Table of (Mal)Contents

We typically don't talk a ton about Bible reading on the podcast. Not because we don't care about it (because obviously we do), but because we typically assume that our Christian listeners are actively doing so. However, that's not always a safe assumption to make, especially when we see how rampant biblical illiteracy has become. So this week, we are joined by Tara-Leigh Cobble, host of The Bible Recap podcast and author of the forthcoming book of the same name. Listen in as we discuss: How adding verse numbers ruined Bible reading Who wrote Hebrews Why Tara-Leigh doesn't like Ezekiel (and who would win in a fight between him and Luke) Why Apollos is cool Why I (Aaron) read so dang much The unexpected surprise of an incredibly successful podcast Audiobook playback speeds Ways we cheated in school All this and a whole bunch of apologies from… well, you'll see. A few of the books we mentioned on this episode The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Echo Island by Jared C. Wilson Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

It's been a week. Read into that whatever you wish, and you're probably going to be correct. We could all use a little bit of happiness (I know I could), so this week, Scarlet, Dave, and I are joined once again by our good friend Barnabas Piper, to celebrate the official release of his brand-new book, Hoping for Happiness, available now wherever books are sold. Listen in as we discuss: Barnabas' release day announcement Where my copy of Barnabas' book is (and why they all got sent to Scarlet) Canned interview questions Dave repeatedly violating the Nashville Rule* Why we feel bad about being happy and enjoying things Books that make us happy Why I can't keep it together long enough to complete a sentence Why this episode probably should have been called, "Sorry vegans, this one's not for you." And for those who missed it, here's the way Barnabas announced the book's release: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFzGKFMBlUS/ Hoping for Happiness by Barnabas Piper is available now, so go get a copy! Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

Fall—or rather, Autumn—is finally here! With it comes cardigans, superfluous scarves, and pumpkin spice, as well as thinking about what to read in this new season. Listen in to discuss: What makes a book an "Autumn book" Scarlet and Dave test my knowledge of Canadian geography Where the idea from this episode came from Pronouncing "Autumn" fancy The role of nostalgia in seasonal reading Rereads and one-time only books Our shared excitement over a new Fredrik Backman book How to convince Scarlet's husband to join us on the show to talk dragons What happened to 90 minute movies? A Few of the Books Mentioned in This Episode Canadian History for Dummies by Will Ferguson Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan Virgil Wander by Leif Enger Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The Archer's Cup by S.D. Smith (preorder direct from the publisher here) The Giver by Lois Lowry The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Justice League: The Justice/Doom War by Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

So, the trailer for the Dune movie was released last week, and the folks who made it clearly did a great job. In honor of this, we're getting extra nerdy as we talk Dune, sci-fi, and Dave having meetings to run to. Listen in to hear: The difference between hard and soft sci-fi If Dune is a good option for jumping into the genre How ET ruined sci-fi for Scarlet If speculative fiction counts as sci-fi Another Lonesome Dove progress report Be sure to check out the NYPL article mentioned in the show on the differences between hard and soft science fiction as well. The Sci-Fi List This week, we're forgoing our traditional "what we're reading" list in favor of a few recommendations of generally accessible science fiction reads: The Oracle Year by Charles Soule The Martian and Artemis by Andy Weir The Time Machine by H. G. Wells Ready Player One by Ernest Cline The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (this is really more absurdist comedy with sci-fi trappings) Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Dune by Frank Herbert (note: this one requires some commitment) Recursion by Blake Crouch 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke Ringworld by Larry Niven Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We're back with a new episode, recorded on a life-changing date for most of the modern world. But that doesn't stop us from getting downright silly at times as we talk about books, history, and pet clothing. Listen in to hear: Where we were on 9/11 Whether or not we have (or should) read books about the event Why it's probably not a good idea to be writing books about our current circumstances just yet How we choose what we re-read (if at all) Dave & Scarlet on dressing pets Recommendations for read-aloud books All this and a progress report on Lonesome Dove! A few of the books mentioned on today's episode The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff Redwall by Brian Jacques Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett And, of course, Scarlet's bunny leash. :) Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We don't always have friends of the podcast on the show, but when we do, it's Matt Redmond! Matt is a Christian counselor, teacher, author, and longtime listener of the podcast. We have wanted to chat with Matt for a while because of our shared love of books, C.S. Lewis, music, and more. Listen in as we discuss: What's so great about Jane Austen Why Matt isn't a fan of the enneagram Books you should read about Bach If Bono should write a book, and his appreciation for Eugene Peterson Favorite C.S. Lewis books and fake Lewis quotes A few of the books mentioned on today's episode Evening in the Palace of Reason by James R. Gaines Bach and God by Michael Marissen Bono by Michka Assayas Chronicles by Bob Dylan From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Grohl Tom Petty by Warren Zanes A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones by Everett True Teaching to Change Lives by Howard Hendricks The Catalyst by Jonah Berger Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

One of the things we love best about this show is our audience. Seriously, we have some really fun and fantastic people who listen to this show and put up with our silliness week in and week out. So, this week, Dave and I (Scarlet couldn't join us this week due to scheduling issues) thought it would be fun to answer some of your questions! Listen in as we discuss: Our preferences in coffee and/or tea One of the worst trends in evangelicalism which some folks may or may not have tried to talk about on a previous episode of the show If Abigail (my daughter) will do another episode with us in the future Why a family might have kept a last name that has been marred all kinds of awfulness My favorite graphic novels to recommend And of course, we also talk about several books along the way. A few of the books mentioned on today's episode Maus by Art Spiegelman HiLo by Judd Winick Superman by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Parable of the Sower by Olivia E. Butler Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We're back once again with our latest episode of Table of (mal)Contents! This week, Scarlet, Dave, and I are joined by our friend Jenaye White. Jenaye works as part of B&H Publishing Group's marketing team, where Dave previously worked as well. Now, Dave is sure that he had a plan that would involve talking about the Enneagram as much as possible as we recorded this episode on my birthday. But he failed because I was ready for it. Instead, listen in as we discuss: How book publicity has changed in 2020 What new insights have been discovered in the ancient (that is, the product of the 1980s) art of the enneagram (because of course I'm going to tease about it) Where the influencers for books are on social media (and where do we fall on the spectrum) What being behind on a reading challenge means for Dave vs Aaron And check out the cover of American Gospel, the upcoming novel by Lin Enger (and don't forget to pre-order your copy!): A few of the books mentioned on today's episode American Gospel by Lin Enger (available now for pre-order!) Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Jesus Over Everything by Lisa Whittle Batman: Knightfall by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, et al. Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

We've got a new episode of Table of (mal)Contents this week, and it's a big one—our 100th episode of the show in its current form! And what better way for us to celebrate than to have Barnabas Piper rejoin us for our look back on 100 episodes of book recommendations, Listen in as we discuss: Barnabas's wedding and how his life has improved even during a pandemic What books we've enjoyed that we were recommended by someone else on the show Our favorite conversations and guests The Mandela Effect Our favorite moments making fun of Dave And, of course, an audience important question for Dave that will make the title of this episode make so much more sense. A few of the books mentioned on today's episode Hoping for Happiness by Barnabas Piper Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Parable of the Sowers and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler  Any Other Name by Craig Johnson One Second After by William Forstchen Recursion by Blake Crouch The Son by Philipp Meyer Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.

I wanted to make some sort of reference to Wayne Gretzky in this episode's title, but it wouldn't make any sense. Aside from it being the 99th episode of the podcast since we relaunched as Table of (mal)Contents. Yes, we're really there after all this time. But this week, we're back with mostly good mics, and joined by a friend of the podcast, Will Mitchell. Will is a teacher, longtime listener, and a lover of books, and he kindly jumped on Zoom for a weird and wonderful conversation that covers… well, pretty much everything from public health to Dave's cats. Listen in as we discuss: Scarlet shares her grievance with a recent editing choice If math teachers read math books for fun How many cats Dave currently has (and why he's a cat lady but Will's a cat man) How far we have to go if we have any hope of solving the ongoing health crises of the day How we can support teachers going into the new school year Will’s reading habits during the COVID-19 shutdown in Nashville Will’s choice for the (semi-retired) sucker-punch of the week A few of the books mentioned on today's episode No Country for Old Men, The Road, and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson Hemingway’s Cats by Carlene Fredericka Brennen On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom Educated by Tara Westover Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson The Parable of the Sowers and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler  Rogue Heroes by Ben MacIntyre Sharing and supporting the show Leave a five-star rating and review of the show on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to the show. Give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram at @MalContentsPod Be sure to use the Amazon affiliate links above to help us pay for the costs of producing and hosting the show. Interested in sponsoring Table of (mal)Contents? Let's talk via email or DM us on Twitter or Instagram.