The Awkward In-between

20/11/2022

Episode 13: 'Where to from here' with Dave Schenk & DAMIEN

Wrapping up season 1, Dave & Damien chat about what they have learned and unlearned over the course of the previous 12 episodes. Has the podcast been worthwhile beyond personal catharsis for these two middle aged white guys!? Is there such a thing as objective truth, and if so can we know it?

More importantly ...will there be a second season of The Awkward In-between?

20/11/2022

Tomorrow morning the final episode of Season 1 will go live as Damien & Dave chat about what they have liked, disliked, learned and unlearned through the journey of Season 1.

But now what!?

If you have been listening or meaning to, let us know what you think Season 2 should look like in 2023 by taking 30 seconds to fill out this poll...

Let us know what (if anything!) we should do with The Awkward In-between podcast in 2023

06/11/2022

Episode 12: 'Asking questions is easier than answering them' with Konrad from Ideas Digest

Konrad is one of the hosts of Ideas Digest, a podcast that explores the religious & political ideas that divide us in order to open people's minds. In a world where it's getting harder to know who to trust and easier than ever to block out opposing view points, each episode is a fun deconstruction and helpful reconstruction of religious or political ideas for those willing to explore ideas outside their echo chamber & learn to understand their "enemy".

You can find Ideas Digest here:

https://www.facebook.com/ideasdigest/
https://www.instagram.com/ideasdigest/
https://www.youtube.com/c/IdeasDigest

27/10/2022

It seems that we managed to upload the wrong audio for this week's episode, which means that anyone who has already tried to listen has had a sneak peak at Episode 12 with Konrad from Ideas Digest podcast.

We are pretty sure it is all fixed now so you can now go & actually listen to the amazing chat we had with Dr Jeff Crabtree.

23/10/2022

Episode 11 - 'Older white guys researching sexual harassment' with Dr Jeff Crabtree

Jeff Crabtree's own experience of bullying in the music industry combined with his previous interest and research into creative minds led to him choosing workplace harassment in the music industry for his PHD research. It quickly became apparent that gender inequity and sexual harassment/abuse were a huge issue in the industry, and Jeff's research has now received considerable attention in the media including an appearance on TEN's The Project.

How does an older white man navigate the 'awkward in-between' of becoming a voice calling out injustice about an issue where some of the victims perceive him as one of the 'enemy'?

Jeff Crabtree is a casual academic, speaker, researcher, film-maker and multi award winning songwriter. He co-authored the book Living With A Creative Mind - an operating handbook for creative people. His doctoral research was the first ever investigation of workplace and sexual harassment in the Australian and New Zealand music industry.

You can read Jeff's research here:https://assets.apraamcos.com.au/images/PDFs/About/WORKPLACE-AND-SEXUAL-HARASSMENT-RESEARCH-REPORT-FINAL-MAY11.pdf

Find more of Jeff's work here: ZEBRA COLLECTIVE

14/10/2022

We are just a few episodes away from drawing an arbitrary line in the sand on 'Season 1' of the podcast and we have some questions for you...

* Should we start planning season 2?
* If so, what do you think we should change? What should we add, what should we remove?
* Should we actually get our teeth into the difficult conversations with people we disagree with to prove it can be done well?

Please let us know what you think so that we don't just end up with more of what two middle aged white guys think is good!!!

13/10/2022

DAMIEN won't share this to this page so I will! Check out his new single, it is apparently "crunchy" :)
..Dave

I have a new single out NOW!!
It’s called ‘Nowhere’, and triple j’s Max Quinn has described it as ‘Crunchy like a crisp apple’.

That’s the best sort of apple!

Check it out now:

https://gyro.to/87573Nowhere

10/10/2022

Episode 10: 'Loving people when we disagree' with Matt Prater
Matt Prater doesn't believe what we believe so should we kick him out?

Pastor Matt Prater is the Senior Pastor of New Hope Church Brisbane in Kelvin Grove just on the outskirts of Brisbane City. Matt is a passionate evangelist and shares his faith in Jesus with as many people as he can.

Matt also hosts a weekly radio show History Makers Radio & TV, which is played on over 700 radio stations across Australia. He has released a TV series and two books based on the amazing men and women he has interviewed over the years.

We have a great chat with Matt about how we can disagree with people about even our strongest beliefs in a loving way.

You can find New Hope Church Brisbane here: https://newhopebrisbane.com/

Check out Matt's podcast here: https://historymakersradio.com/

05/10/2022

This story in the news this week touches at the very heart of what this podcast is about.

What are people’s opinion on this?

ps we ask that when commenting you seek to be respectful, own your opinions and avoid personal attacks on others.

- DAMIEN

Essendon says City on a Hill’s values are in ‘direct contradiction’ with its own, as Daniel Andrews labels its views on homosexuality and abortion ‘appalling’

25/09/2022

Episode 9: ‘Rae Leigh wants you to stop the podcast and do what???’

‘Rae Leigh is an Australian country singer who had her first number one hit in 2022 with the song ‘Push ‘Em Up Jill’ - a cheeky comedy song about a nurse who would use her cleavage to get her way.

In this episode we discuss some of the awkward tension that can exist in the sexual space, particularly in the context of power, manipulation and control.’

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5HyVljD8KVQkos9ShWzABY?si=sI9TkDSVRNOluHz-AZhHOA

13/09/2022

Episode 8: 'Being the leftist guy in a right wing party' with Anthony Bishop

Anthony Bishop got involved in politics because he was concerned about the welfare of children in Queensland, particularly those in Foster Care. However, the political space is often one that is tarnished with discord, disharmony and bickering.

Since their first meeting at a music event, DAMIEN and Anthony have often discussed how politics can be more respectful and civil in the discussions. The fact that they were each members of parties on the opposite side of the political spectrum never superseded their beliefs in the dignity of all humans and the desire to engage in healthy connection and communication.

On this episode Anthony shares not only his desire for healthier political discourse, but also what it was like to become the atheist father of a gay son after being raised by Seventh Day Adventist parents.

31/08/2022

After we finished recording our 'official' episode 7 chat with Steve & Karl from CRAVE church, the conversation continued ...and the discussion was so good we couldn't resist making it available for everyone!

If you have listened to the main episode and want more, we will be releasing a bonus episode tomorrow!

30/08/2022

WORST PHOTO EVER ...SORRY!

Episode 7: "'Don't operate video cameras with your ge****ls' with Steve Meyerink & Karl Hand

Steve Meyerink has been a friend of Dave's for more than 20 years, often working together on the technical side of events both big & small. When Steve publicly announced his relationship with Karl Hand it sparked something of a faith crisis for Dave and his family as they wrestled with LGBT issues from a conservative Christian perspective.

Together Karl & Steve serve the community of CRAVE church in the City of Sydney. The church is actively engaged in home groups, outreach to the LGBT community, and food-relief ministry in public housing.

Karl is a published academic, specialising in New Testament studies. He is interested in the Gospel of Luke (especially his parables and their incredible characters and social settings), the way the New Testament came to exist (its 'source-history'), the philosophy of Biblical interpretation, and the semantics of Biblical Greek.

Checkout Crave Church here: http://www.cravemcc.com/

15/08/2022

Episode 6: 'Is life really about believing the right things?'

Pro baseball player, world touring singer songwriter, Bachelorette contestant, podcaster... Brady Toops bio is nothing if not diverse.

Brady has certainly wrestled with the awkward in-between as he has journeyed from Evangelical Christianity in small town USA to various forms of what gets called "success", exploring spirituality both philosophically and chemically, and finding his way back to appreciating the beauty in everything, even in his roots.

Brady used to think that life was about believing the 'right' things, but now he says that he knows pretty much nothing, and he is ok with that!

11/08/2022

Who do you think we should talk to and what topics do you think we should explore on future episodes of The Awkward In-between?

03/08/2022

Chad's first album was The Final Countdown by Europe; what was yours?

01/08/2022

Episode 5: 'Jesus would definitely have known who Metallica was' with Chad Johnson 🤘

Chad was the founder of Furnace Fest in the early 2000s and A&R guy for some of Tooth & Nail Records biggest bands for nearly 7 years before essentially walking away from the music industry to pursue something more akin to Christian missions.

In 2021, Chad was responsible for what was supposed to be a one-off Furnace Fest reunion, which was so successful that the team decided to go again in 2022.

18/07/2022

Episode 4: 'Working out what DOESN'T matter' with Leanne Hutton

Leanne Hutton introduces herself as a 61 year old lady with three adult daughters, but she believes her 'ministry' is empathy, something Leanne has found church people tend to 'suck' at!

Leanne says that her God is neither male nor female, is scientific, although she has no problem with the idea of miracles, and definitely is not an old white man in a castle on the clouds handing out gifts.

Dave & Damien chat to Leanne about the wilderness as metaphor for the awkward in-between, feminism, Leanne's favourite TV show and so much more.

05/07/2022

Episode 3: "Getting white men to shut up and listen" with Caleb Hart

A mystical experience of God as love changed Caleb Hart deeply, from a man who wanted to hit people to one who just wanted to hug them & tell them that God loved them.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Caleb went on to start the Canadian reggae band (yes you heard us correctly!), Tasman Jude , and become a regular visitor to Australia as they toured their music across thousands of kilometres of the country.

You can find Caleb & his music in all the normal places via his Link Tree here: https://linktr.ee/iamcalebhart

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-white-men-to-shut-up-and-listen-with-caleb-hart/id1629344763?i=1000568788164

04/07/2022

Episode 2: 'Never part of the club' with Paul Colman

British born, Australian raised and living in USA, Paul Colman is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who Wikipedia says "has made a name for himself as a Christian musician independently, with his band the Paul Colman Trio - PC3, as a solo artist, and as part of the Newsboys." Despite all this, and growing up as a pastor's kid, Paul says he "always heard church culture as an outsider."

Paul's love of metaphor and story, and a Jesus who seems to be at odds with much of modern church culture has meant he has often felt like he is on the outside looking in on 'the institution'.

Find Paul and his music here:
https://paulcolman.com/
https://www.facebook.com/paulcolman
https://www.instagram.com/paulcolman/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/never-part-of-the-club-with-paul-colman/id1629344763?i=1000568788190

04/07/2022

Episode 1: "Two white guys trying to kill less narwhals" with Dave Schenk & DAMIEN...

Dave Schenk & Damien Johnson have asked themselves whether the world needs to hear from two more middle-aged white guys. Clearly the answer is no, but they have started a podcast anyway!

With many questions, and certain about very little, Dave & Damo discuss why they hope and think that this podcast might still have some value.

(PHOTO: Dave & Damien getting ready to enjoy U2's Joshua Tree concert with Dave's son Josh who thinks his Dad doing a podcast is extremely cliched!)

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-awkward-in-between/id1629344763?i=1000568788274

04/07/2022

This is it! Tomorrow morning our first three full episodes of The Awkward In-between podcast will go live. We would love to hear what you think!

Episode 1: 'Two white guys trying to kill less narwhals' - DAMIEN & Dave Schenk chat about why they are making a podcast.

Episode 2: 'Never part of the club' with Paul Colman.

Episode 3 - 'Getting white men to shut up and listen' with Caleb Hart.

14/06/2022

If Spotify is your go-to for podcast listening we are now live there too :)

https://open.spotify.com/show/5HyVljD8KVQkos9ShWzABY?si=90ef8424b4e24c03

Listen to on Spotify.

14/06/2022

We are live!!!

Our teaser episode is now live on Apple Podcasts (still processing on other platforms but will show up soon). Have a listen to get a feel for where we are heading and then our first three full episodes will drop on Tuesday 5 July...

Episode 1: "Two white guys trying to kill less narwhals" with Dave Schenk & DAMIEN

Episode 2: "Always an outsider" with Paul Colman

Episode 3: "Getting white men to shut up and listen" with Caleb Hart

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-awkward-in-between/id1629344763

‎Religion & Spirituality · 2022

27/05/2022

What do you do when the beliefs that gave you certainty as a child no longer work? How do you cope when you have doubts surrounding a popular idea, but don't feel safe to express them? Why is it that society seems more polarised than ever, and yet you don't seem to fit in either extreme?

These are the very real questions that drive the hosts of this podcast. Meet Dave Schenk and DAMIEN, two middle-aged white guys who are both on the journey of questioning their once held certainties, as they are joined by a variety of guests who also find themselves in 'the awkward in-between'.

The Awkward In-between podcast will officially launch with our first THREE episodes on Tuesday 5 July, with episodes dropping fortnightly after that.