This week, protests continued against the Iranian government with the death count rising to more than 3,000, according to Iranian health officials. Jonathan Schanzer joins Mike, Russell, and Clarissa to discuss why this is such an important moment for the Iranian people and for peace in the Middle East. On Sunday, the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released a video responding to grand jury subpoenas regarding renovation costs for federal buildings. Charlie Sykes explains the backdrop of the DOJ’s investigation and what this could mean for the economy. Then, Christine Emba stops by for a discussion about Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, which has begun granting a large number of user requests to undress images posted by other people.

REFERENCED IN THE EPISODE:

-Updates on X’s policies regarding Grok’s image generation.

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and he is also on the leadership team of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power. He previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the US Department of the Treasury. Schanzer has appeared on CNN, Fox News, Al-Arabiya, and Al-Jazeera.

Charles J. Sykes is a political commentator who hosted a conservative talk show in Wisconsin for 23 years. He was the former editor-in-chief of The Bulwark, and is currently an MSNBC contributor. Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Salon, USA Today, National Review, The Weekly Standard, and has appeared on the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, and the BBC.

Christine Emba is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work focuses on gender and sexuality, feminism, masculinity, youth culture, and social norms. She is concurrently a contributing writer at The New York Times, and previously was a staff writer at The Atlantic, a columnist and editor at The Washington Post. She is the author of Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.

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ABOUT THE BULLETIN:

The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.

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“The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today

Producer: Clarissa Moll

Associate Producer: Alexa Burke

Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris

Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs

Music: Dan Phelps

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik

Senior Producer: Matt Stevens

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January 13, 2026

Letters from an American

Resignations and legal pushback

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