Good Faith

AI feels like a tornado that has hit society: unpredictable, powerful, and out of our control. How do we as Christians respond to this force in the world? Curtis is joined by two friends who live and work at the intersection of AI and spiritual reflection: James Cham of Bloomberg Beta and John Kim of the Karamaan Group. Together, the three friends explore how Christians might flip the question fro...

American evangelicalism's pull towards the far right is felt by anyone that comes into contact with the movement. But how did this happen? Who did the pulling? What were the motivations? What were the pre-conditions that made evangelicals so susceptible? With his latest book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Tim Alberta has written the definitive...

This episode drops on the three year anniversary of the Capitol insurrection of January 6 2021. The event revealed the dangerous nature of Trumpism and political violence. We should be worried about what happened, even today. But the event also presented an opportunity: it contained an invitation from God for all of us, one that applies to our role in our own corner of the world, even today. In th...

"Founding friend" David French returns to wrap up 2023 (we're taking a break for a few weeks). He and Curtis look back at the year through the lens of two core spiritual values of The After Party: Humility and Hope. We discuss what happened in 2023 that grew our humility, reminding us of the need to recognize complexity, to grow, and to learn. We also talked up the signs of hope from the year, inc...

Climate change is a major long term threat to our world. Yet, we find very few evangelical Christians voices or mass engagement on this issue. Why this disturbing gap? To explore this question, Curtis is joined by Bruce Huber who teaches about environmental law as Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. Together, they explore the deep reasons why many Christians struggle even to make pro...

The wave of immigrants and refugees at the border has filled the news, and will most likely influence the next presidential elections. But what's really happening there? And how should American Christians make sense of this issue? In the second of two episodes on this topic, Curtis is joined by someone with a unique perspective, Michael Debruhl. Michael is a former agent and executive in the Borde...

The wave of immigrants and refugees at the border has filled the news, and will most likely influence the next presidential elections. But what's really happening there? And how should American Christians make sense of this issue? In the first of two episodes on this topic, Curtis is joined by Bri Stensrud, Director of Women of Welcome, a ministry that helps American evangelical women understand w...

We're living in a cultural moment where so many people feel unseen and unheard. What if the answer is not some big government or nonprofit program, but rather something as intimate as this: a meaningful conversation. David Brooks joins the podcast to talk about his new book, "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen." He and Curtis discuss the art of connecting w...

The Gaza crisis has sent out shock waves that extend to America. In this podcast, we explore how different communities and institutions in the US are responding. Rabbi Michael Holzman and David French join Curtis to examine what is happening for Jewish American communities,  college campuses, the progressive movement, American evangelicals, and wider public support for Israel.  "What it would mean...

American youth who grew up in Christian families are leaving the church at a massive pace.  Curtis talks with Kara Powell, executive director of The Fuller Youth Institute , about the complex  reasons for this trend - and what can be done. They discuss why any understanding of the causes – and therefore the necessary response – must include parents and churches doing the hard work of self-examinat...

Some churches seek to exploit political controversy for self-serving ends. But many more churches instinctively avoid controversy, and steer away from topics that may reveal differences. In this episode, Curtis is joined by Chuck Mingo to explore a different route: treating this upcoming election season as an opportunity for spiritual growth. They make the case that the same spiritual muscles that...

In the diagnosis of the epidemic of anxiety sweeping through society, the examination has tended to focus on individual risk factors or macro-social trends (like social media and smartphone adoption among teens). But this misses something going on at the intermediary level between individuals and mass society: the state of the institutions that shape so much of our daily life. Curtis is joined by...

In a wide ranging conversation, founding friend David French takes over the reins for Curtis Chang and discusses the new book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge. David and coauthor Graham discuss all the reasons for "the great dechurching"  with a particular emphasis on the more surprisin...

It sure looks like Trump isn't going away. Many of us around the Good Faith campfire oppose him deeply. But we have people in our lives – sometimes in fractured relationships – who are going to support Trump once again. How do we relate to those people – those who are also parents, relatives, friends, co-workers, and neighbors? To wrestle with this complicated question, Curtis is joined by Pete We...

In this Good Faith Classic episode, Curtis and David talk with Meghan Sullivan, philosopher, teacher, and creator of the most popular class at the University of Notre Dame, "God and the Good Life." As many of us send our kids off to college (or head off to college ourselves), Meghan helps us appreciate the role of education–and of philosophy in particular–in helping students take on the big questi...

Many Christians are tempted to just avoid the Book of Revelation. It can seem confusing and hard to read. Yet this avoidance can leave us vulnerable to the misuses of this part of Scripture, especially in making sense of our world. Here to help us is distinguished Biblical scholar, Tremper Longman III. Join us as we dive into the helpful - and unhelpful  - ways to read the final culminating book o...

Should your investment portfolio as a follower of Jesus look any different from everyone else's? Do our Biblical values have implications for our 401K? Robin John and Finny Kuruvilla founded Eventide Investments because they believe the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" They join Curtis to explore how we as Christians can pursue a kind of financial investing that "makes the world rejoice."   Redeemin...

What is happening inside us when we ourselves suffer or those around us are suffering? What is happening in our brain? In our soul? Curtis is joined by "the other Curt" - Dr. Curt Thompson - to talk about his new book, The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope. Their conversation explores questions such as: What is the connection between our desire for beauty and our vulnerability to...

"Founding friend" David French returns to address with Curtis the visceral question in many hearts and minds, "When will things return to normal?" They explore all the questions behind the question, such as "What exactly is 'normal?" Does it differ for different people? What picture of the past undergirds my longing?" They compare this political and social moment with past eras in American history...

Why do we as a society keep building more and more housing for people who already have the most options, all the while we are forcing people who most need housing to scramble amidst shortage? How do we not just understand what is happening, but also make something better? Jimmy Wright and Michael Hall were motivated by their Christian faith to do just that via their business Launch Capital. Listen...

Bob Fu was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989. He later became a "double agent," meaning he taught Communist Party officials during the day and operated illegal house churches at night.   After he and his wife were imprisoned for "illegal evangelism," they eventually fled to the United States as religious refugees.  Since then, Bob has helped rescue persecuted Chri...

Our good friend and partner in The After Party project, Russell Moore, joins us to talk about his new book, "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America." Curtis and Russell talk about why "mapping" our loss is critical for those who currently feel culturally, politically, or spiritually homeless. We explore two kinds of maps - the "treasure map" and the "minefield map" - and why Ch...

One cannot make sense of the deformation of the current conservative movement without understanding immigration. And one cannot grasp the nature of immigration without understanding anxiety. Like most political issues today, the topic of immigration is bathed in anxiety - for everyone on all sides. Curtis draws these connections, with the ultimate aim to show that Christians can uniquely contribut...

For this episode, we rerun David and Curtis tackling the topic of Christian nationalism. What is it exactly? How does it relate to a genuine Christian understanding of how faith should relate to a nation? And how does it relate to our Founders' intentions? Curtis and David also explore the nature of healthy patriotism and how to love your national home, warts and all. National Immigration Forum Oh...

Shiny Happy People, a new docuseries documenting the effects of the teachings of Bill Gothard on the Duggars, had the biggest debut of any documentary series ever produced by Amazon.  In this episode of the Good Faith podcast, guest host Nancy French and "founding friend" David French discuss this popular series, the legacy of Bill Gothard, purity culture, and the true hope for those affected by t...