Season 3 Wrap-Up | “Dear Listener” with Chris, Eddie, and Cody

Shownotes:

It’s hard to believe that we’re wrapping up three seasons of The Weight, but here we are! Eddie and Chris are joined by producer Cody Hickman to talk about some of the highlight episodes for each of them this year--including conversations with Mac McAnally, Alice Matagora, and Austin Carty. This season, we’ve listened to conversations about music, mental health, parenting, faith, and history. We’ve heard a hopeful word about the future of the Church, and we’ve been given moments for reflection and contemplation.

So thank you--to every guest on the podcast, to every listener, to everyone who has reached out to Chris or Eddie with thoughts and ideas. We could not have these conversations without you, and we can’t wait do it again next season!  

Transcript:

Eddie Rester 00:00

[INTRO] Life can be heavy. We carry around with us the weight of our doubt, our pain, our suffering, our mental health, our family system, our politics. This is a podcast to create space for all of that.

Chris McAlilly 00:18

We want to talk about these things with humility, charity, and intellectual honesty. But more than that, we want to listen. It's time to open up our echo chamber. Welcome to The Weight. [END INTRO]

Eddie Rester 00:33 I'm Eddie Rester.

Chris McAlilly 00:34 I'm Chris McAlilly.

Cody Hickman 00:36 And I'm Cody Hickman.

Eddie Rester 00:40
Welcome to The Weight. Cody Hickman.

Cody Hickman 00:41 Hey.

Chris McAlilly 00:42
Cody Hickman is our producer, if you are just joining us, and we're glad you're here today, Cody.

Cody Hickman 00:47
You know, you guys have kept me out all season. And finally here at the end, you decided to throw me a little bone. I appreciate that. That's nice.

Chris McAlilly 00:55
Well, we're here today to do a season wrap for season three. And yes, Eddie. The floor is ceded to you.

Eddie Rester 01:03
I just want to say that some on the podcast today are glad that Cody is with us. I don't want to... You threw out a blanket statement there. I feel like that was maybe a bit much.

Cody Hickman 01:13
Look, we're gonna get into all the stats in a little bit. But I will point out right now that Eddie left, what, halfway through the season, moved to Jackson. Is that right?

Chris McAlilly 01:22 Yep. Yep.

Cody Hickman 01:23

The mentions of my name in each episode have steadily increased since he left.

Chris McAlilly 01:28
What does that say about your relationship with Cody, Eddie?

Eddie Rester 01:33
Look, this is what I'm calling the Festivus episode. So we'll get to that during the airing of grievances portion of the episode. So.

Chris McAlilly 01:41
What we're doing today is wrapping our third season on the podcast. I can't believe it's been three seasons.

Cody Hickman 01:47 Three seasons.

Eddie Rester 01:48

It's been great. And when we talked originally about doing a podcast that would be an every week podcast that would go for, you know, 10 months of the year, nine months of the year, I was a little skeptical that we would make it through one season. But here we are at the end of three.

Chris McAlilly 02:07
We were not surprised by your skepticism. But we had a lot of faith.

Cody Hickman 02:12
Yeah, we're 129 episodes. This episode will be 130. 130.

Eddie Rester 02:17

That's fantastic. Well, can I give some stats for season three? And then we'll kind of go back and hit some of the highlights.

Cody Hickman 02:24 Let's go.

Eddie Rester 02:26

So season 3: 32,000 downloads so far, which is incredible. That's a 13% growth over the last season. We've got listeners in 13 countries around the world. Earlier we we're talking about the most listened-to episode. And Chris, you were surprised at our most listened-to episode.

Chris McAlilly 02:50

Yeah, for season three, it was our episode with Stanley Hauerwas. Stanley Hauerwas is a Christian ethicist. And we talked to him about a world without war. And it was at a moment... What was the... I forget.

Eddie Rester 03:06 Back in March.

Chris McAlilly 03:06 I forget exactly.

Eddie Rester 03:07
It was back in March. It was a month after the Ukraine war started.

Cody Hickman 03:11 That's right.

Chris McAlilly 03:11

That's what it was, yeah. So Russia invades Ukraine. And we were looking for how should we think about this, as Christians, as a church, and Stanley came on and it was an awesome episode.

Eddie Rester 03:25

It really was. So I guess I'll start, Cody, with you because you have to edit all the episodes, which means you listen to the episodes, more than Chris and I listen to the episodes. So of the which means you listen to the episodes, more than Chris and I listen to the episodes. So of the

Cody Hickman 03:46
So I've been thinking about this. And it's Mac McAnally. I think that's the easy winner for me. I mean, I'm a musician. So that may be like the too on the nose.

Chris McAlilly 03:56
A little on the nose there, Cody.

Cody Hickman 03:57

But I did not grow up listening to Mac McAnally. I do know some of his family. I'm friends with some of his family members, but I've never listened to Mac. So we listened to him, driving up to Nashville. We listened to some of his work.

Chris McAlilly 04:13 It was a lot of fun.

Cody Hickman 04:15 It was great.

Chris McAlilly 04:15

Yeah, Cody and I got in the car and we're like Alright, we're gonna rock some Mac McAnally. We listened to several songs. And then that turned into, we just went back and forth. It was a lot fun.

Cody Hickman 04:26
Just swapping songs. It was good. We did leave Eddie in Jackson for that.

Eddie Rester 04:29
Yeah, I didn't. I didn't get to make the trip.

Cody Hickman 04:31

episodes this year, which one spoke to you the most?

Cody Hickman 04:31

He didn't get to go but man, he was so genuine and nice. We got to go to Nashville to his home studio. So we sat in the room where he does all of his magic. It was great.

Chris McAlilly 04:41
In the room where it happens.

Eddie Rester 04:43

But the cool thing about, I can't remember he said this on the episode. It was a wild episode, just the interview itself. But he mentioned that the next day, he was like flying out with Jimmy Buffett to do a six week tour with Jimmy Buffett.

Cody Hickman 04:58
That's right. He pushed our start time back because he had to go drop all this gear off at the tour bus shop.

Chris McAlilly 05:04

Yeah, he's super nice. And you know, I mean, very humble and kind and genuine. My father ended up having a car wreck later in the year. I don't know if we talked about that on the podcast. But in the wake of that he sent a message, basically saying, you know, "I know you're gonna find some way to make this turn out good." And it was really sweet. Meant a lot to me.

Cody Hickman 05:31 Mac did? I had no idea.

Chris McAlilly 05:32
Yeah, I forgot to tell you that. But it was really sweet.

Eddie Rester 05:35

One of the things I distinctly remember about that episode is the role his parents played, giving him the freedom. I mean, his dad was a principal, if I'm remembering correctly. And when he decided he wanted to basically quit school to pursue this music thing, his parents were like, go on. Just go follow your passions, which being married to a principal, I'm not sure that my principal wife would have done that for our daughters.

Chris McAlilly 05:59

Yeah, I guess just one more point on this one. And then we can move on. I was struck by his favorite guitar. He had a lot of guitars we talked about. His favorite guitar was a guitar that he built, he bought in Fulton, Mississippi from a mechanic for like, $50. He wrote about a third of his of his catalog on that guitar.

Cody Hickman 06:20
That's a steal for that guitar, too. It was an old Martin, woo. He got a good deal on that.

Chris McAlilly 06:24

He did. So yeah, that was a great episode. And, you know, I really enjoyed the conversations we have about faith, art, culture. But we talked about a whole range of other things this season. Eddie, for you, which episodes stood out?

Eddie Rester 06:35

The one with Dominic Done about deconstruction and doubt. I think it was important for anyone working through doubt, around their faith or feeling like the faith that got them to this point in life may not be the faith that can take them through the next phase of life. And that was an important conversation. But I really loved a lot of our conversations with people around the church this year. Started way back with Kenda Dean, as the season started, and then Plantinga. And then several others. Those were just, they were hopeful conversations at a time I feel like so much is negative about the church and dark about the church. And, you know, we can all quote the downward trends and stats about the church. But there are several conversations that really helped us move, maybe forward beyond that.

Cody Hickman 07:42 Yeah, I liked...

Eddie Rester 07:43
What about you, Chris? No, go ahead.

Cody Hickman 07:44

My bad. Lisa Green was one of our recent ones, just like a week ago, we released that, but she kind of fit that mold, too, that you're talking about, Eddie, just the work that she's doing to help people who are thinking creatively and innovatively about the future of the church and kind of breaking the mold that we've been handed down. I thought that was just an incredible episode.

Eddie Rester 08:04

Yeah, and probably one that a lot of listeners, because they don't recognize the name, might have skipped, but I'm with you that there are a lot of phrases out of that conversation that I've used in my work here in Jackson, with staff folks, because of the way she helped us think about breaking the inherited church model.

Chris McAlilly 08:26

Yeah, I would say that my favorite was probably a recent episode that we had with David Thomas and Sissy Goff about parenting. And I think part of that is just the phase of life that we're in. And, you know, just I think, I don't feel competent, or...

Cody Hickman 08:47 Preach.

Chris McAlilly 08:47

You know, I just don't know how, sometimes, to navigate some of the things that I'm facing as a parent, especially as my kids get older, and they were really helpful. They spoke at the intersection of parenting, mental health, and faith. I found that to be very helpful. They're very encouraging, but there are also a lot of frameworks within that that I've been able to think through and and utilize in our life. It was a great conversation.

Cody Hickman 09:18
Yeah, between the three of us we have, like, nine kids.

Chris McAlilly 09:20 Nine kids.

Cody Hickman 09:21
A lot to take away from that episode

Eddie Rester 09:22
Oh gosh. Now that you say it like that, I'm tired.

Chris McAlilly 09:24 Most of them are your kids.

Cody Hickman 09:25 Yeah, I have most of them.

Eddie Rester 09:26

I mean, when they talked about anxiety and kids I mean, I still remember that conversation. Because everything they said about anxiety, particularly the way it impacts girls and boys differently, at least from perspective in our house was so... It was so spot on. You know anxiety for boys often makes them angry or frustrated for girls. They take it as personal failure in a lot of ways, and how to help kids deal with that is so important. The other thing that they did, and I'm a little advanced in the conversation compared to you two.

Cody Hickman 10:07
That's a fun way of putting that, Eddie.

Chris McAlilly 10:10
What Eddie is trying to say is he's older.

Cody Hickman 10:11 [LAUGHTER]

Eddie Rester 10:17

Yeah, we're getting to the grievances, don't worry. But you know, seeing it on the other end, so many of the things that in that moment seem so intense and so consuming. And so if I don't get this, right, the whole family's going to self destruct, and I'm gonna ruin my kids. And just the freedom to say, do the best you can. And that's enough,

Chris McAlilly 10:43
And then your kids can go to therapy when they get older.

Cody Hickman 10:46

Eddie Rester 10:46
That's exactly right. And they'll have their own insurance they can pay for their own therapy.

Chris McAlilly 10:50

I do think mental health is one of the themes that we've come back to again and again on the podcast through time, in different ways, with different guests. Are there any other episodes that you remember, Eddie, from the season that were kind of rooted in kind of faith and mental health?

Eddie Rester 11:08

Well, just that the one that was the next week about trauma that we did with Mickenzie Vought, I mean, it was timely in a lot of ways for me and some of the things that we've had to deal with at my church in Jackson, and also connect to some things that happened in Oxford that tie the two communities together. And so to be able to have a conversation with someone who works with trauma, and not just immediate trauma, but trauma that comes from life. I have a lot of folks who reached out to me after that one. So that was one that I think just kind of hit people in the right way. I think in some ways, we've gotten better over the years at identifying guests to kind of speak to what is going on right now. And some of our guests this year had been, I think, timely.

Chris McAlilly 12:05

The one that comes to mind, for me, is the conversation that we had with Jacob Armstrong about breaking open, right? He talks about how your pain can become a path to living again. And I think, you know, I think one of the things that a lot of the conversations... If I had... I guess, you know, there are a lot of ways in, whether it be deconstruction of faith, mental health, addiction, or otherwise. I think the tone of the season was very hopeful.

Eddie Rester 12:38
It was. Yeah, I think that's the thing that I'm most excited, looking back at everything. It just really was a hopeful year.

Chris McAlilly 12:47

You know, we started this year thinking about echo chambers and trying to kind of break, you know, have conversations with people across difference. And, you know, the two episodes there that I found most fascinating were we actually interviewed a public defender and prosecutors in two different episodes, folks that go to our church. But I found those to be very helpful in thinking about the way in which the legal system works, the different roles within the judicial system, and how the system works well or poorly, from different angles. But the mutual respect across the aisle that I heard in the conversation, I think that if we were trying to embody that particular dimension, you hear it in the two conversations that we have. It's a series called "Consequences." And I think that was another one that stands out, kind of as I'm thinking back.

Eddie Rester 13:50

It was unexpected, in some ways, that you know, that we would be able to go back-to-back with a public defender and prosecutors to hear how much they need each other. And that often, we root for one side or the other of the justice system, but when it's working well, we need both sides doing their job, basically. And they understood that. The defender needs the prosecutor's office to do their job well. And prosecutors need the public defender to do her job well.

Eddie Rester 14:30
You know, one that was just glorious to do, can I use the term glorious?

Chris McAlilly 14:35 Glorious.

Cody Hickman 14:35 You did. You've done it.

Eddie Rester 14:37
I've done it. You're not gonna edit it out, Cody?

Cody Hickman 14:39
I'm gonna let you keep that.

Eddie Rester 14:41

You're gonna let me keep that. Just talking with Barbara Brown Taylor. I've read her books, her sermons. I've heard her preach. Just the ability to sit and talk with someone who's been one of my personal heroes over the last 25 years or so and having that opportunity. And I think the podcast has opened some doors for us to just normal not normalize, but just get to see how normal people are, the people that we often put up on a pedestal and think, "Oh, we could never," They're so this or that." But she's just she was wonderful guest for us.

Chris McAlilly 15:22

Yeah, I think the difference in the third season for me, you know, I'm not... I'm less... I don't know, I guess less intimidated by just sending an invitation. We've had plenty of nos. Okay, there are a lot of people that tell us no. And so, you know, you kind of develop, you know, just a thicker skin, knowing that, recognizing that people are busy schedules. They have a lot of commitments. But I've been pleasantly surprised by how many people are willing to just have a conversation with us and speak to us about what it is that they're doing within their leadership or within their work or offering their perspective on a matter that's important.

Chris McAlilly 16:11

Along those lines, you know, I think one of the episodes that helped me think about what we're trying to do on the podcast, and even kind of a frame for thinking about next year for me was the episode we did with Austin Carty. He wrote this book called "The Pastor's Bookshelf," and it's really about deepening your soul, developing the kind of wisdom that you need to live and lead in the world. And he talks about kind of the gravitas that you encounter when you encounter a person of deep wisdom. And often a person with deep wisdom is going to be a person who has a weight to them.

Chris McAlilly 16:56

And I think that's the thing. Over the course of the last three years, it's like, what are we trying to do here? And it's creating a conversation that has a weight to it, not because we're particularly weighty people or that we have gravitas. But we want to create a conversation where it's possible to deepen the dialogue across a whole range of conversations and topics.

Cody Hickman 17:18

I found myself going back to his, not listening through, but having conversations and pulling back from that episode. Specifically, he talked about reading and reading fiction, which I've always felt like is the lesser of the things. But he talked highly about reading fiction, and about how reading is formational, not just informational. And that stuck with me from that episode.

Eddie Rester 17:18

It gave me some freedom because often, and Chris may feel differently, but I feel like there are things I have to read, or books I just--this theologian put out something. I've got to go read it. Or, you know, this writer who I've read forever has put the next book out. I've got to go read it. And it gave me freedom to read for love again. I love fiction. And so fiction, up against all the things that a pastor's supposed to read, is the thing that always got shorted for me.

Cody Hickman 18:18

Hey, Eddie, you'll be happy to hear this, speaking of reading and things that pastors should be reading, our boy Chris here, I think is finally going to read a CS Lewis book.

Chris McAlilly 18:26 I am.

Eddie Rester 18:27 No!

Cody Hickman 18:27 Yeah.

Eddie Rester 18:28 No way.

Cody Hickman 18:29 It's gonna happen.

Eddie Rester 18:30
That makes my heart happy, Chris.

Chris McAlilly 18:33

I snuck in a couple over the course of the time that we've known one another. I didn't talk about. But I am. I got invited to read with a group of people "The Screwtape Letters," and I'm gonna read it. I've never read it.

Eddie Rester 18:47
There you go. Listener, what you need to know is that Chris, Chris and his friendship with CS

Lewis, it's not been strong.

Chris McAlilly 18:56
Did you address everyone as "listener?"

Eddie Rester 19:00
Listeners. I want to call them... What are they? Are they our friends?

Cody Hickman 19:03 Dear Listener.

Chris McAlilly 19:03 Dear Listener.

Cody Hickman 19:05
Yeah, you can leave some comments about which book he should read next from CS Lewis. That'd be good.

Eddie Rester 19:12
You haven't read the Chronicles of Narnia, have you?

Chris McAlilly 19:14 Yes!

Eddie Rester 19:15 Have you?

Cody Hickman 19:16 All of them?

Chris McAlilly 19:17 I mean, I think so.

Cody Hickman 19:18

Chris McAlilly 19:20
I don't know. I read, what is it, "The witch, the Lion, and the Wardrobe?"

Cody Hickman 19:23 That's exactly it.

Chris McAlilly 19:24
I'm just joking. I'm just kidding. Dude, you gonna fall out of the chair?

Cody Hickman 19:28 This chair just broke.

Chris McAlilly 19:31
Cody's having too good of a time over here, Eddie.

Eddie Rester 19:34
I know. I actually offered to drive to Oxford to record this episode all together. And you're gonna be out of town.

Chris McAlilly 19:42
I am. I've got better things to do than to hang out with you.

Cody Hickman 19:45 [LAUGHTER] Oh, man.

Eddie Rester 19:52

You know, one of the things, I think as we think about the third year and the hopefulness, is that we've just accidentally stumbled on people. Alice Matagora, her book on making disciples. I taught a group last night and pulled a lot out of her book to do that. We've just been able to

That's a no. That's a no.

I taught a group last night and pulled a lot out of her book to do that. We've just been able to find fresh voices. And I think you know, Austin Carty is one of those voices, the one who wrote "The Pastor's Bookshelve." Bookshelf. It ends with an F. And Alice Matagora. And some of these folks that maybe folks don't often hear, have never heard of. And that's been a joy to get to stumble across these folks, get to know them and get to hear them. Now, I'm very interested to hear about what Alice or Austin may do next.

Cody Hickman 20:43
When you talk about the season being hopeful, Alice is just, like, top of that list. She had so much energy and hope, and it was just such a great, great conversation with her.

Chris McAlilly 20:55
So I wonder, you guys okay, if I shift gears a little bit?

Eddie Rester 20:59 Sure.

Chris McAlilly 20:59

I wonder, you know, we've only got a few more minutes together. I wonder when you think forward to next season, what do you hope out of that? What would you hope that we do next season?

Eddie Rester 21:13

I think for me, maybe to demystify some of the Christian practices might be helpful. What does it mean to be a person of prayer? And one of the people I think about when I think about that is John Tyson, pastor in New York City. I'd love to be able to talk to him about that. So.

Chris McAlilly 21:35
Yeah, clearly John is a listener of the podcast. I'm sure he's out there.

Eddie Rester 21:39
Listener John Tyson, if you'll just get in touch with Cody, our people will make it happen.

Chris McAlilly 21:47
We'd be glad to make that happen.

Eddie Rester 21:49

You know, I think people struggle with how to read scripture. What does it mean to read scripture? How do we encounter things that are thousands of years old? I'd love for us to do some of that thinking together. I think that's important for us. What about you, Chris?

Chris McAlilly 22:08

I don't know. I mean, I think a lot of the the running themes of the last couple of seasons have circled around mental health, faith, cultural topics. But I don't know. I think I'm maybe slightly less interested in hot button, combative, cultural war topics and more interested in what are the practices, whether it be spiritual or cultural practices, that create or cultivate in a person that sense of gravitas, that sense of depth of soul? And I guess that's where the language of The Weight--it's not just a weighty cultural topic. It's becoming a person with a kind of depth. And so what are the conversations that we need to have? Who are the people, who are the guests that we can bring in that could help us, as a group of people, as friends, colleagues, and folks in conversation, on the journey? What would it look like for us to cultivate a weight of soul?

Eddie Rester 23:17

Earlier today, as a matter of fact, there was a meeting I went to and the person leading this meeting, quoted Richard Rohr. Richard Rohr said, "the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better." So thinking about what you just said there, what are the better practices that we can use? Not to just critique. You know, we don't want to be people who just throw stones. But how can we help people have practices that are just better, that make life better?

Chris McAlilly 23:53
What about you, Cody, what do you hope for?

Cody Hickman 23:55
So going back to the music thing, we tried to build a series around music this year. Here's the deal. As a musician, I feel like I can say this.

Chris McAlilly 24:04 Real talk.

Eddie Rester 24:06
I know what you're gonna say.

Cody Hickman 24:07
Musicians are hard to lock down. You know what I'm saying? We're a little flighty.

Chris McAlilly 24:11 Flaky.

Cody Hickman 24:13

But I would love to build a series around that. We've done around art and culture. We've had people who paint, people who do poetry, writers, but we haven't done a lot around music other than Mac McAnally. So I would love to see that. And I'm gonna go specific, too, since you did, Eddie. My bucket list from day one--before we launched--was David Ramirez. I'm fascinated by him as an artist and as a songwriter. And I think we reached out and just never heard anything back from his people.

Chris McAlilly 24:46
Who is Dave Ramirez, for people who don't know?

Cody Hickman 24:48

David Ramirez is like an Americana folk artist, singer-songwriter. He has an album that came out several years ago called "Fables." He has had a couple since then. But that "Fables" album, the writing on that... There's something that happened in his life with the church and it comes out in those songs. And I would love to talk to him about that. So, again, Listener, who knows how to get in touch with David Ramirez, pass this along. We want to get him on here.

Chris McAlilly 25:15 There you go.

Eddie Rester 25:17

Musicians...

There you go.

There you go.

Chris McAlilly 25:19
We'll put this episode out on our social media. If you see it out there, leave us a comment. You know, send us an email, let us know.

Cody Hickman 25:26
Who would you want to see on the podcast?

Chris McAlilly 25:28
We would love to know who... There may be other folks that you think of that you want us to engage. We would love to do that.

Cody Hickman 25:37
The truth is, Eddie kind of hinted toward this earlier. He's, what language did he use? It wasn't getting old. What did he say?

Chris McAlilly 25:46 Advanced.

Cody Hickman 25:47 Advancing. He's advancing.

Chris McAlilly 25:49 He is advancing.

Cody Hickman 25:50
And you know, he just doesn't know all the right people anymore.

Chris McAlilly 25:53 Out of touch.

Cody Hickman 25:54
Out of touch. I'm saying he's a little out of touch.

Eddie Rester 25:56 Wow.

Cody Hickman 25:57
And so maybe, maybe it's time for our listeners to start giving us some people they want to hear.

Chris McAlilly 26:03
I'm sure Audra listens to every episode just waiting with bated breath. But...

Eddie Rester 26:07
She actually has listened to probably more this season than she has in previous seasons. She has a 25 minute commute to work. And so she likes to hear my voice. It's very comforting.

Cody Hickman 26:22 I'm sure that's what it is.

Chris McAlilly 26:24
Audra, if you're listening to this, do you think Eddie is out of touch? And advanced. Advancing? Advanced?

Eddie Rester 26:31
Advancing in age. Yes. So you can ask my daughters who asked if I wanted to go with him to the Taylor Swift concert. And I said no. So.

Chris McAlilly 26:41

You did that at the moment where you needed to maximize your fatherly influence. And you did that. And now you're done.

Eddie Rester 26:49
Now I'm done. Yeah, I've been to a Taylor Swift concert.

Chris McAlilly 26:52
It was in... It was somewhere in...

Eddie Rester 26:54 Baton Rouge.

Chris McAlilly 26:55
You went to Death Valley just for your daughters. That is love.

Eddie Rester 27:00
That's great love. And then to stand in line to get T-shirts and stuff. It's, ah...

Chris McAlilly 27:05
TSwift is a whole thing. Do you have an opinion on her new album, Eddie?

Eddie Rester 27:11
It's a grown up album. It's a grown up album. And maybe we could get Taylor on here to talk about the choices she made in recording that album.

Chris McAlilly 27:21
Yeah, there you go. It's a music... It puts David Ramirez, TSwift.

Cody Hickman 27:24 Yeah. That's gonna be great.

Chris McAlilly 27:26

That's gonna be awesome.

Cody Hickman 27:27
She broke Ticketmaster yesterday.

Chris McAlilly 27:29
She did break Ticketmaster.

Eddie Rester 27:31
One of my daughter's stayed on the Ticketmaster website for over six hours.

Chris McAlilly 27:35 She's not the only one.

Cody Hickman 27:37 Yeah.

Eddie Rester 27:37
Yeah. But she did get tickets. So.

Chris McAlilly 27:40
There you go. That's commitment.

Eddie Rester 27:41
So we got a few minutes left. So in the tradition of Festivus, I, you know...

Cody Hickman 27:49 [LAUGHTER]

Eddie Rester 27:49

Chris McAlilly 27:51 Let's hear it.

Eddie Rester 27:54
Do you have an actual list?

Cody Hickman 27:56 Do you?

Eddie Rester 27:57
Of course, I've got! I keep a list in my drawer. These are the things Cody has done to offend me this week. And I just, at the start of the next week, I throw it out and start a new list.

Cody Hickman 28:07
I mean, at least it's not compounding.

Chris McAlilly 28:10
All right, we're ready for your list.

Eddie Rester 28:12
Actually, I don't have any. It was just build up for nothing.

Cody Hickman 28:16 There it is. Talks a big game.

Eddie Rester 28:18

I talked a big game. But you know, here's the truth. I miss you guys. I miss staring at Cody working through his office window.

I've got grievances.

Cody Hickman 28:28
For those who don't know, Eddie and I had offices right across from each other with big windows, and he would just stare.

Chris McAlilly 28:35
It was, for the rest of us, was kind of weird. It was. Still is.

Eddie Rester 28:40
I was trying to be intimidating.

Cody Hickman 28:43
When I think of you, Eddie, I think of intimidating.

Eddie Rester 28:48 Yeah.

Chris McAlilly 28:51 [LAUGHTER]

Cody Hickman 28:51
This wrap up episode is going. It's been good. Yeah.

Eddie Rester 28:55
Yeah. So well. I want to thank all the people who have listened, and we've met a lot of you in different places and spaces.

Cody Hickman 29:05

Oh, I've got to interrupt you. Y'all have been getting--y'all got recognized. Like y'all had a little, like, a fanboy-fangirl situation at a conference, didn't you?

Eddie Rester 29:15

There were a lot of people. Yes. At the conference, who tracked us down to tell us that they appreciate what we're trying to do. And what that tells me is that what we set out to try to do, which is to have conversations that you can't do from the pulpit, conversations that have that gravitas that Chris is talking about, that there's a place for those. And there's a place for those sometimes with folks who come from different understandings, theologies, or no theologies. There aren't many places where people are allowing those conversations to happen. And I'm thankful when people say thank you for having those conversations. And so for all of you who've reached out or who have seen us and encouraged us in the work I want to thank you.

Eddie Rester 30:00

It's not an easy thing. It involves Emilie Bramlett, who does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. It involves Rachel Chickvara, who does all of our scheduling and work. It involves--Jake's working on this now, too.

Cody Hickman 30:17
Right. Jake McAnally is doing a lot of the graphic work for us now.

Eddie Rester 30:20

Jake McAnally's doing it. Cody is behind the scenes making sure that every episode sounds as great as it can. And so it's a lot of work. And as you encourage us, it makes us realize it's worth it. So thank you for that.

Chris McAlilly 30:38

Yeah, I am encouraged, every time we have one of these conversations. It's one of the ways for me, I think, to stay connected to what people are talking about across the country, not just in Mississippi, but all over the nation. And we've had some folks in the UK as well, that have been on the podcast. Yeah, I mean, the episode that we did with Sam Wells, I think was one of the best for the season. I've been thinking about that. But we're grateful for the opportunity. It's great to stay connected with you, Eddie. I really enjoyed doing this with you.

Eddie Rester 31:15
Absolutely. We'll be back for season four.

Chris McAlilly 31:18 Boom.

Eddie Rester 31:18 Sometime in late January.

Cody Hickman 31:20

Yeah. Hey, before we head out. I mean, Eddie, you just mentioned it there. There are six people every week putting their hands on this podcast to make it happen that are working in and out every day. And if you would like to donate to help keep this thing going, you can go to our website is theweightpodcast.com/donate. And you can make a contribution there that will help us keep things going and keep the lights on and keep these weekly episodes coming your way.

Eddie Rester 31:48
Awesome. Well, again, thank you for listening today, and we'll be back in 2023 with some fresh episodes for you.

Chris McAlilly 31:56 We'll see you then, guys.

Eddie Rester 31:58
[OUTRO] Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, the best way to help us is to like, subscribe, or leave a review.

Chris McAlilly 32:06

If you would like to support this work financially or if you have an idea for a future guest you can go to theweightpodcast.com. [END OUTRO]