Anxiety: A Doorway to Your Best Self? with Curtis Chang

Why would a Christian author immerse her stories in darkness? Why would she use violent imagery that directly relates to Christianity, race, class, disability, and illness? And how can this darkness guide us toward the importance of love in the flesh, of personal connection and vulnerability? In this conversation, Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, author of Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, and Amy Julia Becker explore:

• Flannery O'Connor's unique perspective on faith and darkness
• The portrayal of disability in O’Connor’s stories
• Love in the abstract versus love in the flesh
• Challenges of publishing an unfinished manuscript
• How the prophetic imagination in O'Connor's work confronts the dominant culture's illusions about the good life

Register for the Festival of Faith & Writing
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Guest Bio:

Jessica Hooten Wilson (PhD, Baylor University) is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She is the author or editor of eight books, including Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, Reading for the Love of God, The Scandal of Holiness (winner of a Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit), and Giving the Devil His Due: Demonic Authority in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky (winner of a 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award). Wilson speaks around the world on topics as varied as Russian novelists, Catholic thinkers, and Christian ways of reading.
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Connect Online:

• Website: https://jessicahootenwilson.com/
• Instagram: @drjessicahootenwilson
• Facebook: @JessicaHootenWilson
• Twitter: @HootenWilson

On the Podcast:

• Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress
• Register for the Festival of Faith & Writing

TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/jessica-hooten-wilson

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Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together through the lens of disability, faith, and culture. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.

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Is blindness an incidental characteristic, like hair color? Or is it an identity? What language should we use to talk about disability, and why does it matter? Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast for a conversation examining:

• Blindness and identity
• The importance of language and the use of metaphors in relation to disability
• How the experience of disability can involve beauty, power, and loss
• The role of allies in advocating with disabled individuals
• How Andrew has reimagined the good life

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Amy Julia’s upcoming events
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Guest Bio:
Andrew Leland is a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher living in Western Massachusetts. His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press. You can find links to order a copy here.
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Connect Online:

• Website: www.andrewleland.org
• Instagram: @quailty

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On the Podcast:

• Amy Julia’s upcoming events
• Leland’s New Yorker essay “How to Be Blind”
• National Federation of the Blind
• Sara Hendren’s book and podcast episode with Amy Julia
• Amy S. F. Lutz’s Chasing the Intact Mind
• Death Panel podcast
• John McWhorter’s NYT essay: “When We Do, and Don’t, Need a New Phrase to Describe Reality”
• Disability Language Style Guide 

TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/andrew-leland/
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YouTube: video with closed captions
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Reimagine the Good Life with me through the lens of disability, faith, and culture as we challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.

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Thanks for listening!

This podcast has a new name: Reimagining the Good Life. If you’re asking, “Why a name change?” and “Why now?”—I have answers! Author and teacher Patricia Clarke talks with me about:

• How disability challenges assumptions about the good life
• Accepting limitations and finding freedom within them
• How faith and culture shape our understanding of the good life
• The power of reimagining what’s possible
• What all of this has to do with changing the podcast name!

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GUEST BIO:
Patricia Clarke is a speaker, teacher, and writer who brings people from different backgrounds together to talk about faith. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature, a Barnabas Counseling Certificate, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Theology program at Fuller Theological Seminary. In her new workbook, Lifted by Love, Clarke weaves her personal faith, love of storytelling, and teaching skills together to bring the wisdom of the Bible into daily life. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and four children. For up-to-date information, follow her on Instagram @patriciaclarkestudies or visit her website to subscribe to her updates: patriciaclarke.org.
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On the Podcast:

• Patricia Clarke’s book Lifted by Love
• Steve Perkins at Greenhouse Coaching
• Amy Julia’s book White Picket Fences
• Andrew Leland’s book Country of the Blind
• Micha Boyett’s book Blessed Are the Rest of Us
• Treasures in the Dark by Katherine Wolfe and Alex Wolf
• John McWhorter’s misunderstanding of disability 
• Subscribe to Amy Julia’s updates

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/podcast-reimagining-good-life/
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YouTube Channel: video with closed captions
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Reimagine the Good Life with me through the lenses of disability, faith, and culture. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

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• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website

Thanks for listening!

Is faith something that should always stay the same? Or is it something that evolves by necessity? Sarah Bessey, author of Field Notes for the Wilderness, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:

• Her evolving faith journey
• How to adapt and thrive in an evolving faith
• Making room for change, in ourselves and others
• Navigating the intersection of anger and joy
• How to discover what we're hoping for, not just what we’re against
• How to embrace the gifts of an evolving faith

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MY LENTEN RESOURCES:

• LENTEN DAILY DEVOTIONAL
• Lenten Small Group Guide & Video Series

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Guest Bio:
Sarah Bessey is the author or editor of five books, including the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer. Her latest book is Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith.. She also leads Evolving Faith, a conference and online community for people who are reimagining their faith with hope. Bessey lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with her husband and their four children.
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Connect Online:

• Website: sarahbessey.com
• Instagram: @sarahbessey
• Facebook:@sarah.styles.bessey

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On the Podcast:

• Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/sarah-bessey/
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YouTube Channel: video with closed captions
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Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

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Holiday culture wars and consumerism bring more chaos than joy to the world. But there’s hope. The countercultural season of Advent offers a different way to prepare for Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, former New York Times columnist and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:

• How the practices of Advent disarm the culture wars
• Ways that Advent helps us grieve and hope
• Why waiting to celebrate Christmas matters
• PLUS why Tish chose to leave the New York Times

Give a book for Christmas!

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Guest Bio:

Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is a former New York Times columnist the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year). Her latest book is Advent: The Season of Hope. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in Austin, Texas.
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Connect Online:

• Visit Tish's website at tishharrisonwarren.com
• Follow Tish on Instagram: @tishharrisonwarren

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On the Podcast:

• Advent: The Season of Hope
• More of Tish's books
• Tish’s final essay at the Times
• Amy Julia's books

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com//tish-harrison-warren/

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YouTube Channel: video with closed captions
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Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

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Thanks for listening!

Anxious parents. Anxious families. Anxiety is contagious. How do I know if I’m an anxious parent? And if I am one, how is that affecting my kids? What can I do about it—for their sake and for mine? Therapist and author Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to talk about:

• How to identify and stop anxiety loops
• Why failure is good for parents and kids
• Common parenting strategies that DON’T work
• Practical tools for changing thought and behavior patterns
• PLUS you get to listen in to Amy Julia’s own parenting therapy session when she tells Sissy the hardest thing for her as a parent right now! 

Advent Devotional: Prepare Him Room is available now!

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GUEST BIO:

“Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, has worked as the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries since 1993. She speaks to parents and children's ministers across the country, is a frequent guest on media outlets, and is the author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent. She also co-hosts the chart-topping Raising Boys and Girls podcast, with fellow Daystar Counselor David Thomas.”
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Connect Online:

• Website: www.raisingboysandgirls.com
• Instagram: @RaisingBoysandGirls and @sissygoff
• Facebook: @raisingboysandgirls
• YouTube: @raisingboysandgirls

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On the Podcast:

• The Worry-Free Parent: Living in Confidence so Your Kids Can Too (Bethany House)
• The Worry-Free Parent Workbook

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/sissy-goff/
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YouTube Channel: video with closed captions

Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website

Thanks for listening!

How do we show up for each other in the midst of pain? Is it possible to hope when we’re suffering? Psychiatrist Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:

• How to identify the denial and shame we’ve connected to suffering
• How to form durable hope in the darkest places
• How to help a friend in the midst of suffering

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Guest Bio:

“Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known. He helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God, and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Curt and his wife, Phyllis, live outside of Washington DC and have two adult children.”
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Connect Online:

• Website: curtthompsonmd.com
• Instagram: @curtthompsonmd
• Facebook: @CurtThompsonMD
• Twitter: @curt_thompsonmd

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On the Podcast:

• The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope
• Amy Julia’s book: To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope
• Hope Heals Camp
• Hebrews 12:1-3
• The Bible Project
• Genesis 2
• Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard by Paul Borgman

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/curt-thompson/
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YouTube Channel (interview video with closed captions)
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Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

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Thanks for listening!

What happens when women receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome? How does that diagnosis affect those women and their families? How does it affect our whole society?  Stephanie Meredith joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation about her new report on the bias doctors have when giving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, including:

• The landscape of prenatal testing
• How doctors approach it and what they could do better
• Why these conversations matter outside the Down syndrome space

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FREE DOWNLOAD: ​​5 THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN WHEN OUR DAUGHTER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME
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Guest Bio:
Stephanie Meredith is the Director of the National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Resources at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute and co-author and lead author of numerous studies, including “The impact of implicit and explicit bias about disabilities on parent experiences and information provided during prenatal screening and testing” in the Disability and Health Journal. In addition, she is a 4th-year doctoral student at Georgia State University with a focus on disability and health and the mother of a 23-year-old with Down syndrome and two younger daughters.
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Connect Online:

• www.lettercase.org
• Instagram: @lettercaseorg
• Facebook: @lettercaseorg

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On the Podcast:

• Report in the Disability and Health Journal
• TIME: Doctors Don’t Know How to Talk About Down Syndrome
• Lettercase
• HHS and Disability Discrimination
• NYT: When They Warn of Rare Disorders, These Prenatal Tests Are Usually Wrong
• S7 E3 | Netflix’s Down for Love with Robyn Paterson

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/stephanie-meredith/

YouTube Channel: video with closed captions

Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

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Thanks for listening!

Have you watched the new show on Netflix called Down for Love? It’s a reality dating show for people with Down syndrome, and we’re celebrating the start of Down Syndrome Awareness month with a conversation with the producer of Down for Love, Robyn Paterson. We talk about:

• How the show was created
• The diversity of the Down syndrome community
• The universal desire for love, relationships, and connection
• BONUS CONTENT: At the end of the episode, I talk with Penny, our 17-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome, about her thoughts on Down for Love.

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FREE DOWNLOAD: ​​5 THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN WHEN OUR DAUGHTER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH DOWN SYNDROME
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TIME ESSAY: Doctors Don't Know How to Talk About Down Syndrome
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GUEST BIO:

“Robyn Paterson is a New Zealand-based producer, director and writer known for Down for Love (2022), Grand Designs New Zealand (2015) and In the Zone (2018). She works across various roles within multiple formats, including television factual, documentary & entertainment series, documentary feature, web-series, comedy, and drama. She has a background as an actress and presenter, and is the current president of the Directors & Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
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Connect Online:

• Website: https://www.robynpaterson.co.nz/
• Instagram: @_robynpaterson_

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On the Podcast:

• Down for Love
• New Zealand Down Syndrome Association 

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TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/robyn-paterson/

YouTube Channel: video with closed captions
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Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website

Thanks for listening!

Do you wrestle with anxiety? Are you plagued with worries? Do you think you’ve conquered anxiety? Curtis Chang, author of The Anxiety Opportunity, joins Amy Julia Becker for a conversation that uncovers: 

• what anxiety really is all about
• spiritual practices for facing anxiety
• practical ways we can grow in the midst of anxiety

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Guest Bio:

Curtis Chang is a theologian and consulting faculty member of Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the founder of Redeeming Babel and the host of the Good Faith podcast. His latest book is The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self.
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Connect Online:

• Redeeming Babel
• Instagram: @redeemingbabel
• Facebook: @redeemingbabel
• Twitter: @hcurtischangRB

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On the Podcast:

• The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self
• To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• The Good Faith podcast
• Matthew 6:25-34
• Matthew 26:36-46
• Psalm 139
• Jesus Is the Question: The 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered by Martin B. Copenhaver

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Transcript: amyjuliabecker.com/curtis-chang/
YouTube Channel: video with closed captions 
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Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.

Connect with me:

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Thanks for listening!