Renew the Arts Podcast

Michael is joined by Gracie McBride, who just finished up a summer internship with Renew the Arts. Gracie is a musician and a writer with a Master in Theology and the Arts from the University of St. Andrews. They talk about the value of arts education and her interest in the communal aspects of art appreciation and creation. Gracie makes music under the name Gracie Virginia. Stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear her unreleased single, “All of the Virginias,” which she generously allowed Renew the Arts to preview for our podcast before its release. LINKS Gracie McBride’s LinkTree (https://linktr.ee/gracievirginia)

Michael interviews Phillip Snyder, author, thinker, and founder of Living Room Disciple (https://www.livingroomdisciple.com/) (https://www.livingroomdisciple.com/) and Living Tome Publishing (https://www.livingtomepublishing.org/) (https://www.livingtomepublishing.org/), about the state of Christian fiction, both as a label and the genre, and the power of sanctified imagination. LINKS American Christian Fiction Writers (https://acfw.com/) Realm Makers Conference (https://www.realmmakers.com/) Living Room Disciple (https://www.livingroomdisciple.com/) (https://www.livingroomdisciple.com/) Living Tome Publishing (https://www.livingtomepublishing.org/) (https://www.livingtomepublishing.org/) The Tragedy of Oli Ricker, by Phillip Snyder (https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=XkLPkYOrVpjjttFIJBOrlF9G8p691FRfF2oqetEV7hL)

Michael is joined for the second part of his conversation with Chase Tremaine about AI. This time they delve into some of the tendencies of over-reliance on technology, and the ways that affects and disrupts human creation. They then explore Chase’s three rules of thumb for using (or not using) AI, especially as it relates to artistic creation. Chase also mentions his upcoming single, “More Changed than Changing” in this episode. It would mean a lot to us if you would pre-save it (https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/chasetremaine1/more-changed-than-changing) and check it out when it releases. LINKS Porchlight Festival RSVP (https://porchlight.art/festival/) Transhumanism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism) On the Technology of the Book (Episode 75) (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/rich-kid-syndrome-and-the-decadent-empire-of-ai/) OpenAI’s Evolution from Non-Profit to For-Profit (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/28/openai-for-profit-restructuring) Second-Screen Media Shifts at Netflix (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jan/17/not-second-screen-enough-is-netflix-deliberately-dumbing-down-tv-so-people-can-watch-while-scrolling) Suno Liability Waiver Terms of Service Analysis (https://blog.startupstash.com/suno-terms-of-service-analysis-protecting-copyrights-amid-ai-music-innovation-3fb8b590a1d0) Streaming/iTunes vs. Actual Popularity (https://joelgouveia.substack.com/p/1-million-monthly-listeners-12-tickets) Scottish Psalter (1564) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Psalter_(1564))  

Chase Tremaine joins Michael to discuss recent developments in AI news, as LLMs and Machine Learning have begun to touch on most every aspect of our lives. Is AI inevitable, or is its bubble ready to burst? LINKS AI IPOs and the Bubble (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ai-led-boom-ipos-raises-123807445.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANwQNnbJSMoZDbbgAzNPNKE_HKntMTw5TGFcEMS7ijOVUOFX9jAAcwhaUJ7zKL69NugKldqXCmKJEFnj97IptE8FkjSJ3ksniPnTkKU0SG73ww8r-2Aqa56ViYIMfypqw_T9UAUIJBif2Tjr6lddQGze3G10UguJd18EB0fRBLZX) Debt Margin at Record High (https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/07/20/margin-debt-finra-june-2026) Difference Between LLMs and Machine Learning (https://www.neuralconcept.com/post/ml-vs-llm-key-differences-applications-engineering-impact) Suicides Aided by Chatbots (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_linked_to_chatbots) ROI on AI Implementation (https://www.fullstack.com/labs/resources/blog/generative-ai-roi-why-80-of-companies-see-no-results) Data Center Watch (https://www.datacenterwatch.org/) Anthropic Resists Using AI for Surveillance and War (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3vlzzkqeo) AI and Government Surveillance (https://www.meritalk.com/articles/fbi-counting-on-ai-to-find-the-needle-in-the-haystack/) AI Psychosis and Addiction (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/20/nx-s1-5591473/ai-delusions-spiral-support-group-chatgpt) MIT Study on Cognitive Impact of Using ChatGPT (https://www.brainonllm.com/) Impact of Hyper-Scaling Data Centers on Water (https://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/drained-by-data-the-cumulative-impact-of-data-centers-on-regional-water-stress?utm_source=google-ad-grant&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=ceres_evergreen_keywords&utm_term=googleadgrant&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15876522884&gbraid=0AAAAADlebsJSBsWOsRL_L_07fU6bpx8No&gclid=Cj0KCQjw94bTBhDQARIsAN3vv0wUwIvQtxaX6qGX7MkQi0aFC-auDlduBQEi6dibmbHHEay118LMEy8aAtX_EALw_wcB) Were Poor Quinoa Consumers in Areas Who Grow It Worse Off? (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/31/472453674/your-quinoa-habit-really-did-help-perus-poor-but-theres-trouble-ahead) OpenAI Financial Leak (https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/) OpenAI ChatGPT Device (https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openais-first-hardware-device-is-reportedly-a-screenless-speaker-that-can-move/) “Mind Demons” in AI (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202403/quantum-weirdness-and-the-mind-demons-of-ai) Meta Employee Keystroke Surveillance (https://www.wired.com/story/meta-accidentally-let-employees-access-each-others-keystroke-data/) Deezer (https://www.deezer.com/us/) South Korea’s Chip Stock Drop (https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/korea-focused-koru-etf-dips-on-kospi-drag-samsung-sk-hynix-extend-selloff-into-us-big-tech-earnings-week/cZZLrtnR7Mr) Australia’s New AI Laws (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/23/openai-anthropic-australia-ai-regulation)  

Michael is joined by songwriter and songwriting teacher Aryn Michelle to discuss both her new songwriting textbook, Play Shape Create, and her new album, Bloodline, set to release in July. Stay tuned at the end to hear Aryn Michelle’s “Upper Hand (Tamar) (https://open.spotify.com/track/21g5jFPgHyfKOcgLqNcv3B?si=128de0d5973a4f13)” from Bloodline. LINKS Play Shape Create: The Joyful Art of Songwriting (https://www.amazon.com/Play-Shape-Create-Joyful-Songwriting/dp/1967262225), by Aryn Michelle Calhoun Aryn Michelle discography (https://www.arynmichelle.com/music/)  

Michael is joined by long-time friend and Renew the Arts Creative Director, Rusty Hein, for a different take on AI and related topics. LINKS Chatbot Thinks Upside-Down Cup is Prank (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3fYiLXVfPa4) Steve McDonald (artist who collaborates with AI) (https://www.instagram.com/stevedmcdonald) Elon Musk on AI surgeons (https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1916573094367625556) Audiofeed Music Festival 2026 (https://audiofeedfestival.com/) Porchlight Festival Save the Date! (https://porchlight.art/festival)

Michael continues his exploration of AI and its impact on the arts, discussing why he has hope the AI revolution will produce positive unintended consequences for artists of integrity and discipline. LINKS Iain McGilChrist, The Master and His Emissary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_His_Emissary) Chatbot Thinks Upside-Down Cup is Prank (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3fYiLXVfPa4) Ep 69 on Exploited Art (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/exploited-art-propaganda-pornography-pomp-and-product/) “Has God Really Called You to be an Artist? (https://renewthearts.org/has-god-really-called-you-to-be-an-artist/)” The Guardian, “How Hollywood writers triumphed over AI” (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/oct/01/hollywood-writers-strike-artificial-intelligence) On Franchise Fatigue (https://medium.com/@chiliflake/nostalgia-bait-and-franchise-fatigue-how-hollywood-manufactures-longing-dbb643a7bdf1) Six-Song Country Mashup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o) Christianity Today, “The Current No. 1 Christian Artist Has No Soul” (https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/solomon-ray-ai-christian-music-soul-singer/) 87% of Music Producers Use AI (https://www.landr.com/ai) 75% of Film Production Executives Cut Costs with AI (https://wifitalents.com/ai-in-the-movie-industry-statistics/) Audiofeed Music Festival 2026 (https://audiofeedfestival.com/) Porchlight Festival Save the Date! (https://porchlight.art/festival)

Michael begins the 2026 season of the Renew the Arts podcast with an exploration of the benefits and costs of technology, the history of the book, and how the adoption of AI will force humanity into a crisis of meaning and discipline. LINKS Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (https://www.amazon.com/Technopoly-Surrender-Technology-Neil-Postman/dp/0679745408) The Homeric Question (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeric_Question) dactylic hexameter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter) oral tradition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition) John Milton, Paradise Lost (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost) Cara Bergeron, “Medieval Memory” (https://classicaldifference.com/medieval-memory/) WCF, Shorter Catechism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Shorter_Catechism) peruse (https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/peruse-usage) as contronym Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein (https://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-Everything/dp/0143120530) Warbler, “America!” music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPWZch9fGo) Principle of Least Effort (“Rich Kid Syndrome”) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_effort) Second Law of Thermodynamics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics) Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath (https://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204374/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=185689537145&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CPqHFx9A1Kp06D78bcDWde1LMvga5sa-8YEAjBUoN5aeOhFiqabp-49z8ULqbIB8HaOTah2U1SP8JKVjdrNFIl-1zfPGvKw80zc6v9JAUK3UcqKtzHZV6jRHhsWDpxFNCzSo8lDQWAArAikElhexLReCwGWzt1InO499XSVqvx1bhGbnPxtBb6IoULNMOwz2ywsP8ztFS8WXgmAABMwQhmEHpaKPiA_tF_Z_6Wsp0rg.DgRtMuhrw3XZznKNIcZatYd8X-bYFV0mMqrbz6iRbec&dib_tag=se&hvadid=779621993755&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9052933&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=13497645768722275385--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13497645768722275385&hvtargid=kwd-49103790031&hydadcr=15555_13842827_8870&keywords=malcolm+gladwell+david+and+goliath&mcid=0e341c02df7038d7a249032da3544a7e&qid=1774522574&sr=8-1) “Silk Slippers of History” (https://igcpublishing.com/2022/12/20/silk-slippers-of-history/) “Hard Times Hard Men” quote (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8751435-hard-times-create-strong-men-strong-men-create-good-times) Andrew Chow, “ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study” (https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/) (TIME) Pope Leo XIV, “Preserving Human Voices and Faces” (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/communications/documents/20260124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html) Matt Shumer, “Something Big is Happening” (https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening) Civilized Creature, “Think I’m Ready” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSC3ZDDwGlg&list=OLAK5uy_k5p6ecXgr3IqByjZAJSnoWwY3KYtFCa6M&index=1)  

Michael answers an international mailbag full of great questions to close out 2025 on the Renew the Arts podcast, including discussions of how Christians should approach non-family-friendly biblical content, what makes art good, baking and cooking as an art, the Holy Spirit’s role in improvisational art as a prayer offering, and much more. Stay tuned at the end for “Spirit Move (https://civilizedcreature.bandcamp.com/track/spirit-move),” by Civilized Creature, featuring Isaac Wheadon, from the 2024 album Whose House (https://civilizedcreature.bandcamp.com/album/whose-house). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! LINKS 26k for 2026 Renew the Arts Fundraiser (https://renewthearts.donorsupport.co/page/26Kby2026?fbclid=IwY2xjawOxMWZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeKZ1jlpj-WSNq7z9la6PwtXqJh_ApufObto-MHc7aVvjXGJO2VtXLNDzh3KI_aem_KxWnG6e_TNIrVv9wYqSv0g) Sex ’n Hip-Hop with Sho Baraka (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/sex-n-hip-hop-with-sho-baraka/) Hosea, by Rachel Wilhelm (https://rachelwilhelm1.bandcamp.com/album/hosea) 1:07 — Go Bleep Yourself (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/007-go-bleep-yourself/) The Nothing Human Podcast (first fifteen episodes on Three Powers of the Human Spirit) (https://michaelminkoff.com/nothing-human-podcast/) Sight (2024 Angel Studios Movie) (https://www.angel.com/movies/sight) The Martyr Made Podcast (Daryl Cooper) (https://www.martyrmade.com/) Julianna Schlager (Ballet 5:8) (https://app.porchlight.art/artists/ballet-58) “Fellowship with the Worms,” by Lindsey Priest (https://www.ekstasismagazine.com/poetry/2023/fellowship-with-the-worms) “Forever Overhead,” by David Foster Wallace (https://welcometotheloonybin.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/forever-overhead/) Photay (https://pho-tay.com/) J. Lind, Rotations (https://jlindmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rotations) Kevin Schlereth, Settle In (https://kevinschlereth.bandcamp.com/album/settle-in) Brother James, Be Alive (https://justinjamessinclair.bandcamp.com/album/be-alive) Zane Vickery, “All Things New” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLCrsiJkJAI) Warbler, “America!” [Official Music Video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPWZch9fGo&list=RDZuPWZch9fGo&start_radio=1) Prayerbook, by Mike Roelofs (https://mikeroelofs.bandcamp.com/album/prayerbook)  

Michael collects together the top five things he thinks churches should communicate to their artists, based on his decades of work in the Christian arts space. One thing you might realize after listening to this episode: these five things should be communicated to pretty much every member of a church. Nonetheless, Michael discusses why artists typically don’t hear or feel these things communicated in most churches. LINKS Two Biggest Lies Christians Believe about the Arts (https://renewthearts.org/podcast/episode-1-two-biggest-lies-christians-believe-arts/) Why Are So Many Christian Artists At Odds With the Church? (https://renewthearts.org/why-are-so-many-christian-artists-at-odds-with-the-church/) Incarnational Evangelism: Preaching the Word to a Words-Weary World (https://michaelminkoff.com/incarnational-evangelism/)