@ Sea With Justin Mcroberts

Jars of Clay has been living and working at the intersection of art, religion and advocacy for over 20years. We talked about early expectations for a successful band to how valuable that success is. We also discussed the usefulness of the word “christian,” and what it takes for a group of people to stick together for two decades. Because this was recorded during one of the dozen or so events the @ Sea team has hosted over the past four years, you’ll hear be start the evening with a bit of our philosophy and vision. You’ll also hear me laugh into the microphone quite loudly throughout the evening. Check it out at iTunes. NOTE: If the iTunes link gives you trouble, you can hear all the podcasts at our Stitcher page.)

My guest for episode 3 is Michael Wear. Buzzfeed calls him one of President Obama’s “ambassadors to America’s believers.”  Having worked in the White House office of Faith-Based initiateves, Michael Wear is recently the author of a book entitled “Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith In America.” We talk about working at the intersection of politics and faith, the relationship between House of Cards and reality and whether or not it actually matters if people participate in the political process. Michael is also a Buffalo Bills fan, which means he and I share the pain that comes from backing historically underachieving teams (go Raiders). Check it out.

The @ Sea Podcast #2, featuring songwriter/producer busbee, is at iTunes now.  Mike Busbee (busbee) is a songwriter and producer working in Los Angeles and Nashville. If you’ve listened to pop music at all in the past few years, it’s very likely you’ve heard and enjoyed busbee’s work, as performed by Pink, Rascal Flats, Kelly Clarkson, Garth Brooks, The Fray, Lady Antebellum, Timbaland and many more. At the time of this post, two of the top 5 songs on the iTunes charts are busbee songs – Keith Urban’s “The Fighter” and “H.O.L.Y.” by Florida Georgia Line. Along with being a very talented writer, he’s a deeply thoughtful person. Busbee and I get into the nature and importance of pop music, the uniqueness of working in Los Angeles (as opposed to Bakersfield, CA) and the cultural dichotomy of filling a $500 cooler with cheap beer. Check it out. If, for any reason, the iTunes link gives you trouble, you can hear the podcast at Soundcloud (below) and at Stitcher.

The first installment of my first podcast, entitled “@Sea With Justin McRoberts,” is at iTunes. I am expecting this to become a significant part of my future and I’m glad you’ll be with me on these first few steps. Check it out. Gene Luen Yang is a writer and graphic novelist responsible for American Born Chinese and Boxers & Saints, both of which were nominated for National Book Awards. He is also the writer of DC’s “Superman” and will, this summer, be writing “New Superman” as part of DC’s Rebirth line. Gene and I talked about the importance and uniqueness of comics, the journey of Asian Americans in pop culture and how to wisely approach topics like race and religion in ones art. NOTE: If, for any reason, the iTunes link gives you problems, I’ve also uploaded the podcast to Soundcloud.  Connect with Gene: Web  Twitter Learn more about DC Comics’ Rebirth.