The Sun Also Rises

Hosted by Jeremiah Jacques

The news keeps getting darker. The world seems to keep getting bleaker. But Solomon wrote, “the sun also ariseth.” The Sun Also Rises transmits the true, the bright and the beautiful, glints of light in a world going black. Each week, host Jeremiah Jacques brings you stories of refreshing accomplishment, intriguing science and inspiring lives—glimmers of hope that hint at a better world to come.

#35: Scotland's Bell Rock Lighthouse —An Impossible Accomplishment

Aired Thursday, March 1, 2018   ·   08:00 AM CST   ·   30 minutes

By the beginning of the 1800s, Bell Rock in Scotland’s Firth of Forth was responsible for wrecking numerous ships each winter. It was clear to everyone that sailors needed to be warned. But since the Rock was miles from shore and submerged by the sea for all but two hours a day, experts thought it would be impossible to build a lighthouse there. For Robert Stevenson, the challenge would become an obsession.

#34: Beginning, Middle and End— The Power of Storytelling

Aired Thursday, February 1, 2018   ·   08:00 AM CST   ·   22 minutes

There is little in the human experience that hooks attention and holds it like a story. In this episode, we demonstrate and explain the power of story. And we encourage listeners to more regularly tap into that power.

#33: What If America’s Founders Had Settled in Russia?

Aired Wednesday, November 22, 2017   ·   09:00 AM CST   ·   24 minutes

Despite America's deep-rooted problems, the nation remains an unmatched paragon of prosperity, providing opportunity and wealth for great numbers of people.

But how and why did the United States became so exceptional? Pundits debating this question point to things like America’s laissez-faire economic system, values, politics, societal mobility, freedom of religion and speech, and its prioritization of equal opportunity. But there is another, often overlooked answer. In many ways this unnoticed factor is the foundation that has made other aspects of America’s success possible. It is a deeply inspiring facet of the U.S. that takes us all the way back into the mists of the earliest human history.

#32: Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver

Aired Thursday, October 26, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   30 minutes

Friend or foe? Are you with us—or them? In certain clashes, this can be a gristly question for soldiers to answer. In ancient times, the Gileadites devised an ingenious way to differentiate between their own troops and those of the enemy, which lives on in the ever-expanding English language today. This episode of The Sun Also Rises discusses words and language and also examines a fascinating account from the Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, elucidating how he became such a masterful communicator.

#31: Get Thee to the Path!

Aired Thursday, August 10, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   30 minutes

When the sun came up on May 28 in the year 585 BCE, the Medes and Lydians were still at war. They had been at each other’s throats for years, and it looked like there was no end in sight for their conflict. But something extraordinary happened on the battlefield that day, which changed everything. This episode also features an interview with Dr. Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist, and scientist emeritus at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

#30: Escaping East Germany by Hot Air Balloon

Aired Thursday, June 1, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   28 minutes

Gunter Wetzel was 22 years old when he decided that he had to get his family free. But how could he get himself, his wife and their two small children past all the soldiers and over the razor wire-topped walls keeping them inside of East Germany?

Mr. Wetzel recently gave an interview to The Sun Also Rises, and, in this episode, he shares the astounding story of how human ingenuity and the longing to be free triumphed over Communist East Germany.

#29: The Bible Scoops Science?

Aired Thursday, May 18, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   22 minutes

In the mid 1800s, a major medical breakthrough happened that has saved countless lives since then. But could it be that this life-saving knowledge was actually available to mankind for millennia before that breakthrough?

#28: The Girl Scouts vs. Imperial Japan—The Unsung WWII Battle

Aired Thursday, April 27, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   23 minutes

In today's episode, Mary Previte discusses a forgotten World War Two battle: The Girl Scouts vs. Imperial Japan. Mrs. Previte took part in the fight. Her story is astounding.

#27: Running the Good Run

Aired Thursday, April 13, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   25 minutes

When it comes to intellect and creative power, there’s no question that humans vastly outperform every other creature on earth. But did you know there is also a basic physical ability in which people can outperform the animals? Today’s episode takes a look at the marathon as a metaphor for life, and examines some life lessons we can learn from endurance running.

#26: Why Creators Should Crave Criticism

Aired Thursday, April 6, 2017   ·   08:00 AM CDT   ·   25 minutes

It’s not enjoyable for us to be told that our creative work has problems, or that it is of inferior quality. We like to hear positive feedback, and generally recoil from such criticism. In this episode, host Jeremiah Jacques tells the story of an artist who was bombarded by critical feedback. The artist’s reaction to it contains a lesson for us all.