Faith Angle

In this episode, we are joined by John Inazu, who is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion and Professor of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis. This week, he published his fourth book: Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect. John sits down to discuss differences, respect, bridge-building, and the unique role of journalism in all this, with Matt Kaminski, editor-at-large of POLITICO, and the co-founder of POLITICO Europe. Matt served as editor-in-chief of POLITICO from 2019-2023, and he’s covered international politics for more than a quarter-century, still writing regularly on global affairs today. Together they discuss whether it is possible to disagree in ways that somehow build bridges with neighbors, coworkers, and loved ones, and what role journalists can play in helping us see reality more clearly. Guests John Inazu Matthew Kaminski Additional Resources Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect, by John Inazu Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference, by John Inazu "'Beyond Crazy': The Liberal Jew Mugged by a Post-Oct. 7 World," by Matthew Kaminski

In this episode, we are joined by Sarah McCammon, National Political Correspondent at NPR, to discuss her book Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. In it, Sarah tells a compelling, personal story about family, marriage, politics, and church—and she concisely boils down insights from scholars like David Gushee, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Christian Smith, and others you’ll hear her reference. If the great de-churching currently happening in American society is most acutely felt by Gen Z and Millennials, Sarah’s story is right in the heart of that. And since no one really knows where the future is headed, one question to ask is: If evangelicals or other religious Americans leave the fold, what replaces that unique sense of purpose, transcendent faith, and community? Joining Sarah to discuss that and other urgent questions is Ruth Graham, the brilliant New York Times’ religion, faith, and values reporter. Guests: Sarah McCammon Ruth Graham Additional Resources: The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, by Sarah McCammon "Evangelical Writer Who Influenced Purity Culture Separates from Wife," by Sarah McCammon and Ruth Graham "Two Evangelical Leaders on 'Radical Faith'," by Ruth Graham Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation, by Jon Ward

In this episode, we are joined again by Tim Alberta of The Atlantic and Michael Wear of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, to discuss Michael's brand new book The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life. Michael has been engaging the condition of American politics for more than 15 years, after serving in the White House, helping to launch and lead the AND Campaign, and advising leading policymakers, journalists, practitioners at the intersection of faith and public policy. Drawing from this experience as well as the work and influence of noteworthy Christian philosopher Dallas Willard, Michael argues that our politics will only get better if we get better. The only way to transcend the current polarized morass we’re in is to deepen and revitalize our spiritual formation. Our politics is downstream of the kind of people we are. The Spirit of Our Politics argues that the way forward is to better align our political and civic engagement with our religious commitments. And while the democratic answer for believers is never theonomy, or Christian nationalism, or privileging a majority identity—Michael and Tim sketch the contours of what faithful, integrated living might produce. Guests: Michael Wear Tim Alberta Additional Resources: The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, by Michael Wear The Center for Christianity & Public Life The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta "The Surprising Link between the Gospel and Politics," by Michael Wear Wear We Are Podcast, with Michael and Melissa Wear "Tim Alberta and Michael Wear: The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory," Faith Angle podcast episode

On today’s episode, we are joined by The Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig for an Advent reflection with Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, assistant pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Rev. Isaac is an evangelical pastor whose life and ministry have been rooted in Bethlehem in the West Bank, where he is a theologian, Bible college dean, a leader of the peacebuilding initiative Christ at the Checkpoint, and part of the ancient but fast-dwindling community of Christians in the Holy Land. This Christmas, as there is war in the Holy Land, this sobering conversation points to the hope of the Incarnation in the midst of suffering—offered from a unique vantage point and moment, in the place of Christ’s birth. Guests: Munther Isaac Elizabeth Bruenig Additional Resources: The Other Side of the Wall: A Christian Palestinian Narrative of Lament and Hope, by Munther Isaac "Christmas is canceled in the land of Jesus' birth," by Queen Rania Al Abdullah in The Washington Post "In Bethlehem, the home of Jesus' birth, a season of grieving for Palestinian Christians," by Laura King in The Los Angeles Times

On this episode Tim Alberta and Michael Wear dig deep into Alberta's new book, The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. Their discussion covers the shaping of the religious and political expression of American evangelicalism in the latter half of the 20th century until today, including the movement's most influential leaders. They explore how Tim's personal experiences as a pastor's son give his journalism and coverage a unique urgency, and they highlight crucial questions of truth, accountability, and priorities within the evangelical community and in American society more broadly. Guests: Tim Alberta Michael Wear Additional Resources: The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta NPR "Fresh Air" interview with Tim Alberta "The Long Game" interview with Tim Alberta Christianity Today Russell Moore Show interview with Tim Alberta The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, by Michael Wear

Author McKay Coppins sits down with Peter Baker of The New York Times to discuss Coppins' best-selling biography Romney: A Reckoning, which offers an intimate look into the life and career of Senator Mitt Romney. Coppins explains the unique process of creating the book, which reads like an authorized biography, but over which he retained editorial privileges. Coppins explains how Romney's faith influenced his political and personal life, and the thread of rationalization toward self-interest that marked Romney's career and that of so many other politicians. Coppins and Baker also discuss Romney's complex relationship with Donald Trump, including Trump's endorsement of Romney in 2012, and Romney's later criticism of former President Trump and failed attempts to derail his candidacy. Explored in the conversation are aspects of Romney’s life not commonly known, but that Coppins had access to through 45 one-on-one conversations as well as unvarnished journal entries and other correspondence. Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, praises Coppins' book for the unique lens it provides into the inner workings of Washington and the Republican party in the Trump era. Guests McKay Coppins Peter Baker Additional Reading Romney: A Reckoning, by McKay Coppins "What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate," by McKay Coppins The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

In this episode, Luke Russert discusses his new book Look For Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself, a reflection on grief, family legacy, religious exploration, and the loss of Luke's father, legendary journalist Tim Russert. Luke is joined by Carl Cannon, Washington Bureau Chief and Executive Editor of RealClearPolitics, who shares from his own experience with family bonds, faith, loss, and his personal friendship with Luke's father. Guests Luke Russert Carl Cannon Additional Resources Look For Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself, by Tim Russert

Best selling author and columnist David Brooks sits down with noted psychiatrist Curt Thompson to discuss Brooks' latest book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. Brooks' aim is to help foster deeper connections at home, work, and throughout our lives, and he and Thompson cover a lot of ground. From thoughts on friendship, depression, what it means to really listen, and how we reflect God, there's a lot here. It's a generous conversation, and one that we hope offers a kind of relational balm in our troubled time. Guests: David Brooks. Curt Thompson Additional Resources: How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply SeenThe Second MountainThe Social AnimalThe Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope

Christine Emba's recent piece for The Washington Post, "Men Are Lost. Here's a Map out of the Wilderness.," says something haunting about the state of gender dynamics in the country and something both our guests remind us matters equally to men and women alike. On this episode, Christine joins noteworthy scholar Richard Reeves, who recently launched the American Institute for Boys and Men. Not only do they explore their timely scholarship and writing on this topic, but they also engage the nuanced role that faith and religious institutions play in it. Guests Christine Emba Richard Reeves Additional Resources "Men Are Lost. Here Is a Map out of the Wilderness.," by Christine Emba Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It, by Richard Reeves "How to Solve the Education Crisis for Boys and Men," TED Talk by Richard Reeves Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It, by Richard Reeves

In 2009, Newsweek magazine called David Saperstein the most influential rabbi in America. For over 40 years, he was the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He also served as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, becoming America's chief diplomat on religious liberty issues. He was the first chairman in 1998 of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Joining Rabbi Saperstein is a brilliant journalist for The Atlantic, McKay Coppins, who writes regularly on politics, faith, presidential campaigns, and other stories of compelling human interest. Guests Rabbi David Saperstein McKay Coppins Additional Resources "What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate," by McKay Coppins Romney: A Reckoning, by McKay Coppins Interview with Rabbi David Saperstein

In this episode, we have the privilege of hosting two brilliant thinkers on the state of race in America, and how a faith angle fits into that. Ekemini Uwan is a writer, public theologian, and activist who hosts the excellent podcast Truth’s Table. She co-wrote a book by that title, featuring Black women’s musings on life, love, and liberation. Joining Ekemini is Eugene Scott, who has been a prior guest journalist on Faith Angle’s podcast, and is currently the senior politics reporter at Axios. Sixty years after the March on Washington and MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, how are we doing? At the outset of an election year, this conversation dives straight into that question—with signs of some real progress and signs of much, much work yet ahead. Guests Ekemini Uwan Eugene Scott Additional Resources Truth's Table Podcast Series, co-hosted by Ekemini Uwan and Christina Edmondson Truth's Table: Black Women's Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation, by Ekemini Uwan and Christina Edmondson "How Toni Morrison's words pierced me, as a black Christian female writer," by Ekemini Uwan "Black Florida lawmakers blast DeSantis over AP African American studies," by Eugene Scott "Black lawmakers push Congress to do more on police reform," by Eugene Scott

This episode explores how the arts can help us transcend some of the worries in contemporary society, from polarization and entrenched tribalism, to our massive decline in public trust, to informational rabbit holes, to other discouraging and sometimes heartbreaking news. How do stories help us renew? This conversation was originally featured at Faith Angle West 2023 in Seattle, WA. and the full-length talk is linked below. Alissa Wilkinson has covered film and culture since 2016 for Vox, and she been a prolific film critic since a decade prior. Brad Winters – who speaks immediately following Alissa – is a writer, producer, and showrunner who helped direct and oversee TV dramas including “Oz” (where he started his career as a writer), “Boss,” “The Americans,” “The Sinner,” and “Berlin Station.” So we’ll hear Alissa’s reflections about how faith and Hollywood relate to one another, followed by Brad’s take as an on-set practitioner—about how he’s tried to stay true. Guests Alissa Wilkinson Bradford Winters Additional Resources "Storytelling and Hollywood," full Faith Angle West 2023 session "Jesus Is Calling...on Netflix's 'Beef'" in Christianity Today "Lessons from a Barbenheimer Summer," by Alissa Wilkinson

Time and again in American life, technology has made room for new, better things that ease human burdens and free up RAM—think just of dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, microwaves, and airplanes. Of course today, Silicon Valley represents this new frontier perhaps better than anyplace else in the world. It’s there that Carolyn Chen – a sociologist and Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, where she’s co-directs the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion – has discovered something compelling in her new book Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley (Princeton 2022). Time after time, a Silicon Valley job provided what religion used to provide a Georgia Tech college student or Ohio megachurch volunteer. From company yoga studios to meditation apps, from cafeterias to enriching professional development opportunities, young, mobile, hi-tech workers allured by the perks often work 60 or 70 hour-weeks. If the company is changing the world, why go to church? For Millennials and Gen Z in particular, the trend toward “no religion at all” or remaining agnostic on the religion survey is increasingly popular. But Trae Stephens, a venture capitalist and Partner at Founders Fund where he invests across multiple sectors and stages, argues the story is more complex. Enjoy these two short talks, given live to a group of 18 journalists working at outlets primarily west of the Mississippi—first on how work in Silicon Valley has come to take the place of religion once held, and then Trae on why that is, and what we can do about it. Guests Carolyn Chen Trae Stephens Additional Resources Work, Pray, Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley, by Carolyn Chen "Choose Good Quests," by Trae Stephens

Professor Joshua Ralston is a scholar and theologian who teaches Christian-Muslim Relations at the University of Edinburgh. His three books look at Sharia law from a Christian perspective, at the impact of global migration on the church, and at Europe’s rich religious diversity. He is engaged in the work of bridging divides between Christians and Muslims—each vast, diverse communities who often fundamentally misunderstand one another. Joining him is Rim-Sarah Alouane, a French legal scholar and commentator who’s nearly completed a PhD in comparative law at the University Toulouse-Capitole, in France. Her scholarship focuses largely on religious freedom, human rights in France, the balance of civil liberties and religion, and constitutional law. Listen in for a rich dialogue between a Muslim legal scholar in France and a Christian theologian in Scotland. Guests Joshua Ralston Rim-Sarah Alouane Additional Resources Law and the Rule of God: A Christian Engagement with Shari'a, by Joshua Ralston The Spirit of Populism: Political Theologies in Polarized Times, co-edited by Joshua Ralston "Publicly French, Privately Muslim: The Aim of Modern Laïcité," by Rim-Sarah Alouane "The Weaponization of Laïcité," by Rim-Sarah Alouane

Yuval Levin is the kind of thinker, policy analyst, public servant, and scholar you really want in DC. The talk you’re about to hear is one he gave to a group of 15 Michael Cromartie Forum journalists, a highly promising group of early-career journalists. The topic is declining trust in our politics, in religion, and in American journalism—and it’s a deeply insightful and challenging talk that we hope you’ll feel just as stirred by as our group did. Guest Yuval Levin Additional Resources A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream, by Yuval Levin The Fractured Republic: Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism, by Yuval Levin "The Crisis in America's Institutions: Religion, Journalism, and Politics," full video of Yuval Levin's session at the 2023 Michael Cromartie Forum

At the moment, 193 countries in the world hold membership in the United Nations, and, of that group, 50 are currently Muslim-majority countries. This is a data-point referenced by each of this episode's guest scholars, in their thinking about how Islam and liberalism intersect and in their reflections on the future of Islam in the modern era and on Muslim life in America. First up is Mustafa Akyol, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, where he focuses on the intersection of public policy, Islam, and modernity. He is followed by Dalia Mogahed, who is Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. Dalia previously served on President Obama’s Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and, prior to that, was for six years Director of Gallup’s Center for Muslim Studies. Guests Mustafa Akyol Dalia Mogahed Additional Resources Full video of Faith Angle Miami session on "Islam and American Pluralism" Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance, by Mustafa Akyol Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, by Dalia Mogahed and John Esposito

Miroslav Volf teaches theology at Yale University, where he also directs the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He is the author of 17 books, and his 1996 book Exclusion and Embrace was named by Christianity Today as one of the 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century. This new book, rooted in a popular Yale undergraduate course, is Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, co-authored by Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, both fellow teachers. Joining Miroslav for this conversation is Tim Alberta, a brilliant, ascending journalist and bestselling author in his own right, who is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of American Carnage. At the moment, Tim is working on a new book, provocatively titled The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. Guests Miroslav Volf Tim Alberta Additional Resources Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republic Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, by Tim Alberta "War and Religion in Ukraine," Faith Angle Europe session with Miroslav Volf

In this episode, we are joined by Shaun Casey, former director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs, and Rachel Donadio, a Paris-based journalist, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a former European Culture correspondent for The New York Times. Our guests discuss Shaun's new book, Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom, which makes the case that understanding the role of religion in global politics is crucial for effective diplomacy. Guests Shaun Casey Rachel Donadio Additional Resources Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy, by Shaun Casey "Why Is France so Afraid of God?" by Rachel Donadio "Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska," by Rachel Donadio

In this episode, Ryan Streeter of the American Enterprise Institute and Tevi Troy of the Bipartisan Policy Center join us to discuss the history of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, as well as to provide a roadmap for the office's potential growth and impact under future administrations. Guests Ryan Streeter Tevi Troy Additional Resources "The False Choices Facing the Republican Party," by Ryan Streeter "The Life and Times of the Faith-Based Initiative," by Tevi Troy

This episode is lifted directly from one of the most fascinating sessions of November’s Faith Angle Europe, where Dr. Peter Frankopan opened a two-and-a-half-hour session available in its entirety below. Peter is the Professor of Global History at Oxford University’s Worcester College, and alongside Theresa Fallon, the founder of a Brussels think tank focusing on Russia and China, he spoke with 18 transatlantic journalists about trade, culture, and the easily-misconstrued history of the Eastern and Western worlds that have intersected in China for centuries. Guests Peter Frankopan Additional Resources "Past Is Prologue in China," full length Faith Angle Europe 2022 session with Peter Frankopan and Theresa Fallon The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World, by Peter Frankopan Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research