One of the more revealing questions to ask people these days is, “What’s on your iPod?” It’s a question which, while indicative of the times, also gives us a window into one of the most important (and intimate) devices in our lives. And it’s a question that can be an instant conversation starter (or a great pickup line, depending upon your motive!).

My answer to the query? A mixture of (legally) downloaded Dave Matthews concerts, and a litany of podcasts covering sports, art, politics, and culture. And while I’ll save an explanation for my undying devotion to DMB for another time, I’ll simply say that finding the “right” podcast – one that captures my interest and has something insightful to say about our world – is like discovering a sweet surprise. So when I became frustrated by the selection of podcasts in the “religious/spiritual” category in iTunes, I entertained fleeting thoughts about starting my own.

I had been craving a kind of podcast that allowed me to eavesdrop on folks engaged in rigorous theological discourse, a conversation that had something compelling and prophetic to say about our world and our theological place in it, and one which pushed me to consider and reconsider my own deeply held assumptions about God’s work in the world. Simply put, I had been looking for a podcast that wasn’t simply another sermon or daily audio devotional, but an intellectual engagement with some of our cultural themes and assumptions through a theological lens. So when I stopped merely pondering the idea of producing my own podcast and became serious about it, developing the project with The Other Journal felt like a natural fit.

I’ve been a fan of TOJ for some time, having written for them a few years back and also knowing many of the good people who work on it. They are a tremendous resource for articles that nudge us to see the movement of God anew, and for writing which creatively connects the world of theology, philosophy, art, and cultural critique. When I pitched the idea to Chris Keller – TOJ’s editor-in-chief – he seemed enthusiastic about broadening the scope of TOJ to include a podcast, and we got to work brainstorming potential guests and its place within TOJ’s online quarterly. Before I knew it, the TOJ Podcast was born!

We’ve gotten off to a strong start, I think, as we’ve featured lectures by and interviews with Kelly Johnson, Emmanuel Katangole, James K.A. Smith, Peter Rollins and MHGS’s very own  Dwight Friesen. And we’re continuing to publish more all the time, all in the hopes of providing a thoughtful conversation aimed at exploring the various theological critiques of our culture.

It has been a sheer delight to meet such fascinating thinkers and people, and to discover what occupies their time and attention. I still feel like a novice as an interviewer and producer, and I’m working hard to ask stronger, more insightful questions all the time. But I hope in the process listeners find themselves considering their theological and cultural assumptions a little differently at the end of each episode.

Tom Ryan earned his Master’s of Divinity from Mars Hill Graduate School in 2007. He blogs semi-regularly at tomrryan.com and on Twitter: @tomrryan. You can download episodes or subscribe to the TOJ Podcast by visiting: http://bit.ly/tojpodcast.