Jonathan Rauch and Pete Wehner both return to the TP&R pod. Only this time we get them together! For a little background, Jon and Pete have a number of fundamental differences (eg. Jon is an atheist and Pete is a devout Christian); yet, they also happen to be good friends. So the conversation was flowing before we even hit record. We were discussing Pete's recent essay in THE ATLANTIC "Morality Is for Trump What Colors Are to the Color-Blind." We discussed pervasive cognitive dissonance, specifically on the part of people of faith and their continued embrace of Donald Trump. We also talked about our own need to have epistemological humility. Then we explored a construct that Jon is fleshing out for an upcoming book. That is, the 4 existential questions of 1) Morality, 2) Mortality, 3) Malevolence, and 4) Miracles.
Pete Wehner is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. His books include The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, which he co-wrote with Michael Gerson, and Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism. He was formerly a speechwriter for George W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Peter is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and his work also appears in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Affairs.
JONATHAN RAUCH, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and many other publications including The New Republic, The Economist, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and interestingly Religion News Service among many others. His latest book is The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, which we discussed last time Jon joined us on TP&R. One of his earlier works, Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought (published originally in 1993 and then expanded in 2013) defends free speech and robust criticism and remains a highly influential work. And of course, it must be mentioned that Jon is arguably most famous for not liking shrimp!
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion
twitter.com/coreysnathan
www.theatlantic.com/author/peter-wehner/
jonathanrauch.typepad.com/
https://braverangels.org/
The Dark Knight clip - www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYkhb2NjfE
The article on the "Need for Chaos" - royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2020.0147
The Latino Vote with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid (Part 1): 1 Democrat, 1 Republican, national strategists agree on something!
Michael DC Bowen of Free Black Thought ”Black thought varies as widely as black individuals.”
John Popper of Blues Traveler with special co-host Matt Lewis of The Daily Beast
EVANGELICAL WORSHIP: AN AMERICAN MOSAIC author Melanie Ross discusses the music in our country’s churches, how it relates to the political landscape and beating cancer in the midst of this project
”How The Christian Post Sold Its Soul For Trump” and much more with Napp Nazworth of American Values Coalition
Can Millenials save Conservatism from populist nationalism, the alt-right and Trumpism? Let’s ask Josh Lewis of SAVING ELEPHANTS
Josh Good, Director of Faith Angle Forum: Strengthening Reporting and Commentary on Religion
Candice Benbow - a multi-genre theologian on mental health, faith, politics, her book RED LIP THEOLOGY and much more
Country 1st Grassroots Director and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger: ANDREW REGALADO
Matt Lewis of the Daily Beast on ”How the GOP Went from the Party of Reagan to the Party of Trump”
Curtis Chang, of Redeeming Babel and the GOOD FAITH podcast with David French, on institutions, vaccines, anxiety and more
RBG’S BRAVE & BRILLIANT WOMEN by Nadine Epstein
Dr. Sameer Yadav on the Roots of Christian and Secular Racism
The Franklin Project Co-Executive Directors, Erin Dobson and Greg Jenkins
Dr. Russell Moore: Standing Firm on Ethics No Matter the Cost
NAACP Sr. Vice President of Strategy and Advancement, Jamal Watkins
Sarah Isgur of THE DISPATCH, with experience on 3 presidential campaigns and all 3 branches ”knows how decisions in Washington get made”
Former U.S. Congressman and Presidential Candidate: Joe Walsh
Everything Just Changed with Brad Edwards and Bryce Hales
Ron Steslow: Founder and Host of POLITICOLOGY, Cofounder of THE LINCOLN PROJECT
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free