Give and Take

My guest is Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. His newest book is Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good . In it he argues that the religious Right taught America to misread the Bible. Christians have misused Scripture to consolidate power, stoke fears, and defend against enemies. But people who have been hurt by the attacks of Christian nationalism can help us rediscover God's...

My guest is Tara Ross. She is the author of "Why We Need the Electoral College." Is the Electoral College anti-democratic? Some would say yes. After all, the presidential candidate with the most popular votes has nevertheless lost the election at least three times, including 2016. To some Americans, that’s a scandal. They believe the Electoral College is an intolerable flaw in the Constitution, a...

My guest is Marilee Albert. Her new novel is The Tutor . In it recent Yale grad, Alice, wants to be close to her boyfriend in Paris, with enough space to sow a few oats. Rome fits, so off she goes. Her other goals? To make art and find a muse. Instead, she finds herself a muse to various men―including a TV-host dwarf, lonely banker, alcoholic playboy, aging prince, and the disillusioned Oscar-winn...

My guest is Sarah Hurwitz. Her new book is Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There) . After a decade as a political speechwriter—serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, and chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton on her 2008 presidential camp...

My guest is Alberto Cairo. His new book is How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information . In it this leading data visualization expert explores the negative―and positive―influences that charts have on our perception of truth. We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don’t understand what we’re looking at? Social media has made charts, infographics, and d...

My guest is Nicholas Buccola. His new book is The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America . On February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic...

My guest is Jarret Kobek. His new book is Only Americans Burn in Hell . If you still want to play the game of American life, then you had better learn to lie. Kneel before false gods. Pretend to care about the ruling class and their illusions. Keep your head down. Pray that no one sees you. Your world is one of endless interruption and constant despair. This is not the future you were promised. Wh...

My guest is David Fitch. His newest book is The Church of Us vs. Them: Freedom from a Faith That Feeds on Making Enemies . We are living in angry times. No matter where we go, what we watch, or how we communicate, our culture is rife with conflict. Unfortunately, Christians appear to be caught up in the same animosity as the culture at large. We are perceived as angry, judgmental, and defensive, f...

My guest is Jonathan Walton. His new book is Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive: And the Truth That Sets Us Free. "America is a Christian nation." "All men are created equal." "We are the land of the free and the home of the brave." Except when we're not. These commonly held ideas break down in the light of hard realities, the study of Scripture, and faithful Christian witness. The president is...

My guest is Johanna Hanink. Her newest book How to Think about War: An Ancient Guide to Foreign Policy is an accessible modern translation of essential speeches from Thucydides’s History that takes readers to the heart of his profound insights on diplomacy, foreign policy, and war. Why do nations go to war? What are citizens willing to die for? What justifies foreign invasion? And does might alway...

My guest is James Garbarino. His new book is Miller's Children: Why Giving Teenage Killers a Second Chance Matters for All of Us . It is a passionate and comprehensive look at the human consequences of the US Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Miller v. Alabama, which outlaws mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile murderers. The decision to apply the law retroactively to other c...

My guest is Carl Zimmer. His newest book is She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity. In it he presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s...

My guest is Kenyatta Gilbert. His newest book is Exodus Preaching: Crafting Sermons about Justice and Hope . Exodus Preaching is the first of its kind. It is an exploration of the African American prophetic rhetorical traditions in a manner that makes features of these traditions relevant to a broad audience beyond the African American traditions. It provides readers a composite picture of the nat...

My guest is Jennie Dear. Her new book is What Does It Feel Like to Die?: Inspiring New Insights into the Experience of Dying , As a long-time hospice volunteer, Jennie Dear has helped countless patients, families, and caregivers cope with the many challenges of the dying process. Inspired by her own personal journey with her mother’s long-term illness, Dear demystifies the experience of dying for...

My guest is Joshua Rasmussen. His newest book is How Reason Can Lead to God: A Philosopher's Bridge to Faith . Do you seek the truth? Do you value reason, science, and independent thinking? Are you skeptical of beliefs that people maintain merely "on faith," yet you remain interested in the big questions of life? Do you hope there could be a greater purpose to the universe, if only that were reali...

My guest is Scott Sunquist. His newest book is Why Church: A Basic Introduction . Is a church just something we create to serve our purposes or to maintain old traditions? Or is it something more vital, more meaningful, and more powerful? This can be hard to believe when we look at what happens in any one congregation or denomination. Certainly not all churches act like Jesus in the world, and man...

My guest is John Temple. His newest book is Up in Arms: How the Bundy Family Hijacked Public Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America’s Patriot Militia Movement. Up in Arms chronicles how an isolated clan of desert-dwelling Mormons became the guiding light—and then the outright leaders—of America’s Patriot movement. The nation was riveted in 2014 when hundreds of Bundy supporter...

My guest is Stanley Corngold. His new book is Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic . Walter Kaufmann (1921–1980) was a charismatic philosopher, critic, translator, and poet who fled Nazi Germany at the age of eighteen, emigrating alone to the United States. He was astonishingly prolific until his untimely death at age fifty-nine, writing some dozen major books, all marked by breathtakin...

My guest is Ari Meisel. Ari is the best-selling author of “The Art of Less Doing“, and “The Replaceable Founder.” He is a self-described Overwhelmologist whose insights into personal and professional productivity have earned him the title, “The Guru’s Guru.” He can be heard on the award-winning Less Doing Podcast, and on international stages speaking to thought leaders and influencers around the w...

My guest is Dan White Jr. His new book is Love over Fear: Facing Monsters, Befriending Enemies, and Healing Our Polarized World . Whether it's the news, social media, or well-intentioned friends, we're told daily to fear "others." We fear strangers, neighbors, the other side of the aisle, even those who parent differently. And when we're confronted with something that frightens us, our brain sees...

My guest is Jennifer Frey. She teaches at the University of South Carolina, and hosts The Virtue Blog and the philosophy and literature podcast, Sacred and Profane Love. She writes about virtue, action, practical reason, and what it might mean to live well as a human person. Special Guest: Jennifer Frey.

My guest is David Shields. In this episode we talk about G.K. Chesterton and his insights into the human condition on a beautiful hotel patio in New York City. Special Guest: David Shields.

My guest is David Shields, New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books. He has just written, directed and produced a documentary film, Marshawn Lynch: A History. The film explores the silence that nonconformist NFL star Marshawn Lynch deploys as a form of resistance. Culling more than 700 video clips and placing them in dramatic, rapid, and radical juxtaposition, the film is a powe...

My guest is Dan Conway. His new book is Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire: My Unlikely Escape from Corporate America. When the Financial Times interviewed Dan Conway for a story about cryptocurrency millionaires, he told them the unvarnished truth: "I invested because I wanted the underdogs to win, for once - losers like me who didn't make the rules and didn't have the money... We'd been forced...

My guest is Natasha Diaz. Her debut novel is Color Me In . In it Natasha Díaz pulls from her personal experience to inform this powerful coming-of-age novel about the meaning of friendship, the joyful beginnings of romance, and the racism and religious intolerance that can both strain a family to the breaking point and strengthen its bonds. Who is Nevaeh Levitz? Growing up in an affluent suburb of...