2020 Top Podcast List
I have to admit, I am a podcast junkie. This medium has become a main source of information for much of my learning and interaction with new content over the years. Too much time is probably spent with headphones in my ears, but I have to confess my appreciation for the world of podcasting. The availability of information and episodes on an infinite number of topics and ideas is such a treasure. Generations before us could not fathom this amount of knowledge at the click of a button. I am grateful for the technology to access these digital libraries.
The time spent researching and crafting these little episodes for free (mostly) is also impressive. People put a lot of time and energy into delivering quality podcasts that benefit many of us who simply listen and delete immediately. That is one of the downsides to streaming in general; Whether it is music or podcasts, the unlimited availability can cause us not to savor these gifts like we should. No longer do you have to spend quality time with a CD-Rom as it spins in your car to get to know an album, an artist. We simply shuffle a billion songs and bore ourselves with the limitless choices, but that rant is for another day. In the spirit of appreciating people’s curated content, here are my favorite podcasts of 2020!
This list consists of podcasts I discovered this year and enjoyed. There are podcasts that I’ve listened to for years without fail every week: The Dividing Line, The Briefing, The White Horse Inn, The Erick Erickson Show, The Happy Rant. But this list was new or new to me in 2020.
This show is primarily a Youtube channel, but the audio is uploaded from the videos. The world of online apologists is getting overcrowded (and cheesier), so another cyber apologetics program did not excite me at first glance. Yet this show is probably my favorite apologetic resource outside of James White’s content on the internet. The host is just a regular middle school Bible teacher who somehow gets the best and brightest in apologetics to come on his show. The reason I am drawn in is because it is a channel specifically devoted to presuppositional apologetics. All of the leading voices in that camp continue to appear on this channel and graciously have conversations with the host. It is a go-to hub for presuppositional apologetics on the internet at this point. Also, the host is super humble and winsome which is always a plus in a very divisive field.
Yes, another apologetics podcast, but this one has a twist! It is hosted by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, professor of apologetics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, my favorite apologist outside of presuppositionalism. They interview numerous scholars, but the real fun comes at the end. Each week they take a famous classic rock song and dive deep into its meaning and pull apologetic dialogue out of it. I love the intersection of faith, philosophy, and music so this just fascinates me every time. The reason this podcast did not make it higher on the list is because their portion in the middle of the podcast on their kids’ toys could be the dumbest segment I have ever heard on a show. I skip it every time. But the rest is highly recommended!
Bret McKay and his Art of Manliness platform have been around a long time. It is only this year that I started consistently tuning into his podcast. The diversity of topics is refreshing for someone like me who spends most of his content capacity on theology. Everything from sleep, philosophy, fitness, and literature is explored. Bret has on authors and scholars in a variety of fields to discuss ideas that interest listeners. Give it a listen.
4. Life and Books and Everything
Three Christian leaders, Kevin DeYoung, Collin Hansen, and Justin Taylor, get together weekly to discuss current events, theology, and books they are reading. These are the conversations I love to have with my friends so listening to theirs is always delightful.
3. Home Row: Just Keep Writing
J.A. Medders, a pastor within the Acts 29 Network, puts out this podcast on writing as a way to help new (or old) writers perfect their craft. As an aspiring writer myself, listening to great authors reveal their own process is just a well of knowledge for me. I am not formally trained in writing, so learning to produce something of quality has been an on the fly process for me. These conversations inspire me to write more and give me expert advice on how to go about it.
The issue of gentrification has been a perplexing problem for me to get my head around for a long time. All of the intersections of political and social beliefs come to the forefront here. Conservative and liberal values, free markets and regulation, race and class. So much is intertwined here. “The City” attempts to examine this problem by tracing out a narrative in its two seasons. The podcast plays like a binge-fest; The first season follows a story from decades ago in Chicago and the city’s attempt to upgrade certain sections at the expense of the original community.
The reason why this podcast is number two on my list is for the second season. The show explores a recent development in Reno, Nevada. This Vegas-like town is facing an identity crisis. The old industries and revenue streams are dying, so the city is faced with the evolving problem of relevance. How does this town reinvent itself to bring economic growth? It chooses to market the tech community and open the floodgates of techno-industry to companies like Tesla. With this new venture, the downtown districts want to rebrand to accommodate the millennial workforce moving there to oversee these new projects in the Nevada wasteland. The old guard of strip clubs and bars refuse to paint their town over for the outsiders invading their home. Yes, I wrote strip clubs. The story is a wild ride!
So many of the theoretical issues on both sides of the problem of gentrification come to bear in this story. I came away even more perplexed over this conundrum, but much more able to personalize these issues. Real people are involved in this stuff. Jobs. Lives. Families. All of it is at stake here. But the real issue that just pierced me was the darkness of the city of Reno, Nevada. My spirit just sank thinking about these people, these stories, without any hope of the gospel. The story of this city moved me so much that I have seriously prayed about Reno being a potential location to plant a church in the future.
1. Heaven Bent
Another show in the vein of a “season” or narrative that is usually not my go-to genre of podcasting, Heaven Bent delivers one of the most fascinating takes on a controversial issue within evangelicalism. This podcast investigates the explosive “Toronto Blessing” and larger super mystical charismatic wing of revivalism found within Christianity. The interesting part is that the host, Tara Jean Stevens, is not a believer. She grew up in Canada within the deep charismatic church community and even attended the Toronto Blessing meetings as a teenager, but left her faith a long time ago.
Many attempts by nonbelievers and even more so former believers to explain or explore Christian practices or beliefs can tend to be slander fests. For apostates, it is like quitting a job and then going to the bar to sit around and talk trash about your old company. Yet here I found Tara Jean Steven’s interaction with her former communities of faith and broader charismatic world to be for the most part fair and sincere. Of course, anytime nonbelievers try to explain Christian beliefs there are cringeworthy moments, but here even most of her criticisms were agreeable. It is her conclusions that baffled me; I would love to write into her show if she does another season to attempt to clarify a few things.
Overall, her attempt to uncover the truth about the miraculous claims of the famous Toronto Blessings, its effects on the charismatic community, and the state of such movements today was extremely revealing. I know this world, and there are parts of it I am ashamed of for charismatic people. I think Christians should listen to the view of a nonbeliever on these types of movements, and see their damaging effects on the legitimacy of the gospel message. I do not think most charismatics in these circles realize what this stuff does to our witness. There are parts of the pentecostal/charismatic world that I love and am very proud to have a heritage in, but issues like this must be called out. If charismatics cannot police themselves theologically then unfortunately the world seems to do it for them by exposing their ridiculousness. For the good of the church, I hope the charismatic community can wake up and call for reforms in the most extreme groups among them.
Honorable Mention: Weekday Worship
Check out the podcast my pastor and I started this year! We talk theology, culture, church, and books all in an attempt to see and savor Christ throughout the week in a posture of worship.