The Pivot

"What happens when life stops working?" Musician / Author Andrew Osenga talks with thinkers, artists, scientists and theologians about dealing with change, failure, and starting over again. Faith, health, career, family... No subject is off limits in this engaging and intimate series.

The Pivot is a religion podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 141 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Pivot, a religion show with 141 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #135

  Jonathan Rogers: What Do You Do When Your Best Work Fails Completely?

  Sep 15, 20261h 5m

  Description:  Sixteen years ago, Jonathan Rogers finished the novel he was proudest of — and watched it fail so completely that it never made it onto a single bookstore shelf. In this conversation with Andrew Osenga, Jonathan revisits that heartbreak as he re-releases The Charlatan's Boy with a new cover and new illustrations, and traces how the experience forced him to ask an uncomfortable question: why did he need strangers he'd never meet to tell him he mattered? That reckoning eventually pulled him out of a lonely writing life and into founding The Habit, a community built on the idea that writers don't need to compete to do good work — they just need someone in their corner.   Thought-Provoking Quotes:  "Why is it so important to me that people I don't know admire me? Why do I need to be loved by people I can't love back?" - Jonathan Rogers    "It's the loneliest thing in the world when the book comes out and the world doesn't stop and notice."  - Jonathan Rogers    "You don't have to prove yourself. You don't have to make a name for yourself. You've got a name and you've got an identity."  - Jonathan Rogers    "I'm not nearly as afraid of failure as I used to be."  - Jonathan Rogers    “Writing is a good thing to do whether you get published or not” - Jonathan Rogers   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned : The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers  The Habit — Jonathan's membership community/organization for writers  The Habit's "Focus Retreat"     *Watch this interview on Andrew’s YouTube channel !   *All episode music is by Andrew Osenga.    Guest’s Links:  The Habit Facebook Instagram X   Connect with Andrew:  Website YouTube Substack Spotify Facebook Instagram How to Remember by Andrew Osenga Hold the Light by Andrew Osenga   *The Pivot is produced in conjunction with Four Eyes Media .

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  Episode #133

  [ENCORE EPISODE] Sally Lloyd-Jones: Is It Too Late to Do the Thing You Love?

  Aug 18, 20261h 4m

  Description: This episode with Sally Lloyd-Jones originally aired on November 21, 2017, and it's one of Andrew's favorite conversations from the show. Sally spent years working as an editor for other people's books, certain that writing her own wasn't really an option — until, in her forties, everything changed. She and Andrew talk about the fear that kept her editing instead of writing, the moment she finally decided to find out if she could do it, and how that decision eventually led to books like The Jesus Storybook Bible , which has since sold millions of copies. Thought-Provoking Quotes: “The idea was the seed. I already have the idea, and it’s up to God what the harvest is, but my job is to show up.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones “We judge our stories halfway through our story... you never judge a novel halfway through a novel. It’s only in looking back that you can see the pattern.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones “If you make it excellent, it will reach everyone. If you don’t make it excellent, you won’t, because that’s just how it works—excellence removes all the barriers.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones “If you trust what makes you laugh or what moves you, that’s what you have to write... you’ll be original without trying, because you’ll be you.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones “Find the thing that brings you alive, because the world needs someone who’s come alive.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones “You break through the author barrier and you get out of the way, and it becomes about the story.” - Sally Lloyd-Jones Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones Baby Wren and the Great Gift by Sally Lloyd-Jones How to Be a Baby, by Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd-Jones His Royal Highness, King Baby: A Terrible True Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones Handbag Friends by Sally Lloyd-Jones *Watch this interview on Andrew’s YouTube channel ! *All episode music is by Andrew Osenga. Guest’s Links: Sally Lloyd Jones’ website Sally Lloyd Jones’ YouTube Sally Lloyd Jones’ Facebook Sally Lloyd Jones’ Instagram Connect with Andrew: Website YouTube Substack Spotify Facebook Instagram How to Remember by Andrew Osenga Hold the Light by Andrew Osenga *The Pivot is produced in conjunction with Four Eyes Media .

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  Episode #132

  [ENCORE EPISODE] Allen Levi: Can You Trade the Spotlight for a Front Porch?

  Aug 4, 20261h 1m

  What does a life spent practicing law have to do with crafting a blockbuster novel? For Allen Levi, the answer lies in the power of storytelling. Before the acclaim of his novel, Theo of Golden, Allen spent 13 years honing his skills as a lawyer—a profession where words were his primary tool for persuasion. In this encore episode, we explore how those years of legal practice—combined with his pivot into music and his dedication to observing the beauty in small, everyday things—laid the foundation for the deep, resonant narrative of Theo of Golden. Join us as we look back at the journey that brought this powerful book to life, proving that the stories we tell are defined by the experiences that shape us. Thought-Provoking Quotes: “As a lawyer, my tool was words. My goal was to persuade. And so after 13 years of law practice, when I ventured into music, it just dawned on me—my tool is words with melody or music and rhythm. My job is to tell stories.” - Allen Levi “To do small things well over a long period of time in the same place is how the kingdom seems to move forward.” - Allen Levi “I see the crop that I’m responsible for as beauty. That’s what I farm.” - Allen Levi Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: allenlevi.com — Allen Levi’s website Theo of Golden by Allen Levi The Last Sweet Mile by Allen Levi Oliviatown by Allen Levi Change for the Better by Allen Levi “Bucket List” by Allen Levi Young Life Louis L’Amour George MacDonald *All episode music is by Andrew Osenga. Guest’s Links: Allen Levi’s website Allen Levi’s Facebook Allen Levi’s Instagram Allen Levi’s YouTube Connect with Andrew: Website YouTube Substack Spotify Facebook Instagram How to Remember by Andrew Osenga Hold the Light by Andrew Osenga *The Pivot is produced in conjunction with Four Eyes Media .

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  Episode #131

  David French: Can We Handle Criticism Without Breaking?

  Jul 21, 20261h 6m

  It started with a dare. David French had his whole life planned out as a teenager — Air Force, fighter jets, the whole thing — until eyesight issues and a friend's bet rerouted him toward the LSAT, and somehow, Harvard Law School. From there, nothing about his career went the way he expected: over a decade defending free speech cases for people on the right and the left, then a writing habit that started as a hobby and eventually carried him to the National Review, the founding of The Dispatch, and a column at the New York Times. David talks with Andrew about what it means to “write with regret instead of outrage” — and what it actually looks like to let real criticism in without letting the bad-faith kind wreck you. Thought-Provoking Quotes: “I would just summarize my life or my professional life as I'll just call it the accidental career. Like all the way through.” - David French "It was literally my experience with people trying to censor me that got me interested in free speech and the First Amendment.” - David French "My goal is to be a person with thick skin and a soft heart." - David French "We're not God. We're wrong about a bunch of stuff. And we don't know what we're wrong about, obviously, because if we knew we were wrong, we'd change. So to learn that we're wrong, somebody has to show us." - David French "A revival usually begins with, 'I have sinned.' A revolution begins with, 'you have sinned.'" - David French "Write with regret, not outrage." - David French Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: The New York Times — where David is currently an opinion columnist The Dispatch — outlet David helped launch in 2019, home of his newsletter National Review — where David wrote from 2015–2019 FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Education) — where David served as president Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — First Amendment work American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) — First Amendment work Mere Orthodoxy — publication David mentioned reading a thoughtful critique of his Respect for Marriage Act position in The After Party — the church-focused project David works on with Russell Moore and Curtis Chang *Watch this interview on Andrew’s YouTube channel ! *All episode music is by Andrew Osenga. Guest’s Links: David French’s Column with the New York Times David French’s Facebook David French’s Instagram David French’s X Connect with Andrew: Website YouTube Substack Spotify Facebook Instagram How to Remember by Andrew Osenga Hold the Light by Andrew Osenga *The Pivot is produced in conjunction with Four Eyes Media .

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  Episode #129

  Joey Lankford: Can Digging in the Dirt Change Your Life?

  Jun 23, 202659 min

  Joey Lankford’s journey is anything but predictable. He went from running a 10-location healthcare company in his early 30s to selling everything he owned and moving his family to the tip of South Africa. When he eventually returned home to Tennessee, he started something totally different: a workforce development farm on state land. In this episode, Joey traces the thread connecting those wild shifts. It all started with adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia, which completely changed how his family viewed their purpose in life. He shares what he found living in the townships outside Cape Town—the unexpected joy, the friendships that reshaped him, and a simple greenhouse of tomatoes that eventually inspired his farm, Cul2vate. Now, that same vision is helping previously incarcerated men and women across Middle Tennessee build new careers. Thought-Provoking Quotes: "What we thought was the adoption of a baby girl to save her from the plights of Africa actually ended up being God's upside-down story of her redeeming our lives and giving us purpose and mission." - Joey Lankford "It was harder to move back from Africa than it was to move to Africa — because I knew what I was coming back to." - Joey Lankford "There's something about putting your hands in the dirt with somebody that makes it not matter if you just got out of jail or if you drove a Bentley up to the barn. The dirt just sort of equalizes it." - Joey Lankford "We all have addictions — yours are just socially disapproved of. Mine just don't create the need for anyone to put me in a cage. But they take me to the same end: separation from the Lord." - Joey Lankford "When people talk about doom and gloom, I'm like — no. The kingdom is moving at warp speed. There are people doing some really cool stuff, using their resources to redeem a lot of broken things." - Joey Lankford Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Cultivate — Joey's workforce development farm ministry; farms behind churches across Tennessee employing previously incarcerated individuals. Men of Valor — Nashville-based reentry ministry Joey named as a key source of Cultivate workers. Goodwill Industries — Partner organization providing life skills training for Cultivate graduates on a monthly basis. Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee — Early distribution partner mentioned in building out Cultivate's food-giving model. Tennessee Farm Bureau — Partner that helped establish the Meet the Need foundation, which supplies protein for Cultivate food boxes. *Watch this interview on Andrew’s YouTube channel ! *All episode music is by Andrew Osenga. Guest’s Links: Cul2vate’s website Joey Lankford’s Facebook Joey Lankford’s Instagram Joey Lankford’s X Connect with Andrew: Website YouTube Substack Spotify Facebook Instagram How to Remember by Andrew Osenga Hold the Light by Andrew Osenga *The Pivot is produced in conjunction with Four Eyes Media .

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