Monks and Punks
Claim This Podcastby Sander Hicks
Podcast Overview
<p><strong>Monks and Punks</strong> is a podcast about fighting the power with all your heart.</p><br><p>Hosted by Sander Hicks, the show explores radical spirituality, nonviolence, punk rock, democratic socialist politics, grassroots activism, and the everyday work of resisting empire — from elections and organizing to culture, music, and building things with your hands.</p><p>These are long-form conversations and sharp arguments about how people actually challenge power, stay human, and refuse to give up — even when the odds are stacked against them.</p><p>This is not passive commentary.</p><p> It’s for listeners who still believe ideas, culture, and organized people can change the world.</p><br><p><strong>Fight the Power, With All Your Heart!</strong></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
1/15/2024
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Recent Episodes
May 12, 2026
"Netanyahu Is Distorting the Bible: My Interview with Rabbi Andy Kahn"
Rabbi Andy Kahn leads the American Council for Judaism — one of America's oldest anti-Zionist Jewish organizations. In this conversation, we go deep: the Jubilee debt-forgiveness laws in Hebrew Scripture, the difference between the "Old Testament" and the Hebrew Bible, Netanyahu's weaponization of Amalek and the Book of Esther, and why the genocide in Gaza must be understood through a political economy lens. Kahn argues that Judaism's theological tradition demands integration, not nationalism — and that conflating Jews with Israel is antisemitism, even when Jews do it themselves.<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
May 10, 2026
"Ross Brubeck Is Walking Until the Spirit Says Stop."
Ross Brubeck is a Quaker activist launching an open-ended National Peace Walk across America on May 16, 2026. Starting from the Brooklyn Bridge, he has no fixed terminus — the walk may continue all year, potentially crossing the entire country, following the Spirit wherever it leads. He'll visit Quaker meetings and intentional communities along the East Coast and beyond. Ross participated in the 2025 Quaker Walk from Flushing, Queens to D.C., delivering the historic Flushing Remonstrance, and created the "PeaceWard" YouTube series interviewing Quaker elders on peace activism. His philosophy: walking as ceremony, community as survival, and witnessing for peace at a God-centered pace. Donate and follow at QuakerWalk.org.<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
March 29, 2026
Father John Dear — Universal Love and the Surrender That Changes Everything
<p>Father John Dear has spent decades on the front lines of nonviolent resistance — arrested more than 75 times, expelled from the Jesuits, mentored by Archbishop Tutu and Thich Nhat Hanh, and now living in California. His latest book, Universal Love, distills a lifetime of activism into something simpler and more demanding than any political program: the daily, total surrender of personal will to the God of peace. </p><br><p>This conversation came at the right moment for me. After the February 22 Historical Jesus event at Fifteenth Street Friends Meeting — which produced some real theological friction alongside its genuine inspiration — I found myself carrying unresolved questions about ego, expectation, and what it actually means to do this work without needing it to go your way. John Dear answered those questions, not with argument, but with testimony. What he described is not passivity. It is the opposite. Gandhi's campaigns, King's marches, Romero's pastoral letters, Dorothy Day's hospitality houses — none of it, John argues, was primarily strategic. It was the fruit of people who had gone deep enough into surrender that their actions flowed from something other than their own ambition or grievance. Andrew Young told him the civil rights movement was not planned the way history remembers it. It was prayer, and training in nonviolence, and showing up every day to ask what God required. We talked about his book's structure — three movements through meditation, nonviolence practice, and the personal and political consequences of actually living in union with the God of universal love. We talked about Will, the young man whose encounter with John during the pandemic changed his career, his vocation, and his understanding of what he was for. We talked about the kingdom of God — whether it is something we build or something we recognize and welcome, already present, already moving. On Ched Myers: his core argument is that Jesus was deliberately building a movement — organizing, sending people out, campaigning for social transformation. John Dear loves Luke 10 for the same reason: the sending of the seventy-two is not a metaphor, it is a mobilization. Both men read the Gospels as a blueprint for mass nonviolent action in the world. Where they differ — and where our conversation lived — is in the question of whose will is driving that action. Myers emphasizes the political and organizational intelligence of Jesus. Dear keeps pulling it back to surrender: the campaign only works if the campaigners have emptied themselves first. We also talked about Christian nationalism, the war in Iran, and the evangelical community's silence on "love your enemies." John did not flinch from any of it. But his consistent answer was the same: the work begins inside. You cannot nonviolently resist what you have not yet faced in yourself. The reign of God is already here. The question is whether you are willing to stop blocking it with your own agenda. For me, this episode is a marker. What John Dear gave me is a cleaner way to hold the work — less gripping, more open. Surrender to the God of peace who is already present, already moving, already inside you. That is the beginning. Everything else follows from there, or it doesn't follow at all. </p><br><p>Father John Dear is the author of more than 35 books on peace and nonviolence. His latest, Universal Love, is available now. He hosts the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast — his most recent episode, a conversation with Daniel Hunter, is here: <a href="https://beatitudescenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Podcast-S2E64-with-Daniel-Hunter.mp3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://beatitudescenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Podcast-S2E64-with-Daniel-Hunter.mp3</a> </p><br><p>Reach him at <a href="https://johndear.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://johndear.org</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
25 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Monks and Punks?
<p><strong>Monks and Punks</strong> is a podcast about fighting the power with all your heart.</p><br><p>Hosted by Sander Hicks, the show explores radical spirituality, nonviolence, punk rock, democratic socialist politics, grassroots activism, and the everyday work of resisting empire — from elections and organizing to culture, music, and building things with your hands.</p><p>These are long-form conversations and sharp arguments about how people actually challenge power, stay human, and refuse to give up — even when the odds are stacked against them.</p><p>This is not passive commentary.</p><p> It’s for listeners who still believe ideas, culture, and organized people can change the world.</p><br><p><strong>Fight the Power, With All Your Heart!</strong></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates monthly.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 6 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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