Forefront 360

Discussion: AI Art (Part 1)

The Forefront crew discusses AI’s impact on the arts:

• Why has AI become so important recently?
• What are some positive use cases of new AI tools?
• What are our biggest concerns about the use of AI in the arts?

Interview: Dr. Karen Swallow Prior

Rich Christman and guest host Houston Arledge interview Dr. Karen Swallow Prior about the ideas in her all-new book, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos, 2023).

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, and professor. In addition to The Evangelical Imagination, she is the author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She has a monthly column for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, The Gospel Coalition, and various other places. She hosted the podcast Jane and Jesus. 

Interview: poet Chris Wheeler

Heather and Cody interview Chris Wheeler, a writer and poet rooted in Middlebury, IN. His nonfiction, liturgies, and poetry have been published in Barren, Fathom, Story Warren, Reformed Worship, Think Christian, Banner, and The Rabbit Room, among others. He published his first collection of poetry, Solace, in 2020. His second collection, Masks & Mirrors, came out in spring 2023.

Discussion: The Chosen TV Series

Cody and Nate discuss The Chosen, the hit multi-season series about the life of Jesus, told from the perspective of His followers.

Topics include:

• How The Chosen came to be
• Does it improve upon other recent Scripture-to-screen adaptations?
• Favorite scenes
• Is the show ever sacrilegious?
• Does The Chosen "bring Scripture to life"?
• Bonus nitpicks

Interview: Laura Reece Hogan

Cody and Rich talk to Laura Reece Hogan.

She is the author of Butterfly Nebula (Backwaters, University of Nebraska Press, forthcoming October 2023), winner of the Backwaters Prize in Poetry, Litany of Flights (Paraclete Press, 2020), winner of the Paraclete Poetry Prize, the chapbook O Garden-Dweller (Finishing Line Press, 2017), and the award-winning nonfiction spiritual theology book I Live, No Longer I (Wipf & Stock, 2017). She is one of ten poets featured in the anthology In a Strange Land (Cascade Books, 2019).

You can preorder Butterfly Nebula today.

Interview: Live at A Night of Art with Josh & Zac Tiessen

Jennifer Greenman interviews Josh & Zac Tiessen, live at Forefront Festival's A Night of Art. They discuss questions of faith, conservation, artistic process, elitism, and dealing with success and failure. 

Special: Event Preview with Josh & Zac Tiessen

In this special episode, Nate talks to artists Josh & Zac Tiessen about two upcoming events based on Josh's new painting series, Vanitas and Viriditas. Click below to learn more or get tickets.

• Grand Opening Exhibition at Rehs Contemporary in NYC, April 28
• Forefront Festival: A Night of Art with Josh & Zac Tiessen in Rochester NY, May 4

 

Interview: James Matthew Wilson

Live from the 2022 Catholic Imagination Conference in Dallas, TX, Nate and Rich interview Dr. James Matthew Wilson.

James Matthew Wilson is Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the Founding Director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing, at the University of Saint Thomas, Houston. He is an award-winning scholar of philosophical-theology and literature, and he is a poet and critic of contemporary poetry. His work appears regularly in First Things,  The Wall Street Journal​, The Hudson Review, and many other publications. He has published twelve books, including six books and chapbooks of poetry.

Discussion: Art as a Hobby or Career?

Cody, Rich, and Nate discuss how their career journeys intersected with the arts, and whether art is done best as a hobby or a career.

Interview: James K. A. Smith

Live from the 2022 Catholic Imagination Conference in Dallas, TX, Nate and Rich interview James K. A. Smith.

James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin University, where he holds the Gary & Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. He is also the Editor in Chief of Image Journal. Trained as a philosopher with a focus on contemporary French thought, Smith has expanded on that scholarly platform to become an engaged public intellectual and cultural critic. An award-winning author and a widely traveled speaker, he has emerged as a thought leader with a unique gift of translation, building bridges between the academy, society, and the church. 

In this conversation we discuss a number of topics at the intersection of Christianity, philosophy, and the arts, with a focus on James's new book, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now.