LA MIRADA, CALIF. — 51’s (CCT) is launching season two of their podcast, The Table Audio, which focuses on answering some of life’s biggest questions through interviews, narrative stories, critical reflections and scholarly insight from Christian intellectuals.

Hosted by CCT Director Evan Rosa, The Table Audio explores culturally relevant questions such as the role of Christians in politics, how to be humble and what it means to be human in a modern technological society. The podcast seeks out people who have theoretical or practical wisdom to share on these questions.

This season, Rosa talks with some of the brightest individuals tackling pressing and mysterious questions through the lens of their personal experiences during an hour-long interview.

“These conversations reflect several years of thinking and discussion on some of the deepest questions people have: How should we follow Christ after a pattern of love in both public and private life? How should we deal with excruciating existential pain and suffering? How can we seek genuine self-improvement through moral and spiritual formation?,” Rosa said.

The features an interview with Sister Helen Prejean, author of the New York Times bestseller, “Dead Man Walking,” which was made into a feature film starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon who won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen. The book is based on her experience as a spiritual advisor to convicts on death row. She advocates to abolish the death penalty and founded groups to support families of murder victims. In her interview, Prejean discusses love, death, and human dignity with Rosa.

New episodes are released every Monday until Dec. 10. The next episode, scheduled for release on Oct. 8, features an interview with philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff about grief and suffering, which he personally experienced in losing a child.

“There is such deep wisdom represented in the guests on The Table Audio,” said Rosa. “I’ve listened back to these conversations countless times as we’ve been through the editorial process, and I still find new insights. I consider it an incredible privilege to use this medium of conversation to put others in contact with these people and these ideas, and the way of life they represent.”

Below is an overview of the people being interviewed on The Table Audio this season.

  • ​Philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff on losing a child, the problem of suffering, and his personal story of grief
  • Professor of Christian ethics Jennifer Herdt on virtue, moral formation, and the balanced call to both greatness and humility
  • President of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Russell Moore on U.S. politics in light of the kingdom of God, the ethical implications of following Christ, and prophetic minorities vs. moral majorities
  • Professor of literature and creative writing Jessica Hooten Wilson on suffering, redemption, and the terrible speed of God's mercy in the work of Flannery O'Connor
  • Poet and novelist Diane Glancy on poetry, Native American Christian experience, the suffering of Job's wife, and giving voice to the voiceless
  • Theologian Thomas Oord on the definition and application of love in divine and human contexts
  • Philosopher Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung on vainglory, hypocrisy, authenticity, and the human longing for recognition and respect — applying ancient monastic and medieval wisdom to contemporary challenges of moral and spiritual formation
  • Social critic and author Os Guinness on our response to unspeakable evils, and the depth of human suffering, covenant love in political context, and the urgent need for civility in contemporary public life
  • Theologian J. Todd Billings on living with terminal cancer, the theology of lament, and a Christian understanding of hope and mortality

Each episode can be found at , , and .

For more information, contact Jenna Loumagne, manager of media relations, at at (562) 777-4061 or jenna.loumagne@biola.edu.