
Wrapping up season 1, Dave & Damien chat about what they have learned and unlearned over the course of the previous 12 episodes. Has the podcast been worthwhile beyond personal catharsis for these two middle aged white guys!? Is there such a thing as objective truth, and if so can we know it?
More importantly ...will there be a second season?
Konrad is one of the hosts of Ideas Digest, a podcast that explores the religious & political ideas that divide us in order to open people's minds. In a world where it's getting harder to know who to trust and easier than ever to block out opposing view points, each episode is a fun deconstruction and helpful reconstruction of religious or political ideas for those willing to explore ideas outside their echo chamber & learn to understand their "enemy".
Find Ideas Digest here:
https://www.facebook.com/ideasdigest/
https://www.instagram.com/ideasdigest/
https://www.youtube.com/c/IdeasDigest
Dr Jeff Crabtree's own experience of bullying in the music industry combined with his previous interest and research into creative minds led to him choosing workplace harassment in the music industry for his PHD research. It quickly became apparent that gender inequity and sexual harassment/abuse were a huge issue in the industry, and Jeff's research has now received considerable attention in the media including an appearance on TEN's The Project.
How does an older white man navigate the 'awkward in-between' of becoming a voice calling out injustice about an issue where some of the victims perceive him as one of the 'enemy'?
Jeff Crabtree is a casual academic, speaker, researcher, film-maker and multi award winning songwriter. He co-authored the book Living With A Creative Mind - an operating handbook for creative people. His doctoral research was the first ever investigation of workplace and sexual harassment in the Australian and New Zealand music industry.
You can read Jeff's research here: https://assets.apraamcos.com.au/images/PDFs/About/WORKPLACE-AND-SEXUAL-HARASSMENT-RESEARCH-REPORT-FINAL-MAY11.pdf
Find more of Jeff's work here: https://www.zebracollective.com/brag.php
Matt Prater doesn't believe what we believe so should we kick him out?
Pastor Matt Prater is the Senior Pastor of New Hope Church in Kelvin Grove just on the outskirts of Brisbane City. Matt is a passionate evangelist and shares his faith in Jesus with as many people as he can.
Matt also hosts a weekly radio show ‘Historymakers”, which is played on over 700 radio stations across Australia. He has released a TV series and two books based on the amazing men and women he has interviewed over the years.
We have a great chat with Matt about how we can disagree with people about even our strongest beliefs in a loving way.
You can find New Hope Church Brisbane here: https://newhopebrisbane.com/
Check out Matt's podcast here: https://historymakersradio.com/
Rae Leigh is an Australian country singer who had her first number one hit in 2022 with the song ‘Push ‘Em Up Jill’ - a cheeky comedy song about a nurse who would use her cleavage to get her way.
In this episode we discuss some of the awkward tension that can exist in the sexual space, particularly in the context of power, manipulation and control.
Anthony Bishop got involved in politics because he was concerned about the welfare of children in Queensland, particularly those in Foster Care. However, the political space is often one that is tarnished with discord, disharmony and bickering.
Since their first meeting at a music event, Damien and Anthony have often discussed how politics can be more respectful and civil in the discussions. The fact that they were each members of parties on the opposite side of the political spectrum never superseded their beliefs in the dignity of all humans and the desire to engage in healthy connection and communication.
On this episode Anthony shares not only his desire for healthier political discourse, but also what it was like to become the atheist father of a gay son after being raised by Seventh Day Adventist parents.
Steve Meyerink has been a friend of Dave's for more than 20 years, often working together on the technical side of events both big & small. When Steve publicly announced his relationship with Karl Hand it sparked something of a faith crisis for Dave and his family as they wrestled with LGBT issues from a conservative Christian perspective.
Together Karl & Steve serve community of Crave Church in Paddington, Sydney. The church is actively engaged in home groups, food-relief ministry in public housing, an outreach to the LGBT community, and addiction recovery support.
Karl is a published academic, specialising in New Testament studies. He is interested in the Gospel of Luke (especially his parables and their incredible characters and social settings), the way the New Testament came to exist (its 'source-history') & the philosophy of Biblical interpretation and the semantics of Biblical Greek.
Checkout Crave Church here: http://www.cravemcc.com/
Pro baseball player, world touring singer songwriter, Bachelorette contestant, podcaster... Brady Toops bio is nothing if not diverse.
Brady has certainly wrestled with the awkward in-between as he has journeyed from Evangelical Christianity in small town USA to various forms of what gets called "success", exploring spirituality both philosophically and chemically, and finding his way back to appreciating the beauty in everything, even in his roots.
Brady used to think that life was about believing the 'right' things, but now he says that he knows pretty much nothing, and he is ok with that!
You can find links to everything Brady is doing & all his socials at https://www.bradytoops.com/
Chad Johnson was the founder of Furnace Fest in the early 2000s and A&R guy for some of Tooth & Nail Records' biggest bands for nearly 7 years before essentially walking away from the music industry to pursue something more akin to Christian missions.
In 2021, Chad was responsible for what was supposed to be a one-off Furnace Fest reunion, which was so successful that the team decided to go again in 2022.
Check out Furnace Fest here: https://www.furnacefest.us/
Chad's book "One Thousand Risks" is available on Amazon.
Leanne Hutton introduces herself as a 61 year old lady with three adult daughters, but she believes her 'ministry' is empathy, something Leanne has found church people tend to 'suck' at!
Leanne says that her God is neither male nor female, is scientific, although she has no problem with the idea of miracles, and definitely is not an old white man in a castle on the clouds handing out gifts.
Dave & Damien chat to Leanne about the wilderness as metaphor for the awkward in-between, feminism, Leanne's favourite TV show and so much more.
Dave Schenk & Damien Johnson have asked themselves whether the world needs to hear from two more middle-aged white guys. Clearly the answer is no, but they have started a podcast anyway!
With many questions, and certain about very little, Dave & Damo discuss why they hope and think that this podcast might still have some value.
British born, Australian raised and living in USA, Paul Colman is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who Wikipedia says "has made a name for himself as a Christian musician independently, with his band the Paul Colman Trio, as a solo artist, and as part of the Newsboys." Despite all this, and growing up as a pastor's kid, Paul says he "always heard church culture as an outsider."
Paul's love of metaphor and story, and a Jesus who seems to be at odds with much of modern church culture has meant he has often felt like he is on the outside looking in on 'the institution'.
Find Paul and his music here:
https://paulcolman.com/
https://www.facebook.com/paulcolman
https://www.instagram.com/paulcolman/
A mystical experience of God as love changed Caleb Hart deeply, from a man who wanted to hit people to one who just wanted to hug them & tell them that God loved them.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Caleb went on to start the Canadian reggae band (yes you heard us correctly!), Tasman Jude, and become a regular visitor to Australia as they toured their music across thousands of kilometres of the country.
You can find Caleb & his music in all the normal places via his Link Tree here: https://linktr.ee/iamcalebhart
What do you do when the beliefs that once gave you certainty no longer work? How do you cope when you have questions surrounding a popular idea, but don't feel safe to express them? Why is it that society seems more polarised than ever, and yet you don't seem to fit into either extreme?
These questions and more drive the hosts of this podcast. Meet Dave Schenk and DAMIEN, two individuals who have both had to go through the trauma of questioning their once held certainties, as they are joined by a variety of guests who also find themselves in 'the awkward in-between'.
You can find & interact with us here:
https://www.facebook.com/awkwardinbetween
https://twitter.com/awkwardib