165: The Intercessor - Art, Faith, & Repair in the MAGA Maelstrom

About this episode

Bill Cleveland talks with Arlene Goldbard about her book 'The Intercessor' and explores themes of discernment, community resilience, and the role of artists in uncertain times.

In this episode I talk with Arlene Goldbard about her new book that I think takes on a quiet but consequential democratic problem: how, in unstable times, the hunger for certainty can slide into surrender—of discernment, of agency, and responsibility. Rather than offering answers or heroes, her book The Intercessor uses story to explore how people learn to stay in relationship, inquiry, and ethical choice without handing their power over to charismatic leaders, rigid belief systems, or the promise of spiritual or political shortcuts. In this conversation, we explore three deeply relevant themes: Intercession as a practice of discernment, and learning how to listen without disappearing yourself in the process. How artists and cultural workers can function as bridges , helping communities resist the pull toward false certainty. And repair as a practiced skill, not an abstract ideal, but rather personal, communal, and spiritual repair that only happens when people remain accountable to one another. You’re right to call that out. No reason to shrink the ecosystem. Here it is restored—full cast, fuller descriptions, URLs embedded in the titles, and organized by the four categories…

People in this episode

Host: Bill Cleveland

Guest: Arlene Goldbard

Topics covered

• art and faith
• democratic practice
• cultural organizing
• discernment
• community resilience
• ethical choice
• repair

Keywords

• art
• faith
• democracy
• community
• certainty
• ethical choice
• cultural workers
• intercession
• repair

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Intercessor, In the Camp of Angels of Freedom

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