The unique season of summer is marked with cookouts, summer camp for the kids, road trips, waiting on endless TSA lines at the airport, and vacations on sandy beaches with cool waters in which to dip our toes. Last week, following our summer tradition, we shared with you our summer reading suggestions—a list of curated resources that bring together science and faith in meaningful and unexpected ways. Drew, Greg, Heather, and I highlighted written resources to enlighten your summer. This week, SftC offers you a list of podcast, TV, and movie recommendations you can take advantage of this summer.
Drew Rick-Miller
Nature Documentaries on the Okavango Delta
Today I begin the first of three full days on a safari in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We flew in yesterday from Johannesburg to Maun and took a bush plane to our camp. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will allow our family to see some of the most marvelous creatures and landscapes in God’s amazing creation. To prepare (in addition to quite a few vaccines—my daughters enjoyed the fact that I received more pokes than everyone else combined), we watched a steady stream of nature documentaries about the region. Here is a nice list to get you started. I would recommend you begin with one of the first two—Into the Okavango or The Flood—but then you can follow your interests with the others. I am certain what I am experiencing this week will make it into a newsletter (or six) in the coming months and years, so we can compare what we can glean from these documentaries with my experience on the ground.
Greg Cootsona
You Have Permission and Homebrewed Christianity podcasts, Apple TV’s Ted Lasso
I listen to podcasts because I often like the format of hearing a person’s voice (literally and figuratively) and because it affords me the opportunity to do other things (like take long bike rides) while engaging with compelling insights. One such podcast is Dan Koch’s You Have Permission. (Full disclosure: Dan has interviewed me three times, like this one on the science of why “Church is Good for You.”) Dan consistently talks with fascinating guests, mainly of whom bring in how science and technology form our faith. I recently heard his interview of a friend and colleague in the cognitive science of religion on ritual, psychologist Laird Edman. But you can also find Justin Barrett and Sarey Martin Concepcion on their TheoPsych Project or psychologist Marcia Webb on mental illness, to name just two examples. In addition, Tripp Fuller’s Homebrewed Christianity (where I was just recently interviewed) also takes up similar themes of faith and science, like Franciscan sister and theologian Ilia Delio on “Catching a Cosmic Faith.”
This last recommendation might be a bit of a stretch, but I’ll mention the Apple TV show my wife (Laura) and I have greatly enjoyed, Ted Lasso, particularly in how the main character (Ted) demonstrates kindness and grace (though he has trouble giving the latter to himself) in an increasingly brutally world dominated by technology and consumerism. I think many of us wonder if we’re losing our souls in the world today, so this may not be exactly science and faith, but I see resonance. I’m not alone: Neil de Grasse Tyson found it worth joining an interview on YouTube with the show’s creators, Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, on the science of Ted Lasso.
Heather Micklewright
Rebuilding Notre Dame, NOVA PBS
I was preparing dinner in my kitchen the day that Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. I remember propping up a tablet with a live broadcast as I chopped vegetables, tears quietly running down my face. Though I’ve never been to France, I know what it is to worship in a space that is designed to inspire awe.
While the cathedral walls and windows have stood thanks to the courage of those firefighting teams, I have appreciated witnessing the very literal bringing of science to church on NOVA PBS’s Rebuilding Notre Dame. Engineers, architects, geologists, forest managers, and even glass scientists all bring their expertise to bear when it comes to understanding both the history of the church and its restoration for future generations.
So far, NOVA has done two episodes on the cathedral (one is behind a paywall), and I’m hoping for a celebratory third when the restoration is complete. And if I ever do get to France, I’ll have even more reason to appreciate the details thanks to NOVA’s coverage of the “Historians and scientists [who] are rewriting our understanding of the very fabric of this medieval wonder.”
Ed Rosado
“Diving Deep into Science and Religion” and “Churches Leading Change,” BioLogos
Summer is heating up, and if you are looking for a way to stay out of the sun, look no more. In “Diving Deep into Science and Religion,” part of the Language of God series, UK scholars Nick Spencer and Bethany Sollereder guide us in a deep conversation around science and religion. Beginning from their faith journey, they cover topics ranging from our idiosyncratic understanding of Theos, the Bible, and Jesus and how they relate to scientific inquiry. The interview delves into a historical exploration of Darwin’s theories, natural theology, metaphysics, and its implications for American culture.
Finally, in “Churches Leading Change,” Sally Bingham, the founder of Interfaith Power and Light, explores the significant role of churches and other faith communities in reducing the impact of climate change. Bingham provides an exciting account of climate-conscious churches involved in ministries that focus on creation care. From composting, recycling, reducing energy consumption, planting gardens, and other creation care-driven initiatives, local congregations can positively impact their communities and beyond. If you have more time this summer, I invite you to check out the complete BioLogos Language of God series.
As always, this summer, we have prepared an impressive lineup of guest writers and thought-provoking subjects to address in our newsletter. So, check your inbox for our upcoming summer articles. But for now, I invite you to sit back, find your favorite spot, get your headphones, and enjoy these wonderful resources (or these ones we recommended a couple of summers ago).
In Nobis Regnat Iesus,
Ed Rosado
