Faithful Politics

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com **Warning*** This episode contains discussion about sexual abuse Investigative reporter Jessica Lussenhop joins Faithful Politics to discuss her ProPublica investigation into sexual abuse and institutional silence inside the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. Alongside reporter Andy Ma...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Church conflict is no longer the exception—it’s the norm. In this episode of Faithful Politics , Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram are joined by Andy Hale , congregational psychologist and author of Mending the Fracturing Church , to explore why churches are experiencing deeper p...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics , Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram speak with Dan Carr, a pastor and Republican political organizer whose faith and politics are closely aligned with the MAGA movement. The conversation explores how theological conviction becomes political id...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics , Will Wright and Pastor Josh Burtram speak with Dr. Matthew Boedy, professor of rhetoric and author of The Seven Mountains Mandate , about the ideological and strategic framework driving modern Christian nationalism. Boedy explains how the Seve...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics , we sit down with Heather Cronk, founder of Project 21:12, to talk about what happens after people leave evangelical Christianity—and why that story matters politically, socially, and morally. Heather shares her own journey through fundamentali...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Former ACLU president and First Amendment scholar Nadine Strossen joins Faithful Politics for a wide-ranging conversation on what free speech actually protects—and what it doesn’t—in today’s political climate. Strossen explains why free expression is the foundation for every other...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics , we sit down with Bishop Dwayne Royster, pastor and national faith leader with Faith in Action, to wrestle with what faith looks like when political power is being used to intimidate, exclude, and dehumanize. Royster traces how his theology was...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, we talk with Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Greek Orthodox nun who has spent nearly three decades living and working in Jerusalem and the West Bank. From teaching Palestinian girls in Bethany to navigating Israeli checkpoints during the Second...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics , we’re joined by Marc J. Defant , a professor of geology and geochemistry at the University of South Florida, to discuss his controversial peer-reviewed paper Evolutionary Psychology and the Crisis of Empirical Rigor in Feminist Studies . Marc...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Note: Audio from our most recent POV. You can watch the live version on our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/live/Mw5zzuCeIRY POV episodes are intentionally slower. They create space to step back from the constant churn of headlines and talk through what’s happening without rus...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this conversation, we sit down with Amar D. Peterman to talk about his new book, Becoming Neighbors: The Common Good Made Local. Amar reflects on his experience as an Indian American adoptee formed across Catholic, evangelical, and interfaith spaces, and how those tensions shape...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this conversation, we’re joined by Ryan Burge, professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and author of The Vanishing Church. Burge walks us through what the data actually shows about religion in America—especially the quiet collapse of mainlin...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, Will Wright and Josh Burtram are joined by Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning journalist, longtime Guardian columnist, and bestselling author, to discuss his latest book, The Traitor’s Circle. Freedland unpacks the true story of a small, elit...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh sit down with attorney and EPPC fellow Rachel Morrison to unpack the legal and political fight over “anti-Christian bias” in America. Drawing from her new Ethics and Public Policy Center report responding to President Trump’s Exec...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation, Will Wright sits down with comedian, broadcaster, and author John Fugelsang to unpack how Christianity became entangled with political power - and how the teachings of Jesus have been distorted to justify cruelty, exclusion, an...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this powerful episode, Will and Josh talk with Justin Giboney, attorney, minister, political strategist, and co-founder of the AND Campaign. Justin unpacks the themes of his new book, Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around, exploring how the Black church’s public witness offers an alt...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh sit down with journalist Jack Jenkins, a leading religion and politics reporter known for his thoughtful coverage of faith movements, extremism, and spiritual life in America. The conversation explores how compassion shows up in o...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode, Will and Josh talk with Dr. George Yancey, a sociologist at Baylor University who specializes in race, identity politics, Christianophobia, and how faith communities can move beyond today’s culture-war structures. The conversation unpacks why identity politics has...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Will and Josh welcome Joshua Cohen, author of William F. Buckley Jr.’s Guide to Friendship in a Polarized Era, to explore what one of the most influential conservative thinkers can teach us about civility, humor, gratitude, and cross-ideological friendship. Cohen explains why Buckl...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh speak with Holly Berkley Fletcher, historian, essayist, former CIA Africa analyst, and author of The Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism. Drawing from her childhood in Kenya as an MK and years of research...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Investigative reporter Jennifer Smith Richards of ProPublica joins Will and Josh to break down her major reporting on Oklahoma’s controversial education overhaul under Superintendent Ryan Walters. She explains how Christianity was woven into new academic standards, why educators ac...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com How do we argue without tearing each other apart? Corregan Brown joins us to explore the art of disagreement in an age of outrage. He breaks down the difference between arguing policy and clarifying principles, showing how many of our public fights aren’t about facts but about unsp...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this episode of Faithful Politics, Will and Josh talk with China expert William Nee about the major October 2025 crackdown on Beijing’s Zion Church , one of the largest underground Christian networks in China. William explains what actually happened during the coordinated raids,...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com In this return visit to Faithful Politics, political scientist Dr. Ethan J. Hollander helps us take a hard, honest look at the health of American democracy—and why so many people around the world are tempted by strongman rule. Drawing on his Great Courses series Democracy and Its A...

Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Can you stay in hard conversations without trying to “win” or walk away? In this episode, Harvard Law School Senior Fellow and USA Today bestselling author Bob Bordone joins us to unpack conflict resilience—the ability to stay grounded, curious, and compassionate when everything in...