Welcome to Season 2 of the Olasky interview brought to you by listener-supported World Radio.

I'm your host, Jill Nelson.

Last year we brought you 12 of Marvin Olasky's best interviews, past and present.

Thanks to you, Season 1 jumped into the top 200 of iTunes News and Politics podcasts. So we are back with season two. 12 more of Marvin's interviews, plus his perspective on those conversations, why he wanted to talk to this person and what he found most interesting. Three episodes are available now and and we'll release one per week for the next

nine weeks. We start today with a 2013 conversation Marvin had with theologian John Piper.

Piper is, of course, a conference speaker and the author of more than 50 books. He's also the

retired pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.

Marvin is here now to discuss this conversation. Marvin, hello. Hi, Jill. Good to be back with you.

Well, I'm sure most of our listeners are familiar with John Piper and his writings, and many have

probably heard him speak. What made you want to sit down for this interview? Well, John is fun to listen to,

also fun to watch. He has this combination that baseball scouts would like. Baseball scouts go for

power and speed. John Piper is intellect and passion. So he's fearless. He's excited about the

gospel. When you sit across from him, his eyes light up, his chin bibles back and forth. A lot of fun to watch.

So is he the same in person as he comes across when he's speaking?

I think so. He's excited by God. He's excited by what God does, the pleasures of God. You know, his most famous book is

Desiring God Meditations of a Christian hedonist. And that really astounded me at first. I thought

Christianity was a kind of stoicism, the opposite of hedonism, the search for pleasure. But he's

impressed me. He's taught me over the years that

like Eric Little and chariots of fire, when he runs, he feels God's pleasure. You can see

Piper when he preaches when he talks, he feels God's pleasure and it's fun to watch and listen to him.

What stuck out to you in this conversation you had with him. Anything particularly interesting?

Interviewers sometimes ask about the best day you've had, and my tendency sometimes is

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