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I'm going to Hello everybody and welcome back to Speaking with Joy. I just made myself a cup of tea and I would highly recommend that you do the same. It's been quite a few

months since I posted a podcast episode and quite an eventful few months, I might add. But I'm

excited to sit down today in a new chair in my new flat with a cup of tea. If you listened really closely, you could hear birds chirping outside, which seems

unseasonal given that it's nighttime and winter.

But I feel like after months of a great race, I am coming to both the ending and the beginning of seasons.

And I'm excited to start back the podcast as a part of that ending and beginning.

But first, I wanted to just do a catch you up episode talking about what's happened over the

past few months in my life,

what's going to come in the future, what I'll do with this podcast, and then to chat a bit about

Advent because we were entering into one of my favorite seasons of the year. So welcome back,

get yourself a cup of tea, and I'm so happy to be talking with you all at long last.

So for many of you who maybe have listened to the podcast for a long time, you will have known that for the last four years I have been working on agonizing over editing and re-editing a PhD on theology, imagination, and the arts.

I've been at St. Andrews University doing that. They have an Institute for Theology, Imagination,

and the Arts. And in my PhD, I've been exploring how art can prepare us for a good death.

So the role of art in devotional practice and in moral formation.

That was actually kind of the origin in some ways of why I started the podcast.

I thought it might be fun in this episode just to think back a little bit over the last four years

because this podcast really started

and has been consonant with my journey of doing a doctorate.

...