Is it true that “you can’t believe” anything you read? Can we consume news with a mindset other than cynicism, outrage, or fear?

Host Curtis Chang welcomes journalist and author Jon Ward to discuss why Christians need to care about a well-functioning news culture. With an AP poll on mainstream media showing trust at an all-time low, they explore the reasons behind this crisis—political isolation, social media's influence, and potential media bias. Together, they offer a framework for healthy news consumption, focusing on the postures of spectator, student, and servant, while Jon shares his personal strategies for staying informed in a fractured media landscape.

Referenced in This Episode:

• Gallup: Media Trust Data

• AP Media Trust Polling

• Gallup: Ideology percentages in the U.S.

• Media Bias Chart (based on self-identified ideology)

• The Highest Paid Media Personalities

• Top News Anchor Pay Cuts

• Tucker Carlson’s 2009 Defense of The New York Times

Jon Ward’s Suggested Media Sources:

• The Associated Press

• The New York Times

• The National Review

• Politico

• The Dispatch

• Axios

• The Liberal Patriot

• Wake Up To Politics

Some Local News Options

• The Baltimore Banner

• The Texas Tribune

• Streetcar Suburbs Publishing

More From Jon Ward:

• Check out Jon Ward’s Border-Stalkers Substack

• Buy & read Jon ward’s book Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation

• Listen to Jon Ward’s podcast The Long Game

Send your Campfire Stories to: info@redeemingbabel.org

Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

What level of crazy or calm will the next Trump White House bring with it?

Host Curtis Chang is joined by Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory, to explore the turbulence surrounding the final days of Donald Trump's 2024 campaign and what it might signal for the next administration. They analyze potential picks for key cabinet roles, examining what these choices could mean for the America's future both domestically and abroad. Curtis and Tim go beyond the palace intrigue to offer thoughtful ways to pray for the president-elect, urging listeners to consider Trump’s humanity, vulnerabilities, and penchant for chaos.

*This episode was recorded on Tuesday Nov 12, 2024 before some of the administration picks had been made.

Referenced in this Episode:

• Read Tim Alberta's The Atlantic piece about the last days of the Trump campaign

• Engage with our course The After Party

• Read 1 Timothy 2:1-2

More From Tim Alberta:

• Check out all of Tim Alberta’s writing for The Atlantic HERE

• Buy & read Tim Alberta’s books HERE

• Follow Tim Alberta on https://x.com/TimAlberta

___________________________________________________________

Enter to win tickets to Andrew Peterson’s sold-out Behold the Lamb of God performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

Join the Redeeming Babel Team: Marketing Manager Job Opening

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.

Trump Wins, Good Faith Reacts

America elected a new president, and a familiar administration is poised to return to the White House. What does it all mean for Christians? Host Curtis Chang is joined by "founding friend" David French and public theologian Russell Moore to explore the intense emotions many are experiencing in the wake of this election. Together, they dive into listener questions about the global repercussions of another Trump presidency, the complex feelings some Christians experience about the political choices of fellow believers, and the evolving role of the church in a deeply divided America. Confronting shared experiences of anguish, alienation, and anger, the trio offers thoughtful insights into how we can navigate this challenging landscape of emotions about the known and unknown implications of the vote.

Referenced in this Episode:

• Engage with our course The After Party

• Read an interview with Reinhold Niebuhr HERE

• Read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden online

• More on Augustine and the fall of Rome

• Neil Postman predicted Donald Trump in 1985

• Explore the J.R.R. Tolkien Society HERE

• 85 quotations from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings

• C.S. Lewis on courage

• Listen to The Kingdom of Jesus by the Jon Guerra, Sandra McCracken, and Porter’s Gate

More From David French:

• Read David French’s opinion pieces HERE

• Follow David French on Threads

• Listen to David on the Advisory Opinions podcast

More From Russell Moore:

• Read Russell Moore’s Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America

• Listen to The Russell Moore Show podcast

• Explore Russell’s Christianity Today pieces

Listen to Songs For the After Party, get sheet music, lyrics, and prayers for your church.