Podcast
No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp
Hosted by Tokens Media · EN
What does it really mean to live a good life—in our politics, our faith, our work, and our relationships?
On No Small Endeavor with Lee C. Camp, we explore the ideas, practices, and public debates that shape human flourishing today. Each week you’ll hear thought-provoking conversations with bestselling authors, philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, theologians, artists, and political leaders—people wrestling with the biggest questions of meaning and purpose in our time.
Together we ask:
How can religion be a force for healing instead of division?
What does neuroscience reveal about happiness, habits, and productivity?
Where do politics and justice meet the pursuit of the common good?
How do truth, beauty, and goodness help us live well—personally and collectively?
If you care about faith, politics, social justice, science, or the search for meaning, you’ll find courageous, practical conversations here. Because pursuing a meaningful life is no small endeavor—and we’re with you on the road.
Learn more at nosmallendeavor.com.
80episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Subtext: Netflix is Boring Because of Our Short Atten—
Apr 2900:32:52Tap to summarizeAre our shrinking attention spans rewriting the rules of storytelling? This week on The Subtext, we dig into the claim that streaming platforms like Netflix are deliberately dumbing down storytelling to accommodate distracted viewers. What is being lost when stories are engineered for half-watching? Are we shaping content around distraction, or training ourselves to expect it? And in a world where story is increasingly reduced to “content,” what does it mean to tell something true, meaningful, and worth paying attention to? Things we mentioned in this episode: Trust Me on Netflix Waiting for God by Simone Weil Jefferson Fisher on Diary of a CEO Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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259: Kristin T. Lee: An Immigrant Daughter’s Reckoning with Faith and Identity
Apr 2700:51:52Tap to summarizeWhat happens when we question the faith that formed us? Dr. Kristin T. Lee, physician and author of We Mend with Gold: An Immigrant Daughter’s Reckoning with American Christianity, reflects on her journey as a Chinese American navigating faith and identity in the immigrant church of her youth. In this conversation, she explores the beauty and complexity of immigrant communities, the unconscious bias that can undermine true belonging, and the courageous work of reconstructing a more authentic and life-giving spirituality. Together, we consider what it means to pursue faith and community in a fractured world. Key Ideas: Embrace Complex Identity Authentic living begins by integrating, not erasing, the contradictions that exist between one's culture, faith, and personal history. Question Inherited Faith Honest spiritual growth often means examining what we’ve been taught and discerning for ourselves how those ideas might lead to true flourishing. Redefine What’s “Normal” Cultural norms and unconscious bias often hide power and privilege, and naming them opens the door to deeper healing and justice. Practice Honest Community Flourishing relationships depend on vulnerability, where hidden pain can be shared and transformed in community. Resist the Endless Climb The pursuit of the American Dream can rob us of true meaning and purpose if we don’t also consider the people it leaves behind. Find Beauty in Brokenness Like kintsugi, a meaningful life is not about avoiding fractures, but allowing them to be mended into something more whole and honest. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode with Kristin T. Lee Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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258: Unabridged Interview: Shankar Vedantam
Apr 2400:55:24Tap to summarizeThis is our unabridged interview with Shankar Vedantam. We all like to believe that we live our lives rationally, deliberately, and consciously. But what if our conscious decision-making is just the tip of the iceberg? “ I feel like I have a full picture of what's happening inside my own mind,” says Shankar Vedantam. But it turns out “there is a large portion of our mind that's working outside of our conscious awareness.” Shankar founded Hidden Brain Media in order to teach people what science has uncovered about our brains. In this episode, he discusses why we’re not as autonomous as we think we are, and the profound implications for the ways we act, think, and live. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode with Shankar Vedantam Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Subtext: God Had a Big Week in Pop Culture
Apr 2200:50:42Tap to summarizeFrom a Gen Z grunge pop artist’s critique of Bible interpretation to politics to the Artemis II mission, God had a big week in pop culture. This week on The Subtext, we unpack a wave of God-talk across pop culture, from Sofia Isella’s haunting critique of biblical “context,” to Paula White-Cain’s eyebrow-raising comparison of Trump to Jesus, to Perez Hilton’s post-near-death approach to scripture. We also zoom out (literally!) with a powerful Easter message from the Artemis II crew that reframes faith, humanity, and our place in the universe. Things we mentioned in this episode: Endurance by Alfred Lansing The Wright Brothers by David McCullough The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey There There by Tommy Orange Cross Vision by Gregory A. Boyd Jesus was a Feminist by Leonard Swidler Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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258: Shankar Vedantam: Hidden Brain (Best of NSE)
Apr 2000:52:12Tap to summarizeWe all like to believe that we live our lives rationally, deliberately, and consciously. But what if our conscious decision-making is just the tip of the iceberg? “ I feel like I have a full picture of what's happening inside my own mind,” says Shankar Vedantam. But it turns out “there is a large portion of our mind that's working outside of our conscious awareness.” Shankar founded Hidden Brain Media in order to teach people what science has uncovered about our brains. In this episode, he discusses why we’re not as autonomous as we think we are, and the profound implications for the ways we act, think, and live. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode with Shankar Vedantam Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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257: Unabridged Interview: Rosalind Picard
Apr 1701:12:19Tap to summarizeThis is our unabridged interview with Rosalind Picard. What if the technologies we build to serve us begin to quietly shape who we become? As part of our series The Human Cost of AI, Rosalind Picard offers a profound window into both the promise and the peril of artificial intelligence. A pioneer in affective computing, her work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, ethics, and the search for meaning raising urgent questions about human dignity, embodiment, and care. We’re sharing the full, unabridged conversation between Rosalind Picard and Lee recorded live at the Baylor Symposium on Faith & Culture: Technology and the Human Person in the Age of Al. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode 2 of The Human Cost of AI Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Subtext: Should the Church Have Reputation Managers?
Apr 1500:42:15Tap to summarizeWhat happens when a church starts thinking like a brand, and hires people to protect its image? In this episode, we explore the rise of reputation management inside religious institutions, starting with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its growing ecosystem of influencers, media strategy, and image control. From the “second Mormon moment” on social media to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, we ask what it means when faith communities adopt the tools of PR and branding. Along the way, we look at how reputation management can shape not just perception, but truth, connecting it to broader questions of power, storytelling, and what gets protected (or buried) in the name of a larger mission, including the complicated legacy of figures like Cesar Chavez. When reputation matters most, who pays the price? Things we mentioned in this episode: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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257: The Human Cost of AI: What Is It All For?
Apr 1300:51:45Tap to summarizeWe’re building smarter, faster tools every day, but are they helping us live better lives or just accelerating us in the wrong direction? In part two of The Human Cost of AI, Lee C. Camp shifts from diagnosing the forces behind the AI revolution to discerning how we might live well within it. Drawing on voices from neuroscience, theology, and philosophy, this episode explores three essential questions around purpose, human dignity, and agency. At stake is nothing less than authentic human flourishing in a technological age. Guests in this episode: Carissa Carter, Scott Doorley, Josh Brake, Rosalind Picard, Baratunde Thurston, Joe Vukov, and Carlos Whittaker. Key Ideas: -Clarify Your Purpose In a culture obsessed with speed and efficiency, we must ask why we are using AI and whether it serves meaningful living or misdirected progress. -Reimagine What’s Human As machines replicate language and reasoning, we are invited to rediscover human dignity through embodiment and relationship. -Practice Courageous Agency Even without control over systems, we can resist, choose differently, and cultivate habits that align technology with the common good. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode 2 of The Human Cost of AI Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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256: Unabridged Interview: Josh Brake
Apr 1001:19:56Tap to summarizeThis is our unabridged interview with Josh Brake. What if the tools shaping our future are also reshaping our humanity? As part of our series The Human Cost of AI, Josh Brake stands out as a uniquely thoughtful voice, bringing together engineering, philosophy, and theology to ask deeper questions about technology and human flourishing. We wanted to bring you the full, unabridged conversation that Josh and Lee had. This is a rich and honest exploration of what it means to live wisely, faithfully, and humanly in an age of artificial intelligence. Show Notes, Resources, and Transcript for abridged episode 1 of The Human Cost of AI Join NSE+ — our subscriber-only community — for ad-free listening, member-only bonus content, and early access to live show tickets. Your membership helps make No Small Endeavor sustainable. No Small Endeavor: An award-winning podcast that asks what it means to live a good life. Through conversations with leading thinkers across theology, philosophy, psychology, politics, and the social sciences, we explore human flourishing, meaning and purpose, faith and culture, science and religion, virtue and character, religion and spirituality, community, and the practices that help shape a good life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Follow @nosmallendeavor Host Lee C. Camp: Lee has worked as a professor of theology & ethics for more than 25 years, teaching and writing on topics of faith & politics, inter-religious dialog, and human flourishing at the intersection of theology, moral philosophy, and social sciences. Follow @leeccamp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Subtext: Everyone Hates Poetry
Apr 800:57:27Tap to summarizeLee and Savannah welcome a guest on this week’s episode to discuss why everyone hates poetry! In the hot seat is professor and poet Donovan McAbee, who recently published Holy the Body, a collection of poems exploring loss, grief, and doubt. Together, they talk about the beauty of uncertainty and how poetry can be the translator of life’s darkest experiences. If you liked the selected poems McAbee read on this episode, make sure to pick up a copy of Holy the Body! Things we mentioned in this episode: Holy the Body by Donovan McAbee Selected Poems by Seamus Heaney Endurance by Alfred Lansing The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon Viola Davis on Good Hang with Amy Poehler Falling by James L. Dickey Praying Drunk by Andrew Hudgins Models of the Church by Avery Dulles Follow Donovan McAbee: Instagram Follow The Subtext: Instagram | Threads | X | YouTube | TikTok Follow Lee: Instagram | Twitter | Lee's Newsletter Follow Savannah: Instagram | Substack Join our Email List: nosmallendeavor.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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