Bobby interviews Elizabeth Crispina Johnson, author of And Then Nicholas Sang and What Do You Hear, Angel?

Bobby Maddex interviews Kelly Ramke Lardin, author of the new Conciliar Press children’s book Josiah and Julia Go to Church: A Young Child’s Guide to Church Etiquette.

Bobby Maddex interviews Angela Isaacs, the author of the brand new AFP children’s book Goodnight Jesus.

Bobby Maddex interviews Angela Doll Carlson about her new AFP book The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia. This is the second of the live call-in editions of Ex Libris!

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's research center responsible for robotic space missions, will lay off more workers before the year ends due to budget constraints. JPL Director Laurie Leshin has announced in a memo addressed to employees that the reduction will affect 325 people, or about five percent of its whole workforce. Leshin explained that the lab took various measures to meet its budget allocation for the 2025 fiscal year and to minimize the adverse effects of a limited budget on its workers. In the end, though, JPL "reached the difficult decision" to make "one further workforce reduction."

The lab already cut 530 employees and cut over 100 contractors from its roster earlier this year because of uncertainty over the final budget that the Congress will give NASA for 2024. It also froze hiring in response to the dilemma. The main reason why the lab had to implement those measures was because the Mars Sample Return Program was allocated a much smaller budget than it needed. NASA had requested $950 million for the mission, but only $300 million was allocated for it. 

NASA's original plan was to bring home the samples collected by the mission in 2040. But its budget ballooned from $7 billion to $11 billion, and as The Washington Post notes, the government found the return date "unacceptable." For the 2025 fiscal year, NASA only requested $200 million for the project that could go through significant changes. The agency is now looking for ways to alter the mission and is even considering proposals from private companies. 

Leshin said that the layoffs will affect all areas of the lab, including its technical, business and support divisions. "[W]e had to tighten our belts across the board, and you will see that reflected in the layoff impacts," she said. JPL's director also said that the US presidential election results have nothing to do with the reduction that the "action would be happening regardless" of its outcome. 

Dr. Christine Mangala Frost has lectured widely on comparative religion and is a published novelist with two books to her name exploring the consequences of religious belief for human action. She is currently working on a study comparing and contrasting Hindu and the Christian Orthodox beliefs. Here she presents a reflection on the theme of theodicy in relation to the Book of Job.

Dr. Rossi talks about the jungle of wicked thoughts in our minds and the need to not judge others.

Today Dr. Rossi interviews Bishop John (Abdalah) of the Antiochian Archdiocese on the subject of purity.

Dr. Rossi visits with Fr. Alexander Atty at Antiochian Village and discusses Fr. Alexander's cancer diagnosis and how he has dealt with it. Part two of the interview.

Dr. Rossi welcomes Fr. John Jillions, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, to talk about the healing nature of the Psalms.

Today we have the special treat of hearing several recordings obtained by Dr. Rossi of people singing the Jesus Prayer.

Dr. Rossi continues to talk about the Jesus Prayer.

Dr. Rossi interviews a recent graduate of St Tikhon's on his insightful thesis, Jesus and Adam.

Dr. Rossi reflects upon the Gospel account of the temptation of Jesus in light of his trip to the Mount of Temptation Monastery in the Holy Land.

Today Dr. Rossi interviews Dr. Jane (Carnahan) Hinshaw, a Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Health Care System. She is also an Orthodox Christian. They discuss mental health, medicine, and therapies designed to help those struggling.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews John Maddex, Co-Founder and President of Ancient Faith Ministries, about his coming into the Orthodox Church, the founding of AFM and what he has learned along the way.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. Joshua Trant, parish priest of St. Matthew the Apostle Mission in Baton Rouge, LA.

Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the role of "narrative" in the life of Orthodox Christians with Fr. John Shimchick. Fr. John is the rector of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross (OCA) in Medford, NJ. The video interview by Fr. John with Dr. Rossi that is reference in this podcast can be found here.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Fr. John Behr (Director of the Master of Theology Program and the Father Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professorship of Patristics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY) on a homily he gave on the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews seminarian Dn. Simon Menya on his vision for ministry in his home country called "Project Uganda." Dn. Simon is a student at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

Dr. Rossi reflects on the book titled On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus by Lev Gillet.

Dr. Rossi continues his reflections on the book titled On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus by Lev Gillet.

Dr. Albert Rossi offers a reflection on the question, "What Would Jesus Do?", and offers a more helpful variation on this popular question.

Dr. Albert Rossi shares his understanding of how to discover Christ's joy in both the small and great experiences of our daily lives.

Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the cultural understanding of joy in contrast with the Orthodox understanding of joy.

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on praying the Jesus Prayer with a living faith.

Dr. Rossi reflects on joy.

Dr. Rossi reflects on a challenging phrase.

Fr. Lawrence Farley reviews Reza Aslan’s book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, calling it "a tired rewriting of the same nonsense that pseudo-scholars have been churning out for some time now."

Fr. Philip LeMasters, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University, examines Pope Francis's controversial response to homosexuality and gay marriage.

Fr. Lawrence Farley discusses what it was that made the Child of the Desert so controversial—namely, baptizing Jews.

Fr. Lawrence Farley critically examines the hermeneutic of suspicion that marks modern liberal biblical scholarship.