ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
Author, educator, and nonprofit founder Suzanne Ross sits down to explore the complexities of human nature with scholars, artists and activists who are giving their all to cultivate peaceful, compassionate communities. These dialogues focus on art as a "third thing" which peacebuilders use to bend the imagination away from violence.
These conversations reflect decades of partnership and lessons learned in the pursuit of conflict transformation, healed trauma, and true peace. At the heart of each exchange is a distressing insight, a "wicked truth" about human society: When we become convinced of our own righteousness, "good people" can do some really, really bad things.
Come join a growing community of peacebuilders, educators, authors, and changemakers willing to be seen as "wicked" for their commitment to empathy, nonviolence, and transformative learning. Let’s create a more compassionate world!
Hosts:
Update frequency:
biweekly
Average audio length:
33 minutes
Guest interviews
English
United States
12 episodes
since Jan. 26, 2026
episodic
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
In this season finale of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross and producer-editor Lyle Enright look back on eight conversations with peacebuilders and cast a vision for a new season centered on uncertainty, the sense of freefall, and the “joy of being wrong.”Suzanne and Lyle revisit core themes from th…
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Search past episodes of The Wicked Truth: Third Things First.
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
What can Schrodinger’s cat teach us about conflict, rivalry, and our relationship to God? In this episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross talks with physicist and aerospace engineer Pablo Bandera about his book Reflection in the Waves: The Individual Observer in a Quantum Mechanical World—and h…
In this follow‑up episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross continues her conversation with psychotherapist and theologian Dr. Gena St. David about the brain’s role in peacebuilding, activism, and everyday conflict.Gena explains why people are rarely in the same “stage” of grief about our politic…
What happens in our brains when we feel betrayed, and how do we learn to trust again? In this episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross talks with psychotherapist and theologian Dr. Gena St. David about betrayal, threat, and nonviolent action in our current political moment.Building on her work a…
Do you feel in touch with your deepest goals and desires? Or do your dreams feel more like distractions from the hurt and broken relationships you've been avoiding? In this follow‑up episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross continues the conversation with magician and Rene Girard scholar James W…
What if close‑up magic and Tarot readings could help us loosen our certainty, imagine new possibilities, and take small steps toward peace with justice? In this episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross talks with magician and Rene Girard scholar James Warren, and Roman Catholic mystic and Tarot …
In part 2 of their conversation, Suzanne Ross talks with theologian and peacebuilder Dr. Andrew DeCort about moving through shame and rage into what he calls the “purple sphere” of grief—and discovering blessing and joy on the other side.
Andrew, author and founder of the Neighbor Love Movement and…
Scholar, peacebuilder, and “dissident theologian” Andrew DeCort joins us from his bathtub to discuss his arrest at an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis, and his discovery that anger is “a fire that can make beauty.” In this extraordinary conversation, Andrew and Suzanne explore the emotional landscap…
What happens when you discover your church sits beside an enslaved burial ground? That the descendants of those enslaved people still live just blocks away?In this episode of Third Things First, Suzanne Ross talks with Rev. Dr. Julia Robinson Moore about her courageous work telling the truth about …
Suzanne and Dr. Brian Ammons continue explore Wicked through the unique lens of sacred text, unearthing themes of hope, disillusionment, and the power of ancient wisdom. They also emphasize personal resonances with Elphaba's journey and the impact of cultural context on representation. Finally, the…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Suzanne Ross, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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