The Russell Moore Show

How do you handle conflict? If you said “not well,” let conversation expert Jefferson Fisher offer you practical tips for navigating difficult conversation. And there’s good news: if you’re afraid of conflict, you don’t have to be.  Jefferson Fisher is an attorney, author, and a bonafide conversation expert. His videos–about conversation and communication–serve an audience of over 6 million on Ins...

Doomscrolling, algorithms, artificial intelligence—these concepts have become so familiar to us and such a part of our everyday monotony that they’ve become jokes. But Nicholas Carr isn’t laughing.  Carr’s work in tech journalism has given him a front-row seat to watch the shift of culture around technology over the last decade. His recent book, Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us A...

For Independence Day, we are running an episode of particular relevance from our archives. Could the Constitution provide the antidote to polarization? Yuval Levin thinks so. The director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Levin is the author of a new book titled American Covenant. In it, and during this episode, Levin identifies the reasons peopl...

Gary Haugen has seen the darkest things imaginable. He’s spent decades fighting human traffickers, corrupt governments, and mobs that enslave men, women, and children to sell them for sex and profit. But he’s not one bit cynical. As president of International Justice Mission, Haugen has worked to abolish modern-day slavery and to put the bad guys in jail while building the kind of institutions tha...

Are we in the last days? Yes. Everything from the empty tomb onward are the last days. Could Jesus return at any moment? Absolutely. But can we track that coming based on the bombing schedules of Israel or Iran? No. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there’s more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

What do Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Flannery O’Connor, and Bono all have in common? According to writer and cultural historian Paul Elie, they’re “cryptoreligious.” Their art isn’t about affirming doctrine—it’s about invoking mystery, longing, and spiritual disquiet. In a culture where religious belief is often either rigidly defined or entirely dismissed, these artists dwell in the in...

Former governor John Kasich has been a lot of things: US presidential candidate, governor, political commentator, congressman. And throughout his career, he witnessed faith communities of all religions come together and support not only each other but also their communities at-large. His new book, Heaven Help Us, reflects his observation of this dynamic and the ways faith communities are uniquely...

American evangelical Christians ought to care about the dismantling of PEPFAR. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there’s more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does a Shire full of hobbits in Middle-Earth, a county full of farmers in Kentucky, and a wardrobe full of a lion have in common? For Russell Moore and singer/songwriter/author Andrew Peterson, they were all a way to find home.    In this episode—recorded inside Peterson’s book-lined Chapter House in Nashville, right down the road from Moore—the two talk about the authors who, by God’s grace,...

What do Albert Einstein, the Jesus People,  and Donald Trump all have in common? According to historian and journalist Molly Worthen, they’re all part of a surprising American story about the strange, magnetic force we call charisma. In this episode, Russell Moore sits down with Worthen to explore the themes of her new book, Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History, and why understanding c...

The greatest threat to the church is not what we think it is. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there’s more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Biblical literacy is over, right? The world is too secular to care about the Bible, and even if people were interested, our attention spans—shaped by smartphones and streaming—couldn’t keep up anyway. So why are Bible sales on the rise? And how is it that a podcast helping people read the Bible in ten-minute segments is outpacing names like Joe Rogan on the charts? Millions of listeners tune in da...

When you feel anxious or afraid, read something calming and reassuring—like the Book of Revelation. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there’s more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is God’s will for your life more of a dot or a circle? That’s one of the questions addressed by Grammy Award–winning producer and artist Charlie Peacock, whose new memoir Roots & Rhythm explores what it means to find one’s calling in life, how to heal from the past, and how to give up the quest for holding on to power. This conversation reveals at least one middle-school-era debate over what count...

An end-times novel predicted the insanity of 2025 and it just might point the way out. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there’s more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up ⁠here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when everything you’ve built crumbles beneath your feet?  In this personal and open conversation, pastor Ray Ortlund talks about what he’s learned from unexpected losses, crushed hopes, and discarded dreams. Moore and Ortlund discuss how to get through those moments when faith is tested beyond what seems bearable—and they talk about the surprising joy that emerges on the other side. R...

The demonization of empathy will lead to a church that coddles sin. Russell reads a piece from his newsletter every Monday on the podcast but there's more to be found in the weekly email! Sign up here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can the lives and trials of our Asian American neighbors teach the rest of us? Michael Luo, executive editor of The New Yorker and author of the new book Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, joins Mooreto talk about our country’s treatment of its Chinese residents, which drew Luo to trace his own family’s path to the United States. Moore a...

An American evangelical considers the life of Pope Francis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does it mean to sing about Jesus when the name has been co-opted by politics, performance, and power?  In this episode Dr. Moore welcomes singer-songwriter Jon Guerra to discuss Guerra's new album simply titled "Jesus." Guerra shares how his music serves as devotional art—less Sunday morning worship and more Monday morning prayer—and explains his journey back to the words of Christ after expe...

What’s a Christian, anyway? In our 2025 political environment, terms like evangelical begin to lose the meaning they once held, or they require further refinement and definition. Glenn Packiam’s new book brings a fresh perspective to this conversation. It turns out the answer lies in the Nicene Creed. This year, the Nicene Creed turns 1,700 years old. This ancient work, built from Scripture and th...

We convince ourselves that we can be cruel and nihilistic and Christian all at once. Listen to his most recent newsletter every Monday! Subscribe to Russell’s weekly newsletter here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s time for another books episode. Russell Moore is joined again by Ashley Hales, the former producer of the show and now CT’s editorial director for print, in a discussion about what they’re reading now and about how reading as a practice is necessary and helpful in a windblown world.  What books are you loving? And which books would you be sure to pack if you were planning to be marooned on a...

The death of Hooters holds a message for the church. Listen to his most recent newsletter every Monday! Subscribe to Russell’s weekly newsletter here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What has play got to do with suffering?  Annie F. Downs has built her career on having fun. Her New York Times bestseller titles include That Sounds Fun, Remember God, and 100 Days to Brave. Her new book for kids seems very different from the fun-loving Downs.  Downs explains how the death of her nephew TJ led her to write a children's book to help kids (and grownups) understand suffering and loss...