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Hosted by John W. Martens · 🇺🇸 US · EN-CA · 101 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
What Matters Most is focused on listening to people and what is on their minds, particularly dealing with the big questions of religion and spirituality. It emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement, a Centre at St. Mark's College, the Catholic college at UBC, but our programming is intended for all interested parties, Catholic or not. In the What Matters Most podcast, we talk to people, some well-known, some not so well-known, some Catholic, some Christian, some not affiliated with any religion, some affiliated with other faiths (Muslims, Sikhs) to find out what matters to them. It is a podcast focused on spirituality and faith, but truly focused on listening to others, to learning from those connected to the Church and to those who are not. It is grounded in personal conversations that ask guests to talk about what has motivated their vocations or their work and what gives their lives meaning and purpose. The format can best be described as a conversation that allows us to g
John W. Martens hosts What Matters Most, a religion show with 101 episodes published.
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 28 of What Matters Most! T In this episode I welcome my friend and colleague Kristine Henriksen Garroway to discuss her recent book The Dying Child : The Death and Personhood of Children in A
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 27 of What Matters Most! This episode focuses on a lecture given by Dr. Pavlo Smytsnyuk, "Securitizing Religion Amid the Russo-Ukrainian War: Nationalism, Identity, and Religious Freedom," gi
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 26 of What Matters Most! This episode focuses on a Gerry Turcotte’s new novel The Space Between (EnRoute Books and Media, 2026). This novel is a coming-of-age story of a catholic boy in Quebe
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 25 of What Matters Most! It’s just me today, Dr. John Martens, the host of What Matters Most and Director for the Centre for Christian Engagement at St. Mark’s College at UBC. This episode fo
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 24 of What Matters Most! In this episode I speak with Dr. Meredith Warren. Dr. Warren is Senior Lecturer in Biblical and Religious Studies at University of Sheffield and the Director of the S
Welcome to the ninth episode of Pop Culture Matters, Pluribus, with the smart and insightful Megan Fritts. Megan is a philosophy professor at UALR, co-host of the Philosophy on the Fringes podcast with her husband Frank
Welcome to Episode 22 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with economist Dr. Jared Rubin. Jared Rubin is an economic historian interested in the political and religious economies of the Middle East and Western Europe. H
Welcome to Episode 21 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Michael W. Higgins. Michael W. Higgins is a distinguished educator, media commentator, and author. He has been president of St. Jerome's University, St.
Welcome to Episode 20 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Adam J. Schneider. This episode focuses on the history and relationship, often rocky, between psychoanalysis and Catholicism. This is Adam’s first appea
A bonus episode for Easter! As we are in the midst of Easter, Holy Week, I wanted to offer a few reflections on Easter season, in this case a reflection on Palm or Passion Sunday, which has just passed, and on Easter Sun
Welcome to Episode 19 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with (and listen to) the Rev. Dr. Rob James. This episode focuses on the Christian understanding of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and what that means theologic
Welcome to Episode 18 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu. This episode focuses on language, post-colonial biblical studies, and how colonialism turned the Bible into a weapon of power and opp
Welcome to Episode 17of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Micah Kiel. This episode focuses on being transformed and what it means to take seriously not only our spiritual lives, but the temporal lives and needs
Welcome to Episode 16 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Judith Scholes and Dr. Nick Olkovich. This episode focuses on decolonizing curriculum and indigenizing curriculum, and what that means particularly at C
Welcome to Episode 15 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Jordan Ryan. This episode focuses on decolonizing theology, particularly biblical theology, using as an example Jordan’s new commentary on Acts of the A
Welcome to Episode 14 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Casey Collins. This episode focuses on religion in Japan, particularly Buddhism, and, we can break that down even further, a new religious movement know
Welcome to Episode 13 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Matthew J. Cressler. This episode is a distinct episode in the project, following that of Steven Tyra, which covers Christian nationalism in the reforme
Welcome to the eighth episode of Pop Culture Matters, a conversation with my good friend and a great friend of the podcast, Martin Strong. We returned to a discussion of Christmas movies for this episode, but not our fav
Welcome to Episode 11 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Ruth Braunstein, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University’s SNF Agora Institute. A cultural sociologist interested in the role of religion and morality
Welcome to the first What Matters Most podcast that is also offered in video form on YouTube. This episode introduces our Christian Nationalism project and our plans for the next few years in terms of podcasts, webinars,
Rob James
Chair of the Avon Lake Charter Review Commission · RAMMFIT ATHLEISURE
2 appearances on this show
Megan Fritts
UALR
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Adam J. Schneider
Department of Corrections, Washington State
1 appearance on this show
Rev. Dr. Rob James
VST
2 appearances on this show
Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu
Portland Seminary and George Fox University
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Ruth Braunstein
Johns Hopkins University
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Elizabeth A. Castelli
Barnard College, Columbia University
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Sarah K. Johnson
Saint Paul University
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Paul Spilsbury
Regent College
1 appearance on this show
Dr. Joan E. Taylor
King's College, London
1 appearance on this show
Stan Chu Ilo
University of Nigeria
1 appearance on this show
Rev. Dr. Stan Chu Ilo
Awgu diocese, Nigeria
1 appearance on this show
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What Matters Most is hosted by John W. Martens. The show is categorised under religion (spirituality) and has published 101 episodes.
What Matters Most has published 101 episodes.
What Matters Most regularly covers religion, spirituality, christianity. It sits in the religion category, with a spirituality focus.
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Episodes of What Matters Most average 71 minutes, giving guests a long-form format with plenty of time to expand on their expertise.
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