Listen in as I interview Richard Doster, author of the new book, Safe At Home.

Safe At Home is the story of how a small town in the South in the 1950s grapples with having its minor league baseball team integrated. Not only did this book rekindle my love of baseball but it illuminated race relations in the pre-Civil Rights era in an authentic and compelling voice.

Richard and I discuss his inspiration for the book, how he dealt with writing about sensitive issues of race, and how sometimes ordinary people can change things. read more »

Listen in as I interview Todd Bouldin of Pepperdine University. Todd is the Director of the Lilly Endowment Program on Vocation, Assistant to the Provost for Art and Media Initiatives, and is co-founder of the new MFA (masters of fine arts) program in Screen and Television Writing at Pepperdine.

Todd and I discuss the new MFA program at Pepperdine, the role of Christians in culture, the role of Christians in politics, and the upcoming election.

Listen in as I interview David Houle futurist and author of the book The Shift Age.

David and I discuss future trends including the democratization of information and media, why the traditional definition of "recession" is irrelevant, peak oil, alternative energy, the end of the age of "unlimited", and David's hope for the future.

"We will survive collectively or die individually"

"We should try to be the parents of our future rather than the offspring of our past" read more »

Listen in as I interview Ken Mueller of WXPN in Pennsylvania about the future of radio, changes in the music industry, and how technology and social networking is enabling democratization of cultural change.

Ken has over worked for over three decades in radio including almost ten years as the radio curator at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City.

Listen in to this week's interview with S.E. Cupp, co-author of Why You're Wrong About The Right: Behind The Myths: The Surprising Truths About Conservatives. In it, we discuss common myths about conservatives (they are mean-spirited, uptight, humorless, homophobic, etc), the role of pundits such as Ann Coulter and Neil Boortz in perpetuating certain myths, the presidential campaign, Bush's legacy, and what the future holds for conservatism.

I'm generally not inclined to read books like this, but after this interview I likely will read it.

Listen in to my interview with Bill Strickland, CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Manchester Bidwell is an arts and job training organization in inner city Pittsburgh that Bill started in 1968.

Bill has a new book out, Make The Impossible Possible that I highly recommend. In light of my conversation with Andy Crouch earlier this week, I would say that Bill is a leading expert on "culture making". Every city needs a "Bill Strickland" who eschews conventional wisdom and just goes about the business of helping people and treating those who are often ignored with tremendous respect. read more »

Listen in to an interview with my friend Andy Crouch, editorial director of for The Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today. Andy has written a new book released this week called Culture Making: Rediscovering our Creative Calling. In this interview, Andy and I discuss an alternative to Christians seeking to change culture through politics, why non-Christians shouldn't fear Christians seeking to create culture, and examples of culture making.

I highly recommend checking out Andy's new website, Culture Making, and getting his new book.

Culture Making referenced in this interview:
Chick-Fil-A
In-N-Out Burger
Kiva
Prison Entrepreneuership Program

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Radosh, author of the new book Rapture Ready. Daniel wrote the book to investigate Christian pop culture and came away surprised at what he found. I highly recommend checking out his book.

Daniel and I had a great time discussing the "Culture War" and civility in the public arena. While I am sure that Daniel and I have many differences, I couldn't have found a better guy to enjoy a morning chat with.

If you read nothing else this week, read David Brook's column today in the New York Times: The Great Seduction.

The loosening of financial inhibition has meant more options for the well-educated but more temptation and chaos for the most vulnerable. Social norms, the invisible threads that guide behavior, have deteriorated. Over the past years, Americans have been more socially conscious about protecting the environment and inhaling tobacco. They have become less socially conscious about money and debt. read more »

Yesterday I wrote about the loss of community in America and mostly talked about what we have lost. What do we have now?

I lived in San Diego for almost 3 years from 1999-2001. The neighborhood we moved into was intended I believe to encourage community. There were public green spaces instead of individual private yards, lots of sidewalks, and the homes were oriented so as to encourage interaction. Yet somehow there was absolutely zero community. And not for lack of trying. There is only so many times that you can try to strike up a conversation with neighbors as they are trying to escape back into the confines of their home. I'll never forget the day we moved. We had a moving van out front and my next door neighbor walked by. "We'll miss you John." Yeah, that's how close we were. read more »

My friend Jeff Shinabarger wrote a very thought provoking post earlier this week about community in the wake of tornadoes that came through his neighborhood in East Atlanta. His post ended up being a great topic of discussion with my posse this week and prompted these thoughts from me:

I've been thinking about this idea of community for years and I can't quite put my finger on what has caused a general decline in the sense of community. Many people talk about the rise of suburbs or wealth as primary reasons but I think that those are but small contributing factors. Many of my friends grew up in suburban neighborhoods in Atlanta or elsewhere and had a tremendous sense of community. I know that I did in my prototypical suburban neighborhood. In my cul-de-sac infested suburban sprawl neighborhood, I have at one point been inside every single house in that neighborhood and dozens in surrounding neighborhoods. And not just those where my friends lived. There was a sense as a kid that I could get in almost as much trouble with another adult in the neighborhood as with my parents; parents weren't afraid to actually discipline other people's kids even if they hardly knew them. I have talked about these experiences with friends who grew up in other parts of the country, with friends who grew up in poverty stricken neighborhoods, and those who grew up around the country club and while the details may differ, the general experience of community was the same. read more »

So this morning I am reading Wired.com and come across an article "What Is the Ultimate Apocalypsemobile". I am assuming that there are going to be references to Mad Max and descriptions of how to modify cars for what the author and many others fear is a coming world struggling with a lack of oil.

And as far-fetched as this scenario is to some, the author Joe Brown just couldn't resist seeing the Devil at work:

Through both his environmental and foreign policy, George W. Bush has set in motion events that will likely destroy the world as we know it. Our land will cease to support life, our cities will become havens for gangs of the violent undead and we will all be forced out into the scorched wasteland to fend for ourselves, looting gas stations for canned goods, stockpiling water and food.

Don't forget Joe, that when children cry anywhere in the world, it is because of Bush. read more »

I really didn't want to be "that guy" always writing about how much he loves his new Mac. I wrote last week about why I finally made the switch. But I read an article at CNNMoney.com this week that I just have to respond to. Jonathan Blum wrote "Why Macs still aren't right for most businesses". Having worked as an IT professional at one point in my career, I could think of a few likely reasons that someone might suggest not using Macs in business. But I wasn't prepared for the lack of substance in this article.

"First off, the packaging is seriously overdone: The slogan "Designed by Apple in California" posivitively shouts at you from the box. Like I care."

Like it matters! Are you serious? This is the first reason for not using a Mac for a business? read more »

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Chris Heuertz, Executive Director of Word Made Flesh. Chris has a new book arriving on bookshelves next month called Simple Spirituality: Learning To See God in a Broken World. In this interview, Chris and I discuss his time in India with Mother Teresa, his impetus for this new book, and how this idea of spirituality can sometimes conflict with common perceptions of Christianity in a Western culture.

For those of you disillusioned with Christianity or those who lament the state of organized religion, I encourage you to check out how Chris and his community is "serving Jesus among the poorest of the poor." read more »

I read today about a proposed plan in the UK that would require all adults to carry a carbon ration card.

"Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights. Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company."

I absolutely agree that strong measures are going to have to be taken regarding energy consumption and stewardship of the Earth. But if there was ever a plan tailor-made for graft, corruption, and influence-peddling, this is it. I'm not sure how this plan uses "market forces" particularly since market forces will not determine what the initial carbon "entitlement" will be.

It's Friday so I thought I would get away from political and cultural topics for the day and talk about technology instead. (Though now that I think about it, this topic can be just as contentious if not more so than things like abortion and religion)

After 15 years as a PC/Windows user, I finally made the jump to Apple last month. I swore that I never would. Not that I didn't know anything about Apples. In fact, one of my first computers was an Apple IIc that I used throughout high school and wrote all my college papers on.

There have been a handful of reasons why I didn't think I would make the switch. read more »

A friend of mine posed these very thought-provoking questions:

I have a question for any Obama voters from one who is sympathetic to Obama, has defended him on many occasions, voted for him in the primary, but isn't sure that he could ever vote for him in the general election:

Four observations and then a question:

1) Today NARAL endorsed Obama.
2) The New York Times recently reported that the Obama campaign will make abortion an issue in the general election in an effort to draw independent and Republican moderate women who may be uncomfortable with the prospect of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
3) Obama voted against Roberts and Alito. Let me focus on Roberts: eminently experienced, qualified, and respected across the board. In my estimation, there was no reason to vote against him unless you were making abortion a litmus test. Keep in mind that there is a long precedent of giving the president some respect in terms of Supreme Ct. nominees. This explains why John McCain voted for Ginsburg and Breyer despite disagreeing with them on abortion.
4) Obama has never voted against any abortion measure, including partial birth abortion.

So...

How does this fit with Obama's post-partisan political persona? Isn't this just hardball partisan politics because no one could get the Democratic nomination without capitulating to the pro-choice lobby? Wouldn't it be more consistent with his post-partisanship to say: "You know what? 2/3 of Americans are against partial birth abortion. We need to respect that and find some common ground. Etc. Etc."

This is a big, big problem for me. Discuss...

A friend sent me a link to this fantastic story about a man in Brooklyn who befriended a mugger.

I think some people would want to use the term "heart-warming" but that is too cute and vastly underestimates the impact that a revolutionary act like this can have. Not only can we see the image of the divine on Julio Diaz because of his actions, but I think he was motivated for the same reason - he saw the image of the divine on this desperate mugger.

I am in the midst of reading Os Guinness's new book, The Case for Civility. I have had high expectations for this book and so far I am not disappointed. In my mind, Guinness is the foremost expert of this topic, which is too often misunderstood. He makes this point in the first chapter.

"This short essay is a proposal for restoring civility in America, as one model for fostering civility around the world and helping to make the world safe for diversity. But civility must truly be restored. Is it not to be confused with niceness and mere etiquette or dismissed and squeamishness about differences. It is a tough, robust, substantive concept that is a republican virtue, critical to both democracy and civil society, and a manner of conduct that will be decisive for the future of the American republic." read more »

I am excited to announce the official formation of my new consulting firm, Good Will Hinton Consulting, a turnkey consultancy for culture creating projects.

Ever since I started blogging, I have had increasing requests and opportunities to apply my skills at using online tools to facilitate community and conversation. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to work on many great projects on the side including being part of the founding team of Paste Magazine, web consulting for Innocence Atlanta, and fund-raising consulting for FRINGE.

This past Tuesday I resigned my full-time job with CoStar as a commercial real estate consultant to form this business to work with people, organizations, and companies that are doing works of significance. This could include non-profit organizations wanting to better understand how to do fund-raising with a younger generation, for-profit corporations wanting to better understand how to use capitalism for good in their communities, politicians wanting to harness the power of the Web, or artists needing a business-minded person to assist them.

The consulting services I am providing include the following:

• Strategic planning/Brainstorming/Visioneering
• Web 2.0/Blogging (including website creation, content creation, SEO, copywriting, podcasting/vidcasting)
• Online marketing
• Networking (access to my community of culture changer and influencers)
• Fund-raising/Donor Development

I greatly appreciate the prayers and support of all of my readers here.

For more information, contact me here.