About

STRANGERS AND ALIENS is a podcast and blog that explores the relationship between God and man through the lens of speculative and imaginative fiction.

It’s a conversational podcast, so we’d love for you to join the conversation! You can contact us here!

Ben and Steve are old friends and have collaborated on comics and podcasts in the past. Ben and Dr. Jayce met at the Gideon Media Arts conference and are working together on a super secret project. Together, this terrible trio are fans of sci-fi and fantasy and, more importantly, Christians who enjoy looking at how story can give insight into the relationship between God and man.

THE HOSTS

Ben Avery:

Ben is storyteller. He tells stories in any medium that will work for the story at hand: comic books, puppets, stage plays, novellas, popsicle sticks with googly eyes . . . anything.

He is the co-creator of ArmorQuest and Timeflyz and his comics have been published by Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Zondervan, and a number of small press publishers. He has worked as a teacher, a theater technical director, a youth treatment specialist, a youth pastor, a children’s minister, and a janitor, among other things, and has learned a lot through each of them — especially the janitor job. He lives in Indiana with his wife and five kids.

Twitter: @whisperingloon
Website: benavery.com
Facebook: Ben Avery: storyteller
 

Dr. Jayce O’Neal:

Dr. Jayce O’Neal is an actor, public speaker, and writer who enjoys cheering for his favorite sports teams while eating pizza with a fork.

Dr. Jayce has authored four books, appeared on networks such as CW, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and he is also a college instructor. He has a Doctorate, two Masters, a Bachelor of Science, and a small trophy for perfect attendance in Sunday school when he was nine. He currently resides with his fantabulous wife in the Virginia Beach area.

Twitter: @jayceoneal
Website: jayceoneal.com
Facebook: Jayce O’Neal

Steve MacDonald: 

Steve is a born-again Christian, husband, father of three awesome kids, and eclectic polymath.

He has always enjoyed art, literature, and writing. For the past two years he has been a freelance editor and writer working on everything from commercial business web sites to novels. When he has free time he spends it conducting independent research, reading fiction and non-fiction, and listening to music, old-time radio and audiobooks. He has very diverse musical tastes (heavy metal, rap, classical, Johnny Cash, techno, swing, disco, ragtime, etc.) Since becoming more serious about writing and editing projects, he joined the Christian Comic Arts Society (christiancomicarts.com) in 2005, serving currently as the Central Mailer for the CCAS apazine. When he doesn’t have his nose stuck in a book he is attempting to engender a love of baseball in his kids and playing softball with the other old guys. Steve currently lives with his family in coastal New England.

Twitter: @n0t0fth1s34rth
Evan and Spielberg

Evan David:

Evan is a producer, video editor, visual effects artist, actor, and…   a bunch of other stuff in his spare time. He enjoys watching and making movies, playing video games, and just being creative.

Evan traveled through the United States for four years after High school with Life Action Ministries, during which time he learned A LOT and became much closer to Jesus. Now producing promotional and inspirational videos for Life Action and Bethel College, Evan has been able to hone his visual effect and compositing skills over the past few years, even producing a feature film for the college. He is also a driving force behind Life Action’s new audio drama series “Base Camp Adventures” which are aimed at 2nd-6th graders. He’s served as a producer, director, writer, and voice actor for many episodes in the series. Evan is well versed in DC Comic book lore, film trivia, and Biblical studies. He lives in Indiana with his wife and daughter.

Website: evandavidproductions.com
Facebook
: Evan David

FRIENDS OF THE PODCAST

Tim Leffel composed and mixed our theme music.

Facebook: Tim Leffel – musician