What Fresh Insight: Recent Episodes
Sarah Bereza
Unexpected, sometimes quirky, insight into the big questions about who are we, what is really going on, and how we can bring good into this mundane, sublime, spiritual, and sometimes silly world of ours. Every Wednesday with writer and musician Sarah Bereza.
Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar by Jessie Inchauspé
Read of the Week: Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
A Delight: Next Milk
Read of the Week: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
A Delight: Pink and White Dogwoods
An interview with Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber, author of Queering the American Dream (Amazon, Bookshop) and Executive Director of the Tehom Center.
Read of the Week: My Spring Robin - Anne Rockwell (author) and Harlow Rockwell (illustrator)
17 Here's Why Authenticity Is the Worst
Read of the Week: Have His Carcase by Dorothy Sayers
The illusion of proximity is drawn from Professional Christian: Being Fully Yourself in the Spotlight of Public Ministry
Read of the Week: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Introducing Professional Christian: Being Fully Yourself in the Spotlight of Public Ministry by Sarah Bereza. Read more here.
Eleven People Who Shape My Life
While "influencer" can mean a person who helps us pick out a new laundry detergent, I tend to think of influencers as the people I'm inviting to shape my life. They are the people who help me grow as a human being. In today's podcast, I'm celebrating eleven people who have formed me for years as a parent, as a professional, and as a human being who wants to imagine a better world. What they all have in common is their continual generosity in showing up and sharing their work publicly.
Eleven influencers: Gretchen Rubin, Liz Craft, Sarah Fain, Christine Koh, Joanna Goddard, Dan Blank, Seth Godin, Ashon Crawley, KJ Dell'Antonia, Jess Lahey, and Sarina Bowen.
Read of the Week: The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
A Delight: Girl Scout Cookies
12 A New Life Chapter
A read: Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
A delight: Bluey
12 The Two-Person Book Club
The Two-Person book Club - or as I like to call it, Book Club with My Love :)
Reads: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia, and the Flavia de Luce mysteries.
A Delight: Lente Me performed by Caroline Shaw and the Attacca Quartet.
11 Finding the End of the Chapter
Read of the Week: Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
Delight: Wordle
10 Can't Stop, Won't Stop Changing
Research: The End-of-History Illusion
Read of the Week: Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome
Today's insight from: The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence by Jessica Lahey
Today's read: Snow on Snow on Snow by Cheryl Chapman, illustrated by Synthia Saint James
A delight: The Easiest Cobbler
8 Venn Diagrams and a Bigger World
Read of the Week: Matrix by Lauren Groff
A Delight: Only Murders in the Building
Anti-Racism and Little Kids
A read of the week: The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness: A Memoir by Sarah Ramey
A delight: Maple Espresso Tea
An Article: "Hundreds of Ways to Get S#!+ Done—and We Still Don’t" by Clive Thompson
A Read: Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel M. Lavery
A Delight: Winter Songs by Ola Gjeilo
5 Goals and Plans When They Seem Pointless, My Best Read of 2021, and a Fun Movie
3 questions to ask about goals and plans in a distinctly non-planner-friendly season of life.
Book mention: Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
Read of the Week: Deacon King Kong by James McBride
A Delight: Encanto
Five Reasons 2021 Was Such a Difficult Year
We lived in suspense.We couldn't craft a narrative.We were running our second marathon (or maybe it's our third at this point?).We were anxious people, in relationship with other anxious people.We couldn't trust other people to care about their neighbors.
A read of the week: Greenglass House by Kate Milford.
A delight: Stories of the Three Coins.
Get in touch at sarah-bereza.com and on Instagram.
Two delightful reads: Let's Go to the Hardware Store by Anne Rockwell (Author) and Melissa Iwai (Illustrator); and Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings by Yossy Arefi.
Get in touch at sarah-bereza.com or on Instagram.
Reconsidering Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (in conversation with music artist Michael Engelhardt), a read of the week (The Guncle by Steven Rowley), and a delight (Wholenotes).
Get in touch at sarah-bereza.com or on Instagram.
Three kinds of insights, a read of the week (The Grandmother Plot by Caroline B. Cooney), and a delight (Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain by Apollo's Fire
Get in touch at sarah-bereza.com or on Instagram.
I'm launching a new podcast!
What Fresh Insight looks at the big questions from new, unexpected angles. Who are we, what is really going on, and how do we bring good into this mundane, sublime, spiritual, and sometimes silly world of ours.
What Fresh Insight has been in my heart for months (like almost a year). I kept waiting for the time to be right to begin, but between two little kids and a pandemic, there hasn't been a right time, and I don't think that will change anytime soon.
So, right time or not, it's time to begin. See you on Wednesdays for a fresh insight, a read of the week, and something delightful.
I can't wait to talk with you!
A note on subscribing: What Fresh Insight should appear in podcast players sometime in the next week. In the meantime, you can play the trailer from this blog post.