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PODCAST

TEXT AND ROCK.

Mark Shaffer and Eric Madison

Ancient myth and artifact meet poetry and rhythm for the post-modern soul.Hosted by Mark Shaffer and Eric Madison, TEXT AND ROCK is a weekly podcast that bridges the gap between ancient wisdom and contemporary life. Mark, an antiquarian, writer, and part-time punk rocker, and Eric, a musician, podcaster, and rhythm instructor, delve into topics ranging from biblical texts and ancient artifacts to modern spirituality and cultural critique. Their engaging discussions aim to help listeners read the

religion & spirituality

All Episodes

15:54

FAITH AND DOUBT 04. GOD BEHAVING BADLY.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/10/24

Send us a text A friend of the show stops by to chat about the Faith and Doubt Series. This episode we chat about how tough questions about God from our children actually get to the heart of adult issues with faith, doubt, and being a good human. Along the way, we talk about God behaving badly in the Bible, the Flood narratives, and how to read with the grain of the editors of sections of the Bible... It's a trip! We hope you love it! For Text and Rock Poetry, Podcasts, and Video Content or ...

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24:39

FAITH AND DOUBT 03. GOD AS MOSAIC, FAITH AS A CREED.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/10/07

Send us a text Faith & Doubt 03 — God as Mosaic, Faith as a Creed When you stay in the tradition long enough, you realize something unsettling: God doesn’t hold still. The moment you think you’ve got God figured out—a verse, a doctrine, a tidy metaphor—life shifts. A diagnosis, a betrayal, a miracle, a silence. Suddenly, God looks different again. That’s what this episode is about. The idea that God is not static . The story of Scripture is a moving picture—God in gardens, God in deserts,...

en-us

20:45

FAITH AND DOUBT 02. WHAT TO DO WITH (THE CHARACTER...

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/09/01

Send us a text Who gets to say what God is like? For many, the early answers were simple: God is good, loving, and holy. But as you grow, those answers get more complicated. The Bible’s portraits of God are not one-dimensional—they include the God who liberates and loves, but also the God who floods, rages, and stays silent. The tradition itself preserves these tensions, refusing to sanitize the divine image. In this episode, we explore how our images of God are always filtered—through cultur...

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24:01

FAITH AND DOUBT 01: TIME. PLACE. AUTHOR. IDEOLOGY.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/08/24

Send us a text What happens when the God you grew up with turns out to be a moving target? From the garden stroll in Genesis to the cosmic transcendence of the New Testament, the Bible presents wildly different portraits of the divine—each shaped by its time, place, and author. In this episode, I trace the fascinating evolution of God in the Judeo-Christian tradition: Genesis: God as an embodied human-like figure. Exodus: Storm deity on the mountain. Prophets: King above the nations. Job: U...

en-us

8:25

AN INTRO TO FAITH AND DOUBT.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/08/14

Send us a text Hey Text and Rockers! Just to change it up, Mark outlines the next several episodes of Text and Rock, including an introduction to the Text and Rock Blog and a 3-part series on Faith and Doubt. It's all about leaving the Judeo-Christian tradition so that you enter it again. How to lose old names for new names, and stop trying to fit new wine in old wineskins... If you are somewhere along the path of deconstruction and reconstruction, we hope it profoundly help...

en-us

26:08

Melt it Down: Confronting Our Ecological Crisis

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/07/20

Send us a text Mark and Eric explore the creative process behind writing poetry about ecological disasters and the prophetic role of artists in identifying problems before they become mainstream knowledge. For Text and Rock Poetry, Podcasts, and Video Content or to contact Mark and Eric, visit us at www.textandrock.com. You can find all of social handles here: TEXT AND ROCK SOCIALS. Want to support the show, experience our best creative work, buy one of our books or give an uncommonly be...

en-us

23:27

YOU ARE ONLY A WATCHER.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/06/19

Send us a text Mark and Eric talk about a philosophy of God that might work for you if simple answers do not. How does human religions actually work in real time? Is God something we can actually name and put in a box? Or it is a moving target of an ideal that humans cast out before themselves to deal with the difficulty of reality? We hope you love it! Here is a link to all our socials and our digital press... we have been quietly busy. Boom boom. https://www.https://linktr.ee/txtandrck An...

en-us

23:02

MR. SMITH STAYS HOME.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/05/17

Send us a text Mark and Eric talk wealth gap, systemic overhaul, and the scandal of politics in the fading western empire. Along the way, they talk about Jesus as a Second Temple Period human sage, a different kind of kingdom, and how to treat people in hard knock times. We hope you love it! Here is a link to all our socials and our digital press... we have been quietly busy. Boom boom. https://www.https://linktr.ee/txtandrck And below is the poem in this episode... Heart, Mark...

en-us

35:39

AWARENESS.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/05/07

Send us a text Mark and Eric kick around the idea of awareness as a philosophical pillar for meaning, life, and even divinity, before performing an original poem entitled "Awareness." We hope you love it! Here is a link to all our socials and our digital press... we have been quietly busy. Boom boom. https://www.https://linktr.ee/txtandrck And below is the poem in this episode... Heart, Mark and Eric AWARENESS. Awareness is the first and greatest gift of God. Look, traveller:...

en-us

29:05

PEACE.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/04/30

Send us a text Mark and Eric talk about how to have peace in a world of uncertainty. We hope you LOVE it! Here is a link to all our socials and our digital press... we have been quietly busy. Boom boom. https://www.https://linktr.ee/txtandrck And below is the poem in this episode... Heart, Mark and Eric ...PEACE... Peace comes when you are ready, and she is not all that heady— just quietly turns off the news because you’ll hear about it later, and besides, nothing can surprise you...

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32:28

YOUR WILD LIFE.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/02/10

Mark and Eric talk about how the animals can teach us wisdom if we have eyes to see. Along with it, we chat about how to move and breathe in a culture addicted to fast wealth and fame (which the vast majority of us never actually achieve). We hope you love it! For Text and Rock Poetry, Podcasts, and Video Content or to contact Mark and Eric, visit us at www.textandrock.com. You can find all of social handles here: TEXT AND ROCK SOCIALS. Want to support the show, experience our best creat...

en-us

21:13

LIVE AT THE TOGETHER WE RISE MURAL, CEDAR RAPIDS.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/02/01

Mark and Eric set up a street performance in front of the "Together We Rise" mural in Cedar Rapids, IA. The mural is a bunch of hands stacked up to the Cedar Rapids skyline, representing the need to work together to rise as a society. We did a live set of four poems, and the connection between them is doing the intellectual and moral work on yourself so that you can forgive and live graciously... as opposed to judging culture, opposite political parties, or individuals who have hurt you...

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32:45

I'M TRYING TO QUIT!

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2025/01/20

Mark and Eric kick talk about consumerist culture and how to cultivate a life that does more good than harm. We also speculate about space archaeologists in 10,000 years, building altars in the back yard, imaginary friends, and why we'd rather be eaten in two-three T-REX chomps than mauled by giant centipedes.We hope you love it! Be good to each other!Heart, Mark and EricFor Text and Rock Poetry, Podcasts, and Video Content or to contact Mark and Eric, visit us at www.textandrock.com.Want to ...

en-us

37:36

RITUAL... AND A BONUS LIVE SET.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/06/01

Mark and Eric kick around the theory of rituals in religious traditions, and try to help you focus on the posture of the heart that actually helps. They also introduce their new book HOLY ROLLER and pop a recent live set on the back end. We hope you love it! Be good to each other!Heart, Mark and EricJoin the TEXT AND ROCK FACEBOOK GROUP by clicking HERE. For a limited time, join our community and get a free digital press item as a free gift.For Text and Rock Poetry, Podcasts, and Video C...

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24:01

THE DIVINE JOKE.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/04/26

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25:15

CASUALTIES OF EMPIRE (WELCOME TO THE REBELLION).

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/04/16

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13:33

PARENTING AGAINST CULTURAL PRESSURE.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/03/14

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26:05

PLANETARY MYTHOLOGY.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/03/03

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18:13

ISLAND OF MALTA.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/01/31

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19:44

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS.

TEXT AND ROCK. ·

2024/01/31

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102 results

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