Welcome to Slow Burn. It’s an honor to have you.
Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” That is where we are today. The world at large and the West specifically is growing increasingly divided. These fractures trace philosophical, ideological, religious, cultural, political, and color-coded lines.
The root cause of this tension is a misunderstanding of what it means to be a human person. We think of “who” we are, but we fail to know “what” we are first. And where there is not a unity of human diversity, there can only be a disunity of it. Destruction, not flourishing. Chaos, not order.
In other words, we are in trouble because we know some things for sure about human nature that just are not so, and that is precisely what is causing our polarization, disordering, disunity, and decay. Even where it does not cause civil unrest, it still prevents our flourishing, and that is ill-fated enough.
When it comes to resolving or redeeming these problems, therefore, it is not just a matter of shifting resources or conjuring up better ideas inside of the same divisive frame, it is a matter of shifting the very paradigms we use in the first place—starting with the clarity of human nature. And that is what Slow Burn Sessions has come into existence to offer.
Our Mode of Being.
The Slow Burn Sessions exists to penetrate the world of ideas and culture with thought provoking content that meets people where they are. Dealing uniquely with all matters of human nature, human diversity, and the human experience, the Slow Burn Sessions offers uniquely integrative, redemptive, and flourishing-focused interpretations of social and cultural issues. More specifically, through the power of the written and spoken word, the Slow Burn Sessions exists to:
Name the unnamed places in our hearts and society.
Redeem the chaos of the human condition.
Restore the universal dignity of the human person in the public square.
Foster the unity of human diversity in culture.
Spurn paradigm shifts in the minds and emotions of those who are pining for meaning, purpose, progress, connection, and hope in the present age.
Dissolve our polarization through a humane discourse that is rooted in our common humanity, common need for others, and common brokenness.
Provide a strengths-based brand of disruption that aims to not to just “get rid of social problems,” but seeks to cultivate redemption and the good, true, and beautiful in their lot.
About me.
My name is Kurt Hoffman, and the Slow Burn Sessions are a humble extension of myself and my felt story. I pine for truth and beauty; I am full of words and long for my words to help others. My voice is an integrative churning of the old soils of the humanities and the modern approaches of social work—it is where my love for words meet my passion for people and culture. It is my humble aim to articulate what is clearly true in creative, humane, and merciful ways.
Professionally, I hold a PhD in humanities, a Masters of Social Work, Masters of Public Administration, and a B.A. in integrative studies. I have been an Associate Professor of Social work since 2014 (at Spring Arbor University in Michigan), which includes having led hundreds of students on intensive cross-cultural trips to such as places Cambodia, Morocco, Jamaica, and Greece.
I am the author of Young Heroes: A Learner’s Guide to End Human Trafficking, which was endorsed by Dr. Cornell West and named one of Cathy Duffy’s “Top 103 picks for Homeschool Curriculum.” Two diverse recognitions I am especially proud of because it suggests I was successful in speaking truth in ways that bring people together, not further apart. I am also the author of the Human Experience Poster Collection and the creator of Flume, out of which Slow Burn is born.
Finally, I am excited to have completed the first draft of another book, this one on racism and the redemption of human diversity. But rather than going straight to print, I have decided to wrestle my ideas out with you first, here on Substack. I am pretty excited about it and I hope you are too.
Why Subscribe?
Subscribe to gain full access to Slow Burn’s growing archives, as well as early access to all our weekly works such as podcast episodes, exclusive writing and commentary, reader Q&As, video features, and even a bit of poetry.
Deeper though, subscribe if you are a lover of words who desire the truth more than to just be right. Subscribe if you are a hungry thinker who is discontent with linear, circular, and all-too-often inhumane modes of thinking that are consuming today’s culture. Subscribe if you have grown weary of the pessimism, cynicism, and polarization that is so pervasive in today’s culture. Subscribe if it sounds like we are on the same journey, because if we are, then there is no limit as to what we can do together.
P.S. Here are a few endorsements of my first book. note just how diverse of backgrounds their praise comes from—a reality I am most proud of.
