Faith Angle brings together top scholars and leading journalists for smart conversations around some of the most profound questions in the public square. Rather than a current-events debrief, our goal is a substantive conversation one notch beneath the surface, drawing out how religious convictions manifest themselves in American culture and public life.
Episodes
Mar 3, 2023
Mar 3, 2023
53 min
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
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
Feb 10, 2023
Feb 10, 2023
49 min
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
Additional Resources
"The False Choices Facing the Republican Party," by Ryan Streeter
"The Life and Times of the Faith-Based Initiative," by Tevi Troy
Jan 16, 2023
Jan 16, 2023
34 min
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
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
Dec 19, 2022
Dec 19, 2022
43 min
Recently, President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, requiring all US states and territories to recognize same-sex and interracial civil marriages. But that isn’t all the new law does: it also fortifies religious liberty protections. As today’s guests describe, it’s perhaps because the Respect for Marriage Act does both things that it garnered bipartisan congressional support. In this episode, we're joined by Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, a DC advocacy organization that has worked for the last decade to advance religious freedom in state legislatures. Tim worked closely with leaders of diverse religious minority organizations—and national gay rights lobby organizations—to help foster the conditions needed to make this law and its commitment to Christian pluralism possible. Joining him is Tim Dalrymple, president and CEO of Christianity Today, one of the country's most influential evangelical publications.
Guests
Additional Resources
"Everything You Need to Know About the Respect for Marriage Act," by Carl Esbeck in Christianity Today
Nov 30, 2022
Nov 30, 2022
45 min
In this episode, we are joined by Rev. Russell Levenson, Rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, TX. In conversation with Kelsey Dallas of Deseret News, Levenson discusses his new book, Witness to Dignity, about the life and faith of George H.W. and Barbara Bush who attended St. Martin’s for over fifty years.
Guests
Additional Resources
Witness to Dignity: The Life and Faith of George H.W. and Barbara Bush, by Russell Levenson
"People of faith, pessimism and American politics," by Kelsey Dallas
Nov 11, 2022
Nov 11, 2022
50 min
Today's conversation is about the leadership, faith, historical record, and implications of the national security policy of Ronald Reagan. This exchange between two seasoned national security officials with unusual expertise is rooted in a hot-off-the-press new book, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, by Will Inboden, who is joined for this episode by Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Guests:
Additional Resources:
The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, by Will Inboden
"Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev," by Will Inboden
Oct 31, 2022
Oct 31, 2022
47 min
Anne Snyder is one of Faith Angle’s newest Advisory Board members. She currently hosts The Whole Person Revolution podcast, and earlier this year she co-edited a volume entitled Breaking Ground, with over 45 short essays published throughout the pandemic. Spurring today’s conversation, since May 2019 Anne has served as Editor in Chief of Comment Magazine. She is joined by one of its current contributors, Greg Thompson, who is the co-director of Voices Underground, a Pennsylvania-based, HBCU-affiliated initiative that promotes African American cultural history through scholarly research, community experiences, and historical memorialization. This conversation explores themes from Greg's regular Comment column, "The Welcome Table", which weaves together history, race, memory, hospitality, and a theology of belonging.
Guests
Additional Resources
Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair, by Gregory Thompson and Duke Kwon
The Whole Person Revolution Podcast , with Anne Snyder
Oct 14, 2022
Oct 14, 2022
42 min
In this episode, Bonnie Kristian discusses her brand new book, Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. Her haunting phrase, “the knowledge crisis,” was perhaps popularized last year by another compelling book from Jonathan Rauch, the senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Jon’s 2021 book is The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, and as he explains in more detail, the book describes the essential conditions and institutions necessary for maintaining the basic building blocks of shared human understanding in a free society. This is a rich conversation between the two of them on how to steer clear from getting lost in the vortex of news that sometimes swirls.
Guests
Additional Resources
Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community, by Bonnie Kristian
The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, by Jonathan Rauch
Sep 16, 2022
Sep 16, 2022
48 min
In this episode, Paul D. Miller of Georgetown University and Samuel L. Perry of the University of Oklahoma sit down for an insightful, timely conversation about Christian nationalism. Highlighting themes from Paul's newly-released book, The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism, both guests offer a historically-rooted definition of Christian nationalism, analyze journalists' coverage of this rapidly-spreading ideology, and explore key differences between Christian nationalism and generative patriotism that bears faithful witness in the public square.
Guests:
Additional Resources:
The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism?, by Paul D. Miller
The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, by Samuel Perry and Philip Gorski
Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, by Samuel Perry and Andrew Whitehead
Aug 25, 2022
Aug 25, 2022
39 min
If you’re an evangelical insider, the name Mike Cosper and his “Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” podcast series, published by Christianity Today in 2021, is almost certainly familiar for its artful retelling of the story of a Seattle megachurch pastored by Mark Driscoll. In this episode, Cosper, who is the director of podcasting for Christianity Today, is joined by Jon Ward of Yahoo News. Together, they examine what it is about the structure of megachurches that leaves them prone to the quick rise and fall of a charismatic leader. How does that compare to American politics—especially when our parties have weakened? And how does Mike’s 15-year experience as a pastor temper what he and his colleagues chose to see, and hold up, in this magnificent podcast that took American listeners by storm last year?
Guests
Additional Resources
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast, by Mike Cosper
Testimony: Inside an Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation, by Jon Ward