Every story is shaping us.

Movies, television, books, music, and digital media do more than entertain. They work on our imaginations, stir our affections, and quietly influence what we love, admire, fear, and desire. So how can Christian parents help their children engage culture thoughtfully without falling into either fearful rejection or uncritical consumption?

Brett McCracken, author and senior editor and director of communications at The Gospel Coalition, joins Davies Owens to explore what wise media consumption looks like for Christian families. Brett shares how his own love of both the church and the arts led him to spend decades thinking about Christianity and culture, and why discernment requires going deeper than simply checking a movie rating or counting objectionable content.

Together, Brett and Davies discuss how stories form us, why even seemingly wholesome entertainment can communicate unhealthy ideas, the value of watching media in community, and practical questions parents can use to spark meaningful conversations with their children. They also use Project Hail Mary as a fascinating example of how Christians can identify themes of grace, sacrifice, virtue, and truth in a story that isn't explicitly Christian.

The goal isn't to consume everything, nor is it to retreat from culture. It's to become people capable of recognizing what is true, beautiful, and good while also knowing when something simply isn't worth our attention.

If you're raising children in a world overflowing with stories and screens, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for helping them become wise viewers rather than passive consumers.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

Wisdom and Eloquence
The Herzog Foundation
Life Architects
Wisephone by Techless
ZipCast

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

Classical Christian education often talks about forming students to love what is true, good, and beautiful. But how does that formation actually happen?

In this episode of BaseCamp Live, Davies Owens is joined by author, educator, and podcaster Heidi White to explore the formative power of stories. Heidi shares how literature shaped her own life and explains why great books do far more than communicate ideas or teach moral lessons. They awaken desire, give children models worthy of imitation, and help them wrestle with some of the deepest questions of what it means to be human.

Drawing from her book The Divided Soul: Duty and Desire in Literature and Life, Heidi explores the tension between what we want and what we know we ought to do, and how that struggle appears again and again in great literature, Scripture, and our own lives.

Davies and Heidi also get practical about reading with children. How much should parents explain? Should we protect children from darker moments in stories? And how can we ask questions that invite genuine thought rather than turning every book into another moral lesson?

This conversation is an invitation to see education differently: not simply as the transfer of information, but as the formation of loves, desires, imagination, and ultimately, the human soul.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

Wisdom and Eloquence
The Herzog Foundation
Life Architects
Wisephone by Techless
ZipCast

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.

Modern education often trains students to absorb information, reproduce it on a test, and move on. But is that really learning?

In this episode of BaseCamp Live, Davies Owens talks with Charley Dewberry, co-founder, Academic Dean, and tutor at Gutenberg College, about what it means to teach students to truly think. Drawing from his unusual journey through science, philosophy, biblical studies, and education, Charley challenges the idea that knowledge is simply a collection of facts. Instead, he argues that education should develop the skills students need to perceive carefully, read deeply, communicate well, and pursue truth with humility.

Charley explains why we tend to see what we expect to see, how our assumptions shape our understanding, and why encountering people and ideas that challenge us can be essential to genuine learning. He also discusses authorial intent, Great Books, the developmental stages of education, and why younger students need opportunities for curiosity, discovery, and experience before they are ready to wrestle with increasingly complex ideas.

The conversation also turns practical. What can parents and teachers do right now? Charley encourages adults to model a love of learning themselves, create room for discovery, listen seriously to those who think differently, and protect time for the kinds of conversations that technology increasingly pushes aside.

In an age when information and instant answers are everywhere, this conversation is a reminder that education is about something much deeper: forming people who know how to think, listen, learn, and seek what is true.

Special Thanks to our partners who make BaseCamp Live possible:

Wisdom and Eloquence
The Herzog Foundation
Life Architects
Wisephone by Techless
ZipCast

Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on classical Christian education, and join us next time on BaseCamp Live! Remember to subscribe, leave us a review, and reach out to us at info@basecamplive.com

Don't forget to visit basecamplive.com for more info and past episodes.