Shows
Behind the SeenS4 EP 4: Healing Through Grace with Lisa FieldsIn this episode, Mark and Branden sit down with Lisa Fields, the founder of the Jude 3 Project, to discuss the complexities of race, politics, and social justice in America. They delve into Lisa's background, her journey into ministry, her work with the G3 Project, and the importance of courageous conversations.Together, Branden, Mark and Lisa to think about personal responsibility, the importance of diverse viewpoints, and the transformative power of forgiveness and grace.2025-01-2352 minBehind the SeenS4 Ep 3: Resisting Divide and Embracing True Community with Derek MinorIn this episode, Mark and Branden explore the complexities of belonging and acceptance in today’s fragmented culture. Joined by artist and leader Derek Minor, who shares his journey of resisting divisive systems and promoting authentic relationships, they delve into the shifting nature of community, especially among younger generations, and the role of acceptance in fostering true connection.With the upcoming national election, they reflect on the concept of healing, and the controversial doctrine of hell wrapping up with an exploration of how individuals can be a light in their communities amidst political and social tur...2025-01-101h 03Behind the SeenS4 Ep 2: Deconstructing Evangelicalism with Brian ReckerIn this episode, Mark and Branden delve into the complex layers of identity with guest Brian Recker, who has critically reexamined the evangelical environment. Brian shares his personal journey of deconstructing deeply rooted beliefs, shedding light on biases related to race, religion, and identity. The conversation explores the need for environments that facilitate the exploration of biases, the courage to challenge ingrained beliefs, and the importance of belonging. They also discuss the impact of evolving perspectives on community, ministry, democracy, and the tension between holding onto traditional values and embracing progressive change. 2024-12-261h 09Behind the SeenS4 Ep 1: Can We Find Common Ground?After a two-year hiatus, hosts Branden Polk and Mark Bauer explore the personal and societal upheavals experienced during their absence. They discuss the importance of vulnerability, the impact of race, faith, and political divisions, and the broader challenges facing society. As they reflect on their own life transitions and the state of the world, they delve into themes of trust, leadership, and the necessity of meaningful dialogue. 2024-12-1259 minBehind the SeenS4 Trailer: Welcome Back to Behind the SeenWelcome to 'Behind the Scene' with Brandon Polk and Mark Bauer, a podcast dedicated to exploring the complex layers of identity and addressing challenging topics such as racial dynamics, political divides, and gender stereotypes. This season, they will engage in raw and unfiltered conversations with diverse guests, aiming to spark change and foster compassion and connection. Join them on a journey of growth that goes beyond comfort zones for an enlightening and necessary dialogue.2024-12-0501 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 6 Victim or Villain with Karith FosterContinuing with our #CheckTheBox theme for this season, special guest Karith Foster joins us to discuss two boxes we tend to put people in when it comes to the race conversation: Victim or villain. In reality, those labels aren't so cut and dried, especially when you introduce intersectional identities into the mix. Karith Foster is a comic turned motivational speaker, TV & radio personality, actress, author, blogger and entrepreneur—and her new book, 'You Can Be Perfect or You Can Be Happy,' teaches readers basic concepts for embracing life's messiness. In this episode, we discuss how we can...2020-09-0143 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 5: Conscious MasculinityWhat are barriers to men living conscious, compassionate, connected lives in their homes and communities? How does this apply to the race conversation?
Guest: Addison Brasil, VP of branding for tethr, an online peer-to-peer support community for men.
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Tethr: @tethrformen2020-07-0658 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 4: Policing Behavior and the Preservation of PowerIn this episode, we discuss policing behavior (behavior of police) and the act of policing other people's behavior in our day-to-day lives. Recent civil unrest around the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has shined light on inconsistencies in what we view as acceptable policing. More often, policing of any kind is a preservation of power and is an attempt to invalidate those who are being policed.
#CheckTheBox Call to Action: Who are you policing in your life in attempt to preserve your power over them? Who is policing you in order to preserve their power...2020-06-0928 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 3: The Racism of the White ModerateIn this episode we discuss the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. A lot of white people are being confronted for the first time with the injustice of racism and unsure how to process it. Others are perplexed why race has to be dragged into the equation at all. In this conversation, Branden turns the questions on Mark to discuss how the unexamined identities of white moderates continue to perpetuate racism. The second part of the discussions turns to how to transform guilt into change.
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Mark Bauer: @B...2020-05-1649 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 2: Is Love Really Blind?Before the Tiger King, the quarantine binge was the reality show Love is Blind, which puts strangers in neighboring cubes and allows them to get to know one another without the benefit of seeing each other. Then, they fall in love. Or at least that's the idea. But is love REALLY blind? How do subtle ways we talk even give away things about how we were raised? And if love isn't blind, should it be? That's what we're talking about in today's episode.
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Mark Bauer: @B...2020-04-2943 minBehind the SeenS3 Ep. 1: Racial Justice in a Post-COVID WorldHas coronavirus altered how you view racial disparity? Has it amplified it? Who are the populations most affected by coronavirus disruptions? Disruptions of this magnitude always allow for a shift in the landscape. When all of this lifts, how can we rebuild more equitably?
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*The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and do not reflect that of their employer2020-04-1452 minBehind the SeenS2 Ep. 6: What is Fear Trying to Tell You?This is actually a replay of one of our favorite episodes from last season. I've experienced a lot of fear the last few weeks around quitting my job and moving to Los Angeles for the summer, and in conversations with friends there seems to be a widespread season of fear that a lot of folks are walking in. So, in this episode we go a little deeper into understanding what fear is trying to tell us and how we can practice getting over that fear. Continually pushing the boundaries of what you can overcome unlocks a whole new perspective o...2019-06-0551 minBehind the SeenS2 Ep. 5: Forgiveness without Repentance, a Review of the Emanuel DocumentaryIn this episode, we review the Emanuel documentary, which covers the history of the black church in Charleston leading up to the church shooting in 2015 by Dylan Roof that killed nine congregants, including the pastor. The movie's primary emphasis is on the expressions of forgiveness by family members toward Dylan Roof, less than 48 hours after he committed that heinous act.
Co-hosts Mark Bauer and Branden Polk explore the idea of forgiveness and who it is for, and why forgiveness doesn't need to be preceded by repentance for it to be impactful, right and meaningful.
We a...2019-05-2248 minBehind the SeenS2 Ep. 4: Understanding ColorismIn the last episode on racism in dating, Todrick Hall briefly touched on something that a lot of listeners picked up on: Colorism—the idea that whiteness has defined some skin tones and features in people of color as more beautiful and acceptable in society. This twisted idea has resulted in a sort of prejudice and resentment from some blacks toward other blacks. In this episode, we discuss the origins of colorism, why it's an especially nasty form of prejudice, and how to differentiate colorism from legitimate criticisms of anti-black self-hate.
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Be...2019-05-0755 minBehind the SeenS2 Ep. 3: Racism in Dating (w/ special guest Todrick Hall)In a freewheeling conversation about dating, singer/songwriter/producer Todrick Hall joins Behind the Seen to discuss our racial “preferences,” how we acquire those preferences in the first place, and why we are OK completely disregarding a different group of people as potential partners based on such inconsequential factors as race.
References
For more on the breakdown of numbers by Nathalie Reshard looking for a straight black man with multiple degrees, who is a high performing athlete and who has never been to prison, visit her blog post here.
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2019-04-231h 01Behind the SeenS2 Ep. 2: Code Violations | #BeSeenIn today's episode, we're talking about code violations. We have our own personal codes, informed by religious texts or some other source, that we violate every day. And we have societal codes, laws and regulations that are in place to help guide, control and keep order in society.
We discuss how easy it is to slip into a cycle of guilt and shame when we violate our codes, and how difficult it is to break that cycle. It takes a certain amount of privilege to be able to carve out the space necessary to reflect on the b...2019-04-0953 minBehind the SeenS2 Ep. 1: Being Human | #BeSeenWelcome back to Season 2 of Behind the Seen! We kick off season 2 with an episode on what it means to be human. A lot of our experience as humans involves stumbling through life trying to figure out what, exactly, makes us tick. What makes us happy. And we have to do this while simultaneously fighting off identities that the world wants to put on us. But we’re never really able to fully comprehend because we have different things competing for our attention.
How does this factor into racial justice? External conflicts emanate from internal conflict. We quiet our internal con...2019-03-2750 minBehind the SeenBONUS Episode: Oscar Reaction and Black Representation in Pop CultureThe Oscars never fails to provide good fodder for race discussions and this year proved no different. Despite the diverse representation of presenters throughout the program and several firsts for black honorees and other people of color, the show wasn’t without its detractors. Even the Best Picture winner, Green Book, was widely panned for historical inaccuracies and for how creators approached the storytelling of a black entertainer and his white driver. In this bonus episode of Behind the Seen, filmmaker and producer MoJo Adam and freelance creative director Obi Okolo share their reactions to these Oscar films and di...2019-02-2759 minBehind the SeenEpisode 17: Racism, Slavery and the ChurchIn this episode, we take the audio from our first Facebook Live that included special guest Bill Riedel, pastor of Redemption Hill Church in Washington DC. We brought pastor Bill on to discuss the race and the gospel series he preached earlier this summer. He discusses what compelled him to teach on this subject and what he learned in the process.2018-12-201h 02Behind the SeenEpisode 16: JustificationIn this episode, we discuss Justification, a really strong word used both in a legal context and a theological context. Justification is the act of showing something to be right or reasonable. In the theological context, the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God. And in the race conversation, what we’ve done historically is justify legally and spiritually the mistreatment of people who look different from us. These justifications aren’t as explicit as they might have been during slavery or Jim Crow, but they continue to influence how we talk about the mistreatment of the...2018-11-2642 minBehind the SeenEpisode 15: How to Talk to Your Relatives About Politics at ThanksgivingIn this episode, we take a different approach to those articles you see all over the place this time of year that tell you how to talk to your relatives about politics. Our culture is so polarized that even a holiday about solidarity and gratitude can be hijacked to create division rather than unity. And so we will talk through what it looks like to have a posture of curiosity and gratitude, and offer some guidance on how to navigate political discussions that do end up getting a little heated. And while Thanksgiving is the springboard to this topic, these...2018-11-1951 minBehind the SeenEpisode 14: Understanding DehumanizationIn this episode, we discuss Dehumanization, which is a pretty strong word but one that we all engage in in some degree or another. Dehumanization occurs when we don’t fully see other people for their inherent worth or value. We don’t see the hardships they might be enduring, the joy as well as their sorrows.
You might argue that dehumanization is among the greatest sins. If Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, and then the other one is like it--to love your neighbor as you love yourself. In orde...2018-11-1242 minBehind the SeenEpisode 13: The Importance of Safe Spaces — Even for White PeopleIn this episode, we discuss the importance of safe spaces. They are certainly important for minority or marginalized people to associate to freely air grievances without feeling a need to defend themselves. Less often we hear about safe spaces in regards to white people. Steve Park, executive director and founder of Little Lights in Washington DC, joins the episode to talk about the community guidelines he has erected for a Race Literacy 101 class and why that's necessary to fostering healthy dialogue on the topic of race.2018-11-0540 minBehind the SeenEpisode 12: The Politics of IdentityIn today's episode, we discuss how identity politics--the associating of people around social groups by which they identify--is often necessary to advancing equity where these groups have been typically marginalized. Politics of identity flips that and is more of a manipulative device that seeks control rather than justice, and uses identity as a wedge.2018-10-3027 minBehind the SeenEpisode 11: White FragilityIn this episode we discuss the ego, and how the ego creates stories about ourselves and the world in a way to understand reality. Think of it as a sort of programming. And this programming that tells us how to see the world becomes integral to our identity. And any new information that is introduced that conflicts with what we know literally becomes an attack of the self. How can we posture ourselves for integrating new information into our lives that allows us to live harmoniously with others without giving up core parts of who we are?2018-10-2245 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 10: Conforming to ExpectationsToday we’re going to talk about expectations, and how our expectations guide so many of our daily actions and how we see and interact with the world. So what are expectations? And what happens when we forfeit parts of ourselves to conform to unhealthy expectations put on us by others?2018-10-1551 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 9: ReputationToday's episode coincides with Columbus Day, a day dedicated to honoring a man for his contributions to history, but who also committed horrific atrocities in the name of colonization. How should history judge such unsavory characters? We'll discuss how we form ideas about people's reputations, and how too often we take snapshots of people's lives—oftentimes their worst moments—and use those to make judgments about their character and value.2018-10-0843 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 8: Generational TraumaWe all know that we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, but new understandings around a relatively new field called epigenetics, meaning “outside of genetics," shows how we can also inherit our parents fears, stress, and anxieties that even they themselves inherited from their own parents. In this episode, co-hosts Mark Bauer and Branden Polk discuss how that trauma passed down from slavery and Jim Crow might manifest today and what we should do with that knowledge.2018-10-0148 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 7: Understanding PrivilegePrivilege is a word given to an idea that says there are certain advantages that some people have access to based solely on their race, gender or economic status. These advantages are wholly unearned because we were born into them. We inherited opportunities from decisions that other people made. The most obvious ones are those our parents made, but also the decisions those in society have made leading up to the time and place where we find ourselves.
In this episode, Branden Polk and Mark Bauer discuss the real-world effects of privilege and how it impacts our everyday lives.2018-09-2444 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 6: Are You Listening?In this episode, we delve a little deeper into what it means to actually listen. It’s one thing to hear someone, but it’s another thing to actually understand what they are trying to communicate.
Assuming that you two are speaking the same language, a variety of factors can get in the way of listening. You have the speaker, who is trying to communicate from their perspective and life experiences, and then you have the listener, who is interpreting that information and trying to make sense of it based on their perspective and life experiences.
By the end of the e...2018-09-1743 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 5: Using Fear as a GuidepostWe’ve talked a lot about discomfort and tension when we encounter things that are different than us. This episode will go a little deeper into the actual psychology of that fear. Practicing getting over that fear is like building and stretching any muscle—it requires repetition. And continually pushing the boundaries of what you can overcome unlocks a whole new perspective on life when you aren’t inhibited by fear.2018-09-1246 min
Behind the SeenEpisode 4: The Excuses We MakeFor this episode, it’s important that we talk about justification—or the excuses we make—when we’re confronted with our biases. If the last three episodes have caused you any kind of shame, guilt or anxiety, our typical reaction when we experience that kind of discomfort is to put it on somebody else, usually the person who pointed out our wrongness in the first place. We become the best defenders of ourselves in those moments to absolve our responsibility. But once you realize the discomfort is saying more about you than it is about the other person, there's freedom wh...2018-09-0546 min
Behind the Seen[BETA] Episode 3: Understanding 'Black Anger'In this episode, we try to de-stigmatize the stereotype of the "angry black person." We have this idea that civil discourse means we can’t be passionate and angry, and so when dialogue rises to that level, white people use it as an excuse to disengage.
But political dialogue can often get heated, and we rarely shy away from it when we're emphatic about highlighting an issue that's important to us. It’s a necessary tool that we have taken away from a whole segment of people who need to use their voices for expressing their grievances.
*What you're listening to i...2018-08-2042 min
Behind the Seen[BETA] Episode 2: Understanding WhitenessIn the first episode, we talked about what is at the root of misunderstandings and the snap judgements we make about people based entirely on the information we’re provided about their outward identities. Those outward identities never tell the full story about who that person is behind the seen, and when we’re confronted with those misunderstandings it creates tension between what we think we know and what actually is.
And when a whole bunch of people live together who share a bunch of commonalities related to economic status, religion, and ethnicity, they develop social norms as general guidelines for...2018-08-1340 min
Behind the Seen[BETA] Episode 1: Understanding MisunderstandingFor this first episode, we introduce who we are, discuss what we’re trying to accomplish and lay some ground rules for the rest of the series.
Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is contribute to dialogue that will help produce racial harmony. We know that there are still terribly, dark, hateful and racist people in the world, but our goal isn’t necessarily to talk to them. The people we’re trying to reach are the ones in the center, where we believe there’s more ignorance than animus, where their perplexity has led to disengagement on the topic.
To...2018-08-1339 min