Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

*At 23 minutes, a question is asked about the physical realities of the death penalty. That section is over by 26 minutes.*

Malcolm Gladwell joins Russell to discuss his recent 8-part podcast series, The Alabama Murders (from the Revisionist History podcast), which tells the story of a church leader who hires two men to kill his wife. In the search for closure, their judgment–penalty by death–is stretched out over decades. Gladwell believes forgiveness would have been the better option. 

What becomes clear in this conversation is that justice, as we often imagine it, doesn’t resolve things nearly as cleanly as we think. And in that waiting, we’re forced to confront something deeper: whether we really believe in the possibility of redemption, or whether we’ve quietly decided that some people are simply beyond it.

This conversation may invite you to think more carefully, to see more clearly, and to wrestle honestly with what it means to seek both justice and mercy in a broken world.

Russell also asks Malcolm about his favorite Revisionist History episode King of Tears, which tells the back story of the famous George Jones song “He Stopped Loving Her Today”.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Alabama Murders from Revisionist History

  
  

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

At a moment when many Americans feel fearful, exhausted, or tempted to despair, Russell Moore welcomes Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jon Meacham for a conversation about the moral and spiritual meaning of democracy. Drawing from Meacham’s new anthology, American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, Meacham argues that the American experiment has never been about achieving perfection, but about the difficult and unfinished task of seeking a more perfect union.

Throughout the conversation, Moore and Meacham discuss the 1619 Project, the myth of an idyllic Christian nation, the Scopes Trial, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, and the recurring temptation to treat political opponents not as rivals but as enemies. Meacham makes the case that democracy depends on humility, compromise, and a willingness to resist the politics of destruction.

Together, he and Meacham consider whether reconciliation is still possible in a culture shaped by vengeance, fear, and performative power. Even so, the conversation does not give way to fatalism. Their exchange is a sober but hopeful reminder that history is not destiny, that political renewal remains possible, and that the future of the republic depends on ordinary people choosing courage over cynicism.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union — Jon Meacham

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

There are moments in life when something significant is happening, but we don’t quite know how to mark it. Not a wedding, not a funeral—just one of those in-between spaces when we feel that words ought to be said but don’t know how to say them. In this episode, Russell Moore talks with writer and liturgist Douglas McKelvey about the Every Moment Holy series of prayers and the newest volume focused on marking the unique experiences of young adulthood in the new book of prayers, Rites of Passage.

Their conversation explores why people often need help finding words for prayer in the most human experiences: grief over a beloved pet, awkward encounters with a former relationship, the anxiety of measuring oneself against impossible standards, or the transitions of young adulthood. McKelvey reflects on the long process of writing these prayers and the sobering responsibility of crafting words that others might speak to God in their most vulnerable moments.

They also talk about the unique pressures facing emerging adults today and why the church must learn again how to shepherd people through these seasons. Drawing from the Psalms and the rhythms of historic Christian prayer, McKelvey argues that liturgy doesn’t remove pain or uncertainty. Instead, it helps people remember a deeper truth: that God is present in every moment, even when we don’t yet see how the story will resolve.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Every Moment Holy: Rites of Passage
• The Every Moment Holy project

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

For many people, faith and skepticism are opposites, but novelist and former Harper’s Magazine editor Christopher Beha argues that the two may be more intertwined than we assume. In this conversation about his new book, Why I’m Not an Atheist, Beha reflects on his journey from a devout Catholic upbringing to atheism and eventually back to Christian faith.

Beha describes how an early mystical experience and later personal tragedy pushed him into deep questions about suffering, prayer, and the nature of belief. In college, those questions led him to identify as a skeptic, valuing reason and intellectual independence. Yet over time he came to see that skepticism itself has limits. The turning point came not through philosophical argument but through life itself, like falling in love and becoming part of a family. Those experiences prompted Beha to return to church, where he began hearing familiar Christian teachings in a new way: not primarily as moral demands or metaphysical propositions, but as a story centered on love and relationship–without setting aside his questions.

Together, Russell and Chris reflect on what it means to believe while still wrestling with doubt, how parents might talk with children who are questioning faith, and why the path toward belief often begins not with certainty but with simply showing up.

If you’ve wrestled with the Christian life being sold as putting aside all questions and doubt to choose unwavering certainty, you may appreciate hearing from Chris. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Why I Am Not an Atheist by Christopher Beha

• Essays by Michel  de Montaigne

Keep up with Russell:

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Many people live with a persistent sense that something is not quite right—a low-grade hum of anxiety, insecurity, or striving that never seems to go away. In this bonus episode, Russell Moore talks with author and Bible teacher Jennie Allen about the hidden lies that can quietly shape our lives for years. Drawing from her brand-new book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe, Allen argues that many of our struggles—whether feelings of worthlessness, being unlovable, or helplessness—can often be traced back to stories we began believing long ago.

Russell and Jennie discuss how those beliefs form, often in childhood moments that seemed small at the time but quietly shaped a person’s identity. Along the way, they consider how faith, self-reflection, and grace can help people see their stories more clearly without turning the process into an exercise in blame.

The discussion also moves outward—from personal struggles to cultural ones—touching on why people crave recognition, why fear so often drives public life, and how Christians can respond without being ruled by anxiety. Ultimately, Allen points toward a simple but demanding path: recognizing the lies that bind us and fixing our eyes on Christ.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe by Jennie Allen

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Russell is joined by Allen Levi, the author of the breakout novel Theo of Golden, to ask why so many readers are hungry for a story about kindness—and whether such a person could exist outside the pages of fiction. 

Russell and Allen sit together in Nashville for a conversation based on questions RDM collected from listeners and friends. Without any spoilers, Levi describes Theo of Golden as a book not only about kindness, but about the reason for kindness—an ordinary holiness rooted in the reality of Heaven. Levi’s clear-eyed theology of “glory and grime” found in Golden insists that darkness is real, but it doesn’t get the last word. 

To close, Russell offers for Allen to share a rare on-air prayer for listeners who are exhausted by suspicion and artificiality.

If you’re struggling to see how kindness is worth the cost, or if you’re weary from cynicism, this episode is for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

• “The Confession” by Leo Tolstoy

• “Think Little” by Wendell Berry 

• How to Know a Person by David Brooks

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

In this conversation, Richard Reeves—author of Of Boys and Men (selected as a 2024 Summer read by President Obama), and founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men—walks through the data and the deeper cultural currents beneath the struggle of the journey of boys becoming men. From rising male suicide rates to widening education gaps, and from sports betting addiction to body-image pressures once thought to belong mainly to girls, Reeves argues that boys and men are not so much acting out as checking out.

Reeves suggests that we tore up the old scripts of masculinity—and for good reason—but never replaced them with a compelling vision of what it means to be a man today. In that vacuum, some young men retreat to screens, pornography, and gaming; others gravitate toward louder, angrier answers. But Reeves sees something else underneath the check-out: a hunger for formation, for purpose, for being told not just what not to be, but what to become.

The conversation turns to the church’s unique opportunity at this moment. Russell and Richard reflect on Joseph as a model of quiet strength, the importance of rites of passage, the power of male friendship, and the simple but often neglected message young men need to hear: we need you. 

In a time when many men feel optional, this episode is an invitation to recover a vision of manhood rooted not in dominance or drift, but in responsibility, community, and hope.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

In a recent subscriber-only livestream, Russell Moore welcomes Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin to examine what her recent Christianity Today essay calls “the great omission”: the quiet disappearance of learning from the center of Christian discipleship. Wilkin contends that the church has often replaced structured, outcome-oriented learning with looser models built around community or immediate application. The result, she argues, is not deeper connection but a generation of well-meaning Christians who struggle to articulate even foundational doctrines.

Through conversation and livestream chat questions, Moore and Wilkin explore how this shift happened—through the offloading of Sunday school structures, the fear of asking too much of busy people, and a reluctance to let learners sit in confusion long enough for understanding to take root. 

Throughout, they underscore a central conviction: the church does not need gimmicks so much as it needs courage to teach again, trusting that truth learned deeply can actually be handed on.

Get access to future subscriber-only livestreams! Subscribe to Christianity Today–Click here for 25% off a subscription.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Great Omission – Jen’s article

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

In this episode, Russell–who this guest would lovingly call a “governerd”–welcomes Sharon McMahon, who has been called “America’s government teacher,” known online as Sharon Says So and through her Substack The Preamble. They talk about why so many Americans feel either helpless or furious in the public square, and what it would look like to rebuild sanity without sliding into cynicism. 

McMahon explains how she stays out of partisan leanings by anchoring herself to the Constitution and to moral commitments that can critique both sides—without dehumanizing the people who vote differently. The conversation ranges from digital burnout and practical tools to build better habits to what genuine civic hope looks like, and McMahon makes a case for a “small and mighty” faithfulness: history is shaped by ordinary people who keep doing the next needed thing. Ultimately, the conversation ends with a heed: spend less energy proving you’re right and more energy living in a way that makes love believable.

If the churn of back-and-forth political rhetoric has you feeling whiplash, anchor yourself in this conversation, which reminds that democracy isn’t sustained by viral takes or ideological purity, but by normal people doing the next faithful thing. Sharon says so.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon

• We Are Mighty by Sharon McMahon (releasing May 2026).

Keep up with Russell:

Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com 

Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription.

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

On the 120th anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s birth (February 4th), Russell sits down with Charles Marsh—author of Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer—to ask why Bonhoeffer still captivates Christians and what his witness demands from us now. Together, they explore how Bonhoeffer recognized the moral collapse of the German church earlier than most, and why he insisted that confessing Christ’s lordship must sometimes give way to concrete, costly action in history.

The conversation widens to the pastoral dilemma Bonhoeffer never escaped: when is it enough to proclaim the gospel faithfully, and when must a preacher speak directly to the crisis at hand? Marsh reflects on the tension between shaping consciences slowly and naming injustice plainly, and how Bonhoeffer struck a balance.

Marsh ultimately tells the story of his own father, a Mississippi pastor who preached “Amazing Grace for Every Race” at real personal cost, and of figures like Will D. Campbell and Fannie Lou Hamer, whose Christian witness fused tenderness with moral clarity. Their lives, Marsh suggests, reveal that faithfulness may not be loud, but it is never neutral.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh
• Brother to a Dragonfly by Will D. Campbell
• Fannie Lou Hamer

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Russell and Beth join forces again to embark on the Bible’s darkest terrain: Ecclesiastes and Job. Drawing from Beth’s current teaching on Job, her newly released Bible study, and Russell’s work through Hebrews 11, they explore why Scripture so often leaves suffering unresolved. Along the way, they reflect on faith as endurance rather than fragility, and the long, quiet formation that happens through daily obedience rather than spiritual breakthroughs. Beth shares wisdom shaped by decades of teaching, parenting, journaling, and marriage—including what she’s learned about letting God hold people we love and how stubborn grace can sustain a life and a marriage over time. 

The conversation turns finally to Job, Gethsemane, and the cries of Jesus, who not only models lament, but gathers it up and answers it entirely with his death and resurrection.

If you’re living through uncertainty, carrying grief you can’t yet resolve, or learning how to trust God without clarity—and you’re comforted by a conversation that refuses clichés while still insisting on hope—this episode is for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Walking with God: A Five-Week Journey in Step with the Savior by Beth Moore

• First and Second Samuel by Eugene Peterson

• Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton

Keep up with Russell:

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Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

Russell Moore talks with cultural critic and essayist Chuck Klosterman about his new book Football and what the sport tells us about masculinity, community, memory, violence, and belief. From Roman gladiator games to Super Bowl halftime shows, and from church attendance to television economics, Klosterman argues that football is more than entertainment: it’s one of the last truly shared experiences in American life—and one that may not survive the century.

Even for listeners who don’t care about football at all, this conversation is about the deeper question beneath the spectacle: what happens when a culture’s rituals outlast its imagination?

Moore and Klosterman discuss football as a made-for-television phenomenon, the way fandom shapes identity and irrationality, and how football functions as an unofficial secular holiday—one that churches once resisted, then accommodated, and eventually surrendered to. Along the way, they examine agency, violence, masculinity, and why moral critiques of football provoke more outrage than theological disagreements ever could.

The conversation widens to include politics, class, religion, and even Billy Joel—ending with the question: when future generations judge our era by one piece of football culture, what will they see?

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• Sign up for the weekly newsletter⁠ where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.
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— 

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producer: Clarissa Moll

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Leslie Thompson

Associate Producer: McKenzie Hill

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Kevin Morris

Video producer: Sam Cedar

Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra

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Watch a video version of this episode, here.

Russell Moore sits down with mythologist, storyteller, and author Martin Shaw–called our “greatest living storyteller”–in a conversation centered on Shaw’s upcoming book, Liturgies of the Wild (releasing February 3).

Drawing on folklore, wilderness tradition, and Christian theology, Shaw argues that Christianity is not merely a belief system but an initiatory path—one that modern culture has domesticated into something safer, quieter, and far less demanding.

Shaw reflects on his own journey from Baptist church pews to decades spent studying myth, living in a tent, and eventually returning—reluctantly—to Christianity through Eastern Orthodoxy. Their conversation touches on his 4-day-retreat-turned-conversion, myth versus fact, the resurrection as “disturbingly strange,” the dangers of cynicism and sarcasm, the rise of psychedelic spirituality, and how practices as simple as memorizing a poem or sitting by a fire can begin to re-form the soul.

If you’re beginning the year considering longing, risk, and what it means to become fully human in a world that prefers comfort to transformation–and you’re wanting to hear poetry recited in a British accent–this conversation is for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Liturgies of the Wild — Martin Shaw
• The Moviegoer — Walker Percy
• The Pilgrim’s Regress — C.S. Lewis
• Against the Machine — Paul Kingsnorth (Listen here for Paul’s interview with Russell)
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces — Joseph Campbell

Keep up with Russell:

• ⁠Sign up for the weekly newsletter⁠ ⁠⁠where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.
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• Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: ⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠ for 25% off a subscription⁠⁠

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Russell Moore talks with historian and author Joseph Loconte about The War for Middle-earth, his book on how World War I and World War II forged the friendship, faith, and fiction of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Together they explore why The Lord of the Rings and Narnia weren’t escapist detours from reality, but a deliberate counter-assault on cynicism, propaganda, and the will to power—written by men who had seen the trenches up close and knew exactly what modern darkness looks like.

Loconte and Moore talk about why World War I has slipped from our cultural memory, what protected Tolkien from the disillusionment that swallowed so many of his peers, and why both writers keep insisting that deeds done in the dark are “not wholly in vain.” They also discuss Lewis’s warning about the “cataract of nonsense” in modern media, and why genuine friendship is almost never built by chasing “community”—but by pursuing a shared mission so compelling you find yourself fighting alongside someone.

Loconte shares the origin story of the Lewis–Tolkien friendship, why grace—not grit—is the hinge point in both Middle-earth and Narnia, and where to start if you’ve never read either author: The Screwtape Letters for Lewis, and Tolkien’s short, haunting “Leaf by Niggle.”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

By J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Lord of the Rings

• The Hobbit

• Leaf by Niggle

• The Fall of Gondolin

• “Beren and Lúthien” (legendarium story)
  

By C.S. Lewis

• The Screwtape Letters

• The Chronicles of NarniaOut of the Silent Planet

• That Hideous Strength

• The Space Trilogy

• The Four Loves

• Spirits in Bondage (early poetry collection)

• “Learning in Wartime” (sermon/essay)
  

By Joseph Loconte

• The War for Middle-earth

• A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War
  

Other Literary & Historical Works Referenced

• All Quiet on the Western Front — Erich Maria Remarque

• Paradise Lost — John Milton

• The Odyssey — Homer

• The Aeneid — Virgil

• The Divine Comedy — Dante

Plato’s Cave (from The Republic) — Plato

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Platt and Moore talk about what it means to believe in a personal God in a culture that prays to “the universe,” how to face grief and doubt in the “happiest season of all,” and why the wonder of Christmas is both more comforting and more unsettling than we realize. They also discuss the difference between divine service and the prosperity gospel, the surprising role of dreams and magi in God’s self-revelation, and what it means to repent and trust when belief doesn’t come easily.

Platt shares stories from a Southeast Asian temple, a Muslim Uber driver’s midnight conversion, and his own family’s Christmas traditions—complete with “giving jars” and a goat that wasn’t for the kid who thought it was.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• All You Want for Christmas by David Platt

• Radical by David Platt

Keep up with Russell:

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Watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Songwriter/author Andrew Peterson has been singing about the birth of Jesus every Christmas for over 26 years in the form of a Christmas concept album and tour called Behold the Lamb of God (LINK: catch the tour or livestream—available to watch until 1/31). In this special episode, Russell joins Andrew in the Chapter House–Andrew’s writing cabin–to talk about a tour that’s spent twenty-six years creating a Christmas tradition for thousands across the world.

Together, they swap stories about the origins of the album, the strange power of minor-key Advent songs, and the backstage chaos you never see—covert clementines, nightly TED talks, and the annual fear of forgetting a song that might contain more names than any other song ever written. They also talk honestly about exhaustion, longing, and why the story of the incarnation keeps surprising them after all these years.

Plus: Wingfeather cosplay, Randy Travis covering “Labor of Love,” British carol-singing that’ll blow your hair back, and why both of them have very strong opinions about the First Noel.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes this Christmas tour feel more like liturgy than concert—or why the gospel still sneaks up on people who think they’ve heard it all—this conversation is a warm, funny, deeply human place to land.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Get 10% off the Behold the Lamb of God Livestream on December 12th from the Ryman Auditorium (watchable until January 31) with code RUSSELL10. Get tickets for the tour and livestream here.

• Andrew Peterson’s The Wingfeather Saga

• Randy Travis’ version of Labor of Love

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RDM and Wright explore why Ephesians might have changed church history had the Reformers centered it as much as Romans and Galatians, how “principalities and powers” makes surprising sense in an algorithm-shaped age, and why unity and holiness aren’t rival goods but twin commands. They also wade into the passages that spark the most questions—marriage in Ephesians 5, mutual submission, and the armor of God—insisting on careful reading, cultural context, and a refusal to demonize flesh-and-blood neighbors.

Whether you’re Christian-curious or deep in the commentaries, Wright offers a way to read Ephesians both fast (to catch the sweep) and slow (to trace the seams), with the church embodying a many-colored wisdom that refuses tribal sorting.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Keep up with Russell:

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⁠Watch the full conversation on YouTube⁠.

Fifty-seven years later, Joni Eareckson Tada sits across from me with an answer that might undo everything you think you know about strength, suffering, and the strange mercy of God.

In this conversation marking the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we go where few dare: into the raw, daily reality of quadriplegia, chronic pain that would break most of us by breakfast, and a two-time battle with breast cancer. But this isn't inspiration porn. This is Joni—unflinching, funny, and fiercely honest about what it means when "I can do all things through Christ" meets 4 a.m. despair.

We talk about the crushing loneliness of being the only wheelchair in a room full of chairs. The rage when well-meaning Christians promise healing that doesn't come. The particular exhaustion of advocating for your own existence. And why she tells God some mornings, "I have no strength for today. Can I borrow yours?"

But we also discover something unexpected: how limitation becomes liberation. Why the disabled community might be the most honest place in America. And what happens when churches stop trying to "fix" people and start making room for them.

Fair warning: Joni doesn't do platitudes. She'll tell you exactly what not to say to someone in chronic pain (spoiler: "everything happens for a reason" isn't it). She'll explain why she's terrified of a world that's editing out Down syndrome. And she'll make you rethink whether your church's "all are welcome" sign means anything if there's no ramp to the door.

This is for anyone who's ever wondered where God is when the miracle doesn't come. For those caring for someone who's suffering and don't know what to say. For all of us who suspect our obsession with optimization and control might be making us miss the point entirely.

Come for the practical wisdom. Stay for the kind of hope that only comes from someone who's been asking "How long, O Lord?" for nearly six decades—and still believes the answer matters.

Keep up with Joni’s work through Joni and Friends, here.

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In this conversation, Russell Moore sits down with the legendary documentarian to explore what eight years of wrestling with the founders can teach us about our fractured present. How do you love a country—or a church—while being honest about its deep hypocrisies? Can you hold together progress and permanence, hope and clear-eyed realism? And what does faithfulness look like when certainty has replaced faith?

Burns's new series, The American Revolution (premiering November 16 on PBS), attempts something audacious: telling a visual story from an era with no photographs, bringing to life the contradiction-filled men who proclaimed "all men are created equal" while many of them held other human beings in bondage. Using voices including Tom Hanks, Liev Schreiber, and Claire Danes, Burns creates a narrative that refuses both myth-making and cynicism.

Burns discusses with RDM why labels such as “Heritage American” and “Christian America” fail and what the founders actually believed about divine providence (hint: it wasn't what you think).

Along the way: Schoolhouse Rock nostalgia, baseball metaphors, and what it means to be a patriot when the word itself has been hijacked.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube.
Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Watch Burns’ “The American Revolution” on PBS for free starting November 16th.

Keep up with Russell:

• Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying.

• Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com 

Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription

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Watch the full conversation on YouTube

In this episode, Russell Moore sits down with pastor and author Mark Batterson (National Community Church, Washington, D.C.; The Circle Maker, Gradually, Then Suddenly) to talk about how transformation, calling, and even faith itself often arrive–as Hemingway once put it–gradually, then suddenly. From hard decisions and hidden preparation to the slow work of God that looks instant only in hindsight, they explore why patience may be the most underrated spiritual discipline of all.

Batterson and RDM talk about the writings of Eugene Peterson on the “long obedience” of a faith journey, the difference between patience and stagnation, how to know when you’re called to something and when you’re released from it, and why celebrity culture in the church short-circuits character formation. They get practical on habits (why 30 days feels like the hardest part), preaching long obedience in a city addicted to immediacy, learning grit without “snowplow” spirituality, and aiming at legacy that’s measured by who others become because of you. 

If you’re looking for wisdom without hurry, conviction without hype, and hope that can take a punch and keep walking, this is the episode for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Mark Batterson, Gradually, Then Suddenly 

• Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

• Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction 

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For longtime friends Russell Moore and David French, talking about what’s happening and where things are going is virtually an everyday occurrence. This time, though, they decided to let us listen in. RDM refused to write notes to plan out this conversation and said, “Let’s just go on the air–unfiltered.” This is that conversation.

French, New York Times columnist and author, and RDM discuss everything from whether revival is happening among Gen Z to why we’ve seen such a backlash against women in evangelical circles to whether the gender identity disputes are not over to whether we are headed toward a dark place on questions of religious freedom.

Then they get personal—talking about why, after all they’ve each seen, they are still Christians, and what advice they would give to those who wonder if they still can be.

If you’re looking for honesty without despair and candor without cynicism, this is the episode for you. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Richard Hanania article, ”The Based Ritual”

• David’s article about his incurable disease in the New York Times, ”I Believe in Miracles. Just Not All of Them.”

• Sign up for David’s newsletter

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Russell Moore talks with pastor and author J.D. Greear about his new book Everyday Revolutionary and the surprising power of grace in an age addicted to “courage” and “clarity.” Starting with the story of how J.D. befriended the man who tried to dox him, the two dig into why Christian conviction without compassion turns hollow—and how ordinary believers can live with the kind of quiet strength that actually changes things.

They explore what witness looks like when the internet never blinks, what evangelism means in a world both secular and spiritual, why pastors burn out, and what might replace the megachurch in twenty years.

Plus: Hear about the one and only time Russell Moore has ever passed out. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Everyday Revolutionary by J.D. Greear

• Molly Worthen’s episode on our show

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In a recent episode, Sho Baraka became the first guest to choose the book of Ecclesiastes for his Desert Island, “5 Books of the Bible” challenge we sometimes end our show with. So it seems fitting that a few weeks later we welcome Beth Moore to talk about the relevance and timeliness of these passages that weep for the seeming futility of the human experience. 

Together, Russell and Beth begin by exploring the relevance of the book for Christians and non-Christians alike. Then, they go on a free-wheeling exploration of the book including topics like surgeries and abandoned vineyards, Christmas Wig Exchanges, Stephen King, and, amazingly, Creed Bratton (if you know, you know). 

If you’ve ever had the thought, "I hate life,” and assumed the Bible was ignorant to the human experience of suffering, listen to hear how God has not only acknowledged the turmoil of our existential strivings, but has actually given us words for it.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chasing Vines by Beth Moore

• The Lost Art of Dying by Dr. Lydia Dugdale

• Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson

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Originally aired live on September 24th, Russell hosted a conversation for Christianity Today subscribers with Lecrae regarding his recent Christianity Today article, “An Exhortation to the Exhausted Black Christian.” They talk about Lecrae’s public life as a Christian hip hop artist and author, and his near deconstruction. Then, the floor was opened to questions from subscribers. 

Listen to the recent episode with Paul Kingsnorth

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In this episode of The Russell Moore Show, RDM sits down with Paul Kingsnorth—novelist, essayist, and former pagan turned Orthodox Christian—to talk about his searing new book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity. Kingsnorth argues that the technologies we treat as neutral conveniences may, in fact, be spiritual weapons. The internet as a giant Ouija board. AI not as invention, but as invocation.

It sounds insane—until you realize the people creating these systems admit they don’t fully understand them either.

In this conversation, Kingsnorth tells the unlikely story of his journey from Wiccan witchcraft to baptism in the Orthodox Church, why he believes our cultural obsession with screens, sex, and selfhood is a trap, and why Christians in particular must stop treating technology as just another tool. What if it’s more than that? What if, in chasing progress, we’ve been summoning something we cannot control?

This isn’t your average hand-wringing about iPhones or social media. It’s a bracing, unsettling, and oddly hopeful dialogue about how to remain human in an age increasingly hostile to humanity itself.

Listen in if you’ve ever wondered:

• Why AI feels less like a tool and more like a presence

• How paganism and environmentalism can point toward, but never satisfy, the longing for God

• What the “four pillars of the machine” are—and how they’re shaping us without our consent

• Whether resistance to the machine is possible, and how communities of faith might embody it

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity by Paul Kingsnorth

• Savage Gods by Paul Kingsnorth

• Buccmaster Trilogy by Paul Kingsnorth

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Tim Keller would have turned 75 years old this week (September 23rd). To mark this, we are bringing back an episode from early in 2021 (back when the show was called Signposts). At the time of the conversation, Keller was a few months removed from learning of the cancer that eventually took his life and had just released a new book, Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter. They also talk about the recent article Tim wrote for The Atlantic, wrestling with mortality, how to order our loves in this life, and finding hope in the midst of suffering.

Ultimately, this is a conversation upholding the comfort of the resurrection, and reminds us that through it, nothing truly good is ever lost. 

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What’s the role of reading in a screen-saturated, distracted, AI world?

Russell is joined once again by Ashley Hales, print editor at Christianity Today, to explore how literature can help us resist the attention-fractured nature of our technological era by offering unique ways to process real life itself, giving us tools to see grace where we least expect it.

Russell reflects on Wendell Berry’s latest (and perhaps final) Port William novel, Marce Catlett, and what it means to say goodbye to a lifelong literary companion. Ashley shares insights on Jan Karon’s return to Mitford, and the two discuss how stories shape our capacity for empathy, memory, and hope. They also highlight nonfiction works like Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation (check out our recent episode with Jon) and David Zahl’s The Big Relief, considering how books can guide us through exhaustion, anxiety, and the pressures of modern life. Then, the two share the stack of books they’re reading just for fun, and upcoming releases they’re looking forward to.You can find all the titles mentioned in the episode below.

Plus–Hear ye one and all!–Russell shares about an AI tool that he likes! 

If you’ve ever wondered how exactly reading still matters in a world of constant noise, this episode makes the case that it does—perhaps now more than ever.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Bookshelf App

• Marce Catlett by Wendell Berry

• My Beloved by Jan Karon

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jon Haidt

• The Big Relief by David Zahl

• Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington

• Ashley’s CT article based on this book

• Ct article about MAID in Canada

• Pan by Michael Clune

• Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World by Graham Tomlin

• Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

• Thomas More by Joanne Paul

• On His Own Terms by Richard Norton Smith (audiobook link)

• Food For Thought by Alton Brown

• Making Room by Christine D. Pohl

• Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara 

• The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

• The Trinity Forum’s Revelation of Divine Love, which includes an introduction by Jessica Hooten Wilson

• Joseph and his Brothers by Thomas Mann
  The Vanishing Church by Ryan Burge

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This week, Dr. Moore welcomes back social psychologist Jonathan Haidt to ask him how things have changed in recent months in the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and its impact on faith communities. Haidt—author of The Anxious Generation, The Coddling of the American Mind, and The Righteous Mind—shares his latest observations and updated insights since we last spoke.

This is a fresh new conversation, building off of the previous ones. As the digital world shifts at breakneck speed, Haidt offers new analysis on what he's witnessing on the front lines: how smartphones and social media are reshaping our capacity for prayer and Bible reading, the escalating influence of TikTok and short-form video, and emerging concerns about AI in church settings.

From practical questions about phone-free churches to broader concerns about protecting children in digital environments, this conversation bridges scientific insight with pastoral care.

You'll hear Haidt's surprising predictions about AI's future, discover which social media platform he considers most harmful, and learn his single most important piece of advice for church leaders seeking to preserve human connection in our high-tech age.

This is an essential dialogue for anyone concerned about reclaiming our ability to pay attention,  think deeply, pray meaningfully, and build authentic community in an era of endless digital distraction.

See more from Jon Haidt:

Anxious Generation website: AnxiousGeneration.com

• Jon’s Substack: AfterBabel.com
• New book: The Amazing Generation, (pre-order now, releasing December 30th) 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

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In this episode, Philip Yancey joins Russell Moore for an honest conversation about suffering, lament, and the God who meets us in our pain. Yancey opens up about his own story, from the trauma of losing his father to living with cancer and Parkinson’s. He reflects on how those experiences have shaped his faith and why simplistic religious answers so often do more harm than good.

Together, they talk about what the Book of Job does—and doesn’t—say about suffering, and why Jesus didn’t “solve” pain during his earthly ministry. Yancey explains why lament is not only permitted but essential, and what it means for the church to be a place of comfort rather than clichés.Plus: what surprising things led him to see the graciousness of God before writing the book(s) on it.

If you’ve been sitting in the silence of God, or are grappling with the problem of pain in your own life, you may find comfort in this conversation.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey

• What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

• The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey

• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

• The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

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Five years after the murder of George Floyd, many wondered if the United States—and the church—was headed toward lasting change. Talk of a “racial reckoning” filled headlines, pulpits, and boardrooms. But where do things stand now, in 2025?

Sho joins Russell to reflect on the promises and disappointments of the past half-decade. The child of a Black Panther, Sho shares thoughts about race and reconciliation but also the deeper struggles of spiritual disillusionment, even in his own life.

Sho speaks candidly about his own journey through spiritual dryness over the last 5-7 years as he navigated attitudes of cynicism which gave way to a time of terrible decisions that left his life in freefall. He and Russell explore what repentance and renewal can look like—not only for individuals, but for communities and institutions that have lost their way.

Together, they discuss why conversations about racial justice often stall, how and why multi-ethnic churches struggle, and how Moses is an example of endurance in radically changing a broken institution. Plus: hear which book of the Bible Sho would take with him to a desert island that no other guest has chosen before.

This is a thoughtful, vulnerable conversation about failure, repentance, and the possibility of restoration—for leaders, for churches, and for the witness of the gospel.

—

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If anyone should know, it’s a retired four-star General whose career ended in resignation.

In this episode, Russell talks with General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and author of On Character: Choices That Define a Life. They discuss the Rolling Stone article that ended McChrystal’s military career, why his wife’s single-word reaction changed the trajectory of his life, and how character is shaped over decades by family, mentors, mistakes, and moral decisions under pressure. 

Along the way, McChrystal shares his thoughts on why the U.S. needs a mandatory service year as a way to heal divisions, how leadership choices prevented a hostile environment toward Islam in the United States, and his process for making difficult decisions of national importance. Plus, hear a retired four-star general give his take on the tensions in the Middle East and what should be done to ease them.

You don’t need to be weighing options of national security to appreciate this conversation — If you’re weary of living in an era that excuses a lack of integrity and honor in its leadership, this conversation may give you hope that it’s possible to bring those back.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• On Character: Choices That Define a Life by Stanley McChrystal

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

• Carl Sandburg’s six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln

• Listener question: Where are all the mature single Christian men?
  

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In this episode, Christine Emba joins Russell to talk about what she calls a “quiet catastrophe”: the normalization of pornography in an era marked by loneliness and disconnection.

Drawing from her widely read New York Times essay, “The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness,” Emba offers a pointed and profound look at what pornography is doing not just to our minds, but to our relationships, our desires, and our sense of self.

Emba and Moore explore why the idea of intimacy feels threatening, and how a generation raised on digital pleasure might struggle to imagine and practice real relational connection. They also talk about how porn shapes our expectations of each other, why Christians often mishandle this issue, and what it might look like to recover a deeper, more beautiful ethic of intimate relationships.

Emba even shares ways she sees society combatting our perceived defeat and possible despair when it comes to AI’s influence on porn–and the good news is, she has a positive outlook.

This is not a frantic conversation about culture war panic. It’s a thoughtful and sobering conversation about what kind of restoration is possible when desire is distorted, but not beyond healing.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• C.S. Lewis letters, Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis

• “The Delusion of Porn’s Harmlessness” by Christine Emba (The New York Times)

• Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba

• Kate Julian’s “The Sex Recession” (The Atlantic)

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No matter how you’ve come across him before, perhaps you haven’t heard him like this. In this episode, Tony Hale joins Russell Moore for a candid conversation about anxiety, art, faith—and why he’s drawn to characters who never quite have it all together.

Hale opens up about his personal journey through grief and doubt, and how these experiences shaped both his faith and his creativity. He reflects on the healing power of storytelling, the importance of making space for emotions we often suppress, and what it means to parent children through grief and suffering.

Together, Moore and Hale explore the themes of Hale’s new family film Sketch, a story about a girl who processes loss by drawing monsters. But this isn’t just a kids’ movie—it’s an honest look at pain, beauty, and what it means to sit with discomfort. Hale shares why he wanted to make a film that respects the emotional complexity of children and adults alike.

They also talk about the influence of Tim Keller, Tony’s early years as an actor, the inner development of his iconic roles (be aware, there could be some spoilers!), and how to choose roles and shape a career as a Christian in Hollywood. And be sure to listen until the end, when Tony shares insights on how to be the one Christian among nonbelievers and how to show the love of Christ with authenticity. 

This is a warm, thoughtful conversation about surrender, sacred imagination, and how telling the truth might be one of the most redemptive acts we can offer the world.

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In this episode, New York Times columnist David Brooks joins to talk about what he calls one of the greatest ruptures of his lifetime: the implosion of the conservative movement’s moral center.

Drawing from his widely discussed essay in The Atlantic “I Should Have Seen This Coming,” Brooks offers a deeply personal—and deeply unsettling—account of how a reactionary fringe rose to power and reshaped American public life. Together, Moore and Brooks trace the descent from Burkean virtue to clickbait outrage, from civic institutions to “own-the-libs” performance art.

But this conversation doesn’t stop at diagnosis. The two turn toward questions of cultural repair and spiritual renewal: Is there any real possibility of revival—in literature, in politics, in faith? What might it look like to recover a moral vision strong enough to resist the acid of our age?

And what role could Christians play in offering a better way?

Along the way, they talk about why the next spiritual awakening might not look like the last one, the legacy of Tim Keller, how we can engage in conversations on issues of the soul, how the Trump White House culture is different from other presidents’ and whether AI is really going to change American life as much as Moore thinks it will.

This is a candid, searching conversation about what it means to be human in a disordered world—and what kind of moral courage is needed to hold fast when the center does not.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• How to Know a Person by David Brooks

• David’s Atlantic article, I Should Have Seen This Coming

• Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America by Sam Tanenhaus

• David’s article that talks about Alasdair MacIntyre in The Atlantic, Why Do So Many People Think Trump is Good?

• Diminish Democracy by Julian J. Rothbaum

• The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy by Christopher Lasch 

• David’s New York Times Article: When Novels Mattered 

• David’s novel suggestions:

• Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 

• Selected Essays by Samuel Johnson 

  Middlemarch by George Eliot

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It’s been a couple years since Beth Moore has been on the show, so it was high time to catch up with her. Russell and Beth (no relation) sit down for a free-wheeling conversation, starting with what’s been happening in her life these days. 

Amid the laughter, conversation touches on all manner of important topics: pain, suffering, prayer, study of scripture, and Heaven itself. 

Beth shares about her yearly journaling practice, what recent surgeries have taught her about how God draws us to him in our suffering, postures of prayer, and the importance of ritual as a believer and an artist.

Listen to find out the two books of the Bible Russell has never taught, the Biblical scene both Beth and Russell would want to time travel to experience firsthand, and what surprise book recommendation Beth brought for listeners.

If you find yourself wanting to hear good friends laughing while also acknowledging how hard life can be…this is for you. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Tarot card article link 

• LIfting the Veil, Malcolm Guite 

• Daily Rituals: How Artists work by Mason Currey

—

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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 Instagram, and 1 million on TikTok. And for good reason: Fisher’s ease of conversation and human psychology in communication provides opportunities for everyone to learn how to talk to each other better with more honesty and curiosity. 

Russell and Jefferson also make the connection that Jesus himself–who asks questions, answers slowly, and speaks with assured calmness–provides excellent examples of engaging in effective conversation in controversy.

Get ready to make notes, because this conversation will provide you with heaps of practical takeaways for immediate application. Including how to be a safe person for your children to turn to, what to say in times of marital conflict, and how to effectively set boundaries without shutting down a conversation.

If you’ve ever thought that you’re not good at having difficult conversations, you might be emboldened to try it out after you listen to this episode. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Next Conversation by Jefferson Fisher

—

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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 Apart, explores his observations—and the news isn’t great. Online platforms and algorithms seem to know us better than our churches, families, or friends do—especially when the products we glanced at for a fleeting moment now fill our timelines and social media feeds.

But we already knew that, right? 

And still we face obstacles to capture our own conscious minds. Carr’s work is a call for a cultural revolution to reclaim the human experience from the clutches of technology. Especially when what’s at stake is the understanding of community, which finds its roots in the ability to focus to form empathy for others.

This conversation shines a light on the profound need for deeper connections and the importance of attention in fostering meaningful relationships. Moore and Carr also talk about the mirage of screens as socialization, an AI priest (whose story doesn’t end well), positive outcomes from machines and technology (gasp! Is it possible?), and the way separating from technology might feel an awful lot like excommunication. 

If you need to be emboldened to cut your screen time or make a change in the way you use technology for your sake and the sake of future generations, this conversation may be the thing you need.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholas Carr

• “The Vacation” Wendell Berry poem

• The Empathy Diaries by Sherry Turkle

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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 people feel as though America is at a breaking point, as well as meaningful opportunities for reuniting.

He and Moore consider why fragmentation is happening, the naiveté of cynicism, and ways the party system has—and hasn’t—worked well for the United States. They discuss partisanship, the potential upsides of ranked-choice voting in primaries, and the importance of seeing one another not primarily as political beings but as human beings.

Yuval Levin’s work:

• American Covenant, How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again by Yuval Levin

• American Enterprise Institute

• National Affairs

• The New Atlantis

• National Review

• The New York Times

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

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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 that ensure people are never treated that way again.

In this episode, Russell and Haugen discuss the objection that “justice issues” distract from the gospel. They also talk about how people can know whether God is calling them to some area of justice and mercy and about how those who are doing this kind of work can keep from burnout or despair.

Haugen quoted from C. S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters: “Despair is a greater sin than any of the sins which provoke it.” He talks about how he learned from the writings of Dallas Willard and others the kinds of spiritual disciplines he needs to stay grounded and hopeful.

The two also talk about going to church 13 times a week, the complex psychology of an oppressor, the power of art and music to move us to action, practical steps toward seeking justice, and of course, Wendell Berry.

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In a culture where religious belief is often either rigidly defined or entirely dismissed, these artists dwell in the in between. They don’t preach—but they provoke. Their work invites us into important questions, questions to which the artists themselves often don’t have answers.

This week, Russell Moore talks with Paul Elie, author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage—Russell’s favorite biography—and the new book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. Together they explore how religion haunts the work of artists like Dylan (especially his “Christian era”), Cohen (“Hallelujah”), singer Sinéad O’Connor (her unforgettable Saturday Night Live moment), and even Andy Warhol’s more-than-15 minutes of fame.

If you’ve ever felt as if a song lyric or a painting was almost a prayer—or wondered why some of our greatest artists can’t seem to stop brushing up against the divine—this conversation is for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s by Paul Elie

• The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage by Paul Elie

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The former governor also shares his takes on health care reform, how losing his parents in a car accident brought him to faith, how he fared after losing the presidential candidacy, and how to quench the fear of impending political chaos.

 If you find yourself looking around your community or your country or the world and you think, What can one person, church, or community do to change something so overwhelming?, this conversation is for you.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Heaven Help Us: How Faith Communities Inspire Hope, Strengthen Neighborhoods, and Build the Future by John Kasich

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producer: Clarissa Moll

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Leslie Thompson

Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Kevin Morris

Video producer: Sam Cedar

Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra

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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, helped hold their faith together when it could have come apart. From the wisdom of Wendell Berry to the imagination of C.S. Lewis to the honesty of Frederick Buechner, these authors gave a clarity that helped these two keep the faith. 

This isn’t just a literary conversation. It’s about how God uses stories, sentences, and sometimes even sword-wielding mice to reach people in moments of doubt, disillusionment, or despair. Along the way, they talk about what it means to read widely, to hold onto wonder, and to be the kind of Christian who can still be surprised by joy.

They also somehow end up talking about Moby Dick, Dungeons & Dragons, and how ChatGPT was wrong and right about what books each of them would take to a desert island. 

Books and authors mentioned in this episode include:

• Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

• A Room Called Remember and Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner

• The Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, Mere Christianity, and more by C.S. Lewis

• Godric by Frederick Buechner

• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

• Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot

• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

• The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

• A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

• Moby Dick by Herman Melville

• Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

• The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs

• And selections from Andrew’s own works: Adorning the Dark, The God of the Garden, and The Wingfeather Saga

Whether you’re deep in faith, on the brink of losing it, or just looking for something beautiful to read, this conversation will remind you why the right book at the right moment can do more than explain—it can point to new life.

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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 charisma may be the key to understanding American religion, politics, and even ourselves.

From revival tents to campaign rallies to cable news sets, Worthen tracks five distinct types of charisma that have shaped our country’s imagination—from JFK to your local megachurch pastor. Why do some people command a room without saying a word, while others say everything and still lose the crowd?

Moore and Worthen dig into the seduction and danger of charisma, its role in religious experience, and how it can drive both conversion and cults of personality. They also reflect on Worthen’s own journey from atheism to faith, and why figures such as Tim Keller and J.D. Greear played unexpected roles in that story. Plus: the only time Russell Moore has ever found himself in a room full of unconscious people, all but him on the floor—and what that has to do with spiritual longing.

If you’ve ever wondered why we’re drawn to certain voices, movements, or personalities—and how those forces shape the American soul—this conversation will leave you thinking, and maybe even unsettled.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Spellbound by Molly Worthen

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Millions of listeners tune in daily to The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble, a podcast designed to walk people through the entire Bible one day at a time. In this episode, Russell talks with Tara-Leigh about what’s behind this surprising hunger for Scripture—and what it reveals about our spiritual moment.

Tara-Leigh shares how she never set out to be a Bible teacher. In fact, she realized as an adult that she didn’t actually know the Bible. What’s more, when she began reading it, she found herself troubled by the God she encountered in its pages. That experience set her on a journey to understand both the Bible and the character of God more deeply—a journey that has since helped millions of others do the same.

Whether the Bible feels like unfamiliar territory to you or you know it right down the maps in the back, this conversation will spark your imagination about what’s happening in this cultural moment—and how the Bible continues to surprise us.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Tara-Leigh Cobble

• Spellbound by Molly Worthen

• The Bible Recap

• The Bible Recap Podcast

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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 counts as “Christian music” (spoiler: there was almost a fistfight over Amy Grant), and they explore deeper questions about fame, ambition, and why some artists burn out while others grow deeper with time.

Peacock shares stories behind producing music for Amy Grant, Switchfoot, and The Civil Wars—and what he’s learned from the visible economies of success and the hidden “Great Economy” about which Wendell Berry wrote.

You’ll hear thoughtful conversation on everything from Zen Buddhism and Jack Kerouac to AI and the future of music. Along the way, Peacock reflects on a note found after his mother’s death, a formative encounter with Kierkegaard, and what it means to live with grace as “an antidote to karma.” Peacock and Moore also talk about Frederick Buechner and Merle Haggard, as well as fatherhood, how to find a “circle of affirmation,” and why failing is as important as succeeding.

If you’re curious about how art and faith intersect in an age of algorithms and ambition, this conversation offers a human and hopeful perspective.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music by Charlie Peacock

• On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac 

• Distant Neighbors: The Selected Letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder

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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.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Good News at Rock Bottom By Ray Ortlund

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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 and Luo discuss not only American sentiments toward the Chinese populations but also the ways our country deals with perceived strangers, the unique challenges of Asian American churches grappling with whether to become multiethnic, Luo’s experience of being a Christian in secular media spaces, and the ways his friendship with Tim Keller informed his view of Keller’s unique gifts and legacy.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Strangers in the Land by Michael Luo

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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 experiences that created distance.

Moore and Guerra explore themes of nationalism, church collapse, and finding authentic faith in a politically charged culture. Guerra reflects on his time as a worship leader during the painful public downfall of James MacDonald's ministry, offering honest insights about power, performance, and platform in Christian leadership.

The conversation moves through Guerra's creative process, including his work on Terrence Malick's films, and unpacks the countercultural message of songs like "Citizens"—which confronts the marriage of faith and political power. As the child of Cuban immigrants, Guerra also opens up about his fear of scarcity and how it shapes his understanding of Jesus's teachings about treasure and provision.

At a time when Jesus's name is often wielded as a tribal symbol, Guerra's music invites listeners to encounter Christ not as a political mascot, but as the One who welcomes immigrants as citizens and calls us to a narrower, and better, way.

Join Jon on tour this spring, and listen to Jesus here.

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The Russell Moore Show is bringing Russell's weekly newsletter to all streaming platforms. Listen to his most recent newsletter every Monday!

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“ Precisely what brings you into communion with the church is not sitting—no matter how good the sermon is—it’s not sitting in an auditorium with 3,000 people,” says Robert Putnam. “It’s connecting with other cobelievers in a small group.” 

Robert Putnam, political scientist and author of the cultural phenomenon Bowling Alone, joins Russell Moore to talk about social shifts in how we gather with—and separate from—one another. Putnam and Moore talk about religion, partisanship, and social shifts such as delayed marriage. Their conversation covers loneliness, the increasing number of people who do not identify with any religion, and politicization. 

Moore and Putnam consider the importance of coming together, explore the history of communities in America, and encourage listeners with practical steps for cultivating fellowship. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy by Robert D. Putnam
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam 
• Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert D. Putnam
• Join or Die
• “If You Want to Destroy My Sweater, Hold This Thread as I Walk Away” 
•  Christian Smith
• The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis

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The two discuss their perspectives on politics, Christianity, and culture. They talk about their regular gathering on Thursday nights with fellow thinkers and the ways they see fear taking precedence in American churches. Their discussion covers race, gender, and sexuality, as well as Christian nationalism, parallels between the political left and right, and the reasons why Rauch considers forbearance to be a key aspect of liberal democracy. Moore and Rauch consider the “four Ms”—mortality, morality, murder, and miracles—and talk about why Rauch dedicated his new book, Cross Purposes, to two Christian friends who have passed—Tim Keller and Mark McIntosh.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Jonathan Rauch
• Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy by Jonathan Rauch
• Brookings Institution
• The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Peter Wehner
• David French
• Mark A. McIntosh
• “Let It Be”
• “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time”
• No Compromise
• Tim Keller

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Strickland, an author, educator, and pastor, joins Moore to talk about the titles that have formed their experiences as Christians and academics. They consider how slaveholders used biblical texts to defend their actions and weaponized faith against enslaved people. Strickland and Moore observe the ways that God remains faithful to his Word amid oppression and explore the phenomenon of Black worshipers leaving predominantly white churches. They discuss African American theologians, the witness of the Black church, and the five anchors that Black Christianity has contributed to the body of Christ.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Walter Strickland
• Swing Low, Volume 1: A History of Black Christianity in the United States by Walter Strickland
• Swing Low, Volume 2: An Anthology of Black Christianity in the United States by Walter Strickland
• The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
• The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity by Thabiti M. Anyabwile
• “The Black Church Has Five Theological Anchors”
• “A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches”

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It’s a question that makes Russell Moore and Ian Morgan Cron—bestselling author, psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, and Episcopal priest—laugh, and also one that they approach with wisdom and insight. Moore and Cron talk about the confluence of pressures and stressors in the modern world, the relationship of control to certainty, and varying perspectives on anxiety and depression. They discuss practical actions to take when feeling overwhelmed and dive into the Twelve Steps, which Cron’s new book illuminates as helpful not just for alcoholics but for everyone.

Cron and Moore talk about what it means to be addicted, the human desire for relief from pain, and the power of community in the recovery process. Cron sheds light on amends conversations, which book of the Bible each Enneagram type should take to a desert island, and his profound love for God, Scripture, and humankind.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Ian Morgan Cron
• The Fix: How the Twelve Steps Offer a Surprising Path of Transformation for the Well-Adjusted, the Down-and-Out, and Everyone in Between by Ian Morgan Cron
• The Enneagram
• Andrew Peterson
• “Barth Challenges Bonhoeffer to Return to Germany”
• Serenity Prayer 
• “In the Blood”
• The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
• Karl Rahner
• Addiction & Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions by Gerald G. May
• Curt Thompson
• Bill Wilson
• Alcoholics Anonymous
• David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite

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Moore and Pence discuss former president Carter’s funeral, Pence’s relationship with Donald Trump, and how the 48th vice president came to faith in Christ. They talk about Pence’s experiences during the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the attacks on September 11, 2001. They consider the upcoming return of President Trump to the Oval Office. Pence shares his perspective on major political issues such as abortion, religious liberty, and international relations. They talk about Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom; his hopes for the Republican party; and how Christians can pray for their government leaders. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• So Help Me God by Mike Pence
• Advancing American Freedom
• “The State Funeral of Former President Jimmy Carter | Special Report”
• Basic Christianity by John Stott
• C. S. Lewis
• Samaritan’s Purse
• The Reagan Doctrine
• Never Alone by Amy Grant

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Should discussions of the church harming people be kept in-house so the world doesn’t hear about it? No, says Diane Langberg, and there’s a simple reason why: “That would be quite unlike Jesus Christ.”

Listen in as Langberg, an international speaker, psychologist, and author on trauma care, joins Moore to discuss her new book, When the Church Harms God’s People. Their conversation covers abuse in institutions and considers why it is different when those institutions are churches. They talk about the importance of churches and homes as havens from harm and how it affects people when they become places of hurt. 

Moore and Langberg consider power dynamics, the importance of language that properly names the abuses people have suffered, and a Christian view of women. They provide reason for hope and opportunities for church leaders to love and care for the hurting.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Diane Langberg
• When the Church Harms God’s People: Becoming Faith Communities That Resist Abuse, Pursue Truth, and Care for the Wounded by Diane Langberg
• Abuse of Faith

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So says Natasha Trethewey, a Pulitzer Prize winner who has authored several books and served two terms as the Poet Laureate of the United States. Trethewey and Moore discuss their respective familial connections to the state of Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina, and the Gulf Coast. They talk about Trethewey’s lifelong desire to write, her experience as a mixed-race person, and her thoughts on belonging, grief, and faith. 

Their conversation welcomes all who long for community, creativity, and clarity.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Natasha Trethewey
• Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
• Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Natasha Trethewey
• Native Guard: Poems by Natasha Trethewey
• Providence by Natasha Trethewey
• “Pulitzer Prize Winner Trethewey Discusses Poetry Collection”
• Elizabeth Sewell
• Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow by Robert Duncan
• “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe
• The House of Being (Why I Write) by Natasha Trethewey
• A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
• Michiko Dead by Jack Gilbert
• Theories of Time and Space by Natasha Trethewey
• Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment by Charles Taylor
• Seamus Heaney
• Toni Morrison
• The Sea by John Banville

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Listen in as Russell and CT’s editorial director for print, Ashley Hales, respond to these listener questions and more. Their conversation considers the role of Christians in religiously diverse nations and explores what it looks like to live faithfully in a complex world. 

Questions addressed during this episode include:

• How should Christians respond to family members who believe a relative’s mental illness is instead demon possession?
• What can believers do to model care and connection amid political polarization?
• Is the Enneagram dangerous?
• What do we know about heaven—and what is just cultural opinion? 
• If Christians are free from bondage to sin, why do we still struggle so greatly with temptation?
• What does it really mean to stand with Israel?
• How should the Capitol Hill testimonies affirming the existence of extraterrestrial life impact the Christian worldview?
• Do Christians have the right or responsibility to impose Christian values through laws or governmental power?

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Enneagram
• “Decoding the Enneagram” 
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 
• Harry Potter
• Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC by Frederick Buechner

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“ I love that the Bible is not this collection of sanitized, holy people,” he said. “It’s a collection of broken, frail people who are made righteous by a goodness outside of themselves.”

Villodas and Moore discuss that righteousness and goodness through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount. They talk about the type of life Jesus calls his people to live and consider what it looks like to engage with the emotions of our loved ones. The two converse about the prescriptive power of the Psalms, consider the role of forgiveness, and explore the nature of resentment as they cover Jesus’ statements about anger and lust.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Rich Villodas
• The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls by Rich Villodas
• Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World by Rich Villodas
• The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus by Rich Villodas
• “Christianity Today’s 2021 Book Awards”
• Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1–12 by Frederick Dale Bruner
• “Bitter-sweet” by George Herbert
• Don’t Forgive Too Soon: Extending the Two Hands That Heal by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn

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**Special Event: Join Russell Moore, Ashley Hales, Bonnie Kristian, and Matt Reynolds on YouTube for the CT Book Awards Live Event on December 12, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. EST. Book of the Year winner Gavin Ortlund and Award of Merit winner Brad East will share the inspiration behind their books and the big ideas that animate them as they answer questions from CT staff and subscribers.**

Russell’s top ten books (in alphabetical order by author):

• Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013–2023 by Wendell Berry
• I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel by Leif Enger 
• Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever by Brian Fairbanks
• Ghosted: An American Story by Nancy French
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• The Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han, translated by Daniel Steuer 
• The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C. S. Lewis & J. R. R. Tolkien by John Hendrix
• Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive by Russ Ramsey
• Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment by Charles Taylor
• Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically by Kevin J. Vanhoozer



Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• CT Book Awards Live Event
• “The Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year”
• “Christianity Today’s 2019 Book of the Year”
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• Owen Barfield
• A Secular Age by Charles Taylor
• Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge
• Poiéma by Michael Card
• Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor
• The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix
• Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton
• James by Percival Everett

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For decades, Noonan has been a Wall Street Journal columnist and author, known for her Pulitzer Prize–winning commentary on politics and culture. She and Moore reflect on Noonan’s career both in journalism and as a speech writer in the Reagan Administration. They talk about Noonan’s faith, her love for Christian history, and her long-standing relationship to Roman Catholicism. The two discuss sexual scandals in both church and government, the power of the written word, and the way artists see the world. They consider the concerning potential of artificial intelligence, the value of reading in a world overrun by technology, and the importance of critical thinking in our modern political culture.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Peggy Noonan
• A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings by Peggy Noonan
• Walker Percy
• The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
• We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland by Fintan O’Toole
• Pascal’s Pensées
• “How to Find Grace After Disgrace”
• Abbey of Gethsemani
• Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood
• The Shadow
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• “The godfather of AI: why I left Google” 

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So says author and apologist Sam Allberry during this conversation with Russell Moore. The two discuss Allberry’s new book, One with My Lord, and consider various ways people interpret the Bible’s perspective on sexuality. They talk about gender identity, marriage, and what it means when God says it is not good for humans to be alone. Allberry and Moore consider the importance of friendship, the value of community, and the impact of social media on mental health. 

They also discuss Allberry’s experience with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), the Billy Graham rule, and fostering organizational cultures of transparency.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Is God Anti-Gay? And Other Questions About Jesus, the Bible, and Same-Sex Sexuality by Sam Allberry
• What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves by Sam Allberry
• Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With? by Sam Allberry
• 7 Myths about Singleness by Sam Allberry
• One with My Lord: The Life-Changing Reality of Being in Christ by Sam Allberry
• The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics by Richard B. Hays
• The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge
• “Interview with Sam Allberry || What Can We Learn from the Ravi Zacharias Scandals?”
• “Dallas pastor removed indefinitely due to 'inappropriate relationship' with woman, church says”
• “Sex Scandals and the Evangelical Mind”
• The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, & Gospel Assurance―Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters by Sinclair B. Ferguson
• “Me and Bobby McGee” by Kris Kristofferson
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro

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Guthrie and Moore discuss Guthrie’s new book, Saved: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts; maintaining attention while studying Scripture; and interacting with the biblical text. They talk about praying with the Bible in hand, avoiding the stereotypes often projected onto female authors, and engaging with difficult passages. They consider what it looks like for modern Christians to follow God’s command not to call common what God has called clean and what it means that suffering is not the end of our stories—glory is. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Saved: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts by Nancy Guthrie
• The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament by Nancy Guthrie
• “It All Turns on Affection”
• Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament with Nancy Guthrie
• Nancy Guthrie
• “Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World”
• “Help Me Teach the Bible”
• The Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference

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“We don’t live in a world of ideals right now.”

So says Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic. He and Moore, who recorded this episode on the anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, discuss the fraught state of both domestic and global politics. They consider cultural climates on college campuses and social media, civil disobedience, and leadership. They also talk about military service in light of Goldberg’s new book, On Heroism, and talk about perspectives on masculinity in light of American culture and politics. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Jeffrey Goldberg
• The Atlantic
• Washington Week with The Atlantic
• Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror by Jeffrey Goldberg
• On Heroism: McCain, Milley, Mattis, and the Cowardice of Donald Trump by Jeffrey Goldberg
• “The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone’” 
• “Stoicism in the South”  
• Seven Days in May
• The Overton Window

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Online, in face-to-face relationships, and even at church, this statement has proven true time and again in recent years. Mouw—author, theologian, and former president of Fuller Seminary—says that in a world of ridicule, Christians can still be people who honor the humanity of others.

Mouw and Moore discuss political division, patriotism in worship services, and the powerful draw of specific candidates to certain demographics. They talk about the rise in female leadership, the sense of lostness many men feel amid cultural shifts, and the idea that bitterness and anger are often forms of grief. Mouw and Moore talk about what Calvinism can bring to the church today, whether they believe they’ll be surprised by the faces they see in eternity, and how to live in light of the kingdom.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Richard J. Mouw
• Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivilized World by Richard J. Mouw
• Divine Generosity: The Scope of Salvation in Reformed Theology by Richard J. Mouw
• Wendell Berry on the providence of God
• Nicholas Wolterstorff
• “Sphere Sovereignty” by Abraham Kuyper
• James E. Bradley
• “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

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It’s the question that seems to be on every American’s mind, and one that many have asked both Russell Moore and George Packer, author and staff writer at The Atlantic. Moore and Packer discuss the exhaustion and rage that have become common in our politics. They discuss partisanship, profitability, and pessimism. They talk about the historical events that have led to our current realities, the effects of secularization on culture, and what it might take for Packer to believe there is a God—and why Packer still, despite all of the chaos, can’t forgo his hope for humanity.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• George Packer
• "What Will Become of American Civilization? Conspiracism and Hyper-Partisanship in the Nation’s Fastest-Growing City” by George Packer at The Atlantic
• The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
• The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer
• Blood of the Liberals by George Packer
• Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays by George Orwell, compiled and with an introduction by George Packer
• Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century by George Packer
• David French
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• Montaigne’s Tower

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Whittaker and Moore talk about their experiences of spending time screen-free and how it has changed them. They discuss the relational focus made possible by time apart from devices and the transformative effects of communal living. They consider how Christians engage with time, why it’s important to savor experiences, and how believers might reclaim the practice of solitude. 

Ultimately, they speak to the potential for a healthy relationship to technology and discuss what it may look like to pursue it.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Carlos Whittaker
• Pascal’s Penseés 
• Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human by Carlos Whittaker
• Saint Andrew’s Abbey
• Henri Nouwen
• “London Taxi Drivers and Bus Drivers: A Structural MRI and Neuropsychological Analysis”

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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So says singer-songwriter and creative force behind Slugs & Bugs, Randall Goodgame, on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. Moore and Goodgame talk about the importance of music for all ages, the joy of creativity, and Goodgame’s new project, Scripture Hymnal. They discuss the remarkable value of memorizing the Bible through songs and how calling verses to mind can give us hope, wisdom, and peace in challenging moments. Their conversation covers reading the Bible with children, cultivating artistic gifts, and finding joy in the body of Christ.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Slugs & Bugs
• Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies
• Andrew Peterson
• Scripture Hymnal
• Ellie Holcomb
• Taylor Leonhardt
• Ben Shive
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
• John-Mark McGaha
• The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin
• Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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Tune in for a discussion of what Russell Moore and Ashley Hales, the former producer of the show and now CT’s editorial director for print, have been reading lately. The two discuss the themes that emerge in their reads, from power to technology to deconstruction. Their conversation covers nonfiction, fiction, and poetry—with shout-outs to some television and music as well. 

 Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Ashley Hales
• Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
• Enlightenment: A Novel by Sarah Perry
• The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
• Another Day: Sabbath Poems 2013–2023 by Wendell Berry
• Break, Blow, Burn, & Make: A Writer's Thoughts on Creation by E. Lily Yu
• The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country by Rosie Schaap
• “Rainn Wilson Tells Me Where I’m Wrong on Spirituality”
• Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss
• Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever by Brian Fairbanks
• Confessions by Saint Augustine
• The Sparrow: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
• Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
• Aegypt by John Crowley
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Life Impossible: A Novel by Matt Haig
• The Grey Wolf: A Novel by Louise Penny
• Charles Taylor
• J. R. R. Tolkien

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On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore and Cuss dig into some of those preconceived notions about God and Christianity. They talk about fear and anxiety, persistent sin, and addiction. Their conversation covers the differences between a preventative and a redemptive gospel, the power of community as an antidote to despair, and how to determine when a failure is an inevitable part of life or when it is a sign that something is wrong. Moore and Cuss discuss the five false needs in every human, what it looks like to give our anxiety to God, and the great hope of the thief on the cross.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Abbey of Gethsemani 
• The Silence of God
• The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs & Experience of God by Steve Cuss
• Being Human
• Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard
• Herbert McCabe
• Managing Leadership Anxiety episode “Dr. Andrew Newberg”
• Frederick Buechner
• “‘I Wish You Bad Luck.’ Read Supreme Court Justice John Roberts’ Unconventional Speech to His Son’s Graduating Class”
• “The Man on the Middle Cross Said I Can Come”
• Philip Yancey

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On this episode, Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin talks about the modern era in light of Revelation. She and Russell Moore talk about how the apocalyptic book has been misinterpreted and misused, how Christians can recognize when they have lost their first love, and the role of persecution in the life of the church. Their conversation covers the blessings of generations caring for one another, the hope of the new creation, and how the references to prior books of the Bible seen in Revelation might feel a bit like watching Shrek. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Jen Wilkin
• Revelation: Eternal King, Everlasting Kingdom by Jen Wilkin
• Shrek



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The United States surgeon general says there should be a tobacco-style warning for social media. Why? Because the mental health crisis among young people is reaching seriously harmful levels.

On this episode, associate professor, author, and cofounder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture Alan Noble joins Russell Moore to discuss what such a warning may look like and the modern state of affairs in the public square. Noble and Moore talk about Noble’s latest book, On Getting Out of Bed, and the differences between mental affliction and mental illness. The conversation covers the importance of friendship, embracing life as an act of worship, and how men can embody healthy masculinity. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• “U.S. surgeon general calls for tobacco-style warning labels for social media”
• Alan’s #NobleWords Memes
• Christ and Pop Culture
• And Campaign
• Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble
• You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World by Alan Noble
• On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble
• Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Malcolm Guite
• Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World by Hartmut Rosa

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This pair of facts defines the life and work of this episode’s guest, former director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins. He and Moore discuss COVID-19, conspiracies, and the creator God. Their conversation draws upon Collins’ new book, The Road to Wisdom, and highlights Christian hope for perspective amidst polarization. Collins and Moore also talk about Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Sermon on the Mount, and their common friend, the late Tim Keller.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest(s) include:

• BioLogos
• Human Genome Project
• The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis Collins
• The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis 
• Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis by James Davison Hunter
• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. Walton
• The Advancement of Learning by Francis Bacon
• The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright
• Promised Land

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That’s the question that David French, Curtis Chang, Ashley Hales, and Russell Moore consider on this special episode. Recorded live at a spring The After Party event in Washington, DC, the first half of the episode features a live panel discussion. In the second half, Moore, Chang, and French consider audience questions on practical engagement for Christians.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest(s) include:

• The After Party
• David French
• Curtis Chang
• Ashley Hales
• “Firm Centers and Soft Edges”
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

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That’s the question Latasha Morrison, author and founder of Be the Bridge, encourages listeners to consider. On this episode, Morrison and Moore discuss the issues of race, culture, and history’s impact on the present. They talk about what it’s like to listen, lament, and act on behalf of the oppressed—surrendering our work to the Lord as we walk the path of justice, righteousness, and reconciliation.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Brown Faces, White Spaces: Confronting Systemic Racism to Bring Healing and Restoration by Latasha Morrison
• Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison
• Be the Bridge
• Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
• Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
• Jemar Tisby
• “Meet 115 Changemakers Working With Facebook To Bring The World Together”
• Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges
• Ta-Nehisi Coates 

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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 people feel as though America is at a breaking point and meaningful opportunities for reuniting.

He and Moore consider why fragmentation is happening, the naiveté of cynicism, and ways the party system has—and hasn’t—worked well for the United States. They discuss partisanship, the potential upsides of ranked-choice voting in primaries, and the importance of seeing one another not primarily as political beings but as human beings.

Yuval Levin’s work:

• American Covenant, How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again by Yuval Levin
• American Enterprise Institute
• National Affairs
• The New Atlantis
• National Review
• The New York Times

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
• “My Unsettling Interview with Steve Bannon” by David Brooks
• The West Wing: “Night Five”
• The Sword and the Trowel by Charles Spurgeon

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In the wake of events such as the assassination attempt on former president Trump, President Biden’s choice not to run for reelection, and the announcement of the Harris-Walz ticket, we’re revisiting a fan-favorite episode on political polarization. This conversation with Elizabeth Neumann, the former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security, covers radicalization, online discourse, and where to find hope. 

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Ben Sasse, Them
• Alan Noble, You Are Not Your Own
• Life After Hate
• Parents for Peace
• Moonshot's Monthly Bulletin
• SCREEN Hate: National findings report
• Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism
• Center for Strategic and International Studies Report: Pushed to Extremes: Domestic Terrorism amid Polarization and Protest

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As America approaches the 50th anniversary of Watergate, Russell Moore welcomes Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today news editor and the author of One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation to the podcast.

Silliman and Moore discuss the dissonance between Nixon’s Quaker heritage and legacy as the president who executed the Vietnam War. They also examine the former president’s relationship with CT founder, Billy Graham, and how it influenced his understanding of God and his political rhetoric.

Tune in for an episode that reflects on history while speaking pointedly to the present.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation by Daniel Silliman
• Okie from Muskogee by Merle Haggard
• “Checkers Speech” by Richard Nixon
• Years of Upheaval by Henry Kissinger
• Frost/Nixon

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As America draws closer to the presidential election, the cultural sense of division and disquiet only grows. On this episode, Russell Moore and producer Ashley Hales respond to listener questions, exploring how Christians can stay grounded in tumultuous times.

Questions addressed in this episode include:

• What practices or rules ground Russell personally and communally?
• How can Christians compassionately engage with people who hold a conspiratorial worldview?
• How might church leaders guard themselves against lust for power?
• What has Russell reflected upon since his episode with Ryan Burge about the future of the American church?What does it look like to teach people—especially children—to think well?
• What can the church do to provide young men with a meaningful place and voice?
• How might a Christian respond to unethical behavior in the workplace?
• How can Christians be more confident that heaven is real?

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Inside Out 2
• Daniel Patterson
• “Predictions About the Future of the Christian Church”
• How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs
• Frederick Buechner“
• A Christian Response to Gen Z’s Mental Health Crisis”
• The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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"We need to do a better job as Christians of talking about the body in ways that valorize creation—not just criticizing people who want to do things we think are morally wrong, but helping them understand what God made right.”

So says professor, author, and theologian Michael Horton on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. He and Moore discuss Horton’s new book, Shaman and Sage: The Roots of “Spiritual but Not Religious” in Antiquity. Their conversation explores the growing cultural attraction to Wicca, why people long for a connection to the mystical, and the goodness of our created flesh.

They talk about technological advances that attempt to transcend the body, how we arrived in a cultural moment where people are spiritual but not religious, and what it looks like to engage with people who don’t believe there are any answers to the universe.

Tune in for an episode that encourages Christians to understand how the goodness of the gospel transforms our entire beings—body and soul alike.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Michael Horton
• Sola Media
• White Horse Inn
• Shaman and Sage: The Roots of Spiritual but Not Religious in Antiquity by Michael Horton
• The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson
• The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil
• The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI by Ray Kurzweil
• Transcendent ManYuval Noah Harari

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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What is it that binds Americans together as a nation? 

That’s the question that Russell Moore and his guest, sociologist and professor James Davison Hunter, address on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. With political violence on the rise in America and around the world, Hunter helps us understand the roots of the crisis. They discuss the differences between consensus and solidarity while pondering how humans tend to come alive in times of disaster yet the COVID-19 pandemic produced opposite effects. Their conversation spans history, politics, and religion as Moore and Hunter observe the current state of affairs within Evangelicalism. 

Hunter and Moore talk about the lineage of culture wars and shifts in Christian presence in higher education. Hunter explains why he talks about culture in terms of weather and climate as the two consider hotly contested social issues such as homosexuality, marijuana, and abortion. 

Tune in for an episode that asks deep questions, navigates complex answers, and finds reason to hope.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis by James Davison Hunter
• Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America by James Davison Hunter 
• To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World by James Davison Hunter
• Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture
• “Trump’s Would-Be Assassin and the Twisted Quest for Human Glory”

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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That’s how Leif Enger describes one of the characters in his new novel, I Cheerfully Refuse. While the story brings words like dystopian and apocalyptic to mind, it bears witness to a deep sense of hope and even optimism. How and why? That’s the topic of this episode of The Russell Moore Show featuring Enger. 

Moore and Enger talk about what inspired I Cheerfully Refuse, including classic tales like The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. They talk about how Enger explores despair in fiction and the real world, the nuances of suicidal behavior, and how to combat the unbearable overwhelm caused by a 24-hour news cycle. They discuss Enger’s writing process, how religion emerges in his life and books, and where the two differ in their understanding of evangelism.

Tune in for a gracious, rich episode that turns our eyes toward the light that the darkness will not overcome.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
• Leif Enger
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• “A Weird, Wonderful Conversation with Kim Stanley Robinson”
• “The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice”
• Walker Percy
• Garrison Keillor
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair by Christian Wiman
• “Clergy on the Rocks”
• The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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"That probably tells you what my headspace is right now,” says Russell Moore. Later, he adds, “There is a reckoning in these books.” 

On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore and producer Ashley Hales talk about books, authors, and storytelling. They discuss what draws readers to fateful accounts and trace such tales from the Psalms up to new releases. Their reads span from poetry to prose and sermons to songs.

Tune in for an episode that is as honest about the darkness as it is certain of the light.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode include:

• I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
• The Faithful Spy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendricks
• The Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han
• The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami? by David Bentley Hart
• The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other by Walker Percy
• Wrestling with God: The Meditations of Richard Marius edited by Nancy Grisham Anderson
• Praying with the Psalms: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words of David by Eugene Peterson
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• “The Working of the Spirit” 
• “God Is Always Doing 10,000 Things in Your Life” 
• Martin Luther: The Christian between God and Death by Richard Marius
• Richard Mouw
• “Dr. Russell Moore on the Power of Prayer”
• “Eugene Peterson – Answering God”
• The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms by Timothy Keller
• Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Malcolm Guite
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Aegypt by John Crowley

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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That’s what Melissa B. Kruger, Bible teacher, author of several books including Parenting with Hope, and vice president of discipleship programming at The Gospel Coalition wants families with teens to know. Not only that, it's what she hopes all who care about the next generation will bear in mind.

On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Kruger shares insights gained from her years of raising three now-adult children. She talks about the importance of emphasizing relationships with Jesus and one another over a formulaic approach to faith or parenting. Moore and Kruger discuss practical issues in teen life, including mental health concerns, smartphone usage, and how families may be unintentionally raising young people to be “curated…rather than dearly beloved.” 

Kruger and Moore offer hope for families that are struggling and encourage parents to think about preparing their children to encounter risks in the real world with wisdom and hope.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Melissa B. Kruger
• The Gospel Coalition
• Parenting with Hope: Raising Teens for Christ in a Secular Age by Melissa B. Kruger
• “Jonathan Haidt’s Way Forward for an Anxious Generation” 
• "An Update to The Anxious Generation with Jonathan Haidt"
• Reformed Theological Seminary
• The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids by Madeline Levine, Ph.D. 
• The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural and Agricultural by Wendell Berry 

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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So says Bill Murray’s character, Jeff Slater, in the 1982 film Tootsie—and, effectively, so say many listeners of The Russell Moore Show when they reach out with questions or comments about the state of society and politics today. America is trying to recover from the physical, emotional, and economic effects of COVID-19 while simultaneously barreling toward an election season that is particularly rife with discord. 

On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, we’re bringing together clips from four past episodes that provide, as Moore puts it, “some counsel of sanity in really crazy times.” Listeners hear from Jen Wilkin on unfair pay for women in churches and Beth Moore on how abuse has affected her view of God as a father. Yuval Levin speaks to what we can do as the institutions around us crumble and the late Tim Keller reminds us that we can both claim the power of forgiveness and seek justice.

Tune in for an episode that offers focus, encouragement, and hope for weathering the days to come.

This episode features clips from the following episodes of The Russell Moore Show:

• “Beth Moore Speaks Out”
• “Jen Wilkin on Women in the Church”
• “Yuval Levin on What Christians Can Learn from Religious Minorities”
• “Tim Keller Says Forgiveness Is Key to Christian Witness”

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

• Tootsie
• “Honor Thy Church Mother—with Wages”
• The Westminster Confession of Faith
• All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore
• American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again by Yuval Levin
• Exclusion and Embrace, Revised and Updated: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation by Miroslav Volf
• A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979-1997 by Wendell Berry
• The Diary of a Country Priest: A Novel by Georges Bernanos

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper 

Host: Russell Moore 

Producer: Ashley Hales 

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps 

Video producer: Abby Egan 

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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So says four-time Grammy-award-winning rapper Lecrae on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. This lack of concern with ego hasn’t always been easy. Lecrae, whose two most recent Grammy wins occurred this year, shares that he had to spend a lot of time learning that God is the one who determines who he is. He and Moore discuss imposter syndrome, performance, and comparison. Their conversation covers anxiety, depression, and how God enters into our dark moments.

Lecrae and Moore talk about what deconstructing really means. They also consider how Western exceptionalism arises in Christian spaces, including a reckoning with lauded historical theologians who were slaveholders. They also talk about how Lecrae views the music industry, the importance of close friends when fame is part of your life, and what it looks like to live as though death has no power over us.

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

• Lecrae
• Church Clothes 4
• “Your Power”
• I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
• God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music by Leah Payne
• “W.W. Jay-Z?” 
• “Underneath the Door”

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper 

Host: Russell Moore 

Producer: Ashley Hales 

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps 

Video producer: Abby Egan 

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Weber talks about her personal story of conversion and how it led to her memoir, Surprised by Oxford, and the resulting film. She and Moore talk about the influence of C.S. Lewis on both Weber and modern Christianity, the power of literature, and how fiction can help us develop a moral imagination. They discuss poetry, philosophy, and prayer, considering the many beautiful ways God reveals himself to us.

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

• Carolyn Weber
• Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber
• Surprised by Oxford (film)
• Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
• The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Life Is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition by Wendell Berry
• “Surprised by Joy” by William Wordsworth
• The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper 

Host: Russell Moore 

Producer: Ashley Hales 

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps 

Video producer: Abby Egan 

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore invites Klass—a political scientist, contributing writer at The Atlantic, and associate professor—to tell him where he is wrong on the nature of the universe. Klaas explains why he is a determinist and how that belief system has both similarities and differences to believing in a personal God. The two discuss the high level of pop culture interest in science fiction and the concept of a multiverse. Their conversation covers politics and power, physics and free will, and what reforming broken systems may look like.

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

• Brian Klaas
• Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas
• Power Corrupts 
• Peter Kreeft
• Dark Matter: A Novel by Blake Crouch
• Dark Matter
• Frederick Buechner
• Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us by Brian Klaas

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper 

Host: Russell Moore 

Producer: Ashley Hales 

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps 

Video producer: Abby Egan 

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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These are the questions that Russell Moore and Ryan Burge—author, professor, and writer of Graphs about Religion Substack—address in this episode. They consider shifts in the Southern Baptist Convention, the relationship of politics to religious participation, and whether or not churches are expected to close by the thousands in the years to come. And they remind listeners of what it looks like not only to speak the gospel but to live it as members of a community that welcomes others, volunteers in meaningful ways, and embodies the beauty of what the church can be.

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

• The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan Burge
• Graphs about Religion
• Billy Graham 
• Dobbs v. Jackson
• Obergefell
• “Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers”
• “Religion Has Become a Luxury Good”
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam
• Asbury University

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper 

Host: Russell Moore 

Producer: Ashley Hales 

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps 

Video producer: Abby Egan 

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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So says Grammy-nominated and Dove-winning hip-hop artist Flame on this episode of The Russell Moore Show, which features a conversation about music, theology, and journeying with Jesus. Moore explains that while this isn’t a “tell me where I’m wrong” episode, he hopes it will provide a helpful angle to the “deconstruction” discussion—one that considers whether changing our minds about theological beliefs can be an act of faithfulness.

They consider spirituality and stability, connection and community, and tendencies among theological tribes. Flame explains what happens when we reduce Christianity to a “moral improvement program,” highlights the power of forgiveness, and considers the role of confession and absolution in the life of the believer.

From thoughts on baptism and Communion to rap albums and biographies, this episode has something for all who want to understand who they are in Christ and what it looks like to worship him.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Flame / Extra Nos Academy
• Freedom Lessons
• Forward 
• Our World Redeemed
• Extra Nos: Discovering Grace Outside Myself by Flame
• “Scattered Tulips”
• Commentary on Romans (Luther Classic Commentaries) by Martin Luther
• Concordia Seminary

Song lyrics used with permission of the artist.

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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That’s the question that Russell Moore and his guests—musician and producer Charlie Peacock and writer Andi Ashworth—consider on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. The couple cofounded Art House America together and approach the conversation as artists and makers, exploring what it looks like to lead with empathy and love of neighbor. They talk about what it looks like to create as though the world is watching, how to model the character of Jesus, and the difference between being a jerk and being bold.

Their conversation covers Peacock and Ashworth’s new book, Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much, and why hospitality is essential to Christian life. They talk about art, music, and how Jesus draws us to himself.

Tune in for an episode that testifies to God’s faithfulness to weave our stories into the greatest story of all.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt by Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth
• Francis and Edith Schaeffer
• John Coltrane
• Flannery O’Connor
• Douglas McKelvey
• Calvin University
• Steve Taylor
• Covenant Seminary
• L’Abri

Do you have a question for Russell Moore?

Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Hawke and Moore discuss what compelled Hawke to cowrite Wildcat with Shelby Gaines. They talk about how O’Connor’s work connected Hawke to his mother and, later, to his daughter Maya, who plays O’Connor in the film.

Moore and Hawke explore O’Connor’s forcefulness and faith. They discuss the joys and challenges of working with family, how audiences are engaging with the religious elements in Wildcat, and Hawke's attraction to exploring issues of faith in art. And they talk about the meaning of creative work, institutions, and relationships in a fraught era.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Wildcat
• Ethan Hawke
• Maya Hawke
• Shelby Gaines
• "‘Wildcat’ Is as Unsettling as Flannery O’Connor Would Have Wanted"
• The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
• First Reformed
• The Good Lord Bird
• Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress by Jessica Hooten Wilson
• “A South Without Myths” by Alice Walker
• “Why did Flannery O’Connor detest ‘Gone with the Wind’?
• ”Richard RohrWatership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, adapted and illustrated by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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The two discuss Comer’s new book, Practicing the Way, which welcomes people into spiritual formation through ancient practices. They talk about discerning God’s will for our lives, how Comer decided to step away from his role as lead pastor of a church he planted, and what it looks like to invite people into discipleship. Comer shares how he met Jesus, what it’s like to talk about God on the West Coast, and why so many people no longer resonate with American church services. They explore how churches can cultivate richer discipleship, the power of deep friendships, and the practice of contemplative prayer.

Tune in for an episode that is replenishing, full of guidance, and sheds light on why being an apprentice to Jesus is less like learning chemistry and more like learning jujitsu.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• John Mark Comer
• Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. by John Mark Comer
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
• Billy Graham Crusades
• Martin Luther
• John Calvin
• Where Heaven and Earth Meet: A Jesus-Centered Spirituality for Today by N. T. Wright
• The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, Second Edition by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Revised and Updated) by Robert D. Putnam
• Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar
• When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community by Joseph H. Hellerman
• Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Marjorie Thompson
• Mark Scandrette
• Eugene Peterson

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore hosts Cosper for a discussion of hurt and hope. They talk about Cosper’s work in church ministry, in his book, and while hosting the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Their conversation covers church polity, planting, and pastoring. Moore and Cosper talk about the importance of humility in an era of narcissistic spiritual leaders and discuss the importance of wisdom and suffering in tempering idealism.

Cosper and Moore talk about reconciling stories of hospitality and kindness about figures like Mark Driscoll with the damage and trauma they’ve inflicted on others. They respond to the critique that The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill has made pastoring more difficult and encourage listeners to consider the importance of telling the truth even—perhaps especially—when the truth is hard to accept.

Tune in for a discussion that is honest about the harm some churches have caused and hopeful about the church as a place of healing.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• The Bulletin
• Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found by Mike Cosper
• The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
• William Carey
• “Jon Hamm on the Evolution of Don Draper on 'Mad Men’”
• Acts 29
• “Land of My Sojourn” by Rich Mullins

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Special offer for listeners: 

Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC, for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we’d love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people and pastors alike, and offers “a better way” for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here—we’ve saved a seat for you!

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So says Nancy French, best-selling author and investigative journalist, on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. French, who is known for her groundbreaking reporting on abuse at one of America’s largest Christian camps, joins Moore to discuss her new memoir, Ghosted.

French talks about growing up in the Bible Belt, where she was sexually abused as a child by her Vacation Bible School teacher. She and Moore discuss the importance of righteous responses to people who have been harmed, the ways institutions too often cover up abuse, and how all of this shows up in partisan politics.

Their conversation highlights the power of love—specifically in the case of Nancy’s marriage to David French—in healing from trauma. Moore and French also talk about French’s experiences ghostwriting for high-profile families such as the Palins and the Romneys. They talk about shifts in political culture, the state of racism in America, and what it’s like to be part of a church family that is primarily made up of people outside of one’s ethnic culture. Their conversation also touches on adoption, online discourse, and the incredible work that God can do through personal relationships.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Nancy French
• David French
• Ghosted: An American Story by Nancy French
• Joan Didion
• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
• Flannery O’Connor
• Frederick Buechner
• “They Aren’t Who You Think They Are” by David French and Nancy French
• “What it’s like to experience the 2016 election as both a conservative and a sex abuse survivor” by Nancy French
• Curtis Chang
• “The Four Horsemen: Contempt” (The Gottman Institute)
• The After Party

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Special offer for listeners: 

Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC, for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we’d love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people and pastors alike, and offers “a better way” for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here—we’ve saved a seat for you!

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill

Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens

Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haidt describes how religious communities are taking the lead in providing some protection from mental health problems. He and Moore discuss the ways that modern life lends itself to overprotecting our children in the real world and under-protecting them online. They talk about what childhood is, how it’s been rewired, and the subsequent impact on young people. They consider the unique traits of Generation Z, the power of religious communities, and why people of faith are statistically happier. Moore and Haidt explore the common quest for meaning and purpose, how to shepherd children in a virtual world, and how to account for differences in boys and girls without resorting to misogyny. 

Their conversation also covers the damage of pornography, distractions in worship settings, and how to encourage friends and families to communally steward digital devices. 

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• “Jonathan Haidt’s Way Forward for an Anxious Generation” 
• Jean Twenge
• Greg Lukianoff
• Zach Rasuch’s Substack
• Émile Durkheim
• “Joe Rogan Experience #2121 – Jonathan Haidt”
• “Table for Two” by Caedmon’s Call
• Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal
• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
• Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis 
• The Digital Fast: 40 Days to Detox Your Mind and Reclaim What Matters Most by Darren Whitehead
• Andrew Sullivan
• Richard V. Reeves’ Substack

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

Special offer for listeners: 

Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!

Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.

“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today 

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper