Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other

We’re joined by author, essayist, investigative journalist and the gloriously feral Nancy French . We discuss Nancy's new memoir, GHOSTED: AN AMERICAN STORY , which involves deeply personal topics such as her experiences with sexual abuse, faith struggles, being a ghostwriter for politicians, and increasing political turmoil. Nancy also talks about navigating her long-standing personal and profess...

"I'm the bad guy?" This is about the whole idea of being part of group - the word "tribe" is often used - that thinks of itself as the good guys and anyone outside of that group as the bad guys. But do we ever stop to ask whether "I'm the bad guy?"   Here's the reference from the movie FALLING DOWN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLmuF-0P4tk   In this episode, Corey discusses the concept of perso...

Donald Trump's supposedly "perfect call" was the furthest thing from perfect. In this episode, Alexander Vindman tells us what was so dangerously wrong about it as well as WHY IT MATTERS .   Alexander Vindman, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and the director for European Affairs on the White House’s National Security Council, shares valuable perspectives on the Trump administration, Donald Tr...

I know, I know! Not everything’s okay. And yeah, there’s so much we can worry about. But, seriously. It’s gonna be okay.   In this episode, we take stock of a number of ways things have gone off the rails as well as what we’re looking at down the road. We get into the potentials of a second Trump term and its implications on American democracy. We outline potential threats of another Trump adminis...

Do political conversations leave you feeling like a 'combatant', a 'cynic' or just 'exhausted'? Are you a 'disappeared one' or do you have 'disappeared ones' that were a part of your life? Curtis Chang provides a roadmap to become a 'disciple' – Hopeful and humble.   In today’s episode, we welcome Curtis Chang , who's been on this program previously, to discuss The After Party , a timely, much-nee...

Did we really just ask whether voters are like "hungy baby, tired baby or poopy diaper baby?" Did we really say folks can find one of these fellas by looking for the horse's patoot? Oh yes. Yes, we did. (This is actually part 1 of a 2 part fun, informative, thought-provocative crossover episode. No, really.) In this conversation, we engage in a detailed discussion with writer, podcast host, and po...

What's the defining principle of (what passes for) conservatives today? Hating the Left. In this edition, we talk about the fact that hating the left is  NOT a governing philosophy;  NOR is it a winning strategy;  and it's NOT even conservative.  First, we get into how this all came about going back to the emergence of Rush Limbaugh as an early pioneer of the anger-tainment, conflict entrepreneur...

Are science and belief in God incompatible? Dr. Francis S. Collins, renowned for having led the Human Genome Project and the former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), says science and faith are two different ways of understanding God's creation.   We dove right in and had so much to explore! His father's folk music collection that is a true national treasure;  Connecting music wi...

Tackling the hard truth that so many of our votes are actually empty calorie votes. "Empty calorie votes!?!? What in the world is that?" you might ask.    It's important to state at the top that it's still important to vote. So, go out and VOTE! But there are several factors that render a vast majority of votes as electoral stuffing for all intents and purposes. It could be due to some voters alwa...

On this episode, Corey was part of a roundtable conversation over at Freedom Road with Lisa Sharon Harper . We were also joined by Rev. Dr. Waltrina Middleton and Dr. Claudia Owens Shields . This circle of friends came together to reflect on 2023 and consider what's ahead for us in 2024. It was originally recorded for the Freedom Road Podcast which you can find on all the major podcast apps.   Wal...

If you don't like nuance, you're gonna hate this episode. If you see everything through a binary, either/or partisan lens, this edition ain't for you. If you think those who don't share your political views are the enemy, just don't bother. For the rest of us...   This talk is about the economy. Corey recently posted about the S&P hitting a record high as a way to initiate a conversation about...

In this episode, we're joined by Will Wright and Josh Burtram of the Faithful Politics podcast. They’ve been on the show before and we have a lot of crossover listeners. Will did a great job with the show notes. So here's our "duplicative language..."   "...We explore the evolving role of churches in promoting diversity and inclusivity, reflecting on how religious institutions navigate today's pol...

In this conversation, we're joined by Greg Lukianoff , the President of FIRE , the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. As illiberal tendencies are on the rise among extreme factions of our democracy, it was refreshing to speak with Greg whose organization is on the front lines of protecting the basic freedoms outlined in the First Amendment. We discussed: Greg's own background and how...

What a highlight it was for us to have two of our favorite guests of TP&R, Pete Wehner and Jonathan Rauch, on together to give tribute to Tim Keller and Michael Gerson.   Tim Keller and Michael Gerson were both at the top of the list of guests we wanted to have on TP&R. Sadly we lost both gentlemen within the last year. Mike passed away last November and Tim died in May of this year. But w...

"Bringing people together to learn how to do democracy again. And we're gonna go after the crazies in the political environment that do not have the interest of the country at heart." - Adam Kinzinger   Congressman Adam Kinzinger served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023, representing Illinois’ 16th Congressional District. During his tenure, he served on the House Select Commit...

What does it mean to be an EXvangelical? For Mattie Jo Cowsert, how did that deconstruction of her faith, the tradition that she grew up in, all come about? How have family and friends back home reacted to Mattie Jo's journey, specifically with her being an outspoken exvangelical? What's it been like to go back and examine the truth of certain pillars of today's American Evangelicalism such as the...

We're joined by Tim Alberta upon the publication of his new book, The Kingdom, The Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism . After starting out with some fun banter about Tim's beloved Detroit Lions and veering off into kids' names, we delve into weighty topics such as whether Tim still considers himself an #evangelical - more specifically, if there are aspects of his fai...

On this episode, we were joined by Jahnavi Rao and Nivea Krishnan of New Voters . Jahnavi is the President and Founder and Nivea is the Executive Director of the organization, a 501(c)3 whose mission is to involve students in all aspects of civic life, from registration to education and even emerging technologies. This is a nonpartisan group that, as of the date of our interview, registered 80,000...

Thoroughly appreciated this "Best of" conversation with Dr. Yuval Levin which we originally had right after the terrible attacks of October 7th in Israel. It was especially timely to have  Dr. Yuval Levin  on the program as he's not only one of this country's foremost scholars and policy experts, he's originally from Haifa, Israel. So we, of course, discussed what's happening there; however, our r...

This is a special episode of TP&R as we are joined by Michal Rozen from Israel. Michal is currently a communications and film teacher there. She served in the army when she was 19. But she's found other ways to serve as she is a leftist who believes in peace and non-violence. That said, Michal's partner, siblings and cousins are all active in the IDF. And as you'll hear, there's much unity wit...

You might recognize David Brooks from his columns in The New York Times or his essays in The Atlantic. Perhaps you’ve seen him on PBS NewsHour or Meet the Press. He’s also a prolific author. In fact, his 2019 book The Second Mountain was a major inspiration for this program. We discuss that as well as David’s new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (Pe...

What standards seem to guide your conduct? What stories shape your sense of the world and your place in it? What stories shape your sense of what it is to be a human being? What kinds of responses to the world’s suffering do you have the most hope for? These are just a few of the big questions we explored with Dr. Ryan McAnnally-Linz in this conversation. They're the kinds of questions he explores...

"...nothing matters in this whole wide world, When you're in love with a Jersey girl..."   It was so cool to have Lisa Camooso Miller on the program partly because she grew up just a couple towns over from where Corey grew up in New Jersey! So of course we talked about "my hometown..." We also talked a lot about Lisa's specialty: #communications. And can't we all use a primer on better communicati...

“Oseh shalom bimromav. Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu. V’al kol Yisrael V’imru” (They who make peace in their high places, may they bring peace upon us, and upon all Israel.)   In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Naomi Yudanin and Dr. Erica Harris . We came together to discuss what's been happening in Israel since the attack by Hamas on October 7th; what's happening with our own families there; some b...

Please consider participating in a charitable effort our family is supporting: http://spot.fund/EquipmentForIDFReserves   It was especially timely to have Dr. Yuval Levin on the program as he's not only one of this country's foremost scholars and policy experts, he's originally from Haifa, Israel. So we, of course, discussed what's happening there; however, our recording was only a couple days aft...