Episode 80 of the podcast features my interview with Dr. Susan K. Roll with her expert and scholarly insights into the origins of December 25 as the date for Christmas. The author of the book Toward the Origins of Christmas, my conversation with Dr. Roll touches on the earliest documents adhering to that date and to how to address the pagan origins and influences on the holiday. As a Catholic lay woman, we also discuss her passions, insights, and ongoing work of being an advocate for women's ordination in the Catholic church.
Episode 79 features an interview with Blair E. Clark about the artwork she did for my book Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas. A native of Michigan, Blair is a Central Illinois artist whose work you can find at: https://blairjeffers.wordpress.com/. In our conversation, Blair talks about her process, some of the imagery embedded in the her work on the book that might not be immediately obvious, and also her approach to making Mary and Joseph people who were not white Europeans and yet still universal figures we can all relate to.