In this episode, we wade into the waters of *Giovanni’s Room,* James Baldwin’s desperately beautiful and exposing novel of desire, dislocation and self-repression. Reckoning with this story alongside Genesis 9 and 1 Corinthians 13, we discuss gender and sexuality, human responses to the existential terror of vulnerability, and the importance of embracing our bodily existence as the incarnation of mystery.

Timestamps:

• 1:36 – Experiencing *Giovanni’s Room*
• 37:27 – Emily on Genesis 9
• 1:19:32 – Tommy on 1 Corinthians 13
• 1:49:12 – Next month’s book

Up Next: *The Buried Giant* by Kazuo Ishiguro

Connect with Us:

• Email: holywritpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @holywritpodcast
• Bluesky: @holywrit.bsky.social
• Website: https://holywritpod.podbean.com/

In this episode, we enter the deadly arena of *Sunrise on the Reaping,* the latest installment in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games saga. Reading this prequel alongside Exodus 1, Matthew 27, and Colossians 2, we discuss politics of spectacle, transgressive art, patient resistance to empire, and the vulnerable power of sacred language.

Timestamps:

• 1:32 – Experiencing *Sunrise on the Reaping*
• 31:20 – Emily on Exodus 1
• 1:03:44 – Tommy on Matthew 27 and Colossians 2
• 1:44:38 – Next month’s book

References: Wendell Berry poem entitled “1993: IV” (from *A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997*)

Up Next: *Giovanni’s Room* by James Baldwin

Connect with Us:

• Email: holywritpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @holywritpodcast
• Bluesky: @holywrit.bsky.social
• Website: https://holywritpod.podbean.com/

 In this episode, we explore Anne Leckie's book, *Ancillary Justice*–a novel of galactic empire, artificial intelligence and fractured identity. In our mind-bending conversation with Old Testament scholar Dr. Collin Cornell, we draw 2 Chronicles 33 and Romans 7 into the orbit of this alternative world, discussing everything from imperial reform and primordial splitting to memory and gender.

Up Next: *Sunrise on the Reaping* by Suzanne Collins

Timestamps:

• 1:48 –Experiencing *Ancillary Justice*
• 27:18 – Collin on 2 Chronicles 33
• 1:00:05 – Tommy on Romans 7
• 1:37:32 – Next Month’s Book

Connect with Us:

• Email: holywritpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @holywritpodcast
• Bluesky: @holywrit.bsky.social
• Website: https://holywritpod.podbean.com/