In an extremely polarized political landscape, how do we learn to change our minds? What happens when someone dedicates their entire career to the Christian Right and then has a moment of repentance? Join us as we talk with Rob Schenck, author of Costly Grace, who offers his perspective on the religious Right and the religious Left and what we often get wrong about the other side.

Links:

Schenck's account of his time in Minneapolis during the ICE protests:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/rob-schenck-i-went-to-minneapolis-to-bear-witness-and-to-make-amends/

Schenck's book, Costly Grace:
https://www.amazon.com/Costly-Grace-Evangelical-Ministers-Rediscovery/dp/006268793X

Underneath a bombastic and bumbling Donald Trump sits a world of radical right-wing intellectuals, shaping the ways we experience the MAGA movement today. How did the American far right emerge? How have we misread the far right—and what does that mean for our democracy? Join us as we talk with Laura Field, scholar in residence at American University and author of the new book Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, as she talks about the intellectuals and thinkers behind Trumpism today. What do they actually believe?

Links:

Laura Field's Book, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right:
https://www.amazon.com/Furious-Minds-Making-MAGA-Right/dp/0691255261/

Laura's review of Alexandre Lefebvre's Liberalism as a Way of Life:
https://www.illiberalism.org/good-liberals-bad-cave-a-review-of-liberalism-as-a-way-of-life/

Laura's website:
https://www.lkfield.com/

The Democratic Party is the home of the religious "nones." And yet it is also a bastion of wokeness and language policing. With its desire to maintain its own purity, its own creeds, and its own take on "original sin," is wokeism on the left becoming its own kind of religion? Join Matt and Shadi as they unpack the status of the Left today. Shadi examines the intersection of his own political and religious identities, noting the ways the Left requires religious people to reduce themselves to fit its mold. Matt talks about the ways he noticed the Left become disoriented after Trump's second win. And together they ask: Is wokeness a religion?

Conservatism in American politics has historically been tied to religious communities, bound by common concerns of morality and common values. As the MAGA movement emerged, it did not exhibit these traits. Is the MAGA movement post-Christian? And what does this mean for traditional conservatives? Join Matt and Shadi as they explore MAGA's spiritual future, probe Matt's conservativism and voting habits, and examine Shadi's impressions of the future of the religious Right.

Are there universal moral laws that bind all humanity? Are some things just right and wrong? In a polarized world, can we hope to agree on moral issues? Christians and Muslims have long histories of discussing the existence of a "natural law." But where do they differ? Join us for a fascinating discussion of these and many other issues as we meet with two experts on natural law, Micah Watson of Calvin University and Anver Emon of the University of Toronto.

Links:

• Micah Watson's faculty page: https://calvin.edu/people/micah-j-watson
• Hopeful Realism: Evangelical Natural Law and Democratic Politics: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781514007709
• Anver Emon's faculty page: https://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/anver-emon
• Islamic Natural Law Theories: https://a.co/d/i6nKaBq

The Mormon faith is deeply American in just about every way, and yet Mormons have never quite been accepted in America. Why? What is it like to be a Mormon in America? How do Mormons navigate American politics? Many of them voted for Trump, but do they like him? Join us as we talk with Matthew Bowman, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, as he walks us through the history of Mormonism, his own beliefs, and the way he thinks about our current political landscape as a Mormon.

Links:

Matthew Bowman's book The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith:

https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780812983364

Bowman's latest book, Joseph Fielding Smith: A Mormon Theologian:

https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780252088056

Christian: The Politics of a Word in America

https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780674244917

Matthew Bowman's bio:

https://www.cgu.edu/people/matthew-bowman/

Are you afraid of hell? Do you know who's going there? We know that our beliefs about the afterlife can often influence the ways in which we treat so-called insiders and outsiders. What we think about hell can even influence our political action in society. Join us as we talk with Mohammad Hassan Khalil, author of Islam and the Fate of Others, who offers a deep historical dive on how Muslims have thought about salvation in the past and present, not only for those from other religions but for themselves too.

Links:

Khalil's book, Islam and the Fate of Others:
https://www.amazon.com/Islam-Fate-Others-Salvation-Question/dp/0199796661

Khalil's latest book, Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism:
https://www.amazon.com/Radicalism-Atheism-Mohammad-Hassan-Khalil/dp/1108432751/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

The seven deadly sins aren't just a relic of the past—they continue to shape the way we live, lead, and engage with one another. In this episode, Elizabeth Oldfield, a Comment contributing editor and breakout author from the UK, explores how these enduring vices influence our divided age. Her new book, Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, offers a thoughtful look at how faith and character can help us navigate the tensions of today.

LINKS

Elizabeth Oldfield's new book
https://www.amazon.com/Fully-Alive-Tending-Turbulent-Times/dp/1587436507

Discussing Elizabeth's Commune:
https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/parenting/article/middle-class-commune-joint-bank-accounts-noisy-sex-peckham-0jnhvhgmh