Category: Podcasts (Page 1 of 2)

As we begin production of season two, we are presenting a bonus episode recorded in the summer of 2024. In this episode, the Mayor of Gettysburg Pennsylvania, Rita Frealing shares her multifaceted journey through life that ultimately led to her childhood dream of being mayor of Gettysburg coming true.

Jan Powers is Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Gettysburg College. In this story Jan shares the challenges she faced being a female in academia. Jan began her career as a college professor in the late 1960’s. Archaic rules from the depression era as well as the cultural biases of the time only served as motivation for her to push the boundaries in her forty-nine-year career in higher education. Jan’s passion for teaching and strong determination are clear throughout her story.

Dr. Teresa Smallwood, the James Franklin Kelly and Hope Eyster Kelly Associate Professor of Public Theology at United Lutheran Seminary, shares the story of her life from growing up poor in rural North Carolina, to practice law and ultimately landing as a seminary professor.

Dr. Smallwood emphasizes the importance of hope, and the inspiration she received from her mother that has encouraged her every step of the way.

Read Dr. Smallwood’s biography for more information about her work and studies.

In this episode the Reverend Terrence McCarthy shares his ongoing effort to face and adapt to the challenges present in the last eight years of his life after a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and a stroke. He shares why he personally no longer likes the word recovery and why he prefers to focus instead on the power of persistence and striving.

Read Terrence’s article in Living Lutheran titled Something New Emerges.

In this the first episode of Tell Us A Story Athar Rafiq, Assistant Professor at Mount St. Mary’s University, chronicles his families’ journey as immigrants coming to the United States. We hear what the real costs are that are borne by those who immigrate from one country to another whether by choice or as refugees. History and family are left behind. There are sights, sounds, and smells that one may never experience again in the same way. Athar also describes the challenge that change presents when trying to revisit home, making it difficult to return home, even when that is an option.