The Aaron Renn Show

Peter Ostapko joins us to discuss his project Kinsmen Journal, a high quality print magazine for Christian men and broader project to curate conversations around faith, fatherhood, and work. Kinsmen Journal featured original commissioned photography and writing, and the highest quality printing and packaging available. Buy Kinsmen Journal:  https://kinsmen.org/

This is my interview from two years ago with David Murrow, author of the influential book Why Men Hate Going to Church .  Why does the American church skew female? How did he get interested in this topic? How did people receive his book and what changed as a result of it? What is the story arc of the church's attempts to reach men in recent decades? Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pro...

Paleoconservative military writer William Lind developed a concept he calls "4th Generation War," which is an insurgency conflict similar to Afghanistan or Iraq. 4GW is rooted in a decline of the legitimacy of the state, a fundamentally asymmetric conflict, and the criticality of winning at "the moral level of war." There are interesting parallels to cultural conflict which I e...

Sociologist Brad Wilcox joins to discuss his new book "Get Married." He explains why, despite its decline in our society, marriage remains the best path to success in flourishing in life. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Get-Married-Americans-Families-Civilization/dp/0063210851/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Georgetown University professor Joseph Hartman joins me to discuss the 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and why he still matters today.

Sociologist Brad Vermurlen will join me to discuss his new book Reformed Resurgence: The New Calvinist Movement and the Battle Over American Evangelicalism . Vermurlen's book is an excellent overview of the New Calvinist movement, the backdrop of Evangelical fracture in which it developed, and the various strategies the movement implemented. This podcast was recorded two years ago as Youtube...

Josh Abbotoy joins me to discuss his projects to built intentional communities of likeminded people in Kentucky and Tennessee. Ridgerunner USA: https://ridgerunnerusa.com/ Highland Rim Project: https://www.newfounding.com/highland Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

One of the key events in the Christianization of the Roman Empire was when the children of the existing Roman elites turned aside from the status system of the Roman imperium in favor of new ways of pursuing and achieving elite status within the church. Today, in the Negative World, the church operates as a shadow status system that takes its cues from secular elite culture. It will always be domi...

Management is about the known. Exploration is about the unknown. Dwight Gibson has studied the techniques of the explorers from the great age of exploration. He will discuss how people and organizations can make use of those oft-forgotten methods to help navigate today's uncertain and unprecedented world. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

John Burtka, president of ISI, joins me to discuss his new book Gateway to Statesmanship: Selections from Xenophon to Churchill. It's a collection of some of the best writing in history about the nature of the statesman. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Statesmanship-Selections-Xenophon-Churchill/dp/1684515432/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Lexi Hudson joins me to discuss her recent book The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves. Buy the book:  https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Civility-Timeless-Principles-Ourselves-ebook/dp/B0B9KTF7BP/ Subscribe to my newsletter:  https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Too many people today have negative identities - they are defined by what they oppose not by what they are for or hope to create. Negative identities create asymmetries in which you are vulnerable to people with morally expansionist visions. They also make your identity dependent on the very thing you claim to oppose. While there are plenty of bad positive identities, it's much better to base...

Notre Dame professor Darren Dochuk joins me to discuss his book Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Every aspect of modern political, economic, and cultural development of the 20th century was bound up with various strains of the oil industry and Christianity. Dochuk explains this oft-overlooked history. Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Anointed-Oil-Christianity-...

Pragmatism is about what we can do with our own two hands with the material we see in front of us. It's an important perspective on the world - but very limiting as well. Too much devotion to pragmatism can blind us to the possibilities in the world and life.

Brad Littlejohn and Chris Castaldo join me to discuss their book Why Do Protestants Convert?, which examines the psychological, theological, and sociological reasons that evangelical intellectuals often convert to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. Buy the book: https://davenantinstitute.org/why-do-protestants-convert Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Ben Merkle, president of New St. Andrews College, joins me to discuss the broken financial model of higher education in America. Read Big Ed, Too Big to Fail: https://nsa.edu/blog/big-ed-too-big-to-fail Subscribe to my newspaper: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Nancy Pearcey, a professor at Houston Christian University, joins me to discuss her book The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes . Pearcey was named one of the top five women apologists by Christianity Today and hailed in The Economist as America's preeminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual. Buy The Toxic War on Masculinity : https://www.amazon.com/Toxic...

For this month's newsletter, John Seel shares an essay on masculinity and the quest to become a "holy man." He examines who a holy man is, the tools he uses, and the product he produces. Subscribe to my newsletter at: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

John Seel joins me to discuss his thoughts on cultural engagement in today's negative world.  Dr. Seel holds a Ph. D from the University of Maryland, and is a cultural renewal entrepreneur. Download Dr. Seel's white paper on The Challenge of Cultural Engagement: https://www.exploradelphia.com/publications Subscribe to my newsletter:  https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Long time missionary Andrew Brunson joins me to talk about his two year nightmare in a Turkish jail after being falsely imprisoned by the government for spying. Wavestarters, a Ministry of Andrew and Norine Brunson: https://www.wavestarters.org/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

John Lovell joins me to discuss his new book The Warrior Poet Way: A Guide to Living Free and Dying Well. Lovell is a former Army Ranger, combat veteran, and missionary. He runs the popular Youtube channel The Warrior Poet Society. Buy The Warrior Poet Way: https://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Poet-Way-Guide-Living/dp/0593541847/ John Lovell's Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@WarriorPoetS...

Why do men turn to online influencers instead of the church? One reason is that evangelicals promote a vision of masculinity that is so bleak and unappealing it turns men off. They sum this up under the heading “servant leadership” Properly defined I believe servant leadership is important and something we should all aspire to. But evangelicals use it as a term of art that ends up defining a man’s...

Gen Z Youtuber "Redeemed Zoomer," a member of the PCUSA, joins me to discuss his case for why Christians should not abandon mainline denominations. Visit Redeemed Zoomer's Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@redeemedzoomer6053 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/

Eric Lefevre joins us to discuss the Concordia-Seminex Affair, in which the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod reversed a trend towards liberal theology in its flagship seminary and the denomination as a whole.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida joins me to discuss his new report, "The State of the Working (and Non-Working) Man," issued by his office as part of his Project for Strong Labor Markets and National Development. Read the report: https://www.rubio.senate.gov/rubio-releases-labor-report-the-state-of-the-working-and-non-working-man/   Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.aaronrenn.com/