Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other

Grateful to be able to talk about politics and religion without killin' each other! www.politicsandreligion.us twitter.com/TPandRPod www.facebook.com/TPandRPod www.instagram.com/tpandrpod/ www.linkedin.com/company/tpandrpod www.tiktok.com/@tpandrpod ...and our host twitter.com/coreysnathan www.facebook.com/coreysnathan www.instagram.com/coreysnathan/ www.linkedin.com/in/coreysnathan/

This is part 1 of our conversation with Jonathan Rauch. We had to have Jon back for a follow up because, as you'll hear, he's such a genuine, inquisitive fellow, he ended up asking Corey more questions than the other way around. We touch upon a number of big ideas like the existence of God; how the gospel of Jesus contrasts with the way a lot of self-professed Christians act; the trauma gay Americ...

In this conversation with Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati , we discuss the "equation" we've been given to be happy and how unhappy that's left many of us; how she experienced a radical and seemingly impossible forgiveness; when religion gets it right; some of the core tenets of being Hindu; the power of a name; and the "groundwork and grand work" that Sadhviji is a part of among a number of other meani...

Today we're joined by Liz Joyner and Vanessa Rowse of the Village Square . Liz is the Founder and CEO and Vanessa is the Podcast Producer of their great podcast Village SquareCast . We get into all kinds of important, timely topics including  how we're all living in this "high energy environment"; the "us vs. them dynamic" and what the solution is; the value of actually getting together in person;...

Why are more and more young people leaving religion? Is religion the only way we can define our values? From what sources do nonreligious folks derive shared morals? We explore all these questions and much more, such as how the Secular Student Alliance is providing a point of connection for nonreligious students all over the country. We discuss secular and humanistic values, how SSA has been recei...

Brian Kaylor is the President and Editor-in-Chief of Word and Way (a Christian media company founded in 1896), he’s Associate Director of Churchnet and the host of an excellent podcast called Dangerous Dogma . Brian is also a prolific author, most recently of the books For God’s Sake, Shut Up!: Lessons for Christians on How to Speak Effectively and When to Remain Silent and Vote Your Principles: P...

"There's a gap between the realistic possible and the actual...and what can we do about it?" That's a premise we explore with our renowned guest, Dr. Rick Hanson , across numerous domains from the very personal to the political. Along with special co-host Savannah Nathan, we discuss the scientific observations of the benefits of meditation; Buddhism as a psychology and not necessarily a religion;...

Kaitlyn Schiess is a writer and author who’s studying for her doctorate in political theology, ethics and biblical interpretation at Duke Divinity School and has earned her ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2020, Kaitlyn’s book The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor created quite a stir. She has also written about theology, politics,...

Here's Part 2 of our conversation with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid, picking up where we left off. In Part 1, we had a chance to talk with Chuck, who's best known for running Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and then getting out the vote in the critical state of Nevada in the general election for Biden. In this part of the conversation Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, jumps in to offer h...

On Part 1 of our conversation with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid, we get right into it. First with Chuck, who's best known for running Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and then getting out the vote in the critical state of Nevada in the general election for Biden. We look behind the curtain at what national parties are getting wrong when it comes to reaching and engaging the Latino vote. We also talk ab...

Michael David Cobb Bowen is co-founder and co-editor of Free Black Thought - a group of scholars, technologists, parents, and citizens determined to amplify vital black voices that are rarely heard on mainstream platforms. Michael is a Business Intelligence professional and Data Engineer, he is a past contributor to NPR, Young Republicans and TV One, and is an essayist at Stoic Observations . Mich...

John Popper is a singer, songwriter and one of the world's greatest harmonica players. He's the longtime frontman of Blues Traveler (which happens to be one of, if not my favorite band ever!) and has jammed with any number of virtuosos across multiple genres of music. Of course, we talk about the music, his influences and inspirations, but we also get into plenty of politics and religion! As our s...

In this conversation with Melanie Ross of Yale Divinity School , we explore the music in American Evangelical churches; what the worship music says about the people of particular churches; how politics, and specifically Trump, was discussed during services and other church gatherings; and how to make space to have healthier dialogue and to listen to each other well. Melanie also shares about her c...

Dr. Napp Nazworth joined us to discuss how one of the country's leading Christian online media outlets transformed over the last 5-6 years into one that is explicitly on team Trump, eschewing much of its founding journalistic and theological principles. We also delve into other topics such as how the oft-quoted 81% support for Trump among Evangelicals is a myth. Among other issues we explored, Nap...

Josh Lewis is concerned about the problems of "...the loneliness epidemic and loss of genuine community, a rapidly changing job market that threatens our ability to earn a living, nearly insurmountable debt, and growing polarization," among others. Josh also believes conservatism provides a cogent framework to address these issues effectively. Unfortunately, the word conservative has been co-opted...

Josh Good is the Director of Faith Angle Forum , a program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center which aims to strengthen reporting and commentary on how religious believers, religious convictions, and religiously grounded moral arguments affect American politics and public life. We discuss the concept of covenantal pluralism; how locked in our feedback bubbles we are; some of the obstacles to th...

Candice Marie Benbow is a multi-genre theologian who was named by Sojourners as one of “10 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2020”, Candice has written for various outlets including The Grio , ESSENCE Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The Root, VICE, Shondaland, MadameNoire and the Me Too Movement. Convergent Books has just published her first book, Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Consider...

Andrew Regalado is Legislative Assistant in the office of U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Andrew is also the Grassroots Director of Country First , a Political Action Committee that is a home for reasonable people of goodwill, seeking common ground to make our country better for future generations.  We discuss how Andrew began to develop his political views, how he charted the first c...

Matt Lewis is a senior columnist for The Daily Beast. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, GQ, The Washington Post and he's a regular contributor on MSNBC, CNN, PBS NewsHour, HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and CBS News’ “Face The Nation.” He also dissects the day’s issues in conversations with other thinkers, authors, and newsmakers on his podcast Matt Lewis and the News . In this...

Curtis Chang is Founder of Redeeming Babel , which provides “biblical thinking in a confusing world,” and co-hosts the podcast GOOD FAITH with David French. He has won a White House award for social innovation, consulted with the State Dept. and multiple MacArthur Fellowship Genius Grant winners, teaches strategic planning at American Univ. in D.C., is Sr. Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary and...

Nadine Epstein is Editor-in-Chief of MOMENT MAGAZINE which was co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel. Nadine is also Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Creative Change, the Founder of the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative and has now launched the Role Model Project which was established in memory of her dear friend Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with whom...

Dr. Sameer Yadav, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Westmont College, discusses his trajectory from being raised by immigrant Hindu parents in rural Idaho to becoming a conservative Christian, finding himself at odds with fundamentalist teaching while doing his first Masters degree (including how his experience at a certain hardcore conservative college was akin to farting in an elevator...

The Franklin Project was started for folks who are “unafraid of a diversity of opinions; want our elected representatives to work together to get things done; and want the shrieking, shrill, dangerous extremist voices to quiet down so that the rest of us can be heard.” Erin Dobson and Greg Jenkins both have experience at the highest levels of politics and the corporate world. Now, with the Frankli...

Many know Dr. Russell Moore from his 8 year tenure leading the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention before his high profile exit due to his opposition to Donald Trump and the SBC’s differences with how to handle issues such as sexual abuse and race relations. Currently, Dr. Moore is Public Theologian at Christianity Today and Director of Christianity Today’s P...

Jamal Watkins is SVP of Strategy and Advancement at the NAACP . Prior to NAACP, he held leadership positions with a number of organizations dedicated to community organizing and civil and human rights. In this discussion we explore important topics including how NAACP carried out its mission through the many challenges of 2020; how the Association is helping to protect against attacks on voting ri...