Trinity Forum Conversations

In a society where so many feel unseen and unknown, how do we become the kind of people who deeply see and know those around us? The conflict and division in our society demonstrate the need for people committed to pursuing human connection, even across lines of difference. What can we do – as individuals and in community – that will help us really understand the people in our lives?David Brooks, author of How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, joined us to explore what it means to know others and to be known by them:When I ask people, tell me about a time you've been seen, they tell me with bright eyes and joy in their face, they tell me about time somebody totally got them. Because seeing someone, if I see potential in you, you'll see potential in yourself. If I beam my attention on you, you'll blossom. And so it's just super powerful to feel seen. But it's also powerful and fantastic to feel like you're the seer.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here. Learn more about David Brooks.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Bobos in Paradise, On Paradise Drive, The Social Animal, The Road to Character, The Second Mountain, and How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, by David BrooksFrederick BuechnerIris MurdochDan McAdamsMónica GuzmánE. M. FosterJennie JeromeWilliam GladstoneBenjamin DisraeliHarry NyquistAndy CrouchMichael GersonMan's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl Thornton WilderOprah WinfreyKate MurpheyRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor FranklWrestling with God, by Simone WeilRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

We were made for relationship — to be seen, loved, known, and committed to others. And yet we increasingly find ourselves, in the words of sociologist Jonathan Haidt, “disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth. We are cut off from one another and from the past.”On our podcast Haidt and bestselling author Andy Crouch pair up to explore how the technology era has seduced us with a false vision of human flourishing—and how each of us can fight back, and restore true community:“A person is a heart, soul, mind, strength, complex designed for love. And one of the really damaging things about our technology is very little of our technology develops all four of those qualities.” - Andy CrouchWe hope you enjoy this conversation about the seismic effects technology has had on our personal relationships, civic institutions, and even democratic foundations — and how we might approach rethinking our technologies and reclaiming human connection.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here. Learn more about Jonathan Haidt and Andy Crouch.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan HaidtThe Coddling of the American Mind, by Jonathan HaidtThe Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan HaidtCulture Making, by Andy CrouchPlaying God, by Andy CrouchStrong and Weak, by Andy CrouchThe TechWise Family, by Andy CrouchMy TechWise Life, by Amy and Andy CrouchThe Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, by Andy CrouchErnest HemingwayFrancis BaconHoward HotsonGreg LukianoffWolfram SchultzThe Sacred Canopy, by Peter L. BergerEpictetusMarcus AureliusRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Brave New World, by Alduous HuxleyBulletins from Immortality: Poems by Emily DickinsonPilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardPolitics and the English Language, by George OrwellThe Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah ArendtCity of God, by St. Augustine of HippoChildren of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold NiebuhrOn Happiness, by Thomas AquinasRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks ...

The question “How do I know what’s true?” comes up with increasing frequency and urgency in our time of angry polarization, deliberately-stoked outrage, and earned distrust. There is money to be made and a growing market for the kind of misinformation that reinforces our views and confirms our preconceptions — as well as a large price to be paid:“We like to tell ourselves that we're consuming this political media because we're going to be good citizens and we're going to be well informed and have, you know, very rational opinions and all sorts of flattering things like that. But in practice, what our behavior suggests is that that's not actually why we're consuming this media.“We're consuming it because of how it affects us emotionally and how it makes us feel better about ourselves than other people. How it excites us, how it sort of inflames us.” Drawing on her experience as a journalist, Bonnie Kristian joined us in October 2022 to explore the sources that contribute to widespread confusion and conspiracy thinking. She offers insight into ways to combat misinformation and pursue truth in our own lives, families, and church communities, and we hope you’ll find this conversation encouraging, and practical.This podcast is an edited version of an evening conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here. Learn more about Bonnie Kristian.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What it Means to Follow Jesus Today, by Bonnie KristianUntrustworthy: the Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community, by Bonnie KristianHannah ArendtN.T. WrightThomas AquinasRelated Trinity Forum Readings:The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah ArendtCity of God, by St. Augustine of HippoChildren of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold NiebuhrBrave New World, by Aldous HuxleyOn Happiness, by Thomas AquinasRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Healing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksIn his book, Love Your Enemies best-selling author, thought leader, and professor Arthur Brooks blends cutting-edge behavioral research and ancient wisdom to offer a better way to bridge divides and mend relationships.In March of 2022, The Trinity Forum hosted an Evening Conversation with Brooks to help us explore just how to love those we disagree with and be agents of redemption and reconciliation amidst a divisive time. Arthur unpacked several of the strategies necessary to overcome such cleavages and restore harmony, and the moral courage required:“We often hear today, in our culture of activism and anger, that real courage is standing up to the people with whom you disagree, sticking it to the people with whom you disagree publicly. That's moral courage.That's wrong. That is maybe a perfectly fine thing to do. You should stand up and say the things that you believe. But that's not moral courage.You know what moral courage is? My father taught me this as a kid. Moral courage is standing up for the people with whom you disagree. Standing up to the people with whom you agree on behalf of those with whom you disagree. That's moral courage”.- Arthur BrooksWe hope this conversation kindles in you a deeper affection for your neighbors, and a greater desire to see the divisions in our communities and our nation be healed.This podcast is an edited version of an evening conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here. Learn more about Arthur Brooks.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Love your Enemies, by Arthur BrooksStrength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, by Arthur BrooksArthur SchopenhauerJohn and Julie GottmanDalai LamaRelated Trinity Forum Readings:City of God by St. Augustine of HippoChildren of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold NiebuhrRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Justice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierA recent Gallup poll found that over 70% of Americans are both worried about and deeply dissatisfied with the racial tensions and divisions in the country. And yet when those numbers are broken down, you’ll find that around a third of white Americans consider a race to be a significant problem in the country, compared to around three quarters of African Americans and nearly 60% of Latinos.Given these differences both in perception as well as the many differences of opinion that are embedded in it, how do we understand and live out the biblical mandate to love our neighbor? How do we learn to know and love our neighbor across difference?Dr. Mac Pier and Bishop Claude Alexander join our podcast to help us think deeply about our various spheres and stations and how through intention and vulnerability, we can begin to heal divides, overcome injustice, and create new places of mercy and flourishing:“It's really important for those of us that have had opportunities to really think about what is our role in making things right…and in God's commitment to that. And just as God met our need for justice on the cross, he invites us to meet the need for justice in community with one another.” - Mac PierWe hope this conversation inspires you to deepen your commitment to being an agent of reconciliation right where you are. Because as Dr. Pier shares, it’s a “radically powerful thing when we become enveloped relationally and affectionately by people that are different from ourselves.”This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in November of 2021. Get a full transcript and watch a video of the conversation here. Learn more about Bishop Alexander and Dr. Pier.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Required: God’s Call to Justice, Mercy, and Humility to Overcome Racial Division, by Bishop Claude Alexander and Dr. Mac PierNecessary Christianity: What Jesus Shows We Must Be and Do, by Claude AlexanderA Disruptive Gospel: Stories and Strategies for Transforming Your City, by Mac PierA Disruptive Generosity: Stories of Transforming Cities through Strategic Giving, by Mac PierA Disruptive God: Encounter Psalm 23 and Discover God's Purpose For You, by Mac PierRelated Trinity Forum Readings:A Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassCity of God by St. Augustine of HippoChildren of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold NiebuhrLetter from a Birmingham Jail by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson MandelaRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Peter Kreeft, a philosopher, and Rev. Eugene Rivers engage in a conversation about the nature and consequences of ideology in our culture. They emphasize the need to stop idolizing Western civilization and focus on the love of God instead. Topics covered include the relationship between ideology and Christianity, spiritual warfare, the power and nuances of ideologies, humility in intellectual movements, and the role of religion in times of crisis.

Ross Douthat, author and columnist, discusses the concept of decadence in American culture. He explores how technology, politics, and religion play a role in escaping societal stagnation. Topics discussed include the history of innovation, cultural repetitiveness in movies, the impact of the sexual revolution, and favorite movies and books.

Scholars Mark Noll and Vincent Bacote discuss the origin and consequences of Christian Nationalism. They explore the distinction between responsible Christian patriotism and damaging Christian nationalism, emphasizing the importance of not making Christianity subordinate to the nation. They also discuss engaging in politics as Christians, prioritizing loyalty to God over love for one's nation, and the importance of loving neighbors with different beliefs.

Rebuilding our Common life with Yuval LevinOne of the greatest problems in our civic life is that our institutions are weak. And they're weak not merely because they are distrusted by outsiders, but because their leaders fail to take their institution-building responsibilities seriously. Rather than submitting to the responsibilities and constraints that any functioning institution imposes, those leaders have come to use the institution as a personal platform to gain attention and express themselves.On our podcast, Yuval Levin explains how institutions have historically served to connect, mediate, and structure much of our social interaction, but as they’ve been hollowed out from within, they’ve lost their sense of authority and are no longer able to serve a morally formative purpose:“A lot of people are using institutions as platforms to express themselves in the culture war, rather than as molds that might form us into better men and women. And that contributes enormously to that loss of confidence and also to the broader social crisis that we're all living with.” - Yuval LevinWe hope this conversation inspires you to look afresh at the institutions you lead or of which you are a part, and ask, “what is my responsibility here?” Please share it with a friend and other institution builders you know.This podcast is an edited version of an Online Conversation with Yuval recorded in November of 2020. You can access the full conversation with transcript here. Learn more about Yuval Levin.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream, by Yuval LevinRabbi Johnathan SacksRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

All the Lonely People with Ryan Streeter and Francie BroghammerWhy is it, in the midst of relative peace and prosperity, we are increasingly alienated, lonely, and depressed? Even before we lived through a global pandemic, we were (and are) living through a deadly loneliness epidemic.In this conversation Ryan Streeter and Francie Broghammer join us to wrestle with tough questions such as how to think about reinvigorating relational and community ties that encourage the flourishing of both the individual and the body politic.We discuss the antidotes to isolation in a time of pandemic and strive to find hope for connecting lonely people in a divided and polarized nation: Loneliness is the subjective feeling of being alone. You can feel alone in a crowded room. And so this is important that we highlight because what happens when you start feeling that way is that not far from there is this inability to find meaning in your life and daily actions. - Francie BroghammerWe hope this conversation on America’s epidemic of loneliness and the path towards meaningful connection inspires you to consider how you can further cultivate enduring friendships and engage with your community.Our podcast is an edited version of an Online Conversation with Ryan and Francie from April, 2021. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.Learn more about Ryan Streeter and Francie Broghammer.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Transforming Charity, by Ryan StreeterReligion and the Public Sphere in the 21st Century, by Ryan StreeterThe Soul of Civil Society, by Ryan StreeterThe Pursuit of Loneliness, by Philip SlaterThe Lonely Crowd, by David RiesmanBowling Alone, by Robert PutnamArthur BrooksGeorge OrwellYuval LevinAlexis de TocquevilleRelated Trinity Forum Readings:On Happiness, by Thomas AquinasOn Friendship, by CiceroMan’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor FranklAugustine’s ConfessionsThe Long Loneliness, by Dorothy DayWrestling with God, by Simone WeilRelated Conversations:Strength in the Second Half with Arthur BrooksCultivating a Life of Learning with Zena HitzBeing, Living, and Dying Well with Lydia DugdaleHope, Heartbreak, and Meaning with Kate BowlerThe Burden of Living and the and the Goodness of God with Alan NobleAll the Lonely People with Ryan Streeter and Francie BroghammerTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.