PODCAST · arts
Makers & Mystics
by Stephen Roach
Makers & Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life.
Episodes
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Our Daily Breath: How Contemplation Feeds The Creative Life | Kayla Craig
Contemplation is the inhale, and creativity is the exhale. Author and spiritual director Kayla Craig shares how we can make space for both. Her devotional, Our Daily Breath, guides readers through contemplative prayer practices designed to renew creative energy in a loud, distracted world.…
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Memory Is a Musical Place with Composer Michael Anderson
What if memories were real entities that inhabit places, and what if music could give those places a voice? In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with composer Michael Anderson to explore the strange and beautiful relationship between memory, time, place, music, and faith....
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Art As a Spiritual Gateway: Classical Music and Rediscovering Creative Joy
What happens when the art form you once loved becomes a way of proving your worth? For oboist, educator, and author Merideth Estevez, classical music began as a source of joy and wonder. As a child, it was even a language through which she experienced God. But somewhere along the way, the pursuit...
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The Art of Slow: Making Things That Last with Jake Weidmann
We live in a world of fast content, instant communication, next-day shipping, and things designed to be quickly replaced. But what happens when an artist chooses to work against the grain of social norms? Jake Weidmann is one of only nine Master Penmen in the world, but his work extends far…
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Seeing Through The Tropes: How Art History Shaped Women's Identity | Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
How do the images we see shape the way we understand ourselves and one another? In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with art historian and author Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt to explore her new book, Look Like a Lady: Five Visual Tropes of Womanhood and How to See Ourselves...
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Strange Glory: A Case for Unconventional Art
What does it mean to glorify God through art? For many artists, the desire to glorify God can become an expectation that their work should communicate an explicitly religious message. But what happens when that expectation begins to constrict the artist? What if our attempts to make art that...
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The World Needs Your Art: The Spiritual Roots of Why Artists Suffer | Stephen Roach
Every great artist from Caravaggio to Frida Kahlo has fought the same invisible war, and Stephen Roach makes the case that it is not a coincidence. In this solo reflection, Stephen traces a decade-long question that has haunted him: why does creative expression seem to attract so much internal…
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Evelyn Underhill: Mother of Modern Mystics
Evelyn Underhill: The Mother of Modern Mystics Artist Profile Series 40 Who was Evelyn Underhill, and why does her work continue to shape the modern contemplative movement more than a century later? In this Artist Profile episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach explores the life of Evelyn...
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Making Room at the Table: Art, Justice, and The Stories That Shape Us | Steve Prince
What if art isn't simply something we admire, but something that asks something of us? In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with acclaimed printmaker, educator, and storyteller Steve Prince for a conversation about the vocation of the artist. Drawing from history, faith, family, and lived...
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Missionaries of Beauty: An Antidote to a Cultural Crisis with Sacred Artist Kate Capato
Can beauty change a person? A community? A culture? Sacred artist Kate Capato believes it can. In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with Kate to explore why authentic beauty has the power to heal, awaken wonder, and draw people into the presence of God. Together they...
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One Last Monster: Gene Kim on Animation, Storytelling, and the Art of Human Transformation
Animation has a unique ability to carry profound truths beneath colorful worlds, unforgettable characters, and compelling adventure. Beneath the spectacle, the best stories invite us into questions of identity, grief, hope, and transformation. In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with…
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Threads of Beauty: On Fashion, Fabric and Theology
In this bonus episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach revisits The Pace of Beauty series with artist and designer Jennifer Sturrock. Drawing from her background in couture, contemporary art, and theological study, Jennifer shares how fabric and materiality have become a framework for exploring...
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The Problem with Beauty: From The Grotesque to The Sublime
Beauty is one of the most celebrated words in art and faith conversations, but it may also be one of the most misunderstood. Is beauty simply what pleases the eye, or is it something deeper? Can beauty exist alongside suffering, loss, and the grotesque? And what happens when we settle for beauty...
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The Beauty of Vulnerability | Zan Fiskum
What does it cost an artist to tell the truth? Singer-songwriter Zan Fiskum has built her entire creative life around finding out. In this episode, host Stephen Roach sits down with Zan to explore how her most personal songs, about a toxic creative relationship, a fractured friendship, and a...
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Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument
Beauty As Survival: Breath, Embodiment, and The First Instrument A conversation with Whitney Lynn In this episode, I sit down with embodiment coach, creative director, and longtime Breath and The Clay collaborator Whitney Lynn to explore the intersections of breath, beauty, embodiment, and the...
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Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark: Contemporary Art and The Path of the Mystics with James K. A. Smith
Make Your Home In This Luminous Dark A conversation with James K. A. Smith In this episode, I sit down with philosopher and author James K. A. Smith (Jamie) to explore the mystical tradition as a living pathway into deeper faith, creativity, and presence. Jamie shares how his journey into…
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Taking Up The Tale with Malcolm Guite
What can ancient stories teach us about creativity, courage, and our own place in the modern world? In this episode, Stephen Roach welcomes poet and priest Malcolm Guite back to Makers & Mystics to explore his poetic retelling of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. Malcolm reflects on how these…
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Making Space for Meaning: The Renewal of Myth and Storytelling with Jonathan Pageau
In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with cultural critic, writer, and iconographer Jonathan Pageau to explore the state of contemporary storytelling and the enduring power of myth. Pageau, creator of The Symbolic World, explains how symbols operate beneath conscious...
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The Ethics of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas
In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach continues the series The Pace of Beauty with Dr. Timothy Patitsas, author of The Ethics of Beauty. Focusing on Chapter Six, The Mystical Architect, they explore the inseparability of beauty and goodness, the cruciform nature of the artist’s...
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REPLAY: Beauty As Prophetic Vision with Brian Zahnd
This replay episode features excerpts from a 2017 conversation with author Brian Zahnd, exploring his insights on Christian aesthetics and the role of beauty in faith. The discussion centers on Zahnd's book, "Beauty Will Save the World," and his argument for understanding Christianity through the...
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On Beauty And Repair with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
What does it mean to repair what has been broken, and can there be beauty in that work? In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach is joined by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg for a thoughtful conversation on repentance, accountability, and the demanding work of repair. As part of our ongoing…
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The Beauty of Authenticity with songwriter John Van Deusen
The Beauty of Authenticity — John Van Deusen Songwriter John Van Deusen joins Makers & Mystics to explore the beauty of authenticity in art, faith, and vocation. In a creative landscape that often rewards certainty and success, John reflects on the cost—and freedom—of making honesty the point. At...
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Beauty and Resistance with Jonathan P. Walton
What if beauty isn’t an escape from the outrage and exhaustion of the world—but a form of resistance against it? In a culture overrun with anxiety and uncertainty, turning toward beauty can feel almost defiant. In this episode of Makers & Mystics, host Stephen Roach is joined by theologian, poet,...
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How Beauty Will Save The World with Winfield Bevins
What role does beauty play in a fractured and hurried world—and what might happen if we allowed it to slow us down? This episode marks the beginning of a new Makers and Mystics series, The Pace of Beauty, exploring how beauty invites us into a more attentive and spiritually grounded way of…
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The Pace of Beauty
Moving at the Pace of Beauty Season Introduction — Makers & Mystics Podcast Elaine Scarry writes that “beauty quickens. It adrenalizes. It makes the heart beat faster.” Beauty is immediate in this way. It strikes us unaware and de-centers us, throwing us off balance and ushering us into a moment…
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The Person and The Persona: Mental Health, Fame, and the Artist’s Soul
In this episode of Makers and Mystics, host Stephen Roach is joined by Jared Farley of Porter’s Call, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the emotional and mental health of touring artists and their families. Together, they explore the tension between persona and person, stage life and home life,...
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Making Space for Creative Community: Behind the Scenes of Breath and Clay 2026
In this episode, Stephen Roach sits down with creative collaborators Justin McRoberts, Whitney Hancock, and Corey Frey for a conversation about the art of building authentic creative community. From introducing their new online offering, "The Light Between," to a behind-the-scenes look at the...
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Creating Monsters: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and the Horror of Unchecked Ambition
In this inter-seasonal episode, Stephen Roach is joined by returning guests Paul Anleitner and John Mark McMillan for a discussion of Guillermo del Toro’s new Frankenstein adaptation. Together they explore del Toro’s visual storytelling, the spiritual and theological roots of Mary Shelley’s...
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S15 E15: Resistance and Flow (Season Finale)
In this season finale, Stephen Roach closes out our exploration of creative flow with a rich conversation with several artists from the Makers & Mystics Patreon community. Joining the discussion are artist and educator Angela Houk, writer and branding expert Steve Brock, and poet and visual…
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S15 E14: Sound Symbols: Foley Art in Film with Ronnie Van Der Veer
Behind the curtain of cinema lies a hidden language, spoken not in words, but in sound. In this episode of Makers and Mystics, Stephen Roach interviews Foley artist Ronnie Van Der Veer, exploring the intricate world of sound design in film. Ronnie shares his journey into Foley art, the importance...
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Simeon Stylites: Ascetic, Mystic, and Radical Witness
What can the life of a bizarre fifth-century monk teach us about prayer, attention, and the way we live in the modern world? Simeon Stylites was a fifth-century Syrian Christian ascetic who became famous for an extraordinary act of devotion: he spent 37 years standing atop a pillar, turning his...
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S15 E13: Confessional Transcendence with Poet and Actor Amy Leigh Wicks
Amy Leigh Wicks is a poet, actress, and educator from New York City. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and an MFA from The New School in New York. She recently served as Dean of Performing Arts at Bethel Conservatory of the Arts and is the...
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S15 E12: The Ghost Life with Prasanta Verma
As artists, we live our lives between worlds, the one in which we imagine and the one in which we must survive. But what do we do when the life we imagine and the life we live are incongruent? Often our lives look much different on paper than they do in our dreams. Joining us for this…
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S15 E11: Urgency and Intimacy with Julian Davis Reid
“How do we hold both urgency and intimacy in our creative practices? How can an artist become a vessel of divine presence — not only in churches, but on club stages, in studios, and in everyday life?” In today’s episode, I’m joined by jazz and gospel pianist Julian Davis Reid — a Chicago-based...
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S15 E10: The Art of Becoming: Jon Guerra on Music, Imagination, and Spiritual Formation
How does imagination shape not only our art but our spiritual formation? And what does it mean to hold space for play, growth, and even disappointment within our creative process? In this episode, Stephen Roach is joined by Jon Guerra — a singer, songwriter, and film composer based in Austin,...
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S15 E09: Ecstatic States and The Artistic Impulse P2
In this concluding segment of our Artist Roundtable, Stephen Roach, Corey Frey, and Donna Matthews continue their conversation on ecstatic experiences, flow states, and the artist’s impulse through a Christian lens. This episode explores ecstatic states in both Pentecostal and Orthodox…
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S15 E08: Ecstatic States and The Artistic Impulse P1
In this Artist Roundtable, Stephen Roach, Corey Frey, and Donna Matthews explore the concept of flow states, ecstatic experiences, and their intersections with art and faith. They discuss how creative processes can lead to profound spiritual encounters, the importance of vulnerability and…
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S15 E07: Recasting The Familiar with Faith Bryant
Overfamiliarization can blind us from recognizing the beauty and power of certain truths. When we think we have heard the story before or believe we already know what a particular truth has to offer, we lose the curiosity that opens us to deeper revelation. The work of the artist is to disrupt…
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S15 E06: Sacred Impressions with Visual Artist Elizabeth Bowman
Elizabeth Bowman is a self-taught impressionist painter based in Charlotte, NC. Her work is steeped in imaginative renderings of biblical stories and visual meditations on the life of faith. In this conversation, Elizabeth shares how motherhood and prayerfulness give shape to her art, the...
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S15E05: A Resonance Across The Ages with Barbara Hannigan
Barbara Hannigan is a world-renowned conductor, soprano, and performer whose work pushes the boundaries of classical and contemporary music. Known for her fearless interpretations and deeply expressive performances, Barbara has built a career that defies convention and celebrates the…
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S15 E04: Imitate The Ocean: A Dream, A Poem & An Encouragement with Stephen Roach
In this episode, Stephen Roach explores creative flow as a generative, life-giving way of being. He highlights the need for trust in the process and the vulnerability that comes with sharing one's art. Stephen encourages listeners to embrace rhythms of rest and rebirth and imitate the ocean. Join...
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S15E03: The Discipline of Inspiration
I would imagine most of us think of inspiration as a sudden flash of insight that hits us out of nowhere and compels us create. It’s not something we control. The wind blows where it wishes and we don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. But what if inspiration were a discipline?...
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S15E02 | The Faraway Nearby with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia
Leah Song is a storyteller, song-catcher, musician, poet, and community builder. She’s best known as the front-woman of the beloved band Rising Appalachia, which she leads alongside her sister Chloe. As a solo artist, Leah draws from the rich traditions of Southern soul, the diasporic sounds of…
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S15E01: Tuning The Room with Stephen Roach
Flow begins with attentiveness. In this episode, Stephen Roach shares how tuning the room became a creative and spiritual practice. Welcome to Season 15 of Makers & Mystics. In this opening episode, host Stephen Roach invites listeners into the unfolding journey of Finding Flow—not just as a...
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Finding Flow | An Introduction to Season 15
Have you experienced those moments when the grind gives way to an effortless grace? When a poem or painting tells you what it wants to become, or when a melody sings itself into being? This state of creative flow is one that artists and athletes, saints and mystics alike, each aspire to attain.…
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BC25 | Risk Art vs. Shock Art
In this final conversation of our BC25 introductions, Stephen Roach, Corey Frey, and Dr. Marie Teilhard discuss the complexities of art that challenge conventional boundaries. They explore themes of heretical art, the distinction between shock art and risk art, and the importance of trust and...
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BC25 Presenter | Amanda Cook
Amanda Cook is a writer/musician/lover of books whose music explores the intersections of faith/doubt, love/loss, hope/despair, and fun/notfun. In this episode, Amanda talks with Stephen Roach about her latest EP Survey: Part 2 along with her thoughts on reconciling faith and art and the...
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BC25 Theme | The Integrating Center of All Things with John Eldredge
What role does contemplative prayer have in healing the fractures of our modern culture and those of our own fragmented lives? And how can our spiritual and creative practices offer an antidote to the chaos of contemporary life? In today’s episode, we’re exploring these questions with…
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BC Presenter | Kendra Adachi | The Art of Compassionate Time Management
Kendra Adachi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, and The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like A Lazy Genius. As an expert in compassionate time management, Kendra helps others stop doing it all for the sake of doing what matters. She Kendra hosts the...
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BC25 Presenter | John Mark McMillan | Technology, AI Jesus and Meaning Making
"Technology does a really good job of floating us past all of these inconvenient blessings." - John Mark McMillan Today on the show, singer-songwriter John Mark Mcmillan joins me to talk about his new music, technology's impact on the arts, confessing to an AI Jesus, and recovering a sense of...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Makers & Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life.
HOSTED BY
Stephen Roach
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Makers & Mystics have?
Makers & Mystics currently has 335 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Makers & Mystics about?
Makers & Mystics is the podcast for the art-driven, spiritually adventurous seekers of truth and lovers of life.
How often does Makers & Mystics release new episodes?
Makers & Mystics publishes regularly with 335 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Makers & Mystics?
You can listen to Makers & Mystics on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Makers & Mystics?
Makers & Mystics is created and hosted by Stephen Roach.
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